Monday, October 05, 2020

Nights warming faster than days across much of the planet

by University of Exeter

Spatial variation in warming asymmetry across the diel cycle between 1983 and 2017. In total c.54% of the land surface has experienced warming asymmetry of >0.25°C, with more than twice the area of land warming more during the nighttime than the daytime. Driven primarily by changing levels of cloud cover this is associated with a wetting (increased nighttime warming) and drying (increased daytime warming) of the climate. The blue illustrates where the nighttime has warmed more rapidly, and red where the daytime has done so. The projection is Behrmann's equal area. Credit: University of Exeter

Global warming is affecting daytime and night-time temperatures differently—and greater night-time warming is more common than greater daytime warming worldwide—new research shows.

University of Exeter scientists studied warming from 1983 to 2017 and found a difference in mean annual temperature of more than 0.25°C between daytime and night-time warming in over half of the global land surface.

Days warmed more quickly in some locations, and nights did in others—but the total area of disproportionately greater night-time warming was more than twice as large.

The study shows this "warming asymmetry" has been driven primarily by changing levels of cloud cover.

Increased cloud cover cools the surface during the day and retains the warmth during the night, leading to greater night-time warming. Whereas, decreasing cloud cover allows more warmth to reach the surface during the day, but that warmth is lost at night.

"Warming asymmetry has potentially significant implications for the natural world," said lead author Dr. Daniel Cox, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

"We demonstrate that greater night-time warming is associated with the climate becoming wetter, and this has been shown to have important consequences for plant growth and how species, such as insects and mammals, interact.

"Conversely, we also show that greater daytime warming is associated with drier conditions, combined with greater levels of overall warming, which increases species vulnerability to heat stress and dehydration.

"Species that are only active at night or during the day will be particularly affected."

The global study examined hourly records of temperature, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation.

The authors modelled the different rates of change of daytime maximum and night-time minimum temperatures, and mean daytime and mean night-time cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation.

They then looked at changes in vegetation growth and precipitation over the same period.

The study found that differences in daytime and night-time vegetation growth depended on rainfall.

Increased night-time warming led to less vegetation growth where it rained more, likely due to increased cloud cover blocking the sun. Whereas, vegetation growth was limited by water availability due to less rainfall where the days warmed more.

Explore further Understanding why nights are getting warmer faster than days
More information: Daniel T. C. Cox et al, Global variation in diurnal asymmetry in temperature, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation and its association with leaf area index, Global Change Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15336

Journal information: Global Change Biology

Provided by University of Exeter

Evolution on the smallest of scales smooths out the patchwork patterns of where plants and animals live

by Mark C. Urban, The Conversation

In the Pacific Northwest, even though there are huge variations in environment, the Douglas fir grows everywhere. Credit: NASA/NOAA

The Douglas fir is a tall iconic pine tree in Western North America forming a forest that winds unbroken from the Western spine of British Columbia all the way to the Mexican cordillera. The environmental conditions of Canada and Mexico are obviously very different, but even on much smaller scales—say, the top of a mountain compared with a valley below it—the rainfall, temperature, soil nutrients and dozens of other factors can vary quite a bit. The Douglas fir grows well in so many of these places that it turns a dramatically varied landscape into one smooth, continuous forest complete with all the species it supports.

I am an ecologist and used to think that the Douglas fir was simply a hardy tree, rarely hemmed in by environmental conditions or other species. But recent research done by my colleagues and me suggests that environmental conditions are not all that determines where plants and animals live in a landscape and the patchwork patterns of those distributions. These spatial patterns are also influenced by evolution.

Over time, species often adapt to local conditions, and these adaptations alter how and where they can live. For example, Douglas fir trees might adapt through evolution to thrive on both a dry mountainside and in a wet valley nearby. But my colleagues and I have taken this idea a step further to explore not just how organisms adapt, but how the process of adaptation itself can have profound effects on the patterns of where organisms live in a landscape.

Without adaptation, you might find a mixed patchwork of where species live—a species of insect lives in the valley, but not on the mountains. When Douglas firs adapt to and grow on a dry mountain as well as in the wet valley, they create one continuous forest habitat where two very different landscapes used to exist. The birds, the insects, the deer, the flowers and all the other organisms that live in the forest can also now occupy both the valley and the mountaintop. Adaptation by the Douglas fir created a smoother distribution of species.

Adaptation, it seems, plays a larger role in determining ecological patterns than scientists previously thought.

Yellow-spotted salamanders in some ponds get eaten by larger predators, but in others, they adapted to eat more and grow quickly so that they would not be eaten. Credit: Mark Urban, CC BY-ND

A salamander mystery

In 1999, when I was a beginning graduate student in Connecticut, I wanted to understand how a predator called the marbled salamander affected the survival of the smaller yellow-spotted salamander in small temporary ponds. Much like the famous wolves in Yellowstone National Park, the marbled salamander is a keystone predator, and just a few individuals in a pond can determine which other species live there.

