Witness claims NYPD and federal agencies played a role in Malcolm X’s assassination

Story by By Justin Gamble, CNN • Yesterday 

A man who says he was a member of Malcolm X’s security detail the day the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1965 told reporters Tuesday he saw New York City police officers trying to prevent supporters from restraining a man thought to be involved in the killing.

Mustafa Hassan, who said he used to be a member of the Pan-Africanist organization that Malcolm X founded, made the claim at a news conference in New York.

The man being restrained, Hassan said, was Talmadge Hayer – also known as Mujahid Abdul Halim – who was later arrested and convicted in the killing.

Hassan told reporters Tuesday he believes there was a conspiracy between the New York City Police Department, the CIA and the FBI in Malcolm X’s assassination.

CNN sought comment from the NYPD, the CIA and the FBI.

Hassan said he was never interviewed about what he witnessed.

The new allegation is a part of a multimillion-dollar federal action filed on behalf of Malcolm X’s family by civil rights attorney Ben Crump in February. In his notice to the federal government, Crump accuses the FBI, the CIA and the NYPD of “fraudulent concealment of evidence surrounding Malcolm X’s murder,” according to a February news release.

Malcolm X, one of the most powerful voices in the fight against racism in the nation, was shot dead after he took the stage at the Audubon Ballroom in New York on February 21, 1965.

“The FBI had many informants in the Audubon Ballroom on that tragic day,” Crump, who also represents Hassan, said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We know that they withheld their information and would not let anybody know, sent a directive that nobody is to reveal our presence in the Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm X was assassinated.”

“Not even the informants themselves were aware of who all was involved. That’s why we are putting forth in our legal action that the government was involved in the conspiracy to kill Malcolm X,” Crump said.

Hassan said he decided to come forward now after seeing online that the family of Malcolm X was seeking a financial settlement with governmental agencies for their alleged actions during the assassination.

In a signed affidavit read at Tuesday’s news conference, Hassan said after Malcolm X was shot, he turned his attention “back to the man I had seen running away, knowing that he was in part responsible for what I witnessed.”

“I would later see the same man outside as he was being beaten by Malcolm’s followers while a group of policemen who suddenly showed up on the scene (were) asking is he with us while at the same time holding back Malcolm’s followers from beating him,” Hassan stated in the affidavit.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Hassan and Crump shared a photo showing the moment Hassan reached out and grabbed Hayer’s collar.

Hayer and two other men were convicted in 1966 for the killing and sentenced to life in prison. The two others – Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam – said they were innocent. Hayer acknowledged he took part in the assassination, but he maintained the innocence of the other two men.

In 2021, a judge vacated the convictions of Aziz and Islam. That came after a 22-month investigation by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office and lawyers for the men found that evidence of their innocence, including FBI documents, was withheld at trial.

Aziz was released from prison in 1985; Islam was released in 1987 but died in 2009 and received a posthumous exoneration.

Last year, New York City agreed to pay $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of Aziz and Islam.

 CNN.com

DEA chief grilled on Biden’s plans to deschedule marijuana

 The Hill

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) demanded further information from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about its plan to remove marijuana from the list of schedule one drugs during a House Judiciary hearing Thursday.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram testified before the Crime and Federal Government subcommittee during which she informed committee members that her and the agency “have not been given a specific timeline” to review and reevaluate marijuana’s classification.

President Biden put out a marijuana reform statement in October 2022 that called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Attorney General to re-evaluate the federal law’s scheduling of marijuana.

The DEA must receive HHS’ review and recommendation to conduct its own evaluation process before coming to a scheduling decision, according to Milgram.

To Gaetz’s dismay, the DEA has yet to receive any such materials from HHS.

“That’s unsettling, isn’t it? When you don’t even know a timeline, it doesn’t really make it seem like something’s front of mind,” Gaetz said to Milgram after she disclosed the status of this procedure.

Cohen supported Gaetz’s stance on the matter, forming a rare bipartisan agreement in the House.

DECRIMINALIZED ALL DRUGS

An NDP MP Learns Drug Crisis Lessons in Portugal


NDP MP for Courtenay-Alberni Gord Johns spent a couple weeks in Portugal in July on an unofficial visit, meeting with policy makers and frontline workers to discuss the country’s harm reduction model.

