Australia: Great Barrier Reef waters warmest in 400 years

Record water temperatures have led to more and more mass bleaching events along the Great Barrier Reef. Experts warn the reef is running out of time.

Rising water temperatures can cause coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef

Image: Supplied/CSIRO/dpa/picture alliance

Water temperatures along the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast of Australia have hit a 400-year high, according to a major new study, which concludes that human-induced climate change is the most likely cause.

Using coral samples to reconstruct sea temperatures dating back as far as the 17th century, scientists found that temperatures before 1900 had been relatively stable, but that they had been increasing on average by 0.12 degrees Celsius (0.2 degrees Fahrenheit) per year since 1960.

"These are corals that have lived for 400 years and these are the warmest temperatures they've experienced," said Helen McGregor, co-author of the study which was published in the science journal Nature in Australia on Thursday.

Great Barrier Reef under threat as ocean temperatures rise 02:09

What is coral bleaching?

McGregor, a climate researcher at the University of Wollongong, said the "unprecedented" temperature increases had left her "extremely concerned" about the health of the famous 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) long reef, which is home to more than 600 types of coral and 1,625 species of fish.

This year, a mass "coral bleaching" event – which occurs when water temperatures rise by more than one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), causing the coral to shed nutrients and color – left 81% of the reef with extreme or high levels of damage, according to the report.

"The world is losing one of its icons," said Benjamin Henley, an academic at the University of Melbourne and another one of the study's co-authors, calling the situation "an absolute tragedy."

"It's hard to understand how that can happen on our watch in our lifetime," he added.

Can coral reefs recover?

Corals have shown that they can recover, but McGregor said that increasingly high temperatures and almost annual bleaching events were pushing them to their limits.

"These changes, from what we're seeing so far, appear to be happening too rapidly for the corals to adapt to so it really threatens the reef as we know it," she warned.

At least 54 countries and regions have experienced mass bleaching of reefs since February 2023 as climate change warms the ocean's surface waters, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Great Barrier Reef is not currently on UNESCO's list of endangered world heritage sites that are in danger, although the UN recommends it should be added.

"Coral reefs, as an ecosystem, are the first ecosystem on the planet to be existentially threatened by climate change," said Richard Leck, World Wide Fund Australia's head of oceans, reacting to the new study.

"At the moment, we can see the reef is resilient. It's bounced back from previous coral bleaching events but at some point that elastic band will snap," he told the AFP news agency.

"I think we have to be hopeful that the world is not going to stand by and let that happen."

What are governments doing to protect reefs?

Governments around the world are indeed ramping up efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and invest in reef protection measures.

Australia has invested about $3.2 billion in improving water quality and protecting threatened species. But it's also one of the world's largest gas and coal exporters and has only recently agreed targets to become carbon neutral.

"It is a fraction of a second to midnight," warned Leck.

mf/wd (AFP, Reuters)

Indian wrestler Phogat retires after Olympic disqualification

New Delhi (AFP) – India's heartbroken Vinesh Phogat on Thursday announced her retirement from wrestling, a day after being disqualified from the women's 50kg competition at the Paris Olympics for being overweight for the final.

Issued on: 08/08/2024 - 

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat (centre) was last year part of a long-running protest against the then-chief of Indian wrestling who was embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal 

© Arun THAKUR / AFP

World bronze medallist Phogat, 29, was in the public eye for months last year as part of a long-running protest against the then-chief of Indian wrestling when he was embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal.

Phogat, who has won three Commonwealth Games gold medals, had been due to face Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold medal on Wednesday in Paris but was found to be 100 grams over the 50kg limit.

"Mother wrestling won against me, I lost. Your dreams and my courage are shattered," Phogat wrote on social media platform X.

"I don't have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I will forever be indebted to you all. Sorry."

Hildebrandt took gold in Wednesday final against Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who was reprieved after losing her semi-final to Phogat on Tuesday.

Indian media reported Phogat has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against her disqualification and demanded a joint silver to be awarded.