I spent months watching these ponds, but however much I tried, the patterns I saw just weren't making sense. In one pond, the yellow-spotted salamanders survived alongside the marbled predator. But in the next pond over, under nearly identical conditions, the spotted salamanders were quickly reduced to predator poop. I couldn't find an environmental explanation for this.

To figure out what was driving this unevenness of high and low survival, I collected salamander eggs from ponds where the small salamanders survived alongside the predator, as well as eggs from ponds without predators. I then raised these yellow-spotted salamanders in buckets and looked for differences between them.

Marbled salamanders are keystone predators in New England ponds, but adaptation by the smaller spotted salamander can dramatically change the composition of the ponds. Credit: Mark Urban, CC BY-ND

I found one surprising difference. The salamanders from ponds with the predatory marbled salamander adapted to the predator by becoming gluttonous—eat and get big so you don't get eaten yourself.

In these little New England ponds, local adaptation had created spotted salamander populations with very different behaviors to allow them to survive predation from the marbled salamander. But before I could find out more, I finished my doctorate and found myself driving far away from these salamanders to a new job in California.

Adaptation, not environment, as a cause?

Over the next few years, other ecologists were beginning to recognize that evolution could happen very quickly. In one classic experiment, scientists put algae and a microscopic grazer into a tank together. At first, there were cycles of boom and bust, but after only a few weeks, the algae evolved defenses that prevented them from being eaten and stopped the large swings in population numbers.

Marbled salamanders were causing local adaptation in another species that was driving dramatic differences in ponds. Credit: Mark Urban, CC BY-ND

This was intriguing. My experience with the salamanders had taught me that evolution could happen not just quickly, but also differently in two nearby and otherwise similar ponds. If evolution affected population patterns in time, maybe it could also affect species distribution patterns in space.

I returned to my salamanders after getting a job at the University of Connecticut. This time, I wasn't interested just in how salamanders adapted to their ecosystem, but how their adaptations altered the ecosystem itself. I again raised salamanders from high- and low-predation ponds under the same conditions. But this time, I tracked what happened to other species in the artificial ecosystems I had created.

The predatory marbled salamanders eat small crustaceans. But the yellow–spotted salamanders adapted to the predators by eating more of these small crustaceans too. Adaptation by the yellow-spotted salamanders resulted in far fewer crustaceans in the ponds. My experiment showed that this adaptation amplified differences in the numbers of crustaceans between ponds with and without the marbled predator. In this case, adaptation made two ponds more different than they would have been otherwise.

When I compared my experiments with what was happening in the natural ponds, I realized that I had discovered what was driving the perplexing patterns I'd seen years before. Local adaptation, not just the environment or other species, was amplifying the differences in these ponds.

Large cattle watering tanks make for effective experimental ponds. Credit: Mark Urban, CC BY-SA

Adaptation as a universal effect

I began to wonder: If this effect was happening with salamanders, could local adaptation also amplify or dampen spatial ecological patterns in other species? Was this a widespread effect?

Answering this question would require evidence from creatures all around the world. I recruited a bunch of biologist friends to help me sort through thousands of past studies on everything from bacteria to birds and look for evidence that local adaptation was changing the spatial patterns of these species.

Our team gathered information from 500 studies over the past 100 years. We found that, as with my salamanders, adaptation sometimes makes existing differences between places even greater than expected without evolution.

Adaptation can also create patterns where none existed previously. Widespread plants like goldenrods and aspens often evolve chemical defenses that change which insects can eat them. Adaptation creates new patchwork patterns of insect abundances and diversity across fields and forests where none would exist otherwise.

Just like the salamanders, Douglas firs undergo local adaptation that drives broad changes in where organisms live.

However, we found that in 85% of cases, adaptation dampened existing ecological spatial patterns. Organisms ranging from the modest apple maggot fly to the grand Douglas fir adapted in ways that reduced the variability of the landscapes in which they lived. Adaptation on small spatial scales smoothed out the patchwork of forests and meadows, populating both hilltops and valleys with the same trees, birds, insects and other organisms. Thanks to adaptation, the world in general is more homogeneous than it would otherwise be.

So next time you find yourself counting down the hours for your car to reach its destination, notice the natural patterns scrolling by your window. Many of these patterns reflect the hidden hand of evolution, which has ironed out the wrinkles and left the world a smoother place.

Explore further Evolution makes the world less ragged

Provided by The Conversation

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

Voter reactions to #MeToo scandals: Sexism, not partisanship, has the largest impact

by Dartmouth College

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Sexist attitudes influence how politicians accused of sexual misconduct are viewed, even more than partisanship, according to a Dartmouth study. The findings are published in Research & Politics.

"Our study shows that partisanship clearly plays a major role in affecting people's favorability about a politician who is accused of #MeToo allegations," explained lead author, Mia Costa, an assistant professor of government at Dartmouth. "Gender attitudes about women however, is really what influences whether and how people react to sexual misconduct scandals, above and beyond partisanship, even though both are obviously important," she said.

The purpose of the study was to understand how partisanship and sexist attitudes affect how voters view political candidates who are accused of sexual allegations. Dartmouth undergraduate students came up with the idea for the study last fall, as part of the course, Experiments in Politics. They wanted to investigate how #MeToo political scandals affect voters' sentiments.

