It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Federal judge again declares that DACA is illegal with issue likely to be decided by Supreme Court People rally outside the Supreme Court over President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), at the Supreme Court in Washington, Nov. 12, 2019. A federal judge on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Susana Lujano, left, a dreamer from Mexico who lives in Houston, joins other activists to rally in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. A federal judge on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students gather in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, June 18, 2020. A federal judge on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
AP Photos/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
BY JUAN A. LOZANO September 13, 2023
HOUSTON (AP) — While a federal judge on Wednesday declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, he declined to order an immediate end to the program and the protections it offers to recipients.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen agreed with Texas and eight other states suing to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The judge’s ruling was ultimately expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, sending the program’s fate before the high court for a third time.
“While sympathetic to the predicament of DACA recipients and their families, this Court has expressed its concerns about the legality of the program for some time,” Hanen wrote in his 40-page ruling. “The solution for these deficiencies lies with the legislature, not the executive or judicial branches. Congress, for any number of reasons, has decided not to pass DACA-like legislation ... The Executive Branch cannot usurp the power bestowed on Congress by the Constitution — even to fill a void.”
Hanen’s order extended the current injunction that had been in place against DACA, which barred the government from approving any new applications, but left the program intact for existing recipients during the ongoing legal review.
Hanen also declined a request by the states to order the program’s end within two years. Hanen said his order does not require the federal government to take any actions against DACA recipients, who are known as “Dreamers.”
Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, which is representing DACA recipients in the lawsuit, said it will ultimately be up to higher courts, including the Supreme Court, to rule on DACA’s legality and whether Texas proved it had been harmed by the program.
“Judge Hanen has consistently erred in resolving both of these issues, and today’s ruling is more of the same flawed analysis. We look forward to continuing to defend the lawful and much-needed DACA program on review in higher courts,” Saenz said.
The Biden administration criticized the judge’s ruling.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s DACA ruling from the District Court in Southern Texas,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Wednesday night. “... As we have long maintained, we disagree with the District Court’s conclusion that DACA is unlawful, and will continue to defend this critical policy from legal challenges. While we do so, consistent with the court’s order, DHS will continue to process renewals for current DACA recipients and DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) may continue to accept DACA applications.”
The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which represented the states in the lawsuit, and the U.S. Department of Justice, which represented the federal government, didn’t immediately return emails or calls seeking comment.
The states have argued the Obama administration didn’t have the authority to first create the program in 2012 because it circumvented Congress.
In 2021, Hanen had declared the program illegal, ruling it had not been subject to public notice and comment periods required under the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
The Biden administration tried to satisfy Hanen’s concerns with a new version of DACA that took effect in October 2022 and was subject to public comments as part of a formal rule-making process.
But Hanen, who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2002, ruled the updated version of DACA was still illegal as the Biden administration’s new version was essentially the same as the old version, started under the Obama administration. Hanen had previously said DACA was unconstitutional.
Hanen also had previously ruled the states had standing to file their lawsuit because they had been harmed by the program.
The states have claimed they incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. The states that sued are Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas and Mississippi.
Those defending the program — the federal government, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the state of New Jersey — had argued the states failed to present evidence that any of the costs they allege they have incurred have been tied to DACA recipients. They also argued Congress has given the Department of Homeland Security the legal authority to set immigration enforcement policies.
There were 578,680 people enrolled in DACA at the end of March, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The program has faced a roller coaster of court challenges over the years.
In 2016, the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 over an expanded DACA and a version of the program for parents of DACA recipients. In 2020, the high court ruled 5-4 that the Trump administration improperly ended DACA, allowing it to stay in place.
President Joe Biden and advocacy groups have called on Congress to pass permanent protections for “ dreamers.” Congress has failed multiple times to pass proposals called the DREAM Act to protect DACA recipients.
“We continue to urge Congress and President Biden to create permanent solutions for all immigrants to ensure none are left in the perilous road DACA has been on for the past decade,” Veronica Garcia, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an advocacy organization, said in a statement. ___
Supporters of effort to repeal ranked voting in Alaska violated rules, report finds
BY BECKY BOHRER September 13, 2023
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Backers of an effort to repeal ranked voting in Alaska violated state campaign finance rules, including by channeling money through a church-affiliated organization in a way that initially concealed the source of the contributions, a new report alleges.
The report, from the staff for the Alaska Public Offices Commission, recommends penalties of $22,500 for Art Mathias, a leader of the repeal effort, and around $20,000 for the church-affiliated Ranked Choice Education Association among its findings. The report alleges that Mathias, also president of the association, contributed money to the association knowing it “would be repurposed to support” the ballot group behind the repeal effort and that he gave $90,000 using the association as a “third party conduit.”
Those contributing at least $500 to an initiative application group must report that no later than 30 days after making the contribution. Mathias contributed $90,000 in late December, and in a June filing the association reported Mathias as the source of its contributions to the ballot group, the report states.
The report still must be considered by the commission, which is charged with enforcing campaign finance rules in the state.
Kevin Clarkson, an attorney for Mathias, the association and others that were the focus of a complaint filed this summer, said by email Wednesday that many of the report’s conclusions were faulty and that he intended to file a response with the commission.
“The staff has made it impossible for a non-profit to make contributions to a ballot group without subjecting their donors to charges of donating in the name of another,” he said.
Clarkson in an earlier response to the complaint said the association was “entitled” to donate to the ballot group and that the association and Mathias “made no effort to hide” Mathias’ contributions.
The complaint was filed by Alaskans for Better Elections, the group that successfully pushed a 2020 ballot measure that replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked-choice general elections. The first elections conducted in Alaska under the new system were held last year.
One of the attorneys behind the complaint, Scott Kendall, was an author of the 2020 ranked choice initiative.