CAS is expected to announce its verdict on the case later Thursday in Paris.
'A winner for us'

Videos of Phogat with chopped hair and sunken eyes, working out to cut her weight down in a last bid to compete in the final went viral on Wednesday.

Phogat helped lead a weeks-long sit-in protest in New Delhi last year against then-Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, at the time a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party.

Singh is being tried on accusations of groping female athletes and demanding sexual favours from them -- charges he denied.

Wrestling is hugely popular in rural northern India and images of Phogat and other athletes being detained as they tried to march to parliament during the protest went viral on social media.

"You will always remain a winner for us," Bajrang Punia, a fellow leader of last year's protests, and a Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, said on social media.

"Apart from being India's daughter, you are the pride of India."

Another fellow protest wrestler and Olympic bronze-medallist, Sakshee Malikkh, said "every daughter has lost for whom you fought and won".

Phogat, who passed the weigh-in on day one, stunned four-time world and defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the opener with a late takedown to claim a 3-2 decision en route to the final.

But Phogat was overweight on the morning of the final, despite the wrestler and her team working overnight to cut the kilos through exercising and sauna.

Modi had backed Phogat in a social media post, saying: "I wish words could express the sense of despair that I am experiencing".

© 2024 AFP

CONTORTIONIST

Super-bendy breakdancer is star of Olympics closing ceremony

Paris (AFP) – Arthur Cadre is an extremely flexible man, both physically and in his range of talents -- breakdancer, acrobat, architect and much more -- and he will play a central role in the Paris Olympics closing ceremony Sunday.


Issued on: 08/08/2024 -

The multi-talented Arthur Cadre will be 'the common thread' in the closing ceremony © JOEL SAGET / AFP
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The 32-year-old has sport in the blood, born to a mother who was part of the French volleyball team and a father who competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in windsurfing.

Cadre fell into breakdancing at the age of nine after seeing a clip on TV, later adding contortion to his skill set, followed by acrobatics and circus arts.

Not forgetting "a bit of ballet, tap-dancing" and freerunning, which involves creatively throwing yourself around obstacles and urban environments, like parkour.

Cadre got into breakdancing at age nine © JOEL SAGET / AFP

His talents don't end there: he is also a photographer, model, architecture graduate, and director.

All this has earned him a huge following online. One YouTube video showing off his contortion skills has more than a million views.

And it has taken him around the world from Montreal to Macau, via San Francisco and Dubai.

Recently, he put on a show in Saudi Arabia, "with the princess's horses and 40 dancers".

And he has designed a show based on Bob Marley, which will open in Las Vegas in December.

Cadre describes his style as "a mixture of movement art and visual art", and emphasises the point by swinging his leg up behind his ear in a standing split, then perching on one hand.

He has been working with a team of dancers since early June on Sunday's ceremony at the Stade de France, where the athletics events are held.
Tom Cruise stunt

While he is keeping details of the 30-minute show under wraps, he told AFP his character is "the common thread" recounting the story on a large stage featuring many performers and lots of visual effects.

"It will be something that people are not used to seeing in France," he said.

"Here in the studio, I've been doing a whole physical preparation to develop and create this character," he added.

Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the Games, gave him "a lot of freedom... I suggest a lot of things and we work together to select the moments and emotions that he likes. It's great," said Cadre, who comes from Brittany in western France.

The show will combine 'wonder' and 'dystopia' © JOEL SAGET / AFP/File

Jolly has said the closing show will combine "wonder" and "dystopia", suggesting some more darker elements than the joyful and impertinent tone of the opening ceremony on the River Seine.

Offering a sneak peak to journalists recently, Jolly said he saw the Games as a "fragile monument" and wanted to imagine what would happen if they "disappeared and someone was rebuilding them in a distant future".

Hollywood star Tom Cruise is also expected to make an appearance, with US media reporting that he has prepared a daredevil stunt to pick up the Olympic flag and transfer it to Los Angeles, which is hosting the 2028 Games.

