Paris Mayor Quits Elon Musk's Twitter With Blistering Final Post

“I refuse to endorse this evil scheme,” wrote Anne Hidalgo.

AP
Nov 28, 2023

PARIS (AP) — The mayor of future Olympic host city Paris says she is quitting X, accusing Elon Musk’s platform previously known as Twitter of spreading disinformation and hatred and of becoming a “gigantic global sewer” that is toxic for democracy and constructive debate.

“With its thousands of anonymous accounts and its troll farms, life on Twitter is the exact opposite of democratic life,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a long post titled, “Why I am leaving Twitter.”

“I refuse to endorse this evil scheme,” she wrote.



An Associated Press request for comment emailed to X got an automated reply, “Busy now, please check back later.”

Hidalgo’s office said posts on Monday in French and English that announced her departure from X would be the Socialist mayor’s last and that she will then close her account — which has 1.5 million followers — at the end of the week.

Her office said that Paris City Hall is keeping its own separate account on X.

Hidalgo’s withdrawal from X follows a fractious period for the mayor. She has faced criticism from political opponents over the expense and need for a trip she made in October to the French South Pacific territories of New Caledonia and Tahiti. The Olympic surfing competition next July is being held on Tahiti’s world-famous Teahupo’o wave.


Anne Hidalgo’s office said her decision to leave X was not in response to the recent criticism but was thought out over time.
VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

She also locked horns last week with government ministers over the French capital’s readiness for the 2024 Summer Games. Hidalgo said some transport options won’t be ready for the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics. Firing back, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said the mayor’s comments were a “shameful” attempt to divert attention from her Pacific voyage.

Hidalgo’s office said her decision to leave X was not in response to the recent criticism but was thought-out over time. Musk took control of Twitter in October 2022 and has dismantled some of its core features.

“We are dealing here with an utterly clear political project to push aside democracy and its values in favor of powerful private interests,” Hidalgo wrote. “This medium has become a gigantic global sewer, and we should continue to wade into it?”

PIECEWORK

Untangling the North Korean Wig Manufacturing Industry

Listening to the stories of North Korean wig makers in their homes, factories, and in secret overseas, their voices echo the tales of their South Korean counterparts 60 years ago

By Rose Adams
- 2023.11.28


Workers at a textile factory in Pyongyang making face masks. 

(Rodong Sinmun - News1)

While much of the current discussion of North Korea’s trade has revolved around its arms sales, a new trend has been quietly emerging. Arms sales to Russia may be profitable at the moment considering their big ticket nature, but North Korean trade has long been dominated by the Chinese market, which makes up approximately 70% of North Korea’s exports and over 90% of its total trade. While arms sales are dependent on wars beyond North Korea’s borders, trade with China provides a stable foundation for the newly-recovering North Korean economy. At the heart of this recovery and number one on North Korea’s export list for the last eight months? Hair products.

Hair products – wigs, fake facial hair, and false eyelashes – constituted as much as 65% of North Korea’s exports to China this September, according to Chinese customs data. In the month of September alone, North Korea exported 182 tons of hair products, worth a total of USD 17.96 million. In the first seven months of 2023, North Korean exports of wigs and fake lashes totaled USD 90 million, three times the country’s exports of hair products for the same period in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to ballooning export figures, signs from inside the country also seem to suggest that the industry will continue to expand, both as a labor-intensive task for political prisoners and as a high-earning lifeline for urban entrepreneurs. Considering the growing role of the industry and its potential to be a major economic driver, let’s take a moment to “untangle” the complex supply and manufacturing chain behind North Korea’s wig business.

North Korea’s “Contract Manufacturing” (임가공 업체) System

One of North Korea’s most valuable economic assets is its labor force. Since the state decides where people work and pays a paltry salary, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can cheaply produce labor-intensive products like knit goods, shoes, beadwork, watch components, and wigs. Trade officials at state enterprises search out Chinese businesses and offer these goods at a fraction of what it would cost to produce with Chinese workers. Textiles have long been a fixture of North Korea’s contract manufacturing system, also often referred to as “toll processing” or “OEM” production, but the role of wig manufacturing has been gradually expanding since trade enterprises reportedly entered the wig and eyelash manufacturing market in 2010.

