Friday, January 31, 2020

New Study Details Overlooked Link Between Climate Breakdown and Violence Against Women
Women are often the "first to be targeted" when environmental shocks threaten natural resources, international conservation group says.


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Women work in a field in Uganda. (Photo: Maggie Roth for IUCN)
Climate action leaders have warned for years that marginalized frontline communities in poor countries are already facing the most destructive impacts of the climate crisis, and a new study confirms those fears, detailing how women in those regions are at greater risk for violence and abuse as the environment is degraded.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its study (pdf) on Wednesday after conducting more than 80 case studies and speaking to more than 300 sources over the course of a two-year project.
"This study shows that the damage humanity is inflicting on nature is also fueling violence against women around the world—a link that has so far been largely overlooked."
—Grethel Aguilar, IUCN"This study adds to the urgency of halting environmental degradation alongside action to stop gender-based violence in all its forms, and demonstrates that the two issues often need to be addressed together," said Dr. Grethel Aguilar, IUCN's acting director-general.
The study is the largest and most comprehensive to ever examine the gender-specific effects of the climate crisis, IUCN says.
Of the more than 300 responses IUCN compiled from international organizations working in developing countries, six in 10 respondents said they had observed gender-based violence directed at female environmental defenders, climate refugees and migrants, and an increase in such violence in areas where the climate crisis and global heating has put a strain on resources.
Abuses the organizations uncovered include child marriage and forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual violence and assault, and human trafficking.
"As environmental degradation and stress on ecosystems increases, that in turn creates scarcity and stress for people, and the evidence shows that, where environmental pressures increase, gender-based violence increases," said Cate Owren, lead author of the report.
The publication was praised by women's rights advocates on social media.
"The fight against the climate crisis will have far more of an impact if represented by those most affected," tweeted the British Women's Equality Party.
The study found that both human trafficking and forced child marriage are becoming increasingly common in places where chronic drought, flooding, and heatwaves have caused crop yields to suffer and brought on a scarcity of resources.
"When families struggle to meet basic needs, marrying off young daughters is seen as a way to lighten financial burdens," the report reads. "There is growing concern around reports of an increase in child marriage associated with conflict and natural disasters and environmental shocks."
According to The Guardian, about 12 million more young girls are believed to have been married off after extreme weather events increased, while human trafficking increases by 20 to 30% after weather disasters.
"In most parts of the world, women are already disadvantaged and lack land rights and legal rights, so are vulnerable to exploitation," wrote Fiona Harvey in The Guardian. "When the additional stresses caused by the climate crises bite, they are the first to be targeted."
"Environmental crimes degrade ecosystems, and also often bring new, worsening patterns of violence against women, minorities, and marginalized communities."
—Jenny Springer, IUCN
The destruction of the environment by extractive industries has significant effects on women's safety, as an influx of male miners, construction workers, and security guards is linked to an increase in gender-based and sexual violence, often with Indigenous women as targets.
"Mining areas, many of which are in Indigenous territories, have seen heavy military presence, resulting in various human rights violations, such as torture, psychological disturbance, destruction and divestment of properties (livestock and crops), as well as violence against women, including rape," reads the study in a section about the Mindanao region of the Philippines.
Sexual violence is also used to suppress women who attempt to defend their homes and environments from extractive industries, and to intimidate others who may come forward in protest.
"Environmental crimes degrade ecosystems, and also often bring new, worsening patterns of violence against women, minorities, and marginalized communities," said Jenny Springer, director of IUCN's global program on governance and rights. "Many Indigenous women in particular face gender-based and other violence as their communities act to defend their territories, resources and rights from such illegal activities."
Since women in many parts of the world are responsible for gathering water and provisions for their families, they are often at an increasingly greater risk for gender-based violence as they have to travel farther from home, as resources shrink.
IUCN surveyed the Danish Refugee Council, which conducted a study at Doro Refugee Camp in South Sudan regarding dangers faced by residents there. Women in the study identified collecting firewood outside the camp as the biggest risk they regularly took.
"Food insecurity and the lack of firewood forces women and girls to go outside of the camps to collect firewood despite the risks of suffering violence by militias, private forest owners, rangers or other unknown perpetrators," the report reads.  "Many...survey respondents also raised these concerns as one of the major threats in refugee camps as related to emergency responses and protracted crises."
IUCN's study was released a day after CARE International published its report "Suffering in Silence," showing how the climate crisis has exacerbated conflicts and economic and political instability across Africa, making the continent home to nine of the 10 most-overlooked humanitarian crises in the world.
"Environmental degradation now affects our lives in ways that are becoming impossible to ignore, from food to jobs to security," said Aguilar. "This study shows that the damage humanity is inflicting on nature is also fueling violence against women around the world—a link that has so far been largely overlooked."
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'Get out of the country!' Mormons massacred by Mexican cartel face backlash from president’s supporters.