HETEROSEXUAL HEGEMONY

Politics makes its mark on dating in Putin's Russia

Moscow (AFP) – Sitting at a cafe in Moscow, Yulia swiped through a carousel of men on her phone's dating app, trying to guess if the people in the pictures shared her views.


Issued on: 08/08/2024 -

Dating can be difficult because of the gulf between those backing Russia's offensive and those who oppose it 

© Alexander NEMENOV / AFP

"I started to include the artists that I listen to in the bio. It's kind of a hint at my thinking," the 21-year-old freelance photographer said, choosing her language carefully.

Since Russia launched its full-scale military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of people have been denounced, fined or thrown in jail for expressing opposition to the conflict.

According to opinion polls, only a minority of young people living in Russia disapprove of the offensive.

A June poll by the independent Levada centre suggested 30 percent of 18-24 year-olds disapprove, compared with 59 percent who approve.

For young, liberal Russians who want to avoid hooking up with hardline pro-army patriots, dating has become a minefield.

"After 2022, I stopped giving links to any publications that I read," Yulia said of her online dating profile.

Gone were any articles expressing tolerance towards LGBTQ people or opposition to the Ukraine conflict -- opinions that can land you in jail.

Instead, she listed her favourite musicians as Zemfira and Monetochka, singers who have criticised Russia's offensive in Ukraine and have been declared "foreign agents" by Moscow.
'Very classy'

The dating scene can also be tricky to navigate for those who back the offensive.

Several groups on social media organise "patriotic meetings" for supporters of the Kremlin and military to search for potential matches offline.

Arseny Blavatsky, a 24-year-old PR manager and self-confessed admirer of President Vladimir Putin, said he was looking for "an ideologically close partner".

"Since February 2022, nobody can be apolitical," he told AFP at a speed-dating event held in a Moscow restaurant, his fourth so far.

For Arseny, avoiding ideological conflict in a relationship is a must.

He recalled his frustration after meeting one girl whom he called "very classy" but politically incompatible.

"I was getting on very well with this one girl, everything was cool. On the same wavelength, the same language," he said.

But after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison in February, she became extremely upset -- to his dismay.

"She was in absolute hysterics. I told her that changed nothing between us. And she says, 'Well, that's it, we can't go on'. I mean, that's a bit rubbish, isn't it?" he told AFP.

After meeting a dozen girls at the speed-dating event, Arseny chose two to follow up with.

Arseny said he doesn't know if it's going to work out this time.
'Unexpected joy'

To avoid encountering such differences, other young people have found partners within political movements.

Katya Anikievich and Matvei Klestov, both 21, met in January while campaigning for Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition politician who wanted to challenge Putin in March's presidential election.

"Thousands of people, often my age, spoke freely. It was an unexpected joy," Matvei said of the campaign.

In the end, the authorities blocked Nadezhdin from running.

But life changed for Katya and Matvei.

Hand in hand, they have gone on to support jailed anti-offensive activists in court and taken part in gatherings to write letters to prisoners.

"Katya shares my opinions, it makes me want to go on living," Matvei said.
'I'll follow him'

Maria Smoktiy and Mikhail Galyashkin also found love through politics.

They met at a demonstration organised by the "Other Russia" party, an offshoot of the far-left National Bolshevik movement founded by the late activist and writer Eduard Limonov.

The party backs Russia's military operation in Ukraine. But its politics is generally more hardline than that of the government, which has sometimes brought it into conflict with the authorities.

Maria, 18, said she gave up her Arabic studies to deliver aid to parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia with the 24-year-old Mikhail, whom she called "an accomplished adventurer".

'Setting up barricades, having a family, I want to do everything with him,' Maria Smoktiy says of Mikhail Galyashkin

 © Alexander NEMENOV / AFP

"When some turbulent historical events happen, you immediately realise who's on your side and who's on the other side," she said, speaking to AFP in the kitchen of their small Moscow flat.

The couple have travelled a lot in Russia and organised unauthorised demonstrations that have often landed Mikhail in prison for a few days.