To evaluate how voters react to sexual misconduct allegations, over 2,800 respondents were surveyed online in October 2019. The participants were given a series of pretest and posttest questions to evaluate how favorably they viewed a fictional, male Senator and how likely they would be to vote to reelect him. Respondents were provided a brief biography about the politican and were asked to provide their favorability and reelection ratings. They were then shown a news article that reflected one of three experimental conditions: allegations that the Senator had sexually assaulted women, allegations that he had often made sexist jokes, or a control condition that the Senator had recently visited a county fair. After reading the news article, they were asked how favorably they feel towards the Senator, whether they would vote for his reelection, and what type of punitive consequences he should face, if any, such as whether he should apologize or resign. The Senator's political party affiliation was randomly assigned.

The findings showed that overall, favorability and electoral support decreased after respondents read about the allegations of either sexual assault or sexist jokes, even when they had the same party affiliation as that of the Senator. Reactions were stronger to allegations of sexual assault than sexist jokes.

Treatment effects on percent change in favorability from pretest to posttest. (Figure 1 from the study). Credit: M.Costa, et.al.

The results also demonstrated several instances of "partisan motivated reasoning." Partisan motivated reasoning happens when people process information with the aim of protecting their pre-existing, partisan interests. In an era of heightened polarization, "motivated reasoners" prioritize their party identification above all else. Respondents appeared to be more sympathetic to the Senator when they had the same party affiliation. For example, after respondents with the same party as the Senator read about sexual assault allegations, favorability decreased by 31.9 percent as compared to the control while those with the opposite party affiliation decreased their favorability by 38.6 percent. Respondents appeared to be less critical of the allegations of sexist jokes as well if the Senator was from the same party. Favorability decreased by 20.4 percent for those of the same party as compared to 28.5 percent for those of the opposite party, illustrating the degree to which partisanship plays a role. In addition, those who had the same party affiliation as the Senator were less likely to indicate that the he should be penalized (e.g. lose his seat) for sexual assault allegations or making sexist jokes.

The sexual assault allegations and sexist jokes by the Senator had zero effect, however, on favorability and electoral support for respondents who ranked highest on the sexism scale. This means that the most sexist respondents indicated that they would have been just as likely to vote for the Senator had they had not heard about the allegations or sexist jokes. The higher the respondents were on the sexism scale, the less likely they thought that the Senator should be penalized.

The impact of sexual assault allegations and sexist jokes on changes in favorability and electoral support was much larger for women than men. For women, electoral support decreased by 34 percent for assault allegations as compared to 23 percent for men.

When the results were broken out by party affiliation, the data demonstrated that Republicans decrease their favorability and electoral support much less than Democrats do, illustrating a partisan divide on how the #MeToo movement is perceived.

Regarding age, changes in favorability and electoral support was highest among millenials (age 18-24), who decreased favorability by 53 percent and decreased electoral support by 42 percent for the Senator accused of sexual assault, as compared to older age groups, who only decreased by an average of 30 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

"In the last few weeks of the 2016 campaign, the Access Hollywood tapes put issues of sexual assault on the top of the agenda for voters. In 2020, we may very well see such issues resurface and our study helps to understand what consequence, if any, that would have for the outcome of the election," added Costa.

Explore further

Study finds Americans prize party loyalty over democratic principles
More information: Mia Costa et al, How partisanship and sexism influence voters' reactions to political #MeToo scandals, Research & Politics, July 17, 2020

doi.org/10.1177/2053168020941727

Provided by Dartmouth College

Set, miss, repeat – big brands and plastic recycling targets

(Reuters) - Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo, the world’s top three plastic polluters according to a yearly brand audit by NGO Break Free From Plastic, have struggled for decades to increase the share of recycled plastic in their packaging.

In 1990, PepsiCo introduced a new plastic bottle with 25% recycled content. By the end of that decade the company said its bottles no longer contained any recycled content.

Coca-Cola began making plastic bottles in the United States with 25% recycled plastic. It phased them out in 1994 due to high costs, officials said then.

Coke and Pepsi declined to comment on these past targets.

In 2008, Nestle, the company behind Nescafe coffee and Pure Life water, set a U.S.-wide goal to make water bottles out of 60% recycled plastic within a decade.

That’s a goal the company says was never met. Nestle told Reuters it was an ambitious target that didn’t get the groundswell of industry and policy-maker support it needed.

Coke and Nestle said it is hard to get the plastic they need from recycled sources; Nestle said it often pays a premium for recycled material.

All three companies made new pledges in 2018:

- Coca-Cola set a target to hit 50% recycled content in all packaging by 2030. Currently, it’s at 20%, and about half that rate for PET plastic, it told Reuters.

- PepsiCo said it would use 25% recycled content in packaging by 2025. It told Reuters in September it had reached 4% as of 2019.

- Nestle said it aims to use 15% recycled plastic in its packaging by 2025. The company told Reuters this is at 3% currently, up from 2% when it made the pledge.

