EAT THE RICH OPPS DIFFERENT PARASITE

Lampreys: eel-like parasites beloved by Latvians

Lamprey prepared for roasting at Latvia's Salacgriva festival (AFP/Gints Ivuskans)

Imants LIEPINSH
Tue, October 26, 2021

At a cauldron bubbling away on a riverbank near Latvia's Baltic coast, a queue forms of visitors eager to taste the local delicacy -- a parasitic eel-like creature, the lamprey.

The animals, which feed by attaching themselves to herring and salmon and sucking their blood, were once a popular food in the Middle Ages but have gone out of fashion across much of Europe.

But in Latvia, they are still prized and celebrated at local festivals.

"When smoked or boiled in a soup, lampreys have a unique taste," said Laura Berzina, attending one autumn festival in the town of Salacgriva.

Berzina said she had travelled some 100 kilometres (60 miles) with her family for a taste of lamprey.

As for Nataliya Alexandrova, a retired accountant from Riga: "I was born in Russia but living in Latvia has made me appreciate this fantastic food."

A kilo of lamprey in a typical Latvian supermarket costs up to 30 euros ($35) -- nearly four times more than an average kilo of beef.

According to BIOR, a food safety and animal health institute in Riga, around 50 tonnes of lamprey are caught every year in Latvia.

Despite being parasites that prey on saltwater fish, lampreys have found their way into the official symbols of coastal towns in the EU member state of 1.9 million people.

The European Commission has even included them on its list of food and drink products with "protective designation of origins", alongside the likes of French champagne and Greek feta cheese.

In Britain, lampreys have a strong association with the royal family.

A lamprey binge is said to have been the reason for the death of King Henry I of England in 1135.

Lamprey pies are served up to this day for crowned heads in the kingdom.

- 'Like it has been for centuries' -

Lampreys hatch in the rivers that flow into the Baltic Sea, then migrate to feed on fish and are generally caught when they return to the rivers after seven or eight years to mate.

Fishermen use nets attached to temporary wooden constructions called "tacis" -- footbridges made of wooden booms and planks that stretch across rivers.

"Each spring, when the ice on the river melts away, we rebuild our tacis," Aleksandrs Rozenshteins, owner of a small specialised lamprey fishing company, told AFP.

The catch usually arrives when autumn storms push the lampreys from the sea back into the rivers.

Since lampreys move only at night, fishermen check their nets in the morning.

"It may vary from nothing or just a few kilos to several hundred kilos," Rozenshteins said.

The "tacis" are then taken down for the winter.

By law, nets may cover only two-thirds of the river's width to allow other life forms in the stream to move freely.

The only difference now from the fishing traditions of the past is the use of factory-produced nets rather than traps made of fir branches.

"Regardless of whether the lampreys are smoked, grilled or boiled in a cauldron, we keep all the fishing and cooking process just like it has been for centuries," Rozenshteins said.

il/dt/gd

FREE PALESTINE END ISRAEL COLONIALISM

Critics seek proof after Israel designates Palestinian rights groups as terrorists

Israel's designation of six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations has stirred controversy — and poses a challenge for European donors. Calls for providing evidence backing the claims are growing.

Six Palestinian civil society organizations, including Addameer, have been outlawed by Israel

The Israeli Defense Ministry's unexpected decision to designate six Palestinian human rights and civil society establishments as terror organizations has resulted in swift criticism from Palestinians and several international organizations.

Palestinian civil rights activists, international human rights organizations and some United States lawmakers have denounced the move, which was first announced Friday. They have accused Israel of trying to silence criticism and of subduing the documentation of alleged human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Some in Israel welcomed the measure as one that counters "terrorist entities," while others, mainly Israeli rights organizations, criticized it.

Israel has accused the groups of concealing their true aims and promoting the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The small secular party, which has a militant wing, is part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

According to Friday's statement by the Defense Ministry, "Those organizations were active under the cover of civic society organizations, but in practice belong and constitute an arm of the [PFLP] leadership, the main activity of which is the liberation of Palestine and destruction of Israel."

The PFLP is listed as a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the European Union.

The Defense Ministry also accused the groups of raising funds for the PFLP, particularly through aid via European donor countries, United Nations organizations and other entities.

However, it didn't publicly provide evidence to support the claims.

Shawan Jabarin, director of the al-Haq human rights group, has rejected the Israeli Ministry of Defense's accusations

Prominent rights groups targeted

The institutions named include some of the most prominent Palestinian human rights organizations such as Al-Haq, which has long documented alleged human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian Territories by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Another organization targeted is Addameer, which advocates for the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The other four organizations are Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees.

Al-Haq on Saturday hosted a joint press conference with other civil society organizations in Ramallah, denying the charges and calling on the international community to publicly condemn Israel's decision.

Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq's general director, said: "This is a political decision [by Israel] and not a security one."

"This decision comes in a series of institutionalized practices aiming at smearing Palestinian human rights NGOs and human rights defenders, silencing them on the international level, targeting their work, and draining their resources," he added.
Severe consequences at play

Israel's counter-terror legislation allows the government to outlaw the organizations. It can close their offices, seize their financial assets, arrest staff members and prosecute those funding them.

This not only puts their employees at potential risk of prosecution, but it also carries the possibility of criminalizing the work of civil society groups in general, observers say.

Israel's decision could also pose a challenge for international donors — among them European and German institutions — that aid Palestinian nongovernmental organizations.

"It creates a lot of uncertainty and raises serious questions," said an international development worker in Ramallah who works on projects with Palestinian society groups, and who spoke with DW on the condition of anonymity.

European governments could find themselves accused of funding terrorism if they continue to provide financial support to any of those organizations.

Groups such as Addameer, which provides legal advice to political prisoners, called the move "appalling and unjust."

The Defense Ministry's decision came as some EU member states have been trying to rekindle relations with Israel since the new coalition government came into office.

"We take this very seriously, are looking into allegations, and are in touch with Israeli partners to seek clarification," EU spokesperson Peter Stano said Monday in Brussels.

"EU funding to Palestinian civil society organizations is an important element of our support for the two-state solution," he said, adding that the bloc would continue to "stand by international law and support civil society."

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh is due in Brussels this week for a scheduled meeting with European officials.

The UN's Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings also expressed concern on Monday, saying, "These designations add to increasing pressures on civil society organizations across the occupied Palestinian Territory more broadly."

She further stated an intent to "engage with the Israeli authorities to learn more about the allegations."
Calls for evidence grow

Israel has previously claimed that the PFLP obtained funds through civil society organizations affiliated with its members, or that employees with alleged ties to the group have been involved in terror attacks against Israeli citizens.

An EU statement on Monday said, "Past allegations of the misuse of EU funds in relation to certain number of our Palestinian civil society organizations' partners have not been substantiated," adding that the "EU remains engaged with the Israeli authorities on this issue."



The announcement also stirred controversy within Israel's coalition government, which is comprised of parties from the right, center, and left, as well as an Arab party. On Sunday, the left-wing Meretz Party questioned the move by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who signed the order.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz of the Meretz Party said he had asked Gantz to present the government with the findings that led to the decision.

Israeli media had reported an unnamed security official as saying there was "clear-cut" evidence against the organizations.