In the case of wig-making, for example, when a North Korean company might receive an order from a Chinese company, the company will import raw materials from China, which workers then weave into wigs. Trade officials then collect and inspect the wigs before sending the finished products to Chinese companies for further processing or distribution. A basic wig at this stage of production is generally valued around RMB 25-50 (USD 3.5 – 5).

The workers at North Korea’s wig and eyelash factories are overwhelmingly young and female. Many workers are assigned to factories without much choice, but others join the factories due to their relative profitability. The work itself requires a high attention to detail, extreme dexterity, and sharp eyesight. As such, many students, including those as young as nine, work in the factories to help supplement their family’s income.

Prior to the pandemic, in 2018, hair exports rose 121% over the previous year and were projected to have grown a similar amount in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Contract manufacturing for all goods took a massive hit when North Korea completely shut its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hair product exports in 2019 had been valued at USD 31 million but fell to USD 375,000 for the whole of 2020. Unable to import necessary raw materials and with finished goods being held up indefinitely at customs, many trade companies went bankrupt during the pandemic.

Prison Labor

Yet, even as official China-DPRK trade dipped an additional 41% in 2021, the state still managed to produce some goods. The state-affiliated wig and eyelash factories remained closed, but in 2021 the authorities began allowing imports of raw materials for wig-making for a specific group: labor camps.

An estimated 20 – 30% of contract manufacturing products are made by political prisoners inside the country’s labor camps. While workers at state enterprises might receive paltry wages (such five cents per set of false lashes), prisoners don’t need to be paid at all. The Ministry of Social Security (and to a lesser extent, the Ministry of State Security) use prison labor to produce export goods at next to no cost for labor. Labor is divided within the camps according to age, gender, and sentence, and wig-making and eye-lash making appears to be designated as exclusively female labor, generally for women in their 20s and 30s. According to a 2015 HRNK report, women in the wig units did not work on a fixed schedule like other work units, rather but in direct response to the influx of orders from outside the camps.

Using prison labor to fill orders from Chinese companies is particularly profitable for the state, since profits on prison-made exports are split 70-30 between the state and the relevant ministry, but this split can reportedly be as extreme as 85-15 (as was the case in December 2022 when contract manufacturing began to resume post-pandemic).

Considering the official PRC-DPRK trade figures for September and assuming a conservative 20% was manufactured in re-education camps, prison labor netted USD 3.6 million for the North Korean authorities. Of this revenue, roughly USD 2.5 – 3 million went directly to state coffers.

This number will likely only get higher in the coming months. North Korean companies generally receive more contract manufacturing orders in winter than in summer, and the end of the fall harvest season means that labor camps can mobilize a greater percentage of the incarcerated population for manufacturing. Reports from inside a re-education camp in Hamhung this November, for example, corroborate this trend with reports that the Ministry of Social Security is pushing prison workers to further increase production before the end of the year.

The Cottage Industry

While a large portion of North Korea’s wigs are produced by forced labor in prison camps and the more ambiguously voluntary labor of ordinary workers at factories, the sheer demand for wigs and their profitability has led the industry to spill over into North Korea’s private sector. Recent reporting from Daily NK paints a picture of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, still primarily women, becoming involved in the hair industry.

With demand for wigs going up, the demand for hair with which to make wigs has also risen. In the month of September, North Korea’s number one import from China was hair for use in wig manufacturing. State enterprises are also buying up domestic hair, offering corn in exchange for bundles of hair. According to one report, a relatively long 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) bundle can fetch 20 to 25 kilograms of corn. As a result, many women are growing out their hair to sell off, even going so far as to avoid “fashion police” street task forces that might crack down on their non-regulation hair length.

Selling hair, while not a sustainable means of income, is a relatively accessible way for women to put a little food on the table. Wig-making, by contrast, requires a higher level of skill. Reports from border region cities Hyesan and Sinuiju suggest that women looking to learn wig-making can undergo two-week long apprenticeships from officers at the provincial trade office and, if they pass their final skills test, begin to fill orders for trade enterprises by working at home.