Johns was travelling with Liberal MP Brendan Hanley, former chief medical officer of health for Yukon, who asked to join Johns’ trip. Johns says it has been “invaluable” to have a Canadian public health expert travelling with him.

Johns spoke with The Tyee July 14 from Portugal about what he’d learned on his travels, which he paid for himself.

He says his constituency has been particularly hard hit by the toxic drug crisis.

“I can’t count on two hands the number of people I know who have died, it’s unbelievable,” he says. “Kids that I’ve watched grow up, adults that I know, professionals that fell through the cracks and people that are recreational drug users.”

Port Alberni has been particularly hard hit by the toxic drug crisis. Over the last year Port Alberni has had over 1,000 deaths per million people, compared to all of B.C. which has had 438 deaths per million, Johns says. Portugal has had six deaths per million, he adds.

“We’re literally off the charts for overdose deaths per capita. I represent a riding very hard hit by the toxic drug crisis, especially for ages 19 to 44, who have a death rate almost five times the provincial average,” he says.

“More people died in Canada last year from overdose than the whole European Union,” Johns says. “We’ve got a lot to learn.”

Johns says it’s his job as a leader to find solutions, so he decided to head to Portugal and see if their model could be imported to Canada.

In the early 2000s there was a high rate of heroin use in Portugal, with around one per cent of the country or 100,000 people estimated to be dependent on opioids. At the same time HIV was spreading as people shared needles. Around 70 per cent of new HIV cases were attributed to intravenous heroin use.

This sparked an overhaul of the country’s drug policy. The national government introduced a “compassionate, health-based approach that is integrated top-to bottom,” he says.

Despite B.C. dealing with a similar total population impacted by drug use — the Ministry of Health says around 100,000 British Columbians have opioid use disorder and are at high risk of accidental overdose if they get drugs from the unregulated illicit market — Canada doesn’t have a national strategy.

In late 2021 Johns tabled a private member’s bill to decriminalize certain substances, expunge certain drug-related convictions and create a national strategy to address the harms caused by “problematic substance use.”

The bill was defeated half a year later in the House of Commons.

A year later Canada still hasn’t created a national strategy or dedicated the “major public resources” needed to save lives, Johns says.

Johns says based on his calculations of the 2023 federal budget, the government has spent $512.6 billion on pandemic-related spending but only $800 million since 2017 on the toxic drug crisis.

To follow Portugal’s example Canada needs to decriminalize personal possession of illicit substances across the country, offer safe supply and treatment on demand and focus on recovery, prevention and education, Johns says, adding this was all outlined in his defeated private member’s bill.

“The Liberals constantly use jurisdiction as a barrier, but they proved through COVID several ways to work through this and to rapidly respond,” he told The Tyee.

This comes down to a lack of political “courage,” something Johns says the Portuguese model isn’t lacking.

Portugal uses a patient-centred integrated care model that focuses equally on treatment, harm reduction, rehabilitation and prevention, he says. This brings together law enforcement, psychologists, health-care workers, social workers, doctors — “everybody is working cohesively with NGOs on the front lines to give people the best chance they can to live the best life they can,” Johns says.

In 2001 the country decriminalized all substances but set limits on quantity, so an individual is generally allowed to carry up to 10 days’ worth of a personal supply. Carrying more than that can lead to criminal charges. This wasn’t a dramatic change for the country’s drug policies because before 2001, police rarely criminalized people for drug use, instead mainly relying on fines to deter people, according to a 2014 review of Portugal’s drug policies.

In B.C. a person 18 years or older can carry up to 2.5 grams worth of certain substances without breaking the law.

Portugal’s harm reduction services mainly focus on opioid substitution treatment and needle and syringe exchanges, according to a 20-year review of the country’s drug policies.

Johns says he was impressed by the speed with which Portugal was able to scale up methadone distribution. Methadone is a long-lasting opioid used as a substitute for people addicted to heroin or morphine. The drug was affordable because the government used its own pharmaceutical labs and personnel to manufacture and scale up production, instead of asking pharmaceutical companies to manufacture the drugs for them, which he says is what Canada does.

