B.C. university instructor files human rights complaint over worries 'life-changing' drug coverage will end

CBC
Mon, November 20, 2023 

An instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C., claims the university has discriminated against him, and his union is also grieving a matter it says is related. (Kwantlen Polytechnic University (kpu.ca) - image credit)

A British Columbia university instructor has filed a human rights complaint against Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) and two administrators, claiming the university is discriminating against him and causing him distress over concerns he could soon lose coverage for a "life-changing" drug.

Mazen Guirguis says he filed the complaint in September because he is seeing strong indications risdiplam — which costs nearly $1,000 per day — will no longer be covered after Dec. 22, but that the Surrey-based university won't tell him if his coverage eligibility has changed.

Guirguis' complaint also names KPU president Alan Davis and vice-president of human resources Laurie Clancy as respondents.

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has not yet decided whether it will hear the complaint, and KPU said it has not yet seen the complaint and won't comment on specifics.

Mazen Guirguis, a philosophy instructor and former dean of humanities at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, has claimed the university and two administrators discriminated against him as he worries he will soon not have coverage for an expensive drug he says has been "life-changing."

Mazen Guirguis, a philosophy instructor and former dean of humanities at Kwantlen Polytechnic, says he does not know if he will have risdiplam coverage after Dec. 22. (Submitted by Mazen Guirguis)

Guirguis, a former dean at KPU, uses a motorized wheelchair due to Type 3 spinal-muscular atrophy, a severe and progressive neuro-muscular disease that causes muscles to weaken.

He says risdiplam has been "miraculous," pausing his deterioration, improving some motor function and giving him hope to remain as independent as possible.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that I have been actually thinking about and hoping for this all of my life," said Guirguis, 53, near his home in Coquitlam, about 25 kilometres east of Vancouver.

"I'll never be able to walk again or run a marathon, but still, not deteriorating, this is quite literally a life-changing thing."

Access confusion

Guirguis says he was eager to try risdiplam when it was approved by Health Canada in 2021, but when he searched the drug in his Manulife claims portal, he says, nothing came up. The insurer said it wasn't covered and so did his union, Guirguis says.

In early 2022, Guirguis says a union representative told him he should try applying again.

Guirguis claims he contacted Manulife in June 2022 and the insurer issued him a prior authorization form that listed risdiplam in the drop-down menu of options to select.

After submitting the form and passing several tests, he was approved for 90 days of coverage in September 2022, and then for another year of coverage last December.

"It is difficult to fully describe in words the relief I and my family felt at that moment," Guirguis wrote in his complaint.

But now Guirguis says he doesn't know if he'll have coverage after his current authorization expires on Dec. 22.

He says risdiplam wasn't on the drop-down menu of the form Manulife gave him when he went to apply for a renewal in September, and a customer service representative confirmed it was the correct form.

Guirguis has applied with an older form that does list risdiplam, but has not heard from Manulife whether it has been accepted. He says KPU also has not responded to his questions about coverage.

Risdiplam, sold under the brand name Evrysdi in Canada, costs nearly $1,000 per day.

Risdiplam, sold under the brand name Evrysdi in Canada, costs nearly $1,000 per day. (Evrysdi/evrysdi.com)

"It's just sheer uncertainty," Guirguis said. "I have no idea what's going to happen."

KPU declined to answer whether its plan currently covers risdiplam or respond to a detailed list of questions about Guirguis' claims, citing privacy in an emailed statement to CBC News.

Manulife declined to comment on Guirguis' case specifically, citing privacy reasons, but said in a Thursday statement to CBC News that the company strives "to provide coverage with minimal disruption as part of our legacy commitment."

Union grievance ongoing

The issues Guirguis faces are complex, and his union, the Kwantlen Faculty Association (KFA), believes they are connected to wider concerns with an optional Manulife program, DrugWatch, that the union is currently grieving.

Launched in 2015, DrugWatch analyzes the costs and potential benefits of new medications before deciding to cover them "to help ensure value for money in a dramatically changing drug market," according to a Manulife report.

In a 2021 arbitration decision, the B.C. Labour Relations Board found Douglas College's enrolment in DrugWatch had violated its collective agreement with instructors, and ordered the institution to opt-out immediately.