The complaint alleged that the Ranked Choice Education Association appeared to have been created as a “passthrough entity, allowing donors to unlawfully conceal their identities behind the RCEA’s name while also potentially providing those donors with an unwarranted tax deduction.”
The public offices commission staff report said it did not weigh allegations around potential tax deductions because that is an issue beyond the agency’s jurisdiction.
Clarkson said allegations around “‘unlawful’ tax deductions are both uninformed and unknowledgeable. In any event, the only government agency with jurisdiction to adjudicate tax-exempt status and the lawfulness of federal income tax deductions that may or may not be claimed, is the IRS.”
The report from commission staff also recommended lesser penalties for reporting and other alleged violations by Alaskans for Honest Elections, the ballot group behind the repeal effort, and another group called Alaskans for Honest Government. The ballot group has been gathering signatures in a bid to get the proposed repeal initiative on the ballot.
Pro-Bolsonaro rioters on trial for storming Brazil’s top government offices
Supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro sit in front of a line of military police inside Planalto Palace after storming the official workplace of the president in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Brazil’s federal police on Aug. 18, 2923 arrested seven senior military police officers accused of assisting right-wing rioters during the Jan. 8 attacks on government buildings.
(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
BY MAURICIO SAVARESE September 13, 2023
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court justices on Wednesday began deciding whether to convict defendants accused of storming top government offices on Jan. 8 in an alleged bid to forcefully restore former President Jair Bolsonaro to office.
Bolsonaro supporter Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira, 51, was first in line.
In January, cameras at the Senate filmed him wearing a shirt calling for a military coup and recording a video of himself praising others who had also broken into the building. Almost 1,500 people were detained on the day of the riots, though most have been released.
Pereira denied any wrongdoing and claimed he took part in a peaceful demonstration of unarmed people.
Three other defendants also were standing trial Wednesday as part of the same case, but a final decision for each defendant could drag into coming days.
The rioters refused to accept the right-wing leader’s defeat to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose inauguration took place one week before the uprising. Lula also governed Brazil between 2003-2010 and beat Bolsonaro by the narrowest margin in Brazil’s modern history.
The buildings of Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace were trashed by the pro-Bolsonaro rioters. They bypassed security barricades, climbed onto roofs, smashed windows and invaded all three buildings, which were believed to be largely vacant on the weekend of the incident.
Lula has accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.
The incident recalled the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Politicians warned for months that a similar uprising was a possibility in Brazil, given that Bolsonaro had sown doubt about the reliability of the nation’s electronic voting system — without any evidence.
Argentina shuts down a publisher that sold books praising the Nazis. One person has been arrested
Federal agents put seized books inside boxes after displaying them to the press at Federal Police headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Law enforcement officers say the books were printed by what they describe as the biggest manufacturer of Nazi propaganda in Argentina after carrying out raids this week, following a two year investigation to shut down the illegal printing press and arrest its operator.
A federal police officer puts seized books back inside boxes after displaying them to the press at Federal Police headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Law enforcement officers say the books were printed by what they describe as the biggest manufacturer of Nazi propaganda in Argentina after carrying out raids this week, following a two year investigation to shut down the illegal printing press and arrest its operator.
Seized books are displayed to the press by the federal police at Federal Police headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Law enforcement officers say the books were printed by what they describe as the biggest manufacturer of Nazi propaganda in Argentina after carrying out raids this week, following a two year investigation to shut down the illegal printing press and arrest its operator. Seized books are displayed to the press by the federal police at Federal Police headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Law enforcement officers say the books were printed by what they describe as the biggest manufacturer of Nazi propaganda in Argentina after carrying out raids this week, following a two year investigation to shut down the illegal printing press and arrest its operator.
(AP Photos/Natacha Pisarenko)
September 13, 2023
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s Federal Police shut down a publisher that sold books that praised Nazi ideology, seized hundreds of texts and arrested one person as part of what authorities characterized as a “historic seizure” of Nazi propaganda, officials said Wednesday.
Law enforcement officers seized around 230 books during Tuesday’s raids in the town of San Isidro, north of Buenos Aires, in which officials said they seized the largest number of texts praising Nazi ideology in recent years.
“We’re still astonished by the amount of material from what is truly a printing press for the dissemination and sale of Nazi symbolism, books and indoctrination,” Police Commissioner General Carlos Alejandro Ñamandú said. He went on to characterize it as a “historic seizure” of Nazi documents in Argentina.
Ñamandú described the books as “high quality,” although videos of the raids released by authorities suggested a homegrown operation rather than a large printing press.
Authorities detained Pablo Giorgetti, an Argentine national who is suspected of being the main person responsible for running the bookstore and has been accused of violating Argentina’s anti-discrimination law.
The bookstore’s website, which is still operational, had a large disclaimer on the front page that it sold books related to the two world wars that have been “marginalized from the more popular bookstores,” but warned that it did not “agree with them” and that the sale was meant for “collecting and research.”
Law enforcement officers seized numerous electronic and printing devices, as well as a large amount of Nazi propaganda material. They seized books ready for distribution that included images of swastikas, iron crosses and other Nazi symbols, an Argentine Federal Police unit said in a statement.
The mere display of this type of Nazi symbols amounts to a violation of Argentina’s anti-discrimination law.
The material wasn’t just sold on the bookstore’s website, but also on numerous online outlets, such as Mercado Libre, the region’s largest online sales platform.
Although authorities did not detail how many items the bookstore had sold, they said that the seller had a high profile on the online platform, which suggests “a high degree of consultation and consumption.”
“This is the first stage of the investigation,” Ñamandu said. “The first thing we did was cut off the sales and distribution channel. We’re moving on to a second stage. The law penalizes not only those who manufacture, but also those who buy.”
The raids Tuesday took place after an investigation that began with a complaint filed by the Delegation of Israeli Associations in Argentina (DAIA), the country’s main Jewish association, in 2021.