In previous reporting about safe supply programs in B.C., The Tyee spoke with doctors, drug policy experts and people with lived experience who said offering people who use drugs alternatives to illicit street drugs has its perks and drawbacks. Offering people regular, safe access to alternatives to illicit street drugs can help people stabilize their lives and reduce the risk of overdose but the substitutions need to match the potency and combination of street drugs the person was using before, otherwise it won’t be effective, The Tyee heard.

In 2001 Portugal had 200 people using methadone and two years later they had 35,000 people using it, Johns says.

Johns says he got to spend a day riding around in the “Mobile Low Threshold Methadone Program,” also known as the “Methadone Mobile Van.”

There are two vans in Lisbon run by Ares do Pinhal, an NGO for social inclusion, that each distribute around 1,350 doses of methadone per day, Johns says. The van will drive to a set location, park for about an hour and greet the people from all walks of life who walk, drive or cycle up to it. People can also access chest X-rays, blood tests and Hepatitis C treatment in the van. After an hour the van will drive to its next set location and repeat the process.

Johns says his time in Portugal has also helped dispel some myths he’s heard about the Portugal model, like how there’s mandatory treatment or how people can go to jail if they refuse treatment.

“The Portuguese officials were very clear with me: not a single person has gone to jail by not going to treatment,” he says.

A police officer can assign someone to a “dissuasion committee” with a member of the judiciary, a health-care worker and social worker. They help connect you with resources so it’s more about creating connections and ensuring patients are aware of what resources are available to them, he says.

Portugal has a much more self-driven process where patients decide what they want, Johns says.

Forced treatment doesn’t work, he says. Instead there are programs such as the methadone van, which dispenses methadone but also gets a team out in the community to help connect people with housing and harm reduction supplies and to ensure people are staying connected with their families.

Treatment is also viewed as a long-term support system, unlike in Canada, where treatment is institutional and people can stay for 30 to 60 days before having to leave, he says.

It’s important to build relationships so that people can access support when they need it, Johns says. When the economy crashes, like in 2012 and again recently with inflation, there’s a “huge spike of relapses,” he says.

Because of the success of the Portuguese model the government had been scaling back resources as demand for treatment beds shrank and the country grappled with its own health care crisis due to a lack of health-care workers.

Now that relapses are rising the country is once again scaling up its national model and preparing for the arrival of synthetic drugs like fentanyl, Johns says. “They’re really forward thinking,” he adds.

Johns says he is “dumbfounded” that Canada still doesn’t have a national strategy to reduce overdose deaths despite B.C. declaring a public health emergency in April 2016. There have been 36,442 toxic drug deaths in Canada between January 2016 and December 2022, which is around 20 deaths per day, according to Health Canada. Since the public health emergency was declared 12,264 British Columbians died from toxic drug poisoning, according to BC Coroner’s Service.

Johns and Hanley aren’t the only politicians who have visited Portugal. In July 2017 then health minister Jane Philpott and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, as well as Canada’s current chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam visited the country. At the time Wilson-Raybould said she learned a “great deal” and would “continue our review of Canada’s criminal justice system.”

Since that visit 10,897 British Columbians have died due to unregulated drugs, according to the BC Coroners Service.

“I’m not going to let up until the government responds,” Johns says.

Michelle Gamage, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee

City flags concerns over potential spills from Trans Mountain at river crossing

Story by The Canadian Press • 

The city of New Westminster has reiterated its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline over concerns the line, which crosses the Fraser River, would have catastrophic effects on people and wildlife in the event of a spill.

Earlier this month, city council voted 4-2 on a motion to convey its concerns in a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator.

“A lot of this motion was getting our opposition on the record,” Coun. Nadine Nakagawa told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview.

Nakagawa’s motion was supported by Mayor Patrick Johnstone, Coun. Ruby Campbell and Coun. Tasha Henderson. The two opposed were Coun. Daniel Fontaine and Coun. Paul Minhas. Minhas and Fontaine did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

The July 19 letter to the regulator highlights "concerns about the structural safety of the TMX pipeline crossing of the Fraser River from Surrey to Coquitlam, B.C."