A similar request was made by the US administration. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Friday told reporters that the US had not been "given advanced warning" of the decision, and that it expected "more information" from Israel.

This was refuted by reports in the Israeli media, which quoted an unnamed Israeli official claiming that Israel had informed some US officials of the impending decision.

An Israeli delegation — among them officials from the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service — are expected to travel to the US this week to present classified evidence supporting Israel's decision.

Turkey's hazelnut farmers fume at Nutella 'monopoly'

Fulya OZERKAN
Tue, October 26, 2021, 9:13 PM·4 min read

Kneeling from dawn till dusk, the Turkish farmers picking most of the hazelnuts going into Nutella spreads complain of exploitation and meagre pay, setting up a clash over labour rights.

The little heart-shaped nut making Nutella such a guilty pleasure is a cherished commodity in Turkey, which accounts for 82 percent of global exports.

But this love is not shared by Mehmet Sirin, a 25-year-old from Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast who travels to lush northern valleys filled with hazelnut trees to make a living during harvest season.

"We work 12 hours a day. This is a demanding job," said Sirin, a hood protecting him from a cold drizzle covering the leafy ground where the hazelnuts hide after ripening and falling from the trees.

"The hazelnuts we pick go abroad and come back in the shape of Nutella. They make more profits than us. This is exploitation," he said in the Black Sea town of Akyazi.

The world-famous spread is made by Italy's Ferrero confectionary, Turkey's top hazelnut purchaser. The global giant's other sweets include Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Kinder chocolate eggs.

But the Italian company is developing ill will in Turkey, where farmers get paid roughly 12 euros ($14) a day collecting nuts off the ground and stuffing them into huge sacks they then lug on their backs.

"They have a monopoly, they have a free hand," said Aydin Simsek, 43, a local producer watching his dozen or so workers pick nuts out of the corner of his eye.

"You see our conditions, how hard we work," he said, explaining that the price he gets for a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of hazelnuts has dropped to 22.5 liras ($2.30).

"This year, I will not sell my hazelnuts to Ferrero," he said.

- 'Market dynamics' -

Ferrero has six facilities and employs more than 1,000 people in Turkey, where it has been sourcing hazelnuts across the agriculture-rich country's northern Black Sea regions for the past 35 years.

In 2014, it acquired Turkey's Oltan Group -- a local market leader that procures, processes and sells nuts.

A Ferrero spokesman told AFP that the Italian company does not directly "own or manage farms in Turkey and does not source hazelnuts directly from farmers".

It "procures the hazelnuts it needs for its products respecting free market regulations and based on market dynamics," the Ferrero spokesman said.

This argument leaves the Turkish farmers unimpressed.

"For God's sake, they buy hazelnuts for 22 to 23 liras a kilo and sell them for 23 dollars," the Turkish Chambers of Agriculture's Istanbul branch president Omer Demir fumed.

"Turkey exports about 300,000 tonnes of hazelnut to the world. How strange that only foreign companies earn profits from this business," he said with bitter irony.

Demir said Ferrero and other global companies sourcing Turkey's hazelnuts provide tools and fertilisers for the farmers, paying for their harvests in advance.

They "are running their own show", Demir said, calling on Turkey's competition authority to intervene.

"Otherwise, they will control everything everywhere and we will come to a point where we cannot sell our product to anyone else but them," Demir said.

- 'I needed the cash'-

Producer Cabbar Saka already feels like he has no choice, selling his entire month's harvest to traders working on behalf of the Italian company.

"I needed the cash because my daughter was getting married," Saka said.

"Producers are scared of speaking out against Ferrero," said Sener Bayraktar, who heads Akyazi's chamber of agriculture.

"They fear that if they speak out, they will no longer be able sell their hazelnuts."

For a solution, Bayraktar wants the Turkish Grain Board -- a state regulator that oversees pricing, storage and payments -- to raise its quotas so that producers can sell more nuts, diversifying their client base.

The Turkish government has said it is ready to help, raising local hopes.

In Akyazi, where farmers dry their harvest on tarpaulins spread across their front yards, producer Simsek said he wants to break his dependence on the Italians as soon as he can.

"Had Nutella been buying our hazelnuts on fair terms, if it didn't oppress us, we would be proud and eat it ourselves," he said.

"But the way they operate, we can't stomach Nutella anymore."

ach-fo/zak/dl

 

Turkey's hazelnut farmers fume at Nutella 'monopoly'Turkish hazelnut producer Aydin Simsek says Nutella has "a monopoly, they have a free hand" (AFP/Ozan KOSE)

Dozens arrested as Indigenous people lead mass Ecuador protests

Demonstrators are unhappy at the economic policies of the country’s conservative president and want fuel price hikes reversed.

People march in protest against the economic policies of conservative Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso, days after he raised fuel prices, in Guayaquil

 [Vicente Gaibor del Pino/Reuters]

By Vincent Ricci
Published On 26 Oct 2021

Quito, Ecuador – As dawn broke in the early hours of October 26, Ecuador’s Indigenous communities had already started the most recent “paro nacional”, or national shutdown in English, by bringing main transit arteries to a halt in the countryside to mark the beginning of a day of protest against a hike in fuel prices.

The demonstrators wanted to peacefully enter the heavily-fortified presidential palace, but metal fences and riot police blocked the streets leading to the building.

Indigenous and other social collectives have been demanding conservative President Guillermo Lasso reverse the spike in fuel costs announced last week.

“A few days ago, the president labelled me a destabiliser,” Leonidas Iza, the president of the Confederation Indigenous Nationalities, or CONAIE, told reporters.

“Ecuadorians do not have time for this: We’re all concerned about the economic issues.”

In a press briefing after demonstrations in Quito had ended, Interior Minister Alexandra Vela said the majority of demonstrations nationwide were peaceful on Tuesday, but identified a group believed to have been aggressive against riot police resulting in agents firing tear gas in Santo Domingo Plaza to disperse the crowds.

Vela said 37 people were detained by police throughout the day.

CONAIE also announced seven resolutions following the day of protests, among them preparations for a second day of demonstrations and reiterated its demand that fuel prices be reduced to the levels they were in June.

Under pressure from CONAIE and Indigenous legislators, Lasso announced last week he was freezing the monthly increases of fuel prices, but fixed new prices slightly higher than those that had been expected to go into effect in October with petrol a fixed $2.55 a gallon ($0.67 a litre) and diesel $1.90 a gallon ($0.50 a litre)

.

Security forces stand guard as Indigenous people block the Pan-American Highway in Panzaleo, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on October 26, 2021 [Rodrigo Buendia/ AFP]

“We have listened to you, the people, and also to political and social sectors to reach an agreement which brings us stability, in which the economy and grow and create jobs,” Lasso said in a message to the country Friday.

CONAIE rejected the president’s announcement and said protests would go forward as planned.

Now more than five months on the job, Lasso faces a migration crisis of Ecuadorians leaving for the US-Mexico border and a bloody gang war in the prison system.

With just days before the COP26 climate summit begins in Glasgow, environmentalists have also lambasted the president for committing to double Ecuador’s oil production during his term, setting up the prospect of a confrontation between remote Indigenous communities in the Amazon and state security forces

.

