Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Insects: Why we can't live without them

JULY 20, 2024

Bees often get all the credit. But without the pollination powers of other insects, supermarket shelves would look empty.

Wasps are considered annoying pests and their important role is often overlooked

Julian Stratenschulte/dpa/picture-alliance

In 2018, when one German supermarket removed all the products that would not exist without insects, more than half the shop's items disappeared.

The campaign, launched by the environmental organization NABU, the Environment Ministry of the German state of Lower Saxony and the food retailer Penny, showed that of a total 2,500 products, 1,500 were directly or indirectly dependent on the work of insects.
No good harvests without insects

Pollinating insects like bees and wasps, but also flies, beetles and even mosquitoes, collect nectar and pollen from flowers.

Pollen sticks to their bodies and then fertilizes the stigma of a flower when they fly or crawl near it. And from this, flowers and fruits are born.

Wasps also pollinate flowers and hunt smaller insects

Cover-Images/IMAGO

Some plants are self-pollinating or are pollinated by the wind. However, active pollination, such as that done by insects, is important for around a third of global food production.

In monetary terms, pollinating insects generate a market value of up to €500 billion ($542 billion) per year, which roughly equates to Belgium's 2022 gross domestic product.

If pollinators disappeared it is estimated that global harvests would collapse by up to 90%. Our supply of proteins, vitamins and iron would be massively threatened.

Bumblebees and other wild bees ensure efficient pollination and a good harvestImage: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa/picture alliance

Why we don't need just honey bees

The honey bee plays an important role in pollination.

But whether we are talking coffee beans, pumpkins or cherries, the more wild bees — such as bumblebees — are involved in fertilization, the higher the crop yield. In other words: 100 honey bees plus 50 wild bees pollinate flowers much more effectively than 150 honey bees.

However, a meta-study that summarized 39 international research papers found that between 25-50% of all flower visits are made not by bees but by other insects, such as flies, beetles, ants, moths and butterflies. A further study by the Technical University of Munich confirmed the importance of these "non-bee pollinators."

Beetles, like this ladybird, also pollinate flowers and blossoms

Image: Sven Hoppe/dpa/picture alliance

Wasps help against pests and maybe even cancer

Summer usually brings with it one pesky friend: the wasp.

No matter whether ice cream or ham — nothing is safe from them. And their sting is really painful.

They may be annoying, but they are also important to us. Wasps, which also include hornets, have a sweet tooth because they feed mainly on sugar juices from plants and flowers. They tend to pollinate different types of flowers than bees.

However, their offspring need animal protein and thus are fed with smaller insects. So without wasps, there would be many more insect pests, some of which transmit diseases. The value of this wasp work, also known as their "ecosystem services", is estimated at around $417 billion per year.

Wasp venom could also be used in medicine, as it is effective against various bacteria, fungi and yeasts. The venom of a certain species of field wasp may potentially even help against liver cancer.

f you love chocolate you might want to be more forgiving of mosquitos

Image: Steffen Schellhorn/IMAGO

What are mosquitoes good for?

Mosquitoes can be super annoying, right?

Well, actually it is really the biting mosquitoes that get on our nerves. And that is just one type of them. In Germany alone, there are a total of 28 different mosquito families.

They mostly feed on nectar and plant juices, pollinating flowers when they visit them. It is only the females that need our blood, and that is so that their eggs can mature.

While they can transmit dangerous diseases, they are also an important source of food for other animals, such as birds and fish. So without mosquitoes, you might have to say goodbye to that delicious smoked trout.

Perhaps worse still — without mosquitoes, there would also be no chocolate and virtually no cocoa. This is because the very small flowers of the cocoa plant are primarily sipped by tiny mosquitoes. Without them, there would be several empty spaces on the chocolate shelf in the supermarket.

Edited by: Tamsin Walker

Sources:

https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/insekten-und-spinnen/info/22683.html
The Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235756821_Wild_Pollinators_Enhance_Fruit_Set_of_Crops_Regardless_of_Honey_Bee_Abundance
'Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance', research paper

https://www.tum.de/aktuelles/alle-meldungen/pressemitteilungen/details/nicht-nur-auf-die-bienen-schauen
Technical University of Munich

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Jeannette Cwienk Writer and editor with a focus on climate and environmental issues

Bangladesh restores internet as students call off job-quota protests

Border Guard Bangladesh members patrolling in Dhaka on July 26.

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Updated
Jul 29, 2024

DHAKA - Bangladesh said it had restored internet services as conditions return to normal after students called off protests against reforms to job quotas that killed nearly 150 people in July.

The agitation, which began in universities and colleges in June, flared into nationwide protests that injured thousands as security forces cracked down, leading to curfew, army patrols on the streets and internet suspension to rein in the violence.

"The broadband and mobile internet connectivity has been restored with full functionality by now," the foreign ministry said in a statement on July 28.

"Other forms of communications, including land-based and mobile telecommunications, were functional through the entire period of unrest and violence."

It added, "The government wishes to assure all international partners that the overall situation is turning back to normal, thanks to the timely and appropriate measures taken by the government and the people."

The United Nations, international rights groups, the US and Britain were among critics of the use of force against protesters while asking Dhaka to uphold the right to peaceful protest.

Rights groups and critics say Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has grown more autocratic during 15 years in power, marked by mass arrests of political opponents and activists, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, charges she denies.

Protests led by students broke out in June when a high court ordered the restoration of quotas in government jobs, including reservations for families of veterans of the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.

Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and lobbed sound grenades to disperse tens of thousands who flooded the streets.

Students agreed to pause their agitation after the Supreme Court scrapped most quotas on July 21, opening 93 per cent of jobs to candidates selected on the basis of merit.

The "mostly peaceful and issue-specific students' movement" were not involved in violence, Ms Hasina's government said, but blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which denied the assertion.

The students called off the protests, which had fallen off after the Supreme Court ruling.

"Our main demand for logical reforms to the government job quota system has been met," student co-ordinator Nahid Islam said in a video message on July 28 from police headquarters, calling for educational institutions to re-open.

He was among three protesters held by police while being treated in hospital, his younger brother told Reuters, in a step police said was aimed at ensuring security for protesters.

REUTERS

More On This Topic
Bangladesh says protests’ student leaders held for their own safety
Bangladesh protests quelled but anger, discontent remain

Essay

California Farmworkers Stand on Uneven Ground

I’ve Picked Broccoli and Tended Grapes in the Salinas Valley Since I Was 18. Sometimes I Wonder How Much Longer I Can Survive Doing It

Farmworkers in California now receive better pay and protections—but still struggle with health and immigration woes. Araceli Ruiz writes about her decades on the job. Araceli Ruiz at work. Courtesy of author.

By Araceli Ruiz | July 29, 2024

Zócalo

This piece publishes as part of the Zócalo/The James Irvine Foundation public program and editorial series, “What Is a Good Job Now?” which investigates low-wage work across California. Register for the event “What Is a Good Job Now?” In Agriculture on Monday, August 5 in Salinas, CA—live in person and online

I’ve worked in the fields of the Salinas Valley since I was 18, tending grapes and picking broccoli.

Agricultural work has many contradictions. It is both steady and uncertain. I work constantly but don’t have one job. Instead, I work different jobs for different contractors during the picking season.

I could not have survived without doing this work, but sometimes I wonder how much longer I can survive doing it. Farmwork is getting easier in some ways, and harder in others.

I immigrated here from Guanajuato, Mexico, at 18 to find work and help support my large family. I had relatives in the Salinas Valley, and not long after I arrived, I met my husband, a Jalisco boy who also works in the fields. We had the first of our three children when I was 19 and soon settled in the small city of Greenfield, on U.S. 101, about 40 minutes south of Salinas.

When the kids were young, I tried to work less, skipping some seasons. But we needed the money, which meant more time away from them. Sometimes I found myself working 14 hours a day, six days a week—and getting paid not hourly, but by the box. I remember making just $1 for each box of broccoli I gathered and packed.

The work came with physical costs. I’d have pain in my back and neck and right arm. When I began working with grapes, I found, as most workers do, that I had to pull so hard on the grapevines that I would sometimes fall on my back. The pain could make it hard to sleep. Jorge is good at giving massages, but that isn’t always enough.

It was easy to get sick, especially since the companies didn’t provide gear for working in the wind and in the rain. I’d sometimes get nausea and headaches from the herbicides and insecticides. I believe that my work, including exposure to chemicals, contributed to the complications I experienced in my last pregnancy and to the health and development challenges of my youngest child.

Getting care for injuries and illness has always been very difficult. Companies didn’t offer sick days or leave days to go to the doctor or clinic if you were sick or hurt. And getting the right treatment might mean a trip up to Salinas.
The biggest thing this country could do for us would be to legalize our immigration status.

Also, there were no medical benefits or healthcare coverage. My children, as native-born Americans, have always had their healthcare covered under Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. But as an undocumented worker, I was not eligible for Medi-Cal. When I had to have a gallbladder operation, we were stuck with a hospital bill for $24,000 that we can’t pay.

Some, but not all, of these working conditions have improved in recent years, because of changes in the state laws and regulations for farmworkers.

The laws now require that we be paid hourly. With the higher state minimum wage, I make $16.50 per hour. We also get paid sick leave—at first, it was three days a year, but last fall, it was raised to five. And Jorge and I, like other undocumented people in California, were made eligible for Medi-Cal last year.

Our maximum hours a week are now 40. That means more time for family, for church, and for my volunteer work with Líderes Campesinas, which advocates for and organizes female farmworkers.

The trouble is that it’s often hard to get 40 hours of work these days. Sometimes I get 30 hours or less.

Together, my husband and I now earn $43,000 a year. That’s more than before. But the cost of living in California rises faster than our wages. We can’t come close to buying our home here in Monterey County, where even small houses cost $600,000 or more. And renting a three-bedroom house in Greenfield can cost $3,000 or more a month.

When all three children lived at home, we paid $2,800 to rent a three-bedroom. Now that are kids are growing up and moving out, we have a smaller place with two bedrooms for $1,600 a month.

You may have read about agricultural companies providing housing for workers. But that housing is almost always for guest workers who come here from Mexico or other countries under visas, stay for a few weeks or months, and then go home. I’ve never received any housing support.

Despite all these challenges, our lives have been blessed. I’ve always made enough money to send $200 to $300 a month to my mother. And we are so very proud of our three children.

Our older son, 26, graduated from Fresno State and is working in Monterey. Our 20-year-old daughter is entering her junior year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Our 17-year-old son, soon to be a high school senior, is raising a prize pig that he will sell to help pay for college next year.

But we also feel frustrated at the obstacles to a better future.

My husband I have both tried to go to school. I’ve long wanted to become a teacher and work in early childhood education. I’ve taken some community college classes and even did some training. But I haven’t been able to finish a degree or get a job—because I’m undocumented. My husband, who wants to be an electrician, faces the same barriers.

