Israel seeks to reshape Middle East, with force and US backing

Laura Kelly
Thu, October 10, 2024

THE HILL


One year after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, Israel is reshaping the Middle East by force, taking the fight to Iran and its proxies with the help of the United States — despite pleas from the Biden administration for diplomacy.

While President Biden is warning Israel against a major attack on Iran in retaliation for a missile barrage last week, Israel’s ambassador to the United States is warning “a long and arduous path” lies ahead.

“Following the carnage of Oct. 7, all our enemies in the region and globally smelled the blood, sensed weakness and vulnerability and rose to hit us,” said Michael Herzog, Israel’s envoy in Washington, during a memorial ceremony Monday at the Israeli Embassy.

“One year on, the story of this war is also of Israel rising to its feet, turning the tide, restoring its deterrence and dismantling the ring of fire that Iran has built around us.”

The Israeli ambassador’s message was delivered in front of national security adviser Jake Sullivan, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, and White House coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk — officials who were blindsided last month when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected a cease-fire proposal with Hezbollah the White House had coordinated with Jerusalem behind closed doors.

Since then, Israel has forged ahead with its plans to dismantle Hezbollah, weaken Iran and suppress Hamas in the Gaza Strip — largely without consulting the United States beforehand, but relying heavily on military and political support from Washington.

“It must be said, we wouldn’t be where we are today were it not for the steadfast support of our close friend and ally the United States of America,” Herzog told the assembled diplomats, along with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

The episode demonstrates how the Israeli government, under Netanyahu, is reframing its war aims toward a vision of long-lasting regional dominance.

“This is our war of existence — ‘the war of redemption.’ This is how I would like the war to be called officially,” Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

“We are changing the security reality in our region, for our children and for our future, in order to ensure that what happened on Oct. 7 does not recur. Never again.”

While rocket fire still emanates from the Gaza Strip and Hamas holds 101 hostages it kidnapped from Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military has shifted operations to take on the threats from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has fired 9,500 rockets into the country since Oct. 8, 2023, and considers the group its most dangerous, proximate adversary, with a well-stocked, organized and disciplined fighting force.

But the exact goals of Israel’s operations against Hezbollah are not entirely clear. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 calls, generally, for the absence of weapons between Israel’s northern border and Lebanon’s Litani River. But Netanyahu, in a speech Tuesday night, called for the Lebanese to “stand up and take their country back” from Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran.

“In the past, when I would talk with Israeli colleagues, they always said that their security establishment, as well as their political establishment, has always believed, what they call ‘the big war’ was going to be inevitable,” said Randa Slim, a senior Fellow and director the Middle East Institute’s Program on Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues.

“And the big war was going first after Iranian proxies … and then going after Iran.”

Netanyahu is expected to approve a strike against Iran in retaliation for the Islamic Republic’s Oct. 1 strike against Israel — a barrage of nearly 200 ballistic missiles that were, in turn, launched in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut last month, and the killing of Hamas’s chief political leader Ismael Haniyeh in a guesthouse in Tehran in July.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday said Israel’s strike will be “powerful, precise and above all — surprising,” in remarks to an Israeli military intelligence unit.

Potential targets range from conventional military bases and capabilities to missile and drone arsenals, defense production facilities, oil and nuclear facilities, or leaders of the Iranian regime, said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“Obviously, the Biden administration is weighing in, trying to discourage some of those latter targets,” he said, criticizing what he described as a good-intentioned but naive “push for de-escalation and avoidance of a regional war.”

“Of course, someone would have to have some issues to want war and to relish escalation, but sometimes you have to escalate to get a better peace,” Bowman said.

“And if all you’re saying is ‘we don’t want a regional war, it’s really better to not escalate,’ then all you’re doing is creating the perception that the United States of America is going to restrain Israel after it’s been punched in the face.”

Among Israelis, a full-scale, multifront war is ranked as the greatest external, existential threat to the State of Israel, according to a recent survey by the Israel Democracy Institute.

Still, nearly 80 percent of Israelis support military operations being carried out against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even as the war in Gaza continues and hostages remain in Hamas captivity. And while 53 percent of Israelis surveyed think the time has come to end the war in Gaza, Netanyahu’s base of right-wing voters (61 percent) think the time has not yet arrived.

While Netanyahu’s end game is unclear, he has steadily expanded conflicts on multiple fronts. At the moment, Israel is carrying out air and ground operations in southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, counterterrorism and security operations in the West Bank, preparing for its strike against Iran and is on the defensive over strikes emanating from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

“When it comes to reshaping the Middle East, I think the Israelis are certainly trying to reshape the security threats in closest proximity to themselves,” said Jonathan Lord, senior fellow and director of the Middle East Security program at the Center for a New American Security.

“A reckoning has to be coming, on some level… because right now, in the wake of October [7], with all the threats around it, there is a willingness for the Israelis, as a nation state, to suit up and fight for what it sees as its own survival,” he continued. “But the reality is, you can’t stay at full mobilization forever. This will rob your society. It will destroy your economy.”

But Netanyahu has so far blown past the Biden administration’s efforts at securing a truce or cease-fire in Lebanon or Gaza.

Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday for the first time in about seven weeks, a 30-minute call the White House described as “direct” and “productive.”

Still, Biden officials have said they did not know, or were reportedly only told moments before, Israel carried out significant military actions over the past few weeks.

Axios reported last week that Sullivan told Ron Dermer, a close aide to Netanyahu, the U.S. expects clarity and transparency about its plans to retaliate against Iran because it will have implications for U.S. forces and interests in the region. Still, Biden officials acknowledged to Axios the U.S. would help defend Israel regardless.

“My concern is whether the Israeli political leadership, on one hand, feels it has now a unique opportunity to delay for a long time the Iranian nuclear project and to degrade the Iranian footprint in the region,” said Slim, of the Middle East Institute.

She pointed out Biden’s decision to not leverage weapons deliveries to Israel has diminished his influence. His status as a lame-duck president one month out from an election has further given Netanyahu a freer hand.

Election concerns over whether a tough response from Biden to hold back Israel would harm Vice President Harris’s chances against former President Trump are also a strong consideration, Slim said. Trump called Netanyahu last week to congratulate him on the operations against Hezbollah.

“I’m really worried about this moment. The Middle East today is on the precipice of all-out war that will have devastating consequences for regional stability and will have long-term repercussions on regional politics,” Slim said.

During the memorial service Monday, Sullivan addressed the crowd following Herzog, stating the Biden administration is still committed to establishing a future “where Israel enjoys normalized relations with all of its Arab neighbors, where Palestinians have a state of their own and where Israel’s security is assured forever.”

“No one is ever criticized for predicting that things will only get worse in the Middle East,” Sullivan continued. “The hard thing is to push past the hopelessness and put the pieces down that build toward a genuinely brighter future, even as we navigate the heightened risks and exacting human toll at the present day.”

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 

SPACE/COSMOS

Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Acting Very Strangely, Puzzling Scientists

Noor Al-Sibai
Thu, October 10, 2024 


Great Ball of Fire

Jupiter's Giant Red Spot (GRS) is large enough to swallow the entire Earth — and as new imagery from Hubble suggests, it's a lot weirder than previously thought.

Between December 2023 and March 2024, the Hubble Space Telescope took a closer look at the massive and mysterious "anticyclone" that has long fascinated astronomers and found that not only does its size keep changing, but that it appears to be, well, jiggling.