An Indigenous woman looks over the scene at a roadblock in Ecuador’s center-Andean province Cotopaxi on October 26, 2021 [Juan Diego Montenegro/Al Jazeera]

Lasso did not appear in front of the legislative committee’s investigation on the Pandora Papers last week and has denied wrongdoing after being named in last month’s report. The national prosecutor’s office also launched a probe in Lasso’s offshore holdings.

With the intention to combat crime and drug-related violence, Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency last Monday. The decree allows for the rapid deployment of the police and armed forces to conduct routine checkpoints in hotspots.
But organisations have condemned the move as an attempt to quell Tuesday’s planned demonstrations and shutdown  

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An apparent standoff between demonstrators and police in Panzaleo, Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador, on October 26, 2021, during a protest against the economic policies of the government 

[Rodrigo Buendia/ AFP]

Speaking to reporters in Quito on October 19, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken supported Lasso’s security declaration but said “these measures need to be taken pursuant to the Constitution.”

“[The measures] need to be very focused in what they’re seeking to achieve and finite in duration and … follow and proceed in a way that upholds democratic principles,” said Blinken during a three-day visit to Ecuador and its neighbour to the north, Colombia.

Tensions between Lasso and CONAIE have escalated for months and on October 4, a meeting at the presidential palace between the two sides resulted in a deadlock with no viable solution for bringing down fuel prices and oil exploration in Ecuador’s rainforest.

In October 2019, there was a 10-day nationwide shutdown after then-President Lenin Moreno implemented an austerity package that would have cut decades-old fuel subsidies.

Forced to backtrack by overwhelming social discontent, Moreno signed an executive decree allowing for gradual monthly increases in the price of fuel beginning in May 2020.

Lasso inherited the problem of fuel price rises, which has continued to shape Ecuador’s political, economic and social landscape.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Indigenous Ecuadorans vow more protests over economic policies




Paula Lopez and Santiago Piedra Silva, Paola Lopez and Santiago Piedra Silva
Tue, October 26, 2021

Indigenous Ecuadorans said they will protest for a second day Wednesday over soaring fuel prices, as the country grapples with a state of emergency and an ailing economy.

The nationwide protests -- the largest in the five months of conservative President Guillermo Lasso's administration -- were fueled by a 12 percent increase in fuel prices.

"We are going to continue to a second day of mobilization and resistance at the national level," said Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).

At least 37 arrests have been made and five police officers wounded in the unrest, authorities said. Two soldiers who were captured by protesters in an Andean village were in good health.

Officials said about 1,500 indigenous people, students and workers marched Tuesday in the capital Quito, with the demonstration ending in clashes near the presidential palace between rock-throwing protesters and police, who responded by firing tear gas.

"This is the beginning of a progressive strike. Everything depends on the government, it must freeze fuel prices, reduce the cost of living," William Bastantes, a 48-year-old professor at the Central University, told AFP.

One young protester was injured on the forehead after being hit with a tear gas canister, according to an AFP journalist, while press freedom organization Fundamedios said a reporter had been hit in the leg by a rubber bullet fired by police.

"It was possible to control the demonstrations," tweeted Lasso, an ex-banker whose center-right economic policies are viewed with suspicion by many.

"This government guarantees the right to protest, when it is peaceful and occurs within the framework of the law," the 65-year-old added.

- 'Crushing our populations' -

The unrest comes as Ecuador battles economic collapse worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, widespread popular discontent, violent crime blamed on drug gangs, and corruption allegations against Lasso.

"I came for my three children, who have been unemployed since last year. They helped me to eat and we are all suffering, we are desperate," 58-year-old Maria Elena Ponce told AFP.

Protesters disrupted traffic in five of Ecuador's 24 provinces.

"We have collectively taken this decision (to protest) in the face of the new economic measures that are increasingly crushing our populations, our transport workers and our communities," protest organizer Julio Cesar Pilalumbo told AFP.

"We will resist and we will not give in to any repression," he said at a roadblock in Zumbahua in central Ecuador, where poncho-wearing protesters armed with spades and sticks joined others moving large stones to block traffic.

Fuel prices have nearly doubled since last year.

Last Friday, Lasso announced another price hike to $1.90 for a gallon (3.8 liters) of diesel -- up from $1 in 2020 -- and $2.55 for petrol.

He vowed it would be the last increase, but this was not enough to assuage anger with economic policy in a country that exports oil but imports much of the fuel it consumes.

Protesters under the umbrella of Conaie want the price capped at $1.50 for diesel and $2 for petrol.

Poverty affects about 47 percent of Ecuadorans; nearly a third do not have full-time work.

Teacher Fabiola Gualotuna, among the protesters in Zumbahua, said she felt let down by Lasso.

"He said he is going to raise teachers' salaries," she told AFP. "Some of us teachers... earn a pittance. It is not fair."

Lasso is facing a parliamentary investigation over Pandora Papers revelations that he allegedly hid millions in assets overseas.

- State of emergency -

Conaie is credited with helping topple three presidents between 1997 and 2005, and in 2019 led successful protests against the government's scrapping of fuel subsidies.

Indigenous people represent 7.4 percent of the country's 17.7 million inhabitants.

Lasso had declared a 60-day state of emergency last week to tackle rising crime and violence blamed on duelling drug traffickers in the country nestled between the world's two biggest cocaine producers: Colombia and Peru.

The state of emergency, decreed after some 240 gang-aligned inmates were killed in horrific prison clashes since January, allows for deployment of troops to help fight a crime wave that last week also claimed Ecuador's 200m sprint world bronze medalist Alex Quinonez in a shooting in Guayaquil.

pld-sp/rsr/dga/mlr/mlm/dva/jah

Burkina Faso's silent refugee crisis

More than a million people are fleeing terror and violence in Burkina Faso, and their numbers are growing. Many are left to fend for themselves as they struggle to survive.

People flee their homes for fear of terrorists

Jacob Ouermi does not like to talk about what his family has gone through. He, his wife Elisabet Simpore and their seven children lived in a village in northern Burkina Faso — until the violence started.

"People were kidnapped, so we fled and didn't take anything with us," said Ouermi, sitting on a narrow wooden bench in the shade of a tree by a small house in the provincial capital of Ouahigouya, a three-hour drive northwest of the capital, Ouagadougou.

Jacob Ouermi (middle) alongside other refugees

At first, Ouermi and his family relocated to a village next to the one they came from. "But there, it was just as bad," he recalled. "First my wife and children stayed. Then my wife tried to retrieve some of our belongings," he said. Ouermi soon left because he couldn't stand the violence. "They killed many people, including my neighbors. I was just too scared."
Unknown attackers

Less than a year ago, the family eventually moved on to Ouahigouya. At night, unfamiliar sounds still make them uneasy. The provincial capital is one of the few cities in the north that is still reasonably safe to reach by car, unlike the surrounding towns and villages. Even convoys that are assumed to be protected are attacked. Ouermi has no idea who the attackers are. "We call them terrorists. We don't even know who is who," he shrugged.

Various terrorist groups operate in Burkina Faso, including the al-Qaeda linked group Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which originated in Mali, and the so-called Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (EIGS), which is active in the border region with Niger in the east. Outlaws take advantage of the bad security situation and also carry out attacks.

Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde is responsible for a million refugees

The situation is increasingly driving people away from their homes. At the end of August, more than 1.4 million people were displaced in Burkina Faso, according to government figures. The problem is no longer confined to one region, said Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) country director.
People are wary

Burkina Faso was long considered a model state where different ethnic and religious groups lived together peacefully. But that has changed, said Jacob Ouermi, pointing out that the country's many problems have given rise to "a lot of mistrust."

The refugee crisis has aggravated poverty in a country that has always ranked low on the United Nations Development Index — currently, it stands at 182 out of 189 countries. There are hardly any permanent jobs and many people are small farmers. "We simply exist, there is nothing to do and if we aren't given food, we have nothing to eat," said Ouermi. The locals in Ouahigouya have provided refugees with small fields but the land does not yield enough to feed a family.

Some refugees have found a new home in emergency shelters

Education is another problem. The Ouermi family's older children have already missed several years of school. State schools are already overcrowded — and that situation does not take internally displaced persons (IDPs) into account. This school year, 2,244 educational institutions remained closed because of terrorist attacks. Nearly 54% of IDPs are younger than 14, says the UN's Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde.

"They are waiting to go back to school. School is the key to creating a future for these children," he said. Aid organizations have launched a number of projects to make up for missed lessons, but it's not enough.
Trying to survive on €1.50 a day

Sandrine Kabore's children are still too young to go to school. She and her daughters, Maimata and Cherifatou, live on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. They fled to the capital from the town of Kaya, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Ouagadougou.

Kabore's husband works in Ivory Coast and sends the equivalent of between €15 ($17) and €25 every few months. Sandrine, 19, is constantly on the lookout for jobs. Sometimes she makes €1.50 a day as a laundress, sometimes less — sometimes there is no job.

Sandrine Kabore tries to make do as best she can

The family lives in an emergency shelter that Adama Sawadogo, an internally displaced person from Djibo, built with donations. It consists of two buildings with 18 rooms that are 16 square meters (172 square feet) each. In 2019, there were times when 78 households lived in the shelter, said Sawadogo, "at least four women with nine or 10children slept in every room."

Kabore is hoping to find new housing — the shelter, she said, is infested with mice and cockroaches, and the walls leak. Officially, 1,051 IDPs live in the central region, which includes Ouagadougou. But many people are not registered, so they are not recognized as displaced.

The refugee crisis has also long since reached neighboring countries. "Between 20,000 and 25,000 Burkinabe live in Mali," according to Gnon-Konde, who added that 12,000-to-15,000 have found asylum in Niger, 4,000-to-5,000 live in northern Benin and about 5,000 in Ivory Coast. Increasingly, young Burkinabe are seeking asylum in Europe.

The UNHCR doesn't have the funds to take care of all the refugees, said Gnon-Konde, adding that only a fourth of the roughly $602 million needed for 2021 is currently funded. "Europe is already doing a lot," he said. "And we would like that to continue — what happens here concerns everyone."

This article has been translated from German


Bangladesh: Gang violence in Rohingya refugee camps prompt fear

Violence has been on the rise in the country's sprawling cluster of refugee settlements, with armed gangs vying for power and kidnapping opponents.


Violence in the settlements has taken the lives of at least 89 Rohingya since their mass exodus from Myanmar in August 2017

Growing conflicts among armed criminal gangs inside overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh have alarmed authorities.

At least six people were killed and 20 wounded in an attack at a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar on Friday, police said — the latest incident of violence in the refugee settlement.

The gang shot and stabbed people attending an Islamic school in the camp, killing three teachers, two volunteers and a student, according to police.

In September, the murder of a prominent civilian Rohingya leader exposed growing conflicts among armed criminal gangs inside the sprawling settlements.

Mohibullah, 48, was killed in his office by unknown gunmen in a camp. The teacher had become a leading voice for the stateless community, uniting refugees to return to Myanmar if the Buddhist-majority country offered them citizenship. The attackers are yet to be identified.

PM: Rohingyas pose 'a huge security threat'

Conflicts within the camps have taken the lives of at least 89 Rohingya since the mass exodus in August 2017, when more than 730,000 Rohingya fled from Myanmar's Rakhine State to neighbouring Bangladesh following sweeping military retaliation to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police posts and an army base.

A further 109 refugees, who were allegedly involved in drug trafficking, were killed by Bangladeshi security forces in the so-called crossfires in 2018.

Bangladesh has been considered a safe haven for many Rohingya Muslims who have sought refuge to save themselves from the crackdowns launched by Myanmar's security forces. The Buddhist-majority country doesn't recognize the minority group as citizens and limits their freedom in the country.

But in June, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Rohingyas were increasingly "posing a huge security threat to Bangladesh as well as the region."

'Only a small part is involved'

Nur Khan, a human rights activist who has been monitoring the security situation in Cox's Bazar, says the main forms of criminal activity taking place in the camps include drug trafficking, human trafficking and abduction.

He thinks at least three armed Rohingya criminal gangs are currently fighting for control of the camps in Bangladesh.

"Although the conflicts have been taking place inside the camps so far, it could spread outside in the future," Khan told DW.

"These armed groups might try to buy arms from local and international traffickers through sea routes, which could deteriorate the security situation in Cox's Bazar drastically," he said, adding: "They might even sell some of those arms to local Bangladeshi criminals."

As the country's security forces have intensified operations inside the camps to crackdown on armed groups, Khan fears criminals might attack in retaliation.

"I have seen some online messages of the criminal groups where they have shown interest in attacking the Bangladeshi security forces, something that has never happened in the past," he underlined.

But the human rights activist stressed that "only a small" group of Rohingya refugees with past criminal records were involved in the conflicts.

Fears of radicalization grow

While there has been no sign of Rohingya refugees getting involved in terrorism or linking themselves with Bangladeshi or transborder extremist religious groups, some have expressed concerns the situation could change in the future.

"Unfortunately, in South Asia, it's not unheard of for refugees to be accused of involvement in terrorism. This allegation has been used against Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and in India, Muslim migrants have been viewed as security threats," Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, told DW.

Kugelman thinks some Rohingya refugees may have been "radicalized" by their horrific treatment at the hands of the Myanmar military, but says it's a tiny minority.

"Most Rohingya refugees, and especially those in Bangladesh, are more concerned about survival and providing for their families than about plotting violent attacks," he added.

A Rohingya expert who wished to remain anonymous told DW refugees "know very well" that any "wrong move" in Bangladesh could jeopardize their "safe haven."

"I haven't seen any activity by refugees in Cox's Bazar that could suggest they have an interest in terrorism or extremism in Bangladesh's territory. Therefore, I don’t think that they could become a security threat to Bangladesh and the region," the expert told DW.

PM Hasina calls for 'dignified repatriation'

Bangladesh has spent a fair amount of money on improving conditions for Rohingya refugees, including on the isolated island of Bhashan Char where many have been sent to in recent months.

"My sense is that to improve its global image, which has suffered in recent years as it has taken an authoritarian turn, the Bangladesh government is keen to project a humane and soft side through its treatment of Rohingya on its soil," Kugelman said.

"That's why we're not seeing Dhaka take a more muscular and aggressive position on the Rohingya, even as it has cracked down relentlessly against the political opposition and dissent," Kugelman said.

But as Bangladesh increasingly struggles to manage its refugee influx, it appears Dhaka is taking a turn.