India’s federal agency to probe Dalit woman’s gang rape and death
HINDUTVA

CASTISM MISOGYNY BIGOTRY EXCEPTIONALIST ARYANISM
Uttar Pradesh state police to hand case over to Central Bureau of Investigation amid nationwide uproar over assault.

Demonstrators in New Delhi protest over the rape and death of the young Dalit woman [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

5 Oct 2020

India’s federal investigators will take over the probe into the alleged gang rape and death of a young Dalit woman that has sparked nationwide outrage and days of protests.

A special team of the Uttar Pradesh state police that has been investigating the incident will soon be handing over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a spokesman for the police said on Sunday.

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The 19-year-old – who belongs to a marginalised group formerly known as “untouchables” – was assaulted in a field outside her village in the northern Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district on September 14.

She was severely injured and died two weeks later at a hospital in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The attack on the teenager was the latest case highlighting sexual and other forms of violence against India’s 200 million Dalits, who are on the lowest rung of the caste system and have historically faced discrimination despite laws to protect them.

Four village men, who belong the privileged and influential Thakur community, have been arrested in connection with the crime.

Five senior police officers, including the district police chief, have been suspended over the investigation amid criticism of law enforcement’s actions – including the cremation of the woman’s body in the middle of the night against the wishes of her family.

Local authorities barricaded the village after the cremation to block opposition politicians and media from meeting the victim’s family. The decision was reversed on Saturday after widespread criticism.

Meanwhile, a controversy has erupted over a government forensic lab report that backs the Uttar Pradesh police’s claim that the young woman was not raped.

Doctors who treated the woman, however, reject the report, saying the samples had been sent to the lab 11 days after she was assaulted.

Priyanka Gandhi, leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, with her supporters during a protest over the death of Dalit rape victim, in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi [Reuters]The woman’s death has sparked protests by members of Dalit communities, rights activists and opposition political parties across India.

The decision to hand the investigation over to the CBI was announced by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office late on Saturday soon after opposition Congress party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi visited the victim’s family in Hathras.

Uttar Pradesh is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also runs the federal government.

The incident came months after four men were hanged for the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi, a case that shook the nation.

An average of nearly 90 rapes were reported in India every day last year, according to data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), but large numbers are thought to go unreported.

In 2019, more than 500 Dalit women were raped in Uttar Pradesh alone, according to the NCRB data, while the nationwide figure for the same year was more than 3,500.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

‘Toxic’: Online abuse drives women, girls from social media

New study finds nearly 60 percent of women and girls using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have suffered abuse.

The Plan study found young women and girls subjected to 'toxic' levels of harassment, most commonly on Facebook [File: Regis Duvignau/Reuters]

5 Oct 2020

Online abuse is driving girls to quit social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with nearly 60 percent experiencing harassment, according to a new global study.

One in five girls and young women has abandoned or cut down her use of a social media platform after being targeted, with some saying harassment started when they were as young as eight years old, the survey by girls’ equality group Plan International showed.
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“Girls are being silenced by a toxic level of harassment,” the organisation’s chief executive, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, said on Sunday.

Attacks were most common on Facebook, where 39 percent of girls polled said they had been harassed, followed by Instagram (23 percent), WhatsApp (14 percent), Snapchat (10 percent), Twitter (9 percent) and TikTok (6 percent).

The charity, which will share the report with social media companies and legislators around the world, said the abuse was suppressing girls’ voices at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing the importance of online communication.

It called on social media companies to take urgent action to address the issue and urged governments to pass laws to deal with online harassment.

The study found reporting tools were ineffective in stopping the abuse, which included explicit messages, pornographic photos and cyberstalking.

Nearly half of the girls targeted had been threatened with physical or sexual violence, according to the poll. Many said the abuse took a mental toll, and a quarter felt physically unsafe.

“It is time for this to stop. Girls should not have to put up with behaviour online which would be criminal on the streets,” the report said.

Girls and young women globally are calling for urgent action from the world’s major social media platforms, as abuse and harassment drives them off Facebook, Instagram and Twitter #FreeToBeOnline https://t.co/F7HOCDA9BV
— Plan International (@PlanGlobal) October 4, 2020

Facebook and Instagram said they used artificial intelligence to look for bullying content, constantly monitored users’ reports of abuse and always removed rape threats.

Twitter said it also used technology to catch abusive content and has launched tools to improve users’ control over their conversations.

The survey polled 14,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 25 in 22 countries including Brazil, India, Nigeria, Spain, Thailand and the United States.

Albrectsen said activists, including those campaigning for gender equality and on LGBT+ issues, were often targeted particularly viciously, and their lives and families threatened.

“Driving girls out of online spaces is hugely disempowering in an increasingly digital world, and damages their ability to be seen, heard and become leaders,” she added.

In an open letter to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, girls from around the world called on social media companies to create more effective ways to report abuse.

“We use [your platforms] not just to connect with friends, but to lead and create change. But they are not safe for us. We get harassed and abused on them. Every. Single. Day,” they wrote.

“As this global pandemic moves our lives online, we are more at risk than ever.”