"While we knew its motion varies slightly in its longitude, we didn’t expect to see the size oscillate," explained NASA's Amy Simon, a director at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a statement. "As far as we know, it’s not been identified before."

This ginormous storm is, as NASA points out, the largest in our Solar System. In 1979, the Voyager spacecraft clocked its diameter at a whopping 14,500 miles across — but per more recent Hubble observations, it's shrunken to a mere 10,250 miles.

With these latest Hubble images taken over 90 days, the GRS seems to be behaving like a stress ball. The white clouds around it even sort of resemble a squeezing hand — an incredible coincidence that drives home how fascinating this finding really is.

[video src="https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/hubble-grs-2023-2024-stsci-01j948e7p897jnszr4gqd1pjq3.mp4" /]

Proper Look

Simon noted that despite having been observed by astronomers for centuries, the GRS had never been repeatedly imaged over time before this three-month dedicated look.

"With Hubble’s high resolution," she said, "we can say that the GRS is definitively squeezing in and out at the same time as it moves faster and slower."

"That was very unexpected, and at present, there are no hydrodynamic explanations," she added.

Simon and her team's findings could have implications for studying hurricanes on Earth as well.

"As it accelerates and decelerates, the GRS is pushing against the windy jet streams to the north and south of it," explained Mike Wong, co-investigator of the new research from the University of California at Berkeley, in the agency's statement. "It's similar to a sandwich where the slices of bread are forced to bulge out when there's too much filling in the middle."

As of now, the team is still investigating possible explanations for the spot's strange behavior — but we can be sure Simon's team will be looking at the eye-shaped spot even closer now that they know how weird it is.

More on the GRS: James Webb Observes Mysterious Structures Above Jupiter's Great Red Spot


Past life on Mars? Here's what new NASA evidence points to.

Mashable
Wed, October 9, 2024 


NASA's Curiosity rover takes in a desolate view of Mars at Gale crater in 2021.


Cold, dry, and barren: Mars doesn't look like it could be a haven for life — at least not the kind humans are familiar with.

Despite the Red Planet's appearance, scientists have wondered for decades about the possibility of microbial life inhabiting Mars in the distant past. Now a new study, based on data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover, is peeling back another layer of the mystery. For the first time, researchers measured the isotopic composition of carbon-rich minerals found in Gale Crater, a region laced with dried rivers and gullies and being explored by the rover.

The findings Curiosity beamed millions of miles back to Earth were not optimistic, at least in terms of the potential for life above ground.

"Our samples are not consistent with an ancient environment with life (biosphere) on the surface of Mars," said David Burtt, lead author of the study, in a statement, "although this does not rule out the possibility of an underground biosphere or a surface biosphere that began and ended before these carbonates formed."

The new paper, published in the National Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, suggests two possible ways carbon-rich minerals could have formed at Gale crater: a series of alternating wet and dry periods at the site or salty-ice conditions. These two different ancient climate scenarios could be summed up as bleak and bleaker when it comes to supporting life.

SEE ALSO: NASA's Mars rovers had a gangbusters summer of rocks

Curiosity snapping a selfie on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover snaps a selfie image on lower Mount Sharp in Gale crater in August 2015. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

In an environment that swings like a pendulum from wet to dry, the region would intermittently shift from more habitable to less habitable, said Jennifer Stern, a co-author. In frigid temperatures near the planet's equator, the environment would be hostile for living things because most water would be frozen and inaccessible for chemistry or biology.

"And what is there is extremely salty and unpleasant for life," she added in a statement.

This isn't the first time scientists have theorized these possible climate scenarios for ancient Mars. Computer modeling of the planet, based on the presence of certain minerals and rock formations, have led scientists down this path before, but this is the first time they've had isotopic evidence from Martian rocks to bolster those ideas.

Imagining ancient Mars

An artist interprets what Gale crater on Mars might have looked like during one of its ancient, wet periods. Credit: NASA illustration

Scientists have sought life on Mars since the first spacecraft touched down on its surface in 1976. Mounting evidence from robotic explorers, especially from Curiosity and its twin Perseverance, has shown the Red Planet to have once been warmer and wetter, perhaps more than 3 billion years ago.

The rover pair had a highly productive summer, including Perseverance's discovery of a spotted rock with the most compelling signs of ancient dead Martian life yet, though a sample would need to be shipped back to Earth for confirmation. A research team also recently published more evidence of a vast ocean of water below the planet’s surface. And where there's water on Earth, there's often life.

Scientists are interested in Mars' carbon-rich rocks because they are like climate time capsules. Their minerals can hold onto clues about the environments in which they formed, such as the temperature and acidity of the water, and the ingredients within the water and air. Curiosity made the isotope measurements by heating the samples to over 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit and analyzing the released gasses.


Isotopes are versions of an element with different masses. As water evaporates, light versions of carbon and oxygen are more likely to escape into the atmosphere, while heavier versions tend to remain and get incorporated into rocks.

The isotope values of the sampled materials indicate lots of evaporation, the team says, suggesting that they probably formed in a climate that could only support transient liquid water — that is, water that comes from melted ice when temperatures rise and the surface pressure is right.

The heavy isotope values in the samples are much higher than what’s seen on Earth for carbonate minerals. Furthermore, they are the heaviest carbon and oxygen isotope values recorded for any Martian materials. Although evaporation can cause oxygen isotope changes on Earth, the changes measured in the Martian samples were two to three times greater, Burtt said.

Orbiter looking down at a Martian cave

Astrobiologists believe caves like this one on Mars could potentially harbor life. Credit: NASA / JPL / Univ. of Arizona

"The fact that these carbon and oxygen isotope values are higher than anything else measured on Earth or Mars points towards a process (or processes) being taken to an extreme," he said.

But this doesn't discount the possibility of life. The Red Planet appears to have a network of deep caves formed by ancient volcanic vents. Within them could be liquid water, traces of long-deceased bacteria or fungi, or, some scientists believe, perhaps even existing microbial life.

Caves can host complex ecosystems, inhabited by extremophiles that munch on rocks and convert the material into energy for life. Because of this, many astrobiologists want nothing more than to go spelunking on Mars.

This dazzling NASA image shows the biggest super star cluster in our galaxy

Westerlund 1 is a young cluster of stars up to 100,000 times bigger than our sun.

Mariella Moon
·Contributing Reporter
Thu, October 10, 2024 

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Zamani


The James Webb Space Telescope continues to capture images of space that are clearer and more detailed than what we've seen before. One of the latest images it has taken is of a "super star cluster" called Westerlund 1, and it shows an abundant collection of heavenly bodies, shining brightly like gemstones. Super star clusters are young clusters of stars thousands of times bigger than our sun that are all packed in a small area. Our galaxy used to produce more clusters billions of years ago, but it doesn't churn out as many stars anymore, and only a few super star clusters still exist in the Milky Way.

Westerlund 1 is the biggest remaining super star cluster in our galaxy, and it's also the closest to our planet. It's located 12,000 light-years away, made up of massive stars between 50,000 and 100,000 times the mass of our sun within a region that measures six light-years across. Those stars include yellow hypergiants that are around a million times brighter than our sun, as well. Since the stars populating the cluster have a comparatively short life, scientists believe it's only around 3.5 to 5 million years old. That's pretty young in the cosmic scale. As such, it's a valuable source of data that could help us better understand how massive stars form and eventually die. We won't be around to see it, but the cluster is expected to produce 1,500 supernovae in less than 40 million years.