"DrugWatch is discriminatory, it is unfair, and it is ethically questionable," union vice-president Diane Walsh wrote in a June 2023 email to all KFA members, shared with CBC News.

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal office is pictured in Vancouver on March 27, 2023.
Guirguis has filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, which has not yet decided whether it will hear the matter. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

KPU would not say whether it is enrolled in DrugWatch or whether the program has impacted coverage of risdiplam, citing the ongoing grievance.

"The university cares deeply about the wellbeing of its employees and has a strong package of resources and benefits in place to support their needs," said Jenn Harrington, associate vice-president of people relations in an emailed statement to CBC News.

In a May 2023 email to Guirguis viewed by CBC News, another administrator denied that Guirguis' access to risdiplam had been impacted by DrugWatch, and blamed the prior authorization process for the delay he described.

But Guirguis says prior authorization has never been an issue and the response misconstrued his concerns.

Ineligible for public coverage

While not considered life-threatening like other types, Type 3 SMA is a disease that can drastically reduce quality of life, causing muscle and joint aches, spine curvature, difficulty walking and disruptive tremors.

There are up to 2,140 cases of all four types of SMA combined in Canada, with about 35 new cases per year, according to a 2021 study.

Unlike in Saskatchewan and Quebec, Type 3 patients aren't eligible for public coverage of risdiplam in B.C.

Provincial coverage for the drug is limited to about 33 eligible children and young adults under 25 who suffer from life-threatening Types 1 and 2 SMA, which lead to much shorter lifespans, according to a 2022 statement from the ministry of health.

The ministry cited a 2021 finding that there is limited clinical evidence about risdiplam's efficacy for older adults by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies, an independent non-governmental organization that advises government and insurers on pharmaceutical coverage.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, a health ministry spokesperson said the ministry has "a rigorous scientific and evidence-based review process to ensure that coverage is provided for drugs with evidence of clinical, safety and cost-effectiveness benefits while ensuring sustainability of the drug plan."

Uncertainty looms

Guirguis says the uncertainty around his drug coverage after Dec. 22 amounts to 'cruelty.' (Submitted by Mazen Guirguis)

Guirguis says the drug has changed his life, and if his Manulife coverage eligibility ends, he will apply for the province to cover the medication.

Some people with SMA may be granted coverage under the health ministry's Expensive Drugs for Rare Diseases program, but applications "are considered on a case-by-case, last-resort basis," said the spokesperson.

Guirguis has also applied to fast-track his complaint at the backlogged B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, and is seeking an interim order for KPU to withdraw from DrugWatch until the matter is settled.

But with waits up to a year for the tribunal to review a complaint, it's unlikely it will be resolved until long after his current coverage authorization expires.

Guirguis says the uncertainty he is facing amounts to "cruelty."

"I have a moral obligation to stand up for this," he said.

"Even if I was guaranteed to have coverage for the rest of my life … it could be anybody else that had a similar condition next time."

PRO PALESTINE IS NOT PRO HAMAS

'He does not deserve this': University of Ottawa criticized after medical resident suspended for pro-Palestine posts

A petition aiming to reinstate Dr. Yipeng Ge and launch an inquiry into the school's faculty of medicine has received more than 28,000 signatures

Katie Scott
Sun, November 19, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. MST·3 min read

The University of Ottawa is being criticized for suspending a medical resident after he shared pro-Palestinian views on social media.

Dr. Yipeng Ge, a resident physician in his fourth year of public health and preventive medicine, has been reposting information on X — previously known as Twitter — since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

A joint Instagram post on Saturday by journalist Shaun King and a page called Hidden Palestine indicates Ge was "abruptly" suspended from his residency. It also alleged the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Medicine misused its authority, intimidating residents and students through censorship, and urged people to call on the school to investigate professor Dr. Yoni Freedhoff.

Freedhoff, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, wrote a blog post On Nov. 2, targeting Ge for his pro-Palestinian social media posts and accusing him of antisemitism. Freedhoff also called out Ge on X, claiming he was spreading antisemitism.

Allegedly, Ge was suspended shortly after Freedhoff's blog was published.