In June, Prime Minister Hasina urged the international community to help speed up the Rohingya repatriation process.

"We've sheltered them on humanitarian grounds but such a huge population can't be lodged for an indefinite period … I ask the world community to assist us in dignified and peaceful repatriation of the Rohingyas," the Dhaka Tribune, an English-language Bangladesh newspaper, quoted Hasina as saying in a pre-recorded speech at the IX Moscow Conference on International Security in June.

THE LAST TIME THE LEFT WAS INTO ARMED STRUGGLE
’70s radical David Gilbert granted parole in Brink’s robbery
By MICHAEL HILL and KAREN MATTHEWS

 In this Nov. 23, 1981, file photo, law officials escort a handcuffed David Gilbert, second from left, from Rockland County Court in New City, N.Y. Former Weather Underground radical David Gilbert has been granted parole after decades in prison for his role in a fatal 1981 Brink’s robbery north of New York City, a corrections department spokesperson said Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. 

(AP Photo/David Handschuh, File)


ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Former Weather Underground radical David Gilbert has been granted parole after 40 years behind bars for his role in a deadly 1981 Brink’s robbery that was a violent echo of left-wing extremism born in the 1960s, the state corrections department said Tuesday.

Gilbert, 76, has been imprisoned since shortly after the infamously botched armored car robbery in which a guard and two police officers were killed. He became eligible for parole only after his 75 years-to-life sentence was shortened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August, hours before he left office.

Gilbert appeared before the state parole board Oct. 19 and was subsequently granted parole, Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the New York state corrections department, said Tuesday.

He will be able to leave Shawangunk Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley next month.

Supporters — including his son, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin — lobbied to have Gilbert join other defendants in the case who have been released from prison.

In an email, Boudin said, “I am so grateful to the parole board and to everyone who has supported my father during his more than 40 years in prison. I’m thinking about the other children affected by this crime and want to make sure that nothing I do or say further upsets the victims’ families. Their loved ones will never be forgotten.”

But even the prospect of Gilbert’s release had angered some local officials in the Hudson Valley and family members who said his release would insult the memory of the slain men.

In a statement, Rockland County Executive Ed Day called the decision a “cruel and unjust slap in the face to the families” of those killed.

“Former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Parole Board should be ashamed for allowing this domestic terrorist to walk free on our streets,” Day said. “There’s no reason that David Gilbert should not have to face the full consequences of his heinous crimes, no matter how much time has passed.”

Gilbert and other former members of the Weather Underground, a militant group that grew out of the anti-Vietnam War movement, had joined with members of the Black Liberation Army in the Oct. 20, 1981, robbery. They stole $1.6 million in cash from an armored car outside the Nanuet Mall near the Hudson River community of Nyack.

Brink’s guard Peter Paige and two Nyack police officers, Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown, were killed in the holdup and ensuing shootout at a nearby roadblock.

Though unarmed, Gilbert was charged with robbery and murder, since people were killed during the crime. Also charged was Chesa Boudin’s mother, Kathy Boudin. The boy was 14 months old when his parents were imprisoned.

In a sometimes raucous trial, Gilbert and two other defendants cast themselves as freedom fighters and deemed the proceedings illegitimate. At one court session, Gilbert and defendant Judith Clark raised their fists and shouted “Free the land!”

Kathy Boudin avoided a harsher sentence by pleading guilty and was paroled in 2003. Clark was granted parole in 2019, three years after Cuomo commuted her sentence. She had been denied parole after her first hearing two years earlier.

Gilbert was not eligible for parole until 2056 before Cuomo commuted his sentence. The former governor said Gilbert made significant contributions to AIDS education and prevention programs, and worked as a tutor, law library clerk, paralegal assistant, teacher’s aide and aide in various prison programs.

Chesa Boudin was raised by his parents’ Weather Underground compatriots, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

He ran a progressive campaign for San Francisco district attorney in 2019 in which he said visiting his parents in prison showed him the criminal justice system was broken.

___

Matthews reported from New York City.

Civil rights pioneer seeks expungement of ’55 arrest record

By JAY REEVES

1 of 9
Claudette Colvin, seated, watches as her attorney Gar Blume files paperwork in juvenile court to have her juvenile record expunged, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in Montgomery, Ala. Colvin was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus in 1955. Behind Colvin wearing a red tie is Fred Gray, her original attorney from the civil rights era. 

(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Months before Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern civil rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus, Black teenager Claudette Colvin did the same. Convicted of assaulting a police officer while being arrested, she was placed on probation yet never received notice that she’d finished the term and was on safe ground legally.

Now 82 and slowed by age, Colvin has asked a judge to end the matter once and for all. She wants a court in Montgomery to wipe away a record that her lawyer says has cast a shadow over the life of a largely unsung hero of the civil rights era.

“I am an old woman now. Having my records expunged will mean something to my grandchildren and great grandchildren. And it will mean something for other Black children,” Colvin said in a sworn statement.

Supporters sang civil rights anthems and clapped as Colvin entered the clerk’s office and filed the expungement request Tuesday. Her attorney, Phillip Ensler, said he was seeking all legal documents to be sealed and all records of the case erased.

Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey later said he agreed with the request to clear Colvin’s record, removing any doubt it would be approved.

“I guess you can say that now I am no longer a juvenile delinquent,” Colvin told a crowd that included relatives, well wishers and activists.

Also present was famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray, now 90, who’s not currently involved in her case.

In this Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, file photo, Bronx resident Claudette Colvin talks about segregation laws in the 1950s in Alabama while having her photo taken, in New York. Months before Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat and move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus, Black teenager Colvin did the same. Convicted of assaulting a police officer while being arrested, Colvin was placed on probation yet never received notice that she'd finished the term and was on safe ground legally. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

Recalling her arrest, Colvin told the crowd: “My mindset was on freedom.”

“So I was not going to move that day,” she said. “I told them that history had me glued to the seat.”

Colvin left Alabama at age 20 and spent decades in New York, but relatives always worried what might happen when she returned for visits since no court official ever said she had finished probation, according to Ensler.

“Her family has lived with this tremendous fear ever since then,” he said. “For all the recognition of recent years and the attempts to tell her story, there wasn’t anything done to clear her record.”

Currently living in Birmingham before a move to stay with relatives in Texas, the octogenarian Colvin made her request to a juvenile court judge oddly enough since that’s where she was judged delinquent and placed on what, for all practical purposes, amounted to a lifetime of probation, Ensler said.

Montgomery’s city bus system, like the rest of public life across the Deep South, was strictly divided along racial lines in the 1950s. Blacks had to use one water fountain while whites used another; the front of a bus was for white people while Blacks had to take the back by law.

Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and activist with the NAACP, gained worldwide fame after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man on Dec. 1, 1955. Her treatment led to the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott, which propelled the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. into the national limelight and often is considered the start of the modern civil rights movement.

A 15-year-old high school student at the time, Colvin got fed up and refused to move even before Parks.

A bus driver called police on March 2, 1955, to complain that two Black girls were sitting near two white girls and refused to move to the back of the bus. One of the Black girls moved when asked, a police report said, but Colvin refused.

The police report said Colvin put up a struggle as officers removed her from the bus, kicking and scratching an officer. She was initially convicted of violating the city’s segregation law, disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer, but she appealed and only the assault charge stuck.