After a deadly November attack, Mormons who have spoken out against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have drawn the ire of his backers

NOT LDS MORMONS BUT HERETICS, APOSTATES, POLYGAMISTS KICKED OUT OF UTAH
Supporters of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shout slogans at people participating in a march for peace in Mexico City, on January 26, 2020. - The march for peace, led by Mexican poet and activist Javier Sicilia and Mormon activist Julian LeBaron, reached the National Palace at Zocalo square to demand the government to modify its anti-crime strategy amid the wave of violent crimes that shakes Mexico.PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Reuters and National Post Staff January 27, 2020

They were the focus of global sympathy in the wake of a deadly November attack that saw many family members killed. Now, though, Mexico’s Mormon community is coming under pressure from supporters of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who accuse them of backing his enemies.

November’s gangland attack on a remote stretch of road in northern Sonora state killed three mothers and six children from the LeBaron and Langford families, who settled in the region decades ago. Their vehicles came under heavy gunfire and were torched, with security experts saying evidence suggests the massacre was carried out by a Juarez Cartel faction known as La Linea, and may have a been a case of mistaken identity. Factions of the Sinaloa and Juarez armed groups fight over lucrative cross-border smuggling routes in the area in question.

In the attack’s aftermath, many local Mormons fled back to the U.S., unconvinced that Mexican authorities could guarantee their safety. Others, though, stayed and became vocal critics of both the cartels and Lopez Obrador, who is under increasing pressure amidst a surge in nationwide violence. On Sunday, the AP reported that a pilgrimage by relatives of murdered Mexicans, led in part by Mormon families, was accosted by backers of the president, who loudly heckled marchers.
Mormons Julian (L) and Adrian LeBaron, relatives of victims of an ambush in northern Mexico in November, take part in a march for peace and honour Mackenzie, a girl who survived another massacre in which three women and six children were killed, by taking off a shoe, in Mexico City, on January 26, 2020. PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

“Leave the country!” they shouted at the Mormon contingent of the Caravan for Truth, Justice and Peace. The caravan had intended to leave a letter for Lopez Obrador at the National Palace in Mexico City. Instead, his supporters accused caravan members of being in the pocket of the president’s opponents.

The AP reported that near Zocalo plaza, in the city centre, hundreds of Lopez Obrador supporters shouted at the peaceful protestors: “It’s an honour to be with Obrador” and “Get out!”

Among the marchers was Adrián LeBaron, whose daughter perished in the attack, as did four of his grandchildren. In recent months LeBaron and a handful of Mormons have become strident critics of government policy. Julian LeBaron, Adrián’s cousin, told the Guardian recently that the Mormons who dared to remain feel a degree of protection because of their links to the U.S. Nearly all of the family members are both U.S. and Mexican citizens, meaning they can easily travel, or relocate, between both countries.

However, the family’s critics have now apparently grown tired of their increasingly outspoken views, which — as dual citizens with freedom of movement — come from a position of relative privilege.

 
A supporter of Mexican Oresident Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shouts slogans at people participating in a march for peace in Mexico City, on January 26, 2020. 
PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

“We have dual citizenship. We have the protection of the FBI and Donald Trump’s tweets that scare the bejesus out of some people. Who the hell else is going to say something?” LeBaron told the Guardian. In the aftermath of the Mormon killings, Trump had tweeted that it was time to declare war on the drug cartels.

“They kill four women yesterday in Ciudad Juárez and tomorrow it’s not going to be news. (But) they killed three women and some kids from our family and it’s international news,” LeBaron said.

Earlier this month, Lopez Obrador pledged that those behind the massacre will be punished and that the truth surrounding the crime will eventually come out. But his fledgling administration has floundered amidst a renewed cartel bloodbath.

Mexico suffered its worst year for homicides in 2019, with a record 34,582 victims, official data shows, underscoring the challenge Lopez Obrador faces. He assumed the presidency in December 2018 pledging to pacify the country with a less confrontational approach to security, but violence has continued rising, with the number of homicide victims 2.5 per cent higher in 2019 than a year earlier, according to the security ministry data.
Adrian LeBaron (4-R), father of Rhonita Miller -one of the nine Mormon victims of an ambush the past November- speaks during a gathering after a march for peace at Zocalo square in Mexico City, on January 26, 2020. 
PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Mexico has used its military in a war on drug cartels since late 2006. But, despite the arrest or killing of leading capos, the campaign has not succeeded in reducing drug violence and has led to more killings as criminal groups fight among themselves. Already, Lopez Obrador has seen several spectacular security setbacks play out on his watch.