The biggest thing this country could do for us would be to legalize our immigration status.

We have been living here, and paying taxes, our entire adult lives. We should be like anyone else—able to train for better jobs, collect unemployment when we lose our jobs, buy life insurance and better health insurance, and find a house that we can purchase.

Perhaps, someday soon, all of that will be possible.

Araceli Ruizis a campesina, mother, and community leader in Greenfield, California.
PRIMARY EDITOR: Joe Mathews | SECONDARY EDITOR: Sarah Rothbard

WHO: Drugmaker Sinergium to share bird flu vaccine data globally for equitable rollout during pandemic

While the WHO has said the risk to the public from the avian influenza virus remains low and that it is not spreading between people, they say it has the potential to cause a future pandemic because of its widespread circulation in animals. — Reuters pic

Monday, 29 Jul 2024 3:14 PM MYT

GENEVA, July 29 — Bird flu vaccine developer Sinergium Biotech will share its data with manufacturers in low and middle-income countries to help to accelerate a fair rollout if a pandemic occurs, the World Health Organisation said on Monday.

The Argentine private sector biopharmaceutical company is at an early stage of developing mRNA vaccines against the H5N1 virus and has pledged to share its findings with a network of partner manufacturers set up by the WHO during the peak of Covid-19 to help poorer countries to gain access to life-saving medical tools.

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Until now, the WHO has assisted partners but this is the first time one of them with a vaccine in development has volunteered to share it with others.

“Partners interested in this will be able to start getting their fingers wet, beginning to practise with an H5N1 candidate so that if a pandemic was to start ... they would already have the necessary tools in their facilities,” said Dr Martin Friede, head of the WHO vaccine research unit.

The WHO’s mRNA technology transfer hub programme includes manufacturers in 15 countries, though not all are fully established. Among those involved in the programme are Biovac in South Africa and Institut Pasteur in Senegal.

The South African centre was set up after global pharmaceuticals companies including Moderna and Pfizer declined to provide the technical know-how to replicate their Covid vaccines, mainly owing to intellectual property concerns.

The outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows and some farm workers in the United States prompted Washington to award US$176 million (RM815 million) to Moderna to advance development of its bird flu vaccine.

While Friede acknowledges that the likes of Moderna and Pfizer would be able to produce vaccines much more quickly than manufacturers in the WHO programme, he said that the scheme would allow Sinergium’s partners to begin production reasonably quickly and help to keep poorer countries from being reliant on handouts.

There are vaccines available for the H5N1 strain that is spreading among cows in the United States, but they are mostly made using chicken eggs, which means they would take months to produce at scale if needed.

Sinergium’s mRNA flu vaccine has yet to be tested in people, the WHO said, so it would require human trials before use.

Moderna’s mRNA H5N1 flu vaccine is further advanced, with late-stage trials in humans expected to take place next year.

— Reuters

New push for mRNA bird flu vaccine development: WHO

The World Health Organization announced Monday a new project to accelerate the development in poorer countries of vaccines for human bird flu infections using cutting-edge messenger RNA technology.

The WHO said Argentinian manufacturer Sinergium Biotech would lead the effort and had already begun developing candidate H5N1 vaccines.

The bird flu H5N1 first emerged in 1996, but since 2020 an exponential growth in outbreaks in birds has occurred in parallel with the virus increasingly jumping to mammals, including cattle in US farms and a few humans.

This has prompted fears the virus could spark a future pandemic.

Sinergium is aiming to establish proof-of-concept in preclinical models for its candidate vaccines, the WHO said.

Once the preclinical data is ready, the technology, materials, and expertise will be shared with a network of manufacturers in poorer countries, allowing them to accelerate their own development and production.

The UN health agency said the project would be rolled out through the mRNA technology transfer program it established with the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

That program was aimed to help low- and middle-income countries, which found themselves dramatically underserved during the pandemic, to develop and produce their own vaccines using mRNA.

The technology instructs the body to produce a unique protein that stimulates an immune response, teaching it to defend against the infection.

Vaccine equity

Swiftly developed mRNA COVID vaccines were game-changers during the pandemic, but they also exposed glaring global vaccine inequity and demands for a fairer distribution amid efforts to use the technology against other diseases.

"This initiative exemplifies why WHO established the mRNA Technology Transfer Program," the agency's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

That program, which counts 15 manufacturing partners in countries ranging from South Africa to Ukraine to Vietnam, was aimed "to foster greater research, development and production in low- and middle-income countries", he said.

That way, "when the next pandemic arrives, the world will be better prepared to mount a more effective and more equitable response".

Avian influenza viruses are among those considered to carry the potential of sparking a future pandemic.

The WHO has said there are a range of traditional influenza vaccines already licensed for pandemic use that could potentially be tailored to combat H5N1 if it begins spreading among people.

But Martin Friede, who heads the WHO's vaccine research unit, said focusing on developing mRNA-based vaccines was particularly interesting when seeking to establish sustainable production capacity.

Previous efforts to boost influenza vaccine production in developing countries had often faltered, with facilities narrowly focused on egg-based pandemic influenza jabs shutting after the threat dissipated and governments stopped procuring the doses.

"The advantage of mRNA is that, in theory, we can make a COVID vaccine, we can make H5N1 vaccines, but also many other vaccines and importantly also therapeutics," Friede told reporters.