In response to Ge's suspension, a petition was created with the aim of reinstating him and launching an inquiry into the program. The petition goes further, urging the University of Ottawa to "issue an apology for the failure to engage in due process in the investigation of Dr. Yipeng Ge and other students of the University of Ottawa who have been unjustly denied their fundamental right to free expression."

The petition also calls for the University of Ottawa to take steps to protect Ge from further harassment and to address Freedhoff's alleged actions, holding him accountable for harassing the medical resident and potentially exposing him to physical and reputational harm.

As of Sunday afternoon, the petition has received more than 28,000 signatures.

Following the news of Ge's suspension, many social media users began criticizing the University of Ottawa. Numerous people highlighted the medical resident had been actively sharing posts advocating for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The tweets I have seen by @yipengGe have called for a ceasefire & pointed out the tremendous suffering of the Palestinian people. There has been no hate speech or antisemitism.

This is sadly an example of bullying in medicine & academia@uOttawa please do better

— RealMed, MD🇨🇦💅🏽 (@RealMed3) November 19, 2023

Yahoo Canada has reached out to Ge and the University of Ottawa for comment.

Here's how this week's strikes will play out in western Quebec

CBC
Mon, November 20, 2023 

Members of the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l'Outaouais rally during a one-day public sector strike earlier this month. They'll be returning to the picket lines again this week barring a last-minute change.

 (Mateo Garcia-Tremblay/Radio-Canada - image credit)

Public sector workers are once again poised to return to the picket lines in the Outaouais this week as widespread labour unrest continues in Quebec.

Teachers, nurses, health-care workers, junior college professors and other employees say they will all be on strike at various times over the next few days, barring a last-minute deal or other change.

Broadly speaking, they're calling for better pay and working conditions. This week's job action comes on the heels of a one-day strike earlier this month.

There are three different groups of unions to know about, each with different plans:

Employees associated with an umbrella group of unions that's come to be known as the Front commun are looking to walk off the job Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Health-care workers, including school nurses, associated with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) plan to strike Thursday and Friday.

Many teachers affiliated with the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) are eyeing a strike starting Thursday. It's unclear how long they will be off the job as they have not set an end date.

Here's a look at how some services in the Outaouais could be affected during the labour disruptions.

School service centres and boards

All five school service centres and boards serving the Outaouais will be suspending most activities on Tuesday.

The Portages-de-l'Outaouais, Draveurs and Cœur-des-Vallées service centres say they will be indefinitely suspending classes and daycares starting Tuesday.

The other two, Hauts-Bois-de-l'Outaouais and the Western Québec School Board (WQSB), are only pausing classes, daycare and transportation during the three-day common front strike.

Their teachers are not affiliated with the FAE, so operations should return to normal by Friday. For the WQSB, that means a PD day to end the school week.

Demonstators hold signs at a public workers' protest outside Collège de Maisonneuve.

Demonstators hold signs at a public workers' protest outside Collège de Maisonneuve in Montreal Nov. 6. (Jennifer Yoon/CBC)

CEGEPs

The CEGEP de l'Outaouais will close during the three-day disruption as most of its employees are with unions belonging to the common front.

A spokesperson told Radio-Canada classes and internships will run as usual on Monday and Friday.

CEGEP Heritage College has not shared any information nor replied to a Radio-Canada request for information. Its employees did walk off the job during the previous strike on Nov. 6.

Health services

Members of the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l'Outaouais are part of FIQ and will return to the picket lines on Thursday and Friday.

In a French-language statement Friday, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO), western Quebec's health authority, said emergency departments and intensive care units would not be affected.

However, the strike would "undoubtedly lead to a slowdown" in some less essential areas of care, CISSSO said.

It promised more details on Monday.

NAPE gathers home-care workers to share concerns — and prepare for upcoming contract talks

CBC
Mon, November 20, 2023 

The Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees represents more than 4,000 home support workers in the province. The compensation and benefits they receive, says president Jerry Earle, are in dire need of improvement. 

A weekend conference organized by Newfoundland and Labrador's largest union brought about 100 home-care support workers together in St. John's to discuss shared experiences and concerns.

NAPE president Jerry Earle says the event was also an opportunity to prepare for upcoming collective bargaining.

"It is a very difficult process. It's a challenging process. I think I heard a federal minister say, 'It's ugly sometimes,'" said Earle.