Plan International also urged the companies to do more to hold to account those behind such abuse, and to collect data on the scale of the problem.

SOURCE : REUTERS

RED BULL GAVE HIM WINGS

Interpol ‘red notice’ for Thai Red Bull heir in fatal hit-and-run

Vorayuth Yoovidhya crashed his car in 2012, killing a police officer, but charges against him were dropped sparking outrage in Thailand.

In September, the government announced fresh charges against the fugitive Vorayuth for reckless driving causing death and for alleged cocaine use [File: Stringer/EPA]
5 Oct 2020

Interpol has issued a “red notice” to arrest the fugitive Thai heir to the Red Bull billions for his role in a fatal hit-and-run, police said.

The move by the international police organisation is the latest in the years-long saga surrounding Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya who crashed his luxury car in 2012, killing a police officer.

The charges against Vorayuth, who is the grandson of Red Bull’s co-founder, had initially been dropped in July – sparking public outrage from Thais who saw it as an example of the impunity enjoyed by the country’s elite.

It spurred probes by various government agencies, including the Attorney General’s Office which last month announced fresh charges against Vorayuth for reckless driving causing death and for alleged cocaine use.

National Police deputy spokesman Colonel Kissana Pattanacharoen confirmed on Sunday that a red notice – Interpol’s most urgent alert – had been issued earlier this week.

“After we received the confirmation, we then passed our request to 194 member countries asking for assistance from them,” he told AFP news agency.

“We have to do whatever it takes to… ultimately bring him back to the country because it is a serious crime.”

A red notice for Vorayuth had not been published on the Interpol website as of Monday at 12 noon (04:00 GMT).

Fugitive

The fugitive heir fled Thailand in 2017 on a private jet.

After charges against him were dropped in July, a probe conducted by the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha concluded the entire investigation had been “compromised”.

The public outcry over Vorayuth came at a particularly tense period for the government, coinciding with near-daily protests across Thailand led by pro-democracy student leaders calling for Prayuth’s resignation.

Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Jaruwat Vaisaya, left, speaks to the media with deputy spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen during a press conference about reopening the case, at the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok, September 2020 [File: Narong Sangank/EPA]Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of Red Bull’s logo to symbolise their anger at the military-aligned government, which enjoys close alliances with the kingdom’s billionaire families.

The clan of Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya is Thailand’s second-richest, boasting a fortune estimated at $20.2bn according to Forbes.

SOURCE : AFP

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UAE, Saudi Arabia's cyber plots against Arab states revealed

TEHRAN, Oct. 05 (MNA) – Al Jazeera channel broadcasted a documentary which revealed that UAE and Saudi Arabia have used their resources to escalate tensions and promote lies on social networks against some Arab countries and Turkey.

Al-Jazeera channel broadcasted a documentary about some provocative moves of UAE and Saudi Arabia against some Arab countries which caused many controversies in social media, Alquds Alarabi reported.

The documentary revealed that UAE and Saudi Arabia used resources of their countries in order to promote lies, especially on social networks against a number of Arab countries and Turkey.

In this regard, Abu Dhabi has used all its resources to target Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Jordan and etc. in cyberspace and social networks to create crises and tensions in these countries.

The documentary also showed that the UAE has launched a virtual project called "Arab Intelligence" to escalate tensions in some countries through spreading lies.

Some false news about the coup in Qatar has also been spread by some fake accounts in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi through sharing manipulated images and videos.

The Al Jazeera documentary revealed that the UAE has used espionage programs such as Zionist-backed programs, to target Qatar and other Arab countries, including Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Mauritania, Sudan, and Algeria.

RHM/5040383

News Code 164339

Iranian Realtors in Canada, US

IRAN IS A CAPITALIST REGIME, SURROUNDED BY FUEDALIST SUNNI PETRO STATES

TEHRAN, Oct. 04 (MNA) – Hearing the name of a realtor, many people remembered intermediaries. Most people think that realtors' role in the transaction can be eliminated, and their role can be ignored.

Some people also think that paying a realtor is an extra and unnecessary expense.

Providing honest advice when pricing and registering a property among real estate advertisements is the first Iranian Realtor's task. These people are good at advising and justifying their customers to buy and sell the property.

Pricing the property is not an easy task. The Iranian Realtors must do this expertly with the seller to be sold at a reasonable price or advertised for mortgage and rent.

One of the Iranian Realtor's duties is to inspect the property thoroughly and, while recording the exact details, inform the seller or the owner if there is a problem.

Iranian Realtors in the United States and Canada

The United States and Canada are among the world's largest countries, which is why buying and selling homes is so important.

The two countries have made it possible for the rest of the world to migrate by investing in real estate and purchasing a home. The property market and its sales in these two countries are very complex, and if you are not familiar with this market, you will undoubtedly face problems when buying.