If the need for H5N1 vaccines or other jabs fades, instead of shutting down production, "we hope that all of the partners will be able to produce something else", he said.

He said half of the manufacturers in the program had already begun installing necessary equipment to develop and produce mRNA-based vaccines, meaning they will be able to act far more swiftly if disaster strikes again.

Researchers develop experimental mRNA avian flu vaccine

Cured HIV patients 'living proof' of hope in fight against virus

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) virions (spherical in appearance) bud from a cultured human lymphocytes in this scanning electron microscopic image obtained from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2019. |

CDC / Handout / via REUTERS

By Pauline CURTET
AFP-JIJI
Jul 29, 2024

Munich, Germany –

Three people effectively cured of HIV have spoken about how a risky transplant procedure saved their lives, with one saying they are "living proof" of hope in the fight against the virus.

The trio spoke about their experience at the International AIDS Conference in Munich, which has gathered experts, researchers and activists to discuss developments in the HIV epidemic.

Only seven people are considered to have been effectively cured after receiving a stem cell transplant, a painful and risky procedure only suitable for patients who have both HIV and aggressive leukaemia.

Adam Castillejo, a 44-year-old also known as the "London patient," said it took "years" to be sure his transplant had produced the desired effect.

"There is not a specific time when you say: 'You're cured,' it takes a while, and then you have controlled expectations toward that."

Only once doctors are sure that the patients' HIV will not return do they stop treatment with antiretroviral drugs, which reduce the amount of the virus in the blood.

Marc Franke, 55 — the "Duesseldorf patient" — also experienced the painstaking process.

"The doctors did so many tests to really be 100% sure before the antiretroviral therapy was discontinued," Franke said.

The bone marrow transplant, which carries a 10% risk of death, essentially replaces a person's immune system.

Pointing to the "enormous" mortality rate and other complications, Franke went so far as to say: "I can't recommend it to anyone."

Despite having "lost several years" to leukaemia, Franke said in retrospect he "would have preferred to take one tablet a day" of antiretrovirals than to have gone through the grueling transplant process.
Inspiring 'new directions'

Earlier this month, doctors announced the number of people effectively cured from HIV had reached seven.

The seventh — dubbed the "next Berlin patient" — received a bone marrow transplant for his leukaemia in 2015 and stopped taking antiretroviral drugs in late 2018.

Medical researchers said he now appears to be both HIV and cancer free.

Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society, called the cases "really exciting" but admitted that the therapy was only applicable to a very small number of people.

The procedure had effectively cured just "seven people out of 40 million people living with HIV," Lewin said. "These are very rare cases, but they inspire new directions in science."

All but one of the seven patients received stem cells from donors who had a rare gene mutation that effectively makes people immune to HIV.

Paul Edmonds is in his late sixties and was the third patient who spoke about his experiences at the conference.

He agreed that "the stem cell transplant is not for everyone because there's so many risks involved."

However Edmonds said his and his fellow patients' experience gave "hope ... that a cure is possible because we're living proof that it can happen."

There were 1.3 million new HIV infections last year, while 39 million people are living with the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Timothy Ray Brown — the original "Berlin patient" — was the first person declared cured of HIV back in 2008.

Brown died from cancer in 2020.

Shot in the eyes, victims of Bangladesh ~~protest~~ POLICE violence face dark future

Hundreds of protesters and bystanders were hit in the eyes by pellets fired by security forces, and might lose vision forever — a lasting marker of the mayhem that engulfed the nation earlier this month.

An injured protester is rushed to hospital after a clash with police and Awami League supporters at the Rampura area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 18, 2024

[Anik Rahman/Reuters]

By Faisal Mahmud and Shaquib Ahmed
Published On 29 Jul 2024

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Within the sterile walls of the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIOH) in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, a sombre scene unfolds.

Dozens of young men, their faces etched with worry and uncertainty, sit in silent anticipation. Some shield their injured eyes behind dark sunglasses. Others wear white bandages on one or both eyes.t

One question hangs in the air: Will these men ever see the world clearly again?

They are victims of pellet injuries — both survivors and reminders of the deadly clashes between protesters seeking job quota reforms and the security forces of Bangladesh that engulfed the nation of 170 million people for nearly two weeks this month.

Among them is Mohammad Anik, a 24-year-old salesperson from Madaripur – a central district some 150km (93 miles) away from Dhaka. “There is a less than 50 percent chance that he [Anik] will get his eyesight back,” said a duty doctor at NIOH who requested anonymity. “There were several injuries in his two eyes and we had tried our best.”

Last Monday, Anik was heading home from work when he got caught in a street clash between protesters and police. Before he could figure out what was happening, a pellet struck his face. He fell to the ground, unconscious and exposed, until bystanders intervened and took him to the hospital.

Now, he finds himself amid the dozens of young men at NIOH, their futures shrouded in darkness.

Hundreds of patients of pellet guns injury

The NIOH has treated nearly 500 patients in the last few days, hailing from various districts including Dhaka, all grappling with severe eye injuries. Hospital records reveal that at least 278 of these individuals also sustained wounds to other parts of their bodies.

Mohammad Shamim, a 10-year-old who worked at a motorcycle workshop, sustained pellet injuries to both eyes during a clash between police and protesters last Friday in the Mirpur area of the capital. Doctors have said he will never fully recover his vision. “My son’s future looks grim. What am I going to do with him?” lamented his father, Mohammad Idris.

NIOH’s director, Golam Mostafa, confirmed that shotgun pellets used during the anti-quota protests were the primary cause of the injuries.