"But at the end of the day, it's parties coming together realizing — and I hope the employers … and government realize — the value these workers bring."

NAPE represents more than 4,000 home support workers, employed by 19 different agencies. The collective agreement between the agencies and NAPE is set to expire March 31. Home-support workers employed by one of the agencies currently earn $16.95 per hour, with a 10-cent increase scheduled for April 1.

Earle said wages and benefits will be a major focus of the upcoming bargaining process.

"You're not going to keep these workers in the system or attract people to home care unless you value their work," he said.

"They are critical to the health-care system. They allow seniors and people with disabilities to be able to age in place. They have been never properly recognized, they've been never professionalized and they certainly haven't been appropriately compensated."

Earle said long commutes for assignments of only one or two hours, and a lack of benefits — such as group insurance, pension or retirement plans — are among the problems many members face.

He also said many home support workers experience isolation, since they work by themselves in clients' homes and don't have opportunities to discuss concerns with fellow workers.

Jerry Earle is president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, the largest public sector union in the province.

Earle says a weekend home care conference offered an important opportunity for home care workers to connect. (Terry Roberts/CBC)

Providing a platform for them do that, said Earle, is "critical."

"It's great to be able to get together because every bargaining unit that we overview, employer that we represent, has members here, so they understand now, 'Wow, there's 20-odd other companies, we're very similar, our issues are the same,'" he said.

It's the first time home-care workers have gathered as a group since before the COVID-19 pandemic began, he said.

"This is the first time in Newfoundland and Labrador they have actually been able to get together from every community in Newfoundland and Labrador, talk about issues that are common to them and understand their issues are similar, whether in St. Anthony or St. John's or Port aux Basques."

While the Health Accord and a report published Thursday by the province's seniors' advocate acknowledge the value of home care for society, he said, tangible financial improvements are needed for the province to be able to recruit and retain workers.

"I can tell you, collectively, we're going to step up and make that an issue," said Earle.

"While I'm in this position, we're going to be supporting them 100 per cent. We're going to be going to the bargaining table and say, 'This is not right.'"

According to the Health Accord, there are about 8,500 home care workers in the province.

The provincial government announced just under $8 million in funding for home support agencies on Oct. 3, to try to implement better standards of care. That money does not go towards an increase in workers' wages.

Editorial: State leaders muzzle Floridians who want to speak out

2023/11/20

An aerial photo of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. 

- Felix Mizioznikov/Dreamstime/TNS

Floridians, take notice. Your right to a representative government is being stolen away.

Recent headlines document angry eruptions among an audience of people who show up to meetings ready to tell their leaders what they think — only to be muzzled by time limits that shut down somewould-be participants before they could utter a single word.

More often, however, the exclusion is happening quietly and secretly, in meetings that never take place. Closed doors that should be open. A row of empty seats on a dais, facing a roomful of chairs that are also empty.

The result, however, is the same: The only people who can register their concerns face-to-face with their elected officials are the elites who can afford the private clubs and campaign contributions that give them direct access to power. The voices of regular Floridians are shut out or told to shut up.

‘Let us speak’

That latter command stirred an outcry Nov. 9-10 when the Board of Governors of Florida’s state university system convened in Orlando. As the Sentinel’s Annie Martin reported, a crowd primed to protest rules that threaten free-expression rights on Florida campuses overspilled the boundaries of the meeting room and a designated overflow room.

In a cruelly related dictate, Board Chairman Brian Lamb denied them the right to speak in favor of free speech, diversity and inclusion — by imposing a 15-minute time limit on all public comment. When he gaveled the discussion to a close, the crowd chanted “Let us speak.” But a majority of board members were unwilling to listen.

Lamb said the limitation was “customary,” Martin reported. That’s categorically false. Across Florida, elected and appointed boards and commissions have taken it as a point of pride: When their constituents show up to a public meeting, they deserve the opportunity to be heard. It’s even enshrined in the state constitution.  

A brutal quiet

Even worse, however, are those meetings that never take place. The public is not just shut out of a chance to talk about what their elected officials are doing — they are denied the chance to listen.

That was also on display — or rather, not — over the past week, which was one of the last scheduled committee weeks before the state Legislature starts its regular session in January.

