Youth climate lawsuit attorneys say Montana tried to scuttle trial by dropping energy policy

By AMY BETH HANSON and MATTHEW BROWN

today

Emigrant Peak towers over the Paradise Valley in Montana north of Yellowstone National Park. Attorneys for a group of youths suing Montana over damages caused by climate change say officials repealed the state's energy policy to avoid an upcoming trial. 

(AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Attorneys for young people suing Montana over damages caused by climate change said officials repealed the state’s energy policy in a last-minute bid to avoid a trial sought by the plaintiffs to highlight the dangers of fossil fuels.

The two sides are due in court Friday for arguments before state District Judge Kathy Seeley. A two-week trial is scheduled to begin June 12.

The case was brought in 2020 by attorneys for the environmental group Our Children’s Trust, which since 2010 has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of youth plaintiffs. Many of the cases — including a previous one in Montana — have been dismissed. None have yet reached trial.

The still-pending Montana lawsuit sought in part to repeal a state policy promoting coal, gas and oil development. Scientists say burning those fuels is largely driving climate change by releasing planet-warming carbon dioxide.

But after the disputed energy policy was repealed in March by the state Legislature, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, last month asked the judge to dismiss any part of the case touching on the cancelled policy.

The cancellation did not end the state’s support of fossil fuels.

An attorney for the plaintiffs, Philip Gregory, told The Associated Press the policy was repealed “not because the state has committed to changing its fossil fuel policy and actions, but because the state seeks to avoid standing trial.”

He explained in an email that the state’s continued support for fossil fuels violates environmental protections in the Montana Constitution, which says the state “shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and all future generations.”

The lawsuit documents how the consequences of climate change already are being felt by the young plaintiffs, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish and wildlife.

Attorneys under Knudsen wrote that the plaintiffs were resorting to “emotional appeals” about the dangers of climate change, “regardless of whether their claims are moot or meritless.”

Judge Seeley already has narrowed the scope of the case, ruling in 2021 that it was outside her power to issue a requested order that would have forced the state to craft a greenhouse gas reduction plan. The judge also said she could not order the state to complete an inventory of emissions caused by fossil fuels.

In both instances, Seeley said such work should be left to experts in the executive and legislative branches of government.

But Seeley said the court could declare that the state was in violation of the Constitution, without ordering that anything be done in response.

The sponsor of the measure that repealed the energy policy, Republican Rep. Steve Gunderson, did not return a call seeking comment. He said when it was under consideration before the Legislature that the policy was meaningless and outdated.

US Senate votes to limit critical habitat designation for imperiled species and drop bat’s protections

The vote on removing the listing was 51-49, with Manchin and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar voting with Republicans

By JOHN FLESHER

yesterday

This undated photo provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shows a northern long-eared bat. The U.S. Senate on Thursday, May 11, 2023, proposed dropping a 2022 federal designation of the northern long-eared bat as endangered. The Fish and Wildlife Service declared the northern long-eared bat endangered last November, raising its status from threatened. It is among 12 bat types hammered by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has reduced its numbers by 97% or more in some areas.

 (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources via AP, File)

The U.S. Senate voted narrowly Thursday to overturn two Biden administration policies intended to protect endangered species.

Senators called for reinstating a rule adopted under former President Donald Trump but rescinded by the Biden administration that limited which lands and waters could be designated as places for imperiled animals and plants to receive federal protection.

They also proposed dropping a 2022 federal designation of the northern long-eared bat as endangered.

Earlier this month, the Senate voted to undo federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a rare grouse found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest.

The actions, backed mostly by Republicans, represent rare congressional involvement in matters usually left to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Endangered Species Act tasks those agencies with deciding which animals and plants to list as endangered or threatened and how to rebuild their populations.

President Joe Biden threatened to veto the resolutions, which await action in the House.

“We are in the midst of a global extinction crisis for which the chief driver is the destruction, degradation, and loss of habitat,” a White House statement said.

A 2019 United Nations report said about 1 million species are in danger of extinction, with losses accelerating up to hundreds of times faster than before.

The Biden administration last June withdrew a Trump definition of “habitat” that environmental advocates said was too narrow to provide essential protection. Supporters said it would give landowners incentives to help troubled species while securing property rights.