"Setting up barricades, having a family, I want to do everything with him," Maria said, stroking a bust of Lenin on the table with one hand.

"I'll follow him all the way to Siberia," she added.

"Maria is a diamond like no other in the world," Mikhail replied, unabashedly proud.

But for some in Moscow, the adage that opposites attract still applies.

Lev, a 28-year-old salesman at a patriotic bookshop in Moscow, and Yevgenia, а 20-year-old English teacher, say they found love even though they are ideologically opposed.

A "stubborn conservative" by his own admission, Lev said he was about to marry a "liberal open to the West".

"She contradicts me and I often take her side," he confessed, surprised.

© 2024 AFP

HOROLOGY

Jeweller's eye-popping watch is love letter to Albania

Tirana (AFP) – Albanian jeweller Pirro Ruco laboured day and night for five years to capture the essence of his country in a spectacular luxury watch.


Issued on: 08/08/2024

The timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November 

© ADNAN BECI / AFP

Now the timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November.

Set under a sapphire dome, the hours are marked by 12 golden folk dancers -- each in different regional dress -- set on Murano glass, the minute and hour hands adorned with eagle talons in homage to Albania's national symbol.

Ruco's rollercoaster rise mirrors that of Albania, from poverty and isolation as the most closed communist regime in Europe, to rollicking capitalism.

Along the way the jeweller overcame jealousy, the secret police and being sent into internal exile to rise to the pinnacle of his profession.

It all began for Pirro -- as he is known in his homeland -- in 1985 when he was asked to make a medal in red and gold bearing the head of Enver Hoxha, the paranoid dictator who ruled the small Balkan nation with an iron fist for more than four decades.

"That saved me," he told AFP from his workshop tucked away in an alley in the capital Tirana.

The medals were awarded to the regime's most loyal supporters and later caught the eye of Hoxha's wife.

The turn of fortune saw thousands more produced and worn by communist cadres across Albania.

"All the congressional delegates had to wear it. I made a name for myself with it," he said. It also saved him from the textile mills where he had been sent because his family had been deemed "rebellious".
'Priceless'

All this, however, was nearly derailed by an anonymous letter sent to authorities accused Pirro of working with foreign agents.

He was questioned by intelligence agents and his workshop raided.

Set under a sapphire dome, the hours are marked by 12 golden folk dancers -- each in different regional dress -- set on Murano glass 

© ADNAN BECI / AFP

Down but not out, he was able to bounce back after crafting a ring bearing the image of the late husband of a member of the communist politburo and in July 1990 won a prize for a piece featuring Albania's 15th-century national hero Skanderberg.

But the very next day history intervened. The regime began to crumble and the collapse of Albania's communist rule in 1991 was followed by years of violent tumult as the country transitioned to a free-market economy.

Amid the ups and downs, Pirro stayed busy designing pieces for officials and celebrities.

During a trip to Basel in Switzerland in 2016, something new caught his eye.

"I wanted to make a watch. It was my new dream," he told AFP.

For the next five years, Pirro said he focused on "doing something special, Albanian, and at the same time completely new and never before seen in the watch industry."

The new timepiece which he calls Primordial Passion was designed in collaboration with the Swiss watchmaker Agenhor.

The minute and hour hands adorned with eagle talons in homage to Albania's national symbol 

© ADNAN BECI / AFP

"I never wanted to make jewellery, but art," the jeweller said.

"Sculptures, images of the country, pieces of culture... This watch is the culmination of all that, of this love for Albania," he added.

"It is more than just a watch. It combines the rich heritage of ancient Albanian culture with the notion of chronometry."

Pirro refuses to divulge the methods used to craft the watch, but remains hopeful the painstaking details will be recognised by the judges at the Grand Prix in Geneva.

Several collectors have already contacted him about buying the timepiece, he said, though it would be difficult to part with his creation.

"I set a price because I had to. But for me, it is priceless."