Astronomers captured an image of the super star cluster as part of an ongoing survey of Westerlund 1 and another cluster called Westerlund 2 to study star formation and evolution. To take the image, they used Webb's Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), which was also recently used to capture a gravitationally lensed supernova that could help shed light on how fast our universe is expanding.

California officials reject more SpaceX rocket launches, with some citing Musk's X posts

Salvador Hernandez
Fri, October 11, 2024

A SpaceX rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif., in 2022. (NASA / Associated Press)


SpaceX's plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing Elon Musk's political posts on X and raising concerns about the billionaire's labor record at his companies.

The plan to increase the number of rocket blasts into space up to 50 a year was rejected by the California Coastal Commission on Thursday despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife.

The military also vowed to mitigate the reach of sonic booms that often span across 100 miles of coastline, an issue that has caused controversy.


Members of the California Coastal Commission commended Space Force and Air Force representatives for reaching an agreement, but some cited their concerns about Musk, the owner of SpaceX, before rejecting the plan.

Among the issues raised were Musk's decision to insert himself in the presidential race, his spreading of conspiracy theories, the labor record of his companies and derogatory comments he has made about the transgender community.

"We're dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race," commission Chair Caryl Hart said.

Military officials argue that launches by SpaceX, a leading contractor at Vandenberg Space Force Base, should be considered a federal activity because all of its launches benefit military objectives, regardless of whether the payloads being carried by the rockets are for the government or for Musk's private satellite internet company, Starlink.

As such, Space Force officials don't have to obtain a permit or permission from the California Coastal Commission for rocket launches; they only need to reach an agreement to mitigate the effects.

But commissioners in recent months have questioned whether SpaceX launches, which carry private Starlink equipment on up to 87% of their flights, should be considered private activity. That would mean that Musk's company would have to obtain permission from the California agency for launches carrying private equipment.

Military officials have gone before the commission repeatedly this year to try to significantly increase the number of SpaceX launches, and officials said they plan to once again ask for another increase — for up to 100 annually — by early next year. But Musk's recent social media posts, and his growing presence and influence in national and global affairs, have become a concern by commission members considering an agreement that would see SpaceX increase its activities in California.

"This company is owned by the richest person in the world with direct control of what could be the most expansive communications system in the planet," Commissioner Mike Wilson said. "Just last week that person was talking about political retribution."

Wilson asked how could members of the commission be assured that equipment being launched would benefit U.S. interests if most of it was for the benefit of a private company.

"Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] while claiming his desire to help hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet," Commissioner Gretchen Newsom said.

This is not the first time SpaceX and the state commission have clashed over an increase in rocket launches.

Earlier this year, SpaceX sought to increase the number of launches from six to 36 a year, but commissioners noted the request came after the number of launches had already been exceeded.

During a meeting in April, commissioners once again pushed back at the argument from military officials that all SpaceX activities benefited the U.S. government and should therefore be considered federal activity. Commissioners pointed to reports that Starlink had refused to allow Ukraine, a U.S. ally, to use its satellite internet service to help carry out an attack against Russia in September 2022.

In a post on X, Musk said there was a request from Ukraine to activate Starlink services with the intent to sink a Russian fleet, but that he did not agree to it because Starlink would then be "explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation."

A spokesperson for SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment for this article. A spokesperson previously said in an email that all launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, including commercial ones, were considered federal activity.

The commission rejected the agreement Thursday on a 6-4 vote.

Officials at Vandenberg Space Force Base said despite the vote, they were not deterred from working with the commission and finding a solution.

"Today's vote hasn't changed the [Department of the Air Force's] or Vandenberg's unwavering commitment to preserving the California coastline and the precious species that reside there," Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations and environment, said in a statement. "The Space Force's dedication to collaboration here is in many ways unprecedented — so is our commitment to ensuring dialogue continues."

Space Force officials in August had rejected commission demands to increase monitoring and mitigation efforts, frustrating commissioners tasked with preserving the California coast. But on Thursday, military officials had seemingly reversed their stance, agreeing to commission requests to increase monitoring and to set up an interagency working group that includes U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Federal Aviation Administration to address concerns as the number of launches increases.

"We hear you, and we're committed to working with you," Chaudhary said.

The plan would have allowed SpaceX to conduct up to 50 rocket launches a year from the military base in Santa Barbara County, but the company is expected to double that number by early 2025 as it continues to push its reach into space exploration as a leading Space Force contractor.

On Thursday, members of the commission lauded military officials for their work to reach an agreement, but plainly stated their main concern is that it should be SpaceX representatives who should be before the commission to obtain permits for the company's growing rocket program, not military officials.

"It is essential that SpaceX apply for a [Coastal Development Permit]," Hart said. "We're going to hit a wall here."

SpaceX's rapid expansion has pitted the company against state and federal agencies at times. Musk, who also owns X, has used the social media company to criticize the FAA after the agency proposed fining SpaceX over license requirements, and for delays over the licensing for the SpaceX Starship 5.

The California Coastal Commission also raised concerns this year over the launches after residents reported that sonic booms were jolting and startling residents and wildlife across the coast. Initially, military officials reported sonic booms from rocket blasts out of Vandenberg Space Force base were rare. But Air Force officials in June acknowledged sonic booms were regularly reaching across more than 100 miles of coastline from Santa Barbara County to as far as Los Angeles County.

Residents from Lompoc to Camarillo reported feeling the impacts of the booms for months, and Space Force officials said changes in flight trajectories have made the sonic booms audible to people in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Worries about the expanding reach and impact of the sonic booms prompted members of the commission to ask military officials to better monitor and mitigate the effects of the rocket launches.

The commission can't unilaterally impose restrictions or conditions on the military, which uses SpaceX as a military contractor, but it works to reach agreements with the military to mitigate the effects on the environment and coast.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


California Rejects Bid to Increase Starlink Launches, Citing Musk's Controversies

PC Mag
Fri, October 11, 2024 at 1:24 PM MDT·3 min read


A California commission rejected a request to conduct more Starlink satellite launches at a local base, partly because of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s conduct.

As Politico reports, the California Coastal Commission voted 6-4 on Thursday to deny a proposal to let SpaceX increase Falcon 9 launches from 36 to 50 for the rest of this year.

The commission oversees such proposals because rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base can cause sonic booms and release debris, creating environmental impacts such as disturbing local wildlife. But during Thursday’s hearing, the commissioners also expressed concerns with Musk’s activities in recent years, including his controversial tweets.

“Right now, Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” said Commissioner Gretchen Newsom (no relation to California Governor Gavin Newsom).


She then criticized SpaceX for offering Starlink access as a "sick ploy to gain customers that are facing tremendous burden and dire straits" since it requires hurricane victims to spend $349 on Starlink hardware in order to receive only a month of free internet access.

In her opposition, Newsom also cited a Reuters report about 600 unreported workplace injuries at SpaceX as another cause for concern, along with Musk's plan to move the company's headquarters to Texas despite receiving subsidies from California.