If an oil spill occurred, it “would be catastrophic,” both for the Fraser River ecosystem — including spawning salmon — and the community’s well-being, said Nakagawa.

“The city of New Westminster is built on the shores of the Fraser River. It is a historic gathering place for First Nations, it is the focal point of our community.”

She says the “basis of the motion is just to speak up against it every chance that we get.”

The City of New Westminster has stood firm in its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) over the years. The city was an intervenor throughout the National Energy Board’s approval process for TMX in 2015, and has characterized that process as “flawed” in press releases. In 2020, the city issued a statement of support for land defenders peacefully protesting the project, and council constantly raises concerns that the TMX project is at odds with Canada’s global climate commitments.

“We have to be consistent in the way that we approach the climate crisis,” said Nakagawa, adding Canada can’t meet its climate targets while building pipelines. At a city council level, she says it’s common for people to say “I support that, but” or “I disagree with that, but.” To her, “you either agree with Trans Mountain as a concept, or you do not,” and if you do, “we can’t pretend that we care about climate and environment impacts.”

Not everyone on city council agrees with Nakagawa on the issue.

“The pipeline is almost built. None of it is going through our jurisdiction,” said Fontaine, one of two councillors who voted against the motion, the New Westminster Record reported. “As was noted previously, we don’t really have any influence; this motion can pass or not pass. It will mean absolutely nothing. It really is symbolic.”

While the project doesn’t go through New Westminster's jurisdiction, council has pointed out on many occasions that the pipeline will run through the Brunette River watershed and adjacent to the Fraser River.

Nakagawa says voicing the council's opposition firmly on the record is important, as is working in solidarity with First Nations who have opposed the project. The Squamish Nation, Coldwater Indian Band and Tsleil-Waututh Nation tried, unsuccessfully, to challenge the project’s approval in court, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation is currently involved in a regulatory dispute regarding the increased tolls Trans Mountain wants to charge oil producers to use the expanded pipeline system.

“In years to come, they might say, ‘Well, nobody opposed it’ … so I think continuing to speak up and say we don't consent to this, we don't agree to this, we don't want it, is really, really important even if it's not going to change the federal government's decision to keep pushing this forward,” said Nakagawa.

If there does happen to be a spill, voicing their opposition will be a cold comfort, she said, but insists “we just have to continue to talk about the fact that pipelines do spill (and) they have devastating impacts on communities.”

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

MEH

Cenovus CEO shrugs off Ottawa's plan to nix subsidies
Story by Jeff Lagerquist •

Cenovus Energy logos are on display at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, June 7, 2022. The Calgary-based oil company says its refinery throughput for the third quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 will be weaker than expected.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Cenovus Energy's (CVE.TO)(CVE) CEO is shrugging off Ottawa's plan to end "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies, while taking a wait-and-see approach to the looming federal cap on oil and gas sector emissions.

"It probably should be a fairly short piece of legislation," Jon McKenzie told analysts on a post-earnings conference call on Thursday, referring to the new subsidy framework unveiled by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault earlier this week.

"I've been in this industry for a lot of years, and many of those years have been spent in finance," he added. "I certainly remember writing a lot of cheques to the provincial and federal governments, but don't remember receiving a lot of cheques in return."

Looking to ensure alignment with federal climate targets, Ottawa's new framework will apply to existing tax measures and 129 non-tax measures. The government has not put a dollar figure on the subsidies impacted, or detailed which measures are included.

"I'm genuinely not aware of any subsidies that are direct to the oil and gas industry that they may or may not be speaking of," McKenzie said.

The new rules do not impact generally available subsidy programs, or money that flows through Crown corporations like Export Development Canada (EDC).

The federal government gave more than $20 billion in subsidies and financial support to fossil fuel companies in 2022, according to the non-profit group Environmental Defence. Of this, $19.8 billion was financing provided through EDC. Julia Levin, the group's associate director of national climate, called this a "glaring omission" in a statement on Monday.

Calgary-based Cenovus will be among the companies subject to Ottawa's planned cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, a final version of which is set to be published by mid-2024, according to Reuters.

Canada has committed to net-zero by 2050, with an interim target requiring the oil and gas industry to cut 42 per cent of its emissions below 2019 levels by 2030.