With pandemic economic difficulties persisting due to the state’s continued limitations on private trade, free-lancing for state enterprises offers an appealing alternative to spending the day hawking wares at the market. A Daily NK source in Hyesan estimated that a typical person might earn KPW 20,000 a week selling at the market, equivalent to about four kilograms of rice. By contrast, a single hairpiece can fetch anywhere between 5-12 kilograms of rice, depending on size and quality. A Nikkei Asia column reported that these first-stage wigs take approximately four to five hours to manufacture, while the Daily NK piece suggests that workers may make two hairpieces a week working during the night. Profits likely vary significantly depending on an individual’s work speed and the amount of time in the week they can dedicate to the craft, but even two pieces a week could earn a family 10 kilograms of rice. This represents a significant boost in the standard of living for households eating only two meals a day and relying on cheaper alternatives like corn.

There has even been a report that North Korean laborers overseas have entered the hair product industry to supplement their meager incomes. One Daily NK report found that workers deployed to textile factories in Liaoning, China, were spending three hours a day after work manufacturing false lashes. Unlike income at their official jobs where state officials take 2/3rds of their wages, workers can secretly keep profits from their “side gig.” Workers can make 20 jiao per set of lashes, which can add up to about RMB 35 (USD 4.80) for three hours of work. This low piecemeal rate has led workers to cut costs wherever possible, including using a cheaper glue that releases toxic fumes. Moreover, these three hours of meticulous and often nauseating or downright painful work come after the women have already spent their day working in the clothing factory from eight in the morning until seven at night.

Conclusion

Listening to the stories of North Korean wig makers in their homes, factories, and in secret overseas, their voices echo the tales of their South Korean counterparts 60 years ago. South Korea, like North Korea, relied on a cheap and skilled labor force and an export-driven economy to recover from the devastation of the Korean War. South Korean women and girls, many teenagers or younger, also flocked to textile factories for work. These women were simultaneously empowered to independently earn money while simultaneously being exploited in deplorable working conditions that often shortened their lives. As the wig-making industry grew, South Korean women, just like North Korean women now, cut and sold their hair (or had it cut by family members) to buy food and clothing. By 1970, wigs alone represented 12% of South Korea’s exports, third only after textiles and plywood.

By contrast, the precedent for the use of prison labor to make wigs is dim. China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has come under suspicion of using prison labor to make hair products for China’s booming hair export industry. Multiple Uighur women have also reported having their heads shaved upon entrance to the camps, sparking concerns that the hair in wigs and other products produced in the XUAR are made with hair taken from incarcerated women. Considering the dehumanizing treatment of prisoners inside North Korea, it is not hard to imagine a similar exploitation of female prisoners’ hair, as well as their labor, for the wig manufacturing industry.

The story of North Korean wig-making is a tangled one. Will wig-making be the salvation of North Korea’s foundering economy during a time when pandemic restrictions have threatened to plunge the country into a “second Arduous March?” Or does the widespread use of child and prison labor give us a moral imperative to crack down on North Korean hair products altogether, such as including hair products under UN sanctions? To what degree can we tolerate the exploitation of a vulnerable class inside North Korea so that another class of North Koreans can seize a new economic lifeline? These are the kinds of questions that can leave anyone tearing their hair out in frustration, but they deserve to be considered all the same.

North Korea’s wig industry will almost certainly continue to grow over the next few years. The majority of these wigs will pass through Chinese companies and are sold onwards to the rest of the world. At the same time, the United States is the single largest importer of hair products in the world. As the main drivers of demand, we are obligated to think more critically about where these hair products come from and whether they do suppliers more harm than good.

Views expressed in this guest column do not necessarily reflect those of Daily NK.

Rose Adams
Rose Adams is an aspiring North Korean scholar specializing in media, marketization, and women's rights in North Korea. She holds a master's degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University.

 

The Increase in Nuclear Rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula is Deeply Concerning

By Khaled Khiari

In his remarks to the UN Security Council on Non -Proliferation/DPRK , November 27

A Security Council meeting in progress. Credit: United Nations

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 28 2023 (IPS) - At 10:42 PM local time on 21 November, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a rocket “Chollima-1″ loaded with the reconnaissance satellite “Malligyong-1”, from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.