Others, such as Commissioner Justin Cummings, voted in favor of the proposal but still had reservations about SpaceX potentially acting against US interests. Specifically, Cummings alluded to how Musk denied a Ukrainian military request to activate Starlink to facilitate an attack on Russian forces.

“You all, and we are trying to operate in an apolitical space. The person who controls these companies has enough power to not work in the best interest—when they feel like it—of our allies,” Cummings said.

The denial could delay future Starlink launches from Vandenberg, which is on the coast near Santa Barbara. However, during the meeting, it was noted that the US military could override the vote, forcing the California commission to pursue mediation or a lawsuit. The commission also noted that SpaceX seeks to increase Falcon 9 launches to 100 in 2025.


More launches will help SpaceX further expand Starlink, according to a commission document. But surprisingly, the proposal didn’t come from SpaceX directly. Instead, the request came from the US Air Force and Space Force. The military wants to clear the flights because SpaceX has become a major provider of US government space missions. This includes developing Starshield, a satellite internet system for national security purposes that taps Starlink technology.

Not all the commissioners were convinced that the US military should be advocating for SpaceX since only a minority of the launches will contain US government payloads. “I do believe that the Space Force has failed to establish that SpaceX is a part of the federal government, part of our defense,” Commissioner Dayna Bochco said in voting to deny the proposal.

Some commissioners also took issue with SpaceX's decision not to send a representative to the meeting; instead, a company executive only shared a statement over a Zoom call during the hearing. "With Starlink, SpaceX has deployed a global broadband network that supports critical communications for the Department of Defense and numerous federal, state, and local agencies," SpaceX Senior Director of Government Affairs Mat Dunn said. (This now includes providing emergency satellite internet access to phones in hurricane-ravaged areas.)

In the meantime, the company's Falcon 9 launches have been temporarily grounded, pending an FAA investigation into a malfunction that occurred with a flight last month.

Remains of Sandy Irvine believed found on Everest after 100 years

Grayson Schaffer
Fri, October 11, 2024 


Photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin was leading a National Geographic team below the north face of Mount Everest in September when they discovered a boot and sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine,” believed to belong to the lost mountaineer Andrew Comyn Irvine. Photograph by National Geographic/Erich Roepke

When they spotted it, there was no mistaking what they were looking at: a boot melting out of the ice. As they drew closer, they could tell the cracked leather was old and worn, and the sole was studded and bracketed with the diamond-patterned steel hobnails of a bygone era of climbing.

In September, on the broad expanse of the Central Rongbuk Glacier, below the north face of Mount Everest, a National Geographic documentary team that included the photographer and director Jimmy Chin, along with filmmakers and climbers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, examined the boot more closely. Inside, they discovered a foot, remains that they instantly recognized as belonging to Andrew Comyn Irvine, or Sandy, as he was known, who vanished 100 years ago with the famed climber George Mallory.

“I lifted up the sock,” Chin says, describing the moment, “and there’s a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched into it.” Chin says he and his companions recognized the significance of the moment in unison. “We were all literally running in circles dropping F-bombs.”

Irvine and Mallory were last seen on June 8, 1924, while attempting to become the first people to reach the top of the world’s highest peak. The question of whether they had summited has endured as the greatest climbing mystery of all time. If Irvine and Mallory succeeded, their feat would have come some 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary finally reached the top of Everest.

Mallory’s remains were located in 1999, while the whereabouts of Irvine’s were unknown. “It's the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up,” says Chin of the discovery. “A lot of theories have been put out there.” He hopes the discovery helps explain what happened on the mountain in 1924, and brings some closure to Irvine’s relatives who revere him still. “When someone disappears and there’s no evidence of what happened to them, it can be really challenging for families. And just having some definitive information of where Sandy might’ve ended up is certainly [helpful], and also a big clue for the climbing community as to what happened.”

Chin said he suspects the boot had been trapped in the glacier until just prior to the team spotting it. “I think it literally melted out a week before we found it,” he said. Photograph by Jimmy Chin


The sock, with Irvine’s name, was found along with a boot and a foot, emerging from the ice of the Central Rongbuk Glacier. Photograph by Jimmy Chin

One of Chin’s first calls to share the news was to Irvine’s great-niece Julie Summers, 64, who wrote a 2001 biography of Irvine and has championed his contributions to mountaineering for years. She was grateful for the news. “It’s an object that belonged to him and has a bit of him in it,” she says of the boot. “It tells the whole story about what probably happened.” Summers suspects that the remains were swept down the mountain by avalanches and crushed by the moving glacier. “I'm regarding it as something close to closure.” Members of the family have volunteered to share DNA samples to compare with the remains in order to confirm their identity.

(This team climbed Everest to search for a camera that could rewrite history)

Summers said the discovery brought back memories of when news broke in 1999 that Mallory’s body had been found by the alpinist Conrad Anker, as part of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, which sought to settle the question of whether the pair had indeed reached the summit. An examination of his remains revealed the sort of deep rope marks that might indicate a fall that was caught by a rope wrapped around his waist—evidence that suggested to Anker that Mallory and Irvine were roped together in their final moments. “I knew at once that he’d been tied to his partner, and that he’d taken a long fall,” Anker wrote in The Lost Explorer, which he co-authored with David Roberts. Mallory’s right leg was badly broken and his uninjured left leg was laid delicately over the break, hinting that he didn’t die immediately in the fall. His dark snow goggles were in his pocket, which led to speculation that the fall could have occurred in the evening as the two had been descending. The photograph of his wife that Mallory had planned to leave on the summit wasn’t with him.

Finding Mallory’s remains answered several questions about the fate of the two men, but it left two big questions unanswered. Where was Irvine? And had the pair reached the summit? Climbers and historians long thought that answering the first question might offer clues about the second. After all, it had been Irvine who had carried the Kodak Vest Pocket Camera lent by expedition member Howard Somervell. The undeveloped film inside, it was thought, might contain the only conclusive evidence of their success. And so, the quest to find Irvine’s body acquired more interest—on par, in some circles, with the search for Amelia Earhart or Michael Rockefeller.

In the last photo taken of the mountaineers, George Mallory (left) and Sandy Irvine prepare to leave the North Col of Everest in June 1924. Photograph by Noel E. Odell/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images

In September, several days before they came upon the boot, Chin says, the team was descending the Central Rongbuk Glacier when they found a different artifact that aroused their curiosity. “We discovered an oxygen bottle marked with a date on it that said 1933,” he says. Nine years after Mallory and Irvine had gone missing, the 1933 British Everest expedition was the fourth attempt to climb the mountain. It also ended in failure, but members of the 1933 expedition did find an ice ax that belonged to Sandy Irvine high on the northeast ridge, though well below where Mallory was found.

(Here's why Mount Everest keeps changing its height)

The discovery of the 1933 oxygen cylinder got Chin and his teammates thinking. “If Sandy had fallen down the north face, his remains or his body could be somewhere near here,” says Chin. They started to speculate that if an oxygen canister had fallen off the mountain, “it probably fell down quite a bit farther than a body—more like a missile.”

Chin suspected that Irvine’s remains could be close. “Sandy could potentially be a few hundred yards up the glacier from here toward the mountain,” he told Erich Roepke. In the days that followed, Chin and his team began taking a circuitous route across the folds and crevasses of the glacier. “It was actually Erich who spotted something and was like, ‘Hey, what's that?’,” says Chin. It was the boot, emerging from the ice. “I think it literally melted out a week before we found it.”