“In cases where the pellet embeds itself in the retina’s centre or is forcefully ejected upon impact, partial blindness becomes the tragic outcome,” he said.

Researchers who looked at pellet injuries to protesters in Indian-administered Kashmir have previously found [PDF] that when fired at close range, the pellets lack sufficient time to disperse, resulting in a concentrated cluster that moves at incredibly high speeds. This concentrated force transforms the pellets into projectiles akin to handgun bullets, capable of piercing deep into soft tissues, particularly the eyes, causing extensive and irreversible damage.

The devastating impact of pellet guns on eyesight hinges on the velocity and distance at which the pellets are fired, the study explained. The severity of these injuries has prompted international condemnation, with Amnesty International calling for a ban on their use for crowd control in Indian-administered Kashmir a few years ago.
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Violation of UN-issued guidance

The United Nations has warned against using metal pellets, like those expelled from shotguns, in law enforcement, arguing that they are inherently inaccurate and often violate the principles of necessity and proportionality.

Bangladeshi police and security forces however have resorted to using 12-gauge pump-action shotguns loaded with cartridges containing these very metal pellets, a number of security analysts told Al Jazeera after analysing several photos and footage.

Al Jazeera telephoned and sent text messages to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and several top officials from the police forces but received no response. Salim Mahmud, secretary of information and research of the ruling Awami League party, told Al Jazeera that he had to “check with the police and paramilitary forces” whether “any lethal weapon” was used against the protesters.

Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Watch has accused Bangladesh’s security forces of using excessive force during the protests. Their findings reveal the use of live ammunition, tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and shotgun pellets to disperse demonstrators. Amnesty International has also raised similar concerns.

Those who sustained eye injuries during the recent anti-quota protests, along with their families, claim that the police used indiscriminate force, firing at them without restraint.

Rakibul Ahsan from the southern district of Barisal was part of the protests. A fourth-year statistics student at BM College, Ahsan was on the streets with his classmates last Tuesday when he was shot in both eyes. Doctors have not assured him of a full recovery. “We were protesting for a legitimate cause and were shot at for it. There is no justice here,” Ahsan lamented.

Sumon Mia, a mason from Madaripur who shared a hospital ward with salesman Anik, was also struck by a pellet in his right eye. But unlike Ahsan, and like Anik, he was not involved in the agitation against the government — he was simply heading home from work. Despite a surgery, doctors couldn’t save that eye — his vision is lost.

“My brother wasn’t involved in any protests. Why was he shot? Who will be held accountable for this?” his sister, Lipi Akter, asked.

Source: Al Jazeera

THE LAST COLONY VIVE INDEPENDENCE

New Caledonia’s Mothballed Nickel Plant Starts Mass Sackings Process

NATIONALIZE IT BEFORE THEY STRIP IT

Monday, 29 July 2024,

RNZ
Patrick Decloitre, Correspondent French Pacific Desk

New Caledonia's mothballed nickel plant in Koniambo (North of the main island) has announced it has engaged in the mass sackings of some 1200 staff, despite efforts to identify a potential buyer.

Koniambo (KNS - Koniambo Nickel SAS) operations had already been mothballed and put into sleep mode after the announcement, in February, from its major financier, Anglo-Swiss giant Glencore, that it wanted out.

KNS is jointly owned by Glencore (49 percent) and New Caledonia's Northern province (51 percent).

While making the announcement, Glencore has signalled a 6-month delay in the implementation of its decision, including payment of salaries.

The same timeframe was also supposed to be used to find potential buyers for the shares owned by Glencore.

Glencore said in February that keeping its stake in KNS was no longer sustainable.

It also recalled that the plant, in over ten years of existence and operation, had never made a profit.

Over the past ten years, KNS had accumulated a staggering €13.5 billion in debt.

As the 31 August deadline looms at the end of the six-month respite, what had been the symbol of New Caledonia's Northern province empowerment and wealth "re-balancing" of the French Pacific archipelago's provinces is now faced with a bleak reality.

Koniambo's wealth relies on the Tiébaghi nickel massif, believed to hold about one quarter of New Caledonia's nickel reserves.
Koniambo: a highly political symbol

KNS was born from a political and financial deal, including France, the "Bercy Accord" signed in December 1997, just months before the political Nouméa autonomy Accord was signed in 1998.

The deal was de facto enacting the transfer of the Tiébaghi massif to New Caledonia's Northern province and its financial arm, the Société Minière du Sud Pacifique (SMSP).

It was the financial translation of the will to restore some balance between the affluent Southern Province and the less favoured Northern Province of New Caledonia, mostly populated by the indigenous Kanak community.

Since the Koniambo project and its construction started, the new activity has had a stimulating effect on the whole region, especially in the small cities of Voh, Koné and Pouembout.

The number of local companies increased, as well as the population.

In announcing the official lay-offs on Friday, KNS still wanted to appear optimistic: "Even though we are pursuing the search process for a potential buyer, and that three groups continue to display an interest for our company, we do not have at this stage a finalised offer", the company admitted.

"We are therefore compelled to go ahead with the collective lay-off process on economic grounds".

Beyond 31 August, only a group of about fifty workers will remain employed in maintenance work on what will then be described as "cold" sleep process.

"But the fact that three world-class groups are still in discussions show that Koniambo Nickel still represents a strong interest for potential takeovers", an optimistic KNS Vice-President Alexandre Rousseau, told public broadcaster NC la 1ère on Saturday.