‘These committee meetings are essential parts of Florida’s legislative process, because they are the public’s only opportunity to directly address lawmakers on issues that are important to everyday Floridians. Of 35 House committees, 16 canceled their meetings last week; the ratio was even worse in the Senate, where 17 of 26 committees did not meet. Among them: All 10 of the committees Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, serves on, including Banking and Insurance; Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Appropriations. Stewart said she didn’t even bother to return to Tallahassee after the November 6-10 special session.

The cost of those cancellations could be devastating for Floridians who hoped to ask lawmakers for statutory changes governing everything from homeowners’ associations to prison conditions — or to register their opposition to policies that take away essential freedoms or reduce oversight. Because legislation must be heard in at least one committee before it goes to the floor, shutting down committee meetings means narrowing the pipeline that allows that information to flow. It also means an increased likelihood that lawmakers will seek to link their unheard bills to other legislation — creating massive “trains” that thunder through the legislative process before anyone can register what’s happening.

We’d like Senate President Katherine Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner to explain why these meetings were canceled, and pledge that legislation will be given ample public hearing time.

Stewart says she’s worried that many of her bills will die on the vine. That includes tax exemptions for local businesses, and a request from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to preserve evidence that supports victims of sexual assault. Lately, she said, she’s hearing disturbing rumors that an entire week’s worth of committee meetings in December might also be canceled. “We’re already at a breaking point,” she told the Orlando Sentinel Thursday. “I’ve never seen anything like this happen before.”

Closed doors

But it has — with the Florida Cabinet, a governmental construction that is unique to this state. The Cabinet includes the governor along with three independent, statewide leaders — the attorney general, the chief financial officer and the commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. It’s intended to serve as a check over a governor’s executive power by providing independent oversight for executive-branch operations and finances. The same officials make up several independent boards, such as the State Board of Administration, which oversees the state’s multi-billion-dollar investment accounts; the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, charged with protecting the state’s environment while hearing appeals of local growth decisions and the State Board of Executive Clemency, which considers civil rights of former felons.

In a normal year, the Cabinet (and the associated commissions) would have met at least 11 times, usually over a two-day span. This year, the Cabinet met five times. Three of those meetings were by phone. One, on March 13, was only seven minutes long.

This is how Floridians lose their chance to be heard. The business of state government grinds on — but it does so in secret, with no oversight, no chance to voice protest or encouragement to those entrusted with vast power.

Floridians must confront their elected and appointed leaders and demand change. It will be hard, since they can’t even see, right now, what opportunities are being taken away. It may require more amendments to the state constitution — but even that is no guarantee, since many provisions meant to hold Florida’s leaders accountable are being trampled. In the end, all Floridians can do is register our outrage directly to elected officials and in the voting booth.

Our birthright is sunshine. But darkness is taking hold.

____

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com

© Orlando Sentinel

Israel attack has torn a rift in MAGA's ranks: expert

Sky Palma
November 17, 2023 

(Photo by Roy Rochlin/WireImage)

The debate over the Israel-Palestinian conflict — especially in the wake of the worst terror attack in Israel's history carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7 — is causing serious rifts within the MAGA faithful, according to an expert.

Speaking to Newsweek, University College London professor Julie Norman said that when it comes to conservatives, their views "in general" are "more diverse than they seem on the surface" — which is likely the cause of the rift over Israel.

The disagreements were highlighted by the recent blowup between Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens of conservative news website The Daily Wire.

While it was brewing for some time, that feud came to a head when Owens posted to X two biblical quotes — "blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God," and "you cannot serve both God and money."

Shapiro, who is Jewish and a diehard supporter of Israel, fired back at Owens' post, writing, "If you feel that taking money from The Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God, by all means quit," to which Owens replied by calling him "utterly out of line" and accusing him of behaving "unhinged for weeks now."

According to Norman, the Owen-Shapiro feud is a reflection of a larger split within the conservative movement.

"Most [GOP] policymakers are vocally in lockstep with Israel, but the more isolationist wing of the party doesn't want to get pulled in further to an unpredictable conflict in the Middle East, and some voters are wary of increasing foreign aid in general, even to long-standing allies like Israel," Norman told Newsweek.