McKenzie says he is "waiting for more details on this."

Former Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix told Yahoo Finance Canada in March that a 42 per cent cut by 2030 is "not feasible by any stretch."

Cenovus reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday. The company booked a lower profit year-over-year due to weaker oil prices, while cutting its production guidance for the year due to wildfires.

Toronto-listed shares climbed 3.11 per cent to $24.55 as at 2:32 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Teck Resources says still evaluating options on coal business sale

 The Canadian Press

Teck Resources Ltd. is making progress in evaluating the various offers put forward by prospective buyers of its steelmaking coal business, the Vancouver-based mining company said Thursday.

On a conference call, CEO Jonathan Price declined to say whether a deal is imminent, but said Teck's board and an independent special committee are engaged with "multiple counterparties" and are progressing talks as quickly as possible.

"I don't want to say anything now to prejudge or pre-empt what the outcome might be. We'll take the time to get it right," said Price, who took questions from financial analysts following the release of the company's second-quarter earnings report.

"But we're not sitting on our hands here. We're taking a very active and diligent approach to moving this forward as quickly as we can."

Teck, Canada's largest diversified mining company, has been working to split its coal assets from its base metal operations, in the hope of expanding its copper and zinc production to meet growing global demand for these metals, both of which are used in the production of electric vehicles and are considered to be key resources for the coming energy transition.

But a wrinkle was thrown into that plan this spring when Swiss commodities giant Glencore launched its $25-billion hostile takeover bid for Teck.

Teck's board rejected Glencore's original offer. But Glencore notched a victory of its own in April, when Teck called off a shareholder vote on its plan to spin off its steelmaking coal operations into a separate company. It had become apparent Teck did not have the required support for its proposal, which Glencore had lobbied against.

Glencore has since presented a new offer to Teck's board, proposing to acquire the steelmaking portion of the company's business for an undisclosed amount of cash.

The Swiss company has said it also remains willing to pursue its offer for all of Teck.


Price said the various parties that have expressed interest in Teck's coal business have brought a forward a "range of proposals," and added the board will only sign off on a deal that maximizes the value of the business.

"There will be a range of considerations we need to consider as we make those decisions," he said.

"We have deliberately sought to keep a very open mind here.”

The update on the coal business negotiations came as Teck lowered its annual production guidance for its flagship project — its Quebrada Blanca, or QB2 copper mine expansion in Chile — due to construction and commissioning challenges.

The company said Thursday it now expects annual copper production of 330,000 tonnes to 375,000 tonnes, down from its previous estimate of 390,000 tonnes to 445,000 tonnes.

Price said Teck continues to expect the QB2 expansion project to be operating at full production rates by the end of this year, and added the company's copper production guidance for the mine for 2024-2026 remains unchanged.

Teck also reported the death of an employee at the QB2 mine site during the quarter.

The company's profit attributable to shareholders fell to $643 million for the three months ended June 30, down from $1.8 billion during the same period the year before, as global copper prices fell.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $3.5 billion, down from $5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2022.

On an adjusted basis, Teck says it earned $1.22 per diluted share for its most recent quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $3.25 per diluted share a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TECK.B)

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

California, other states move to block 3M's $10.3 billion PFAS deal

The 3M Global Headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota

By Clark Mindock

(Reuters) - A group of 22 states and U.S. territories on Wednesday moved to block a proposed $10.3 billion settlement that would resolve claims against 3M Co over water pollution tied to “forever chemicals,” claiming the deal fails to adequately hold the company accountable.

The group, led by California and including Texas, New York and the District of Columbia, filed a motion to intervene noting their opposition in South Carolina federal court, where thousands of lawsuits against 3M and other companies over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are being fought.

The proposed deal would provide funds over a 13-year period to cities, towns and other public water systems to test and treat contamination of PFAS. But the states said it isn't enough to account for the damage caused by the chemicals, which are used in a wide range of products from firefighting foam to non-stick cookware to cosmetics and have been linked to cancers, hormonal dysfunction and environmental damage.

The states said the deal, announced June 22, includes a broad release of liability, which could hamper future litigation.

They also said the deal could shift liability for future health concerns caused by PFAS from 3M onto the water systems themselves.