On top of the wave of sackings announced by KNS, some 600 contractors relying on the plant's activities have also lost their jobs since February.
Combined local unrest and world nickel crisis

The announcement comes as New Caledonia's economy is in a critical situation.

It has suffered a major blow, on top of an already grave financial situation.

Since 13 May, violent unrest has been ongoing in New Caledonia, with a backdrop of protests against French-proposed modifications of voters' eligibility for Provincial elections, which was perceived by pro-independence movements as a way of reducing the political voice of the indigenous Kanak community.

Since the riots, destruction, looting and arson began, over 700 businesses have been destroyed, ten persons (eight civilians and two French gendarmes) have been killed and the overall cost of the unrest is currently estimated at €2.2 billion.

During the riots and unrest, nickel mining sites have been specifically targeted several times.
The whole nickel sector in crisis

New Caledonia's nickel industry has also been in profound turmoil over the past years. Its other two plants, in the Southern province (Prony Resources and historic operator Société le Nickel (SLN) in Doniambo near Nouméa, owned by French mining giant Eramet), are also on the verge of collapse.

The situation came from a world nickel market now dominated by Indonesian units, who have started to produce nickel in mass quantities and at a much lower price.

The result was a collapse of world nickel price (-48 percent in 2023).

New Caledonia's production, in this context, was also perceived as much too expensive, prompting efforts for a deep reform, especially on the cost structure, mainly electricity.

A French assistance plan proposed in 2023 by French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, including a €200m buoy, was declined by local authorities, who said too much was being asked by France in terms of strings attached to the massive funding loan.

The French-proposed reform also intended to diversify New Caledonia's nickel buyers from an almost-entire reliance on Asian clients and instead turn to more European buyers, mostly car manufacturers for the purposes of production of batteries for electric cars.

Other plants on the verge of collapse

As a result of the combined effects of the current situation (the ongoing riots and the pre-existing nickel crisis), Prony Resources' operations are at a standstill.

Eramet, which in recent months had made no secret of its desire to disengage from SLN, earlier reported a net loss of some €72m for the first half of the financial year.

New Caledonia's nickel industry is believed to employ about 25 percent of the French Pacific archipelago's workforce.

WAR IS RAPE

Sexual violence rife in Sudan's capital Khartoum: HRW

Number of reported cases is only a fraction of the real figure, the rights group says, with most survivors unable or unwilling to seek emergency care.

AP Archive

Women chant slogans protesting violence against women and demanding the release of all detainees before the UN rights office in Khartoum, Sudan. / Photo: AP Archive

Sexual violence against women and girls aged between nine and 60 is rife in Sudan, where survivors are prevented from accessing healthcare in the capital, Human Rights Watch said.

In a new report on Monday titled 'Khartoum is Not Safe for Women', the rights watchdog recorded testimonies from 42 healthcare workers and first responders on sexual violence and forced and child marriage since war erupted in April 2023.

Between April and February 2024, 18 healthcare providers alone treated a total of 262 survivors of sexual violence in greater Khartoum, which includes the city of Omdurman just across the Nile River.

The RSF "have raped, gang raped, and forced into marriage countless women and girls in residential areas in Sudan's capital," said Laetitia Bader, HRW's deputy Africa director.

"The armed group has terrorised women and girls and both warring parties have blocked them from getting aid and support services, compounding the harm they face and leaving them to feel that nowhere is safe."

But according to first responders, the number of reported cases is only a fraction of the real figure, with most survivors unable or unwilling to seek emergency care.

The 88-page report also details "conditions that could amount to sexual slavery".

Though sexual violence has been primarily identified as a systematic weapon used by the RSF, there have also been reports of sexual violence at the hands of army soldiers.

HRW says there has been "an uptick in cases" reported since the army "took control of Omdurman in early 2024".

No access to care

Across Sudan, survivors have reported debilitating physical injuries as a result of sexual assault, including by several fighters at once.

Among those treated by healthcare workers HRW spoke to, "at least four of the women died as a result" of their injuries.

Women whose assault results in pregnancy have little to no access to abortion care and are at risk of further violence and social repercussions. Some have been abandoned by their families, HRW said.

With the army imposing an effective siege on RSF-controlled areas –– restricting even medical and humanitarian relief supplies for over a year –– local volunteers in emergency response rooms have played "the leading role in responding to sexual violence".

Volunteers themselves have been routinely targeted by both sides, with RSF fighters even committing "sexual violence against the service providers", HRW reported.

The rights group said the RSF's widespread sexual violence constitutes "war crimes and crimes against humanity", while both sides' attacks on healthcare are considered "war crimes".

They called on the African Union and the United Nations to "urgently deploy a civilian protection force" in the northeast African country.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people across the country, with some estimating the toll to be as high as 150,000.

It has also caused the world's largest displacement crisis, with over 10.7 million people displaced within Sudan –– currently on the brink of famine –– while over 2 million more have fled across borders.

Turbulence Ahead: The Maintenance Workforce Dilemma Threatening the Future of US Airpower

Joshua Morales

July 29, 2024

Amidst escalating global tensions and growing challenges in the civilian aviation sector, an aircraft maintenance shortage has emerged nationally, posing a significant threat to Air Force operational readiness. Recent incidents in the commercial airline industry, attributed to maintenance deficiencies, warn of the potential risks of not addressing maintenance recruitment and retention efforts. For the Air Force, the implications extend beyond flight delays to the possibility of compromised missions and military defeat—especially in a prolonged conflict where keeping aircraft flying will be a constant challenge. To combat this, the Air Force should implement aggressive recruitment campaigns and innovative retention strategies to ensure a robust pipeline of skilled aircraft maintainers.