Restoring the Trump habitat definition, the White House said, would “severely limit” federal agencies’ ability to help troubled species survive and recover.

Senators backed a resolution to reinstate the definition, 51-49. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican and its chief sponsor, argued that uncertainty about what qualifies as habitat lowers property values and hampers crucial infrastructure projects.

“Two-thirds of all endangered species are located on private lands,” Lummis said. “For these species to be recovered, private landowners must be part of the solution and not treated as the enemy.”

Joining Republicans in voting for reinstating the Trump definition of habitat were Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Independent Angus King of Maine, who often caucuses with Democrats.

The Trump rule was among several steps his administration took to scale back or alter endangered species policies, including lifting blanket protections for animals newly listed as threatened and setting cost estimates for saving species. Biden ordered a review of his predecessor’s environmental rulemaking shortly after taking office.

Under the 1973 law, federal agencies cannot fund, permit or take actions that would destroy or severely damage critical habitats. It doesn’t restrict activities on private land unless government approval or financial support is involved.

The Trump rule’s habitat definition was “unclear, confusing and inconsistent with the conservation purposes” of the law, the Fish and Wildlife Service and Marine Fisheries Service said previously.

It prevented agencies from selecting areas that don’t presently meet a species’ needs but might in the future as a result of restoration work or natural changes, they said. Global warming is expected to alter many landscapes and waters, attracting species that migrate from places no longer suitable for them.

The Fish and Wildlife Service declared the northern long-eared bat endangered last November, raising its status from threatened. It is among 12 bat types hammered by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has reduced its numbers by 97% or more in some areas.

The bat is found in 37 eastern and north-central states, plus Washington, D.C., and much of Canada.

Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat and chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, said bats contribute $3 billion annually to the nation’s agricultural economy through pest control and pollination.

Critics of the endangered listing contend it would hamper logging and other land uses that weren’t responsible for the bat’s sharp decline.

The vote on removing the listing was 51-49, with Manchin and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar voting with Republicans. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California opposed both measures after returning to the Capitol following a long illness.

___

Follow John Flesher on Twitter: @johnflesher

Tiny bats provide ‘glimmer of hope’ against a fungus that threatened entire species

By WILSON RING

today

1 of 11
Alyssa Bennett, small mammals biologist for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, holds a dead bat in a cave in Dorset, Vt., on May 2, 2023. Scientists studying bat species hit hard by the fungus that causes white nose syndrome, which has killed millions of bats across North America, say there is a glimmer of good news for the disease. Experts say more bats that hibernate at a cave in Vermont, the largest bat cave in New England, are tolerating the disease and passing protective traits on to their young. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)


DORSET, Vt. (AP) — Deep in a cool, damp cave in Vermont, tens of thousands of furry, chocolate brown creatures stir.

The little brown bats, survivors of a deadly fungus that decimated their population, went into hibernation last fall. Now in early May, they’re waking, detaching from their rock wall roosts and making their first tentative flights in search of the moths, beetles and flying aquatic insects they devour.

It’s here, in deep passages that creep into a Vermont mountain, where scientists found one of the first North American outbreaks of the fungus that causes white nose syndrome. Bat bones litter the cave floor like dry lawn-mower cuttings. Look closer and you’ll find tiny skulls.

And the bats are still dying.

White nose syndrome is caused by an invasive fungus first found in an upstate New York cave in 2006, a short bat flight from the Dorset, Vermont, colony. The fungus wakes bats from hibernation, sending them into the frigid, winter air in search of food. They die of exposure or starvation because the insect population is too sparse to support them that time of year.

Smaller than a mouse and about the weight of three pennies in the hand, the Dorset bats skitter across the cave walls or cling to one another for warmth. Their health hints that at least some species are adapting to the fungus that has killed millions of their brethren across North America.

“That’s really significant, because it seems to be a stronghold where these bats are mostly surviving and then spreading out throughout New England in the summer,” said Alyssa Bennett, a small mammal biologist for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. She has studied bats and white nose syndrome for more than a decade.

“We’re hoping that it’s a source population for them to recover,” Bennett said as critters flitted and swooped around her.