“It is astonishing that there are people producing this type of material, and it is concerning that there are people consuming it,” DAIA Vice President Marcos Cohen said.
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Wisconsin settles state Justice Department pollution allegations against 2 factory farms
September 13, 2023
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin lawmakers agreed Wednesday to settle allegations that two factory farms violated their pollution permits for more than a quarter of a million dollars.
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved a $17,500 settlement with North Side Genetics LLC in Fennimore and a $228,000 settlement with Stahl Brothers Dairy LLC. The state Justice Department accused North Side Genetics of failing to construct a feed storage runoff control system by an Aug. 1, 2019, deadline. The department accused Stahl Brothers Dairy of multiple manure-spreading violations.
Republicans passed a state law in late 2016 that requires the Justice Department to obtain permission from the finance committee before entering into legal settlements. The law was part of a GOP effort to weaken Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers before they began their first terms. The committee on Wednesday also signed off on a $940,000 settlement with Didion Milling Inc. The Justice Department sued the company in November 2020 alleging inspectors discovered multiple emissions, record-keeping and reporting violations at its Cambria corn mill in 2019. A grain dust explosion at the mill two years earlier killed five employees.
Last year, a federal grand jury charged the company with fraud and conspiracy in connection with the explosion, alleging the company failed to keep up with cleanings at the plant and falsified records to make it appear as if the cleanings were completed. The company responded to the charges by insisting the explosion was an accident.
Scientists call fraud on supposed extraterrestrials presented to Mexican Congress
Experts from Mexico, the United States, Japan and Brazil gathered before the Mexican Congress on Sept. 12, 2023 to share their findings on the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrials that date back to 2017 in the sandy Peruvian coastal desert of Nazca.
(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
BY MEGAN JANETSKY September 13, 2023Share
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Supposed aliens landed in Mexico’s Congress but there were no saucer-shaped UFOs hovering over the historic building or bright green invaders like those seen in Hollywood films.
The specter of little green men visited Mexico City as lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday from individuals suggesting the possibility that extraterrestrials might exist. The researchers hailed from Mexico, the United States, Japan and Brazil.
The session, unprecedented in the Mexican Congress, took place two months after a similar one before the U.S. Congress in which a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer claimed his country has probably been aware of “non-human” activity since the 1930s.
Mexican journalist José Jaime Maussan presented two boxes with supposed mummies found in Peru, which he and others consider “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”
The shriveled bodies with shrunken, warped heads left those in the chamber aghast and quickly kicked up a social media fervor.
“It’s the queen of all evidence,” Maussan claimed. “That is, if the DNA is showing us that they are non-human beings and that there is nothing that looks like this in the world, we should take it as such.”
But he warned that he didn’t want to refer to them as “extraterrestrials” just yet.
The apparently desiccated bodies date back to 2017 and were found deep underground in the sandy Peruvian coastal desert of Nazca. The area is known for gigantic enigmatic figures scraped into the earth and seen only from a birds-eye-view. Most attribute the Nazca Lines to ancient indigenous communities, but the formations have captured the imaginations of many.
BOLIVIAN SKELETON
PERUVIAN SKULLS
In 2017, Maussan made similar claims in Peru, and a report by the country’s prosecutor’s office found that the bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”
The report added that the figures were almost certainly human-made and that “they are not the remains of ancestral aliens that they have tried to present”. The bodies were not publicly unveiled at the time, so it is unclear if they are the same as those presented to Mexico’s congress.
On Wednesday, Julieta Fierro, researcher at the Institute of Astronomy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, was among those to express skepticism, saying that many details about the figures “made no sense.”
Fierro added that the researchers’ claims that her university endorsed their supposed discovery were false, and noted that scientists would need more advanced technology than the X-rays they claimed to use to determine if the allegedly calcified bodies were “non-human”.
“Maussan has done many things. He says he has talked to the Virgin of Guadalupe,” she said. “He told me extraterrestrials do not talk to me like they talk to him because I don’t believe in them.”
The scientist added that it seemed strange that they extracted what would surely be a “treasure of the nation” from Peru without inviting the Peruvian ambassador.
Congressman Sergio Gutiérrez Luna of the ruling Morena party, made it clear that Congress has not taken a position on the theses put forward during the more than three-hour session.
Believing or not was up to each member of the legislative body, but those who testified had to swear an oath to tell the truth.
Gutiérrez Luna stressed the importance of listening to “all voices, all opinions” and said it was positive that there was a transparent dialogue on the issue of extraterrestrials.
In the U.S. in July, retired Maj. David Grusch alleged that the U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects. The Pentagon has denied his claims.
Grusch’s highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was the U.S. Congress’ latest foray into the world of UAPs — or “unidentified aerial phenomena,” which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs.
Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to U.S. adversaries.
The mutant tomatoes are here, and they come in peace
This September 2021 photo provided by Richard Gill shows a tomato with a genetic mutation in North London, England. The anomaly occurs when tomato cells divide abnormally due to hot or cold weather, resulting in an extra segment that develops outside the fruit. In this case, two extra segments have developed, lending the appearance of horns.
(Richard Gill @happymrgill via AP)
BY JESSICA DAMIANO September 12, 2023
This is the time of year when, without fail, readers send me photos of their mutant tomatoes.
Many look like Jimmy Durante (if you’re too young to know who that is, think Squidward). Others are horned, and some should carry a “for mature audiences only” warning.
The good news is there’s nothing wrong with these deformed fruits. Unless otherwise diseased, they’re perfectly edible, their taste and nutritional values unaffected. Still, those “noses,” “arms” and, um, other appendages remain an amusing curiosity. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
If you’ve ever cut open a tomato, you know they are divided into internal segments, called locules, which contain gel and seeds. Most tomatoes have about 4 or 5 locules; cherry tomatoes contain 2 or 3; plum or Roma types have 2.