The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, who is overseeing the cases in South Carolina.

3M, which is facing thousands of lawsuits over PFAS contamination, did not admit liability in the proposed settlement. It said in June that the money will help support remediation at public water systems that detect PFAS "at any level."

The deal did not cover claims related to personal injury or property damage from PFAS contamination.

Three New York State cities with claims related to cleaning up PFAS at superfund sites in their jurisdiction also moved to block the settlement earlier this month. They claimed the water system settlement would reduce the amount of 3M money available to clean up those types of sites across the country, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates could cost more than $17 billion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has called PFAS an “urgent public health and environmental issue.” The substances are dubbed "forever chemicals" because they do not easily break down in the human body or environment.

The EPA has taken several steps in recent years to tighten regulations for the chemicals, and in March announced the first-ever national drinking water standards for six of the chemicals.

3M in December set a 2025 deadline to stop producing PFAS.

(Reporting by Clark Mindock; editing by Amy Stevens and Aurora Ellis)

G20 environment ministers to meet amid record heat. Can Canada lead the way?
Story by Uday Rana • 2h ago

Workers install a logo ahead of G20 meeting in Gandhinagar, India, Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)© Provided by Global News

When the environment ministers of the G20 nations meet in Chennai, India on Friday, they will be capping off what's set to be the hottest month on record for Earth. Analysts say the meeting will set the tone for the COP28 summit in November this year and that Canada has the chance to lead the way.

The G20 nations comprise some of the world's biggest polluters, including Canada, the United States, China and India. Together, this group accounts for 78 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting comes just days after Canada became the first G20 country to roll out a plan to phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies.

“This meeting is happening during unprecedented climate events across the world. We really need progress on climate action. The G20 ministers need to meet this moment,” said Pratishtha Singh, senior policy analyst at Climate Action Network Canada.

According to Indian media reports, the environment ministers are likely to discuss climate mitigation, adaptation and climate finance. Hindustan Times, a leading Indian daily, also reported that the G20 communique was likely to outline the G20’s expectations for the upcoming COP28 summit in Dubai.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault reached India on Tuesday to attend the summit.

“Minister Guilbeault is in India to strengthen global cooperation on climate, biodiversity, and pollution alongside Indian and international partners. Together, we’re committed to building a healthier planet for all,” Environment Canada said in a statement.

A day before he left for India, Guilbeault released a framework to review and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Canada is the first G20 country to roll out such a plan.

Under the framework, unless a fossil fuel company significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, supports Indigenous participation, offers essential energy services to remote communities, provides short-term support for an emergency or supports projects that include carbon capture, their subsidies would be deemed “inefficient” and phased out.

Singh believes the timing of Canada’s announcement will pressure some of the bigger polluters to also consider phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

“Canada is showing an example to the other G20 countries. This language around fossil fuel phase-down will come up in the coming moments,” she said.

She said while Canada’s plan is not without flaws, Ottawa must try to convince the rest of the G20 to adopt a similar framework. The global conversation, she said, is moving toward phasing out financing for fossil fuels.

The environment ministers' meeting, however, comes against the backdrop of an energy ministers’ meeting last week, which ended in disappointment. The G20 underlined the need to have a just and sustainable energy transition, but failed to agree to a framework to phase down fossil fuels. Last week’s stumbling block does not bode well for climate negotiations going forward.

On Thursday morning, UN climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell and COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber issued a joint statement on the outcomes of the energy meeting.

“While the discussions at the G20 Energy Ministerial considered energy transition and aligning current pathways with the Paris Goals, the outcome did not provide a sufficiently clear signal for transforming global energy systems, scaling up renewable and clean energy sources and responsibly phasing down fossil fuels,” they said in their statement.

The joint statement said the G20 had the responsibility to lead the way in terms of climate action.

“The G20 is responsible for 85% of the world’s GDP, but also 80% of the world’s emissions. Leadership by the G20 is indispensable to enable an inclusive and ambitious development agenda that demonstrates to the world that the transformation towards a net-zero and climate resilient world comes with great benefits for growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development,” they said.