In her book about her great-uncle, Julie Summers describes Irvine as “a beautiful young man who died in the flush of youth.” Indeed, at 22 Irvine had been the youngest member of the 1924 expedition—a mission that followed two previous British climbs, one in 1921 to reconnoiter possible climbing routes, and a second in 1922 that marked the first serious attempt at summiting. In those days, simply reaching Everest required a month or more. The ropes were natural fiber, the outerwear consisted of wool and gaberdine, and the boots were leather—purchased for five pounds three shillings from James J. Carter, a London boot maker.


Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was 22 years old when he vanished with Mallory. The Oxford student was the youngest member of the expedition. Photograph by Mount Everest Foundation/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images

Irvine came from an upper middle-class family in Cheshire, England; he was handsome and athletic, a star rower at Oxford. Still, Irvine has often been the subject of criticism for lacking technical mountaineering experience prior to finding himself on the mountain in 1924. Reportedly, he likely suffered from a learning disability like dyslexia that hampered him as a reader, but he was mechanically gifted and excelled at math and engineering. When he joined the expedition, he was immediately appointed to serve as the oxygen officer, and he helped to improve the design of the team’s oxygen cylinders. He earned his spot on the summit team by dint of his will and athletic prowess. “Irvine,” wrote expedition leader E.F. Norton in The Fight For Everest, “was big and powerful—with fine shoulders and comparatively light legs.” Summers says that Mallory likely valued Irvine’s deference to the older climber. Irvine was absolutely loyal to Mallory, she says.

Early on the morning of June 8, 1924, the two men set off for the summit under conditions that Mallory is said to have described as ''perfect weather for the job.'' That afternoon, they were last spotted by teammate Noel Odell, who reported briefly noticing two tiny figures near the Second Step during a brief parting of the clouds. Then they were gone.

(Inside the Everest expedition that built the world’s highest weather station)

Over the years, several theories have emerged to explain why Irvine was never found. One notion proposed by Mark Synnott, a writer, climber, and National Geographic contributor in his book The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest suggests that Chinese climbers might have found the body and the camera long ago, and kept it quiet. Summers thinks the discovery of the boot refutes that idea. “I think Jimmy's find has absolutely answered that question,” she says.

An earlier theory suggests that a Chinese climber in 1975 had encountered a body outfitted in vintage clothing, just below the Northeast Ridge. That sighting became the basis for the target area of the 1999 Mallory Irvine Research Expedition. Members of that team, including Anker, expected that if they found a body it would be Irvine’s—which might then lead them to Mallory’s (the expedition’s leader Eric Simonson collected a DNA sample from one of Irvine’s relatives to aid in the identification). After Anker discovered Mallory’s remains— the team performed a burial on the mountain—he spoke with Summers. “Conrad Anker said to me, he was looking for the treasure map and ended up finding the treasure,” remembers Summers.

Several days after Chin and his team found the boot, they noticed ravens disturbing it. At that point, he says, he asked the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA), the governmental authority that oversees the north side of Everest, whether the team could move the remains off the mountain. Chin carried the boot and foot off Everest in a cooler and turned it over to the CTMA. His team also took a DNA sample that they are working with the British Consulate on for further identification. “But I mean, dude,” says Chin. “There's a label on it.”

Chin is declining to elaborate on where exactly the remains were found—he says he wants to discourage trophy hunters. But he’s confident that more artifacts and maybe even the camera are nearby: “It certainly reduces the search area.”

Everest’s great mystery solved? Sandy Irvine’s remains found 100 years after tweed-clad climber vanished

Alex Croft
Fri, October 11, 2024 

(PA/Getty)


The enduring mystery of Mallory and Irvine, the tweed-clad heroes of Everest last seen vanishing into a cloud as mist swept over the Himalayan summit, may finally have been solved 100 years on from the tragedy that so nearly ended in triumph.

Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the youngest member of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition, disappeared on the upper slopes alongside George Mallory on 8 June that year while attempting to become the first people to climb the world’s highest peak.

With efforts on the coveted summit taking place in the few short years following the First World War, and with Britain having lost the race to the North and South Poles in desperate circumstances, the assault on Everest represented efforts to restore the reputation of British exploration – and indeed preserve the prestige of a declining empire.

The mystery of whether the duo reached the top before their death has been debated by climbers and historians for many decades. If they succeeded, they would have accomplished the feat 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, who made the summit in 1953.

Now, what appears to be the partial remains of Irvine have finally been uncovered in the biggest breakthrough in the great Everest mystery since Mallory’s frozen corpse was found 25 years ago.

In the latest development, a sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” and a boot were discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, below the north face of Everest, by a team of mountaineers filming a documentary.

The 1924 Everest expedition. Back, from left: Sandy Irvine, George Mallory, Edward Norton, Noel Odell and John Macdonald. Front, from left: Edward Shebbeare, Geoffrey Bruce, Howard Somervell and Bentley Beetham (Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)

A sock embroidered with "A.C. Irvine", along with a boot, has been discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier (Jimmy Chin)

The finding offers the first meaningful insight into the young man’s death since the ill-fated expedition to the 8,849m peak – with the Irvine family having volunteered to compare DNA test results with the remains to confirm his identity.

Notably, the sock and boot were found at a lower altitude than Mallory’s remains, which were located by climber Conrad Anker in 1999 and are now in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which is responsible for climbing permits on Everest’s northern side.

When the team made the find they began “running in circles” and shouting expletives, the National Geographic director and photographer Jimmy Chin said.

“Sometimes in life, the greatest discoveries occur when you aren’t even looking. This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large.

“It’s the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up. A lot of theories have been put out there.

“When someone disappears and there’s no evidence of what happened to them, it can be really challenging for families. And just having some definitive information of where Sandy might’ve ended up is certainly [helpful], and also a big clue for the climbing community as to what happened,” he said.


Sandy Irvine was only 22 when he died on Mount Everest (Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)

Back row: John MacDonald, Noel Odell, George Mallory, Edward Norton and Andrew Irvine. Front row (left to right): Bentley Beetham, Howard Somervell, Geoffrey Bruce and Edward Shebbeare. Mount Everest Expedition 1924 (Royal Geographical Society via G)
Britain’s gleaming hope

In 1924, Britain was an empire in decline. The emergence of the US and Japan offered a glimpse into the world’s shifting tectonic plates and how global politics would be reconfigured over the coming decades.

Britain’s pride was also damaged after it lost out to both the North and South Poles, to the US and Norway respectively, losing its status as the trailblazer of global exploration.

Mount Everest was seen as the third pole, and the hopes of a nation rested on the shoulders of Mallory and Irvine.

Britain had made several efforts on the summit before. Set up by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, the ascents had been led by Mallory, whose athleticism and reading of the mountain marked him as a special climber among battle-hardened mountaineers.

The former schoolmaster, who had the good fortune of being sent home from the Somme due to the recurrence of an old climbing injury and then missing Passchendaele thanks to a motorbike accident, was involved in each of Britain’s three attempts to reach the summit, in 1921, 1922 and 1924.

Remarkably, the 1921 outing surveyed the Himalayas on an unprecedented scale, with 12,000 square miles of unexplored territory being mapped on a quarter-inch scale – laying the foundations for future expeditions for decades to come.