© 2024 AFP

Abortions have increased in US since Roe v. Wade repeal, study shows

DEMOCRATS ON ABORTION:  MYOB

MIND YOUR OWN (DAMNED) BUSINESS

Despite 22 states instituting abortion bans of varying severity, a new study by the Society of Family Planning finds that broader access to abortion pills and telehealth-led procedures protected by Democrats' "shield laws" has contributed to a nationwide increase in abortions since the Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling.

Issued on: 08/08/2024 -

A patient checks in for her appointment to receive an abortion at a Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 14, 2022. © Chandan Khanna, AFP

The number of abortions in the United States has actually grown since the Supreme Court allowed states to enact strict bans on the procedure, according to a study released Wednesday.

Survey results reported by the Society of Family Planning (SFP), which advocates for abortion access, showed a monthly average of 98,990 for the first quarter of 2024, a increase above 2022 and 2023 figures.

The group attributed a significant part of the rise to broader access to abortion pills through online telehealth services.

It said the proportion of abortions nationwide occurring via telehealth had increased from four to 20 percent nationwide since April 2022.

The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortions in June 2022, with many Republican-led states quickly moving to restrict or outright ban the procedure.

However, some Democratic-led states have enacted so-called "shield laws" that give legal protections to doctors providing telehealth services to patients in states with restrictions.

Even excluding abortions provided under shield laws, "we still observe more abortions per month in January-March 2024 (monthly average of 89,770 abortions) as compared to the same period January-March 2023 (monthly average of 86,967 abortions)," SFP said in its #WeCount report.

Meanwhile under shield laws, the report found a monthly average of 9,200 abortions were provided in January-March 2024, a 16 percent increase from the prior quarter.

The SFP survey nonetheless found significant declines in states that have passed bans since the fall of Roe v Wade, the largest being Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama.

Twenty-two states now have stricter abortion laws in effect since Roe was struck down, and the issue is set to be a key factor in November's elections.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has pledged to sign nationwide protections into law if elected, while hammering Republican rival Donald Trump over his role in reversing Roe.

Trump appointed three of the six conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the nearly half-century Roe precedent.

While Trump has not committed to signing a nationwide ban if back in the White House, abortion rights advocates fear he could use a 19th century law to crack down on the procedure.

Conservative groups are also seeking to outlaw abortion pills by challenging federal authorization of the drugs.

The Supreme Court unanimously rejected one such challenge in June, but left the door open to possible future cases.

(AFP)

 

US abortion numbers have risen slightly since Roe was overturned, study finds


BY GEOFF MULVIHILL AND KIMBERLEE KRUESI
August 7, 2024

The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.

A major reason for the increase is that some Democratic-controlled states enacted laws to protect doctors who use telemedicine to see patients in places that have abortion bans, according to the quarterly #WeCount report for the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access.

The data comes ahead of November elections in which abortion-rights supporters hope the issue will drive voters to the polls. In some places, voters will have a chance to enshrine or reject state-level abortion protections.

Fallout from the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has remade the way abortion works across the country. The #WeCount data, which has been collected in a monthly survey since April 2022, shows how those providing and seeking abortion have adapted to changing laws.

The survey found that the number of abortions fell to nearly zero in states that ban abortion in all stages of pregnancy and declined by about half in places that ban it after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Fourteen states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and four others bar it after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Numbers went up in places where abortion remains legal until further into pregnancy — and especially in states such as Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico, which border states with bans.

The report estimates that if not for the post-Dobbs bans, there would have been about 9,900 more abortions per month — and 208,000 total since — in those states. The numbers were up by more than 2,600 per month in Illinois, about 1,300 in Virginia, 1,200 in Kansas and more than 500 in New Mexico.

Abortion pills and telemedicine play a key role. In March, doctors in states with laws to protect medical providers used telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills to nearly 10,000 patients in states with bans or restrictions on abortion by telehealth — accounting for about 1 in 10 abortions in the U.S.

Laws to protect medical providers who use telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills started taking effect in some Democratic-led states last year.

