Chinese officials charged after gold mine accident that killed workers


An official investigation into an accident in January at a Chinese gold mine in Shandong Province concluded that neglect and safety violations led to the explosion that killed at least 10 workers. File photo by Chen Hao/Xinhua/EPA-EFE

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Senior Chinese officials are being held responsible for an accident at a mine in January that led to the death of at least 10 miners.

Authorities in China's Shandong Province said Wednesday they have charged 45 people with neglect, including a city mayor and a municipal party secretary, that led to the gold mine accident that trapped 22 miners underground for two weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.


Yao Xiuxia, the municipal party secretary of the city of Qixia, and Zhu Tao, Qixia's mayor, have been fired and are under probe for delays in reporting the accident, according to Sixth Tone. An official report said Yao believed the "trapped people would likely be rescued."

On Jan. 10, an explosion at a gold mine in Qixia trapped 22 miners. Two weeks after the incident, 11 workers were rescued, 10 people were found dead and one miner remains missing.

RELATED Reports: China's military training Hong Kong police on marching style

According to the official investigation, detonators, cords and explosives that were bunched together in an underground storage facility set off the explosion, which occurred after an accidental fire in the area.

Total damages are estimated to be about 68.47 million yuan, or about $10.6 million, authorities said.

Authorities said the mining company, Shandong Wucailong Investment Co. Ltd., stored explosives in a manner that violated local laws.

RELATED Hong Kong considers ban on 'insults' to police, authority figures

During mining operations, the company also allowed the use of blowtorches and firearms in hazardous mining zones, authorities said, according to Xinhua. Fifteen 15 mining executives also are being charged with neglect and concealing the accident for 30 hours.

The rescue operation began after a crew noticed a pull on a rope Jan. 17. Survivors trapped underground also sent a note to the rescue team by rope. On Jan. 24, 10 miners from a group of 11 were rescued, and on Jan. 25, rescuers recovered nine bodies.

Trump's approach to South Korea hurt alliance, analysts say


Former U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) appeared to agree publicly but the two sides struggled to reconcile differences amid Trump’s defense-cost demands.

 File Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI | License Photo


NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The Trump administration's policies toward the two Koreas damaged the alliance with Seoul, according to U.S. and South Korean analysts.

The administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in also falls short on North Korea human rights, and Seoul remains a passive observer amid new U.S. efforts, the South's lawmakers and analysts said during the International Forum on One Korea's Congressional Roundtable and Forum on Wednesday.

Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former candidate for U.S. ambassador to Seoul, said former President Donald Trump's approach to alliances created unprecedented problems in the relationship with Seoul.

"We saw a [U.S.-South Korea] alliance that was not functioning normally," Cha said. "We had a [U.S.] administration that saw the alliance in transactional terms, evaluating alliances as power liabilities, and not power assets."

Outward appearances told a different story. Trump first visited the South in 2017, delivering a speech at Seoul's National Assembly that local officials said improved relations. In 2018, Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after visits from Moon's aides to the White House. After a historic first summit in Singapore, Trump said Kim was a "great leader" and "friend," while Moon praised the former U.S. president for his "huge contribution" to inter-Korean relations.

According to Cha, the United States and South Korea "looked unified on the surface," but the two sides disagreed for four years on defense burden sharing. The two leaders also had different priorities. South Korea's policy is "largely designed to avoid a war," while Trump was trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Cha said.Cancellation of key meetings

Kim Hong-kyun, a former South Korean special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security, said the Biden administration offers a new opportunity to revitalize a shaken alliance. During the Trump years, not once did the former U.S. administration convene a "2+2" meeting of the U.S. secretary of state, secretary of defense and their South Korean counterparts, Kim said. The high-level meetings did take place during the terms of former President Barack Obama and South Korea's Park Geun-hye.

Kim, a veteran South Korean diplomat, also described Moon's approach to U.S. policies in the Indo-Pacific as deficient. Seoul "faced no consequences" for its "lukewarm" response to the Trump administration's coordination with Japan, Australia and India in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad. Under Biden, an experienced policymaker, South Korea "will not have the luxury of sitting on the fence."

"Strategic clarity is needed, not strategic ambiguity," Kim said, referring to Seoul. The United States should invite South Korea to the partnership and make it a "quint," he added.

Moon's policies have been defined by a friendlier approach to North Korea than some of his predecessors, but lawmakers in Seoul are wary of the tactic, which has yielded zero dialogue after 2019.

Cho Tae-yong, a South Korean lawmaker with the main opposition People Power Party, said at the forum on Wednesday it would be "unacceptable" to "only listen to the Kim family," or the North Korean leadership. Earlier in the week in Seoul, Cho had held a discussion on the South's anti-leafleting law that bans activists from launching balloons at the border. The ban was enforced after Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister, complained about defectors and their activism.

Biden has yet to publicly address North Korea. A key question between Washington and Seoul is North Korea sanctions. Last week, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted three North Koreans for cybercrimes. Other sanctions against Pyongyang's elite remain in place. Influential voices in Seoul, including Moon's special adviser for foreign affairs Moon Chung-in, are calling for sanctions relief, however.

Kim Hong-kyun said lifting sanctions would not support negotiations with North Korea. Sanctions provide the "only leverage" in talks with Pyongyang, Kim said.