To address the maintenance workforce issues, targeted recruitment campaigns in high schools and technical schools should emphasize career opportunities and benefits. Streamlined pathways for obtaining certifications such as an Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) can make the Air Force more appealing in an increasingly competitive hiring field. Tying these certification programs to service commitments can ensure a steady influx of qualified maintainers. Retention incentives similar to those offered to pilots can reflect the value of maintainers. Additionally, implementing programs to enhance cognitive and behavioral health will address stress and burnout from increased work demands. By investing in recruitment, certification, retention, and well-being, the Air Force can strengthen its current workforce while preparing it for future challenges.

The Challenge

While the Air Force has taken steps to resolve the pilot shortage, the less visible yet equally pressing issue of aircraft maintainer recruitment looms. A 2019 study by the Government Accountability Office shed light on the decline of experienced mechanics. The Air Force took action with a focus on retention efforts and the promotion of younger maintainers to supervisory ranks. Col Hawkins, chief of the Air Force’s Military Policy Division, stated that the service was focused on promotion-focused moves to include the “up or out” rule change, to ensure experienced positions stay filled. This correction, while necessary, had the unintentional consequences of leaving the entry-level pipeline smaller and struggling to keep up as the recruitment of new maintainers has failed to keep pace with the needs of the service. Additionally, last year, the Air Force missed their recruiting goals for the first time in 25 years. These recruitment shortfalls, paired with a shrinking workforce, lead to concerns in aviation maintenance, where experience is just as critical as recruitment numbers.

The current recruitment challenge threatens to nullify corrective efforts by the Air Force to address the experience shortage. Existing personnel face increased workloads, longer hours, and stagnation in career progression as the Air Force aims to increase the number of entry-level maintainers. This may already be happening as promotion rates continue to drop to historically low levels. The increased workload and lack of career progression have forced experienced maintainers to leave the Air Force for civilian aviation careers, where bonuses and a predictable work schedule are more appealing. In 2023, the Air Force was short 1,800 maintainers, and recruiters knew the toll it would take on the workforce. A verified email from the former Air Force recruiting boss, Maj. Gen Ed Thomas, sent to recruiters, stated that “Airmen will almost certainly be asked to work longer hours, cover more shifts and make sacrifices in their personal lives to meet the mission demands…”

Fast forward to today, and the shortage has shrunk to 500 maintainers. However, the newest influx of recruits is still years away from fulfilling the experience void the maintenance field is suffering. Chief of Staff Gen. David Alvin stated, “We’re recruiting ok, but it takes a while to build a 3-level into a 5-and 7-level”. The push and pull of the workforce harms retention and morale as the Air Force’s shortage of maintainers creates an increased workload for the ones that remain. While the Air Force has exceeded its recruiting goals for maintainers for the current fiscal year by 60, the workforce demands will remain as experienced personnel will be required to train them. The recruiting crisis fix might lead to a retention crisis, although the Air Force seems to have planned for it, as 17 career fields eligible for a reenlistment bonus are maintenance-related. This leaves the Air Force in a constant balancing act of optimizing a workforce equipped to service today’s aging fleet while preparing an inexperienced workforce to transition to the more technologically advanced fleet of tomorrow.

The increased demands of the maintenance field might place the Air Force on a bumpy ride as maintenance units continue to deal with manning shortages, inexperience, and career stagnations. And this is all while the Force is still figuring out how to adjust to fulfill deployment requirements for the Force Generation cycle being implemented across the service. The Air Force experienced the highest number of maintenance mishaps in FY2023, with 21 total mishaps, which nearly doubled the previous year’s total. To address this alarming spike, the Air Education Training Command recently implemented a checklist requirement for all of its maintainers to fill out prior to performing a new task to help assess risk by identifying human factors such as inexperience or stress level.

The Civilian Angle

The challenges faced by the Air Force are not isolated to the military sector; they echo troubling issues in the commercial aviation industry. A recent industry report shows that the aircraft maintenance shortfall has reached a critical point and will worsen over the next ten years as the imbalance between supply and demand continues. This will lead to fewer flights, more delays and cancellations, or major aircraft mishaps. In Boeing’s Pilot and Technician Outlook, it said it will need 610,000 new aviation technicians globally through 2034. In the United States, the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) stated that by 2027, the gap will be around 43,000—27% of the total aviation maintenance workforce. To add to these troubling forecasts, a separate report states that 80% of the existing workforce is set to retire in the next five to six years, and 27% of all Federal Aviation Administration-certified Airframe and Propulsion (A&P) mechanics are at least 64 years of age. These forecasts highlight the global challenge and call for industry-wide action to address the shortfall. If left unchecked, the shortage of aircraft mechanics could significantly undermine the integrity of the aviation industry.

The recent reports addressing maintenance experience and retention issues by the civilian industry should come as no surprise, as anyone who has flown recently knows the shortage of aircraft maintainers has led to delays, cancellations, and major mishaps. Imagine being a passenger on a flight and a door panel comes off mid-flight or a nose wheel falls off while taxiing. While the investigation results in both incidents have yet to be released, initial investigations show both incidents occurred due to maintenance issues. The increased number of aircraft maintenance mishaps has caused a spotlight on aviation industry giants such as Boeing. While these incidents may be isolated, the likelihood of them resulting from a systematic shortfall in maintenance proficiency, experience, and recruitment seems more probable. These embarrassing and nearly catastrophic incidents have impacted not only the public faith in civilian aviation but also the projection of soft power from the American industrial industry. Society relies on the trust and safety of commercial air travel, so it should not be surprising that industry leaders and stakeholders are innovating modern solutions to navigate the shortage.