“It eases the burden on clinics,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine professor who co-leads #WeCount. “So it creates more space for the people who are coming to clinics.”

Abortion opponents say the fight over the abortion drug mifepristone isn’t over after a narrow Supreme Court ruling that preserved access to it for now. But so far there have not been legal challenges to shield laws.

The latest edition of the survey covers the first three months of this year, when it counted an average of just under 99,000 abortions per month, compared with 84,000 in the two months before Dobbs. January was the first time since the survey began that it has counted more than 100,000 abortions across the country in a single month.

The tracking effort collects monthly data from providers across the country, creating a snapshot of abortion trends. In some states, a portion of the data is estimated. The effort makes data public with less than a six-month lag, giving a picture of trends far faster than annual reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where the most recent report covers abortion in 2021.

Before the shield laws began kicking in and #WeCount started tallying them, people were still getting some pills in places with bans.

One of the states where abortions increased was Florida. That changed in April, when a ban after six weeks’ gestation took effect. The data doesn’t yet reflect that change.

The policy could change again through a November ballot measure that would make abortion legal until viability, generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks into pregnancy. It needs at least 60% approval to be added to the state constitution

One vote against it will come from Mia Adkins, a 20-year-old senior at Florida International University.

“Instead of pushing for more abortion legal later in pregnancy, we should be pushing for laws that protect these pregnant parents and students and provide them with the support that they need,” said Akins, a senior at Florida International University.

Florida is one of six states where abortion-related measures are already on the ballot. Determinations from elections officials about adding similar questions are pending in four more states. In one, Nebraska, there are dueling amendments: One to allow access until viability and one to keep the current ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion-rights supporters have prevailed in all seven abortion ballot questions in the U.S. since 2022. That tracks with public opinion polling that has shown growing support for abortion rights, including a recent Associated Press-NORC poll that found 6 in 10 Americans think their state should allow someone to obtain a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason.

An amendment to protect access could be on the ballot in Arizona, a political battleground state where court cases have swung abortion policy — and access — since the Dobbs ruling.

The state Supreme Court ruled in April that Arizona should enforce an 1864 ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, only for lawmakers to repeal that law. The state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy remains. The ballot measure would expand it to 24 weeks.

Natalie Harper, a 23-year-old independent who usually doesn’t vote, said the potential of bringing back the Civil War-era ban “absolutely” impacts her decision to vote for the ballot measure this November. “Seeing that as a possibility really made me realize that everyone’s pro-choice voices need to be heard in hopes it never goes in that direction again,” she said.

In Missouri, which has outlawed almost all abortions and where nearly none were reported in the new data, election officials could soon certify whether a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights received enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot in the reliably Republican state.

University of Missouri political scientist Peverill Squire said that if the measure is on the ballot, it could draw out enough Democratic voters to help swing a few competitive legislative races.

“They can seize on the personal freedom arguments the Republicans have generally owned over the recent elections,” he said.
___

Associated Press writers Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

GEOFF MULVIHILL
Covering state government issues nationally

Paris ‘flying taxi’ test flights scrapped during Olympics


By AFP
August 8, 2024

Plans to test the Volocopter air taxi during the Olympics in Paris have been scrapped because of certification issues - Copyright AFP/File JULIEN DE ROSA

Test flights of so-called flying taxis — futuristic drones capable of transporting people — have been scrapped in Paris during the Olympics as the certification for the engine has not come through, its promoters told AFP Thursday.

German manufacturer Volocopter has been conducting test flights in the Paris region for several years and had lobbied hard for authorisation from European authorities in time for the Olympics.

The company has partnered with French airport operator ADP, the capital’s metro and bus operator RATP, and the Paris regional government.

Certification for VoloCity, the engine conceived and made by Volocopter, had been delayed by a few weeks over its motors, ADP deputy CEO Edward Arkwright said.

“We are a little disappointed, but in any case we had said that we would not make any compromises with security,” he added.

Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke said the delay was due to “an American supplier who was not capable of providing what he had promised”.