The DPRK’s National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) announced that the rocket flew normally along the preset flight track and that the satellite entered orbit at 10:54 PM. It also announced that the DPRK would be “launching several reconnaissance satellites in a short span of time”.

This follows previous failed attempts on 31 May and 24 August this year, also using the “Chollima-1” rocket. The DPRK’s launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic.

While the DPRK issued a pre-launch notification to the Japanese Coast Guard, it did not issue airspace or maritime safety notifications to the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, or the International Telecommunications Union.

While sovereign states have the right to benefit from peaceful space activities, Security Council resolutions expressly prohibit the DPRK from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology. On 21 November, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the launch of yet another military satellite using ballistic missile technology.

He reiterated his call on the DPRK to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council 2 resolutions and to resume dialogue without preconditions to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The DPRK continues to implement its five-year military plan unveiled in January 2021. It should be recalled that developing a military reconnaissance satellite was part of the plan, along with various other weapons systems including so-called tactical nuclear weapons.

On 27 September, the DPRK adopted a constitutional amendment further enshrining its policy on nuclear forces in the Constitution. As such, the DPRK has consistently demonstrated its strong intention to continue pursuing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions. We emphasize once again our call on the DPRK to refrain from such actions.

The increase in nuclear rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula is deeply concerning. The Secretary-General has consistently noted that the only way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them. All states must reinforce and recommit to the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime built over decades, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which has yet to enter into force.

Pending the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it is imperative that the DPRK maintains the highest level of safety at its nuclear facilities. Mr. President, With growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the importance of re-establishing communication channels and off-ramps is essential, particularly between military entities.

Exercising maximum restraint is critical to avoid unintended accidents or miscalculations. We call on Security Council Members to unite and explore practical measures to halt the current negative trend, making full use of the tools of dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation, while adhering to all Security Council resolutions.

On a separate note, I would like to highlight once again concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the DPRK. The United Nations is ready to assist the efforts of DPRK in addressing the basic needs of its vulnerable populations. We continue to closely follow the easing of DPRK border restrictions and urge the DPRK to allow the unimpeded re-entry and rotation of the international community, including the United Nations Resident Coordinator and other international UN staff.

A collective return would positively impact international support to the people of the DPRK including on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Khaled Khiari is UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific.

IPS UN Bureau

Health experts decry New Zealand's scrapping of world-first tobacco ban


NOVEMBER 28, 2023 

LONDON — Health and tobacco campaigners said on Monday (Nov 27) that New Zealand's plan to repeal laws that would ban tobacco sales for future generations threatened lives and put international efforts to kerb smoking at risk.

The country's new centre-right coalition will scrap the laws introduced by the previous Labour-led government, according to coalition agreements published on Friday.

The package of measures would have seen bans on selling tobacco to anyone born after Jan 1, 2009, reduced the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of retailers able to sell tobacco by over 90per cent.

They marked some of the toughest anti-tobacco rules in the world. A ban on smoking for future generations was subsequently proposed in the United Kingdom, with other countries also considering similar rules.

"This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry – whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives," said Boyd Swinburn, co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa in New Zealand.

HCA pointed to academic research that found the laws could have saved some US$1.3 billion (S$1.73 billion) in health system costs over 20 years, and reduced mortality rates.

New Zealand's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of usual business hours in the country.

Sarah Jackson, Principal Research Fellow in the University College London Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said the decision could threaten plans in other nations.

"There is a risk that New Zealand's U-turn could prompt policymakers in England to reconsider," she said.

The coalition government will also tax smoked products only and reform regulations for alternatives like vapes, including a ban on disposable vapes and tougher penalties for those selling to underage customers, according to the documents.

Incoming Finance Minister Nicola Willis told New Zealand's Newshub Nation that the former government's measures would have significantly reduced tax revenues.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of UK health charity ASH, said that smoking costs public finances nearly double tobacco tax revenues.

Some bears in Japan may not hibernate in winter, say wildlife experts amid spate of attacks

The bears may continue searching for food in winter due to the poor harvest of nuts this year.

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Kolette Lim

The onslaught of bear attacks in Japan are expected to ease as the animals go into hibernation for the winter, but experts have warned of bears which may not sleep during the season.