"Sanctions are not for the purpose of pressuring North Korea for no reason," Cha said. "Lifting sanctions is always a possibility once those [violations] causing sanctions are rectified. "

International Forum on One Korea and the Global Peace Foundation are affiliated with the ultimate holding company that owns United Press International.

U.S. conducts airstrikes in Syria targeting 

Iran-backed groups

JUST LIKE TRUMP DID FIRST MONTH 

IN OFFICE


President Joe Biden on Thursday directed the military to conduct an airstrike targeting Iranian-backed groups in Syria. Pool Photo by Doug Mills/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes targeting Iran-backed military groups in eastern Syria on Thursday evening, the Pentagon said, stating it was in response to a deadly rocket attack against U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq last week.

The assault was directed by President Joe Biden, Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement, making it the first disclosed military operation conducted under the new White House.

Kirby said facilities located at an unnamed border control point used by Kait'ib Hezbollah and Kait'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, among other Iran-backed groups, were destroyed in the attack.

"These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel," Kirby said. "The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel."
The move was also pursued with "aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq," he said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the department is confident in the result.

"We know what we hit. We're confident that the target was being used by the same Shia militia that conducted the strikes," he said, referring to a Feb. 15 rocket barrage on a U.S. base at the Erbil airport complex in northern Iraq.

More than a dozen rockets last week were fired at the base near the southeastern Syrian border, killing a contractor and injuring eight others. Four American contractors and a U.S. service member were among those injured in the shelling.

The little-known group Awliya al-Dam, or the Guardians of the Blood, claimed credit for the attack but U.S. officials had repeatedly stated they were working on attribution though vowing to hold those responsible to account and that Iran is responsible for the acts of its proxies.

Austin told reporters while returning to Washington, D.C., from a California trip that he had recommended the airstrike to Biden, stating Iraq investigations into the Feb. 15 attack "was very helpful to us in refining the target."

State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a regular press briefing earlier this week that Iranian-made and -supplied rockets have been used in many such attacks but wouldn't say if rockets from Tehran were involved in the Erbil attack, stating they will await the conclusions of Iraq's investigation before attributing blame.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that the United States will respond but reserves the right do so in a time and manner of its choosing.

"We will respond in a way that's calculated, on our timetable and using a mix of tools seen and unseen," she said. "What we will not do -- and what we've seen in the past -- is lash out and risk an escalation that plays into the hands of Iran by further destabilizing Iraq."

Michael McCaul, the lead Republican of the House foreign affairs committee, commended the Biden administration for following through on the attack.

"Responses like this are a necessary deterrent and remind Iran, its proxies and our adversaries around the world that attacks on U.S. interests will not be tolerated," he said in a statement.

Marco Rubio, R-Fla., described it as "targeted, proportional and necessary."

The extend of the damage or the number of casualties from the Thursday airstrike were unknown.

German court convicts exiled fugitive of Syria regime in landmark ruling

Demonstrators protest against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Al-drbaseh, Northern Syria, on February 14, 2012. 

UPI Photo/File | License Photo

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Syrian man accused of aiding in the torture of dozens of people early during the country's civil war was found guilty in a historic verdict on Wednesday and sent to prison.

The man, Eyad al-Gharib, was convicted and sentenced by a regional court in Koblenz in Germany. The court gave him four and a half years in prison.

The verdict is the first of its kind for a court outside of Syria related to accusations of crimes against humanity against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Gharib, 44, was a member of Assad's General Intelligence Directorate and prosecutors said he facilitated the tortures of at least 30 Syrian dissidents, beginning in 2011. He ultimately fled to Germany, where he was arrested in 2019.

The crimes against al-Gharib occurred early in Syria's civil war when Assad began to crack down on dissident demonstrations.

Authorities were able to try al-Gharib by using a legal provision that allowed them jurisdiction to prosecute serious crimes involving defendants physically inside Germany.

Another landmark verdict in the case is expected this year for Anwar Raslan, a member of Assad's government who's accused directly in the deaths of dozens of people and the tortures of thousands more.

END US SANCTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL AID

Report: U.N. food aid to North Korea stalling under restrictions


International food assistance to North Korea may not be reaching women and children amid the pandemic, according to a South Korean press report Tuesday. 

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo


Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Food aid for North Korean children and pregnant women is being delayed due to an ongoing border closure, according to a South Korean press report.

Newsis reported Tuesday that a source at Seoul's unification ministry said the food assistance from the United Nations' World Food Program is not reaching North Korea's most vulnerable population amid the coronavirus pandemic.

North Korea admits goods across its 880-mile border with China, but in the wake of COVID-19 ,the regime shut its borders. Trade dropped significantly with China in 2020, or by about 80%, according to Seoul's Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

On Tuesday, Newsis' ministry source said WFP food assistance must take place in accordance with international standards. U.N. officials need access to the country for monitoring purposes, but North Korean restrictions against foreign officers is preventing aid from being tracked, the South Korean source said.

Report of hindrances to food assistance comes after the WFP released a revision to its North Korea Strategic Plan.

"WFP will opportunistically use windows in which food imports are allowed to replenish and optimize in-country stocks and mitigate against import delays," the report read. "However, there is a significant residual risk that, should food imports not be possible, operations will cease in 2021."

The WFP report also said physical monitoring access "remain curtailed" indefinitely due to North Korean measures against the coronavirus.

RELATED Report: North Korea's trade with China declined 80% in 2020 

While a significant number of North Korean children and women are at risk of malnutrition, the Kim Jong Un regime has not stopped using cyberattacks to steal millions of dollars to expand its weapons facilities. NO EVIDENCE OF THAT

Bloomberg reported Sunday that a Nigerian social media celebrity with millions of followers on Instagram has been extradited from Dubai and faces charges in the United States.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, who frequently posed before private jets and luxury vehicles, is accused of laundering funds on behalf of North Korean hackers who stole more than $1.3 billion of cash and cryptocurrency, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Abbas was arrested in July, according to the report.

                                             POSTMODERN BANK ROBBER

U.N. expert: Iran committed multiple human rights violations in plane shootdown

Among the victims of the flight, 138 had ties to Canada 

as either citizens or permanent residents 

FROM YEG & TO

Iran's military shot down an Ukraine International Airlines flight in Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020, killing 176 people on board. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE

Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A U.N.-appointed independent investigator has accused Iran in a condemning letter of committing numerous human rights violations before, during and after its military shot down a Ukrainian airliner early last year, killing 176 people on board.

Released to the public on Tuesday, the damning 45-page letter delivered to Iran in December by Agnes Callamard -- the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution -- details the conclusions of her 6-month investigation into the shoot down, accusing Iran of numerous violations that leave unanswered the question of whether the civilian flight was intentionally targeted.

"I have found no concrete evidence that the targeting of that particular plane was intentional and premeditated. However, the inconsistencies in the official explanation and the reckless nature of the mistakes have led many including myself to question whether the downing of PS752 was intentional," she said during a virtual press conference about her findings.

The letter to Iran sought clarification on several issues but she said she has yet to receive a response.

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 from Tehran to Kiev was shot down shortly after takeoff by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defense missile unit on Jan. 8, 2020, amid heightened tensions between the Middle Eastern country and the United States, which had days earlier assassinated in Iraq Qassem Soleimani, the then-head of the IRGC.

Iran for three days after the incident blamed the downed flight on an on board fire before admitting it had been shot down by two missiles launched from a military air defense unit that was placed near the civilian airport.

Tehran in July released a report that blamed the downed plane on "a chain of events initiated by a human error" that included a misalignment of the air defense unit and its operator being unable to communicate with their commanding officer for a matter of seconds before firing at the target they allegedly believed was a missile.

During the virtual press conference, Callamard said the inconsistencies of Iran's official explanation seem "designed to create a maximum of confusion and a minimum of clarity."

"As for the admitted mistakes, these indicate a reckless if not criminal disregard for standard procedures and the principles of precaution, which should have been implemented to the fullest given the circumstances and the location of the unit," she said.

Callamard detailed numerous contradictions and inconsistencies with Iran's explanation, stating Tehran has yet to identify why the missile unit was miscalibrated, why the miscalibration had not been detected and how it led to the plane's targeting.

She also said Iran has failed to explain why this civilian plane was targeted and not others departing and arriving at the civilian airport as well as why a second missile was launched 30 seconds after the first one given that once struck the plane's path and profile would not match the behavior of "a streaking incoming cruise missile."

There is also the inconsistency of Iran claiming the unit had only 10 seconds to decide whether to fire at the target though Callamard's investigation revealed it had at least a 45-second window if not longer to determine that it was a plane.

"Indeed, on the basis of the information received, one may even question whether the order or implicit encouragement by the chain of command [was given] to the crew on the ground to apply lethal force without going through standard procedures and precautionary steps," she said.

Callamard said Iran's failure to thoroughly and adequately investigate the shoot down amounted to a failure to respect the right to life and that there is evidence suggesting it destroyed and failed to protect evidence as it bulldozed the location, which was open to looters.

Tehran also violated the rights of the victims' families, she said, stating that they were subjected to harassment, threat and physical assault by Iranian authorities not only in Iran but in Canada, where many of the victims had ties to.

"The authorities allegedly also denied families access to the crash site and failed to return the entirety of the passengers' belongings to them with the result that many families are left without the smallest mementoes of those who lost their lives," she said, adding that authorities also threatened to withhold the victims' remains from families if they did not publicly declare support for the government.

"Many families were reportedly also denied private funerals. Victims were declared 'martyrs' who died for their country," the letter states. "... It is suggested that the labeling of those who died as 'martyrs' for Iran was forced upon them without their consent."

The letter comes months after Canada's special advisor to Prime Minister Justice Trudeau raised concerns in December over Iran's investigation into the disaster, stating that Tehran's probe "raises obvious concerns about credibility, conflicts of interests and a lack of transparency and accountability."

Among the victims of the flight, 138 had ties to Canada as either citizens or permanent residents though citizens of Iran, Afghanistan, Britain, Ukraine, and Sweden were also on board.

Ex-USA Gymnastics coach Geddert found dead; charged with human trafficking

HERE IS WHERE YOU FIND THE REAL ABUSERS, 

NOT PIZZAGATE

Former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach John Geddert was found dead on Thursday after being charged with 24 crimes including human trafficking and criminal sexual conduct related to abuse of his students. File Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA-EFE

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach John Geddert died by suicide Thursday after being charged with 24 crimes stemming from alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse against gymnasts in his care, prosecutors said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement confirming that authorities found Geddert's body late Thursday afternoon after the charges against him were announced.

"This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved," she said.

Geddert, 63, was charged with 20 felony counts of human trafficking for allegedly subjecting his athletes to forced labor or services "under extreme conditions that contributed to them suffering injuries and harm." He was also charged with individual felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and continuing a criminal enterprise.

RELATED Pentagon commission on sexual assault to be announced by end of week

The attorney general's office said Geddert "sold his reputation as an Olympic-level coach" and promised to turn students at his gym Twistars into "word-class athletes" and secure them college scholarships but subjected them to "an environment of continued abuse" under the guise of coaching.

"These allegations focus around multiple acts of verbal, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by the defendant against multiple young women," Nessel said. "I am grateful for these survivors coming forward to cooperate with our investigation and for bravely sharing their stories."

He also faced one charge of lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation for false or misleading statements to authorities investigating former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting hundreds of girls.

Nassar worked as Geddert's team physician and in-house medical expert at Twistars for 20 years and was the sole medical doctor whose advice he would accept, the attorney general's office said.

The charges filed against Geddert carried sentences ranging from four years to life in prison.

The attorney general's office said the charges against Geddert were unrelated to its ongoing investigation into Michigan State University, which led to charges against Nassar, adding that the investigation remains inconclusive.
RELATED 'Comfort woman' calls for case to be brought to international court



"When this department set out more than three years ago on this investigation, the Trustees stated, 'only a review by our office can resolve the questions in a way that the victims, their families, and the public will deem satisfactory and that will help all those affected by Nassar's horrible crimes to heal," Nessel said. "Yet, if the board does not consent, my office will be forced to close its investigation without a conclusion and you will have shut the door on the pursuit of justice."

THANKS TO THE GOP
Winter storm could be costliest disaster in Texas history
By Mitchell Ferman, The Texas Tribune


Public works crews work to repair broken water lines in Wylie, Texas on February 18. Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The winter storm that left dozens of Texans dead, millions without power and nearly 15 million with water issues could be the costliest disaster in state history, potentially exceeding the $125 billion in damage from Hurricane Harvey.

The deadly 2017 hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast region. Last week's winter storm impacted every region of the state, a reason why experts and officials are discussing the possibility of damage and cost exceeding those from Hurricane Harvey.

"All 254 counties will have been impacted in some way by the freeze," said Lee Loftis, director of government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas. "That is just unheard of."

As of Monday, state agencies reported spending $41 million on the storm, and local governments had spent $49 million, according to Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Department of Emergency Management. Kidd said he expects the state to be reimbursed for 75% of its expenses by the federal government. Only a fraction of local governments reported their spending, and he said the expenses already incurred by state and local governments only account for emergency costs. Kidd has not yet reported the cost of damage to state infrastructure.

RELATED Texas winter storm exposed massive risks for disruption

Loftis said it is too early to tally the total cost of destruction, and state Sen. Jane Nelson, chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee that hosted Kidd on Monday, said the state's share of the financial toll is not yet known. But while state lawmakers over the last decade repeatedly ignored recommendations to protect the state's power grid from extreme weather, they have an opportunity to address the energy and water crises -- and possibly prevent Texans from ever having to again endure days without basic necessities like clean water and working lights.

Lawmakers are in the middle of the 2021 legislative session, where they have been working through issues unrelated to the twin crises since they convened at the Capitol in January. Back then, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar told lawmakers how much money they'd have to spend on a state budget for the next two years.

After a bleak prediction last summer, when Hegar told lawmakers he projected that they would have a $4.6 billion deficit in 2021, Hegar had rosier news for lawmakers in January. Hegar's projection in January was roughly a $1 billion deficit, still a deficit but significantly better than his previous estimate from the summer when the coronavirus was ravaging the economy.

After Hegar told lawmakers how much money they'd likely have to spend, Gov. Greg Abbott, the state House and Senate announced their legislative priorities, focusing on issues such as criminal justice and problems related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of Abbott's focus on energy this year before the storm centered on fighting President Joe Biden on energy and climate issues, despite experts saying Biden's moves could help Texas.

Abbott went to the oil-rich Permian Basin in West Texas in January and signed an executive order to "direct every state agency to use all lawful powers and tools to challenge any federal action that threatens" the energy sector in Texas. And he announced his support for legislation that "prohibits cities and counties from banning natural gas appliances."

RELATED NFL's Texans donate $500K to Winter Storm Uri relief efforts in Houston

Then last week's winter storm hit. It exposed problems lawmakers failed to address in previous legislative sessions and showed the vulnerabilities of the state's natural gas system, which was not prepared for the cold.

Now, lawmakers say they will take action.

They have until May to write the state budget for the next two years. Leaders in the state House and Senate have released their preliminary budgets, which did not dedicate money toward the kinds of measures that would prevent another power grid failure.

Abbott has asked lawmakers to reform the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state's power grid operator. He asked lawmakers to mandate the winterization of generators and power plants, a proposal previously floated but not implemented by state leaders in the aftermath of another winter storm in 2011. And Abbott requested that lawmakers provide power companies with funding to make the necessary changes.

But retroactively equipping power plants to withstand cold temperatures is likely to be very difficult and costly, energy experts said. Building energy infrastructure to perform in winter conditions is easier and cheaper, they said.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday released a list of 31 legislative priorities, a mix of newly urgent issues after the storm, familiar topics stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and a host of hot-button conservative issues. Patrick's list was vague and did not provide specifics. Most of his priority bills have not been filed.

It is unclear where the money for storm-related bills would come from. Lawmakers have access to the state's savings account, called the Economic Stabilization Fund or rainy day fund, which has more than $10 billion for them to spend. State Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, said Sunday "the rainy day fund should be used to offset increased energy cost for rate payers."

There will be federal assistance for Texas, as Kidd emphasized in Monday's Senate Finance Committee meeting. Texans in more than 100 counties can begin applying for Federal Emergency Management Agency relief totaling $45 billion to $50 billion for the state, according to AccuWeather.

In the same meeting on Monday, Hegar, the comptroller, did not yet have data available on the storm's financial toll, but one point he made was clear.

"Unfortunately," Hegar said, "the last few days have been a black eye on the reputation of Texas."

Disclosure: Independent Insurance Agents of Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. Find the original here.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

PROLETARIAN PAINTER

Vincent van Gogh painting 

to go on public display 

for first time in 134 years

The 1887 painting was a part of a pivotal period in Vincent van Gogh's painting career in which he began to use a greater variety of color. Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A painting of Paris' Montmartre district by Vincent van Gogh will go on public display for the first time next week in Amsterdam ahead of its auction later in March.

The painting, Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre (Street scene in Montmartre), has been in private hands since its creation in the spring of 1887, according to auction house Mirabaud Mercier. The Paris-based company is joining with Sotheby's to sell the painting in a March 25 auction of impressionist and modern art in Paris.

The landscape depicts a couple and a child on a street in front of the famed Moulin Debray, a 19th century pepper mill that was destroyed in 1911. The mill is seen from the Impasse des Deux Frères, a street atop the hill in Paris known as Montmartre.

"When we saw the painting for the first time, we felt a strong emotion," said Claudia Mercier and Fabien Mirabaud in a statement. "We are happy to present this unique work on the art market today, which has remained in the same family for a century."

Aurélie Vandevoorde and Etienne Hellman, senior directors of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Sotheby's France, said it's rare for an artwork from this period to have been maintained by the same family and kept private for so long. Most, they said, are kept in prestigious museums.

"The presentation on the market of a painting from this iconic series will therefore undoubtedly be a major event for Van Gogh collectors and for the art market in general," they said.

Van Gogh painted the scene while living with his brother, Theo van Gogh, in Montmartre -- the district in Paris named after the hill. A release from Mirabaud Mercier said the period marks the pivotal moment in van Gogh's career when he began to experiment more with color. His earlier works tended to be darker, using more neutral earth tones.

RELATED Botticelli painting sells for $92M shattering artist's previous record

"Street scene in Montmartre is thus a remarkable testimony to a crucial era in the work of one of the greatest masters of modern art," the release said.

The painting will be on display Monday-Wednesday at Sotheby's Amsterdam; March 9-12 at Sotheby's Hong Kong; March 16-18 at Hôtel Drouot in Paris; and March 19-23 at Sotheby's Paris.

US House passes Equality Act in move to expand LGBTQ protections


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks alongside fellow Democrats after the House on Thursday voted 224-206 to approve the Equality Act, which aims to close gaps in current federal civil rights laws to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The House on Thursday passed one of President Joe Biden's top legislative priorities -- a bill that would extend protections against discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill, called the Equality Act, or House Resolution 5, was approved 224-206 in a floor vote.

"It's been long enough. Discrimination against LGBTQ people needs to end. We need the Equality Act to be federal law NOW. This is about respect. This is about pride," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on Twitter following the vote.

Introduced in the House and Senate last week, the proposal aims to close gaps in current federal civil rights laws to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Wednesday the measure would codify into law the changes to expand discrimination protections for American LGBTQ communities.

"We think that's the right thing to do," he told reporters.

The U.S. Supreme Court extended workplace protections for the LGBTQ community in a ruling last summer, but advocacy groups such as the National Women's Law Center said the language granting those protections are still not spelled out in federal laws.

"These protections would apply in the contexts of housing, public accommodations, credit, federally funded programs (including education) and federal jury service," the NWLC said in a statement.

"In line with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, the Equality Act would make clear that discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in all of these settings is unlawful."

Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., who introduced the bill in the House, said it would provide protections in employment, education, credit, jury service, federal funding, housing and public accommodations.

"In 2021, every American should be treated with respect and dignity," he said in a statement last week. "Yet, in most states, LGBTQ people can be discriminated against because of who they are, or who they love."

Biden promoted the issue many times during his campaign last year and it is said to be among his top legislative priorities in the early stages of his administration.

The bill faces considerably more uncertainty in the Senate, where Democrats hold a one-vote advantage. They would need, however, several Republicans to vote in favor of the bill to invoke cloture and end a GOP-led filibuster.

"LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. The House just passed the Equality Act. And we're working to pass it in the Senate so President Biden can sign it," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote on Twitter Thursday.

University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock, who has opposed the Equality Act in the past, told NPR he supports adding the changes to federal law -- but believes the proposal is too restrictive in allowing people to defend themselves against claims of discrimination.

"It protects the rights of one side, but attempts to destroy the rights of the other side," Laycock said. "We ought to protect the liberty of both sides to live their own lives by their own identities and their own values."

Costco raises its minimum wage to $16 an hour

UNION JOBS WITH BENEFITS! 

TAKE THAT JOE MANCHIN

The move puts Costco's starting wage above rivals such as Amazon, Target and Walmart.

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek said Thursday at a Senate budget hearing the minimum wage for its U.S. hourly employees would increase to $16 next week. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Costco will raise its hourly minimum wage to $16 for U.S. employees amid ongoing debate among lawmakers on raising federal hourly minimum wage to $15.

"Two years ago, we moved our starting hourly wage to $15 everywhere in the U.S. Effective next week, the starting wage will go to $16," Costco CEO Craig Jelinek said during a Senate budget hearing T

Jelinek added that Costco has 180,000 employees across the United States. Employees have the opportunity to receive annual wage increases. The average wage is around $24, which doesn't take into account $2 premium pay employees received during the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare benefits.

The move puts Costco's starting wage above rivals such as Amazon, Target and Walmart.

Amazon raised its starting wage to $15 in 2018, and Target raised its minimum wage to $15 last year. Walmart, which has an $11 minimum wage, announced last week it would raise its minimum wage for 425,000 store associates working in frontline roles to $13 an hour.

University of Massachusetts economics professor Arindrajit Dube told CNN Business Costco's wage increase would put pressure on rival employers to match it.

The Senate budget hearing -- titled "Should Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Large Profitable Corporations?" -- comes amid lawmakers debating a provision to raise the national minimum wage to $15 per hour

The House plans to vote Friday on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, and while it has enough support to pass in the House, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have threatened to oppose the stimulus plan over the provision to raise the minimum wage.

Biden has pushed to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers, which has been $7.25 since 2009, and has already raised the federal worker minimum wage to $15 by executive order.

Individually, many states and cities have raised their minimum wages over the past few years amid grassroots advocacy by groups such as One Fair Wage and the Poor People's Campaign.

Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office said raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would boost wages for some 17 million people and raise 900,000 U.S. workers out of poverty, but cost the United States 1.4 million jobs by 2025. MYTHICAL JOBS

Proponents have said unemployment rates were unaffected by minimum wage hikes in cities such as New York City and Seattle. Opponents, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement prior to the pandemic, raising the minimum wage would cause economic disruption for employers, especially small businesses, and have "negative effects on the job opportunities for first time and lower-skilled workers."

Cherokee Nation wants Jeep to stop

using name


Image of a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit. The leader of the Cherokee Nation said last week he wants the company to stop using the name. Photo courtesy Fiat Chrysler

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The Cherokee Nation wants Jeep to change the name of its popular vehicles named after the Native Americans, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskins Jr. said.

Hoskins said it is the time for the automobile company to end using the name, after the NFL team in Washington and Cleveland's Major League baseball team decided to end their use of Native American names.

"I'm sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not honor us by having our name plastered on the side of a car," Hoskins told Car and Driver magazine. "The best way to honor us is to learn about our sovereign government, our role in this country, our history, culture and language and have meaningful dialogue with federally recognized tribes on cultural appropriateness."

Jeep said in a statement it was "committed to a respectful and open dialogue" with Hoskins about the name.

"Our vehicle names have been carefully chosen and nurtured over the years to honor and celebrate Native American people for their nobility, prowess and pride," Rick Deneau, a spokesman for Stellantis, the parent company of the Jeep brand, said. 

BS AND OH BY THE WAY YOU OWE THEM $$$ FOR THE USE OF THEIR BRAND!

Jeep, which has used the Cherokee name since the 1970s, is on the verge of launching a new series of the Grand Cherokee L this year.

The Cherokee Nation, based in Oklahoma, is the largest Native American tribe in the country with 385,000 members. Originally located in the southeastern United States, the nation was forced to relocate to Oklahoma in 1838.

NOTE THE DATE

First real-world study shows Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine 94% effective


A medical professional prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at the Qalandiya checkpoint in east Jerusalem, Israel, on Tuesday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has performed as well in real-world conditions as it did in clinical trials, according to the first study of its kind of the COVID-19 era.

The study examined the vaccine's effectiveness in 600,000 pairs of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, comparing all illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths. The study was performed in Israel.

According to the results, the vaccine was found to be effective in about 94% of all people who were inoculated. Clinical trials of the vaccine reported its effectiveness at almost the exact same figure.

"Estimated vaccine effectiveness during the follow-up period starting seven days after the second dose was 92% for documented infection, 94% for symptomatic COVID-19, 87% for hospitalization, and 92% for severe COVID-19," the study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, said.

Senior author Ran Balicer, director of the Clalit Research Institute of Israel, said the results confirmed for the first time the vaccine's effectiveness beyond controlled clinical conditions.

"The vaccine fulfilled the promise that was there," Balicer said. "And it was somewhat of a surprise to see that in a real-world setting, a vaccine was able to perform as well as it did in the very controlled setting of a clinical trial, where cold-chain is perfect and the people are being carefully selected."

Balicer warned that there's potential for a false sense of security. Although the drug proved highly effective among the thousands examined, he said, there were still people who were fully vaccinated and still developed severe COVID-19

"These vaccines are not a force field around you that negates the chance that you will have an illness or that you will have a severe illness," he said. "There is a residual risk.

"And so I think continuing precautions, especially among those populations at risk at a time when community spread is evident and is massive ... would be the prudent thing to do, even for those who are fully vaccinated."

VACCINE NATIONALISM

The vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech is one of two coronavirus vaccines (Moderna) that have been approved for use in the United States. A slightly different vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is expected to become the third when it's approved by U.S. regulators, which is expected soon.

Other vaccines from Novavax and GSK/Sanofi are also still in development, and one from AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been approved for use in some countries.

THAT 'OTHER' VACCINE

South Korean consortium to make 500 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine

South Korean biomedical firms and the Russian Direct Investment Fund are in discussions for the production of Sputnik V vaccines in Korea for export.

 File Photo by RDIF/EPA-EFE


Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A consortium of South Korean biomedical companies is to manufacture Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

Industry sources in Korea said the consortium that includes firms Binex, ISU Abxis, Boryung Biopharma, Chong Kun Dang Bio, Quratis, Humendix and Andong Animal Cell Validation Support Center are in negotiations with the Russian Direct Investment Fund over specific production quantities and prices, South Korean news service EDaily reported Thursday.

According to Hankook Korus Pharm, a member of the consortium, South Korean firms are planning to produce at least 500 million doses of the Russian vaccine.

The Russian fund has said one dose of Sputnik V will sell for about $10. South Korean firms will be responsible for manufacturing $5 billion worth of Russian vaccines.

After accounting for production costs, Korean companies are expected to make a 10% to 30% gross profit per dose, according to EDaily.

Russia came under criticism last year after it said in August it had the world's first COVID-19 vaccine before completing Phase III of trials for Sputnik V.

The country's vaccine and claims of a 92% efficacy rate has gained traction in the scientific community, however.

In early February the Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, said Sputnik V had a 91.6% efficacy rate against the novel coronavirus, and a 91.8% rate for vaccine recipients over age 60.

"The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated, which means another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of COVID-19," the Lancet said.

The Sputnik V doses manufactured in South Korea are not for domestic use. The vaccine is to be exported back to Russia. The doses also will be exported to Iran, Argentina, Algeria, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates, according to EDaily.

THEY KNOCKED AT THE WRONG DOOR
Russian court jails woman, son in Jehovah's Witness crackdown


Valentina Baranovskaya was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to be jailed in the country for practicing her Jehovah's Witness religion. Photo courtesy of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia/Website

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a 69-year-old mother to jail for her religious beliefs, becoming the first woman jailed amid the Kremlin's continued crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said.

"Today, Valentina Baranovskaya, an elderly woman in poor health, became the first female Jehovah's Witness sentenced to prison in Russia today," Gary L. Bauer, the USCIRF commission, said Wednesday in a statement. "This marks a new low in Russia's brutal campaign against religious freedom."

Baranovskaya and her son Roman Baranovskiy, 46, were sentenced to two years and six years, respectively, the Christian denomination said.

The pair were separately charged as extremists for organizing activities of a banned organization as the religion was ordered to shut down in Russia by its Supreme Court in 2017.

Baranovskaya told the court that she is ashamed that Russia is persecuting "the most peaceful, kind and law-abiding citizens of this country."

"But I have no reason to be afraid and ashamed of this persecution, as if I had committed some kind of crime," she said, according to a copy of her statement published by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. "My conscience is clear before God and before the people. After all, only when a person commits a real crime is repentance expected from him in the last word."

The religious group said the pair's home was raided along with those of three other Jehovah's Witnesses in April of 2019 and officers confiscated Bibles, electronic devices and personal records with hearings in the cases commencing in July of last year.

The court proceedings were postponed a week later after Baranovskaya was diagnosed with a stroke. Hearings resumed in December, it said.

"The ruling was a mockery of the rule of law -- both international human rights law as well as Russia's constitution, which protects religious freedom," Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for the religious group, said in a statement emailed to UPI.

The sentences were handed down two weeks after Alexander Ivshin was sentenced by a Russian court to seven and a half years in prison, a record sentence for practicing the Jehovah's Witnesses religion.

"The United States condemns Russia's continued crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities in the strongest possible terms," Ned Price, the spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said during a regular press briefing after Ivshin was sentenced on Feb. 11.

The USCIRF has said that religious freedom conditions continue to deteriorate in Russia as authorities target non-traditional religious minorities with fines detentions and criminal charges on the accusations of the ill-defined term of extremism.

According to the State Department's 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom in Russia, authorities that year detained hundreds of suspected Jehovah's Witnesses members and that there have been reports they were physically abused.

The European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 of its members have fled Russia since it started to enforce the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling, the State Department report said.

According to the group, 440 of its members have been charged in 199 criminal cases, and 52 people have been jailed since the 2017 Supreme Court ruling.

"This is a disgraceful miscarriage of justice," Rachel Denber, Human Rights Watch's deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia Division, said. "No one should face criminal charges, let alone an active prison sentence for peaceful involvement in religious activities."

Denber said Baranovskaya and Baranovskiy should be immediately released and that Russia should end its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.




upi.com/7078260

PUTIN'S PROVOCATUER

Amnesty International no longer considers Navalny 'prisoner of conscience'


Amnesty International said it stripped Alexei Navalny of his status as prisoner of conscience after reviewing anti-migrant statements he made in the mid-2000s. File Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Amnesty International on Wednesday said it stripped Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny of his "prisoner of conscience" status, accusing him of using hate speech in past comments on migrants.

The non-governmental human rights organization confirmed the move in a statement to Al Jazeera.

"Amnesty International took an internal decision to stop referring to Navalny as a prisoner of conscience in relation to comments he made in the past," Amnesty International said. "Some of these comments, which Navalny has not publicly denounced, reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred, and this is at odds with Amnesty's definition of a prisoner of conscience."

The organization declined to specify the comments with which it took issue.

Alexander Artemev, Amnesty's media manager for Europe and central Asia, told Russia's TV Rain the decision came about after a review of Navalny's remarks from the mid-2000s. He said the comments met the level of "hate speech."

The Guardian reported that at the time of the comments, Navalny was involved in nationalist politics and was known for having anti-migrant opinions. He has since moved more toward the left in his views. 

BS HE SIMPLY HAS REMAINED SILENT, FOCUSING ON BUILDING THE OPPOSITION SO IT CAN BE INFILTRATED AS THE RECENT ARREST OF 5000 PROTESTERS VERIFIES, MANY ARRESTED AT HOME!!!!

Navalny is currently imprisoned on a 2.5-year sentence after a Moscow court determined he violated his parole conditions when he was taken to Berlin to be treated for poisoning. He was arrested immediately upon returning to Russia in January

Navalny spent five months in Berlin for treatment after Novichok poisoning left him in a coma as he traveled in Siberia. He was transferred to Berlin's Charite hospital after the doctors at the Siberian hospital where he was first taken said they could find "no trace" of poison in his system, while hesitating to have him transferred.

FOR SUCH A DEADLY 'UNKNOWN' POISION IT HAS NOT KILLED ANYONE POISIONED WITH IT IN RECENT ATTACKS USING IT IN THE UK. 

CONVIENTLY INEPT ASSASSINS

In December, Navalny said he was able to dupe a member of Russia's Federal Security Service spy agency into revealing they were behind the poisoning but the Kremlin dismissed his claims. The spy allegedly said the toxin was placed in the "inner seams" of Navalny's underwear while he stayed at the Xander hotel in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

Navalny was initially sentenced in December 2014 to three years and six months of a suspended sentence and five years of probation in 2014 after he was found guilty of embezzling $470,000 from cosmetics company Yves Rocher Vostok and stealing another $80,000 from a processing company.

The European Court of Human Rights said the conviction was politically motivated and "unlawful and arbitrary."

Alberta budget 2021:

 Municipal infrastructure funding program to be cut by 25 per cent over the next three years    

© Provided by Edmonton Journal The province's 2021-22 budget means Edmonton will see a $43.2 million increase in previously promised 2021infrastructure funding followed by a significant decrease in the next two years.


The Alberta government will reduce funding to municipalities for local infrastructure projects by roughly 25 per cent over the next three years in an effort to balance spending with reducing an $18.2-billion deficit.

In its first budget outlining financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic tabled Thursday, the province plans to provide more infrastructure dollars to municipalities this year through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) with a $1.2 billion investment to provide economic stimulus and create jobs.

But this means a funding drop to $485 million in each of the following two years, where municipalities were initially slated to split $860 million.

Despite the cut to municipalities, a $20.7-billion capital plan will invest in 41 new infrastructure projects across the province and create about 90,000 jobs through 2024.

Local governments also split an additional $593 million in economic stimulus funding in 2020 as part of the province’s COVID-19 recovery plan.

“The 2021 capital plan will build roads, bridges, overpasses, water projects, gas lines, schools hospitals, long-term care homes for seniors, addiction treatment centres, tourism infrastructure and agriculture and natural resources projects that will help develop and protect Alberta’s distinctive resources and support environmental sustainability,” Finance Minister Travis Toews said in his budget address. “We are aggressively pursuing every area where Alberta has a competitive advantage in private sector investment and job growth.”

For Edmonton, this change means an increase in previously promised 2021 infrastructure funding by $43.2 million, but a significant decrease in the next two years with the pot being cut by 44 per cent. While municipalities will see a reduction, $375 million in both years will be reallocated to an “economic recovery capital envelope” toward future strategic projects.
Iveson responds to cuts

Provincial support through the MSI accounts for about one-third of the City of Edmonton’s approved capital budget with over $362 million in investments tied to the funding in the city’s current budget.

Mayor Don Iveson said these cuts offset the prior COVID-19 stimulus funding provided by the province and could sideline planned projects, including roof replacements on city facilities and traffic safety upgrades.

“I’ll be asking city administration to report to council which Edmonton projects are now at risk as a result of these deep cuts, though it’s already clear to me that this cut further injures the City of Edmonton’s jobs and fiscal situation,” Iveson said. “The province’s budget decision to further cut our infrastructure funding, which has already been whittled away, further impacts Edmonton’s momentum and will slow Edmonton and Alberta’s economic recovery.”

An ask from Iveson that wasn’t in the budget was $5.9 million to operate five planned supportive housing developments for homeless residents, slated to open early next year.

The budget maintains $193 million in funding for homeless support and outreach services, but there aren’t any new dollars for supportive housing.

Iveson voiced disappointment with the lack of funding, having long advocated for money to be put toward ending homelessness, which he said will reduce costs in the justice and health-care systems.

“For a budget focused on health, recovery, and finding savings, I am confounded and disappointed the province is still not prepared to work with Edmonton on supportive housing,” he said. “The Government of Alberta’s failure to work with Edmonton on supportive housing for vulnerable people, a failure to follow evidence showing the substantial savings in areas of provincial jurisdiction like health care, is truly frustrating for the people experiencing homelessness during a pandemic.”