He said the motors would be sent back to France next week but not in time for the test flights to be held in Paris before the Olympics close.

Initially, test flights had been due to take place during the Games, landing on a float on the Seine near the Austerlitz railway station in southeastern Paris.

The promoters had hoped to use the global draw of the Olympics to show that the technology could efficiently link “vertiport” take-off and landing sites.

However test flights without passengers will be held in the aerodrome of the suburban town of Saint Cyr l’Ecole, west of Paris, on Thursday and Sunday, they said.

The town is close to the Chateau de Versailles where Olympic equestrian events are being held.

Backers tout flying taxis as a low-carbon form of aviation and hope future larger versions could be used as ambulances or in other roles.

However, many city officials in Paris have derided the plans as harmful to the environment.

Biden ‘not confident’ of peaceful transfer if Trump loses


By AFP

August 7, 2024

US President Joe Biden, 81, who dropped out of the White House race in July, said Trump's hints on the campaign trail about not accepting a defeat should be taken seriously - 

Copyright POOL/AFP/File TINGSHU WANG

US President Joe Biden warned that he was “not confident at all” of a peaceful handover of power to Kamala Harris if Donald Trump loses November’s election, in an extract of a CBS interview broadcast Wednesday.

Biden, 81, who dropped out of the White House race in July and was replaced by Vice President Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, said Trump’s hints on the campaign trail about not accepting a defeat should be taken seriously.

“If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” Biden told the US network in the interview, which was due to air fully on Sunday, when asked if he believed there would be a calm transfer in January 2025.

“He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it — all the stuff about ‘if we lose there’ll be a bloodbath,'” added Biden.

While campaigning earlier this year, Biden regularly brought up the fact that Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, after Biden beat him in the 2020 election.

Biden also frequently quoted Trump as saying there would be a “bloodbath” if he lost — although the Republican said he was talking in the context of electric car imports from China.

Trump has, however, maintained his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and in the CBS interview Biden accused the former president of trying to install allies in key electoral positions in US states to manipulate counts if the same thing happened again.

“You can’t love your country only when you win,” said Biden.

The ageing president has long framed Trump as a threat to US democracy.

Harris has sometimes echoed that theme, while focusing more on a positive vision in a campaign that has reenergized Democrats, brought in millions of dollars and helped her nose ahead of Trump in opinion polls.

ORTHODOX FUNDAMENTALISM

Bulgaria parliament bans LGBTQ ‘promotion’ in schools


By AFP
August 7, 2024

Bulgaria's parliament voted to ban LGBTQ "propaganda" in schools, prompting protests in the capital Sofia - Copyright AFP Yuri CORTEZ

Bulgaria’s parliament passed changes to its education law Wednesday, widening its scope to ban LGBTQ “propaganda” in schools in what rights groups slammed as discriminatory.

The amendment to the law — proposed by the country’s pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party — passed by a large majority, with 159 votes in favour, 22 against and 12 abstentions.

The law now bans the “propaganda, promotion or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one”.

Lawmakers also voted on a separate text that defines “non-traditional sexual orientation” as “different from the generally accepted and established notions in the Bulgarian legal tradition of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposite sexes”.

Demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Sofia in the late afternoon to protest against the amendment’s adoption, chanting “Shame on you” and “Stop chasing people out of Bulgaria”.

Among them was Sanya Kovacheva, a 35-year-old architect who accused the country’s politicians of “exploiting disinformation and surfing the wave of hatred against the LGBTQ community” ahead of elections in October.

LevFem, the left-wing feminist group which organised the rally, said the amendment would make it impossible “to combat the harassment in school of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people”.

– ‘Witch hunt’ –



The rights NGO Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) had urged lawmakers not to pass the changes, saying they “breach basic human rights”, including those enshrined in the country’s constitution as well as EU laws and international conventions.

The law “bans the dissemination of ideas and concepts including scientific information”, BHC’s vice-chair Radoslav Stoyanov told AFP.