VIDEO Some bats show signs of resilience against fungus

 2 minutes, 23 seconds

It will take time. Little brown bat females birth only one pup a year. And while they can live into their teens or 20s, only 60% to 70% of pups make it beyond their first 12 months, Bennett said.

Scientists now estimate that between 70,000 and 90,000 bats hibernate in the Dorset cave, the largest concentration in New England. Their numbers have dwindled from an estimated winter population of 300,000 to 350,000 or more in the 1960s, the last time the location was surveyed before white nose infiltrated.

It’s unclear how far the numbers dropped after the fungus set in, but biologists who visited in 2009 or 2010 noted the ground in front of the cave was carpeted with dead bats.

The fungus that causes white nose syndrome is believed to have been brought to North America from Europe, where bats are apparently accustomed to it. Named for the white, fuzzy spots it produces on noses and other bat body parts, the fungus has killed 90% or more of the bat populations in parts of North America.

Last month, a report by the North American Bat Conservation Alliance found that 81 of the 154 known bat species in the United States, Canada and Mexico are at severe risk from white nose infection, climate change and habitat loss.

It matters. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that bats boost U.S. agriculture by $3.7 billion a year by eating crop-destroying insects such as larvae-laying moths, whose offspring bore into corn plants.

Scientists have known for years that some little brown bats seemed to survive being exposed to the fungus, despite an overall mortality rate that was feared could eradicate them. Though Dorset’s little brown bats are holding on, other once common species found with them, like northern long eared or tricolor bats, are almost impossible to detect there now, Bennett said.

“There’s something special about those bats,” Bennett said of Dorset’s little browns. “We can’t tell exactly what that is, but we have genetic research that we’ve collaborated on that suggests those bats do have factors that are related to hibernation and immune response that are allowing them to tolerate this disease and pass those features on to their young.”

Winifred Frick, chief scientist at Bat Conservation International, who has followed white nose syndrome’s march across North American, said the fungus has been found in 38 states so far. She says it’s a “gut punch” each time she hears of a new outbreak.

Colorado reported its first infected bats earlier this year.

Frick is relieved that bats are beginning to repopulate some areas where carcasses once piled up, even if the rebound is so far only a fraction of earlier numbers.

“That’s a real glimmer of hope,” she said.

In addition to Vermont, other areas near where white nose was first discovered also report stable, possibly rising numbers of little brown bats.

Pennsylvania lost an estimated 99.9% of its population after white nose struck, said Greg Turner, the state mammal expert for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. While the numbers are still low, they’re slowly increasing in some places. One old mine in Blair County had just seven bats in 2016. This year, there were more than 330.

“I’m feeling pretty comfortable,” Turner said. “We’re not going to be stuck staring down the barrel of extinction.”

His research shows bats that hibernate at colder temperatures do better against white nose because the fungus grows more slowly.

That may mean the bats are less likely to wake up from the irritation it causes, though scientists still don’t understand the mechanism that allows some animals to survive while so many succumb.

“By selecting colder temperatures, they’re helping themselves in two ways, they’re helping themselves preserve fat and preserve their energy and they’re also getting less disease,” Turner said.

Still, there are worrying trends. Pennsylvania’s bat population is a tiny fraction of what it was before white nose invaded. In some locations, Turner and his colleagues see more bats, but inexplicably few females.

In Virginia, populations have plummeted more than 95%, though the state is starting to see some colonies stabilize or slightly grow their numbers. However, that’s happening at only a fraction of the sites once monitored, said Rick Reynolds, a non-game mammal biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

“We remain positive, but there is a long road ahead with much uncertainty,” Reynolds said in an email.

Back in Vermont, where temperatures in the Dorset cave fall into the low 40s (around 4.4 degrees Celsius) in winter, the bats seem to have found a sweet spot cold enough to slow growth of the fungus.

Bennett is working with Laura Kloepper, a bioacoustics expert from the University of New Hampshire, to get a better handle on the population count. Using acoustic modeling, they’re working to get a baseline population estimate this year by comparing sound recordings with thermal imaging. They’ll survey using the same method again next year to try to determine the change.