Tomatoes picked in a garden on Sept. 4 in Mamaroneck, New York show deformities often caused by extreme heat or other conditions. The mutations don’t affect the taste or safety of the fruits. (AP Photo/Julia Rubin)
But when a plant is exposed to temperature extremes, such as those above 90 degrees during the day and 82-85 overnight, cell division in the developing fruit could go awry, resulting in the formation of an extra locule. And because there isn’t enough room inside a tomato for an extra segment, it develops and grows outside the fruit. Cue the hilarity!
This June 10, 2018, image provided by Claudia Vos shows a tomato with genetic mutation in Aarschot, Belgium. The anomaly occurs when tomato cells divide abnormally due to hot or cold weather, resulting in an extra segment that develops outside the fruit. (Claudia Vos via AP)
Not every tomato on an affected plant will be deformed, however. “Under the right conditions (temperatures that are too hot or even too cold), this could affect one or two tomatoes per plant, depending on where they are in the development process and what the (weather) conditions are,” according to Timothy McDermott, assistant professor and extension educator at Ohio State University.
The likelihood of one of your tomatoes turning into a bona fide conversation piece is estimated to be about one in a thousand, McDermott said.
This 2022 image provided by Kathy Burrous shows a tomato with genetic mutation in Floral Park, New York. The anomaly occurs when tomato cells divide abnormally due to hot or cold weather, resulting in an extra segment that develops outside the fruit. (Kathy Burrous via AP)
When you consider how many plants are likely growing in your neighborhood alone and how many tomatoes each of those plants produce, those odds aren’t as slim as they may seem. CAN’T GET ENOUGH WEIRD TOMATOES?
Want to increase (or decrease) your odds? It might help to know that heirloom varieties seem more susceptible to this genetic mutation than hybrids, but, of course, there are no guarantees.
The extra-locule mutation isn’t the only anomaly caused by extreme heat. Sunscald, blossom drop, halted fruit formation and ripening can also arise when plants are grown outside their ideal temperature range, which is between 70 and 85 degrees during the day. This Aug. 7, 2020, image provided by Bill Alberigo shows a tomato with a “nose,” enhanced comically with a pair of “glasses” made from wire, in Garden City Park, NY. The mutation occurs when tomato cells divide abnormally, typically due to hot weather, resulting in an extra segment that develops outside the fruit. (Bill Alberigo via AP)
When temperatures are predicted to remain above 90 degrees for several consecutive days, providing shade for your plants will help avoid these heat-related issues. Attach a sheet of 40% to 50% shade cloth to stakes inserted into the ground around the perimeter of the bed. Leave it in place from noon to 4 p.m., when the sun is at its strongest, then remove it to avoid problems caused by insufficient sunlight, like nutrient deficiencies, scarce production or stunted fruit.
But if you still grow a tomato that looks like a duck, a devil, a celebrity or something unmentionable, send me a photo so we can share a laugh. It never gets old.
—-
Jessica Damiano writes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter and regular gardening columns for The AP.
Cruise ship stranded in Greenland could take days to reach The Danish Joint Arctic Command has dispatched the ship Knud Rasmussen to assist a cruise ship that is stranded in Greenland. The ship could take several days to arrive and offer assistance.
Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A cruise ship that ran aground Monday off in a national park in Greenland could be stuck for days awaiting assistance, according to Danish authorities.
"On Monday afternoon West Greenlandic time, the Arctic Command received a message that the cruise ship Ocean Explorer was grounded in the Alpefjord in Northeast Greenland, and the ship was not immediately able to be freed on its own help," Denmark's Joint Arctic Command said in a statement posted to Facebook.
The cruise ship Ocean Explorer, which is run by the Australian company Aurora Expeditions, was carrying 206 people when it ran aground, with Danish authorities saying the tides did not dislodge the vessel.
"The tide -- which came during the day, local time -- did not give the desired help to sail on," the Danish Joint Arctic Command said.
According to the Joint Arctic Command, none of the passengers have been injured, though media reports indicate that two passengers have come down with COVID-19 and are in isolation.
The commander of the Danish Joint Arctic Command, Commander Captain Brian Jensen, said that while it will be difficult to evacuate the passengers, there is not an immediate danger to the lives of the people onboard.
"A cruise ship in trouble in the National Park is of course worrisome. There is a long way for immediate help, our units are far from that, and the weather can be very unfavorable. In this specific situation, however, we do not see acute danger to human life or the environment, which is reassuring," Jensen said.
According to the Joint Arctic Command, an inspection vessel has been dispatched to help the vessel, but the remote location of the national park means it will take some time for help to arrive.
"Artic Command's closest unit is the inspection vessel Knud Rasmussen, which at the time of the report was approximately 1,200 nautical miles from the cruise ship. This means that Knud Rasmussen can arrive at the grounded ship on Friday morning local time," Joint Arctic Command said.
Arctic Command stressed that "the weather can play a role too."
Jensen said the Joint Arctic Command was trying to find ways to reach the vessel faster.
"We have reached out to relevant partners in the operation area to investigate whether other units have a shorter and faster rout to the grounded ship," Jensen said.
A fishing vessel in Greenland will try to free a cruise ship that ran aground with 206 people
A view of the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported.
(SIRIUS/Joint Arctic Command via AP) An aerial photo shows the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported.
(Danish Air Force/Joint Arctic Command via AP)
An aerial photo shows the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported.
(Danish Air Force/Joint Arctic Command via AP) A view of the Ocean Explorer, a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew, which has run aground in northwestern Greenland, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. The 104.4-meter (343-foot) long and 18-meter (60 foot) wide Ocean Explorer ran aground on Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park. It’s the world’s largest and most northerly national park and is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast. According to authorities no one on board was in danger and no damage has been reported.