Iranian Realtors in these two countries, with their high knowledge in buying and selling property, property prices in these two countries, home buying and selling laws, and other things, can help you on the path to becoming a homeowner.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the United States and California. Due to its excellent climate and excellent quality of life, this coastal city is an excellent choice for living. Many Iranians choose this city to live in, but they do not know that it has difficulties and advantages. One of those difficulties is facing the complex market of buying and selling houses in this city. An excellent Iranian Realtor can help Iranians find the home they want without fear of having a poor English language. Good Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles help you learn how to buy and sell a home to make the most of it. You can be sure to sell your property at the best possible price and buy a house at the best price by Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Los Angeles.

The Best Iranian Realtors in California

California is one of the largest states in the United States and has a large population. Many Iranians have chosen this state to live in and buy a home in this large state. The first thing Iranians need to do before moving to California is to find the best place to live in California and research the cost of living and buying a home in that city.

Finding the best city in California to live in and a cheap city to buy a home may require some expertise. An Iranian Realtor in California will help you buy a home, find the best home for your budget, and get the job done. Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in California who know the area and the house's price can benefit you.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Montreal

With over 4 million, Montreal is one of Canada's largest and most populous cities, with a large Iranian population. It is one of Canada's most important cities for business and economy and is, therefore, the best destination for finding work.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when moving to Canada and Montreal is buying a home. This process certainly requires an expert in this field, and with his help, you can find out the prices in the real estate market. Most Iranians may think they can do this independently, but buying and selling a home in a big country like Canada is not as easy as we think.

In Montreal, Iranian Realtors are aware of current knowledge and know what is going on in the real estate market. Find the Best Iranian Realtors in Montreal, leave the job of buying and selling a house to them, and continue your life in this city safely.

The Best Iranian Realtors in Toronto

With a population of 2.7 million, Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, where you can see different cultures and languages.

This city hosts more than 100 different languages and different cultures, among which you can see many Iranians.

If you have moved or immigrated to this city and are unfamiliar with the Canadian real estate market, be sure to consult with Iranian Realtors and get help from them. Iranian Realtors in Toronto, Canada are among the best in this market. You can find the best home for yourself and your family by Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Toronto.

How to find the best Iranian Realtors in the USA and Canada?

With access to the best facilities in today's advanced world, Finding the Best Iranian Realtors in Canada and the United States will no longer be difficult. You can have a list of the best Iranian Realtors in the United States and Canada at any place and at any time by visiting www.iranianrealtor.org and go to them to buy and sell a house.

News Code 164309

No evidence suggests 9/11 was a conspiracy

TEHRAN, Sep. 12 (MNA) – I have seen absolutely no credible evidence to suggest that the 11 September 2001 attacks were a result of any kind of conspiracy by the US governments or anyone outside of the Al-Qaeda network.

It was indeed a terrorist attack planned and carried about exclusively by Al-Qaeda.

There were major intelligence failures by the Bush administration that they have tried to cover up. There were also disingenuous efforts to try to blame the attacks on Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and other efforts to take advantage of the tragedy to advance Washington’s imperialist agenda in the Middle East. The insistence on portraying the efforts to counter the threat from Al-Qaeda as a US-led “war” rather than an international anti-crime effort allowed the U.S. government to dramatically increase military spending at the expense of needed domestic programs and dramatically extend the US military presence in the greater Middle East.

Al-Qaeda was largely driven out of Afghanistan by the end of 2001, but US troops remain in that country to this day. The administration took advantage of the fear from the 2001 attacks to build up support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, despite the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with it, that Saddam was a strong opponent of Al-Qaeda, and the US invasion and occupation not only took attention away from fighting Al-Qaeda but created conditions for the dramatic growth of Salafist extremism in Iraq and elsewhere. Furthermore, the United States maintains close ties to Saudi Arabia despite the regime’s support for Salafist extremists, again underscoring the United States’ lack of seriousness is challenging such dangerous tendencies in the region.

First Time Published in Tehran Times

Who were main arms suppliers to Saddam in war against Iran

TEHRAN, Sep. 22 (MNA) – During the eight years of the Imposed War (1980-88) against Iran, many countries provided financial and military aid to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, with US, France, and Germany as major contributors.

The following is the list of the countries which aided Iraq during the (1980-88) Imposed War against Iran:

The United States:

The United States was Saddam's most important encourager to attack Iran. With the fall of the imperial regime in Iran, the Americans had no more access to the vast oil resources of our country, and immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, they started their hostile campaigns and attacks against Iran. The failed Tabas Military attack, the Nojeh coup, and dozens of other plots were some of the US government's anti-Iran moves at the time.

When the Americans failed in all these plots, they encouraged the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to attack Iran.

In the second year of the war, when the Islamic army ousted the occupying forces, the US government simultaneously launched four operations in support of Saddam and against Iran:

1) Operation Staunch: Diplomatic attempts to identify the entry points of weapons into Iran and prevent the shipment of military equipment to the country

2) Financial operations: Efforts to meet the financial needs of Iraq through American companies

3) Intelligence operations: Providing military information on Iran to Iraq

4) Anti-Iranian operations in international organizations: Condemnation of Iran in these organizations and preventing Iranian officials from conveying their rightful messages to other countries.

The Soviet Union:

A major part of the weapons Iraqis needed during the war was supplied by the Soviet Union. The country greatly assisted Saddam in the war by providing him with modern equipment and weapons.