Video: Ottawa changing conditions around future fossil fuel subsidies

The G20 ministerial comes at a time when Canada is facing a record-breaking wildfire season and heavy flooding events. Europe and North America have also recorded heat waves this month.

Researchers say the deadly hot spells in the American southwest and southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing buildup of warming gases in the air.

These unusually strong heat waves are becoming more common, a recent study has found. The same research found the increase in heat-trapping gases, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, has made another heat wave — this time in China — 50 times more likely with the potential to occur every five years or so.

A stagnant atmosphere, warmed by carbon dioxide and other gases, also made the European heat wave 2.5 C hotter, the one in the United States and Mexico 2 C warmer and the one in China 1 C toastier, the study found.

Experts argue that Canada’s plan to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, while a welcome measure, does not go far enough and has loopholes. In particular, they say the plan does not apply to loans, guarantees and equity given to the TransMountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines.

TransMountain was bought by the federal government in 2018 with plans to sell down the road.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is owned by TC Energy, the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and KKR & Co. Inc., with 20 First Nations holding options agreements for a 10 per cent equity stake.

— with files from The Canadian Press

CELTIC INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

Archaeologists discover ancient glass workshop near central European Alps

Story by By JERUSALEM POST STAFF • 

Glass bracelets from female graves in Bohemia. La Tène culture, 3rd century BC. 

The Celts, exhibition in the National Museum in Prague.

© (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

After two decades of meticulous above-ground surveys, archaeologists have finally embarked on an extensive excavation of the renowned Iron Age site of Němčice, uncovering compelling evidence of the earliest glass workshop located north of the Alps.

Němčice, a historically significant settlement site from the La Tène Period (3rd-2nd century BCE) in Central Europe, has long been celebrated for its exceptional trove of over 2,000 gold and silver coins.

Additionally, the discovery of numerous glass bracelets and beads hinted at the site's association with glass production. However, it is only through these recent excavations that this speculation has been conclusively confirmed.

Leading the research team is Dr. Ivan Čižmář from the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Brno, who expressed their fascination with understanding the Celts' glass-making techniques.

"No one yet knows how exactly the Celts made glass bracelets," he remarked, emphasizing the need to shed light on the technology of production.


Fragment of an imported glass vessel. Celtic settlement in Strakonice. Probably th century BC. (Strakonice Museum.) The Celts, exhibition in the National Museum in Prague. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

In their endeavor to answer this long-standing question, Dr. Čižmář and the team focused on excavating an area where substantial amounts of glass objects were previously found on the surface. Their findings have been published in the journal Antiquity.

Excavation yielded an array of both complete, partially finished glass products

Although specific glass-making tools remained elusive, the excavation yielded an array of both complete and partially finished glass products, providing compelling evidence that Němčice was indeed a hub for glass production.

The excavation unearthed not only glass beads and bracelets but also fragments of amber, revealing the complex's association with multiple materials in the production process.

This discovery further underscores Němčice's regional significance as a center for craftsmanship and trade.

Simultaneously, the researchers explored a square area within Němčice, identified through a geophysical survey as the highest part of the site.

The similarities it shares with potential ritual structures found in Austria suggest the presence of shared beliefs among Central European communities.

Dr. Čižmář elaborated, "The presence of these likely sacred features at Němčice indicates the character of the site not only as a trade and production center but also as a seat of an elite and a ritual center."

Moreover, the possibility of Němčice serving as both a production center and a focal point for shared beliefs suggests its integration into a broader Central European network along the famed "Amber Road."

This ancient trade route facilitated significant commerce between Northern and Southern Europe, highlighting the site's pivotal role in regional connectivity during ancient times.

As e-bikes proliferate, so do deadly fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries

NEW YORK (AP) — The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above the burning store.

As the ubiquity of e-bikes has grown, so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them, prompting a campaign to establish regulations on how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored.

Consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so that unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don't reach streets and endanger homes.

These aren’t typical fires, said New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. The batteries don’t smolder; they explode.

“The number of fire incidents has rapidly increased. Other cities across the country have begun seeing these issues as well, and municipalities that are not yet experiencing this phenomenon may be facing similar incidents in the future," Kavanagh told the commission Thursday at a forum focused on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.

“We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York,” she told commissioners.

With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.