“We we want to try to understand what we can possibly do to save not only the species of bat, not only the bats at this cave, but really bats around the world,” Kloepper said.

Norway takes over presidency of Arctic Council from Russia

By JAN M. OLSEN

yesterday

Large Icebergs float away as the sun rises near Kulusuk, Greenland, Aug. 16, 2019. Norway has taken over the Arctic Council’s rotating presidency from Russia on Thursday, May 11, 2023 amid concerns that the work of the eight-country intergovernmental body on protecting the sensitive environment is at risk due to suspension of cooperation with Moscow over the Ukraine war. Research involving Russia ranging from climate work to mapping polar bears have been put on hold and scientists have lost access to important facilities in the Russian Arctic. 

(AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway on Thursday took over the Arctic Council’s rotating chairmanship from Russia amid questions about what role the eight-country intergovernmental body can play in protecting the polar region after the invasion of Ukraine prompted Western countries to suspend cooperation with Moscow.

The Arctic Council, which doesn’t deal with security issues but makes binding agreements on environmental protection and gives a voice to the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic region, was one of the few settings where Western countries and Russia worked together closely.

But the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden decided to pause their work with Russia in the council shortly after Moscow launched the full-scale war in February 2022.

As a result, research involving Russia on issues ranging from climate change to polar bears has been put on hold, and scientists have lost access to important facilities in the Russian Arctic.

Nonetheless, Norway vowed to keep the council’s work moving forward as it assumed the rotating two-year chairmanship from Russia.

“Norway will continue to focus on the core issues the Council deals with, including the impacts of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to enhance the well-being of people living in the region,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said. “Together with the other member states, we will now explore how this can be achieved in practice.”

Experts say that’s going to be complicated without cooperation with Russia, the biggest Arctic nation.

“It is a huge challenge for Norway. They have to isolate Russia and at the same time they have to make sure not to provoke Russia to dissolve the Council,” said Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen, of the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsoe.

He worried that Indigenous peoples might “lose an important forum and a prominent platform,” adding that many of the groups are cross-border organizations and don’t follow national borders.

Six organizations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples are permanent participants of the Arctic Council, which was established in 1996.

The council has been a key forum for Arctic stakeholders to address climate change and other environmental challenges in the region, where melting sea ice is opening up new areas to shipping and offshore oil and gas exploration.

Countries including France, Germany, China, Japan, India and Korea attend the meetings of the Arctic Council as observers.

Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder and director of the London-based Polar Research and Policy Initiative, said that while it won’t make the council’s problems disappear, Norway taking over the chairmanship would “make it possible for the majority of member states to have a close working relationship with the chair once again, which will aid the forum’s work of promoting cooperation and coordination.”

The handover took place in an online ceremony, with member states’ Arctic ambassadors rather than foreign ministers attending. The council issued a statement “recognizing the historic and unique role of the Arctic Council” and acknowledging the commitment to safeguard and strengthen it.

Morten Høglund, a Norwegian diplomat who took over as chair of the council’s senior officials’ group, told reporters during an online briefing that “important work” would continue in the council even though government ministers wouldn’t participate in the talks in the foreseeable future.

“That’s one of the challenges we just have to try to overcome,” he said.

Methadone treatment may curb use of fentanyl, heroin, study shows

METHADONE HAS BEEN USED FOR HEROIN 

ADDICTION FOR SIXTY YEARS

By Cara Murez, HealthDay News

In the study, those who tested positive for fentanyl during the first year of methadone treatment declined on average from about 22% in week one to just over 17% in week 52. Photo by qimono/Pixabay

When people receive methadone treatment for opioid use disorder, their use of the dangerous drugs heroin and fentanyl significantly declines, a new study shows.

But decreases in cocaine or methamphetamine use were not seen in a year of treatment, researchers report.

"Methadone treatment can have tremendous success reducing fentanyl and heroin use in individuals, but this study shows we aren't addressing the complexity of polysubstance use," said study lead author Brendan Saloner, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"The findings clearly sound an alarm bell that we need more tools to support other types of substance use," Saloner added in a school news release.

The findings are important, given the U.S. drug crisis. Drug overdose deaths rose from over 12,100 in 2015 to nearly 53,500 in 2021, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is a key driver in those deaths.