(SIRIUS/Joint Arctic Command via AP)
BY JAN M. OLSEN September 13, 2023
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A fishing vessel owned by Greenland’s government will attempt to use a high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in the world’s northernmost national park, authorities said.
Capt. Flemming Madsen of the Danish Joint Arctic Command told The Associated Press that the passengers and crew on the ship stranded in northwestern Greenland were doing fine and ”all I can say is that they got a lifetime experience.”
The scientific fishing vessel was scheduled to arrive later Wednesday and would attempt when the conditions were right to pull the 104.4-meter- (343-foot) long and 18-meter- (60-foot) wide MV Ocean Explorer free.
The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The park covers 972,000 square kilometers (603,973 square miles), almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet, according to the Visit Greenland tourism board.
A Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship with 206 passengers and crew has run aground in northwestern Greenland.
Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.
The Ocean Explorer’s crew made two failed attempts to get the ship to float free on its own during high tide.
In a statement, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, which operates the ship, said the passengers and crew members were safe and well and that there was “no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment.”
“We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer from its grounding. Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel’s recovery without compromising safety,” the statement said.
Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, musk oxen, and the waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.
Madsen, of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, said the passengers on the Ocean Explorer were “a mix” of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.
The people onboard “are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good, and everyone on board is doing well. There are no signs that the ship was seriously damaged by the grounding,” the Joint Arctic Command said Wednesday.
The weather in the region Wednesday featured sun, a clear blue sky and a temperature around 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Danish Meteorological Institute.
The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark’s SunStone Group. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website.
The Joint Arctic Command said there were other ships in the vicinity of the stranded cruise liner and “if the need arises, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol can be at the accident site within an hour and a half.”
On Tuesday, members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, visited the passengers and explained the situation, “which calmed them down as some were anxious,” Madsen, who was the on-duty officer for the Joint Arctic Command, said.
The command, which was coordinating the operation to free the cruise ship, said the nearest Danish navy ship was about 1,200 nautical miles (more than 2,000 kilometers or 1,380 miles) away. It was heading to the site and could be expected to reach the grounded ship as soon as Friday.
The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north.
What to know about the Morocco earthquake and the efforts to help
A man on a scooter drives past rubble and a damaged road sign pointing to Marrakech in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco. A victim is carried away by rescue workers in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco. A victim covered in a sheet is carried to a grave that has just been dug in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco Mannequins are strewn across the rubble in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco.
(Fernando Sanchez/Europa Press via AP)
BY SAM METZ September 13, 2023
AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — An earthquake has sown destruction and devastation in Morocco, where death and injury counts continue to rise after rescue crews dug out people both alive and dead in villages that were reduced to rubble.
Law enforcement and aid workers — both Moroccan and international — have arrived in the region south of the city of Marrakech that was hardest hit by the magnitude 6.8 tremor Friday night, along with several aftershocks.
Residents in most places have been provided food and water, and most of the giant boulders blocking steep mountain roads have been cleared. But worries remain about shelter and long-term recovery efforts in impoverished mountain regions hardest hit.
The epicenter was high in the Atlas Mountains, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Marrakech in Al Haouz province.
The region is largely rural — made up of red-rock mountains, picturesque gorges and glistening streams and lakes.
The earthquake shook most of Morocco and caused injury and death in other provinces, including Marrakech, Taroudant and Chichaoua.
WHO WAS AFFECTED?
Of the 2,946 deaths reported as of Wednesday, 1,684 were in Al Haouz, a region with a population of around 570,000, according to Morocco’s 2014 census.
In certain villages such as Tafeghaghte, residents say more than half the population died. The United Nations has estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s temblor.
People speak a combination of Arabic and Tachelhit, Morocco’s most common Indigenous language. Villages of clay and mud brick built into mountainsides have been destroyed.
People recover a washing machine from their home that was damaged by the earthquake, in the town of Amizmiz, near Marrakech, Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. An aftershock rattled Moroccans on Sunday as they prayed for victims of the nation’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and toiled to rescue survivors while soldiers and workers brought water and supplies to desperate mountain villages in ruins.
(AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
Most of the dead have already been buried. The government reports 2,501 injuries.
WHO IS PROVIDING AID?
Morocco has deployed ambulances, rescue crews and soldiers to the region to help assist with emergency response efforts.
Aid groups said the government hasn’t made a broad appeal for help and accepted only limited foreign assistance.
The Interior Ministry said that it was accepting search and rescue-focused international aid from nongovernmental organizations as well as Spain, Qatar, the U.K. and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing offers from French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden.
Experts say the most direct way to provide aid to those affected in the city of Marrakech and the rural areas in the Atlas Mountains is to donate to organizations that have operations already on the ground.
That includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which quickly released $1.1 million from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund to support Moroccan Red Crescent relief efforts in the country.
It also includes World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, and GlobalGiving, which created a Morocco Earthquake Relief Fund and had raised more than $500,000 as of Tuesday morning.
WHY ARE MARRAKECH AND THE REGION HISTORIC?
The earthquake cracked and crumbled parts of the walls that surround Marrakech’s old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the 12th century.
Videos showed dust emanating from parts of the Koutoubia Mosque, one of the city’s best-known historic sites. The city is Morocco’s most widely visited destination, known for its palaces, spice markets, madrasas and Jemaa El Fna — its noisy square full of food vendors and musicians.
The earthquake also wreaked havoc on significant historical sites in the High Atlas. They include a 12th-century mosque in Tinmel built by the Almohad Dynasty under Ibn Toumert, a 19th-century kasbah built near Talat N’Yakoub and a significant mosque and pilgrimage site in Moulay Brahim.
“While most tourists may know about famous monuments in large cities, smaller villages contain their own monuments that have suffered from marginalization for decades,” said Brahim El Guabli, an Amazigh studies scholar and associate professor of Arabic studies at Williams College. “The entire Moroccan High Atlas is strewn with important historical monuments.” A cracked wall showing Morocco’s flag and a writing in Arabic that reads:" God, the Nation, the King,” in the town of Amizmiz, near Marrakech, Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Towns and villages throughout Morocco’s Atlas Mountains are mourning the dead and seeking aid after a record earthquake wreaked destruction throughout the region last week.
(AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO OTHER QUAKES?
Friday’s earthquake was Morocco’s strongest in more than a century.
Although such powerful tremors are rare, it isn’t the country’s deadliest: Just over 60 years ago, Morocco was rocked by a magnitude-5.8 quake that killed over 12,000 people on its western coast, crumbling the city of Agadir, southwest of Marrakech.
That quake prompted changes in construction rules in Morocco, but many buildings — especially rural homes — aren’t built to withstand such force.
There hadn’t been any earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6.0 within 310 miles (500 kilometers) of Friday’s tremor in at least a century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Northern Morocco experiences earthquakes more often, including tremors of magnitude 6.4 in 2004 and magnitude 6.3 in 2016.
Elsewhere this year, a magnitude 7.8 temblor that shook Syria and Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. Most of the most devastating earthquakes in recent history have been above magnitude 7.0, including a 2015 tremor in Nepal that killed more than 8,800 people and a 2008 quake that killed 87,500 in China.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
Emergency response efforts are likely to continue as teams traverse mountain roads to reach villages hit hardest by the earthquake.
Many communities lack food, water, electricity and shelter. But once aid crews and soldiers leave, the challenges facing hundreds of thousands who call the area home will probably remain.
Members of Morocco’s Parliament convened Monday to create a government fund for earthquake response at the request of King Mohammed VI.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said afterward that the government was committed to compensating victims and helping them rebuild. Enaam Mayara, the president of Morocco’s House of Councilors, said that it would likely take five or six years to rebuild some affected areas.
Moroccan soldiers and personnel evacuate a survivor in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco. (Fernando Sanchez/Europa Press via AP) A victim covered in a sheet is carried to a grave that has just been dug in Talat N’yakoub, Morocco, Monday Sept. 11, 2023. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to reach hard-hit remote areas after a powerful earthquake struck Morocco. (Fernando Sanchez/Europa Press via AP) A donkey stands inside a building damaged by the earthquake in the village of Tafeghaghte, near Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Rescue crews expanded their efforts on Monday as the earthquake’s death toll continued to climb to more than 2,400 and displaced people worried about where to find shelter. A man walks past rubble caused by the earthquake in the village of Tafeghaghte, near Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. People and dogs dig through the rubble of a home that was damaged by an earthquake, in the village of Tafeghaghte, near Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. A camp set up by the Spanish Military Emergency Unit to assist with the rescue mission for victims of the earthquake, in the town of Amizmiz, near Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Rescue crews expanded their efforts on Monday as the earthquake’s death toll continued to climb to more than 2,400 and displaced people worried about where to find shelter.
(AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
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Jesse Bedayn in Denver, Angela Charlton in Paris, Glenn Gamboa in New York, and Will Weissert in Washington, contributed to this report.
The uninvited? How international rescue gets into Morocco
Was it politics that stopped Morocco from accepting offers of international help after a deadly earthquake? Guidelines on international disaster response mean there's much more to it than that.
Over 2,800 people have died after the Moroccan earthquake and thousands more are injured and homeless
Nacho Doce/REUTERS
The videos on social media are hard to watch. "There is nobody here to help us," an older man in a village near the Tizi N'Test pass in Morocco's Atlas Mountains angrily cries. All around him, red dirt and rubble where houses used to stand, all destroyed by the earthquake that hit the area last Friday night.
He, his son and five others were trying to rescue neighbors from under collapsed buildings, he tells the cameraman, who will eventually publish the video on YouTube.
"Many victims just lay under the ruins until they died," the man said.
"There's nobody here," a woman yells in another video posted on Instagram. "No tents, no other accommodation … we are just living on donations. Where are the officials?"
These cries for help have led Moroccans to question their own government. They are asking why it has so far only accepted help from four countries — the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Qatar and the UK — following the earthquake that killed over 2,800 people. Offers from around 60 other countries have not been accepted.
That has led to international headlines and even caused the French and German governments to publicly deny that Morocco's rejection of their offers to help was political. Moroccan officials have themselves expressed irritation over the controversy and said the French are treating them as though they are backward, the French newspaper, Le Monde, reported this week.
As a sovereign country, Morocco is "the master of its choices, which must be respected," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during an interview amid speculation that the unhappy state of diplomatic relations between the two nations was causing Morocco to reject aid from France. This is "a completely inappropriate quarrel," Colonna said.
Spain is one of four countries sending rescuers into Morocco — the two nations have a good relationship
Experts in the field of disaster response agree: While it is true that international rescue efforts are always political in some way, they are also complicated, involving dozens of different actors, and also highly dependent on other circumstances as well.
Ideally, international rescue efforts are meant to be informed by a set of guidelines developed by the Red Cross and Red Crescent between 2001 and 2007. These deal with some of the issues that have hampered international rescue operations in the past. They also state that any disaster response should always begin with domestic efforts and that international rescuers should only enter the country when invited. How to get an invitation to help?
Firstly, there is a difference between private organizations, non-governmental organizations and charities, and state-funded ones, like the rescue team from Germany's Federal Agency for Technical Relief.
After the February earthquake, German NGOs, like Deathcare, made their way into Turkey earlier this year
Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
It depends on the situation, but private groups may get started without an invitation. For example, because Europeans can get a visa on arrival for Morocco and the airport was safe and open, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, was able to send some people to Morocco on Saturday.
They travel as private citizens, explained Christian Katzer, director of MSF Germany, "and they are mainly there to quickly assess the situation to see if there is a need for our help."
MSF focuses on medical services and staff gauge how Moroccan health services are coping.