The case was sent to juvenile court because of Colvin’s age, and records show a judge found her delinquent and placed her on probation “as a ward of the state pending good behavior.” And that’s where it ended, Ensler said, with Colvin never getting official word that she’d completed probation and her relatives assuming the worst — that police would arrest her for any reason they could.

Ensler said it’s “murky” as to whether Colvin is actually still on probation, but she never had any other arrests or legal scrapes. She even became a named plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit that outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery’s buses. Still, Colvin said, the trauma endured, particularly for relatives who constantly worried for her.

“My conviction for standing up for my constitutional right terrorized my family and relatives who knew only that they were not to talk about my arrest and conviction because people in town knew me as ‘that girl from the bus,’” she said.

Ensler said it was uncertain when a judge might rule.

___

Reeves is a member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team.

COACHING IS ABUSE

Blackhawks GM resigns, team fined after sexual assault probe

By JAY COHEN and STEPHEN WHYNO

In this July 26, 2019, file photo, Chicago Blackhawks senior vice president and general manager Stan Bowman speaks to the media during the NHL hockey team's convention in Chicago. Bowman resigned Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, following an investigation into allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player in 2010. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks mishandled allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010, according to an investigation commissioned by the franchise that cast a shadow over the NHL on Tuesday.

Stan Bowman, Chicago’s general manager and president of hockey operations, resigned in the wake of the findings by an outside law firm, and the NHL fined the team $2 million for “the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response.” Al MacIsaac, one of the team’s top hockey executives, also is out.

Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville and Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who were with the Blackhawks when the sexual assault allegations were first reported, were named in the damning report as well.

The Panthers declined to comment, citing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s plans to meet with Quenneville. Cheveldayoff said he shared everything he knows with Jenner & Block for its report.

“Further, I look forward to my discussion with Commissioner Bettman at the soonest possible date to continue to cooperate fully with the National Hockey League,” Cheveldayoff said in a statement provided by the Jets to AP. “I will reserve any further comment until after that conversation has been conducted.”

The Blackhawks hired Jenner & Block to conduct what they called an independent review in response to two lawsuits filed against the franchise: one by a player identified as John Doe alleging sexual assault by then-assistant coach Brad Aldrich in 2010 and another filed by a former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.

The report, which team CEO Danny Wirtz called “both disturbing and difficult to read,” was released by the franchise. Former federal prosecutor Reid Schar, who led the investigation, said the firm found no evidence that Wirtz or his father, Rocky, who owns the team, were aware of the allegations before the former player’s lawsuit was brought to their attention ahead of its filing.

“It is clear that in 2010 the executives of this organization put team performance above all else,” Danny Wirtz said. “John Doe deserved better from the Blackhawks.”

In a statement released through his attorney, Susan Loggans, John Doe said he was “grateful for the accountability” shown by the Blackhawks.

“Although nothing can truly change the detriment to my life over the past decade because of the actions of one man inside the Blackhawks organization, I am very grateful to have the truth be recognized, and I look forward to continuing the long journey to recovery,” John Doe said.

Danny Wirtz said he has instructed the organization’s lawyers to try to “reach a fair resolution consistent with the totality of the circumstances.” But Loggans said there hadn’t been any settlement talks.

“I’m waiting to see if there’s any action behind their repentance that they expressed today,” she told The Associated Press.

Bowman, the son of Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, said he was stepping aside because he didn’t want to be a distraction. He also resigned his position as GM of the U.S men’s hockey team at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Eleven years ago, while serving in my first year as general manager, I was made aware of potential inappropriate behavior by a then-video coach involving a player,” he said in a statement released by the Blackhawks. “I promptly reported the matter to the then-president and CEO who committed to handling the matter.

“I learned this year that the inappropriate behavior involved a serious allegation of sexual assault. I relied on the direction of my superior that he would take appropriate action. Looking back, now knowing he did not handle the matter promptly, I regret assuming he would do so.”

According to the report, the encounter between John Doe, then 20, and Aldrich, then 27, occurred on May 8 or 9 in 2010. Doe told investigators that Aldrich threatened him with a souvenir baseball bat before forcibly performing oral sex on him and masturbating on the player’s back, allegations that he also detailed in a lawsuit. Aldrich told investigators the encounter was consensual.

On May 23, right after Chicago advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, Bowman, MacIsaac, former team president John McDonough, former executive vice president Jay Blunk and then-assistant general manager Cheveldayoff met with then-coach Quenneville and mental skills coach Jim Gary to discuss the allegations. (McDonough and Blunk are no longer employed in the NHL.)

Schar said accounts of the meeting “vary significantly.”

“What is clear is that after being informed of Aldrich’s alleged sexual harassment and misconduct with a player no action was taken for three weeks,” Schar said.

According to the report, Bowman recalled that, after learning of the incident, Quenneville shook his head and said it was hard for the team to get to where it was, and they could not deal with this issue now.

The report found no evidence of any investigation or contact with human resources before McDonough informed the team’s director of human resources about the allegations on June 14 — a delay that violated the Blackhawks’ sexual harassment policy and had “consequences,” according to Schar.

“During that period, Aldrich continued to work with and travel with the team,” Schar said. “On June 10th, during an evening of celebration after the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup win the previous day, Aldrich made an unwanted sexual advance towards a Blackhawks intern, who was 22 years old at the time.

“Also after the Stanley Cup win, Aldrich continued to participate in celebrations in the presence of John Doe, who had made the complaint.”

While announcing in July that he was willing to participate in the team’s probe, Quenneville said in a statement that he “first learned of these allegations through the media earlier this summer.” Cheveldayoff said in a statement that he had no knowledge of the allegations until he was asked if he was aware of anything prior to the end of Aldrich’s employment with the Blackhawks.

Bettman said he would “reserve judgment” on Quenneville and Cheveldayoff, and he plans to meet with them to discuss their roles in the situation.

The NHL said $1 million of the Blackhawks’ fine will help fund organizations in the Chicago area “that provide counseling and training for, and support and assistance to, survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse.”

On June 16, 2010, according to the report, Aldrich was given the option of resigning or being part of an investigation into what happened with John Doe. Aldrich signed a separation agreement and no investigation was conducted.

Aldrich received a severance and a playoff bonus, according to the report, and he was paid a salary “for several months.” He hosted the Stanley Cup for a day in his hometown, and his name was engraved on the iconic trophy.

The former player’s lawsuit, filed May 7 in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges Aldrich also assaulted another unidentified Blackhawks player. The former player who sued and is referred in the document as John Doe is seeking more than $150,000 in damages.

Aldrich was sentenced to nine months in prison for the Michigan assault.

Kyle Davidson was elevated to interim GM for the Blackhawks, and USA Hockey said it expects to announce a replacement for Bowman soon.

___

AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno reported from Washington. AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M  PRICE FIXING
Washington state lawsuit accuses chicken producers of illegally inflating prices

"If you've eaten chicken in the last decade, this conspiracy touched your wallet"

The Washington state lawsuit names 19 chicken producers. 

File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The state of Washington on Tuesday sued 19 chicken producers, accusing them of illegally conspiring to inflate prices, the attorney general announced.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the 19 companies named in the lawsuit account for about 95% of all broiler chicken sales in the United States. Broiler chickens are those raised for meat, including raw chicken sold at grocery stores and those made into chicken nuggets and sandwiches at restaurants.