"This is a bit different than the seeming 'pro-Israel' v. 'pro-Palestine' split that we see in the Democratic Party, and more a reflection of the competing tensions in the GOP between 'America as Global Leader' v. 'America First' perspectives," she added.

NASA’s successful recovery of asteroid samples may reveal information about the universe

The Conversation
November 17, 2023

The OSIRIS-REx mission collected rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu in 2020, and a capsule containing the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth a little over two weeks ago, landing in the Utah desert 

(Keegan BARBER/AFP)

OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security - Regolith Explorer. The sealed capsule landed on Sept. 24 near Salt Lake City, Utah, a feat that was broadcast live by NASA.

My research investigates geologic samples in craters formed by meteorite collisions on Earth. These samples include materials that can be found on other planetary bodies like the moon, Mars and asteroids.

NASA’s live feed of OSIRIS-REx landing on Sept. 24.



Asteroid samples

Planning for the OSIRIS-REx mission dates back to the 2010s, but the vision of a mission to bring back samples of an asteroid goes back even further.

The importance of planetary sample return missions was already being recognized in the 1960s, during the Apollo era, with the collection of several suites of lunar rock samples by astronauts.

In 1986, comet Halley’s close approach to Earth sparked an interest in the global scientific community to explore planetary objects like comets and asteroids. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which also performed fly-bys of two asteroids on the journey, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa 1 and Hayabusa 2 missions to near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are some of the important milestones that laid the foundation for exploratory missions to comets and asteroids.

Asteroid Bennu was chosen by NASA for the OSIRIS-REx mission after rigorous discussions that considered the scientific and engineering capabilities of the mission. Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that has been studied extensively by Earth-based telescopic observations in the last two decades, making it a strategic target for an exploratory mission.

Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid — a class of asteroids that contain a high amount of carbon. It is also pristine, meaning that its material was created in the early stages of solar system formation and is preserved in an unaltered condition.

Mission significance

The question of how life came to be on Earth has fascinated people for a long time. Understanding the origin and history of the Earth can shed light on how life on Earth began.

Earth has a very dynamic environment, from a thick atmosphere to a very active biosphere and a vast expanse of water oceans. Most material on Earth that was present when the Earth first formed has been significantly modified by dynamic processes like weathering and erosion by elements like water or wind, active plate tectonics, active volcanism, as well as human activities such as mining or excavation.

Asteroids, on the other hand, have very little to no modification since their formation, going back to the time of the formation of our solar system.

Pieces of asteroids, and other planetary bodies such as the moon or Mars, land on the Earth’s surface, in the form of meteorites, almost every year. These meteorites are invaluable to our knowledge of the solar system, but most of these samples originate from unknown sources.

Known sources

A planned robotic mission to bring a sample from an asteroid ensures that the source of the material is known and can help correlate the information gained from previous studies of unknown samples, as well as remote observations of the asteroid to direct observations from collected samples.

Specifically, as asteroid Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid, analyses of its samples can lead to a higher knowledge of pristine carbon in our solar system and improve our understanding of the role that asteroids may have played in the origin of life on Earth.

Watch NASA scientists reveal the asteroid sample for the first time.

OSIRIS-REx was not the first global asteroid sample return mission. In 2010, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency completed the first asteroid sample return mission, Hayabusa 1, that brought back a sample weighing less than one gram from the asteroid Itokawa. More recently, in 2020, Hayabusa 2 returned from asteroid 162173 Ryugu with a 5.4g soil sample.

The Hayabusa 2 mission has already resulted in research revealing the nature of some of the oldest known materials in our solar system.

A continued search

The OSIRIS-REx mission continues to explore space. The spacecraft has been rebranded as OSIRIS-APEX, and is currently on its way to the asteroid Apophis on a nearly six-year long journey to conduct a fly-by of the asteroid.

Innovations required for the exploration of space and planetary bodies have historically been shown to benefit life on Earth.

For example, satellite technology, a concept that we depend so heavily upon in our daily lives — from navigation systems as well as national security or monitoring of natural landforms and ecosystems — is a product of space exploration.

As we attempt to venture deeper into the outer space, we can expect to see more creative technological advancements that will eventually help solve problems on Earth.