It “implicitly foreshadows a witch hunt and sanctions any educational efforts related to LGBTQ people in school education”, lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova from Deystvie LGBTQ rights group wrote in a statement, calling the bill “discriminatory”.

Homophobic ideas often feature in Bulgaria’s political debate and in the media, as the country faces its seventh parliamentary elections in three and a half years amid serious political instability.

The Balkan country does not recognise same-sex marriage.

EU member Bulgaria also refuses to ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, which many in the country see as a vehicle for recognition of “a third gender”.

According to a recent report by the Institute for Market Economics (IME) in Sofia, “rejection and discrimination are key factors in the emigration of LGBTQ people”.

In 2021, Hungary also passed a similar law, banning LGBTQ “promotion” to minors.

GENOCIDE!

Nearly 40,000 and counting: the struggle to keep track of Gaza deaths

By AFP
August 7, 2024

A young Palestinian who works with his father at the morgue at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza stands next to the bodies of people killed in the fighting who have yet to be identified - Copyright AFP Saeed KHAN
Youssef Hassouna with Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire in Jerusalem

With much of Gaza reduced to rubble by 10 months of war, counting the dead has become a challenge for the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, as the death toll nears 40,000.

Israel has repeatedly questioned the credibility of the daily figures put out by the ministry and US President Joe Biden did so too in the early stages of the war.

But several United Nations agencies that operate in Gaza have said the figures are credible and they are frequently cited by international organisations.



– Data collection –



Two AFP correspondents witnessed health facilities enter deaths in the ministry’s database.

Gaza health officials first identify the bodies of the dead, by the visual recognition of a relative or friend, or by the recovery of personal items.

The deceased’s information is then entered in the health ministry’s digital database, usually including name, gender, birth date and ID number.

When bodies cannot be identified because they are unrecognisable or when no one claims them, staff record the death under a number, alongside all the information they were able to gather.

Any distinguishing marks that may help with later identification, whether personal items or a birthmark, are collected and photographed.



– Central registry –



Gaza’s health ministry has issued several statements setting out its procedures for compiling the death toll.

In public hospitals under the direct supervision of the territory’s Hamas government, the “personal information and identity number” of every Palestinian killed during the war are entered in the hospital’s database as soon as they are pronounced dead.

The data is then sent to the health ministry’s central registry on a daily basis.

For those who die in private hospitals and clinics, their information is taken down on a form that must be sent to the ministry within 24 hours to be added to the central registry, a ministry statement said.

The ministry’s “information centre” then verifies the data entries to “ensure they do not contain any duplicates or mistakes”, before saving them in the database, the statement added.

Gaza residents are also encouraged by Palestinian authorities to report any deaths in their families on a designated government website. The data is used for the ministry’s verifications.

The ministry is staffed with civil servants that answer to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority as well as to the Hamas-led government in Gaza.



– ‘High correlation’ –



An investigation conducted by Airways, an NGO focused on the impact of war on civilians, analysed the data entries for 3,000 of the dead and found “a high correlation” between the ministry’s data and what Palestinian civilians reported online, with 75 percent of publicly reported names also appearing on the ministry’s list.

The study found that the ministry’s figures had become “less accurate” as the war dragged on, a development it attributed to the heavy damage to health infrastructure resulting from the war.

For instance, at southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, one of the few still at least partly functioning, only 50 out of 400 computers still work, its director Atef al-Hout told AFP.

Israeli authorities frequently criticise the ministry’s figures for failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians. But neither the army nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deny the scale of the overall toll.

The press office of Gaza’s Hamas government estimates that nearly 70 percent of the roughly 40,000 dead are women (about 11,000) or children (at least 16,300).

Several UN agencies, including the agency in charge of Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), have said the ministry’s figures are credible.

“In the past — the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip — these figures were considered as credible and no one ever really challenged these figures,”, the agency’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said in October.

A study by British medical review The Lancet estimated that 186,000 deaths can be attributed to the war in Gaza, directly or indirectly as a result of the humanitarian crisis it has triggered.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the October 7 attack by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.