"If we identify a gap, then we switch to official channels," Katzer told DW. "We would liaise with a government body to get permission to come in and begin work officially."
It's a different case for state-funded organizations and bodies like the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). These adhere to international rules about state sovereignty and cannot enter without an invitation. But bodies like OCHA — which plays a major role in international emergency response — often already have employees in the country. Earthquake in Morocco: Desperate search for the missing Following the devastating earthquake in Morocco, the feverish search for the missing continues. But the chances of uncovering survivors fade by the hour.
Image: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP
Searching for survivors Amid the dust and rubble, these emergency workers in Amizmiz, Morocco, look for survivors. Four days after the most powerful earthquake in decades, authorities have reported over 2,800 dead and thousands of people are still missing. The earthquake could also be felt in nearby countries, including Portugal and Algeria.
In a background briefing, an OCHA staff member explained to DW that when disaster strikes, members of OCHA's emergency response team are notified on their mobile phones. They then log into an online platform to coordinate any efforts.
Elsewhere, UN representatives inside the impacted country are already establishing contact with the government to offer help. This usually happens very quickly. There's no single hotline to call to ask the UN for help, but there are usually locals working in disaster management who know where to enquire with OCHA.
At the same time, what is known as the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, or INSARAG, is kicking into action. The group has 90 member countries and coordinates 57 specialized urban search and rescue teams. Morocco has had an INSARAG-accredited rescue team since 2014 and local rescue workers had to take an exam lasting around 70 hours before being allowed to participate.
The international teams are directed by OCHA and will typically be standing by at an airport within hours, waiting to see if their offer of help has been accepted. Everyone involved keeps in touch via OCHA's online coordination platform so they can deploy as quickly as possible.
Morocco's military have been leading rescue efforts
Jean-Baptiste Quentin/dpa/MAXPPP/picture alliance
What aid offers are accepted? It depends.
Which offers of help are accepted comes down to a variety of factors.
It can depend on the disaster itself. For example, how widespread is the damage? Have hospitals been impacted or are health care and rescue workers among the dead? Is there an option for domestic emergency services to take control?
In the case of the February earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed around 50,000 people, the Turkish government activated INSARAG's multilateral system within hours. In the end, 49 of 57 teams entered the country, fielding around 3,500 people plus rescue dogs.
After Friday's earthquake, Morocco dispatched its own military to help victims and explained that it didn't want too many international rescue teams because it might lead to a "counterproductive" lack of coordination. In 2004, after a smaller Moroccan earthquake, aid flights reportedly jammed local airports and rescue teams damaged roads. This week, it is already proving difficult for rescuers to traverse small, unpaved and now-damaged roads into the worst-affected mountain villages.
Political considerations also influence aid decisions
Invitations are certainly also political. For example, countries may have bilateral agreements to aid one another in an emergency. There are also regional agreements. For instance, Europe has the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has a similar agreement.
Of course, there can also be more problematic politics at play. In February, the fact that the UN delayed earthquake aid efforts in Syria because it was waiting for an invitation from the country's brutal dictator, Bashar Assad, may well have cost more lives.
After the 2011 earthquake in Japan, the Asian nation only accepted help from 24 states and regions even though 163 offered help, one researcher noted in 2014. Internal politics played a part, critics said, and Japan was already well known for bureaucratic delays when it came to allowing foreign teams in. Two days after the 2011 earthquake, Swiss rescuers, who were among the first to arrive, were still waiting for permission to import their search and rescue dogs.
Japan in 2011: The country already had a long history of bureaucracy slowing foreign rescue effort
Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images
However, despite headlines about whether Morocco should be accepting more international aid, most experts with contacts in the field right now are reluctant to criticize Rabat and would only speak off the record about this.
"There are extreme examples," one expert on disaster response explained, "where a government would rather not collaborate with aid organizations and would rather leave their people in misery. In some cases there is also a reticence to request assistance because there is a belief that would make the state look weak."
But this is more the case in extremely authoritarian states, experts noted. In fact, they expect more aid organizations to be able to enter Morocco in the near future after the initial emergency response ends.
Right now though, it is still impossible to say how well Morocco has dealt with the earthquake, said Kirsten Bookmiller, an American professor of government, policy and law and an expert in emergency management at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. "We've had somewhat of an information shortfall here, so it's hard to determine as an external observer," she told DW.
Additionally in situations like this, nobody comes out looking good, the experts all agreed.
"A rescue response will never be fast enough for those devastated by the disaster and seeking to keep their loved ones alive," Bookmiller concluded. For them, "any lost moment is one moment too long."
With additional reporting by Tarek Anegay.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
‘Everything comes back’: Morocco quake leaves mental scars
By AFP September 12, 2023 In remote villages like Asni, many survivors of the devastating quake are already grappling with post-traumatic stress
- Copyright AFP/File Rodrigo BUENDIA
Anne-Sophie LABADIE
When Khadija Temera, a survivor of Morocco’s devastating earthquake, was sent to a psychiatrist on Tuesday, she was just one of a hundred newly traumatised patients who would be seen within 24 hours.
The powerful quake last Friday killed more than 2,900 people, most of them in remote villages of the High Atlas Mountains.
Beyond the physical devastation, soldiers and aid workers say it is becoming increasing clear that many of the survivors are facing severe mental suffering.
“The most important thing is that we are alive,” Temera says, her henna-stained fingers fiddling with a piece of paper, her eyes swollen with tears.
But now she wants to “heal her heart”, and on Tuesday she had her first consultation with a psychiatrist, seeking balm for the trauma inflicted by the quake.
She had first gone to see a regular doctor for hypertension.
But Moroccan troops in the area quickly referred her to the psychiatrist, who said he had seen around a hundred patients since the previous day out of the 500 who came to the field hospital in Asni, around 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the tourist hub of Marrakesh.