Nationally, there were more than 200 battery-related fires reported to the commission — an obvious undercount — from 39 states over the past two years, including 19 deaths blamed on so-called micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards.


New York’s two U.S. senators, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, introduced legislation last month that would set mandatory safety standards for e-bikes and the batteries that power them.

Because mandatory standards don't exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the U.S., increasing the risk of fires.

In many cases, authorities have been challenged to track the source of batteries manufactured overseas, many of them bought online or from aftermarket dealers.

Earlier this year, New York City urgently enacted a sweeping package of local laws intended to crack down on defective batteries, including a ban on the sale or rental of e-bikes and batteries that aren’t certified as meeting safety standards by an independent product testing lab.

The new rules also outlaw tampering with batteries or selling refurbished batteries made with lithium-ion cells scavenged from used units.

Meanwhile, New York City officials also announced they had received a $25 million federal grant for e-bike charging stations across the city, which fire marshals hope will reduce the risk of fires.

Related video: Fire deaths prompt federal review of e-bike rules 

(The Associated Press)   Duration 3:19   View on Watch

“When they fail, they fail quite spectacularly,” Kavanagh said in interview last week. “Once one of these ignites, there is a huge volume of fire, often so much so that the person in their home can’t get out and the firefighters can’t get in to get them."

Such was the case in April when two siblings, a 7-year-old boy and his 19-year-old sister, died when a scooter battery ignited a fire in Queens.

Because of the fire hazard, some residential buildings have banned e-bikes. Last summer, the New York City Housing Authority sought to prohibit tenants in all of its 335 developments from keeping or charging e-vehicles in their units, only to back down a few months later after protests from delivery workers.

Use of motorized bicycles grew dramatically in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic as homebound people turned more to food delivery workers for meals and groceries.

With the rash of fires, delivery workers like Lizandro Lopez say they are now more mindful about precautions.

“As soon as the battery is charged, I disconnect it. You shouldn’t leave it charging for too long,” Lopez said in Spanish, “because if you leave it on there too long, that’s when you can cause a fire.”

Los Deliveristas Unidos, which represents app-based delivery workers in the New York area, estimates that fewer than 10% of e-bikes sold in the city have been deemed safe by a third-party evaluator, such as UL Solutions, a product testing company that certifies safety compliance for a host of electrical products, including Christmas lights and televisions.

E-bike batteries rely on the same chemistry to generate power as the lithium-ion batteries in cellphones, laptops and most electric vehicles — products that were initially prone to overheating.

Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices, according to Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions.

The same can happen with e-bike batteries, he said, if they are made to comply with established safety standards. One feature most of these batteries lack is the ability to automatically shut off to prevent overheating and “thermal runaways” that lead to explosions and fires.

“We just need to make them safe, and there is a way to make them safe through testing and certification," Slone said, “given the history that we’ve seen in terms of fires and injuries and unfortunately, deaths as well — not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.”

In London, the fire brigade says lithium batteries are the city’s fastest growing fire risk, with one fire erupting about every two days. Last year, there were a total of 116 fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters. At least one death has been attributed this year to an overheated battery.

In San Francisco, there have been at least 21 battery fires so far this year — compared with just 13 battery-related fires in 2017, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Last year, some 1.1 million e-bikes were imported into the U.S., according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, an industry group. In 2021, more than 880,000 e-bikes came into the country — about double from the year before and triple the number in 2019.

Many of the batteries now on the road are substandard or aftermarket products that are known fire hazards but are popular with delivery workers because they are cheaper.

PeopleForBikes Coalition, an industry trade group, called on the government Thursday to close off the borders to unsafe lithium-ion batteries.

“If the agency follows through and creates these regulations, those regulations alone won't be enough,” Matt Moore, the group's general and policy counsel, told the commission.

Even with new rules and standards, he said, overseas sellers and manufacturers could still ship possibly unsafe products to the United States.

“Our research has shown there are over 400 online sellers of e-bikes who are not our members, companies that are not present in the United States except to sell their products to consumers,” he said, including generic products and accessories that falsely claim they are certified.

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Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey and video producer Vanessa A. Alvarez contributed to this report.

Bobby Caina Calvan, The Associated Press