RIP

Irina Antonova, head of top Moscow art museum, dies at 98

MOSCOW — Irina Antonova, a charismatic art historian who presided over one of Russia's top art museums for more than half a century, has died at 98.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts said Antonova, its president, died in Moscow on Monday. It said Tuesday that Antonova last week tested positive for coronavirus, which exacerbated her chronic heart ailments.

Antonova began working at the Pushkin museum after her graduation in 1945, and in 1961 she became its director. She held the job until 2013, when she shifted into the ceremonial post of its president. The 52-year tenure made her the world's longest-serving director of a major art museum.

As the Pushkin museum director, Antonova spearheaded major art exhibitions that saw the exchange of art treasures between the Pushkin Museum and top international art collections despite the Cold War-era tensions and constraints. Those exchanges, facilitated by her extensive personal contacts with colleagues in the museum world, brought Antonova wide acclaim worldwide.

She also was very active in promoting the museum's treasures to the public.

Antonova has received numerous Russian and foreign state awards.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the president often met Antonova at the museum and “highly appraised her deep expert knowledge.”

Antonova will be buried in Moscow's Novodevichy cemetery alongside her husband, who also was an art historian. Funeral ceremonies will be closed to the public amid coronavirus restrictions.

The Associated Press

Kaavan, Pakistan's lonesome elephant, starts new life in Cambodia

THAT LEAVES LUCY IN THE EDMONTON ZOO AS THE LONELIEST ELEPHANT IN THE WORLD

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Pakistan's lonely elephant Kaavan arrived in Cambodia by cargo plane on Monday to start a new life with 600 fellow pachyderms at a local sanctuary, the result of years of campaigning for his relocation by American singer Cher.

© Reuters/FOUR PAWS Kaavan the elephant touches trunks with another elephant at a sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey Province

Cher was on the tarmac at the airport of Cambodia's second-biggest city Siem Reap to greet the elephant and met the vets who accompanied Kaavan on his long journey in a custom-made crate, with more than 200 kg (441 lbs) of food to keep him busy.

Animal rescue organisation Four Paws said 36-year-old Kaavan, who had spent most of his life at Islamabad Zoo without a companion, would be released from his crate in daylight on Tuesday at a sanctuary.

"Kaavan was eating, was not stressed, he was even a little bit sleeping, standing leaning at the crate wall. He behaves like a Frequent Flyer," said Amir Khalil, a Four Paws vet.

"The flight was uneventful, which is all you can ask for when you transfer an elephant."

The multi award-winning singer posed for pictures at the airport in sunglasses and a black facemask holding up a Pakistan vehicle license plate bearing her name and that of the elephant.

Cher had written songs pressing for Kaavan's release from grim, isolated conditions at Islamabad Zoo and she had spent the last few days with him in Pakistan.

Dozens of wildlife workers and experts led by Four Paws had used a winch and rope to pull the sedated elephant into the crate before he was loaded onto the Russian-built cargo plane.

His crate had the words #FreeKaavan painted on the outside.

Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and spokesman of Cambodia's Environment Ministry, lauded Four Paws and Cher for their efforts to help Kaavan and said Cambodia would be the ideal home for him.

"Cambodia is pleased to welcome Kaavan. No longer will he be the world's loneliest elephant," he said at a welcome ceremony.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Additional reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Middleman matters: Behind Indian protests against Modi farm reforms

By Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj

© Reuters/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS

 A protest against the newly passed farm bills, at Singhu border near Delhi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Undeterred by the harsh winter of India's capital, its toxic air and surging coronavirus cases, Sukhbinder Singh is among tens of thousands of farmers camped out in protest on the city's outskirts, along with tractors, trailers, SUVs and food trucks.

The farmers say they have enough flour, potatoes and other provisions to stay put for six months if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not meet their demand: a repeal of new laws that he has described as the biggest farm reforms in the country in decades and trade analysts have hailed as a booster shot for the world food market.

© Reuters/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS

The sea of unmasked people at the heavily barricaded protest site on the main highway into northern Delhi is the biggest challenge Modi has faced from India's politically powerful farmers since he took office six years ago, and is a chink in his otherwise immense personal popularity.

© Reuters/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS

The laws enacted by parliament in September are aimed at linking potential bulk buyers, such as WalMart Inc, Reliance Industries Ltd and Adani Enterprises Ltd, directly with farmers, bypassing government-regulated wholesale markets and layers of commission agents.

But more than 60 rice, wheat and potato growers from the farm states of Punjab and Haryana told Reuters the government was trying to privatise agriculture by eliminating the agents, who are a vital cog of the farm economy and for thousands of farmers, the main line of credit.

© Reuters/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS

The middlemen provide quick funds for seeds and fertilisers, and even for family emergencies, said the farmers. The agents also help grade, weigh, pack and sell harvests to buyers.

© Reuters/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS

While the farmers camped out on the highway are mainly from Haryana and Punjab, they claim to have support from all over the country. The All India Agricultural Workers Union, which claims to represent millions of rural farm hands, has vowed to launch a nationwide blockade this week to support the demands.

The protesters said a move to eliminate middlemen in the eastern state of Bihar had failed to draw new investment and its farmers were worse off as they often had to resort to fire sales in the absence of organised wholesale markets.

"Some landholders from Bihar now work our farms," said 45-year-old Sukhbinder Singh, who said he grows wheat, potatoes and mustard in his 20-acre farm in Haryana.

By his side, another farmer made tea next to his tarpaulin-covered trailer stuffed with flour, potatoes, mattresses and blankets.