Due to a poor harvest of beech nuts this year, a staple food source for bears, animals which did not eat enough may continue wandering around without hibernating, said Mr Teruki Oka, head of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute at Shikoku Research Center at the Japanese city Kochi.

Mr Oka told Japanese news outlet Mainichi Shimbun that in typical hibernation stages, the bears get plenty of nutrition during autumn to fatten up before holing in trees or dens until spring. Species such as Asian black bears usually start hibernating as early as November and sleep until early May of the following year, he added.

“They don’t wake up in the middle of hibernation to search for food, but stay where they are,” Mr Oka said.

Bears which prefer meat to nuts may also not hibernate due to the lack of prey in the winter, reported Mainichi Shimbun.

A male brown bear codenamed “Oso18” was culled in August 2023, according to Hokkaido government sources. The bear had terrorised farms and attacked more than 60 cattle in eastern Hokkaido since 2019.

Environment researcher Hiromi Taguchi said: “They’re hungry and agitated in the winter due to the lack of prey animals.” These bears attack humans as they remember how to attack other animals, added the professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design.

When the winter is warmer than usual, bears may also face difficulty in hibernating as their body temperatures do not drop enough, said Prof Taguchi. He advised caution when going into the mountains for winter activities such as skiing.

“It is common knowledge among hunters in north-east Japan, known as matagi, to shoot such bears without hesitation if they spot one.”

Some northern areas in Japan have put a bounty on bears to curb the number of bear attacks. Officials in the northern Akita prefecture plan to hand out 5,000 yen (S$45) to hunters for each bear they shoot, reported Bloomberg on Oct 27.

According to broadcast media outlet NHK, about 167 bear attacks have been reported in Japan in 2023 by October, exceeding the 2020 record of 158.

Mr Oka warned of bears which commonly appear in urban areas such as city centres. These bears are accustomed to humans and root through household garbage in search of food, he told Mainichi Shimbun.

Stating that bear sightings have been reported even during cold months such as December and January, Mr Oka said: “People need to take precautions to keep bears away by making sure that household garbage is properly disposed of even in the winter.”

60 Palestinian women still held in Israeli jails: Palestinian Prisoners Society

Israeli army detained 56 out of 60 Palestinian women, girls after Oct. 7 as part of massive wave of arrests, says media officer of Palestinian Prisoners Society

Qais Abu Samra |28.11.2023 


RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli authorities continue to hold 60 Palestinian women in jail, with most detained after Oct. 7, a local nongovernmental organization, said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Anadolu, Amal Sarahneh, media officer at the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the Israeli army detained 56 Palestinian women and girls in a major wave of arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after Oct. 7, so far detaining 3,260 people.

Sarahneh added that Israel had released 33 Palestinian women under a prisoner swap deal with Gaza-based resistance group Hamas over the past four days.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said earlier that Tel Aviv would agree on the release of 50 Palestinian women in additional swaps with Hamas in exchange for the release of Israelis held in Gaza.

Before Oct. 7, the number of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails was around 5,200, including more than 1,000 held in administrative detention without charge or trial.

Tensions have been high across the occupied West Bank since the fighting broke out on Oct. 7 between Palestinian groups and Israel in Gaza.

Nearly 240 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli forces in the West Bank since Oct. 7 in addition to over 2,850 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Historic Virgin flight to cross Atlantic on sustainable fuel
Middle East described as pivotal to future of green aviation as flight takes off on eve of Cop28

Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner
will be fuelled by a blend of cooking oils, fats and synthetic kerosene Getty Images

Tim Stickings
Nov 28, 2023

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner is taking a step towards greener air travel on Tuesday when it flies passengers from London to New York on sustainable fuel, an industry tipped to thrive in the Middle East.

The Virgin Atlantic plane has been given special clearance by regulators to fill up with 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel for its flight from Heathrow Airport to John F Kennedy International Airport.

The Virgin flight is touted as the first scheduled flight with passengers on a full-sized jet using sustainable fuel.