The combination of troubling forecasts and maintenance-related incidents has led to an aggressive civilian industry push to fill its maintenance ranks. This leaves the Air Force competing with industry giants like Boeing and educational institutions for entry-level mechanics. The FAA recently awarded $13.5 million to 32 academic institutions to attract students to aircraft maintenance. Grant recipients can fund educational programs that offer scholarships or apprenticeships that focus on promoting careers in aviation maintenance, especially those in economically disadvantaged areas. For example, one grant recipient received a $500,000 grant to increase apprenticeships at its maintenance facilities to expand opportunities for female technicians, transitioning military personnel, high school students, and underrepresented minority groups. Industry leaders like Constant Aviation specifically target experienced military maintenance workers, offering $15K signing bonuses for mechanics with prior military maintenance experience. These efforts not only make it harder to recruit new entry-level mechanics but also create challenges in retaining the experienced mechanics that the Air Force has already trained. Society needs experienced maintenance workers, and industry leaders have responded by driving innovative initiatives aimed at recruiting, educating, and retaining them.

Next Steps

The consequences for the civil aviation field will be public scrutiny and monetary, but the mirrored shortage of Air Force maintainers risks something more valuable: military effectiveness. Take the hundreds of air refueling and recon jets that were grounded early last year after it was discovered that maintenance installed incorrect pins that could cause an aircraft’s vertical stabilizer to fall off. The downstream effect of grounding an entire air refueling fleet is enormous and one that the nation cannot afford during conflict. Consider the flight-testing phase of the B-29 during WWII when America’s industrial strength was at its peak. In Freedoms Forge, How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, the historian Arthur Herman documents how maintenance experience and issues still contributed to approximately 28 B-29 crashes, cost the lives of dozens of crew members, maintenance workers, and civilians, and delayed the delivery of the most advanced bomber of its time, the one that ended the war, by four years. The industry and military strength during WWII withstood the costly delay of the B-29 Superfortress. Still, modern issues such as the delivery of KC-46A to the DOD are alarming, considering the United States is currently in a competition phase with China. The implications of not addressing the maintenance workforce issues are clear. The Air Force risks operational readiness, accident rates, and catastrophic failures, all while weakening the United States’ strategic posture in the era of Great Power Competition.

The Air Force, while proactive in addressing its pilot shortage and experience gap, should now rally to address similar issues in the maintenance field. The potential fallout may even be coming to the surface as the Air Force struggles to meet its mission-capable rate goals. To address the shortage and experience issues, the Air Force should implement several solutions, the sooner the better.

Service leaders could benefit from examining external efforts by the civil air industry in its recruitment and retention practices and internal efforts, such as the Rated Officer Retention Program, which aims to retain experienced pilots with monetary and non-monetary options, such as an assignment preference option. In a press release, Maj. Gen Adrian Spain, the training and readiness director at Air Force headquarters, said, “the requirement to preserve critical skills in our Air Force has never been more important.” While these words were meant to address pilots, perhaps a similar message could go a long way with the maintenance community.

As a senior maintainer, I have experienced firsthand the challenges we face. Maintainers are needed, so rather than asking them to complete a checklist to perform another checklist, better avenues should be established to communicate the value and needs of the maintainer. Investment in maintenance proficiency should be started as early as possible to show how maintainers are valued and to obtain a higher return on investment when those maintainers reach the Non-Commissioned Officer tier. Certification streamlines should be adopted service-wide so that maintainers can obtain their Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) licenses early in their service commitments. Industry giants are competing to fill their ranks with licensed mechanics by offering higher wages. A competitive trend that is likely to continue, the Air Force could capitalize on a streamlined process while requiring a service commitment once it is obtained. Drawing from my time spent in Special Operations, I can attest to the benefits of initiatives like the Physiological Performance Program implemented by USSOCOM, aimed at improving the cognitive and behavioral performance of their operators. Factors such as managing stress, anxiety, and sleep can all be utilized to benefit the health and safety of one of the Air Force’s most demanding career fields – a field that has been tied to having one of the highest suicide rates in the service.

Conclusion

Air Power is built on the backs of aircraft mechanics. While the glamour goes to the pilots and operators who parachute out of them, it is the mechanic that ensures every aircraft’s reliability and readiness for the skies. As aviation technology advances, the need for experienced aircraft mechanics remains constant. Though often overlooked, the mechanic should be recognized and supported as a critical piece in military readiness.

Failure to act decisively on this issue could result in a fleet less prepared for the demands of modern warfare, potentially eroding the United States’ long-standing dominance of the skies. Policies addressing the issue must not only enhance one side of the workforce. The approach should not only boost recruitment numbers but also provide modernized support and recognition for the experienced aircraft mechanics who serve as the backbone of military readiness. Their role, often overshadowed, is crucial for maintaining the reliability and lethality of American Airpower.

SMSgt Joshua Morales is a Master’s student in the Defense Analysis program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He is also a USAF Crew Chief with over 15 years of aircraft maintenance experience across military, civilian, and contractor workforces.

Image: Senior Airman Seth Watson

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Turbulence Ahead: The Maintenance Workforce Dilemma Threatening the Future of US Airpower

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