Neeraja Chinchalkar, PhD in Earth and Planetary Science and Exploration, Western University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ICYMI

‘Big Three’ auto employees ratify overhauled contracts: union source

By AFP
November 18, 2023

Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 230 and their supporters walk the picket line in front of the Chrysler Corporate Parts Division in Ontario, California, on September 26, 2023, to show solidarity for the "Big Three" autoworkers on strike - Copyright AFP/File Patrick T. Fallon

Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) have ratified the in-principle labor agreements promising sweeping pay increases that were reached with US car companies Ford, Stellantis and General Motors, a union source told AFP Saturday.

“All three are ratified,” the source said of the agreements, which were reached after an unprecedented strike that lasted more than six weeks.

According to information published on the union’s website Thursday, around 55 percent of hourly staff at GM voted in favor the four-year contract.

At Ford, 67 percent of unionized employees voted in favor of their contract, while nearly 69 percent voted in favor at Stellantis, according to the UAW website Saturday.

Stellantis, which owns the Jeep and Chrysler brands, confirmed the ratification in a statement.

“With negotiations now officially behind us, we will focus our full attention on executing our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan and serving our customers by delivering the high-quality products and technologies they want and expect,” North America COO Mark Stewart said in a statement.

Neither Ford nor the UAW immediately responded to AFP’s request for comment on Saturday.

The strike came after UAW president Shawn Fain, who was elected in the spring, targeted Detroit’s “Big Three” all at once for the first time in the organization’s 90-year history.

It began with three factories employing nearly 13,000 people in mid-September, before the walkouts spread to more sites and eventually saw 45,000 of the UAW’s 146,000 “Big Three” members downing tools.

The striking workers returned to work after the agreements-in-principle were announced, rather than following the usual process of waiting for their ratification.

The union had demanded a 40 percent salary increase over four years, to keep up with corporate compensation over the same period.

During the negotiation period, Fain repeated his rallying cry, “Record profits mean record contracts.”

The final agreements allow for a 25 percent base salary increase over four years, cost of living adjustments, increased benefits and improved contracts for retirees, among other measures.

Each of the three contracts also include specific language for each company, such as measures on employment terms at Stellantis and the cancellation of a plan to close a GM factory in Illinois.

Joe Biden — who became the first modern US president to join a picket line by visiting striking UAW workers and has made union support a key element of his 2024 re-election campaign — posted a pro-labor message to social media Saturday afternoon as news of the ratifications spread.

“I’m proud to be the most pro-union president in American history,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying his likely White House opponent Donald Trump “attacks unions,” while Biden “stands with unions.”

AMLO TOURIST TRAIN IS A THREAT

Deep, dark, wet: Revealing the microbiome of caves

By Dr. Tim Sandle
Published November 15, 2023

Spanish speleologist and diver Vicente Fito explores the cave system known as Garra de Jaguar (Jaguar's Claw), near the construction site of Section 5 South of the Mayan Train between the resorts of Playa del Carmen and Tulum - Copyright AFP MIGUEL RIOPA

The Yucatán Peninsula’s underwater caves play host diverse microbial communities, according to a new study that set out to map the cave system’s microbiome. The cave system’s microbial composition is distinct from the nearby sea. The network of caves are located near the Caribbean coast in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

To gather the samples necessary for the full evaluation to be made, Northwestern University cave divers collected 78 water samples throughout the complex web of underwater caves. This indicated that the microbial communities vary between cave systems forming distinct “neighbourhoods”.

The Yucatán carbonate aquifer is an extensive area of sinkholes and caves, many of which are complex and located underwater caves. The cave network contains areas of freshwater, seawater and mixtures of both. The habitats range from pitch-black, deep pits with no direct openings to the surface to shallower sinkholes sparkling with sunlight. One of the trickiest to access is the Sac Actun system, and area that includes a distinctive, 60-meter-deep pit.

For each site, the researchers considered the environmental context of each microbial community, including cave type (pit or conduit), cave system, distance from the Caribbean coast, geochemistry and position in the water column. This revealed how the microbial communities formed distinct niches (based on variations between distinct water masses such as salinity, conductivity, temperature, pH, redox potential, ionic composition, as well as dissolved oxygen, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon abundances).