In the study, those who tested positive for fentanyl during the first year of methadone treatment declined on average from about 22% in week one to just over 17% in week 52.

The heroin positivity rate was halved, dropping from about 8% to about 4%. The biggest declines for both fentanyl and heroin were seen in the first 10 weeks of treatment.

"At the same time, the prevalence of methamphetamine and cocaine use is on the rise and is not generally decreasing during a year in methadone treatment. These findings will help clinicians identify patients who are at greater risk and can offer additional support," Saloner said.

Researchers analyzed urine-specimen findings from patients receiving treatment at methadone clinics from 2017 to 2021. The study involved more than 16,000 people from 10 U.S. states: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia and Washington.

Across the five-year study period, the first urine specimens collected indicated increasing fentanyl positivity rates in the broader population, from about 13% in 2017 to 53% in 2021. The positivity rate for methamphetamine also increased, from about 11% to more than 27%. The rate of cocaine use also rose, from almost 14% to nearly 20%.

Fentanyl positivity was significantly higher for males compared to females, and higher in the 18 to 24 age group.

Methadone is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat the cravings and withdrawal common in opioid use disorder.

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the study. Findings were published online Tuesday in the journal Addiction.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on fentanyl.

Copyright © 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

World's oldest dog turns 31 in Portugal


Bobi, the world's oldest dog, celebrates his 31st birthday on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

May 11 (UPI) -- The world's oldest dog, a Portugal canine named Bobi, is celebrating his milestone 31st birthday on Thursday.

Bobi, born May 11, 1992, was named the world's oldest dog living and oldest dog ever by Guinness World Records earlier this year.

Bobi has lived in the village of Conqueiros with his owner, Leonel Costa, 38, for his entire life.

Costa said a party is being held Saturday to celebrate Bobi's 31st birthday. He said the party will feature more than 100 guests, including fans flying in from other countries.

Costa said he has had several long-lived dogs in the past, including Bobi's mother, Gira, who lived to the age of 18.

"If Bobi spoke only he could explain this," Costa told Guinness World Records. "We see situations like this as a normal result of the life that they have, but Bobi is one of a kind."

Costa, who was 8 years old when Bobi was born, said he sees the dog as a link to the previous generations of his own family.

"Bobi is special because looking at him is like remembering the people who were part of our family and unfortunately are no longer here, like my father, my brother, or my grandparents who have already left this world," he said. "Bobi represents those generations."

Moroccan locust outbreak in Afghanistan could cause massive crop losses


The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says an outbreak of Moroccan locusts in Afghanistan's "wheat basket" could cause massive crop losses. Pictured is a locust swarm in southwestern Morocco. Photo by Magnus Ullman/Wikimedia Commons

May 11 (UPI) -- A big Moroccan locust outbreak in Afghanistan's "wheat basket" could cause massive crop losses and dramatically worsen food insecurity, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

"The reports of Moroccan locust outbreak in Afghanistan's wheat basket is a huge concern," said the FAO's Richard Trenchard in a statement. "The Moroccan locust eats more than 150 species of plants, including tree crops, pastures and 50 food crops, all of which grow in Afghanistan. It represents an enormous threat to farmers, communities and the entire country."

A full outbreak this year could destroy a quarter of the total annual harvest. With pesticides in short supply, the FAO said thousands of people are working day and night in Afghanistan to eradicate the locusts using traditional mechanical control methods.

Those methods are aimed at destroying the locusts before they develop into adults and form massive swarms.

If left untreated, the Moroccan locusts could multiply by a hundred times next year, according to the FAO.

The locusts at different development stages have been seen in the Afghan provinces of Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul, Takhar, Heart and Ghor.

Trenchard said the FAO is working with local communities, local authorities and NGO's to fight the outbreak. He said there has been a "a strong, rapid and encouraging response from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, although their capacity to respond is heavily constrained by a lack of resources."

The FAO said conditions this year in Afghanistan were perfect for locust outbreaks due to over-grazing, drought and very limited control measures, creating an "ideal environment for locusts to hatch and swarm."