In a speech before extended Mormon family members near the U.S. border earlier this month, Lopez Obrador promised to keep relatives appraised of the investigation into the ambush.

“There will be justice,” he declared, addressing the small crowd from an outdoor stage set against the rugged mountains that surround the town of La Mora, home to the victims.

Lopez Obrador said the investigation was making progress, but did not give details. Earlier in the day, he met privately with relatives of the victims for about an hour, after traveling nearly four hours by car to the town.



Hundreds of mourners gather for the burial of a mother, her months-old twins and two other children on the fringes of a township founded by breakaway Mormons in Mexico, in a second funeral for the victims of a brazen armed ambush https://t.co/LPZBpNMozM pic.twitter.com/BI7WnSEqhg— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) November 9, 2019

Founded

La Mora, like other northern Mexican settlements where relatives of the large families live, was founded decades ago by breakaway Mormon leaders who fled the U.S. seeking a safe haven for their polygamist beliefs. Lopez Obrador was warmly received during his visit.

“Thank you for being here at such a painful time,” said Margaret Langford in brief remarks in Spanish, describing her family as broken.

“I love this country,” she added, “and it hurts me to my soul that I can’t live here.”

Langford recently left La Mora, like many other relatives who have fled. Loretta Miller, grandmother to four of the children killed, estimates that 80 per cent of her brothers — and sisters-in-law and their families have left and do not plan to ever return.

Mexican authorities has so far arrested seven suspects in the case. At least two other arrests of suspects linked to La Linea have been made in the U.S., but it is unclear if they are connected to the massacre.

Two months after tragedy struck, beefed-up security has helped calm the holdout residents. Today, roads in and around La Mora are patrolled by hundreds of heavily-armed soldiers, helicopters buzzing overhead. But with only a few families staying put, at least one village is being hollowed out, with homes lying vacant. The ambush left a once-strong faith deeply shaken in the picturesque hamlets the families have called home for generations.

“La Mora will never be the same,” said 27-year-old Kendra Miller, whose brother Howard lost his wife Rhonita and their four children in the attack. “There are families that will come back to visit, but they’re not going to live here again because they don’t feel safe.”

Some locals complain that the police presence before November’s attack was almost non-existent, but since then army soldiers and National Guard troops have flooded in, along with FBI and Mexican investigators.
Members of the Lebaron family watch the burned car where some of the nine murdered members of the family were killed during an ambush in Bavispe, Sonora mountains, Mexico, on November 5, 2019. HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images

The large families that have populated this part of northern Mexico, nestled among rolling hills and gurgling rivers, stem from breakaway Mormon communities that began fleeing the U.S. more than a century ago in search of safe havens for their polygamist beliefs.

They built ranch-style homes with orchards where the young children of growing families could ride their bikes and play all day outside.

Like Miller, many wax nostalgic about care-free childhoods, even if their own kids might be raised elsewhere.

“I was set to get married one week after the massacre,” she said, “and now my fiance wants us to live in the United States.”  
 
Members of the LeBaron family watch the burned car in which some of the nine murdered members of the family were killed during an ambush in Bavispe, Sonora mountains, Mexico, on November 5, 2019. HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images

On an impromptu tour of the area, Miller points out the many homes that sit eerily empty, once tidy gardens overrun with weeds.

Other family members describe how kids suffer from recurring nightmares, and those relatives who have left fear coming back.

While they are a distinct minority, there are those among the families who argue against leaving.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Mateo Langford, whose sister was killed in the attack.

“Bad things happen in every corner of the world, including in the United States. We just can’t run away,” he said.

As he sorted pecans from last year’s harvest, Mateo’s brother Steve Langford, whose sister Christine was killed, said he will stay put as well. He said his immediate plans are to help his cousin David with the harvest, and try to convince him to stay too.

David lost his wife Dawna and two of their children in the attack.

Another remains hospitalized with a gun shot wound to the jaw.

“I’ll never leave here,” said Langford.
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He was protecting the monarch butterfly from Mexico's illegal loggers, but he was the one in danger

As millions of monarchs made a 3,220-kilometre journey from Canada to Mexico each October, Homero Gómez González tried to protect them
Leading Mexican conservationist Homero Gómez González
 has been found dead.Twitter
National Post Staff and Reuters January 30, 2020He was tasked with taking care of Mexico’s vulnerable monarch butterfly population. In the end, he was the one in grave danger.

Leading conservationist Homero Gómez González, 50, was found dead Wednesday, floating in a well in the municipality of Ocampo in the violent western Mexican state of Michoacán.

His presumed crime? Protecting migrating monarch butterflies from local industries, such as illegal logging, which threatened their winter habitat.

The BBC reports the dead activist managed a new sanctuary that had just opened in November, with the aim of combatting the effects of the local black market timber trade. After reportedly being threatened by a local gang, he was last seen alive at a meeting in an area called El Soldado on Jan. 13.

His disappearance kicked off a widespread search, and last week 53 regional police were taken in for questioning — the entire force of Ocampo and a neighbouring town. Phone calls seeking ransom money had been made to Gómez’s family, who are also reported to have received death threats of their own. Two weeks on, Michoacán’s attorney general has now confirmed Gómez’s death, with one source at the state attorney’s office telling Reuters the cause had not been determined. The official said an initial review had found no signs of torture.

En el Santuario El Rosario Ocampo Michoacan “ El más grande del mundo “ pic.twitter.com/WlCJuOcG4Q— Homero gomez g. (@Homerogomez_g) January 12, 2020

Gangs

Michoacán is home to many rival drug gangs who battle to control smuggling routes through often-arid terrain to the Pacific and Mexico’s interior. But its hills are also home to millions of monarchs, who settle in its pine forests and can be seen swarming there in their droves.

The monarchs make a 3,220-kilometre journey from Canada to winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather each October, but the insects are facing new challenges linked to extreme weather and changing habitat.

Gómez, though himself a former logger from a family of loggers, had fought tooth and nail to protect the species. Leading the El Rosario sanctuary in the world famous Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, he gained a degree of fame for posting mesmerizing videos and photos of the orange and black butterflies on social media. The region, a big draw for tourists, is on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

En el Santuario El Rosario Ocampo Michoacan miles de Monarcas buscando agua …..El más grande del mundo pic.twitter.com/hXgAYk1Ztb— Homero gomez g. (@Homerogomez_g) January 13, 2020

In its online literature, UNESCO says that the, “millions of monarch butterflies that return to the property every year bend tree branches by their weight, fill the sky when they take flight, and make a sound like light rain with the beating of their wings. Witnessing this unique phenomenon is an exceptional experience of nature.”

But the exposure Gómez brought to the area is feared to have drawn the ire of illegal logging interests, who had grown tired of his efforts to highlight their shadow trade. Mayte Cardona of the Human Rights State Commission of Michoacán told Reuters that “he was probably hurting the interests of people illegally logging in the area.”

Gómez worked locally for decades on sustainability issues, Miguel Angel Cruz, a co-worker, told the Washington Post. Last month, Gómez had told the Post himself about the everyday challenges he had faced.

“It’s been a fight to maintain it,” he said of the sanctuary. “And it hasn’t been easy.” He said that although he grew up in a logging family, he realized that conservation was his calling.

“We were afraid that if we had to stop logging, it would send us all into poverty,” he said, adding that he later saw the monarchs needed minding, and found that their beauty could be a tourist draw.

Defenders

Global Witness — an NGO that tracks killings of environment and land defenders — said in a July 2019 report that at least 18 such activists were killed in Mexico in 2018 alone. Activists are often targeted for undertaking preservation efforts that are seen, by criminal groups, to be an obstacle to their enrichment.
Police officers guard a sawmill in Michoacan, Mexico on 
May 20, 2004. Luis Jimenez/The New York Times

Gran espectáculo en el Santuario El Rosario Ocampo Michoacan pic.twitter.com/yIlMVM6Bgl— Homero gomez g. (@Homerogomez_g) January 11, 2020

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday, according to the Guardian:

“This is a very regrettable act, very painful. It’s part of what makes us apply ourselves more to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.”

As well as drugs and logging conflicts, in recent years Michoacán has seen increasingly violent clashes over the local avocado trade, which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Mexico registered 34,582 homicide victims in the country in 2019, a record. The startling figures, and a series of audacious cartel attacks on state forces, have placed enormous pressure on the government of López Obrador.

He assumed the presidency in December 2018 pledging to pacify the country with a less confrontational approach to security, but violence has continued rising, with the number of homicide victims 2.5 per cent higher in 2019 than a year earlier, according to security ministry data. Separate ministry figures, using an older methodology that refers to the number of homicide investigations, showed an increase to 29,401 last year from 29,100 in 2018.

Mexico has used its military in a war on cartels since late 2006. But, despite the arrest or killing of leading capos, the campaign has not succeeded in reducing drug violence and has led to more killings as criminal groups fight among themselves.

Outpouring of Grief After Missing Mexican Monarch Butterfly Defender Homero Gómez González Found Dead

Human rights advocates and the conservationist's family raised concerns about threats from the illegal logging industry and organized crime.
by
gomez
Two weeks after Mexican conservationist Homero Gómez González was 
reported missing, authorities found his body in a well Wednesday. 

Mexican conservationist Homero Gómez González was found dead Wednesday, about two weeks after he was reported missing, provoking a wave sorrow from allies and advocates worldwide as they honored his work running a butterfly sanctuary in the state of Michoacán.
"Authorities found Gómez González's body floating in a well in the community of El Soldado de Ocampo, not far from the butterfly sanctuary," according to the Washington Post. "Authorities told local media outlets that his body did not show any obvious signs of violence. But Gómez González's friends didn't have any details."
As Common Dreams reported last week, human rights advocates have expressed fears that Gómez González may have been targeted because of his activism by those involved in the local illegal logging industry, and the 50-year-old butterfly defender's family told the media that he had received threats from a criminal organization.
Gómez González was reported missing by his family on Jan. 14, a day after he attended a meeting in the village of El Soldado. BBC News noted Thursday that "more than 200 volunteers had joined the search for the environmentalist and, last week, the entire police forces of Ocampo and neighboring Angangueo were detained for questioning."
The conservationist often posted videos to Twitter from the El Rosario sanctuary, which is located in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Millions of monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles across North American to arrive each autumn in the mountainous region of Mexico, where they remain until spring. Local illegal logging has long threatened the butterflies.
A Global Witness report from last year named Mexico the world's sixth-deadliest country for eco-defenders, part of "a worrying global trend" of environmentalists risking their safety by facing off against "governments, companies, and criminal gangs [that] are routinely stealing land and trashing habitats in pursuit of profit."
Some responses to Gómez González's death on social media highlighted the rising threats to those involved in conservation work and environmental activism.
"Illegal logging is one of the most lucrative environmental crimes. It's also one of the biggest drivers of killings of #environmentdefenders," tweeted Ali Hines, a land campaigner at Global Witness. "Homero Gómez González's death must be independently investigated."

Mexican conservationist found dead two weeks after disappearance

AFP/File / Yuri CortezMonarch butterflies travel up to 
4,500 kilometers (3,000 miles) each year from Canada 
and the United States to establish their colonies in the 

temperate oyamel and pine forests of west-central Mexico

A Mexican conservationist known for championing the protection of monarch butterflies was found dead two weeks after his disappearance, authorities said.

Homero Gomez, 50, who ran a sanctuary for the iconic orange and black insects, had been missing since January 14. His body was found at the bottom of a well in the western state of Michoacan, where monarch butterflies often spend the winter.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Michoacan is home to several crime gangs and their presence has helped prompt the formation of self-defense groups in recent years.

Other conservationists in the region said Gomez's death could be linked to his opposition to illegal logging in the area.

Monarch butterflies travel up to 4,500 kilometers (3,000 miles) each year from Canada and the United States to establish colonies in the temperate oyamel and pine forests of west-central Mexico.

The butterfly (Danaus plexippus) faces threats from deforestation, the use of herbicides -- which targets the milkweed on which monarchs lay their eggs -- and climate change.

Mexican butterfly activist found dead

Chiara Giordano, The Independent•January 30, 2020
Environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez pictured at El Rosario butterfly sanctuary in Michoacan state, Mexico: Homero Gomez Gonzalez/Twitter

The body of an environmental activist who fought to protect the famed monarch butterfly has been found in a well two weeks after he went missing, officials say.

Homero Gomez Gonzalez, 50, was reported missing on 14 January amid fears he had been targeted by criminal gangs and illegal loggers in the central Mexican state of Michoacan.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, however an initial investigation found his body showed no apparent signs of violence.

Last week, prosecutors questioned 53 local police officers over Mr Gomez’s disappearance.

As the manager of El Rosario butterfly reserve and a former communal land officer, he led efforts to preserve the pine and fir mountaintop forests where the monarch butterfly spends the winter.

Millions of monarchs come to the forests of Michoacan and other areas after making the 3,400-mile migration from the United States and Canada.

They need healthy tree cover to protect them from rain and cold weather.

Mexico has clamped down on illegal logging, which was once a major threat to the reserves but which has fallen to about one-third of last year’s level.

But there have been reports of increased “salvage” logging of supposedly sick trees.

In an interview in November last year, Mr Gomez said the butterfly sanctuary had worked to eradicate the felling of trees and planted more than a million new firs and pines in four years.

Disputes over water from mountain springs have also occurred in the region, and avocado planters have long coveted the area, which has near-ideal growing conditions for the valuable fruit.

Mr Gomez was last seen at about 7pm on 13 January in the town of El Soldado, Ocampo, and was reported missing the next day.

More than 200 volunteers helped search for him, along with officials from the municipal police, land authority and security ministry.

Additional reporting by agencies.
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Mitsubishi Motors denies emissions test fraud after German raids

CRIMINAL CAPITALISM 
TWO OF THE BIGGEST CAR SCANDALS ARE THE AIR BAGS AND THIS

Mitsubishi Motors denies emissions test fraud after German raids

AFP/File / Behrouz MEHRIMitsubishi Motors has denied equipping engines with devices to make them appear less polluting during tests

Mitsubishi Motors denied Thursday equipping engines with devices to make them appear less polluting, after raids by prosecutors in Germany probing suspected diesel emissions cheating.

The probe focuses on Mitsubishi diesel vehicles with 1.6- and 2.2-litre engines that were given Germany's highest Euro 5 and Euro 6 ratings on emissions standards.

Prosecutors suspect they are equipped with a so-called "shutdown" or "defeat" device that makes engines appear less polluting in tests than they are on the road.

In a statement, Mitsubishi said the 1.6-litre diesel engines examined in the January 21 raid were manufactured by PSA Group, which owns brands such as Peugeot and Citroen.

It did not specify who was responsible for making the 2.2-litre engines, but said "no engines manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors are equipped with a so-called 'defeat device'".

The firm said it had been "fully disclosing" its engines and control systems to German authorities and "making improvements whenever any indications are made".

"We have found no reason to believe that there was any fraud as suspected by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor authorities," the statement added.

The Mitsubishi probe is the latest twist in the "dieselgate" scandal that erupted in 2015 when the Volkswagen group admitted to installing software in 11 million vehicles worldwide to dupe pollution tests.

The "defeat devices" allowed the affected cars to spew out up to 40 times more harmful nitrogen oxide than legally allowed.

The scandal has since ensnared a string of car companies, although Mitsubishi Motors had so far avoided being dragged into the controversy.

But the Tokyo-based firm did in 2016 admit to falsifying fuel-economy tests for 25 years to make the cars seem more efficient than they were.
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12-foot-tall exoskeleton awarded Guinness record in Canada



Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A Vancouver man who spent more than 10 years designing a giant, four-legged robot has been awarded a Guinness World Record for the world's largest tetrapod exoskeleton.
Jonathan Tippett said his exoskeleton, which he dubbed Prosthesis, measures 12 feet, 11 inches tall; 16 feet, 18 inches long; and 18 feet, 1 inch wide.
The four-legged machine, which requires a pilot to operate, weighs in at 3,527 pounds.
Tippett said he constructed Prosthesis from Chromoly steel tubing, which is often used for aerospace and racing vehicles.
"The heart of the machine is a 96 vault 36 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, custom engineered," Tippett said. "That runs two AC electric motors which drive two hydraulic pumps and provide fluid flow to the hydraulic cylinders, which put out as much as 12,000 pounds of force each."
Tippett said he spent over a decade designing the exoskeleton and less than a year building the final design.

Pilot-strapped-in-and-ready.jpg
exo-skeleton-thumbnail-sunset.jpg
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Trump lawyer Cipollone after ‘damning’ Bolton book leak reveals his ‘conflict of interest’

SMOKING GUN

Legal experts pound Trump lawyer Cipollone after ‘damning’ Bolton book leak reveals his ‘conflict of interest’

January 31, 2020 By Sky Palma

According to a new bombshell report from the New York Times this Friday, one of President Trump’s lead attorneys in his impeachment trial was present in the Oval Office for a conversation in May where Trump asked former national security adviser John Bolton for his assistance in pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
According to Bolton’s upcoming tell-all book, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney were present in the Oval Office between Trump and Bolton

The fact that a member of Trump’s legal team may now actually be a fact witness in his trial was not lost on many legal experts on Twitter:
New #BoltonBook revelations add pressure to #BoltonMustTestify
1. Changes Timeline as we know it
2. Trump "directed" Bolton "to help with his pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials"
3. Implicates Cipollone, lead impeachment lawyer
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) January 31, 2020

Note the new relevant witness : Cipollone. Seems like that should have been disclosed. https://t.co/HZy2TVmOug
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) January 31, 2020


Statements made to further conceal A CRIME or perpetuate A FRAUD are not protected.
Which mean Cipollone CAN be asked to testify, on this limited issue.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) January 31, 2020


“I’m shocked that it implicates Cipollone,” said no one who watched the president’s lawyers lie to the American people repeatedly both before and during the Impeachment Trial. https://t.co/sK3ZMOCpdf
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) January 31, 2020

If this were true, then Cipollone would clearly be a fact witness in the matter in which he's currently participating as a lawyer. https://t.co/Nlh781gIzN
— Nancy Leong (@nancyleong) January 31, 2020
#Cipollone must come clean.

Stephen Gillers' prescient piece analyzes House Manager's letter to Cipollone warning him of ethical breach and saying, "At a minimum, you must disclose all facts and information as to which you have first-hand knowledge."https://t.co/yEVWaDUDVp
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) January 31, 2020

This is so damning. And if confirmed, Cipollone has been deliberately misleading throughout the defense, with a massive conflict of interest. https://t.co/T3Hcxvg0bP
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) January 31, 2020

This puts Cipollone’s letter declaring Trump would not cooperate in a whole new light. He wasn’t just trying to cover up Trump’s wrongdoing, but also his own exposure. https://t.co/xcGgfksB7K
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) January 31, 2020

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/01/why-have-witnesses-when-you-can-order.html
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by [Bolton, John]
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‘They’re done’: CNBC’s Jim Cramer says fossil fuel industry ‘In the death knell phase’

HEY KENNEY ITS TOO LATE FOR YOU AND YOUR WAR ROOM FOR BIG OIL

‘They’re done’: CNBC’s Jim Cramer says fossil fuel industry ‘In the death knell phase’
January 31, 2020 By Common Dreams

“You can tell that the world’s turned on them, and it’s actually kind of happening very quickly,” said Cramer.

Climate campaigners drew attention to CNBC‘s Joe Cramer’s comments Friday that he’s “done with fossil fuels” because they’re “in the death knell phase.”

Cramer added that “the world’s turned on” the industry as they did with tobacco.

“They’re done,” Cramer said of fossil fuels on the network’s “Squawk Box.” “We’re starting to see divestment all over the world. We’re starting to see… big pension funds saying, ‘We not going to own them anymore.”

“The world’s changed,” Cramer continued. While companies like BP still mark profits, “nobody cares,” because “new money managers want to appease younger people who believe that you can’t ever make a fossil fuel company sustainable.”

“You can tell that the world’s turned on them, and it’s actually kind of happening very quickly,” said Cramer. “You’re seeing divestiture by a lot of different funds. It’s going to be a parade… that says look, ‘These are tobacco, and we’re not going to own them.'”

Oil stocks are in the death knell phase, says @jimcramer. “The world is turning on them…new kinds of money managers who frankly want to appease younger people who believe you can’t ever make a fossil fuel company sustainable.” pic.twitter.com/PV63RSudrf
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 31, 2020

Author and climate activist Naomi Klein said Cramer’s comments showed the power of fossil fuel divestment

Watch this entire thing: it doesn’t matter how well oil stocks are doing, the next generation sees them as toxic and doesn’t want them. Everyone involved in the fossil fuel divestment movement, and that is thousands upon thousands of mostly young people, made this happen. Wow. https://t.co/cDaD9VjBD2
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 31, 2020

350.org founder and author Bill McKibben had a similar takeaway, writing on Twitter Friday, “Thanks to all who fight so hard.”

Oil Change International also weighed in on Cramer’s comments.

We’re glad to see @JimCramer calling out fossil fuel companies as bad investments. Another good reason to ditch: they happen to be destabilizing the climate
https://t.co/k6KZn3C6ih
— Oil Change International (@PriceofOil) January 31, 2020

Cramer’s comments on “Squawk Box” came two days after he tweeted that he was “taking a hard pass on anything fossil”—a comment welcomed by Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune.

Smart call, @jimcramer. The @SierraClub agrees! https://t.co/YJkeSJD6yF
— Michael Brune (@bruneski) January 30, 2020

Lindsay Meiman, a spokesperson for 350.org—which has spearheaded the global movement to demand pension funds, university endowments, and other institutions divest from oil, coal, and gas companies—said Cramer is only confirming what many market observers already understand.

“The financial tides are turning away from fossil fuels. Coal, oil, and gas companies are not only the perpetrators of the climate crisis we’re now experiencing, but have also dangerously underperformed markets over the last decade,” Meiman told Common Dreams. “As we enter the climate decade, we’re demanding polluters pay for their destruction, and that all institutions and politicians cut ties from toxic fossil fuels to reinvest in a world that puts our health and safety first.”
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Man accidentally buys identical Powerball tickets, wins twice

THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS ACCIDENTS
Man accidentally buys identical Powerball tickets, wins twice

A Delaware man won $100,000 when he accidentally bought two identical Powerball tickets that each won $50,000. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A Delaware man who accidentally bought two identical Powerball tickets for the same drawing had the mistake pay off when they each won him a $50,000 prize.
The 61-year-old Newark man told Delaware Lottery officials he asked his son to fill out some playslips for the Jan. 18 Powerball drawing, but when he got to Malin's Market in Newark he realized he only had enough money to buy three of his intended four tickets.
The man returned the next day for his fourth ticket and accidentally used the same numbers as one of his other tickets.
"When I returned to the store after the drawing, I couldn't believe I had won when I scanned the first ticket," the man said. "A few hours later, when I scanned the second ticket and saw it had also won, I was shaking. It was unbelievable."
The man ended up winning $100,000 -- $50,000 for each winning ticket.
The winner said he plans to use some of his winnings to pay off his bills and put the rest into savings.

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Ancient shark found inside Kentucky's Mammoth Cave

Scientists found the fossilized remains of an ancient shark head, including portions of its jaw, cranial cartilage and several teeth, embedded in the wall of a remote chamber of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Photo by the National Park Service

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified the 330-million-year-old remains of an ancient shark inside Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park.

While exploring and mapping Mammoth Cave's many remote chambers, expert spelunkers Rick Olson and Rick Toomey happened upon a fossilized jaw and several teeth embedded in a cave wall.

Olson and Toomey took pictures of the fossils and sent them to Vincent Santucci, senior paleontologist with the National Park Service. Santucci reached out to John-Paul Hodnett, a paleontologist and expert in the study of Paleozoic sharks.

Hodnett, program coordinator at the Dinosaur Park in Maryland, came to visit the Mammoth Cave fossil. He was excited by what he found. There was enough fossil evidence to identify the ancient shark species as Saivodus striatus.




"Though fossil shark teeth have been discovered at Mammoth Cave before, they have never been scientifically documented until now," Hodnett told UPI Thursday in an email. "The discovery of fossilized cranial cartilage associated with teeth of the Saivodus striatus, a species of shark previously only known from teeth, just added some important anatomical information that can help us better understand how this ancient shark lived and who it was related to."
Scientists found the fossilized remains of an ancient shark head, including portions of its jaw, cranial cartilage and several teeth, embedded in the wall of a remote chamber of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Photo by the National Park Service


Scientists aren't sure if the remains are part of a full skeleton. So far, researchers have only identified and documented parts of the jaw and cranium, along with several teeth. But the size of the ancient shark head suggests the specimen was similar in size to a great white shark, measuring somewhere between 11 and 21 feet.

It's possible more fossils are hidden in the walls of the cave.



Saivodus striatus remains have been previously identified at a number of Late Mississippian dig sites in the United States and Europe. During the Late Mississippian, some 330 million years ago, Kentucky was covered by a large shallow sea of warm water.

"Forests of sea lilies, a relative to starfish, dominated the sea floor, along with early solitary corals and bivalved animals called brachipods," Hodnett said. "The most common fish at this time were sharks and their kin."

Though scientists were thrilled to find the ancient shark head, Mammoth Cave National Park boasts a rich fossil heritage. Scientists with the National Park Service have recently begun a paleontological resource inventory at the park.

Scientists found the fossilized remains of an ancient shark head, including portions of its jaw, cranial cartilage and several teeth, embedded in the wall of a remote chamber of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Photo by the National Park Service



"We are just beginning this effort and already had some exciting discoveries," Santucci told UPI. "We have two categories of fossils that we are focusing on at Mammoth Cave National Park, including: one, fossils which are preserved in the Paleozoic marine limestones in which the caves actually developed. These are largely marine invertebrates and some rare fossil vertebrates such as the sharks."

"Two: there are also ice age fossils from Mammoth Cave National Park," Santucci said. "These are largely Pleistocene mammals who either inhabited the caves periodically or the remains of organisms that were dragged in by predators or somehow transported into the caves."

As Santucci and his colleagues continue to investigate the national park's paleontological treasures, they plan to publish and present a scientific paper detailing the discovery and identification of Saivodus striatus.

The team of scientists also hope to find a way to share information about the new shark discovery through both a website and potentially a public display at the park itself.


upi.com/6980494
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