"This is the time for us to grow winter crops back in the village," Singh said. "But if we don't protest now, our next generation will curse us for not fighting the fight. The agents and us are interdependent."

'NO TO HITLERISM'

For Punjab's Jasbir Singh, a 45-year-old who said he owns 12 acres of land, the middlemen are a lifeline for his farm and his family.

Without all the documents that banks insist on, and based only on the likely future yield of his crop, he says commission agents have been lending him money every year. Ten years ago, it was for his sister's wedding and this year he took on $5,000 more.

"My son is 21 now, I am sure I will again borrow from them for his marriage," Jasbir Singh, a tall man with a grey turban, said as young men played cards nearby and others soaked in the winter sun.

As the sun set on the blockaded stretch of the highway watched over by hundreds of policemen, many in riot gear, a small group of farmers called out Modi's name and shouted: "Say no to dictatorship, say no to Hitlerism".

The government is holding talks with the farmers to persuade them to end their protest and see the longer-term benefit of the reforms.

"If the farmer finds a buyer who takes the produce directly from the farm, who manages everything from transport to logistics and gives better prices, should not the farmers get the freedom," Modi told a public meeting.

Many economists, including former government adviser Ashok Gulati, say the reforms would bring fresh investments to the sector.

"The new laws are a stepping stone to modernise India's agriculture, but the result will not come immediately," Gulati said. "The government should pro-actively communicate with farmers to explain that this bold step will eventually help them and help Indian agriculture."

But Devinder Sharma, an independent agricultural expert, said middlemen play a pivotal role in ensuring farmers' welfare.

"There is a symbiotic relationship between the two, and for most farmers, middlemen are like ATMs," Sharma said.

The farmers also worry that after initially paying good returns for their produce, corporate buyers could force down prices.

They are upset the government will not commit in writing to continue a decades-old price support policy for staples such as wheat and rice.

"The government thinks the laws are good for farmers, fine, but if the farmers disagree, then scrap them," said Paramjit Singh Sarna, a businessman who has been feeding the participants even though his utensil-making factory near the highway is struggling to move its goods because of the blockade.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj; Additional reporting by C.K. Nayak; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

New Zealand's Ardern declares 'climate emergency'
AFP 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared a "climate emergency" on Wednesday, telling parliament that urgent action was needed for the sake of future generations.

Ardern said the science on climate change was clear and New Zealand had to acknowledge the threat.

The centre-left leader said the challenges posed by global warming meant parliament's declaration -- an act undertaken by more than a dozen other countries -- was warranted.

© Marty MELVILLE New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told parliament the science on climate change was clear

"In those cases where we do issue declarations, it is often where there is a threat to life, a threat to property, and civil defence emergencies," she told parliament.

"If we do not respond to climate change, we will continue to have these emergencies on our shores."

Lawmakers passed the largely symbolic emergency declaration by 76 votes to 43 after Ardern urged them to back the move.

"Vote in favour of this declaration, be on the right side of history, be part of the solution we must collectively deliver for the next generation," she said.

Britain's parliament became the first in the world to declare a climate emergency, passing the motion in May last year, followed closely by Ireland.

According to The Climate Mobilisation, a US lobby group pushing for such declarations, more than a dozen nations have followed suit, along with 1,800 local authorities in cities and towns globally.

The group argues that such declarations represent a critical first step in acknowledging the scale of the climate challenge and will spur action towards reversing global warming. 

New Zealand's centre-right opposition National Party rejected the climate emergency declaration, labelling it "virtue signalling".

"It can do harm in making people think that by declaring an emergency something has happened, when it hasn't," National leader Judith Collins told Radio New Zealand. 

"It's quite false and misleading." 

Ardern last year committed New Zealand to become carbon neutral by 2050 and to generate all its energy from renewable sources by 2035.

She has also halted all new offshore oil and gas exploration in New Zealand waters.

However, critics say that Ardern's government has not done enough to enhance New Zealand's "clean, green" reputation since she took office in 2017 after campaigning strongly on environmental issues. 

Climate Action Tracker -- a science-led independent assessment service -- rates New Zealand's climate policies "insufficient" to meet its goals under the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Greenpeace noted Ardern's 2050 carbon-neutral pledge specifically excluded one of New Zealand's major greenhouse gas sources, methane, to protect the lucrative agricultural sector. 

Greenpeace campaigner Kate Simcock said Ardern's action on climate did not match her rhetoric. 

"When the house is on fire, there's no point hitting the alarm without fighting the fire as well," she said. 

"Fighting the fire in New Zealand means tackling agricultural emissions."

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

UN agency hit with fraud and corruption allegations at climate projects
Financial Times 

The United Nations Development Programme is facing several allegations of fraud and corruption linked to the multibillion-dollar Global Environment Facility, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.  

  

© Provided by National Post 

The United Nations logo at the organization's headquarters in New York.

A copy of a draft report by UNDP’s office of audit and investigations, dated November 2020, described “financial misstatements” worth millions of dollars across UNDP’s portfolio of GEF-funded projects around the world.

The report highlighted problems including signs of “fraudulent activities” at two country offices and “suspicions of collusion among the various project managers” at another, without naming the countries.

“Issues identified by the audit could seriously compromise the achievement of the objectives of the audited entity,” the report said.

The GEF was set up in 1991 as part of the World Bank to help fight environmental challenges such as deforestation, species conservation and pollution. It has since split out to become an independent organization and disbursed more than $21 billion in 170 countries, including $7 billion in projects managed by the UNDP.

The audit of the UNDP’s GEF-funded projects — which covers 2018 and 2019 and is the first review of its kind since 2013 — comes against a backdrop of rising concern from some donor countries over management and oversight issues at the UNDP.

An investigation by Foreign Policy in 2019 published whistleblower accounts alleging the misappropriation of millions of dollars at a UNDP-run GEF project in Russia. Twelve donor countries — including the U.S., France, Australia and Japan — have since sought an independent review of the UNDP’s handling of that project, according to a letter seen by the FT.

“Matters of misconduct and misappropriation of funds continue to obstruct sustainable development across the world,” the donors said in March in the letter to Achim Steiner, the UNDP administrator since 2017.

In a written response to the FT, the UNDP said it “takes all cases of financial mismanagement and other irregularities extremely seriously”, adding that its GEF projects were some of the organization’s “most closely monitored”.

“The portfolio, the majority of which is implemented by national and subnational institutions, civil society organizations as well as other UN organizations, is subject to an intricate system of regular reviews, independent assessments and audits,” the UNDP said.

While there have been “allegations of misuse of funds” at certain projects, such complaints affected “a tiny fraction — 1.4 per cent” of the UNDP’s GEF-funded portfolio, it added. The GEF did not respond to a request to comment for this article.

Other project audits from independent consultants as well as written complaints from current and former UNDP staff, all seen by the FT, suggest that concerns over alleged financial misconduct and poor oversight at the UNDP may be widespread.

“What happened in Russia is a Russian problem. But things going wrong are very common,” said Frank Klinckenberg, a European environmental expert who has reviewed GEF programmes across the world for more than 10 years.

An independent review of a GEF-funded UNDP project in Uzbekistan, seen by the FT, warned that financial information provided by the UNDP was not reliable and “must be questioned”. “As a further result, this [midterm review] is required, by UNDP guidelines, to refer this project for a fraud investigation,” the draft report said.

According to another long-term external consultant to the UNDP, problems raised in project reviews frequently seemed to be ignored by senior staff.

“I don’t understand some of the management responses that have been made,” said the consultant, who asked not to be named. “We have an urgent climate crisis.”

The claims of misconduct at the UNDP are not the first allegations of impropriety linked to the UN’s climate work and represent one of the many challenges facing the UN as it seeks to co-ordinate a global response to climate change.

The UN-backed, South Korea-based, Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest climate finance institution, has faced a recent wave of internal misconduct complaints, including allegations of sexism and harassment in the workplace, the FT reported in August.

“The words ‘climate’ and ‘corruption’, people see these as two different worlds, but there is a lot of overlap,” said Brice Böhmer, the head of climate governance integrity at Transparency International, the global anti-corruption group.

Another person familiar with the allegations at the UNDP said there was a history of UNDP internal reviews avoiding “naming names”.

“No one is accountable, no one is responsible. The UNDP lets itself off the hook,” the person said, also asking not to be named. “These funds are intended for the poorest of the poor . . . at what point will donors [to the GEF] decide to suspend funding?”

Transparency International’s Böhmer said governance at the GEF had improved in recent years, but noted that the GEF had limited authority over UNDP projects, which are implemented according to UNDP standards. Böhmer has not seen the audit of the UNDP’s GEF projects reviewed by the FT and could not comment on its details.

“When it comes to climate, we need to have much higher standards,” he said. “If it is a project that is supposed to help an affected population adapt, then this is like penalizing them twice.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Nestle, Cargill at high court in child labour case



WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed concerned Tuesday about the impact of siding with food giants Nestle and Cargill and ending a lawsuit that claims they knowingly bought cocoa beans from farms in Africa that used child slave labour.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The court was hearing arguments in the case by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. If the court were to accept Nestle and Cargill's arguments, that could further limit the ability of victims of human rights abuses abroad to use U.S. courts to sue. But both liberal and conservative justices asked questions that were skeptical of arguments made by the companies' attorney.

“Many of your arguments lead to results that are pretty hard to take,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito told attorney Neal Katyal, who was arguing on behalf of Nestle and Cargill. The court's three liberal justices were particularly critical of Katyal's position, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor at one point saying it “boggles my mind.”

The case before the justices has been going on for more than 15 years. It involves six adult citizens of Mali, referred to only as John Does, who say that as children they were taken from their country and forced to work on cocoa farms in neighbouring Ivory Coast. They say they worked 12 to 14 hours a day, were given little food and were beaten if their work was seen as slow.

The group says that Minneapolis-based Cargill and the American arm of Switzerland-based Nestle “aided and abetted” their slavery by, among other things, buying cocoa beans from farms that used child labour. The group is seeking to bring a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and what they say are thousands of other former child slaves.

Both Nestle and Cargill say they have taken steps to combat child slavery and have denied any wrongdoing.

The case involves a law enacted by the very first Congress in 1789, the Alien Tort Statute, which permits foreign citizens to sue in U.S. courts for human rights abuses. The justices are being asked to rule on whether it permits lawsuits against American companies.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh was among the justices with tough questions for Nestle and Cargill's attorney. “The Alien Tort Statute was once an engine of international human rights protection,” Kavanaugh said before quoting a brief that argued that the companies' position would “gut the statute.” “So why should we do that?” he asked.

Alito, for his part, was also skeptical about this particular case against Nestle and Cargill. “You don't even allege that they actually knew about forced child labour,” Alito told attorney Paul Hoffman.

“We do contend that these defendants knew exactly what they were doing in that supply chain,” Hoffman responded.

The case had previously been dismissed twice at an early stage, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived it. The Trump administration is backing Nestle and Cargill.

The high court in recent years has limited the use of the Alien Tort Statute. Most recently, in 2018, the court ruled that foreign businesses cannot be sued under the law. In that case, the court rejected an attempt by Israeli victims of attacks in the West Bank and Gaza to use U.S. courts to sue Jordan-based Arab Bank, which they said helped finance the attacks. Cargill and Nestle are asking the court to take another step and rule out suits against U.S. companies.

A decision is expected by the end of June.

Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press

Uproar in France over proposed limits on filming police

PARIS — French activists fear that a proposed new security law will deprive them of a potent weapon against abuse — cellphone videos of police activity — threatening their efforts to document possible cases of police brutality, especially in impoverished immigrant neighbourhoods.  

© Provided by The Canadian Press

French President Emmanuel Macron’s government is pushing a new security bill that makes it illegal to publish images of police officers with intent to cause them harm, amid other measures. Critics fear the new law could hurt press freedoms and make it more difficult for all citizens to report on police brutality.

“I was lucky enough to have videos that protect me,” said Michel Zecler, a Black music producer who was beaten up recently by several French police officers. Videos first published Thursday by French website Loopsider have been seen by over 14 million viewers, resulting in widespread outrage over police actions.

Two of the officers are in jail while they are investigated while two others, also under investigation, are out on bail.

The draft bill, still being debated in parliament, has prompted protests across the country called by press freedom advocates and civil rights campaigners. Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday in Paris to reject the measure, including families and friends of people killed by police.

“For decades, descendants of post-colonial immigration and residents in populous neighbourhoods have denounced police brutality,” Sihame Assbague, an anti-racism activist, told The Associated Press.

Videos by the public have helped to show a wider audience that there is a “systemic problem with French police forces, who are abusing, punching, beating, mutilating, killing,” she said.

Activists say the bill may have an even greater impact on people other than journalists, especially those of immigrant origin living in neighbourhoods where relationships with the police have long been tense. Images posted online have been key to denouncing cases of officers’ misconduct and racism in recent years, they argue.

Assbague expressed fears that, under the proposed law, those who post videos of police abuses online may be put on trial, where they would face up to a year in jail and a 45,000-euro ($53,000) fine.

“I tend to believe that a young Arab man from a poor suburb who posts a video of police brutality in his neighbourhood will be more at risk of being found guilty than a journalist who did a video during a protest,” she said.

Amal Bentounsi's brother, Amine, was shot in the back and killed by a police officer in 2012. The officer was sentenced to a five-year suspended prison sentence. Along with other families of victims, in March she launched a mobile phone app called Emergency-Police Violence to record abuses and bring cases to court.

“Some police officers already have a sense of impunity. ... The only solution now is to make videos,” she told the AP. The app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.

“If we want to improve public confidence in the police, it does not go through hiding the truth,” she added.

The proposed law is partly a response to demands from police unions, who say it will provide greater protection for officers.

Abdoulaye Kante, a Black police officer with 20 years of experience in Paris and its suburbs, is both a supporter of the proposed law and strongly condemns police brutality and violence against officers.

“What people don’t understand is that some individuals are using videos to put the faces of our (police) colleagues on social media so that they are identified, so that they are threatened or to incite hatred,” he said.

“The law doesn’t ban journalists or citizens from filming police in action ... It bans these images from being used to harm, physically or psychologically,” he argued. “The lives of officers are important.”

A “tiny fraction of the population feeds rage and hatred” against police, Jean-Michel Fauvergue, a former head of elite police forces and a lawmaker in Macron's party who co-authored the bill, said in the National Assembly. “We need to find a solution."

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has acknowledged that “the intent (to harm) is something that is difficult to define."

In an effort to quell criticism, lawmakers from Macron's party announced Monday they would rewrite the criticized article of the bill, which will be debated by the Senate early next year.

Activists consider the draft law just the latest of several security measures to extend police powers at the expense of civil liberties. A statement signed by over 30 groups of families and friends of victims of police abuses said since 2005, “all security laws adopted have constantly expanded the legal field allowing police impunity.”

Riots in 2005 exposed France’s long-running problems between police and youths in public housing projects with large immigrant populations.

In recent years, numerous security laws have been passed following attacks by extremists.

Critics noted a hardening of police tactics during protests or while arresting individuals. Hundreds of complaints have been filed against officers during the yellow vest movement against economic injustice, which erupted in 2018 and saw weekends of violent clashes.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said out of 3 million police operations per year in France, some 9,500 end up on a government website that denounces abuses, which represents 0.3%.

France’s human rights ombudsman, Claire Hedon, is among the most prominent critics of the proposed law, which she said involves “significant risks of undermining fundamental rights.”

“Our democracy is hit when the population does not trust its police anymore,” she told the National Assembly.

___

AP writer John Leicester contributed from Le Pecq, France.

___

Follow all AP stories on racism and police brutality at https://apnews.com/Racialinjustice

Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press

UPDATES

Days after mysterious Utah desert monolith vanishes, another appears in Romania

National Post Staff 

Two weeks after a mysterious monolith appeared and then vanished in the remote Utah desert, local media have reported another monolith unexplainably materializing halfway across the world — only to vanish again a few days later.

© Provided by National Post A metal monolith stands on the hills of Batca Doamnei, near Piatra Neamt, Romania, November 27, 2020.

Last Thursday, residents in the Romanian city of Piatra Neamt discovered a shiny triangular metal pillar propped atop the Batca Doamnei Hill, near the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, an archaeological site overlooking the city.

Just like the first monolith in Utah’s San Juan County, this metal slab measured between 10 feet and 12 feet in height and appeared to be built using a dimly reflective metal material.

City mayor Andrei Carabelea appeared to amiably play along with the bewildering discovery, calling it an honour.

“My guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents’ UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world. First in Utah and then at Piatra Neamt,” he said, according to the Independent. “I am honoured that they chose our city.”

Carabelea added that he wouldn’t be upset if the mystery attracted tourists to his city.

“Beyond the conspiracy theories that can be tempting,” he added, “I’d like to see this randomness as further proof that our city is special. For the earthlings and (maybe) not only.”

What is a mysterious metal monolith doing in the Utah desert?
The mysterious monolith has vanished from Utah desert

Unfortunately for Carabelea and his city, their monolith had disappeared by Monday morning — just as quickly as its American counterpart.

Robert Iosub of the local Ziar Piatra Neamt newspaper told The Daily Mail: “The 2.8 metre tall structure disappeared overnight as quietly as it was erected last week. An unidentified person, apparently a bad local welder, made it… now all that remains is just a small hole covered by rocky soil.”

The news comes after state wildlife officials counting bighorn sheep in Utah spotted a metal monolith standing in a random, remote corner of the desert.

However, the structure had vanished a week later, with nothing except a few jumbled red rocks remaining in its place. Since it appeared, many visitors had rushed to the location to catch a glimpse of the curiosity, which was reportedly removed by environmentally-conscious hikers, who feared the destructive impact of the crowds on the remote location.

In a Reddit forum, one visitor to the site said he knocked on the monolith to see what it sounded like, and noted that it didn’t sound solid or magnetic, more “like a cardboard box.”

We Have Some Questions About The Mysterious Monolith Found In Utah — & Romania

If you played a drinking game in which you had to take a shot every time someone described the year of our lord 2020 as “unparalleled,” you’d be passed out on the floor in no time. Alas, this year really has been one for the history books, in many of the worst possible ways. Be it a global pandemic, the continued rise of white supremacy in the U.S., or goddamn murder hornets, this year has tested our capacity to stomach all things strange, unacceptable, and worrisome. And just when you thought you’d had enough, enter: a mysterious monolith. 

© Provided by Refinery29 Editorial use only. HANDOUT /NO SALES Mandatory Credit: Photo by Utah Department of Public Safety/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (11086017a) (FILE)

 – A handout photo made available by the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) shows a monolith discovered by wildlife officials in southeastern Utah, USA, 18 November 2020 (reissued 29 November 2020). US officials on 29 November 2020 said that the metal monolith, that was first spotted on 18 November, had disapeeared. Metal monolith in Utah disappears days after discovery, USA – 18 Nov 2020

What is it? How did it get here? We attempt to answer those questions (and some more, similarly strange ones) below.

What is a monolith? 

Contrary to what the Democratic party thinks, a monolith is not the Latinx vote. Instead, a monolith is described as a “single block or piece of stone of considerable size, especially when used in architecture or sculpture,” per dictionary.com. The monolith we’re talking about, though, refers to a shiny silver structure that first appeared in Utah earlier this month, then mysteriously went missing, then turned up again, apparently, across the world in northern Romania. As reported by the Daily Mail, the European-version of the now-missing Utah sculpture lies “only a few feet away from where an ancient Dacian fortress once stood.” Because, no, 2020 hasn’t been bone-crushingly creepy enough.

Where did the Utah monolith come from? 

The Utah monolith was first spotted on November 18 by “wildlife biologists performing a helicopter survey of bighorn sheep,” as reported by the Associated Press. (Cheer if you had that Mad Libs-esque sentence on your 2020 bingo card.) To date, no one knows where the Utah monolith came from, though some believe it is reminiscent of and indeed is a John McCracken sculpture, as reported by VICE. McCracken was a minimalist artist who sculpted geometric forms who died in 2011; according to The New York Times, the David Zwirner Gallery, which represents McCracken’s estate, “has asserted that the mystery monolith is a bona fide McCracken.”

And, McCracken’s son told the paper: “He wasn’t your average sort of dad. He believed in advance alien races that were able to visit earth. To his mind, these aliens had been visiting Earth for a very long time and they were not malevolent. They wanted to help humanity to get past this time of our evolution where all we do is fight each other.”

Still, there’s no evidence that the late artist has anything to do with this particular monolith, although we wouldn’t put it past 2020 to find out that hoaxes are now being played from beyond the grave.

Where was the monolith found in Utah?

Initially, the exact location of the Utah monolith was not disclosed to the public for fear it would draw a crowd and, in turn, the need for people who aren’t familiar with the harsh terrain of that part of the Utah landscape to be rescued. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that people don’t really give a you-know-what about the rules and will instead buck any sort of safety measures in the name of “freedom.” As a result, we know that the OG monolith was located “in a red rock slot canyon south of Moab,” per a local ABC cable news station. The coordinates of the monolith also circulated on Reddit.

Of course, it’s not there anymore, as Kimberly Finch, a Bureau of Land Management spokesperson said in a statement: “We received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the ‘monolith’ has been removed from the Bureau of Land Management public lands by an unknown party.”
What’s the monolith made of? 

The Utah monolith was described in the Times as a “slab of metal into the rock floor.” But given that its origins cannot be 100 percent confirmed, it’s impossible to know for sure, for example, what kind of metal the monolith is indeed made out of. If it is a McCracken, then it’s safe to assume the monolith is made out of the same materials the sculptor often used: “glossy, resin-covered planks.”

Did the monolith disappear? 

Yes, the monolith in Utah has, in fact, disappeared. According to a Facebook post from the state’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM): “The monolith was removed by an ‘unknown party’ sometime Friday night. The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property. We do not investigate crimes involving private property which are handled by the local sheriff’s office. The structure has received international and national attention and we received reports that a person or group removed it on the evening of Nov. 27.” 
Is the monolith found in Romania the same as the one in Utah? 

I mean, you be the judge? Romanian officials do not know who is responsible for the erection of the latest monolith, per The Daily Mail, but initial reports conclude that is of the same height, made of similar material, and bears similar carvings as the one in Utah. 
Why are people comparing the monolith to ‘2001: Space Odyssey’? 

In Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, similar monoliths were erected in a deliberate act meant to “trigger huge leaps in human progress,” per The Daily Mail. Also, the space travel depicted in that film can be used to draw a straight line to the existence of aliens, which the U.S. government has basically confirmed exist. All to say, given what the outgoing Trump administration has done to stall and, in many cases, backpedal our collective national and global efforts at progress, we’d say any extraterrestrial efforts to “trigger huge leaps in human progress” seems like a good idea to us. What could possibly go wrong? In 2020, it seems the answer is: everything.

Second monolith appears in Romania after US structure removed

The monolith that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in the Utah desert was removed from its location in the middle of the night over the weekend while a similar structure showed up in Europe, according to officials and witnesses

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© @davidsurber via Reuters A metal monolith is seen in Red Rock Desert, Utah, Nov. 25, 2020.

However, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reassured the public that whoever took the 10- to 12-foot vertical metal object from its desert location was not from out of this world.

The agency said agents discovered Saturday that the structure was gone from its location in the southeastern Utah desert. Desert rocks marked the spot where the silver-colored object once stood.MORE: Mysterious structure disappears from Utah desert

BLM officials said "an unknown party or parties" removed the monolith sometime after Friday evening

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© Kelsea Dockham/AP Rocks mark the location where a metal monolith once stood in the ground in a remote area of red rock in Spanish Valley, Utah, Nov. 28, 2020.

"The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property. We do not investigate crimes involving private property," the agency said in a Facebook post Saturday night.

While the monolith no longer has a footprint in the U.S., a similar structure appeared out of nowhere in Romania over the weekend. Onlookers spotted a similar metal structure in the eastern Romanian city of Piatra Neamț and they shared videos and photos of the structure on social media.

No one has officially claimed responsibility for setting up either of these structures as of Monday evening.

Lt. John Young, the sheriff of San Juan County, Utah, told "Good Morning America" the monolith's appearance and disappearance are difficult to investigate.

"It is a little surprising that it lasted as long as it did. I think it's a little more surprising that it disappeared in the middle of the night," he said.

On Nov. 18, crews from the Utah Department of Public Safety and Division of Wildlife Resources discovered the structure while doing a helicopter survey of sheep in the area. The discovery sparked questions, jokes and speculation about the structure's origins as it evoked sci-fi imagery such as the monolith in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Although officials didn't disclose the exact location of the monolith, interested hikers took to the desert to see the object in person and shared their experiences on social media. David Surber, a hiker, told "Good Morning America" it was remarkable to see the structure in person before it was removed

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© @davidsurber via Reuters A metal monolith is seen in Red Rock Desert, Utah, Nov. 25, 2020.

"It was really nice to have 10 minutes of peace with what I would like to call a landmark at the time," Surber said.

BLM officials, however, warned that the desert is public land and any development on public lands must be approved by the agency. They also reiterated that visiting the site where the monolith stood is prohibited, as there are no restrooms or cellphone service and only high-clearance vehicles are allowed.MORE: Hiker who went missing in mountain in whiteout conditions 'grateful' to doctors who revived him

Some visitors looking to see the monolith parked on vegetation and "left behind human waste as evidence of their visit," according to the BLM.

"Many people have been enjoying the mystery and view it as a welcome distraction from the 2020 news cycle," BLM Monticello Field Manager Amber Denton Johnson said in a statement. "Even so, it was installed without authorization on public lands, and the site is in a remote area without services for the large number of people who now want to see it."

Visitor: Monolith toppled by group who said 'leave no trace'

© Provided by The Canadian Press

SALT LAKE CITY — New clues have surfaced in the disappearance of a gleaming monolith in Utah that seemed to melt away as mysteriously as it appeared in the red-rock desert — though it's no longer the only place where a strange structure has come and gone.

A Colorado photographer told KSTU-TV that he saw four men come to the remote Utah site Friday night and push over the hollow, stainless steel object.

“Right after it had fallen over and made a loud thud, one of them said, ‘This is why you don’t leave trash in the desert,’” Ross Bernards told the Salt Lake City TV station.

The group broke down the structure into pieces, loaded it into a wheelbarrow and left.

“As they were loading it up and walking away, they just said, ‘Leave no trace,’” he said.

The sheriff’s office in San Juan County has said it's not planning an investigation into the disappearance of the monolith, which had been placed without permission on public land. But authorities also said they would accept tips from any of the hundreds of visitors who trekked out to see the otherworldly gleaming object deep in the desert.

The sheriff and the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the land where the object appeared, didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment on whether they are investigating the removal that Bernards' group photographed.

Visitors have left behind a mess of human waste, cars parked on vegetation and other debris, the land agency said. The mysterious structure that evoked the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” generated international attention and drew plenty of speculation about otherworldly origins, though officials said it was an earthly creation of riveted plates of stainless steel.

For Bernards, the visitors' damage to the environment convinced him that the remote area was better off without the structure.

“Leave the art to places where art should be and let Mother Nature have her space for art,” he said.

Utah isn’t the only place a monolith emerged. A similar metal structure was found on a hill in northern Romania, in the city of Piatra Neamt but has since disappeared, according to Robert Iosub, a journalist with the local publication ziarpiatraneamt.ro.

Like the Utah structure, whoever placed the object didn’t follow the proper steps and get a building permit, Mayor Andrei Carabelea said in a Facebook post over the weekend. Still, he took it in stride, joking that some “cheeky and terrible” alien teenagers were likely putting them up around the world.

“I am honoured they chose our city,” he said.

___

Associated Press photographer Vadim Ghirda in Bucharest, Romania contributed to this story.

The Associated Press

Another metal monolith appears in Romania, then vanishes


Either the aliens are stepping up their invasion or someone is looking for attention in Romania, where a monolith similar to the one that vanished in Utah has been spotted.

© Via Ziar Piatra Neamt 

A metal monolith is shown against the sun in Piatra Neamt, Romania, on Nov. 27, 2020.

A new three-sided metal monolith mysteriously appeared on a hill near the community of Piatra Neamt in northeastern Romania last week, according to local media. The object appeared to be about 2.8 metres tall, and was roughly the same shape as the one that captured viral fame in the Utah desert in November.

The new monolith was first spotted on Nov. 26 on Batcas Doamnei Hill near Petrodava, a ruined Dacian fortress on a plateau outside the city, according to the Ziar Piatra Neamt newspaper.

It disappeared on Tuesday.

The object immediately prompted speculation about its potential link to the one in Utah, which vanished late Friday.

However, the objects were not identical, and reports show that the Romanian object was put up before the Utah one was taken down.

Images and video posted by Romanian news outlets show their monolith was covered in squiggles and loops, unlike the unadorned surface of the monolith in Utah. The Romanian monolith also appeared to have been welded together and embedded in the dirt.

The Utah monolith was held together by rivets and embedded in a slot in the stone.

The Utah monolith generated intense speculation about its origins, especially after internet sleuths revealed that it had been standing silently in the desert for years. The mystery only deepened over the weekend after the object was removed by an unknown party.

It's still unclear who built the Utah monolith, although the prevailing theory remains that it was an art project. It's also unclear who might have taken it.

Both objects have been compared to the towering monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which appears in both the Stanley Kubrick film and the book by Arthur C. Clarke.

The fictional monolith was meant to provoke a leap in human science and evolution.

That begs a tongue-in-cheek question: are the aliens trying to give us a hand with the coronavirus vaccine in 2020?

Robert Iosub, a journalist for Ziar Piatra Neamt, says the Romanian monolith appeared to be a shoddy knock-off of the Utah one.

"An unidentified person, apparently a bad local welder, made it," he told Reuters.

Iosub says the Romanian monolith "disappeared overnight as quietly as it was erected last week.

"Now all that remains is just a small hole covered by rocky soil," he said.

Video and photos show the object did have a bubbled crease in the metal.

Local police say they are looking into the structure, which was built illegally and placed on a protected archeological area.

No one has confessed to the copycat monolith (or the bad welding job) as of this writing.

—With files from Reuters

Calgary restaurant worker fired while pregnant wins discrimination complaint
Postmedia News 

A Calgary server who was terminated from her restaurant job two months after telling her boss she was pregnant has been awarded more than $33,000 in an Alberta Human Rights Commission decision.

  

© Provided by Calgary Herald FILE PHOTO: 

The northern regional office of the Alberta human rights commission in Edmonton Wednesday on April 15, 2009.

Sherry McPherson filed a discrimination complaint with the commission, alleging her employer, LDV Pizza Bar, cut her hours and abruptly altered her schedule before she was ultimately dismissed.

McPherson’s complaint stated the changes all occurred soon after she’d announced her pregnancy to her supervisor.

The business denied the alleged discrimination during a tribunal hearing, arguing the decision to dismiss McPherson was based only on her poor performance and attitude.

However, tribunal chair Sharon Lindgren, in a decision posted online last week , said the business offered no evidence or rationale during the hearing to support its position.

Lindgren found the operator discriminated against McPherson on the basis of gender and awarded her $23,000 in general damages and another $10,648 in lost wages and tips, stating the restaurant’s actions had “serious and long lasting” effects.

“But for the discrimination, the complainant would have been free to focus on the excitement and joy often associated with the arrival of a first child. Instead she experienced fear, stress, money worries, depression and anxiety,” Lindgren wrote.

McPherson started as a server at LDV in July 2013 and worked about four evening shifts each week, the tribunal heard.

After telling her supervisor in March 2014 that she was pregnant, her weekly hours were cut from an average of 23 to 15 and she was later moved to the less-lucrative lunch shift. In May, one day after requesting a return to evening shifts until her maternity leave began, she was terminated.

Siblings Rocco Cosentino and Catherine Cosentino managed LDV at the time of McPherson’s dis

She noted the managers never had a formal discussion with McPherson about her performance or had any record of complaints regarding her work.missal.

They testified the complainant was a difficult employee with a poor attitude.

Lindgren disagreed, finding the Cosentinos “dissected the complainant’s work history with a fine tooth comb to come up with anything they could.”

“Much of the evidence advanced by the Cosentinos was inconsistent (including with each other), contradicted by documents (including documents authored by Rocco Cosentino), reluctantly conceded when inconsistencies were put to them, and reflected an inclination to tailor and embellish evidence in a self-serving fashion,” she wrote.

Covid crisis pushes jobless into survival mode

AFP has spoken to workers around the world who suddenly lost their jobs in sectors hit hard by the pandemic such as air travel, hospitality and tourism, to find out how they have coped during the second coronavirus wave

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© JAVIER SORIANO Honduran domestic worker Sonia Herrera is now managing to avoid the food banks in Madrid which made her feel 'a bit ashamed

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© CLAUDIO CRUZ Jesus Yepez: 'The only way out is for someone or some institution to help me'

Forced to skip meals, weighed down by debt or having to move back in with parents, most of them described being in survival mode, worse off than when AFP journalists first interviewed them five months ago when they suddenly lost their jobs.

© GENYA SAVILOV Natalia Murashko:

 'It has turned out that Covid has made everything change for the better'

Several have avoided the worst, but none has escaped feelings of deep anguish.

Due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank estimates that by 2021, 150 million people could fall into extreme poverty, with a rising share of them in urban areas.

Eight out of 10 of the ‘new poor’ will be in middle-income countries.

Here are six workers' stories:

- Debts and 'survival mode' -

"I'm in survival mode, one meal a day for the family and that's it," said Frenchman Xavier Chergui, 44, who used to be able to earn up to 4,000 euros ($4,800) in a really good month as a temp maitre d', filling in at Paris restaurants when they were short-staffed.

His situation was already precarious after France's first lockdown but the married, father of two banked on things picking up again from September.

Apart from "a few days" of work that has not happened, due to November's partial lockdown.

"I'm behind on the rent, the electricity bill... I also have the car loan to pay," he said.

His family survives on state aid and benefits which come to 1,400 euros.

The rent is 1,000 euros but most of the money goes towards "filling the fridge", said Chergui, whose son had wanted to study graphics at university but has changed to history as it's less expensive.

- Scrimping and saving -

Domestic worker Sonia Herrera is getting by without resorting to the food bank again, an experience that made her feel "a bit ashamed" she told AFP earlier this year.

The 52-year-old Honduran, whose employers in central Madrid let her go the day after Spain's lockdown began, has since managed to pick up a few hours of cleaning.

Her daughter Alejandra, 33, who lost her job as a cook, does the same -- their household of four lives on a little over 1,000 euros a month.

But they scrimp and save, hanging around town at lunchtime to avoid paying the three-euro bus fare to come home to eat.

With schools having reopened, Herrera's grandson Izan can have lunch in the school canteen which helps.

The few savings that helped Herrera, a single mother, scrape by earlier are now gone and she says the idea of another lockdown is "terrifying".

As an undocumented migrant, she doesn't qualify for a new minimum wage scheme introduced in May.

- Moving back home -

Colombian Roger Ordonez, 26, said he had no choice but to move back in with his parents in the northeastern city of Bucaramanga after losing his job as a flight attendant for Avianca.

He was open to relocating or retraining but couldn't find another job in the airline industry and can't pay rent.

Applications to Bogota call centres were just as futile.

He worries that his previous career may put prospective bosses off.

"From the salary that I used to have, people think that I'm going to leave as soon as I get another job," he said.

From having earned a monthly salary of 1,000 euros at Avianca, Ordonez said he'd now be happy with minimum wage, which is about 210 euros.

"But there's nothing," he said.

He used to enjoy travelling and was studying to become a pilot.

"You get used to living alone, being independent, buying yourself things... Now, I have to live with my family in their space... it's cramped," he said.

- 'Better than nothing' -

Marie Cedile was relieved to learn the shop where she works was among those being taken over, after French shoe company Andre went into receivership earlier in the year.

Half the staff lost their jobs.

"Everything is OK for me, for now," said Cedile, 54, who has worked for Andre for 30 years and had told AFP previously that, if necessary, she would clean houses if laid off.

Her husband, who was unemployed in the spring, has found a job in car rentals.

"Let's hope it's all going in the right direction. We are scared nevertheless," she admitted.

Andre shops were closed under the recent partial lockdown -- they reopened at the weekend -- and Cedile was on partial unemployment, meaning she got about 1,000 euros a month.

"But it's still better than nothing, there are countries like Portugal, where they don't get anything," Cedile, who is of Portuguese origin, said.

- 'Hell of misery' -

Jesus Yepez, 60, has lost everything -- the tourists he used to take around the famed Templo Mayor Aztec pyramid in the heart of Mexico City, his home, health and hope.

Months after the tour guide entered a homeless shelter in the capital as work dried up due to the pandemic, the once-rotund Mexican is a shadow of his former self.

Yepez's cheekbones protrude from his sunken face and he has dark circles under his eyes from insomnia.

Every night, instead of falling into a restful sleep, he prays that he will die soon.

"My God, come and get me. I can't stand this anymore," he said in a broken voice.

Doctors at the shelter diagnosed depression and neuropathy and put him on medication.

He tried to go back to work after some Mexican museums and archaeological sites reopened.

But when tourists see his dirty feet, worn plastic sandals and tattered old clothes, they soon lose interest in his services.

"I'm trapped in this hell of misery," Yepez said.

"The only way out is for someone or some institution to help me systematically because the government only gave me 3,000 pesos (less than $150) over the past 100 days which is not enough."

- Happy turnaround -

Ukrainian IT specialist Natalia Murashko, 40, is earning more now than in her previous job.

"My work day is shorter and I can work from anywhere," she said.

In April, she was suddenly laid off by the American travel company where she'd worked for four years.

It came as "a total shock" she told AFP shortly afterwards, especially since her computer skills placed her in a rarefied and high earning group in Ukraine.

Her lifestyle changed overnight and the mum of two teens, who also looks after her 73-year-old mother, began job hunting.

Part-time work for an American mobile app development site saw her through the first months of unemployment and has now turned into her main job.

After negotiating a better rate, she takes home 10 percent more than in her previous employment.

She was able to take a holiday in Bulgaria this year and is saving to build up a better safety net.

The stress from months of being unemployed however exacerbated her sleeping problems and re-triggered back pain.

But, she thinks that "generally, it has turned out that Covid has made everything change for the better."

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