Ferguson accused the companies of violating the state's Consumer Protection Act by coordinating to reduce supplies and rig contract bids to manipulate and boost prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says broiler chickens had wholesale sales between $21 billion and $33 billion each year from 2008 to 2018.

"If you've eaten chicken in the last decade, this conspiracy touched your wallet," Ferguson said. "This conspiracy cost middle-class and low-income Washington families more money to put food on their table. I will hold these companies accountable for the profits they illegally made off the backs of hardworking Washington families."

The companies named in the suit include Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Sanderson Farms Inc., Perdue Farms Inc., Koch Foods Inc., Foster Farms LLC, Mountaire Farms Inc., Wayne Farms LLC, Amick Farms LLC, George's Inc., Peco Foods Inc., House of Raeford Inc., Fieldale Farms Corp., Case Foods Inc., Mar-Jac Poultry, Claxton Poultry Farms, Simmons Foods Inc., O.K. Foods Inc. and Harrison Poultry Inc.


The lawsuit also names Agri Stats, a company that collects and distributes industry data.

WINNIPEG

WSD support staff fed up with workload, planning job action

Frustrations among support staff, who say they were underpaid and overworked before the pandemic added even more responsibility to their plates, are mounting in Manitoba’s largest school division.

A walkout is on the table amid tense contract negotiations between the Winnipeg School Division and the union that represents educational assistants, interpreters, clerical staff and other support workers in city schools.

“That’s what we feel like: invisible. But if we’re not there, maybe then they’ll notice that we actually exist and we actually do a lot more than we get credit for or get paid for,” said one a member of the Winnipeg Association of Non-Teaching Employees.

The educational assistant, who spoke to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity, said she and her peers are “absolutely fed up.”

She was among the 330 employees who received a layoff notice in spring 2020, when schools shuttered at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon a return to school last fall, she said EAs were overwhelmed by new duties tied to public-health orders and forced to take on more work because of a rise in absences. All the while, she said, they felt “underappreciated and disrespected.”

Data obtained by the Free Press through freedom of information requests show a higher percentage of EAs left their jobs last year than teachers.

During the last academic year unaffected by the pandemic, 140 EAs took a leave from work and 21 resigned from WSD. Last year, those figures increased, by 24 per cent and 119 per cent, respectively. Retirements among support staff were also up five per cent.

Teacher leaves, by comparison, rose seven per cent during that time. Retirements increased eight per cent. And the number of educators who quit their jobs actually dropped, with three fewer resignations recorded in 2020-21 versus 2018-19.

The EA was not surprised by the figures: “There’s a lot more that we had to take on and it’s not like that was noticed,” she said.

The reality support staff faced last year included missing breaks because no coverage was available due to staffing shortages and being unable to properly distance because they often have to sit beside children to work through academic and behavioural challenges.

When public-health orders required physical distancing of two metres between pupils, some classes were split into two or more rooms, with the teacher travelling between. Support staff were deployed to supervise and at times, carry out lessons.

“EAs are not supposed to be in a classroom for more than half an hour without a teacher. All of a sudden, that’s out the window,” said the EA, adding she and her colleagues became the only in-person support for children of essential workers when teachers were sent home to do remote instruction in the third wave.

Another support staffer echoed that experience. “We were basically teachers, not getting teacher wages,” said the substitute EA.

EAs in the division start at $16.72 per hour. Their peers in River East Transcona make $18.96 and in Pembina Trails, the base rate is $20.17.

Last week, WANTE members were polled on what job action they would prefer: work-to-rule, a rotating strike or a general walkout. An official vote on a job-action mandate will take place in the coming weeks.

“We are still negotiating to have a fair contract,” said Carla Paul, president of WANTE.

In an email Friday, division spokeswoman Radean Carter said WSD does not comment on such negotiations.

Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press

Biden set to nominate Rosenworcel for new term at telecoms regulator - sources


FCC commissioners testify before U.S. Congress in Washington

David Shepardson
Mon, October 25, 2021

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to nominate the acting chair of the Federal Communications Commission to serve another term and designate her as the permanent chair, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Biden tapped Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in January to serve as the acting chair of the five-member telecoms regulator. Biden has waited more than nine months to make nominations for the FCC, which has not been able to address some issues because it currently has one vacancy and is divided 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans.

Rosenworcel will be the first woman designated as the permanent chair of the FCC; Mignon Clyburn in 2013 served as acting FCC chair.

Last month, a group of 25 U.S. senators wrote Biden emphasizing their support for Rosenworcel, a former Senate staffer, to be nominated for a new term and to designate her as the first female permanent chair, saying, "further delays will unnecessarily imperil our shared goal of achieving ubiquitous broadband connectivity."

Rosenworcel and her staff did not respond to requests for comment late Monday on the announcement expected as soon as Tuesday. Without being confirmed to a new term, Rosenworcel would need to leave the FCC at the end of the year.

Politico and Communications Daily reported Biden plans to nominate Gigi Sohn for the open FCC seat. Sohn is a former senior aide to Tom Wheeler, who served as an FCC chair under President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Sources told Reuters Sohn is under advanced consideration but did not confirm she would be nominated. Sohn declined to comment Monday.

The FCC under Obama adopted net neutrality rules in 2015 that barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes.

The protections were overturned in 2017 by the FCC under President Donald Trump, a Republican, over the objections of Rosenworcel and Clyburn.

Rosenworcel in 2017 said the decision put the FCC "on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American public."

Supporters of net neutrality argue the protections ensure a free and open internet. Broadband and telecoms trade groups contend their legal basis from the pre-internet era was outdated and would discourage investment.

Rosenworcel has said the lack of broadband access leads to a “homework gap” for lower income Americans because most teachers assign homework that requires Internet access.

Rosenworcel has overseen the FCC's temporary $3.2 billion broadband subsidy program created by Congress in December that now provides more than 6 million lower-income American households or people impacted by COVID-19 with discounts on monthly internet service and on purchasing laptops or tablet computers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Christopher Cushing)

Govt U-turns on dumping of raw sewage in English rivers after huge backlash

26 October 2021

Activist Steve Bray protests outside Downing Street. Picture: Alamy

By Patrick Grafton-Green

The Government has U-turned over the dumping of raw sewage in seas and rivers by pledging to introduce tougher action against water companies.

Environment Secretary George Eustice this evening promised to bolster measures in the Environment Bill by making companies pay legal duty.

It came before a Lords vote which threatened to defeat the Government.

READ MORE: Shocking drone footage shows raw sewage being pumped into sea in conservation area

READ MORE: Campaigners demand end to raw sewage being dumped in rivers after MPs voted not to stop it

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the bill will now "be further strengthened with an amendment that will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows".

The department said the amendment it would bring forward in the Commons would be "very similar to amendment 45" which peers are debating in the House of Lords.

Last week, 268 MPs disagreed with that proposal, which also included putting a legal duty on water companies to stop sewage from being poured into waterways.

This led to a huge backlash.

The amendment had been put forward by crossbench peer the Duke of Wellington and would have forced companies and the Government to "take all reasonable steps" to avoid using sewer overflows when drains are overwhelmed.