“That work is still being used, revised, updated, so it provides a baseline for understanding the region to this day,” Jamie Owen, of the Royal Geographical Society, told The Guardian. “It was a tremendous legacy.”

For the last of his three attempts, Mallory was joined by Irvine, a young engineer and keen rower who, according to a letter from Mallory to his wife, “could be relied on for anything except perhaps conversation”.

Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine, George Mallory, Edward Felix Norton (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
The final ascent

Although the expedition was poorly planned and marred by illness, Mallory and Irvine prepared for their final ascent on June 8. “It is 50 to 1 against us but we’ll have a whack yet & do ourselves proud,” Mallory wrote in his final letter to his wife, Ruth, unaware of the tragedy ahead.

Mallory and Irvine were last seen by Noel Odell, a fellow climber who saw two black dots moving across the ridge from thousands of feet below. It would be the last time Mallory would be seen for 75 years.

Irvine would disappear for a century.

Announcing their tragic end, the Mount Everest Committee received the cablegram from expedition member Colonel Norton, despatched from Phari Dzong, 19 June, at 4.50pm: “Mallory and Irvine killed on last attempt. Rest of party arrived at base camp all well.”

Britain was left a nation in mourning, with a memorial service for the pair at St Paul’s Cathedral attended by King George V.

Wade Davis, author of Into The Silence, in an account of the 1924 expedition, said it is the only time that mountaineers have been so honoured in British history.

The last image ever taken of Mallory (left) and Irvine (right) as they leave North Col for the final climb (Noel E. Odell/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)
The great Everest mystery, reignited

In news that stunned the world, Mallory’s body was discovered at a height of 26,800ft (8,165m) just over 2,200ft (670m) from the peak along with some of his climbing equipment, a wristwatch and altimeter in 1999.

It reignited one of the great unanswered questions in world exploration. Did Irvine and Mallory die during a victorious descent having summited the world’s highest peak, or did they fall agonisingly short before perishing on the slopes?

Mallory’s camera, which may have held proof of whether they reached the summit of Everest, was lost. Also missing was a photo of Ruth – which he had previously said he would leave on Everest’s peak.

This raises the possibility of their success in conquering Everest. The climbing community generally says it is possible, but not probable, that Irvine and Mallory reached the top.

For now, that secret remains between the two men and Everest herself, but Irvine’s remains could shed new light on the events.


The sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” was found, alongside a boot (Jimmy Chin)
Following in Irvine’s footsteps

In September, several days before they came upon the boot, Chin revealed the team was descending the Central Rongbuk Glacier when they found an artefact that piqued their curiosity. “We discovered an oxygen bottle marked with a date on it that said 1933,” he said.

The bottle was marked nine years after Mallory and Irvine had gone missing. The 1933 British Everest expedition was the fourth attempt to climb the mountain and also ended in failure, but members of the 1933 expedition did find an ice axe that belonged to Irvine high on the northeast ridge, although well below where Mallory was found.

The discovery of the 1933 oxygen cylinder made Chin wonder. “If Sandy had fallen down the North Face, his remains or his body could be somewhere near here.”

Chin suspected that Irvine’s remains could be close. “Sandy could potentially be a few hundred yards up the glacier from here toward the mountain,” he told National Geographic.

In the days that followed, Chin and his crew began taking a circuitous route across the folds and crevasses of the glacier.

“It was actually Erich Roepke [filmmaker] who spotted something and was like, ‘Hey, what’s that?’,” said Chin. It was the boot, emerging from the ice. “I think it literally melted out a week before we found it.”

Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine (Alamy Stock Photo)
Irvine’s legacy

Julie Summers, Irvine’s great niece and biographer, said it is “remarkable” to see the discovery made almost exactly 100 years after their deaths. She was “moved to tears” when she heard that her blood relative’s boot had been found.

“I have lived with this story since I was a seven-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest. The story became more real when climbers found the body of George Mallory in 1999, and I wondered if Sandy’s body would be discovered next.

“When Jimmy told me that he saw the name A.C. Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”


Jimmy Chin led the small team which made the breakthrough discovery (National Geographic/Erich Roepke)
‘We weren’t even looking’ – Jimmy Chin

“Any expedition to Everest follows in the shadow of Irvine and Mallory,” Chin said. “Sometimes in life the greatest discoveries occur when you aren’t even looking.

“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large,” he added.

Chin has declined to reveal the precise location of the find in order to deter trophy hunters.

Brown bear in Kent recovering well after UK-first brain surgery

Nadeem Badshah

THE GUARDIAN
Thu 10 October 2024 

Romain Pizzi (back right) and his team prepare for surgery on Boki.

Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in the first operation of its kind in the UK is doing well but is “not out of the woods” yet, a charity has said.

Boki went under the knife on Wednesday after an MRI scan revealed he had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.

The two-year-old mammal, who had been suffering from seizures and related health issues, is awake and said to be doing well after the surgery.


A specialist wildlife veterinary surgeon, Romain Pizzi, carried out the operation, which aimed to drain fluid from the bear’s brain, at Wildwood Trust, a wildlife park near Canterbury in Kent.

It was the first time a procedure of this kind has been carried out in the UK. Pizzi previously became the first surgeon to perform a similar operation on a black bear in Asia.

The Wildwood Trust said on Thursday: “We are very pleased to report that Boki is awake and is doing as well as can be expected following his brain surgery yesterday.

“We are, of course, not out of the woods but he has been checked over this morning by Romain Pizzi and our vet, Elliott Simpson-Brown, from IZVG (International Zoo Veterinary Group) and they are happy with his recovery so far.

“The team at Wildwood will continue to monitor him closely to make sure he is responding to treatment.”

Pizzi said: “You’re always a little bit nervous when you come in a day after an unusual or big operation, and there’s a lot that could have given us problems with Boki, but the good news is he’s actually doing really well this morning.

“He was a little bit sorry for himself, and any animal is going to have a little discomfort after an op, but he’s bright and alert and very mentally active and he’s taking his medication. So far so good.”

The conservation charity is fundraising for Boki’s surgery and immediate aftercare costs, which is expected to be about £20,000.




Boki, the European Brown Bear who underwent pioneering brain surgery yesterday at a wildlife park in Kent, is awake and "doing as well as can be expected" according to vets.



Boki the bear 'doing well' after successful brain surgery but 'not out the woods'

Sky News
Updated Thu 10 October 2024 



A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in a first of its kind operation in the UK is doing well, but is "not out the woods" yet.

Boki, a two-year-old brown bear at Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, Kent, suffered from hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the brain.

It triggered seizures - and other health issues - before the bear underwent surgery earlier in the week.

Sky News science correspondent Thomas Moore was there as the patient went under, ahead of the operation.

In an update on Thursday, the Wildwood Trust said that Boki was "awake and is doing as well as can be expected".

"We are, of course, not out of the woods, but he has been checked over this morning by Romain Pizzi and our vet, Elliott Simpson-Brown, from IZVG and they are happy with his recovery so far," they said in a statement.

"The team at Wildwood will continue to monitor him closely to make sure he is responding to treatment."

Boki started having seizures and vision problems five months ago.

Initial attempts to solve the problem with drugs became less effective and his quality of life was being impaired.

The veterinary team feared that if they did not operate before he went into torpor - a winter dormancy similar to hibernation - he may not wake up in the spring.

Specialist wildlife veterinary surgeon Romain Pizzi carried out the surgery.

Speaking after the operation, Dr Pizzi said: "You're always a little bit nervous when you come in a day after an unusual or big operation, and there's a lot that could have given us problems with Boki, but the good news is he's actually doing really well this morning.

"He was a little bit sorry for himself, and any animal is going to have a little discomfort after an op, but he's bright and alert and very mentally active and he's taking his medication. So far, so good."

Jon Forde, head of bears at Wildwood, called Boki "unique".

"He's such a lovely animal. He's unique. I've been a zookeeper for 15 years and there's no-one else like him," he said.

The conservation charity said it was fundraising for Boki's surgery and aftercare costs, which it expects to be around £20,000.

France's Martinique bans protests following recent riots over spiralling prices

NEWS WIRES
Thu 10 October 2024 

Authorities in Martinique will ban protests and impose a new curfew after fresh riots over rising prices led to one death, 26 officers injured, and looted stores. Violent protests over high food prices have rocked the island of 350,000, with tensions reigniting Monday after a brief lull.

Authorities in the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Thursday plan to ban protests and declare a new curfew after fresh riots over spiralling prices saw one person killed by gunshot, 26 officers injured and stores looted, a source in the administration told AFP.

In recent weeks the island of 350,000 people has been shaken by violent protests over high food prices. After ebbing for some days, tensions erupted again on Monday.


During a fresh night of troubles from Wednesday to Thursday, protesters looted shops, erected burning barricades and clashed with police.

The local prefecture said one man died of his wounds after being shot, but that police did not open fire during the night.

The wounded man was discovered by police responding to reports of looting at a shopping centre in the town of Robert. The victim was declared dead in hospital and a probe was launched, the prefecture said.

According to a source close to the case, the person was allegedly the victim of a settling of scores between rioters.

As a result of the latest bout of violence, the Martinique prefect, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, planned to order a curfew from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am (0100 GMT - 0900 GMT) as of Thursday and ban all protests and gatherings across the territory, a source at the prefecture told AFP.

(AFP)


One killed as protests over high cost of living in Martinique turn violent

Associated Press
Thu 10 October 2024

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Protests over the high cost of living in the French Caribbean island of Martinique turned violent late Wednesday, with at least one person killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades as they clashed with officers.

It was one of the most violent nights yet since protests began more than a month ago, with the government issuing a statement asserting that no police officers used their weapons and that the killing was under investigation.

Videos posted on social media showed protesters looting grocery stores and other businesses as they threw rocks and bottles at police, who responded with tear gas.

The latest round of violence prompted the government to announce another curfew as it stressed that demonstrations on public roads were prohibited.

The protests erupted a day before the government had scheduled a meeting with citizens to talk about how to achieve affordable prices for basic goods.

On Tuesday, Didier Laguerre, the mayor of Fort-de-France, the island's capital, issued a statement announcing Thursday's meeting and saying he recognized that many in Martinique are struggling and that their demands are legitimate.

“I understand the suffering and anger,” he wrote. “I know everyone’s impatience and the resignation of those who have lost hope for a long time.”

As a result of the ongoing protests, a special unit of French riot police deployed to Martinique, which is an overseas administrative department of France.

Social unrest is nothing new for the island, with previous protests sparked by simmering anger over what demonstrators say is economic, social and racial inequality.

Panama's water wheel trash collector keeps plastic at bay

Juan José Rodríguez
Thu 10 October 2024

Wanda has collected 256,000 kilos of trash in two years, its operator says (Martin BERNETTI) (Martin BERNETTI/AFP/AFP)


A trash-collecting machine powered by a water wheel and solar panels has prevented hundreds of tons of plastic and other garbage from Panama from littering mangroves and the ocean.

All kinds of trash flow down rivers running through Panama City and end up on the coastline of the Central American nation.

To combat the pollution, the nonprofit Marea Verde Foundation installed a machine called Wanda two years ago to collect and separate trash for recycling.


"We've captured 256,000 kilos of waste that would be in the mangroves and sea if it had not been for Wanda," said Laura Gonzalez, the foundation's executive director.

The garbage is stopped by a barrier across the Juan Diaz River that runs through Panama City before several workers separate the waste, which is sent by a long conveyor belt to a huge container to be recycled.

Wanda also has solar panels in case the hydropower system that harnesses the energy of the river current fails.

No other river in Panama has a similar system, so tons of garbage continue to reach the sea.

The country's coastal mangroves are a vital resting place for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, but pollution and urban growth pose a serious threat.

Experts estimate that 30 percent of Panama City's garbage goes uncollected, and that around 100,000 tons of the country's waste end up in the sea every year.

When it rains, rising waters carry away garbage that is often dumped on riverbanks in slums of the city of 1.4 million people.

"We're working hard every day to ensure that this waste does not reach the shore," Ezequiel Vargas, leader of the crew that operates Wanda, told AFP.

"Sadly, the garbage arrives constantly every day," he said.

- 'Environmental disaster' -

Uncollected garbage litters the streets and residential areas of Panama City and its surrounding areas, while on the coast, there are piles of all kinds of waste.

Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro called the state of the rivers an "environmental disaster" in July when he took office.

"We cannot continue polluting our rivers and seas," he said.

According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme, Panama City generates around 2,300 tons of garbage every day, of which 30 percent -- mostly plastics -- ends up in rivers, on the coast and in the sea.

Some 61,500 tons of solid waste from Panamanian cities reach the sea every year through sewers and drains, it said.

The trash captured by Wanda includes plastic bottles, shampoo containers and footballs.

"It's crazy. We received a plastic unicorn a few days ago," Gonzalez said.

According to Marea Verde, there are eight other similar facilities around the world, including one in the US city of Baltimore, but Wanda is the only one of its kind in Latin America.

It began operating in September 2022 and captured 130 tons of waste in its first year.

But the amount of rubbish dumped in the river continues to increase.

"This year we will probably exceed what we collected in the first year," Gonzalez said.

jjr/fj/dr/cb/sst

Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna dies in Russian captivity

Johanna Urbancik
Thu 10 October 2024 

Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna dies in Russian captivity


Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna has died in Russian captivity, according to Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Coordination Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Speaking on Ukrainian television today, Yatsenko confirmed her death, noting that the exact circumstances remain under investigation. Roshchyna would have turned 28 this month.


Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while working in Russian-occupied territories. RFE/RL's Ukrainian service reported that she had travelled from Ukraine to Poland on 27 July last year before entering eastern Ukraine. Her last known communication was on 3 August 2023.

In April, Russia's Ministry of Defence informed Roshchyna’s father by letter that she was being held by Russian authorities, although the reasons for her detention were not disclosed. She was one of twenty Ukrainian journalists known to have been detained by Russia for their reporting.
At least 16 journalists have been killed in Russian attacks since 2022


The Kyiv Independent reported that this was not Roshchyna’s first detention. In March 2022, she was held for ten days by Russian FSB officers after leaving Berdians'k for Mariupol. Berdians'k has been under Russian occupation since 27 February 2022. As a condition for her release, she was forced to record a video thanking Russian forces for saving her life.

Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov confirmed to Suspilne that Roshchyna was due to be part of an upcoming prisoner exchange. "Her return had been agreed. The latest information we had was that she had been transferred to Lefortovo prison to prepare for her return home", Yusov said.

Lefortovo, a notorious Moscow prison, subjects inmates to extreme isolation and constant surveillance. The prison’s cells are cramped, with little natural light, and dim bulbs burn around the clock. Prisoners, such as ex-prisoner US journalist Evan Gershkovich, face extreme isolation, often with no news from the outside world and minimal contact with their lawyers.

According to the European Commission, as of 2 October, at least 16 journalists and media workers lost their lives while reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) states that 19 journalists remain imprisoned in Russia, with the Russian authorities refusing to release any information about them.

Ukraine investigates death of journalist in Russian detention

Reporters Without Borders Thursday demanded Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna’s death in Russian captivity be investigated. A letter to her family from Russia’s Defense Ministry said she died Sept 19. Photo courtesy International Women's Media Foundation

Updated Fri, October 11, 2024 
By Dan Peleschuk

(Reuters) -Ukraine said on Friday it was investigating the death in Russian captivity of a Ukrainian journalist whose first-hand reports provided a glimpse into life under Russian occupation early in Moscow's invasion.

Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 after embarking on a reporting trip to occupied eastern Ukraine, and Russia acknowledged last April that she was being held.


Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets confirmed her death on social media late on Thursday in what he condemned as illegal detention. He did not specify the circumstances.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence, told the public broadcaster Suspilne that Roshchyna had been on a list of prisoners to be exchanged, and that "everything necessary had been done" for the swap.

She had been due to be transferred to Moscow from the southern city of Taganrog, he said.

The campaign group Reporters Without Borders said Roshchyna had died on Sept. 19, citing a letter that her family received on Thursday from Russia's Defence Ministry.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office said it had updated its war-crime investigation into Roshchyna's disappearance to include murder.

By Friday morning, Russia had not publicly commented on her death.

"What did they do with her? What could have been done to a young girl to make her die?" activist and colleague Oleksandra Matviichuk, a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wrote on X.

In a statement on Friday, the European Union demanded "a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances" of Roshchyna's death.

"Her fate is a tragic reminder of the many thousands of persons detained in occupied Ukrainian territories and Russia, as well as the repression imposed by Russian authorities," it said.

REPORTER DOCUMENTED LIFE UNDER RUSSIAN OCCUPATION

Roshchyna's vivid reports documented Moscow's efforts to cement Russian power in parts of occupied eastern and southern Ukraine after the Kremlin's invasion in February 2022.

She also captured the difficulty of daily life in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia seized and unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Roshchyna's articles for outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda and U.S.-funded Radio Liberty included photographs of Russian military hardware and revealed the extent of ruin in Mariupol, the southeastern port city devastated by a months-long Russian assault and siege.

She had been held once before by Russian forces, for 10 days, in southeastern Ukraine in the first weeks of the Kremlin's invasion.

Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva described Roshchyna as "incredibly brave" and committed to revealing the plight of residents under Russian occupation.

"It was impossible to stop her, to hold her back. She was completely dedicated to journalism," Musaieva wrote on Facebook.

(Additional reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


Investigation demanded after Ukrainian journalist dies in Russian captivity

Doug Cunningham
Thu, October 10, 2024

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Reporters Without Borders on Thursday demanded Ukrainian freelance journalist Victoria Roshchyna's death in Russian captivity be investigated. A letter to her family from Russia's Defense Ministry said she died Sept 19.

She had traveled to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to cover the war there and disappeared Aug. 3.

Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk of Reporters Without Borders said Thursday in a statement, "RSF mourns the death of Victoria Roshchyna, an independent Ukrainian journalist detained in Russia. The Russian authorities have never provided any information about her detention, despite repeated requests from her family, the Ukrainian authorities, and RSF. They must shed light on all the circumstances surrounding her detention and death. Our thoughts and support go out to her loved ones."

Roshchyna worked for Ukrayinska Pravda, an independent Ukrainian news outlet, Hromadske, and had collaborated with the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe.

The International Women's Media Foundation said in a statement Thursday, "Victoria's passing is not just the loss of a remarkable woman, but of an intrepid witness to history. Regardless of her cause of death, we can say with certainty that her life was taken because she dared tell the truth. We hope her death will not be in vain: the international community must pressure Russia to cease targeting journalists and silencing press freedom."

According to Reporters Without Borders, roughly 100 journalists, Ukrainian and foreign nationals, have been victims of abuse by Russian occupation forces.

Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's prisoner of war coordination headquarters, confirmed Roshchyna's death Thursday.

"Unfortunately, information about Victoria's death has been confirmed," he said.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine said on Facebook, "NSJU calls for an immediate and thorough international investigation of Russian captivity and the circumstances of the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna. We urge the world community to step up pressure on Russia to release all Ukrainian journalists who are illegally held by the occupiers."

Her family learned in April that the Russians were holding her.

CBS, citing a report from Russian news outlet Mediazona, said Roshchyna died during her transfer from a prison in Taganrog near Ukraine's border.

Israel accused of 'extermination' in Gaza by UN inquiry

Sky News
Updated Thu 10 October 2024 



A UN inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a concerted policy to destroy Gaza's healthcare system in actions that amount to war crimes and "extermination".

Navi Pillay, a former UN high commissioner for human rights who is chairing the inquiry, said Israel has carried out "relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities" in the past year.

Ms Pillay will present a full report on the matter to the UN General Assembly on 30 October.


Middle East latest: Beirut hit by new strike

In a statement ahead of its release, she said: "Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system."

The UN inquiry's statement also accused Israeli forces of targeting medical vehicles, deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza Strip.

As an example, it cited the death of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who died in February along with six members of her family as they tried to flee fighting in Gaza.

Two medics were also killed as they tried to rescue them.

Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), told Sky News that in her mind the deaths were not an accident.

She said: "We do not dispatch our ambulances to areas where it is considered a military area... if we get calls from these areas, we try to coordinate our safe access."

In a statement to Sky News, the IDF said it has carried out a "preliminary inspection" into the incident and it "appears that IDF forces were not present near the vehicle or within the firing range of the described vehicle in which the girl was found".

The IDF has repeatedly claimed Hamas militants operate from the cover of built-up areas - including around schools and hospitals - and says it will strike them when they emerge while trying to avoid harming civilians.

Hamas has denied hiding militants and command posts among civilians.

The UN inquiry's statement comes after 27 people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.
Displaced children caught up in Lebanon conflict

The strike, which also wounded many more, happened in the city of Deir al Balah, where upwards of a million people have taken shelter.

Israeli military said it carried out a "precise" strike targeting a militant command inside the school, without providing evidence.

More than 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive in the region following Hamas's attack on October 7 last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Israel's prime minister's office and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, when asked by the news agency, Reuters.

'Deep concern' over Lebanon attacks

Israel has also continued its strikes in Lebanon, where it is involved in military operations against the militant group Hezbollah.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, 18 people were killed and 92 wounded after Israeli strikes on the capital Beirut this evening.

Meanwhile, the UN said earlier today that two of its peacekeepers have been injured after an Israeli tank fired at one of its observation towers.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Israeli forces have "repeatedly hit" UN positions in the last 24 hours.

"Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law," it said.

The French foreign ministry has shared "deep concern" over the incident, while Italy's defence minister Guido Crosetto said: "It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law."

The IDF claimed in a statement issued today: "The Hezbollah terrorist organisation operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts."