Laurie Anderson ends German professorship after criticism of Palestine support

Ashifa Kassam
Thu, February 1, 2024 

Laurie Anderson performs at the Royal Festival Hall on 18 May 2017 in London, England.Photograph: Imelda Michalczyk/Redferns

The artist, musician and film director Laurie Anderson has withdrawn from a guest professorship at a university in Germany after officials took issue with her support for a 2021 statement by Palestinian artists titled Letter Against Apartheid.

Related: Award ceremony suspended after writer compares Gaza to Nazi-era Jewish ghettos

The decision, announced days before Anderson is due to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Grammys, adds to the wave of cultural events that have been scrapped in Germany after artists expressed views deemed by officials to be anti-Israel.

Late last week the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen said it had “engaged in talks” with Anderson – whose works include the 1981 single O Superman and the 2015 film Heart of a Dog, dedicated to her late husband, Lou Reed – after her name surfaced among the thousands of artists who had backed the open letter, which called for “an immediate and unconditional cessation of Israeli violence against Palestinians”.

The university said it believed that art, culture and science are places “where contentious issues are kept in check”.

Its statement continued: “It has now become apparent that, in 2021, Laurie Anderson publicly supported the Palestinian artists’ ‘Letter Against Apartheid’ appeal, which, among other things, takes up calls for boycotts by the anti-Israel BDS movement,” it said. “In light of the now public question regarding her political stance, Laurie Anderson has decided to withdraw from the professorship.”

While the open letter in question does not directly make reference to the boycott, divest and sanctions movement, which was labelled by the German parliament as antisemitic in 2019, it calls on governments to apply sanctions and to “cut trade, economic and cultural relations”.

The statement also included remarks from Anderson. “For me the question isn’t whether my political opinions have shifted. The real question is this: Why is this question being asked in the first place?” she said. “Based on this situation I withdraw from the project.”

The decision came weeks after it was announced that Anderson would follow in Marina Abramović’s footsteps as the second artist to take up the university’s Pina Bausch guest professorship. “Throughout her eventful artistic career, Laurie Anderson has created groundbreaking works – in visual arts, theatre, experimental music and technology alike,” the university said in a statement at the time. “Laurie Anderson is celebrated for her innovative work, fusing music, performance art, and technology that push the boundaries of artistic expression.”

The crisis in the Middle East has plunged Germany into a far-reaching debate over the limits of freedom of expression when it comes to art and the personal views of artists, prompting a divisive call for an all-out boycott of German cultural institutions over the government’s pro-Israel stance.

Several high-profile artists and intellectuals have been affected: in December, a German foundation said it would no longer be awarding a prize for political thinking to the US-Russian journalist Masha Gessen after the writer drew parallels between Gaza and a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, while in mid-October the Frankfurt book fair called off an awards ceremony due to honour a novel by the Palestinian author Adania Shibli.

German officials have defended their stance, which comes amid a spike in antisemitism in the country. In a statement sent to AFP in December, the country’s culture minister, Claudia Roth, said that “Israel’s security is a fundamental principle” for Germany, but stressed it was important to try to keep cultural spaces “open and safe for everybody”.

She noted that the cancellation of events and prize ceremonies should be “the last step”, adding: “I would hope that we can move away from fear and move towards dialogue and discourse.”

‘We are dying slowly:’ Palestinians are eating grass and drinking polluted water as famine looms across Gaza

LIKE UKRAINE'S HOLODOMOR

Sana Noor Haq and Rosa Rahimi, CNN
Thu, February 1, 2024 

Hanadi Gamal Saed El Jamara, 38, says sleep is all that can distract her children from the aching hunger gnawing at their bellies.

These days, the mother-of-seven finds herself begging for food on the mud-caked streets of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

She tries to feed her kids at least once a day, she says, while tending to her husband, a cancer and diabetes patient.

“They are weak now, they always have diarrhea, their faces are yellow,” El Jamara, whose family was displaced from northern Gaza, told CNN on January 9. “My 17-year-old daughter tells me she feels dizziness, my husband is not eating.”

As Gaza spirals toward full-scale famine, displaced civilians and health workers told CNN they go hungry so their children can eat what little is available. If Palestinians find water, it is likely undrinkable. When relief trucks trickle into the strip, people clamber over each other to grab aid. Children living on the streets, after being forced from their homes by Israel’s bombardment, cry and fight over stale bread. Others reportedly walk for hours in the cold searching for food, risking exposure to Israeli strikes.

Even before the war, two out of three people in Gaza relied on food support, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme (WFP), told CNN. Palestinians have lived through 17 years of partial blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

Israel’s bombardment and siege since October 7 has drastically diminished vital supplies in Gaza, leaving the entire population of some 2.2 million exposed to high levels of acute food insecurity or worse, according to the Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification (IPC), which assesses global food insecurity and malnutrition. Martin Griffiths, the UN’s emergency relief chief, told CNN the “great majority” of 400,000 Gazans characterized by UN agencies as at risk of starving “are actually in famine.” UN human rights experts have warned “Israel is destroying Gaza’s food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people.”

Over more than 100 days, Palestinians in Gaza have seen mass displacement, neighborhoods turned to ash and rubble, entire families erased by war, a surge in deadly disease and the medical system wrecked by bombardment. Now starvation and dehydration are major threats to their survival.

“We are dying slowly,” reflected El Jamara, the mother in Rafah. “I think it’s even better to die from the bombs, at least we will be martyrs. But now we are dying out of hunger and thirst.”

Israel’s strikes on Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks have killed at least 26,637 people and injured 65,387 others, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The Israeli military launched its campaign after the militant group killed more than 1,200 people in unprecedented attacks on Israel and says it is targeting Hamas.
People in northern Gaza ‘eat grass’ to survive

Mohammed Hamouda, a physical therapist displaced to Rafah, remembers the day his colleague, Odeh Al-Haw, was killed trying to get water for his family.

Al-Haw was queueing at a water station in Jabalya refugee camp, in northern Gaza, when he and dozens of others were struck by Israeli bombardment, Hamouda said.

“Unfortunately, many relatives and friends are still in the northern Gaza Strip, suffering a lot,” Hamouda, a father-of-three, told CNN. “They eat grass and drink polluted water.”

Israeli air strikes on Gaza have decimated swathes of Palestinian territory, including the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City, pictured on October 11. A displaced health worker told CNN his colleague was killed by Israeli bombardment in the region, while trying to get water for his family. - Yahya Hassouna/AFP/Getty Images

Israel’s blockade and restrictions on aid deliveries mean stocks are desperately low, driving up prices and making food inaccessible to people across Gaza. Shortages are even worse in the northern parts of the strip, according to the UN, where Israel concentrated its military offensive in the early days of the war. Communication blackouts stifle efforts to report on starvation and dehydration in the region.

“People butchered a donkey to eat its meat,” Hamouda says friends in Jabalya told him earlier this month as shortages worsened.

In what could be a serious blow to humanitarian efforts, several Western countries have suspended funding to the main UN agency in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in recent days over explosive allegations by Israel that several of its staffers participated in the October 7 attacks. The UN fired several employees in the wake of the allegations.

Jordan’s foreign minister urged those countries suspending funding to reconsider, saying UNRWA was a “lifeline” for more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza and that the agency shouldn’t be “collectively punished” over allegations against a dozen of its 13,000 staff.
‘No clean water’

Gihan El Baz cradles a toddler on her knee while comforting her children and grandchildren, who she says wake each day “screaming” for food.

“In the shelters, there is not enough food, the sun sets on us, and we haven’t even had any lunch,” El Baz, who lives with 10 relatives inside a weather-worn tent in Rafah, told CNN. She nurses her husband, who she says fell and broke his arm while dizzy from exhaustion.

“There are no drinks, no clean water, no clean bathrooms, the kid cries for a biscuit and we can’t even find any to give her.”

Infant orphans Hoor (left) and Kanan (right) shelter inside a tent in a displacement camp in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on January 25. Palestinian caregivers say the stress of being unable to protect children from strikes is exacerbated by their inability to provide enough food. - Courtesy Hazem Saeed Al-Naizi

Displaced parents in Rafah, where OCHA reported more than 1.3 million residents of Gaza have been forced to flee, say the stress of being unable to protect their children from bombardment is compounded by their inability to provide enough food. Limited access to electricity makes perishable goods impossible to refrigerate. Living conditions are overcrowded and unsanitary.

“People are forced to cut down trees to get firewood for heating and preparing food. Smoke is everywhere and flies spread widely and transmit diseases,” said Hazem Saeed Al-Naizi, the director of an orphanage in Gaza City who fled south with the 40 people under his care – most of whom are children and infants living with disabilities.

A displaced man makes bread next to a tent he set up on a sidewalk in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on January 22. - Courtesy Mohammed Hamouda

Hamouda, the displaced health worker, used to feed his children – aged six, four and two – a mixture of fruits and vegetables, biscuits, fresh juices, meat and seafood. This year, he said, the family has barely eaten one meal a day, living on dried bread and canned meat or legumes.

“Children are being violent towards each other to get food and water,” said Hamouda, who works at Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital and volunteers at a nearby shelter. “I can’t stop my tears from falling when I talk about these things, because it’s very hurtful seeing your kids and other kids hungry.”

All 350,000 children under the age of five in Gaza are especially vulnerable to severe malnutrition, UNICEF reported last month.
Increased risk of dying

The “scale and speed” of potential famine in Gaza will consign child survivors to a lifetime of health risks, said Rebecca Inglis, an intensive care doctor in Britain who regularly visits Gaza to teach medical students.

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are “absolutely critical” for physical growth and cognitive development, Inglis told CNN. Malnourished children have an 11-fold increased risk of dying compared to well-nourished children, she said. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies force the body into an “emergency shut-down state” where it loses the ability to make energy, put on weight, or maintain kidney and liver functions, she added.

Malnourished children, especially those with severe acute malnutrition, are at greater risk of dying from illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization. Cases of diarrhea in children under age five have increased about 2,000% since October 7, UNICEF said.

Hamouda said his own children have diarrhea, cold and flu symptoms. “The children’s bodies are dehydrated … their skin is dehydrated.”

In times of severe stress, pregnant women are more likely to miscarry or give birth prematurely, health workers previously told CNN. Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Babies who do survive in utero are more likely to be born underweight and are therefore at higher risk of dying, Inglis said. Starving and dehydrated mothers cannot provide enough breast milk for their babies.
Challenges to food distribution, blocked aid

Shadi Bleha, 20, is trying to feed a family of six. Twice a week, they receive two water bottles, three biscuits and “sometimes” two cans of food from UNRWA, he said.

“It is not enough to meet my family’s needs at all,” the student, who is sheltering in a tent in Rafah, told CNN.

Palestinians in southern Gaza also told CNN that poorly regulated humanitarian distribution means some civilians get no aid at all, while those who do may sell for profit.

In other cases, vendors purchase aid from merchants and trade at markets for inflated costs. Some people with cars travel further afield to get water, returning to displacement camps to resell water for hiked prices. Intensified strikes also raise prices. Three weeks ago, a 25-kilogram bag of flour cost $20 in Khan Younis, according to Al-Naizi, but after the IDF intensified attacks on the southern city, it became $34.

Others say they receive humanitarian parcels that have been opened, with items missing. Dates, olive oil and cooking oil found in aid packages are reportedly sold on the black market for more than double their value.

On January 21, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said 260 humanitarian trucks were “inspected and transferred to Gaza,” marking the highest number since the start of the war.

But aid agencies say it is not enough. The Israeli military in January only granted access to a quarter of aid missions planned by humanitarian agencies to Gaza, OCHA said on January 21. CNN reached out to COGAT for comment on OCHA’s statistics and did not get a reply.

The WFP has called for new aid entry routes, more trucks to pass through daily border checks, fewer impediments to the movement of humanitarian workers, and guarantees for their safety. On January 5, the agency reported six bakeries in Deir al-Balah and Rafah had restarted operations, but three remained out of use. “Bread is the most requested food item, particularly as many families lack the basic means for cooking,” it said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military offensive has razed at least 22% of Gaza’s agricultural land, according to OCHA. Livestock are starving and fresh produce is hard to come by.

Displaced civilians queue for aid distributed by the World Food Programme in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on January 21, 2024. - Courtesy Mohammed Hamouda

Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA, said the needs of displaced civilians in Gaza outweigh the amount of aid allowed into the strip by authorities. “We simply don’t have enough, and we cannot keep up with the overwhelming needs of people on the ground,” she told CNN. “That makes the delivery of humanitarian assistance extremely challenging.”

Both UNRWA and WFP told CNN while they could not verify reports of individuals reselling aid for higher prices, it is entirely possible given the scale of desperation and hunger in Gaza.

“It’s absolute chaos and people are absolutely desperate, people are absolutely hungry,” added Touma. “The clock is indeed ticking for famine.”

WFP told CNN that aid distributions are based on verified beneficiary lists and observed by food monitors, who “report back that the food is delivered to its intended recipients.”

“Sometimes families make a personal decision to sell WFP food in exchange for other household items that they might need. To be clear, any food distributed by the WFP is not for sale,” the agency said in a statement.

The war has also caused widescale loss of employment in Gaza, further draining residents’ purchasing power as prices rocket.

Hamouda now spends $250 per week to buy food and supplies for his family – compared with $50 to $70 before the war. In an invoice seen by CNN, monthly supplies for orphans under Al-Naizi’s care were purchased from a procurement company for $6,814 – including $2,160 for infant formula alone. Before the war, the same quantity of formula would have cost $1,680.

“We live almost in a jungle where war, murder, the greed of merchants, the injustice of institutions in distributing aid, and the absence of government lead to this deadly chaos,” al-Naizi said.

Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect that CNN reached out to COGAT about OCHA’s figures on aid missions, not the IDF.

CNN’s Nourhan Mohamed, Christiane Amanpour, Eyad Kourdi, Celine Alkhaldi and Hira Humayun contributed reporting.

World's 1st fault-tolerant quantum computer launching this year ahead of a 10,000-qubit machine in 2026

Keumars Afifi-Sabet
Thu, February 1, 2024 

A futuristic glowing quantum computer unit, 3d render.

The world's first commercial fault-tolerant quantum computer with "logical qubits" may be running before the year's end.

Logical qubits — physical quantum bits, or qubits, connected through quantum entanglement — reduce errors in quantum computers by storing the same data in different places. This diversifies the points of failure when running calculations.

The new machine, which has 256 physical and 10 logical qubits, will launch in late 2024, representatives from QuEra, the startup that is building it, said in a statement.

The announcement follows a new study, published Dec. 6, 2023 in the journal Nature, in which researchers from Harvard, QuEra and several other institutions demonstrated a functioning quantum computer that contained 48 logical qubits — the largest number of logical qubits tested to date.

Related: Scientists just built a massive 1,000-qubit quantum chip, but why are they more excited about one 10 times smaller?

"It is the first machine with quantum error correction," study co-author Harry Zhou, a physicist at QuEra and Harvard University, told Live Science in an email.

While this computer doesn't have enough power to be useful on its own, it provides a platform on which software programmers can start testing code for future quantum computers, Zhou said.


Inside components of the computer.

Why quantum computing needs error-correction

While conventional computers store information in bits with a value of either 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits — which are a superposition between 0 and 1, thanks to the laws of quantum mechanics.

Qubits can also be stitched together using quantum entanglement to exist in multiple states simultaneously. This enables them to perform many calculations much faster than classical computers — assuming you can build a quantum computer with enough of them. But qubits can easily be disturbed, making them notoriously error-prone. Roughly 1 in 1,000 fail, versus 1 in 1 billion billion bits in conventional computers.

Quantum computers could outpace the best supercomputers if they incorporate millions of qubits, but the largest quantum computer built so far only has around 1,000 qubits, and qubits' high failure rate limits potential scale-up. Error correction could counteract qubits' tendency to fail, and building logical qubits is one way of doing it.
Logical qubits: turning down the quantum noise

The new error-correction system relies on data redundancy, where the same piece of data is stored in multiple places, Zhou said. Logical qubits perform the same calculations across several physical qubits — vastly reducing error rates if one or more physical qubits fail, because the data is available elsewhere so calculations can continue.

To make the logical qubit, researchers applied error-correcting computer code to regular qubits. They then set up logical gates, or circuits, between the qubits to entangle them. The quantum computer then calculates the 'syndrome' — a measure of whether it's likely an error has occurred or not. Using this information, the quantum computer corrects the errors and proceeds to the next step.

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The new qubits represent a significant advance over past efforts. In 2023, the Google Quantum AI Lab demonstrated a 2.9% error rate using three logical qubits; Quera's error rate is 0.5% with 48 logical qubits. The world leader is the University of Oxford, which has achieved error rates of less than 0.01% — but only between two-qubit gates.

Last year, IBM also demonstrated error-correction technology in its 127-qubit Heron chip which reduced error rates fivefold compared with its other chips. But its first commercial fault-tolerant machine isn't expected until 2029.

QuEra plans to launch several quantum computers in the coming years, starting with a 30-logical-qubit, 3,000 physical qubit machine coming out in 2025. Its monster, a machine with more than 10,000 physical qubits and 100 logical qubits, is scheduled for 2026. "At 100 logical qubits, the [2026] machine can perform correct calculations that exceed the capability of today’s supercomputers," Zhou said.

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2.7 million student-loan borrowers' accounts will be switched to a company that the Education Department previously punished for poor customer service

Ayelet Sheffey
Updated Thu, February 1, 2024 

A college graduation.Rattanakun Thonbun/EyeEm

• Navient announced plans to outsource servicing of its private and FFEL student loans to MOHELA.

• Navient will still hold ownership over the loans, and the change affects 2.7 million borrowers.

• The Education Department punished MOHELA for failing to send timely billing statements.

A major servicer of private student loans announced plans to leave the servicing industry — and outsource the job to a controversial company that works with the government.

On Tuesday, Navient said it would outsource servicing of its private-student-loan portfolio and commercially held loans in the Federal Family Education Loan program to MOHELA, one of the largest servicers of federal student loans.

According to the press release, the outsourcing process will begin this year and take 18 to 24 months. Navient is set to retain ownership over the loans.

"After a thorough review, we are announcing targeted actions intended to simplify our business, reduce our expense base, and increase our financial and operating flexibility," David Yowan, the president and CEO of Navient, said in a statement. "Over the longer-term, we believe these actions will increase the value shareholders derive from our loan portfolios and the returns we can achieve on business-building investments."

A Navient spokesperson told Business Insider this change would affect 2.7 million student-loan borrowers with loans owned and serviced by Navient. The company added in its announcement that the two companies would "work toward ensuring a seamless transition in the coming months and providing customers with uninterrupted servicing of their loans."

Outsourcing servicing responsibility to MOHELA could spark concern for some borrowers, given how the company has fared since federal student-loan payments resumed in the fall. While borrowers encountered challenges across all federal servicers when it came to long hold times with customer service and confusing billing statements, MOHELA in October was the first company to be punished by the Education Department for falling short of its contractual obligations.

Specifically, the department found that MOHELA failed to send on-time billing statements to 2.5 million borrowers. As a result, it withheld over $7 million in October pay from the company. In January, the department withheld varying amounts of pay from the remaining federal servicers for the same reason.

Navient hasn't escaped scrutiny in the past years. Before it ended its contract to service federal student loans in 2021, Democratic lawmakers, particularly Sen. Elizabeth Warren, accused the company of predatory behavior with its borrowers, including improper marketing of the loans that steered borrowers toward unaffordable products.

"These allegations are not true," then-Navient CEO John Remondi told Warren during a 2021 hearing. "They're accusations and not necessarily based on facts."

It's unclear how soon Navient borrowers will begin communications with MOHELA. In the meantime, though, the Education Department has vowed to bolster oversight of federal servicers through an accountability framework that includes withholding pay from servicers, transferring borrowers to higher-performing servicers, and requiring servicers to fix any errors they make if they don't meet their obligations.

‘Make money by denying care’: new US rules aim to curb use of approval by private health insurances

Jessica Glenza
Fri, February 2, 2024 

A pharmacy technician reaches for a bottle of medication in Miami, Florida, in 2020.Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A new set of rules from the Biden administration seeks to rein in private health insurance companies’ use of prior authorization – a byzantine practice that requires people to seek insurance company permission before obtaining medication or having a procedure.

The cost-containment strategy often delays care and forces patients, or their doctors, to navigate opaque and labyrinthine appeals.

The administration’s newly finalized rules will require insurance companies who work in federal programs to speed up the approval process and make decisions within 72 hours for urgent requests. The regulations will also require companies to give a specific reason as to why a request was denied and publicly report denial metrics. The regulations will primarily go into effect in 2026.

Related: US surgeon general Vivek Murthy: ‘Loneliness is like hunger, a signal we’re lacking something for survival’

Patients, advocates and researchers welcomed the new regulations but also noted their limitations and argued the rules do not go nearly far enough to tackle the scale of the problem.

“First of all, we’re glad the Biden administration is doing something about this issue,” said Aija Nemer-Aanerud, a healthcare campaign director for People’s Action Institute, a grassroots organization that advocates for people who have been denied care by insurance companies.

“The private insurance industry has figured out a lot of ways to set up the processes – regarding prior authorizations and claim denials – in such a way that they can make a profit,” said Nemer-Aanerud. But without going further, the rules will still allow insurance companies to, in Nemer-Aanerud’s words, “make money through denying people care”.

The Biden administration’s new rules will cover companies who work with Medicare, Medicaid and individual insurance exchanges – that means the rules will impact about 105 million people. That still leaves out the largest pool of privately insured Americans – the 158 million who rely on insurance from their employer.

The new rules also exclude prior authorizations for medications, though the federal government has said it intends to work on a rule for medications in the future.

In a statement, America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade organization, said that it supports the new rule: “It’s crucial that we all work towards ensuring patients have access to the information they need to make informed healthcare decisions. CMS took a step in the right direction by finalizing the Interoperability and Prior Authorization rule.”

Often, insurance companies argue prior authorization saves patients’ money by reducing unnecessary care. Notably, Americans see doctors less often than counterparts in other developed democracies (though Americans still spend more per person). And patients, providers and advocates argue insurance companies often use the process to delay and discourage patients from getting care, even when it’s needed.

“Do I think that that’s enough? No,” said Carly Morton, 30, of Beaver, Pennsylvania. “I think that’s a great step in the right direction because, yes, we need answers. Our medical issues are serious and seriously painful.”

Morton has a Medicare Advantage plan through United Healthcare. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found private companies who work with Medicare, in plans like Morton’s, denied 2m requests for prior authorization in 2021 or 6% of all claims. Only 11% were appealed.

Those that were appealed overwhelmingly succeeded (82%), leading researchers to question, “whether a larger share of the initial prior authorization requests should have been approved”, and pointing out that care was delayed by the requirement either way.

Morton was forced to mount a full blown public pressure campaign with People’s Action Institute to get her insurance to cover surgery for a rare vascular condition, called neurogenic median arcuate ligament syndrome. Her condition caused her near constant vomiting and “excruciating” pain that she likened to end-stage cancer. She felt stuck after she attempted to navigate appeals on her own – she estimates that she called her insurance company 50 times – before she went public with her story.

“It was very overwhelming,” said Morton, whose surgery was eventually approved, though only after multiple press releases, videos and even coaching by a health insurance attorney.

United Healthcare did not provide a comment on prior authorization and said it could not legally comment on Morton’s case.

Plans like Morton’s will be covered. But people like 34-year-old Megan Shirk of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will not. Shirk relies on private insurance connected to an employer, in this case Blue Cross Blue Shield. She suffers from complex regional pain syndrome, an excruciating condition sometimes called the “suicide disease”, because of the high rate of sufferers who end their lives.

“I feel like someone is kicking me while setting me on fire at the same time,” Shirk said, describing her symptoms.

Shirk and her doctors are seeking to treat her condition with ketamine infusions, but to date have had prior authorization requests denied. On two occasions, the denial came the day before she was scheduled to travel 200 miles to Pittsburgh for treatment.

“We had the appointment scheduled and ready to go,” said Shirk. “I was excited to start this new life where I wasn’t necessarily not in pain, but in manageable pain.” Shirk has been navigating the appeals process since October 2023.

Morton, reflecting on the lengths she went to to get a procedure covered, called the process, “taxing in a way that I could never put into words”. She added: “Someone who is sick like that should never, ever, ever have to be going through that, ever.”

• In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

HALT LIVE CARGO EXPORT

Thousands of sheep and cattle stranded at sea after Red Sea crisis turn back

Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Fri, February 2, 2024 

Concern is mounting for thousands of sheep and cattle stranded off the coast of Australia after authorities ordered the Israeli-owned ship transporting the live cargo to turn around over fears it could be targeted by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

More than 16,000 animals are aboard the MV Bahijah anchored off Western Australia, where sweltering heat is adding to pressure on the Australian government to decide whether to allow the ship to leave or offload the livestock following more than three weeks at sea.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said on Friday it was still considering an application from the exporter to re-export the animals. In the last two days, the ship has been cleaned and resupplied with fuel and fodder during temporary stays at Fremantle Port, near Perth, the government said.


No livestock have been offloaded, despite calls from animal welfare advocates to allow them off the ship as soon as possible.

Two independent veterinarians, engaged by the government, inspected the live cargo on Wednesday and found “no significant animal health or welfare issues,” the government said.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia (RSPCA) says a thorough examination of all the animals is impossible while they’re still on the ship.

Australia’s live export trade has long been a point of friction between the industry and those who say it prioritizes revenue over animal welfare.

The Australian government has pledged to end the live export of sheep but has yet to give a timetable about when that will happen.

More than 16,000 animals are on board the vessel. - Nine Network Australia

A long journey

The MV Bahijah left Fremantle on January 5 for the Middle East, according to a statement from the Australian government.

A crisis has enveloped the region’s vital Red Sea shipping lane in recent weeks, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attack commercial vessels in what they say is retaliation against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

Fifteen days into the ship’s voyage, a request to divert the vessel around Africa, as other ships have done to evade Houthi missiles and drones, was rejected.

“To ensure the health and welfare of the livestock on the MV Bahijah, the department directed the exporter that the consignment be immediately returned to Australia,” said a government statement on January 20.

Earlier this week, the government said it was working with the exporter on a plan, but by Thursday, as summer temperatures rose, no decision had been made.

John Hassell, president of the Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFarmers), which represents the state’s agricultural industry, said a decision should have been made days ago.

“I would have thought the department should have had its stuff sorted out well before it got here,” he said. “If the animals are in good nick, if there’s no disease if there’s plenty of space, we’ll (resupply the ship) and turn it away,” he said. “It should have been gone by now.”

Hassell said he’d been sent photos from the ship that show the animals in good condition, contrary to claims that conditions are deteriorating. The photos, shared with CNN, show cattle with tags on their ears, sitting and standing and sheep standing in a ventilated area.

“I’m comfortable that the sheep are in the shade sitting down, chewing their cud in the warm parts of the day and eating when it’s cooler, like they do on the farm,” Hassell said.

The MV Bahijah left Australia on January 5 with around 16,000 cattle and sheep on board. - WAFarmers

‘Grave’ concerns

However, Suzanne Fowler, Chief Science Officer with RSPCA Australia, said it’s a matter of urgency that all the animals are offloaded.

“These animals have now been on board the ship for a minimum of 26 days. The temperature in Perth is starting to touch 40 degrees (102 Fahrenheit),” she told CNN on Wednesday.

Temperatures in Perth hit a high of 41 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) on Thursday and it was almost as hot on Friday, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

“The evidence tells us that the welfare of the animals is only going to get worse and worse over the coming days due to the amount of time they’ve spent on the ship. So, it’s very urgent and we couldn’t be more gravely concerned,” Fowler said.

Hassell, from WAFarmers, said offloading the animals would only cause them more stress.

If allowed to disembark, the animals would be governed by Australia’s strict biosecurity system, which is designed to assure importing countries that the country’s livestock is disease-free.

Mark Harvey-Sutton, CEO of the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council, said any animals taken off the boat would be placed into quarantine before being re-exported or killed in an Australian abattoir.

“They would essentially be in quarantine indefinitely until a market was found for them. There’s no two weeks quarantine and you’re out sort of thing.”

Hassell said the only reason some animals would be offloaded would be to create space for the return journey.

“If the animals have gotten bigger and fatter on the trip over and require more space, then that’s why they’ll be offloaded,” he said.

The RSPCA had requested permission for an independent veterinarian to board the ship to assess the animals.

Fowler said while the livestock may not be showing signs of illness now, it’s only a matter of time.

“The stress of the animals is only going to yield in the coming days and that sense of fatigue where they can’t cope anymore, will only worsen,” she said. “A lot of these diseases you won’t see until it’s too late.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Alex Stambaugh, Akanksha Sharma and Robert Shackelford contributed reporting.


16,000 livestock in month's limbo on Israel-bound ship

Reuters Videos
Updated Fri, February 2, 2024


STORY: It has been four weeks since this export ship set sail for Israel.

Yet the 16,000 livestock aboard remained in limbo at an Australian port on Friday (February 2).

It began its journey a month ago - only to abandon a passage through the Red Sea and be ordered home by the Australian government.

Biosecurity rules mean the animals, around 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle, can’t disembark without being quarantined.

Officials are yet to decide if they should be let off or sent back to sea…

On a 33-day voyage to reach Israel by going around Africa instead.

Australia’s agricultural secretary, Adam Fennessy.

“There should be no doubt that Australia’s biosecurity and the health and welfare of the livestock on board are our highest priorities. After standing offshore yesterday and yesterday evening and replacing the animal’s bedding, the vessel has returned to port and is birthed in Fremantle.“

Despite these assurances, some politicians and animal rights activists have branded these circumstances as cruel mistreatment -

Prompting calls for Canberra to bring forward a planned ban on live sheep exports.

The situation is a consequence of strikes by Yemen's Houthi militia on shipping in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade.

The ship, MV Bahijah, abandoned its Red Sea route due to the threat of attack. It arrived on Monday (January 29) in Perth where there is currently a heatwave.

Australia's agriculture ministry said it’s still considering a request from the exporter, Israeli firm Bassem Dabbah, to unload some animals and re-export the rest.

Industry figures, dismissing claims the animals are suffering, asked why the government has taken so long to decide the ship's fate.

Reuters was unable to contact Bassem Dabbah - and the ship's manager did not respond to requests for comment.


A ship carrying thousands of livestock returns to Australia after month-long ordeal

Associated Press
Updated Fri, February 2, 2024



Australia Stranded Livestock
This image made from video shows MV Bahijah ship, with sheep and cattle on board, at a port in Fremantle, Australia, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The ship carrying thousands of livestock that has been stranded at sea for almost a month has finally docked in Australia, where welfare concerns mean some of the animals are expected to be offloaded.

 (Channel 10 via AP)


PERTH, Australia (AP) — A ship carrying thousands of livestock that has been stranded at sea for almost a month has finally docked in Australia, where welfare concerns mean some of the animals are expected to be offloaded.

About 16,500 sheep and cattle have been stowed on the MV Bahijah since Jan. 5, when it sailed for the Middle East from the western Australian port of Fremantle before it was ordered by the government, two weeks into its journey, to turnaround due to the ongoing Yemen Houthi rebels attacks in the Red Sea.

Since Monday the vessel had been sitting off the west Australian coast as concerns grew for the welfare of the animals on board. It finally docked at Fremantle on Thursday, 25 days after it had set off from the same port.

Authorities are now rushing to form contingency plans for how to safely offload and quarantine at least some of the livestock with heatwave conditions in the region adding to the challenge.

On Wednesday, authorities sent two veterinarians onto the vessel to inspect the animals, but they found no significant health or welfare issues among the livestock.

“That provides additional confidence that the livestock are in good condition and have appropriate care and supervision,” said Beth Cookson, Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “It also confirmed that there were no signs of exotic disease present in the livestock on board the vessel.”

The reprieve for the animals may be short-lived as authorities currently assess an application to re-export the livestock. It will likely see them at sea for another month as the MV Bahijah avoids the Red Sea by sailing around Africa to access the Suez canal ports, adding thousands of miles and more than a week to the trip.

The MV Bahijah sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands and is carrying the livestock for Israeli-based export company Bassem Dabbah, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

CANADA
Federal court overturns American transgender woman's persecution-based refugee claim

CBC
Fri, February 2, 2024 

Daria Bloodworth is seen in bodycam footage from Colorado police filed into evidence as part of her bid to achieve refugee status in Canada based on a fear of persecution. (Daria Bloodworth - image credit)

Canada's Federal Court has overturned a decision granting refugee status to an American transgender woman who successfully argued that a combination of gun culture and rising transphobia left her at risk of persecution in the United States.

In a decision released this week, Judge Christine Pallotta said the Refugee Appeal Division erred in finding Colorado authorities were incapable of protecting Daria Bloodworth from a roommate she accused of stalking her — and that her safety couldn't be guaranteed elsewhere in the U.S.

Bloodworth — who now lives in Whitehorse — says she plans to appeal the ruling to the Federal Court of Appeal in the hopes of reinstating the October 2022 decision affirming her status as a convention refugee.

"It was made pretty clear from the get go that this was going to be an uphill battle — winning this thing, or even staying in Canada a little bit longer and not get murdered in the U.S.," Bloodworth told the CBC.

"I was incredibly happy that I won at the [Refugee Appeal Division] level. And it also increased my confidence in winning this case permanently, because I know, based on the evidence that I've submitted that I have a strong case."

'The general climate of anti-trans hatred'

Bloodworth came to Canada in 2019, seeking refugee protection in relation to claims that she was the target of threats and violence from a former roommate, her former landlord and a debt collection agency.

According to court documents, Bloodworth complained to police after her ex-roommate at Colorado State University threatened her with a gun. He was initially charged with menacing, and Bloodworth was given a protection order.

But the case against the roommate was dismissed a few months later and a judge declined to keep the protection order in place. Bloodworth claimed the ex-roommate continued to stalk her, and said police did not respond to her calls for action.

The 36-year-old's initial claim was unsuccessful, but in 2022 Refugee Appeal Division member Dilani Mohan concluded Bloodworth had a legitimate fear of persecution.

American Daria Bloodworth plans to appeal a Federal Court ruling overturning her claim to refugee status based on fear of persecution as a transgender woman.

American Daria Bloodworth plans to appeal a Federal Court ruling overturning her claim to refugee status based on fear of persecution as a transgender woman. (Daria Bloodworth)

While Mohan said the initial police response appeared reasonable, she faulted the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) — where claims are first heard — for failing to consider that Bloodworth was denied police protection for her subsequent complaints.

Mohan also surveyed a patchwork of U.S. state laws concerning the right to equal treatment before concluding that relocation within the U.S. was not an option.

She noted high rates of "discrimination and violence" in Maine, New Jersey, Illinois and Nevada and said that while New York City might be an option, the move would throw Bloodworth into poverty — which is a risk factor for violence in the U.S. itself.

"The RPD failed to consider how Colorado's open carry gun laws combined with the general climate of anti-trans hatred growing in the US could make [her] perpetually vulnerable and at risk to her life," Mohan wrote.

"I further find that [she] does not have an [internal flight alternative] in the U.S. because relocation for a person with her profile, in her circumstances, would be unreasonable."

'I honestly feel like this is home'

Bloodworth, who joked that she has become somewhat of a "jailhouse lawyer," has represented herself at all levels of proceeding to this point. Mohan commended her for doing "an impressive job in corralling evidence to support her claim."

Vancouver immigration lawyer Zool Suleman — who is not involved in the case — said Bloodworth's short-lived victory at the Refugee Appeal Division is noteworthy.

"It is unusual for cases from the United States to be approved as refugee cases in Canada. Generally speaking, the U.S. is not seen a refugee-producing country," he told the CBC.

"In this specific case, clearly the federal court felt that further thought needed to be placed upon the kinds of protections available to the claimant. And we would need to keep an eye on it to see if it is turning into an area of growing persecution claims from the United States."

Mohan noted the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration didn't intervene in the Refugee Appeal Division proceedings "in any way."

But that changed with the granting of refugee status.

The minister argued in federal court that Mohan had erred in "imposing a standard of perfect state protection" and by failing to identify "any gap in Colorado's laws, which include state-level laws to protect transgender individuals."

Pallotta agreed, finding that Mohan had failed to assess whether Bloodworth had "demonstrated with clear and convincing evidence that she exhausted the course of action reasonably available to her, without success."

The federal court ruling also says the appeal division failed to determine that internal flight was impossible — saying that "more than evidence demonstrating hardship and disadvantage" was needed to take New York City off the list.

Bloodworth — who is now studying biological sciences at Yukon University — said she hopes to stay in Canada, either by convincing the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn Pallota's decision or by making her case for refugee status before a new Refugee Appeal Division tribunal.

"I honestly feel like this is home. I'm not going to say Canada's perfect, but at least since I've moved here I haven't been threatened with a gun or threatened with a knife. I haven't been discriminated against because I'm transgender," she said.

"I feel like I could actually live here — if I was allowed to live here."