Campaigners this week insisted it was unacceptable that raw sewage was put into coastal waters and rivers in England more than 400,000 times in the last year.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "Earlier this summer, the Government published a new strategy for Ofwat mandating them to progressively reduce the discharge of sewage from storm overflows in the next pricing review.

"Following a debate in the House of Commons last week during the final stages of the Environment Bill, today we are announcing that we will put that commitment on a statutory footing with a new clause."

It comes despite a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying earlier today that the intentions of the Duke of Wellington's amendment was "already being delivered".

Labour's shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard said: "It should not have taken a public outcry for this Government to take the scandal of raw sewage being discharged into our rivers seriously.

"Having spent the past few days defending their position, this screeching U-turn will do little to convince the public that the health of our rivers, rather than the health of Conservative polling, is at the forefront of ministers' minds.

"The Government still has no clear plan and no grip on the issue of raw sewage being pumped into our seas and rivers."

Trump's White House ignored advice on COVID-19 that could've saved over 130,000 lives, Birx said

John Haltiwanger

Then-President Donald Trump speaks with Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Robert Redfield, and members of the White House coronavirus task force during a COVID-19 briefing on April 22, 2020.

 Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump's COVID-19 response led to many preventable deaths, Deborah Birx told House lawmakers.

 
Over 130,000 lives could've been saved if Trump's White House followed the science, she said.

 
Birx also testified that the 2020 election distracted Trump from the pandemic.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House COVID-19 response coordinator, in testimony to the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis said that former President Donald Trump's approach to the pandemic led to a massive number of preventable deaths.

"No," Birx said when asked if Trump did everything in his power to curb the spread and save lives, per excerpts of her testimony released by the committee on Tuesday.

"And I've said that to the White House in general, and I believe I was very clear to the president in specifics of what I needed him to do," she added.

Birx, who testified before the committee in mid-October, said that over 130,000 lives could've been saved in the early stages of the pandemic had Trump's White House adhered to the science and pushed for measures advocated by experts.

"I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30% less to 40% less range," Birx said.

She also suggested that the 2020 election distracted Trump and took attention away from the nation's pandemic response.

"The governors and mayors and others that were campaigning, as well as the White House that was campaigning, just took people's time away from and distracted them away from the pandemic in my personal opinion," Birx said. "They were actively campaigning and not as present in the White House as previously."

Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, Trump downplayed the threat of COVID-19 and repeatedly spread misinformation on the virus. He routinely pushed against public health recommendations, including wearing a mask or face covering. Trump during an interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward admitted that he deliberately sought to downplay the dangers of the virus in an effort to avoid inducing "panic."

Top public health experts have excoriated Trump over his pandemic response, saying that his approach led to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

By the time Trump left office, there had been over 400,000 reported COVID-19 deaths in the US.

Scott Atlas defends COVID work, slams Deborah Birx testimony as 'Orwellian attempt to rewrite history'

Birx testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis earlier this month

By Brooke Singman | Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump COVID special advisor Dr. Scott Atlas slammed Dr. Deborah Birx for her reported testimony to congressional investigators as "an Orwellian attempt to rewrite history," defending his work on the Trump COVID-19 task force, and telling Fox News that history's "biggest failure of public health policy lies directly at the hands of" officials who recommended lockdowns during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Birx testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis earlier this month, saying that officials in former President Trump's White House did not take steps to push mask-wearing, social distancing and other mitigation steps that could have prevented thousands of COVID-19 deaths.

MORE GOP BS
SCALISE SAYS GOP MEMO ON CLOSED-DOOR BIRX TESTIMONY CONFIRMS WORLD WAS 'MISLED' ON COVID

Birx also reportedly slammed Atlas, saying he advocated for letting COVID-19 spread through the population to reach herd immunity. The New York Times reported Birx testified that she repeatedly raised her concerns about Atlas' positions and theories to other doctors on the task force.

Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator, speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. 

Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Atlas, defending his work to Fox News, said during his time at the White House, he recommended policies "designed to reduce both the spread of the infection to the vulnerable and the harms of the policies themselves to those impacted the most-- low-income families, the working class of America, and our children."

Atlas, delivering a point-by-point rebuttal to reports of Birx's testimony about his role, told Fox News that her claim that he advised Trump to "let the infection spread widely without mitigation to achieve herd immunity," telling Fox News that "is false."

"I never advised the president, the Task Force, or anyone else while in Washington to allow the virus to spread," Atlas said. "Dozens of my writings and interviews during my Washington service explicitly called for specific mitigations, including social distancing, extra hygiene, and masks when not able to socially distance, and 'focused protection,' a heightened protection of those at risk, to allow a safe opening and end the public health destruction from lockdowns."

US President Donald Trump (L) listens to White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas speak during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on September 23, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Atlas told Fox News that "it is not a surprise that Dr. Birx, the official Task Force Coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from late February, 2020 through January 19, 2021, might want to blame others for the failure of her policies," adding that, in her position, she "held the authority over the official federal advice on medical policy."

Atlas said Birx "personally detailed the state of the pandemic" during all task force meetings, and COVID meetings attended by top Trump advisors, adding that Birx "composed in writing and communicated all recommendations from the Task Force to every state."

"I visited only one state, Florida, during my time in Washington," Atlas said.

HISTORICAL REVISIONISM OF THE ANTI VAX/ANTI MASKER

"It is an Orwellian attempt to rewrite history to blame those who criticized the lockdowns that were widely implemented for the failure of the lockdowns that were widely implemented," he said, adding that Birx's recommendations "were implemented by governors throughout nearly the entire nation during 2020."

"Those policies failed to stop the dying, failed to stop the infection from spreading, and inflicted massive health damage and destruction, particularly on working class and lower-income families and on our children," Atlas told Fox News. "History's biggest failure of public health policy lies directly at the hands of those who recommended the lockdowns and those who implemented them, not on those who advised otherwise. Period."

Atlas jointed the Trump White House COVID-19 Task Force in August 2020 as a special government employee, serving just a 130-day detail. Atlas' role expired in November 2020.

 

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, April 3, 2020, in Washington.

 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Atlas was criticized throughout his time at the White House for advocating for a reopening, while blasting COVID-19 lockdowns as "extremely harmful" to Americans.

MORE LIES 
Meanwhile, last week, Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said a memo by Republican leadership on the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis outlining Birx’s closed-door congressional testimony confirms the world was "misled" on the origins of COVID-19.

"President Biden and Democrats have politicized Covid from the start and refused to acknowledge its origins from China," Scalise told Fox News in a statement. "Republicans have been sounding the alarm on these issues for well over year, and Dr. Birx’s closed-door testimony confirms that the world was misled."

The memo highlights several of Birx’s testimonial revelations, including that there were preventable deaths and that "neither the federal government or state and local governments are doing everything that they could at this moment." According to Republicans on the committee, Birx also testified about the importance of coordinating with state and local leaders.

According to the memo, Birx took aim at China’s role in suppressing information on the virus to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the onset of the pandemic, saying she believes "that there had to be evidence of human-to-human transmission weeks before the WHO or the world was notified" and that China "misled" the world on the virus.

The doctor also said she believed that China was giving false information to the WHO on the virus, resulting in a delay of two weeks before worldwide confirmation of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.

Fox News' Houston Keene contributed to this report.