New task force to investigate environmental crimes in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

May 11 (UPI) -- A new Department of Justice task force announced Thursday will investigate and prosecute federal environmental crimes in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The force will focus on illegal harm to the environment and wildlife, as well as human health, officials said, adding that agents will be investigating any possible associated fraud, waste or other abuse in the region.

"All communities deserve clean air, clean water, and the robust protection of their natural resources -- both, today and for generations to come," said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim in a statement. "This task force demonstrates the department's continued commitment to environmental justice and its comprehensive strategy to address significant concerns faced by communities overburdened with pollution."

Law enforcement personnel from 16 agencies will work closely with local counterparts to enforce environmental laws in the region.

"Environmental justice and ensuring that all residents of Puerto Rico enjoy a healthy environment free of hazardous waste and other pollutants is a top priority of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Justice Department," said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico in a statement. "This Task Force will combine and leverage resources from many federal agencies to aggressively enforce civil and criminal environmental laws."

Also on Thursday, a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico indicted two men over violations of the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. They allegedly built illegal structures and dumped construction fill material into waters and wetlands of the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Las Mareas community of Salinas.

Luis Enrique Rodriguez Sanchez and Pedro Luis Bones Torres face up to fours years in prison along with fines and injunctive relief to remove the structures.

The Jobos Bay site was designated in 1981 as a National Estuarine Research Reserve. It consists of about 2,800 acres of coastal ecosystems in the southern coastal plain of Puerto Rico.

ZIONIST ASSASSINATION
Questions remain year after journalist Shireen Abu Akleh killed in West Bank


A Palestinian walks past a mural of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem in 2022. The one-year anniversary of her shooting death Thursday sparked more calls for an independent probe into her death. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UP | License Photo

May 11 (UPI) -- Journalists, the Carter Center and others on Thursday reiterated calls for an official investigation into the fatal shooting of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh on the one-year anniversary of her death in the West Bank.

Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American journalist working for Al Jazeera, was covering an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022, when she was killed by gunfire.

Israeli and United Nations investigations concluded that the bullets likely came from Israeli military gunfire. The Israeli government admitted in September there was a "high possibility" that Abu Akleh was hit by its forces but has claimed the death was accidental and has since refused to pursue any further investigation.

Published reports, however, have since cast doubt on Israel's contention. A Washington Post investigation concluded last year the fatal shot came from an Israeli soldier during a moment of relative calm, not during the heat of battle as Israel has claimed.

The incident also fit a pattern of 20 reporters -- 18 of whom were Palestinian -- whose deaths can be attributed to the IDF since 2001, the newspaper found. No one has been charged or held accountable for any of them.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the family of Abu Akleh last year, promising a "commitment to pursue accountability for her tragic killing." The FBI in November opened an investigation but has not provided any further information about the probe.

The anniversary of Abu Akleh's death was marked in Washington in an event held by the National Press Club.

Al Jazeera asks for ICC to investigate Abu Akleh's death

Abu Akleh "learned how to keep safe while publishing news in risky areas," said NPC President Eileen Drage O'Reilly. "She wore her vest marked 'press' and her and helmet and followed all of the safety protocols that meant she should have been safe. But she was killed exactly one year ago today."

Journalists, she said, "are still waiting for an independent and impartial investigation into what happened one year later. Saying the shot came from the direction of the IDF, or that there was no intent, is not justice."

Her call was echoed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

"As President [Joe] Biden recently made clear at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, we have a duty to protect American citizens around the world," he said. "As he also said, we have a duty to help protect journalists who work to present the facts and report the truth. That's why we must not rest until we get all the facts about the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

"One year later, I am still committed to getting the full truth about her killing and getting accountability -- and I will not stop pressing until we have them."

The Carter Center also urged the more action on the case in a statement issued Thursday.

"This highlights the urgent need for the United States to prioritize journalists' safety and bring to justice those responsible," the group said.

"We urge the U.S. government to release the complete and unedited U.S. security coordinator report to members of Congress under appropriate classification and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions."

"I am appalled that we are marking the one-year anniversary of Shireen's killing and that Israel has yet to pursue any credible investigation into her killing," said Frane Maroević, executive director of the Vienna-based International Press Institute.