Its two Rolls-Royce engines are being powered by a 60-tonne blend of cooking oils, fats and synthetic kerosene – billed as having carbon emissions 70 to 80 per cent lower than standard kerosene jet fuel – reducing “travel guilt” for passengers.
READ MORE
Cop28 explained: How to book tickets, what to do and how to get there

Taking off on the eve of Cop28 in Dubai, the flight was described by John Kelly, Rolls-Royce president for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, as a “symbolic event” demonstrating that the fuel is technically viable.


“It’s a historic moment and it’s a significant milestone,” he told The National.

He said the rise of sustainable fuel was especially important for markets such as the UAE that rely on long-haul travel, which is regarded as a difficult sector in which to cut carbon emissions.

“The reality is the most viable way to do that is through the use of sustainable aviation fuel,” Mr Kelly said.

A tank of sustainable aviation fuel, which is billed as having carbon emissions 70 to 80 per cent lower than regular jet fuel. Photo: Rolls-Royce


Aviation bosses like SAF because it can be “dropped in” to existing tanks without totally remodelling a plane, unlike more radical innovations such as electric or hydrogen-powered aircraft.

A UN-led aviation conference in Dubai agreed last week to aim for a 5 per cent emissions cut by 2030 through the use of sustainable fuels, days before Cop28 opens under the UAE’s leadership.

Air travel accounts for about 2 per cent of global carbon emissions. However, sustainable fuel fills up just 0.1 per cent of jet plane tanks at present, according to Virgin Atlantic, which is operating Tuesday’s transatlantic flight, known as Flight 100.
Sustainability race

US business jet manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace, flew a SAF-powered G600 aircraft from its Georgia headquarters to an airfield in southern England on Sunday, in what it called a transatlantic first.


Emirates last week became the first airline to test 100 per cent sustainable fuel on an Airbus A380, which took off from Dubai International Airport and landed 75 minutes later. Adnoc announced last month it had been certified to produce its own blend.

Regulators normally insist on no more than a 50-50 blend of SAF and normal jet fuel, but officials in Britain gave a permit to Virgin Atlantic after testing Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 engine on the ground.

UK minister Baroness Charlotte Vere, Parliamentary Secretary in the Treasury, called it a “huge step towards net zero”.

Once the industry “can confidently say, technically, operationally, we're SAF-ready”, the next step is to “take down barriers” to using it more broadly, Mr Kelly said, including the cost and availability.

John Kelly, Rolls-Royce's president for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, says the region is pivotal for the future of sustainable aviation. Photo: Rolls-Royce

“If we do that right, it is extremely viable as a solution. You could see 80 per cent reduction in the emissions,” he said. “That’s a huge benefit and can remove the travel guilt that the travelling public may be feeling right now.”

He said “the Middle East is pivotal” in scaling up sustainable fuel because of its political drive towards sustainability. Mr Kelly cited the UAE’s presidency of Cop28 and access to finance and renewable energy.

“The leadership, the drive, the strategic direction is there,” he said.

“You’ve actually got the ability, environmentally, for potential production of SAF in large quantities, through things like harnessing renewables – solar is the obvious one in this part of the world.

“Then you’ve got the really key driving factor which is finance. You’ve got the investment through sovereign wealth funds and some of the financial entities based here in the world that will really drive the step change in what’s required with that long-term mindset.

“This isn’t done for a quick return, it’s done for the benefit of us all.”

Manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce are also looking into electric-powered planes, although the expectation is that these would be for short regional trips because of the weight of on-board batteries. Hydrogen is another option being explored, although this takes up much more space than conventional jet fuel.

A sustainable aviation forum is scheduled for day seven of Cop28 at Expo City Dubai, when transport will be a focus of discussions as part of a schedule of themed days at the summit.

Cop28 is taking place from Thursday until December 12.

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano erupts



Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano located in the waters of Sunda Strait erupted on Tuesday morning, spewing volcanic ash cloud of about 1km high into the sky, an official said. — Reuters file pic
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Tuesday, 28 Nov 2023

JAKARTA, Nov 28 — Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano located in the waters of Sunda Strait erupted on Tuesday morning, spewing volcanic ash cloud of about 1km high into the sky, an official said.

Xinhua quoted the volcano’s Observation Post Officer Anggi Nuryo Saputro as saying the eruption occurred at 6.29am local time for 130 seconds, with the wind heading north.