The most advanced warplanes, helicopters, tanks, and other such equipment were delivered to Iraq by the Soviet Union during the eight-year war.

Russian military commanders also trained Iraqi commanders and taught them ways to counter the Iranian army and the best methods and tactics to attack Iran.

Europe:

France and Germany aided Iraq more than any other European country. Super Étendard carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft and laser missiles – one of the latest achievements of the French military industry – were provided to the Iraqi army. Due to their high cost, Super Étendard aircraft were leased to the Iraqi army so that Iraqi pilots could easily use them to bomb Iranian soldiers and cities.

When all this aid failed to save Saddam's defeated army, Germany rushed to Saddam's aid by sending chemical weapons, enabling Saddam to use 6,000 tons of chemical bombs against the Iranian people. Saddam's army killed 1,100 people in Sardasht and other parts of Iran and 5,000 others in Halabja using chemical weapons.

Italy and Belgium were other supporters of Iraq in the war against Iran by providing the country with advanced anti-tank missiles and helping Iraq build long-range artillery and strengthen other parts of its military.

Arab countries:

Home to the world's largest oil and gas resources, these Arab countries were Iraq's main financial and manpower aid.

These Arab countries also deployed war prisoners from Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and the Persian Gulf Arab states to fight in the Iraqi army.

The airspace of these countries was also under the control of Iraq during the war, and Iraqi planes used their airspace to attack critical areas in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the southern provinces of our country.

Other countries:

Countries such as Brazil and Argentina, which were relatively advanced in the military industry at the time, supplied weapons to Iraq. Some others such as Latin American and African countries either lacked the ability to aid Iraq or were neutral, such as Turkey and Pakistan.

During the war, 50 countries directly supported Saddam. I will give just a few examples to better clarify the situation: At the beginning of the war, the United States said that it did not directly support Saddam, but Imam Khomeini (r.a.) said from the beginning that Saddam was a lunatic and a US pawn – a fact that became clear after the presence of US bases in Iraq and Egypt was revealed.

In Karbala 4 and 5 operations, the Soviet Union provided 150 tanks to Iraq; the French delivered their first long-range aircraft to Iraq, and the Germans provided Iraq with both chemical and nuclear weapons and technology. Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all contributed $80 billion to Saddam, while Iran had an annual budget of only $7 billion during the war. These figures clearly show our situation during the war and show that it was only through our resistance spirit and ceaseless efforts that we managed to stand against the enemy and win the war.

The excerpt is taken and translated from the Islamic Development Organization Information Database, The Role of Countries in the Iraq-Iran War, Hossein Eslafi, 22 Sep. 2009.

News Code 163845

As rats swarm California cities, Gov. Newsom bans popular poison to protect wildlife

by Ryan Sabalow, The Sacramento Bee
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Credit: AskJoanne/Wikipedia

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that seeks to protect mountain lions and other wildlife from being poisoned by a popular form of pesticide.

The move raises questions about how the state will manage its growing urban rat population, which some experts say is surging due to the spread of homeless camps across California.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1788, which bans, with few exceptions, the use of what are known as "second generation anticoagulant rodenticides" until state pesticide regulators develop plans to ensure they're not harmful to wildlife.

Just about every major environmental group supported the bill authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, a Santa Monica Democrat. They argued the toxins are being found in often lethal levels in birds of prey and predatory mammals, especially bobcats and mountain lions.

The toxins build up in their systems as the animals consume rodents that are dying from the poisons. Nine in every 10 dead mountain lions state scientists test have the toxins in their livers.

"By pulling these four highly toxic rat poisons from the hands of pest control operators, California is giving sensitive species like mountain lions a bit of a fighting chance," Debra Chase, chief executive of the Mountain Lion Foundation, said in a written statement..

Pest control companies, the California Chamber of Commerce, apartment management associations and other business groups opposed the bill. They say the poisons are critical to controlling a rat and mouse population that has exploded in some major California cities, often in low-income areas and around homeless camps that have poor sanitation and piles of trash.

In recent years, the megalopolis of Los Angeles County has seen skyrocketing cases of a rodent-borne disease called typhus.

State environment officials last year, meanwhile, faced a major public relations crisis when they announced they planned to set out the poisons to control rats that had taken over the Sacramento CalEPA building courtyard it shares with a daycare center's outdoor playground.

Environmental groups were furious, and in response, the state agreed to use another type of poison.

The building houses the Department of Pesticide Regulation, which in 2014 prohibited the use of the poisons to anyone but state-certified pest control operators.

Newsom signed the bill just weeks after the National Park Service announced that biologists in the Santa Monica Mountains had found a dead mountain lion and a dead bobcat that had been killed by the poisons.

The cougar was the sixth mountain lion wearing a GPS-tracking collar to die from the poisons in a years-long study in the region.

Rat poisons are part of the reason why state regulators are considering protecting Southern California and Central Coast cougars under the state's Endangered Species Act.