"Shireen's killing represents a deeply disturbing attack on the press, not least because of credible reports that she and other journalists were intentionally targeted by Israeli forces, but also in light of rampant impunity for crimes against journalists by Israel in the occupied Palestine territory," he added in a statement.

SpaceX says it will launch first commercial space station by mid-2025

SpaceX confirmed Wednesday it signed a contract to launch the world’s first commercial space station, being built by private aerospace firm Vast. Photo courtesy of Vast

May 10 (UPI) -- SpaceX confirmed Wednesday it signed a contract to launch the world's first commercial space station.

The company also will perform manned space flights shortly after launching the station into orbit "no later than August 2025," SpaceX said in a statement.

The Haven-1 space station is being built by Vast, a private aerospace company based in Long Beach, Calif. Its "mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space -- a future in which the human population and our resources expand far beyond our current imagination."

Vast is solely funded by its billionaire founder and CEO Jed McCaleb.

SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket to carry the Haven-1 station into orbit.

Manned crews will then use the company's Dragon reusable spacecraft to get to the space station, docking for up to 30 days while in orbit.

Vast plans for the initial module to become part of a larger 100-meter-long multi-module spinning space station with artificial gravity.

SpaceX confirmed it also will provide crew training, as well as spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises. SpaceX also will conduct mission simulations, as part of the agreement with Vast.

"A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we're taking another step toward making that future a reality," SpaceX Senior Vice President of Commercial Business Tom Ochinero said in a statement.

"The SpaceX team couldn't be more excited to launch Vast's Haven-1 and support their follow-on human spaceflight missions to the orbiting commercial space station."

Crew selection is underway, the company said Wednesday, and will be announced at a future date.

"Vast is thrilled to embark on this journey of launching the world's first commercial space station, Haven-1, and its first crew, Vast-1," McCaleb said in a statement.

"We are grateful to SpaceX for this exciting partnership that represents the first steps in Vast's long-term vision of launching much larger, artificial gravity space stations in Earth orbit and beyond."

Images from NASA's Mars Perseverance rover show evidence of ancient deep rivers

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover transmitted this image of a geological formation on the planet's surface known as "Shrinkle Haven" to scientists. Researchers believe the structures in the image are evidence that ancient rivers flowed much faster and deeper than previously believed. 

Photo courtesy of NASA

May 11 (UPI) -- Images transmitted to Earth from NASA's Perseverance rover may show evidence that ancient rivers that once flowed over the planet ran much deeper, and flowed much faster, than researchers previously thought.

A composite image was created by piecing together hundreds of images taken with Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument.

For two years, Perseverance has been researching in the area of the Jezero crater, which is home to a rippled area known to scientists as "the curvilinear unit," which is believed to have once been the location of a series of waterways.

The "curvilinear unit" was previous observed from orbit, but Perseverance has given researchers an opportunity to observe the area more closely.

Mars reveals liquid core as scientists measure first seismic waves

The image was taken on a geological structure within the curvilinear unit known as "Shrinkle Haven" to researchers.

A second composite image, taken about a quarter mile from "Shrinkle Haven" shows a hill dubbed "Pinestand" by scientists, along with a series of ripples in the foreground.

A second composite image shows a hill known as "Pinestand" to scientists along with a series of ripples that are believed to have been created by flowing water.

 Photo courtesy of NASA

The scientific consensus is that the ripples at "Shrinkle Haven" and "Pinestand" were created by water, but there is uncertainty over how substantial the water flow was.

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"We do see deposits like this on Earth, but they're never as well exposed as they are here on Mars. Earth is covered in vegetation that covers these layers," said Michael Lamb, a river specialist who works with the Perseverance science team.

The ripples in the image are also believed to have been worn down by wind over millions of years.

"The wind has acted like a scalpel that has cut the tops off these deposits," said Lamb.

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"Those indicate a high-energy river that's truckin' and carrying a lot of debris. The more powerful flow of water, the more easily its able to move larger pieces of material," said Libby Ives, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which operates the Perseverance rover.

In addition to observing geographical formations on the surface of Mars, Perseverance is equipped with a ground-penetrating radar system, the Rader Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment, that can observe geographical formations below the planet's surface.

Future NASA missions will collect samples that have been gathered by Perseverance and return them to Earth.