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s flagship tourist train project in the Yucatan peninsula has met opposition from environmentalists and indigenous communities 

– Copyright AFP Jewel SAMAD

To collect the samples the divers entered inaccessible places, including deep, dark passageways of unlit waters. This provided the evidence that, in general, the microbial communities within the cave system tend to cluster into well-defined habitats.

In the laboratory, scientists filtered cells out of each sample and analysed its chemistry. Then, the researchers developed a new computational program to perform network analysis on the data set. The resulting networks showed which species tend to live together.

There was one family of bacteria (Comamonadaceae) which was more diverse, having been found in two-thirds of the sampled locales. These Gram-negative, aquatic organisms have heterotrophic denitrification capability while using organic compounds as electron donors.

A deep, pit-like sinkhole with a surface opening (allowing sunlight to spill in) housed the most microbial communities — segregated into layers of distinct niches throughout the water column.

According to lead researcher Magdalena R. Osburn: “These are incredibly special samples of underground rivers that are particularly difficult to obtain. From those samples, we were able to sequence the genes from microbial populations that live in these sites. This underground river system provides drinking water for millions of people. So, whatever happens with the microbial communities there has the potential to be felt by humans.”

The researchers conclude that the core microbiome could modulate different biogeochemical regimes depending on location.

The research appears in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The research is titled “Microbial biogeography of the eastern Yucatán carbonate aquifer.”

Bangladesh garment factories reopen after violent protests
ALL VIOLENCE IS STATE VIOLENCE

By  AFP
Published  November 15, 2023

Bangladesh garment factories reopened Wednesday as hundreds of thousands of workers returned to key manufacturing hubs after days of violent protests - 

Copyright AFP Munir uz zaman
Shafiqul ALAM

Bangladesh garment factories reopened Wednesday as hundreds of thousands of workers returned to key manufacturing hubs after days of violent protests demanding a near-tripling of the minimum wage.

The South Asian country has been rocked by the worst labour unrest in a decade, with tens of thousands of workers clashing with police for a 23,000 taka ($208) minimum monthly wage, up from the 8,300 taka set by the government five years ago.

Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top brands including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.

But conditions are dire for many of the sector’s four million workers who have been hard hit by soaring prices of food, house rents and costs of education and healthcare.

Rights groups have said that many workers are half-starving, and union leaders accused police of instilling a “climate of fear”.

A government-appointed panel raised the sector’s wage last week by 56.25 percent to 12,500 taka, but garment workers have rejected the hike, sparking further protests with at least 70 factories ransacked.

Top union leader Babul Akhter said on Wednesday that while they still rejected the new minimum wage, he urged workers to return to factories.

“We’ve not budged from our demand for 23,000 minimum wage,” Akhter told AFP.

He called on the government to release all arrested workers and drop charges against others.

At least 10,000 unidentified garment workers were charged with violence as part of the recent crackdown, according to authorities.

Police said scores of factories, which were shut down due to the protests at the main trouble-spots of Ashulia and Gazipur last week, reopened after the manufacturers held talks with workers over the past two days.

“Hundreds of thousands of workers entered the factories,” Sarwar Alam, the head of Ashulia industrial police unit, told AFP.

“There is no violence. All factories are open.”

– ‘Threatening workers’ –


Violence triggered by the wage protests left at least four workers dead, including three who were shot by police. Nearly 140 workers and around half a dozen union organisers were arrested over the clashes, according to police.

Taslima Akter, head of the Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati union, accused police of creating a “climate of fear by threatening workers”.

She reported top union official Babul Hossain had gone missing after he met protesters and the families of two dead workers in recent days.

Sarowar Alam, the head of Gazipur industrial police unit, said he did not know if Hossain had been arrested.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week rejected any more wage hikes and warned that the protests could cost jobs.

Some of her key ministers and dozens of lawmakers of her ruling Awami League party are powerful garment manufacturers.

Major Western brands wrote to Hasina last month calling for the minimum wage to be raised to a level “sufficient to cover workers’ basic needs and some discretionary income”.

But the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the main industrial lobby group, said Wednesday it had asked Western brands — who buy some 95 percent of the country’s clothing — to pay more.

“The brands should implement responsible purchasing practices to fulfil their role,” association president Faruque Hassan told AFP, noting that production costs had risen this year.

“They are not doing ethical sourcing in Bangladesh. They should give fair prices.”