Flashbacks from the fateful day continue to haunt Temera: of stairs collapsing and trapping her and the nine members of her family before they could be rescued.
“I’ve been awake ever since, I can’t fall asleep — as soon as I lie down everything comes back,” said the 68-year-old from the village of Lareb. – ‘Acute stress’ –
Next to her on a bench, a mute woman was also waiting for a consultation, her hands clasped across her chest and breathing heavily.
She has lost both her children.
After her comes the turn of a man in his thirties, his eyes red from crying.
Of the thousands injured in the powerful earthquake, “some were not only wounded and bruised in their flesh, they were also often ‘bereaved’, having lost their homes”, said Adil Akanour, the only psychiatrist at the makeshift hospital, which was opened to the press on Tuesday.
Meanwhile villagers in more isolated hamlets, which have remained inaccessible, told AFP of their isolation and the absence of aid.
Survivors find themselves in a “state of acute stress with symptoms, often physical at first”, Akanour said, adding that dizziness, palpitations, headaches and abdominal pain can be symptoms that “hide” a psychological problem.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly everyone who experiences such an emergency will suffer some psychological problems which, in most cases, will fade with time. – ‘There’s nothing left’ –
The separation of families, insecurity, loss of livelihoods and disruption of social contacts are all potential psychological problems, according to the UN organisation, which recommends urgent care to prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorders.
The 6.8-magnitude quake that struck on September 8 was the most powerful ever recorded in the kingdom, with the provisional toll of 2,900 people dead likely to rise.
Entire villages were swallowed up, and with them the lives of hundreds of modest families.
Thousands of people were left homeless, the majority now living alone in makeshift tents or, for a few such as Mouhamed El Makhconi, sheltering in genuine windproof tents provided by the interior ministry.
“I was the only one providing for my family,” the 60-year old said with a resigned, toothless smile.
He did so by selling jewellery to tourists heading to the summits of the High Atlas mountain range that dominates the landscape.
But now “there’s nothing left” of his ground-floor apartment, leaving him and his eight-member family destitute.
“I haven’t even got a dirham on me,” he sighs, sitting outside the tent. He had to be provided with everything from blankets to glasses.
Adding to his desperation are the sounds of the earthquake that remain resonant in his memory.
He too cannot sleep, saying he can still feel the tremors and the waves of fear that went through his body.
But El Makhconi has not consulted a psychiatrist, largely because he needs to sort out his diabetes first.
His grandchildren have not been examined either. They are still terrified at times and miss their toys, including the bendir, a much-loved percussion instrument.
Aid slow to arrive to quake-hit Moroccan villages
13/09/2023 -
05:14
France 24's Luke Shrago reports from Marrakesh, Morocco, where he says some quake-hit villages have been forced to rely on aid from ordinary Moroccans as government disaster relief efforts fail to arrive.
EU REGS
What is USB-C, the charging socket that replaced Apple’s Lightning cable?
- A USB-C cable is pictured in San Jose, Calif. Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Apple is ditching its in-house iPhone charging plug and falling in line with the rest of the tech industry by adopting USB-C, a more widely used connection standard.
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) A customer holds a Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter cable at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue, Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in Chicago. Apple is ditching its in-house iPhone charging plug and falling in line with the rest of the tech industry by adopting USB-C, a more widely used connection standard.
(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
BY KELVIN CHAN Updated 7:45 AM MDT, September 13, 2023Share
Here’s a look at the USB-C plug and what it means for consumers:
WHAT IS USB-C AND HOW CAN I TELL IT APART FROM OTHER PLUGS?
The first part of the acronym stands for Universal Serial Bus, and it replaces earlier versions of the USB cables used on everything from printers and hard drives to computer mice and Kindle readers.
The USB-C plug comes in a different shape than its predecessors — an elongated oval. It’s also symmetrical and reversible, which eliminates one of the common gripes about previous versions like the rectangular USB-A connectors because there’s no wrong way to plug it in.
WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT USB-C?
USB-C cables can carry more power so laptops can be charged faster, and they enable faster data transfer speeds, allowing a big trove of files to be copied from a computer to an external hard drive. At the same time, they can pump out a video signal to a monitor and supply power to connected accessories.
The USB-C connector also is designed to be future-proof. Its shape won’t change but newer versions — and the devices they connect to — will come with upgraded capabilities. That means users will have to beware because older devices might not be able to support the latest specs.
It’s also slimmer than boxy USB-A plugs, making them a better fit for newer devices that keep getting smaller.
WHY IS APPLE USING IT?
Apple has long championed its proprietary Lightning connector for iPhones even though pretty much no one else used it. It resisted the EU’s common charging push, citing worries that it would limit innovation and end up hurting consumers.
Apple held out even as others started adding USB-C connectors into their devices. But after the EU proposal won a key approval last year, the U.S. tech giant gave in and didn’t look back.
A company executive unveiling the latest iPhone on Tuesday didn’t even mention the Lightning cable as she introduced its replacement.
“USB-C has become a universally accepted standard so we’re bringing USB-C to iPhone 15,” said Kaiann Drance, vice president of iPhone product marketing.
She said USB-C has “been built into Apple products for years” and can now be used on MacBooks, iPads, iPhones and AirPods.
WHAT ROLE DID EUROPE PLAY?
Apple’s shift is an example of how European Union regulations often end up rippling around the world — what’s known as the “Brussels effect” — as companies decide it’s easier to comply than make different products for different regions.
The EU spent more than a decade cajoling the tech industry into adopting a common charging standard. The push to impose rules for a uniform cable are part of the bloc’s wider effort to make products sold in the EU more sustainable and cut down on electronic waste.
The EU’s common charging rule won’t actually take effect until fall 2024. It covers phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld video game consoles, keyboards and mice, portable speakers and navigation devices.
It also standardizes fast-charging technology and gives consumers the right to choose whether to buy new devices with or without a charger.