The bill provides some exceptions for the continued use of the poisons on farms, food storage and processing facilities, medical centers, or when needed to keep rodents like the non-native swamp rats called nutria from tearing up levees. A public health official also can order the poison set out to prevent or address a public health crisis.

Newsom's been an ardent supporter of the state's big cat population over the years. His father, Judge William Newsom, who died in 2018, was a founding board member of the Mountain Lion Foundation.

"My father was a naturalist and a strong advocate for the preservation of mountain lions, and I grew up loving these cats and caring about their well-being," Newsom said Tuesday in a press release. "He would be proud to know that California is taking action to protect mountain lion populations and other wildlife from the toxic effects of rodenticides."

Anglo-Saxon warlord found by detectorists could redraw map of post-Roman Britain

First burial of its kind in mid-Thames region suggests it was more important than previously thought

UNIVERSITY OF READING

Research News

Archaeologists have uncovered a warrior burial in Berkshire that could change historians' understanding of southern Britain in the early Anglo-Saxon era.

The burial, on a hilltop site near with commanding views over the surrounding Thames valley, must be of a high-status warlord from the 6th century AD, archaeologists from the University of Reading believe.

The 'Marlow Warlord' was a commanding, six-foot-tall man, buried alongside an array of expensive luxuries and weapons, including a sword in a decorated scabbard, spears, bronze and glass vessels, and other personal accoutrements.

The pagan burial had remained undiscovered and undisturbed for more than 1,400 years until two metal detectorists, Sue and Mick Washington came across the site in 2018.

Sue said: "On two earlier visits I had received a large signal from this area which appeared to be deep iron and most likely not to be of interest. However, the uncertainty preyed on my mind and on my next trip I just had to investigate, and this proved to be third time lucky!"

Sue, who along with other members of the Maidenhead Search Society metal detecting club had visited the site several times previously, initially unearthed two bronze bowls. Realising the age and significance of the find, she stopped digging and the Club, in line with best practice, registered this discovery with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. (PAS).

The PAS Finds Liaison Officer for Buckinghamshire undertook a targeted excavation to recover the very fragile bronze vessels and, in the process, recovered a pair of iron spearheads suggested that the context was likely to be an Anglo-Saxon grave.

Thanks to their actions, the bowls and spearheads were identified and conserved, and following Sue's generous donation, are soon to go on display at Buckinghamshire Museum in Aylesbury.

Recognising the importance of the burial and the need for more detailed archaeological investigation, a team led by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading carried out a full survey and excavation in August 2020. The burial was at a very shallow depth, making the excavation crucial to protect it from farming activity.

Dr Gabor Thomas, a specialist in early medieval archaeology at the University of Reading, said: "We had expected to find some kind of Anglo-Saxon burial, but what we found exceeded all our expectations and provides new insights into this stretch of the Thames in the decades after the collapse of the Roman administration in Britain.

"This the first burial of its kind found in the mid-Thames basin, which is often overlooked in favour of the Upper Thames and London. It suggests that the people living in this region may have been more important than historians previously suspected.

"This guy would have been tall and robust compared to other men at the time, and would have been an imposing figure even today. The nature of his burial and the site with views overlooking the Thames suggest he was a respected leader of a local tribe and had probably been a formidable warrior in his own right."

The early Anglo-Saxon period was one of great change in England with significant levels of immigration from the continent and the formation of new identities and power structures in the vacuum created by the collapse of the Roman administration around 400 AD. Around a century later - the period in which the Marlow Warlord lived -England was occupied by local tribal groupings, some of which expanded into Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, such as Wessex, Mercia and Kent.

The region of the mid-Thames between London and Oxford was previously thought to be a 'borderland' in this region, with powerful tribal groups on each side. This new discovery suggests that the area may have hosted important groups of its own. It is likely that the area was later squeezed out or absorbed into the larger neighbouring proto-kingdoms of Kent, Wessex and Mercia.

A team involving archaeologists from the University of Reading and local volunteer groups carried out a two-week excavation of the site in August 2020 with the kind permission of the supportive landowner. This activity included geophysical survey, test excavations, and a full excavation of the grave site.

Found buried with the Marlow Warlord were a sword with an exceptionally well-preserved scabbard - making it one of the best-preserved sheathed swords known from the period -made of wood and leather with decorative bronze fittings, spears, bronze and glass vessels, dress-fittings, shears and other implements.

These objects are currently being conserved by Pieta Greaves of Drakon Heritage and Conservation. Further analysis of the human remains will be carried out at the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, to help determine the man's age, health, diet and geographical origins.

Michael Lewis, Head of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "This is a great example of archaeologists and metal-detectorists working together. Especially important is the fact that the finders stopped when they realised they had discovered something significant and called in archaeological assistance. By doing so they ensure much more could be learnt about this interesting burial."

The team are now hoping to raise funds to pay for further conservation work, to allow some of the finds to go on display to the public at the Buckinghamshire Museum in 2021, when their newly refurbished permanent galleries re-open.

To donate, visit https://reading.hubbub.net/p/marlowwarlord

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Monday, October 05, 2020

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Anglo-Saxon warlord found by detectorists could redraw map of post-Roman Britain

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