Black diamond, largest ever cut, goes on show in Dubai

Monday, 17 Jan 2022 

A picture taken on January 17, 2022 shows ‘The Enigma’, a 555.55 carat black diamond, at Sotheby’s in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. — AFP pic

DUBAI, Jan 17 — The world’s largest known cut diamond went on public display for the first time today ahead of its sale, when it is expected to reach US$5 million (RM20 million).

The Enigma, the name of the rare black carbanado diamond, was put on display in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

The diamond is believed to have been created when a meteorite or an asteroid hit the Earth more than 2.6 billion years ago, according to Sotheby’s auction house jewellery specialist Sophie Stevens.

One of the most difficult substances to cut, the 555.55-carat diamond has never been shown by its unnamed owner of the past 20 years, but experts turned it into a 55-face jewel.

Its shape was inspired by the Middle East palm-shaped symbol of power and protection, the Hamsa, which is also associated with the number five.

“It is very different,” said Stevens of the jewel, which holds a Guinness World Record as the largest cut diamond.

After being on show in Dubai the Enigma will also be taken to Los Angeles and London, before a seven day online auction starts on February 3.

What Sotheby’s called a “cosmic wonder” could very well go to a bitcoin bidder, Stevens said.

“We are accepting cryptocurrency for the diamond, which we have done for other important stones,” she said.

Last year in Hong Kong, the Key 10138 diamond sold for US$12.3 million which was paid in cryptocurrency. — AFP

Carbonado

Carbonado, commonly known as black diamond, is one of the toughest forms of natural diamond. It is an impure, high-density, micro-porous form of polycrystalline diamond consisting of diamond, graphite, and amorphous carbon, with minor …

• Crystal system: Isometric-hexoctahedral (cubic )
• Formula mass: 12.01u
• Color: Typically black, can be grey, various shades of green and brown sometimes mottled.
• Crystal habit: Polycrystalline
• Fracture: Irregular torn surfaces
• Mohs scale hardness: 10

In ancient rite, Spanish horses brave fire to fight virus

The tradition dates back to the 18th century when an epidemic devastated the horse population 

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP
Issued on: 17/01/2022 - 

San Bartolome de Pinares (Spain) (AFP) – At full gallop, the horse emerges from the darkness and races through a string of bonfires in an ancient ritual to ward off sickness performed every January in a tiny Spanish village.

Known as Luminarias, the festival takes place every January 16 in San Bartolome de Pinares, a village perched high in the hills about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Madrid.

By the light of an almost full moon, several local officials are sweating copiously, despite freezing temperatures, as they pile branches onto the bonfires blazing along the main street of this village of just 600 residents

As the bells ring out, there's a sudden clatter of hooves as the first horse and rider come charging out.

After the first horse passes another follows, then a group of them, sparks flying from their hooves as they gallop down the street, cheered on by hundreds of onlookers here to witness this mystical, medieval-like spectacle.

The festival honours San Antonio Abad (Saint Anthony), patron saint of animals

 PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

The tradition takes place every year on the eve of the feast of San Anton, Spain's patron saint of animals, and dates back to the 18th century when an epidemic devastated the horse population.

"Before when animal died because of infection, they had to be burned," said Leticia Martin, a 29-year-old physiotherapist riding a horse called Fiel.

"So when the epidemic disappeared, people began to believe that the smoke protected the animals."
Purifying fire

"These fires, which purify animals from all diseases, are lit on the eve of San Anton's day, which is celebrated on January 17," said Anton Erkoreka of the Museum of the History of Medicine in Spain's Basque Country region.

During the feast, masses are held across Spain to bless animals.

"Fire is always a purifying element and this festival asks the saint for his protection on animals."

In other Spanish villages, bonfires are lit at different times of the year to remember earlier plagues and epidemics, although the global pandemic has given the Luminarias festival a slightly new dimension.

'Fire is always a purifying element and this festival asks the saint for his protection on animals' PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

But locals such as Emmanuel Martín insist the tradition has nothing to do with Covid. It is only about blessing the animals and keeping them "healthy all year round as the smoke from the green branches purifies them", he says.

"It's not a show to entertain people," insists this 26-year-old who first witnessed the event when he was two years old.

Urged on by the crowd, one rider crosses the bonfires with his arms spread wide in a cross, his horse's mane plaited, its tail rolled up in a type of topknot, to avoid catching fire.

- Adrenaline -

Although the tradition is widely criticised by animal rights groups, Martín insists it doesn't harm the horse nor the rider.

"You don't even notice it," says his cousin Andrea Lenela, who compares it to brushing a finger quickly through the flame of a cigarette lighter.

Every year, the event is attended by vets and firefighters brought in by the local authorities.


'If I thought there was any risk to the horses, I wouldn't do it,' says local resident Mario Candil PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU AFP

"If I thought there was any risk to the horses, I wouldn't do it," says local resident Mario Candil.

"Nothing has ever happened to anyone, ever," insists Monce García, 49, who has come along to enjoy the "atmosphere, the smoke and the typical village tradition".

Dismounting from her horse, a 46-year-old pharmacist Noelia Guerra speaks animatedly about "the emotions and the adrenaline" which flood through both horse and rider.

"You don't have to force them, they just go on their own," she says of the festival, which was celebrated this year for the first time since the pandemic began.

"We laughed about that, saying it was because we didn't celebrate the Luminarias in January 2021."

© 2022 AFP

Afghan earthquake kills at least 26 in drought-devastated area

At least 26 people were killed after an earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Monday, an official said. 

© Hoshang Hashimi, AFP

The victims died when roofs of their houses collapsed in Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, spokesman for the province Baz Mohammad Sarwary told AFP.

The shallow quake was magnitude 5.3, according to the US Geological Survey.

"Five women and four children are among the 26 people killed in the earthquake," said Sarwary, adding that four more were injured.

The quake also inflicted damage on the residents of Muqr district in the province but details, including of casualties, were still unavailable, he said.

Afghanistan is already in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country in August when Western countries froze international aid and access to assets held abroad.

Qadis is one of the areas worst affected by a devastating drought, benefiting little from international aid in the past 20 years.

The country is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Earthquakes can cause significant damage to poorly built homes and buildings in impoverished Afghanistan.

In 2015, nearly 280 people were killed when a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake centred in the mountain range ripped across South Asia, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan.

In that disaster, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.

(AFP)

Tonga volcano: distress signal detected in low-lying islands after eruption, as first death reported

Regular contact with Tonga may not resume for weeks after confirmation the communications cable was cut in at least one place

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations. 

Photograph: New Zealand High Commission/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock

Tess McClure
@tessairini
Tue 18 Jan 2022 00.13 GMT

A distress signal has been detected in an isolated, low-lying group of Tongan islands after Saturday’s huge volcanic eruption, even as most external communications remain down, and diaspora families anxiously await news.

Reuters reports that the UN detected the distress signal on Monday, prompting particular concern for the inhabitants of Fonoi and Mango. According to the Tonga government, 36 people live on Mango and 69 on Fonoi.

The news comes as most communication between Tonga and the outside world is still cut off, after the Pacific nation’s main communication cable was broken by the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami.


Tonga volcano: a visual guide to the eruption and its aftermath

Tongans around the world may be forced to wait weeks for regular contact to resume, after testing confirmed that the cable connecting the islands to the outside world was cut in at least one place.

A spokesperson for Southern Cross Cable, which operates other undersea cable networks across the region, said that testing by Fintel and Tonga Cable on Sunday afternoon “seems to confirm a likely cable break around 37km offshore from Tonga”.

The offshore nature of the break means it is more difficult and time consuming to repair, with a specialist cable repair ship being dispatched from Papua New Guinea. The spokesperson said reports indicated that “while timing is currently unconfirmed it is likely to be one to two weeks before they have repaired the cable, conditions willing”.

There have been no official confirmations of casualties from Tongan authorities, but the family of Angela Glover, a British woman living in Tonga who went missing in the tsunami, reported on Monday that her body had been found.

Images from Australian and New Zealand defence force surveillance flights that travelled to the islands on Monday have not been released. But UN analysis of satellite imagery from the island of Nomuku found that almost all visible structures were covered with ash, and about 40% of visible structures were damaged.


‘Not knowing is heartbreaking’: sleepless nights among Tongan diaspora after contact with country cut off

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that boulders and boats had washed ashore on Tongatapu, Tonga’s largest island, about 65km south of the volcano.

“Seeing some of those waves come in and peeling back fencelines and structures, you can see the force of those surges,” she said. “Everyone just wants to establish how wide scale that impact has been … we want to be in Tonga and on the ground as soon as we are possibly able to be.”

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a briefing on Monday there was significant infrastructural damage around the main island of Tongatapu. “We are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands – Mango and Fonoi – following New Zealand and Australian surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage,” they said.

Distress beacon from islands near Tonga eruption site detected

A map provided by the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations shows the extent of Saturday's Tonga volcanic eruption. Map courtesy of ECHO


Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A distress signal emanating from a pair of isolated, low-lying islands near Tonga has been detected in the wake of this weekend's undersea volcano eruption, United Nations officials said Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the distress beacon is coming from the Ha'apai Group of islands, situated 45 miles northeast of the main Tongan island of Tongatapu, where concerns were mounting about the welfare of the small islands of Mango and Fonoi.

The two islands lie just a few miles to the northeast of Saturday's eruption site in the South Pacific.

The blast covered the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa in ash and dust and triggered tsunami waves in several Pacific Ocean nations, particularly Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, the United States, Mexico, Peru and Chile.

Communications in the South Pacific remained disrupted Monday, two days after the eruption.

Two people had been reported missing in Tonga. Family members of one of the missing persons, British national Angela Glover, said her body was recovered Monday after she was swept away by the tsunami wave, Sky News reported.

Two others were reported killed in Peru, while two people were injured during evacuations in Japan, local authorities said.

In investigating the distress beacon from the islands of Mango and Fonoi, OCHA said Australia carried out a surveillance flight Monday and reported substantial property damage on the beaches.

The Tongan Maritime Force has also deployed to the Ha'apai Group of islands.

Tonga: First reconnaissance flights surveil aftermath of volcanic eruption

Communication with the Pacific island is still spotty after a massive volcanic eruption spewed ash into the atmosphere. The eruption triggered a tsunami that flooded coastlines from Japan to the United States.

TONGA VOLCANO ERUPTION SENDS TSUNAMI WAVES ACROSS PACIFIC
Volcano erupts off of Tonga
A volcano near the island nation of Tonga erupted on Saturday, sending tsunami waves across the Pacific. The massive eruption has severely hampered international communication with the island.
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New Zealand said Monday it was able to send a surveillance plane to assess the damage caused by the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai underwater volcano.

The volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga on Saturday evening, sending a plume of ash, steam, and gas rising high into the atmosphere. The roar from the eruption was reportedly heard 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.

After a tsunami triggered by the eruption that hit the Pacific island, officials downgraded the threat of further tsunamis on Sunday.

At least one person on Tonga — a British woman — is reported to have died.

A volcano near Tonga erupted in the Pacific on Saturday, triggering a tsunami
What is the latest?

Australia also sent a reconnaissance flight on Monday to assess damage in Tonga.

Australia's Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said initial reports suggested no mass casualties from the eruption. However, Australian police had visited beaches and reported significant damage with "houses thrown around."

"We know there is some significant damage, and know there is significant damage to resorts," Seselja said in a radio interview. He added that Tonga's airport appeared to be in good condition.

Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, said the flights were expected to return on Monday evening.

Tonga is concerned about the risk of COVID-19 reaching the island through aid deliveries, as it is currently COVID-free.

"We don't want to bring in another wave — a tsunami of COVID-19," Tu'ihalangingie told Reuters.

Tu'ihalangingie added that it is likely that foreign personnel would not be allowed to disembark aircraft and any aid delivered would need to be quarantined.

Officials were also worried about the fate of some of the many isolated, low-lying islands nearby, especially after a distress signal was detected on one.

A tsunami flooded parking lot at a harbor in Santa Cruz, California on Saturday
'Significant' damage to Tonga capital

A full assessment was not possible as of Sunday, as the eruption knocked out the internet and disrupted communication with the island. Tonga receives its internet via an undersea cable from Fiji.

The company that owns the fiber-optic cable that connects Tonga to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks, the Associated Press reported.

However, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press briefing on Sunday that Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, suffered "significant" damage.

"The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku'alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore," she said after managing to contact the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.

"Nuku'alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable," the prime minister added.

There were no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga, she said, while cautioning that authorities were yet to contact some coastal areas and smaller islands.

"Communication with Tonga remains very limited. And I know that is causing a huge amount of anxiety for the Tongan community here," the prime minister said.

The thick ash cloud 63,000 feet (19,000 meters) above Tonga had previously prevented military surveillance flights.

'One of the most explosive eruptions in the 21st century'

Experts expressed concern about the sheer size of the eruption and are on the lookout for potentially further volcanic activity.

"It was a remarkable eruption. It was extremely explosive. We're sort of thinking it's one of the most explosive eruptions in the 21st century at the moment," Shane Cronin, professor of volcanology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, told DW.

"These very large ones at this volcano happen about once every 900 years, but they seem to have a series of events, and so this may be the first in a series of eruptions," he added.

In terms of damage, the expert said the main concerns at the moment are about how hard the tsunami hit, as well as the level of ash that has fallen on the island.

"So far, what we've seen has been tsunami damage, and most of what we've seen has been from Tongatapu — the main inhabited island of Tonga where the capital Nuku'alofa is," Cronin said.

"What we're concerned about is some of the low-lying islands, which are actually very close to Hunga-Ha'apai - Nomuka and the islands of the Ha'apai group. These islands have potentially a lot of low-lying areas that were affected by tsunami waves," he added.

"At the moment, the ashfall that has gone on to Tongatapu hasn't been that large yet, but the eruption column actually spread in a way that it probably would have [and possibly still will] put more ash onto the central part of the Tongan island group," the volcanologist said.

"What we're waiting to find out now is that what kinds of impacts there have been, what kind of help people need."

International support

Besides New Zealand, other countries have expressed concern for Tonga and offered help.

An Australian government spokesperson said initial assessments were still underway, but the country was ready to provide support to Tonga if requested.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern, adding that the US "stands prepared to provide support to our Pacific neighbors."

The lack of COVID-19 outbreaks on the island of 105,000, is another element for international aid efforts to take into account.

New Zealand has assured that its military staff was all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by the island nation.
Tsunami threat downgraded

The tsunami threat around the Pacific basin from the powerful underwater volcano eruption off the coast of Tonga began to recede on Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Authorities at "impacted coastal areas should monitor... to determine when it is safe to resume normal activities," the center said.

The seismic force sent powerful waves crashing into coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The US National Weather Service in American Samoa canceled its tsunami advisory on Monday, but officials urged caution when entering the water.

In Peru, two women died in Lambayeque due to "anomalous waves."

ab, sdi, adi/wmr, rs (AFP, AP, Reuters)


The ash cloud from the erupting volcano seen from a US satellite

DW RECOMMENDS

Tonga volcano eruption sends tsunami waves across Pacific

A volcanic eruption in Tonga has sent tsunami waves that have hit coastlines as far as Japan and New Zealand and flooded the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa.

Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption

By NICK PERRY

1 of 16

In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force, an Orion aircraft is prepared at a base in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, before flying to assist the Tonga government after the eruption of an undersea volcano. (NZDF via AP)


WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage a huge undersea volcanic eruption left in the Pacific island nation.

A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand hopes to send essential supplies, including much-needed drinking water, on a military transport plane Tuesday.

A British woman who was missing has been found dead, her family said, in the first reported fatality on Tonga.

The brother of Angela Glover, who ran an animal rescue center, said the 50-year-old died after being swept away by a wave.

Nick Eleini said his sister’s body had been found and that her husband survived.

“I understand that this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs,” Eleini told Sky News.

He said it had been his sister’s life dream” to live in the South Pacific and “she loved her life there.”

Communications with Tonga remained extremely limited. The company that owns the single underwater fiber-optic cable that connects the island nation to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks.

The loss of the cable leaves most Tongans unable to use the internet or make phone calls abroad. Those that have managed to get messages out described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began cleaning up from the tsunami waves and volcanic ash fall.

Tsunami waves of about 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) crashed into Tonga’s shoreline, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described damage to boats and shops on Tonga’s shoreline. The waves crossed the Pacific, drowning two people in Peru and causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California.

Scientists said they didn’t think the eruption would have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate.

Huge volcanic eruptions can sometimes cause temporary global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere. But in the case of the Tonga eruption, initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.01 Celsius (0.02 Fahrenheit) global average cooling, said Alan Robock, a professor at Rutgers University.

Satellite images showed the spectacular undersea eruption Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a giant mushroom above the South Pacific waters.

A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent pressure shockwaves around the planet twice, altering atmospheric pressure that may have briefly helped clear out the fog in Seattle, according to the National Weather Service. Large waves were detected as far away as the Caribbean due to pressure changes generated by the eruption.

Samiuela Fonua, who chairs the board at Tonga Cable Ltd. which owns the single cable that connects Tonga to the outside world via Fiji, said the cable appeared to have been severed about 10 to 15 minutes after the eruption. He said the cable lies atop and within coral reef, which can be sharp.

Fonua said a ship would need to pull up the cable to assess the damage and then crews would need to fix it. A single break might take a week to repair, he said, while multiple breaks could take up to three weeks. He added that it was unclear yet when it would be safe for a ship to venture near the undersea volcano to undertake the work.

A second undersea cable that connects the islands within Tonga also appeared to have been severed, Fonua said. However, a local phone network was working, allowing Tongans to call each other. But he said the lingering ash cloud was continuing to make even satellite phone calls abroad difficult.

He said Tonga, home to 105,000 people, had been in discussions with New Zealand about getting a second international fiber-optic cable to ensure a more robust network but the nation’s isolated location made any long-term solution difficult.

The cable also broke three years ago, possibly due to a ship dragging an anchor. At first Tongans had no access to the internet but then some limited access was restored using satellites until the cable was repaired.

Ardern said the capital, Nuku’alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.

Aid agencies said thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.

In a video posted on Facebook, Nightingale Filihia was sheltering at her family’s home from a rain of volcanic ash and tiny pieces of rock that turned the sky pitch black.

“It’s really bad. They told us to stay indoors and cover our doors and windows because it’s dangerous,” she said. “I felt sorry for the people. Everyone just froze when the explosion happened. We rushed home.” Outside the house, people were seen carrying umbrellas for protection.

One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19. Ardern said New Zealand’s military staff were all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by Tonga.

Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin, and the spectacle was both “humbling and scary.”

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.

Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano.

“We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land,” she said.

The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano, about 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nuku’alofa, was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions. In late 2014 and early 2015, eruptions created a small new island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.

Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent began erupting in late December. Satellite images showed how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.

___

Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Maryland, and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Martin Luther King's family joins call for US voting reform

Issued on: 18/01/2022 - 

Participants hold placards as they walk across the Douglas bridge to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day during the Peace Walk in Washington January 17, 2022 

MANDEL NGAN AFP

Washington (AFP) – Members of Martin Luther King Jr's family joined marchers Monday in Washington urging Congress to pass voting rights reform as the United States marked the holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader.

King's son Martin Luther King III spoke at the march, warning that many states "have passed laws that make it harder to vote" more than half a century after the activism of his father.

The march's message was aimed at boosting support for the Freedom to Vote Act currently before the Senate, and which passed in the House of Representatives last week.

But the bill faces an uphill battle as President Joe Biden negotiates with two holdout senators in his own Democratic Party to change a procedural rule that would allow Congress to pass the law without Republican support.

Biden argues the bill is vital to protecting American democracy against Republican attempts to exclude Black and other predominantly Democratic voters through a spate of recently enacted laws at state and local levels.

Marchers at Monday's Peace Walk echoed demands made by MLK more than 60 years ago as they chanted, "What do we want? Voting rights! When do we want it? Now!"

Many carried posters printed with King's image and his famous 1957 appeal to "Give us the ballot," which called on the federal government to enforce Black Americans' right to vote nationwide, including in the heavily segregated South.

"We march because our voting rights are under attack right now," pastor Reverend Wendy Hamilton told AFP at the demonstration.

Martin Luther King III speaks, calling on the US Congress to pass voting rights reform following the Peace Walk in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Washington January 17, 2022 MANDEL NGAN AFP

"As a matter of fact, our democracy is very fragile," said Hamilton, a local politician in Washington, whose residents themselves do not have full representation in Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, such as Terri Sewell from Alabama and chairwoman Joyce Beatty from Ohio, also spoke at the march -- as did King's 13-year-old granddaughter Yolanda Renee King.

King's daughter Bernice King also took to the social media platform to call for the Senate to pass voting reform.

"If these state voter suppression laws persist, the America my father dreamed about will never come to be," she wrote.

At the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris urged senators to pass the Freedom to Vote Act in honor of King's legacy.

King "pushed for racial justice, for economic justice and for the freedom that unlocks all others: the freedom to vote," she said.

She denounced bills under consideration or already passed in state legislatures that she said could make it harder for 55 million Americans to cast ballots.

"To truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote, for freedom for all," Harris said.


Arndrea Waters King and Martin Luther King III take part in the Peace Walk to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Washington, DC on January 17, 2022 

MANDEL NGAN AFP

Biden and Harris last week visited the crypt where King -- who was assassinated in 1968 at age 39 -- and his wife, Coretta Scott King, are buried in Atlanta.

© 2022 AFP

Ozone pollution costs Asia billions in lost crops: study

by Sara Hussein

Ground-level ozone is significantly reducing yields of rice, wheat and maize in parts of Asia

, a new study finds.

Persistently high levels of ozone pollution in Asia are costing China, Japan and South Korea an estimated $63 billion annually in lost rice, wheat and maize crops, a new study says.

While ozone forms a protective layer around the Earth in the upper atmosphere, it is a harmful pollutant at ground level.

It is created by a chemical reaction when two pollutants, often emitted by cars or industry, combine in the presence of sunlight and it can interfere with plant photosynthesis and growth.

The research published Monday harnesses pollution monitoring data from the region and field experiments to show ozone affects Asia's crop yields more than previously thought.

The study's authors said the findings should push policymakers to reduce emissions that produce ozone.

"Air pollution control in North America and Europe succeeded in lowering ozone levels," said Kazuhiko Kobayashi, a co-first author of the study and professor emeritus affiliated with the University of Tokyo.

"We need to repeat that success across East and South Asia," he told AFP.

Previous estimates of ozone's effects on staple crops such as rice, wheat and maize have sometimes used varieties that are not prevalent in Asia, or tested plants grown in pots rather than fields.

Graph showing crop losses due to ozone air pollution in China, Japan and South Korea, 

according to a study in Nature.

To get a more accurate picture, the researchers looked at varieties common in the region and did experiments with crops in pots but also in fields.

They exposed rice, wheat and maize to varying levels of ozone and used the resulting crop yields to model how different exposures affected plant development.

They also tested the model with a second experiment in which the crops were treated with a chemical that protects against the effects of ozone, to see if the yield increased in line with their estimations.

'Threat to food security'

To determine real-world effects, the researchers then applied ozone data from more than 3,000 monitoring sites in China, South Korea and Japan to their model.

They found a mean of 33 percent of China's wheat crop is lost annually because of ozone pollution, with 28 percent lost in South Korea and 16 percent for Japan.

For rice, the mean figure in China was 23 percent, though the researchers found hybrid strains were significantly more vulnerable than inbred ones. In South Korea the figure was nearly 11 percent, while in Japan it was just over five percent.

Asia supplies 90 percent of the world's rice.

And maize crops in both China and South Korea were also affected at lower levels. The crop is not grown in Japan in significant quantities.

The researchers said their findings were limited by several factors, including that ozone monitors are mostly in urban areas and levels in rural areas are often higher.

Surface ozone "poses a threat to food security" given its effects in a region that supplies 90 percent of the world's rice and 44 percent of its wheat, the authors wrote.

"It has been well known that ozone exerts large impacts on crop production," Kobayashi told AFP.

"Nevertheless, the estimated yield loss in rice, particularly of hybrid type cultivars, may be a bit shocking for those who have learned about it for the first time."

In all, the study estimates $63 billion in annual losses, and Kobayashi said he hoped the findings would "encourage people to take action".

"We in Asia could repeat the success of air pollution control in North America and Europe, where ozone-induced crop yield loss has been declining."

Ozone pollution harms maize crops, study finds

© 2022 AFP

Greek Orthodox Patriarch says Zionist extremists want to expel Christians from the Holy Land

RAMALLAH, Monday, January 17, 2022 (WAFA) - The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, today told President Mahmoud Abbas that extremist Zionist groups want to expel Christians from Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land.

President Abbas received in his Ramallah office the Greek Orthodox patriarch and his accompanying delegation during which the Patriarch briefed the President on the latest situation in the Holy City and the frequent attacks against the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, especially Christians, clergy and churches, and the continuous intimidations against Christians who exercise their natural right to worship.

He explained that the heads of churches have resolved to carry out an international campaign that will put the Christian world in the picture of the violations committed by the extremist Zionists against the Holy City, especially the attacks on Orthodox real estate threatened to be seized by these extremist Zionist groups in Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Square in Jaffa Gate (Bab Al-Khalil) in Jerusalem’s Old City, which he said is a corridor for pilgrims to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the various monasteries and churches.

He thanked President Abbas for the efforts made by the State of Palestine and the continuous support it provides to preserve Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially to preserve the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian territories.

The Patriarch also spoke about projects that are being implemented by his church to contribute to strengthening the status of pilgrimage sites that receive millions of Christians around the world, such as the project of restoring Mar Elias Monastery, restoring Mar Mitri School in the Old City of Jerusalem and launching the “Our Jerusalem” project, which includes 400 apartments and a shopping center in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, all aimed to strengthen the resilience of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, as well as projects in Beit Jala and Beit Sahour and in the city of Bethlehem in cooperation with the Higher Presidential Committee for Churches Affairs, which includes housing projects and a cultural center on the land granted to the National Orthodox Society in Bethlehem.

"We in Jerusalem, Mr. President, derive our resolve from you, and from your directives. We continue the process of construction and steadfastness and work towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees the rights of the oppressed and preserves the true identity of the city of Jerusalem," said the Patriarch.

For his part, the President welcomed the Patriarch and his accompanying delegation, congratulating them on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year, wishing that the current year would be a year of peace and the realization of the Palestinian people's hopes for freedom and independence.

He stressed that the State of Palestine will continue its support for all its people in Jerusalem, and to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in light of the attacks the city is being subjected to by settlers and extremist groups.

"We share with you the importance of carrying out more vital projects that contribute to the consolidation of the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land, and we highly value your undertaking such projects and your international campaign aimed at exposing violations against the believers in the Holy Land," President Abbas told his guests.

“For our part, we will continue to work to support the steadfastness of our people in Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land, and to continue in the international campaign that we launched for this goal,” he added.

M.K.

Trailblazing Arab lawmaker shakes up Israeli politics
By TIA GOLDENBERG

1 of 4

FILE - Israeli Arab politician, leader of the United Arab list, Mansour Abbas, discusses with President Reuven Rivlin on who might form the next coalition government, at the president's residence in Jerusalem, April 5, 2021. Abbas broke a longstanding taboo when he joined Israel’s governing coalition last year. The bold move appears to be paying dividends: Abbas is the linchpin of the shaky union, securing hefty budgets and favorable policies for his constituents. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)


TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Mansour Abbas broke a longstanding taboo when he led his Arab party into Israel’s governing coalition last year. The bold move appears to be paying dividends.

Abbas, a once obscure politician, is the linchpin of the shaky union, securing hefty budgets and favorable policies for his constituents and even winning an audience with the king of Jordan.

“We are equal partners the whole way, part of the coalition, for the first time in the state of Israel,” Abbas recently told the Israeli news site Ynet. “We are compromising to solve the Arab society’s problems.”

Abbas’ pragmatic approach has secured funding for housing, electricity and crime-fighting in Israel’s traditionally neglected Arab sector. He also has not been afraid to confront his partners to get what he needs.

But he also is being forced to perform a delicate balancing act between the desires of his Arab voters and his Jewish coalition partners. His every move is being watched by his constituents, whose stake in the country’s democracy could falter if he fails to bring long-term changes.

“The fact that Arabs are sitting around the table in government is no small matter,” said Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya, director of the Arab Society in Israel program at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “The question is will this political power translate to actions that citizens feel in their day-to-day lives?”

Abbas made history last June when his small Islamist party became the first Arab faction to join an Israeli coalition. Through Israel’s 73-year history, Arab parties have remained in the opposition, slamming the government and wanting no part in policies against their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their Jewish counterparts have often viewed them as potential security threats and enemies from within.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up a fifth of Israel’s 9.4 million people. While many are integrated into Israeli society, the community is generally poorer and less educated than Jews and has long faced discrimination and questions about its loyalty. Arab voter turnout has typically been lower than Jews and reached a nadir in elections last year.

The coalition, made up of 61 lawmakers out of Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, now relies on Abbas’ four party members to pass legislation, approve a budget and keep the government afloat.

Abbas, 47, heads the Ra’am party, a moderate conservative Islamist party with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Ra’am’s constituents are predominantly Bedouin Arabs, who are among the country’s poorest citizens.

A dentist by education, Abbas has led Ra’am in the Knesset since 2019, taking on membership in various parliamentary committees but hardly registering in mainstream Israeli politics.

As Israel descended into a protracted political logjam, with four elections in the span of two years, Abbas emerged as the antidote to the chaos.

Ahead of elections in March 2021, Abbas broke Ra’am off from a union of Arab parties and hinted the faction would sit in a coalition under the right terms, no matter who was leading it.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held unprecedented talks with Abbas on joining forces, reportedly promising him a list of policies that would deal with rampant crime and housing issues in the Arab community. But Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist allies opposed cooperation with Abbas and the talks collapsed.

When legislator Yair Lapid was then asked to form a government, he picked up where Netanyahu left off and Ra’am became a key member of the current coalition.

Made up of eight parties that run the gamut from nationalist factions to dovish parties that support Palestinian statehood, the unwieldy coalition headed by former West Bank settler leader Naftali Bennett promised to put divisive issues aside. It has focused instead on subjects that wouldn’t rattle the coalition’s stability, including the pandemic and the economy.

The Palestinian issue, traditionally of central importance to Arab parties, has been largely ignored.

Abbas has insisted he is not ignoring long-standing Palestinian aspirations for statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Family ties bind the Palestinian citizens of Israel and those living in the occupied lands.

Abbas told a podcast after the coalition was formed, “Ra’am wants to focus on the pressing issues in Arab society.” His office declined interview requests.

Ra’am has pushed ahead with its priorities from inside the coalition. It secured an unprecedented multibillion-dollar budget for the Arab community, aiming to improve living conditions and minimize record-breaking crime rates. At Ra’am’s behest, the government has moved to authorize some unrecognized Bedouin villages in the southern Negev desert and connect thousands of illegally built homes to electricity.

“Governments of Israel over time neglected the Negev and didn’t deal with the root problems,” said Faiz Abu Sahiban, the mayor of the Bedouin city of Rahat and an Abbas supporter. “It’s the first time the state of Israel is hearing from the Bedouin.”

The diverse opinions have inevitably clashed. Last week, Abbas threatened to withhold his party’s votes in the parliament in protest against tree planting on land claimed by Bedouin in the Negev, a crisis that led to the forestry project being suspended. Ra’am has also pushed back on efforts by nationalist coalition elements to extend a law that prevents Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from obtaining residency rights.

Abbas is repeatedly labeled a terrorist sympathizer by opposition ultra-nationalist lawmakers. A social conservative, he also opposes pro-LGBT legislation in a coalition with an openly gay minister.

He has also faced criticism from Palestinian citizens of Israel. Recently, he caused an uproar in the Arab public when he recognized Israel as a Jewish state at a business conference.

Right-wing Israeli leaders have repeatedly called on Palestinians to recognize Israel’s Jewish character, and the predominantly Jewish audience erupted in applause to the remarks.

But Arab critics, including the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, accused Abbas of forsaking the Palestinian cause.

“They (Ra’am) bear responsibility for everything this government decides, including budgets for West Bank settlements,” veteran Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi said last month.

Still, Abbas’ entry into the coalition followed years of Arab public opinion in favor of greater Arab participation in decision-making. His failures and achievements could help determine future Arab political engagement.

“If the Arab public sees that what Mansour Abbas did is effective and brought a change, I have no doubt that voter turnout will increase dramatically,” said Mohammad Magadli, a political analyst with the Arabic language Nas Radio and Israeli Channel 12 TV.

“It would mean that Israel would become a real democracy.”

Palestine's envoy to UN urges swift int'l action to end Israeli violence in Palestine

NEW YORK, Sunday, January 16, 2022 (WAFA) – Palestine's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Riyadh Mansour has sent identical letters to UN authorities urging the international body to take immediate action to end Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people across the occupied Palestinian Territory.

In separate letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the Norwegian President of the Security Council, and President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla, the Palestinian envoy warned about the escalation of the Israeli regime's attacks, which included killings of unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and violations against the Palestinian prisoners.

He said the Israeli regime continues to illegally and cruelly target all the Palestinian people of any age, making their lives an unbearable hell and causing enormous daily sufferings for them.

He emphasized that the Israeli regime's investigations into the killings and attacks against the Palestinian people have no credibility and would never lead to an indictment or prosecution of the perpetrators.

The Palestinian diplomat called on the International Criminal Court to continue its mandate in Palestine to stop and confront war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians.

Mansour said the Palestinian inmates in the Israeli regime's prisons are suffering from embarrassing conditions due to continued violations of their basic rights stipulated in international law and medical negligence.

Violent raids by Israeli forces are a regular practice in the occupied West Bank, during which Palestinians are exposed to live fire, arrests, assaults and killings.

An 80-year-old Palestinian man, Omar Abdel-Majid Asaad, died in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday after being arrested and beaten in handcuffs by Israeli forces.

The Palestinian diplomat urged the international community to take action to put an end to the systematic violations of the Israeli regime against the Palestinian prisoners, including collective punishment, medical negligence and widespread and illegal practice of administrative detention.

M.N

Israeli police in standoff with Palestinians over Sheikh Jarrah eviction

Man has reportedly threatened to set himself on fire if removal order in Jerusalem district is carried out

Palestinian men barricade themselves on the roof of a house in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, as Israeli police prepare to evict a family from the same building. 

Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images


Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem
Mon 17 Jan 2022

Israeli police are in a standoff with a Palestinian man who carried a gas canister on to the roof of his home in a Jerusalem flashpoint district as his family faced eviction.

Israeli media reported that Mohammed Salhiya had threatened to set himself on fire if the eviction order from the Sheikh Jarrah area of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem was carried out.

Salhiya’s family has been facing an eviction threat since 2017, when the land where his home sits was allocated for school construction.

Police and the Jerusalem municipality said in a joint statement delegates went to the home early on Monday to carry out an eviction order after the Salhiyas ignored “countless opportunities” to vacate the land as ordered.


Palestinians facing eviction from East Jerusalem offered deal

“We’ve been in this home since the 1950s,” said a Salhiya family member, Abdallah Ikermawi, from the roof of the property.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” he said in quotes provided by the Sheikh Jarrah Committee, adding that the family was made up of 15 people, including children.

An 11-day Gaza war between Israel and Palestinians erupted last year, fuelled by anger in Sheikh Jarrah, where families battled eviction orders.
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Police said their “negotiators” were at the Salhiya home after several residents of the house “began to fortify themselves with a gas canister and other flammable material”.

Witnesses told Agence France-Presse that clashes between security forces and locals erupted after the police arrived but later eased.

Hundreds of Palestinians are facing evictions from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and other East Jerusalem neighbourhoods.

Circumstances surrounding eviction threats vary. In some cases, Jewish Israelis have mounted legal challenges to claim the land they say was illegally taken during the war that coincided with Israel’s founding in 1948.

Palestinians have rejected these claims, saying their homes were legally purchased from Jordanian authorities who controlled east Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967.

Seven Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah have taken their legal challenges against their eviction threats to Israel’s supreme court. The Salhiyas are not in that group.

The Jerusalem City councillor Laura Wharton, who was at the scene and due to meet the Salhiya family on Monday, criticised the municipality’s actions.

“They could have built the schools in the same plot without moving the families. There is plenty of space,” she said. “The sad thing is this is the municipality itself doing this, it’s not some rightwing settlers.”

I live in Sheikh Jarrah. For Palestinians, this is not a ‘real estate dispute’
Lucy Garbett

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 six-day war and later annexed it, in a move not recognised by the international community.

More than 200,000 Jewish settlers have since moved into the area, fuelling tensions with Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Israel threatens to expel Palestinian family from Jerusalem home after standoff

Israeli security gathers to evict a family from their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on Monday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Israeli authorities forcefully evicted a Palestinian family from its home in east Jerusalem on Monday after a lengthy standoff.

Members of the Salhiya family had threatened to burn the home down rather than be removed from it, reported Middle East Eye.

The home's owner, Mahmoud Salihiya also threatened to set himself on fire at one point.

"I will sleep next to the gas canister, I will not leave the roof of the house," he told Middle East Eye.

The family bought the home in the 1950s in the city's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, according to the Palestine News Agency.

Negotiators were brought in, and the standoff between the family and Israeli troops lasted more than 10 hours.

Dozens of other families in the area are in a similar position after an Israeli court ruled they must vacate their homes to make way for Jewish settlers.

A 1972 lawsuit contended Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah were occupying land that originally belonged to Jews.

Palestinian family threatens to burn Sheikh Jarrah home in eviction standoff

Issued on: 17/01/2022 - 

Palestinian men carry gas canisters on the roof of their house as Israeli police prepare to evict them on January 17, 2022, in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. © Ahmad Gharabli, AFP

Text by:F RANCE 24

Israeli police were in a standoff Monday with a Palestinian man who carried a gas canister onto the roof of his home in a Jerusalem flashpoint district as his family faced eviction. The Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood resident threatened to blow up his home rather than let his family be forced out.

Israeli media reported that Mohammed Salhiya had threatened to set himself on fire if the eviction order from the Sheikh Jarrah area of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem was carried out. Salhiya's family has been facing an eviction threat since 2017, when the land where his home sits was allocated for school construction.

Police and the Jerusalem municipality said in a joint statement that delegates went to the home early Monday to carry out an eviction order after the Salhiyas ignored "countless opportunities" to vacate the land as ordered.

Scores of police in riot gear surrounded the property from early morning during an hours-long stand-off. Roads were sealed off around the area, about one kilometre north of Jerusalem's Old City walls, where clashes often erupted last year between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

Jerusalem's municipality expropriated the land, in an area Israel captured and occupied in a 1967 war, along with the rest of East Jerusalem, and later annexed, in a move not recognised by the international community.

An Israeli court ruled in favour of the eviction.

"I will burn the house and everything in it, I will not leave here, from here to the grave, because there is no life, no dignity," Salhiya said as he stood on the roof of the building, surrounded by gas canisters. "I've been in battle with them for 25 years, they sent me settlers who offered to buy the house and I did not agree."

"We've been in this home since the 1950s," said another Salhiya family member, Abdallah Ikermawi, from the roof of the home. "We don't have anywhere to go," he said in quotes provided by the Sheikh Jarrah Committee organisation, adding that the family was made up of 15 people, including children.
A symbol for Palestinians

A tree-lined area of sandstone homes, foreign consulates and luxury hotels, Sheikh Jarrah has become an emblem of what Palestinians regard as an Israeli campaign to force them out of East Jerusalem.

An 11-day Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinians erupted last year, fuelled by anger in Sheikh Jarrah where families battled eviction orders.

Police said their "negotiators" were at the Salhiya home after several residents of the house "began to fortify themselves with a gas canister and other flammable material".

Witnesses told AFP that clashes between security forces and locals erupted after the police arrived but later eased.

Israeli Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said on Monday a court had ruled the case was one of illegal squatting. "You can't hold the stick at both ends by both demanding that the municipality take action on welfare for Arab residents and oppose the building of educational establishments for their welfare," Bar-Lev wrote on Twitter.

Hundreds of Palestinians are facing evictions from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah and other East Jerusalem neighbourhoods.

Circumstances surrounding the evictions threats vary.

'Plenty of space'

In some cases, Jewish Israelis have mounted legal challenges to claim the land they say was illegally taken during the war that coincided with Israel's founding in 1948. Palestinians have rejected these claims, saying their homes were legally purchased from Jordanian authorities who controlled East Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967.

Seven Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah have taken their legal challenges against their eviction threats to Israel's Supreme Court. The Salhiyas are not in that group.

Jerusalem City councillor Laura Wharton, who was at the scene and due to meet the Salhiya family later Monday, criticised the municipality's actions.

"They could have built the schools in the same plot without moving the families. There is plenty of space," she said. "The sad thing is this is the municipality itself doing this, it's not some right-wing settlers."
UK urges Israel to 'cease'

As Sheikh Jarrah residents and activists monitored the situation from nearby rooftops, the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, located opposite the home, tweeted that Consul-General Diane Corner had joined other diplomats to "bear witness to the ongoing eviction".

The consulate said that such evictions in occupied territory, in all but the most exceptional circumstances, were against international humanitarian law. It urged the Israeli government to "cease such practices which only serve to increase tensions on the ground".

More than 200,000 Jewish settlers have moved into East Jerusalem since its annexation, fuelling tensions with Palestinians, who claim the area as the capital of their future state.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP & REUTERS)