“The ash column was observed to be grey to black in colour with thick intensity towards the north,” he said in a statement.

Since its birth in June 1927, Anak Krakatau’s volcanic activity has been on the rise, making its body larger and taller, up to 157 m above the sea level. Its activity has increased significantly since April last year, which raised its dangerous status to the third highest level.

In 2018, Anak Krakatau erupted and triggered a tsunami that killed over 400 people and left thousands homeless. 

— Bernama

Eruption resumes at Italy's Mount Etna

28 November 2023

Eruption resumed at Mount Etna in Italy's Sicily, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

The 3,300-meter-high mountain (10,827 feet) continued to emit ash and lava from its southeast crater over the weekend, the institute noted on Sunday in a statement, adding that the emissions were only limited to this crater.

Europe's highest active volcano, Mount Etna's southeast crater resumed activity on Nov. 12, with authorities warning the aircraft flying over the region.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

‘100 trillion’ from Zimbabwe part of N.S. fraudster’s plan to repay victims

A former financial manager from Nova Scotia is banking on a seemingly hypothetical situation where currencies around the world will be "reset," giving him the money to pay a $1.1-million fine related to an investment scam that swindled more than 200 victims, a judge heard Monday.


Quintin Sponagle is shown outside a Halifax provincial courtroom on Jan. 19, 2017. (Robert Short/CBC – image credit)


28.11.2023


An ongoing hearing in Halifax provincial court has been examining whether Quintin Sponagle, 59, to pay the court-ordered fine related to his 2017 sentencing on one count of fraud.

An American man, David Sybesma, testified Monday by video that he has known Sponagle for 15 years, and that he holds “assets” for Sponagle that would cover the fine amount once they become “revalued.”

In short and sometimes confusing testimony, Sybesma didn’t explain in depth how the process would work, but suggested it involved the establishment of “asset-backed currencies” in 209 countries.

Sybesma said he and a group of like-minded people purchased assets for Sponagle because of the consultancy work he did for them.

The assets include “Zim notes,” he said, with one worth “100 trillion,” an apparent reference to banknotes that circulated in Zimbabwe during a period of hyperinflation in 2009. The African country has since moved to a different currency.

The trial is being held at Halifax provincial court

The hearing is being held at Halifax provincial court. (Robert Short/CBC)

Sponagle, who lives in Upper Vaughn, N.S., pleaded guilty seven years ago to one count of fraud involving 201 victims, many of them from church groups and his social circle.

They had invested $4.4 million in a financial firm Sponagle controlled that was incorporated in Panama and maintained an office in Windsor, N.S. At least $1.1 million was never put into investments, and was instead spent on cars, recreational vehicles and international travel.

Sponagle was extradited to Canada from Panama after spending 19 months in a notorious prison in the Central American country. He pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in Canada and was handed probation and a fine.

Sponagle has said he doesn’t have the money to pay the court fine, although he maintains he wants to do so. In order for him to be sent to prison, the Crown must show that Sponagle has the means to pay, but is not willing to do so.

Current U.S. government a ‘corporation’

It was not made clear in court where Sybesma, who described himself as a truck driver, farmer and business consultant, is located.

He referenced in his testimony the creation of the U.S federal reserve in 1913, called the current American government a “corporation,” and said he only dealt in cash for his daily needs. He also testified in vague terms about a project in Vietnam and Cambodia.

At one point during the hearing, prosecutor Shauna MacDonald asked Sybesma if he believed he was “entitled to assets by virtue of being a person, is that what you’re saying?” “Yes,” Sybesma replied.

The hearing continues Tuesday, and Sponagle is expected to testify.

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UAE Faces Scrutiny As Oil Producer Hosts UN Climate Summit In Dubai

Given fossil fuels account for nearly 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change, many have argued that there is a clear conflict of interest in having oil and gas producers at the helm of climate talks.

COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

SALAM ABUSHARAR
The Conversation

UPDATED: 28 NOV 2023

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world’s seventh largest oil producer, will host the 28th UN climate change summit (COP28) in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. Presiding over the conference will be the chief executive of the UAE state-owned oil company Adnoc, Sultan al-Jaber.

Given fossil fuels account for nearly 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change, many have argued that there is a clear conflict of interest in having oil and gas producers at the helm of climate talks. The UAE is alleged to flare more gas than it reports and plans to increase oil production from 3.7 million barrels a day to 5 million by 2027.

Some contend that the oil and gas industry could throw the brake on greenhouse gas emissions by investing its vast revenues into plugging gas flares and injecting captured carbon underground. But independent assessments maintain that the industry will need to leave at least some of its commercially recoverable reserves permanently underground to limit global warming. No oil-exporting country but Colombia has yet indicated it will do this.

Dubai appears determined to undermine even this small victory. An investigation has released documents showing the UAE hosts planned to advise a Colombian minister that Adnoc “stands ready” to help the South American country develop its oil and gas reserves.

The UK invited ridicule by expanding its North Sea oil fields less than two years after urging the world to raise its climate ambitions as summit host. The UAE seems destined for a similar fate – before its talks have even begun.




Oil consumption & dependence

The UAE’s fast-growing population of 9.9 million (only 1 million are Emirati citizens) has the sixth highest CO2 emissions per head globally.

Citizens are used to driving gas-guzzling cars with fuel priced well below international market rates and using air conditioning for much of the year thanks to utility subsidies. Visiting tourists and conference-goers have come to expect chilled shopping malls, swimming pools and lush golf greens that depend entirely on energy-hungry desalinated water.

Despite decades of policies aimed at diversifying the country’s economy away from oil, the UAE’s hydrocarbon sector makes up a quarter of GDP, half of the country’s exports and 80% of government revenues. Oil rent helps buy socioeconomic stability, for instance, by providing local people with public-sector sinecures.

This state of affairs is a central tenet of the Arabian Gulf social contract, in which citizens of the six gulf states mostly occupy bureaucratic public sector positions administering an oil-based economy with expatriate labour dominating the non-oil private sector.

Tech-fixes, targets and the future

How does the UAE plan to cut its own emissions?

Adnoc and other international oil companies are banking on select technologies (to sceptics, “green cover” for further climate damage) to preserve their core business model: extracting oil.

Adnoc, along with the wider oil and gas industry, has invested in carbon sequestration and making hydrogen fuel from the byproducts of oil extraction. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), such measures, even if fully implemented, will only have a small impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

The UAE was the first in the Middle East to ratify the Paris climate agreement and to commit to net zero emissions by 2050. With near limitless sunshine and substantial sovereign wealth, the UAE ranks 18th globally per capita and first among Opec countries for solar power capacity. Solar now meets around 4.5% of the UAE’s electricity demand and projects in the pipeline will see output rise from 23 gigawatts (GW) today to 50GW by 2031.

The Barakah nuclear power plant (the Arab world’s first) started generating electricity in 2020. While only meeting 1% of the country’s electricity demand, when fully operational in 2030, this may rise to 25%.

The oil sector is inherently capital-intensive, not labour-intensive, and so it cannot provide sufficient jobs for Emiratis. The UAE will need to transition to a knowledge-based economy with productive employment in sectors not linked to resource extraction.

In the UAE, sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is tasked with enabling this transition. It has invested in a variety of high-tech sectors, spanning commercial satellites to research and development in renewable energy.

But even if the UAE was to achieve net zero by some measure domestically, continuing to export oil internationally means it will be burned somewhere, and so the climate crisis will continue to grow.

Self-interest

Is disappointment a foregone conclusion in Dubai?

Already one of the hottest places in the world, parts of the Middle East may be too hot to live within the next 50 years according to some predictions.

Rising temperatures risk the UAE’s tourism and conference-hosting sectors, which have grown meteorically since the 1990s (third-degree burns and heatstrokes won’t attract international visitors). A show-stopping announcement to further its global leadership ambitions is not out of the question.

At some point, one of the major oil-exporting countries must announce plans to leave some of its commercially recoverable oil permanently untapped. COP28 provides an ideal platform. A participating country may make such a commitment with the caveat that it first needs to build infrastructure powered by renewable energy and overhaul its national oil company’s business model to one that supplies renewable energy, not fossil fuel, globally.

The UAE has the private capital and sovereign wealth required to build a post-oil economy. But will it risk being the first mover?

COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals