Jury finds man guilty of murder of Washington transgender teen


Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A jury has found a man guilty for the 2019 murder of a Washington transgender teen.

The jury convicted David Bogdanov, 27, Friday, of second-degree murder of Nikki Kuhnhausen, 17, in December 2019, and malicious harassment of her under the state's hate crime statute, according to Clark County Superior Court records, CNN reported.

Kuhnhausen went missing in June 2019 and her remains were found six months later in a heavily wooded area of Larch Mountain near Vancouver, Wash., KGW8 reported.

Police tracked down Bogdanov, who had been messaging with Kuhnhausen on Snapchat the day of her disappearance, through social media and phone records.

Bogdnaov became enraged after he found out Kuhnhausen was biologically male and killer her, prosecutors said.

Bogdanov was the only person to testify in his defense, and he argued he strangled Kuhnhausen with a cord of cellphone charger but it was in self-defense after she reached for a gun.

He also testified that he would be ashamed if his family found out he had been with a transgender woman.

Sentencing is slated for Sept. 9.

Outrage over Kuhnhausen's murder led to the passage of the Nikki Kuhnhausen Act, which limits a legal strategy known as LGBTQ+ "panic defense" based on victim identity such as disclosure of gender identity or sexual orientation in a romantic or sexual relationship.

Biden plans to raise federal civilian employee pay 2.7% next year

President Joe Biden announced plans to raise federal civilian employees pay next year. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden has announced plans to raise federal civilian employee pay on Jan. 1.
He announced the pay raise in a letter to congressional leaders Friday.

"Specifically, I have determined that for 2022, the across-the-board base pay increase will be 2.2% and locality increases will average 0.5%, resulting in an overall average increase of 2.7% for civilian federal employees," Biden said in the letter.

He added that the plan was consistent with his fiscal year 2022 budget.

In the letter, Biden cited federal code which allows him to adjust pay for federal civilian employees due to "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare."

If lawmakers enact different pay increase rates, those would take precedent over Biden's plans, but otherwise the proposed pay increase will automatically take effect Jan. 1. Some 2.1 million executive branch employees would receive the raise. But it would not apply to the more than 600,000 U.S. Postal Service employees since their raises are established through bargaining. Cost-of-living for federal retirees would also be determined separately using Social Security benefits inflation measure.

Former President Donald Trump raised civilian federal employees pay 1% this year, without any change in locality pay despite a last-minute attempt to freeze the pay raise.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which has called for a 3.2% increase, said in a statement that it appreciated Biden's proposal, which was "a vast improvement over the previous administration's attempts to freeze federal pay."

"However, federal employee pay increases have lagged for years and there is still a very real gap between federal pay and comparable payment in the private sector," the statement added. "We will continue to urge Congress to implement an average 2.2% increase across the board, plus a 1% boost toward locality pay."

Biden signed an executive order in April that requires federal contractors implement a $15 per hour minimum wage by March 30.

U.S., France shaped Haiti's long history of political turmoil

By Jean Eddy Saint Paul, Brooklyn College

Rescuers search for victims and survivors on August 17, three days after an earthquake shook Les Cayes, Haiti. Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA-EFE

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The powerful earthquake that struck Haiti on Aug. 14 followed a long series of natural and human-caused disasters to rock the country. Unfortunately, if history offers any clues, earthquake relief efforts will be complicated by the nation's recent political unrest.

President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated less than six weeks earlier, on July 7. Many Haitians felt hatred for the controversial president who, while running for office, was bribed by the oligarchy that has run Haiti's economy since the 19th century.

Moïse campaigned on a promise to feed the starving population. But he failed to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth. He soon became an unpopular president who increasingly ruled as an autocrat.

As a sociology professor who has written extensively on Haitian politics, I predicted Moïse's assassination.

That's because Moïse remained defiant in the face of mass protests in 2019, refusing to heed calls for his resignation amid fuel shortages and spiraling inflation.

There was also a palpable split between Moïse and powerful business magnates as the country's economic crisis worsened.

Presidential assassinations

Moïse is the latest of five Haitian presidents to be killed in office since the country's founding in 1804.

Power struggles and strong economic interests, both local and with other nations -- mainly the United States -- have motivated those assassinations. Throughout Haitian history, the United States has been actively engaged in undermining the legitimacy of Haitian leaders who refused to bow to American imperialism.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti's founding father, proclaimed the country's independence from France on Jan. 1, 1804, after a 12-year war.

One of his first executive orders was intended to prevent the abuse of land ownership. It called for a fair distribution of land among racial groups in a country that had won independence because of strategic alliances among Blacks, biracial people and a few White soldiers.

Dessalines is often portrayed by mainstream media as a cannibal and assassin. That's because he was abhorred by White Europeans and Americans -- leaders of the global economic system who were intimidated by the Haitian Revolution.

Additionally, the elites in Dessalines' circle disapproved of the power he had concentrated, and they assassinated him on Oct. 17, 1806.

His death accelerated Haiti's political disintegration.

Monroe Doctrine

The 30 billion euros in today's currency that Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer agreed to pay France in 1825 as compensation for property losses during the war has destabilized the country.

It has also allowed foreign powers to undermine Haiti's sovereignty.

In 1823, the United States passed the Monroe Doctrine, which says "that the American continents ... are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." The declaration, meant to keep Europe out of the continent, has justified U.S. interventions in the region.

Between 1889 and 1891, the United States unsuccessfully negotiated with Haiti to acquire the Môle St. Nicholas port, which would have given it a military foothold in the Caribbean.

More than 20 years later, the murder of President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam offered the United States the perfect rationale to invade Haiti.

On same day as Sam's assassination, July 28, 1915, Woodrow Wilson authorized the American warship USS Washington to invade Haiti. The United States occupied Haiti until 1934.

During that occupation, U.S. officials altered Haiti's Constitution to allow foreigners to become landowners. That change also gave the United States control of Haiti's customs agency and finances.

Racial discrimination and segregation were the norm in the U.S. South at the time, and most U.S. Marines sent to Haiti were Southerners, accustomed to Jim Crow.

This Southern influence among U.S. Marines played a big role in Haitian history. During the occupation, the United States picked only light-skinned Haitians to serve as presidents. And after 19 years in the country, the United States. left behind a racially divided society that remains intact today.

U.S.-trained army

The United States also trained the Haitian military ideologically to defend U.S. interests. These forces eventually engineered many coups against Haitian leaders who were popular with locals but rejected by the United States.

Between 1946 and 1950, under the presidency of Dumarsais Estimé, Haiti enjoyed political and social stability. However, on May 10, 1950, Paul-Eugène Magloire, trained during the U.S. occupation, overthrew Estimé and changed Haiti's political trajectory.

Magloire established a corrupt political regime. Then the army provided support for U.S.-backed François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, from his presidential election in 1957 to the establishment in 1959 of his dictatorship.

In 1959, Duvalier created the Tontons Macoutes, a paramilitary group trained by U.S. Marines that killed more than 60,000 Haitians. The Duvalier regime, led by Papa Doc's son Jean-Claude after his death in 1971, lasted until 1986.

The Aristide era

Between 1991 and 2004, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- who won over Haitians with his anti-imperialism -- was overthrown twice by the Haitian military.

On Sept. 29, 1991, the army, with CIA help, removed Aristide from power for his nationalistic views, and for his attempts to hold accountable powerful business leaders with strong ties to Washington.

On Oct. 15, 1994, amid huge protests, the Bill Clinton administration restored Aristide to power, after Washington coerced him to sign l'Accord de Paris, an agreement to reinforce the implementation of market-oriented reform policies in Haiti that reduced local influence over the economy.

Aristide was forced to privatize social services and public institutions, and he had to facilitate the entry of foreign agricultural goods into the Haitian market. These moves undermined the economy and compromised Haiti's social development.

In 2000, Aristide again won the presidency. But a February 2004 coup, engineered by Washington and Paris, overthrew him once more.

Under foreign influence, Haitian politicians have been unable to develop a stable society for their fellow citizens. Because of their lack of vision and their erroneous conception of political power, they have given powerful transnational forces the opportunity to shape Haiti's political leadership.

Both Democratic and Republican U.S. politicians have imposed on Haitian society a political leadership supportive of U.S. interests but noxious for any nation-building project on the Caribbean island.Jean Eddy Saint Paul is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Wildfire smoke may raise odds for preterm delivery, study says
By HealthDay News

Smoke from wildfires, such as 2020's Glass Fire in Napa County, Calif., may increase risk of pre-term birth, according to new research. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

The health impact of wildfires is already huge, and new research suggests it might also raise a mom-to-be's risk for preterm birth, according to a new study.

Wildfire smoke contains high levels of PM 2.5, the deadliest type of pollution from particles so fine they can embed deep in the lungs and pass into the bloodstream.

"In the future, we expect to see more frequent and intense exposure to wildfire smoke throughout the West due to [many] factors, including climate change, a century of fire suppression and construction of more homes along the fire-prone fringes of forests, scrublands and grasslands," said study author Sam Heft-Neal, a research scholar at Stanford's Center on Food Security and the Environment.

"As a result, the health burden from smoke exposure -- including preterm births -- is likely to increase," he said in a university news release.

RELATED Climate change worsens wildfires, posing a direct threat to health

The new research found that as many as 7,000 preterm births between 2007 and 2012 may have been caused by wildfire smoke exposure. These births occurred before 37 weeks of pregnancy, increasing the risk of neurodevelopmental, gastrointestinal and respiratory complications for the baby, and possibly death.

In the worst smoke year of the study period, 2008, wildfire smoke may have contributed to more than 6% of preterm births in California.

That fire has now been surpassed by record-setting blazes in 2020 and the ongoing Dixie fire in Northern California.

For this new study, the researchers combined data on smoke plumes with estimates of ground-level PM 2.5 pollution and California birth records.

RELATED Pollution from wildfires may increase COVID-19 risk in affected regions, study finds

They analyzed satellite data to identify smoke days for each of 2,610 ZIP codes.

The ground-level pollution estimates were developed using a machine learning algorithm that incorporates data from air quality sensors, satellite observations and computer models of how chemicals move through Earth's atmosphere.

The researchers accounted for other factors that can influence preterm birth risk, then looked at how patterns of preterm birth within each zip code changed when the number and intensity of smoke days rose above normal for that location.

RELATED Study: Wildfires ravage firefighters' long-term physical, mental health

While only an association was seen, they found that every additional day of smoke exposure during pregnancy raised the risk of preterm birth.

A full week of exposure meant a 3.4% greater risk compared to a pregnant woman who had no exposure to wildfire smoke.

Exposure to intense smoke during the second trimester, which is between 14 and 26 weeks of pregnancy, had the strongest impact.

It's possible that the pollution may trigger an inflammatory response that sets delivery in 

The increase in risk is relatively small in the context of all the factors that contribute to the birth of a healthy, full-term baby, they noted.

"However, against a backdrop where we know so little about why some women deliver too soon, prematurely, and why others do not, finding clues like the one here helps us start piecing the bigger puzzle together," said co-author Gary Shaw, a professor of pediatrics research and co-primary investigator of Stanford's March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center.

"If one can avoid smoke exposure by staying indoors or wearing an appropriate mask while outdoors, that would be good health practice for all," Shaw said in the release.

In 2020, a historic wildfire season that produced some of the worst daily air pollution ever recorded in California. This year could be worse, said Stanford environmental economist and co-author Marshall Burke. The full health impacts of these pollutants are unknown.

"Our work, together with a number of other recent papers, clearly shows that there's no safe level of exposure to particulate matter. Any exposure above zero can worsen health impacts," Burke said.

The findings were published recently in the journal Environmental Research.More information

The March of Dimes has more information on the impact of preterm births.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Youth in China, Japan and South Korea are 'lying flat' because they're exhausted and without hope

By Sophie Jeong, CNN Business 18 hrs ago

As a high schooler growing up in a small town in eastern China, Li Xiaoming dreamed of moving to a big city where he could have a better life.

© Ian Berry/CNN

Now 24, Li just wants to take a rest.

Across the country, young people like Li — who requested to be referred to by that pseudonym because he fears career and political repercussions for his views — are getting tired of the fierce competition for college and jobs, and the relentless rat race once they get hired.

© Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images Senior citizens sit together while playing cards in Fuyang, China's Anhui province, on May 12.

They're now embracing a new philosophy they've called "tang ping," or "lying flat."

The phrase apparently traces its origins to a post earlier this year in an online forum run by the Chinese search giant Baidu. The author of that now-deleted post suggested that instead of working one's entire life chasing after an apartment and traditional family values, people should pursue a simple life.

© VCG/Getty Images University graduates crowd at a job fair at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on October 10, 2020, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province of China.

In other words, just "lie flat."

Talk of "lying flat" has spread rapidly through China as young people contend with intense competition for the most attractive jobs, especially in tech and other white collar fields. As the country cracks down on private enterprise, meanwhile, the public has grown wary of what many see as a grueling work culture. Commonplace at many tech firms and startups are demands for people to work nearly double — or more — the number of hours in a typical work week.

Interest in "lying flat" has exploded on social media and attracted the interest of censors, who in some cases have restricted the use of the term. Several state media outlets have also pushed back against the conversation, suggesting that young people should strive to work hard instead.

This type of phenomenon, though, isn't limited to China. Across East Asia, young people say they've become exhausted by the prospect of working hard for seemingly little reward

.

© Getty images Ten thousand graduates attend their ceremony at Central China Normal University on June 13, 2021 in Wuhan, China.

In South Korea, young people are giving up on marriage and home ownership. In Japan, they are so pessimistic about the country's future that they are eschewing material possessions.

"Young people are very burnt out," said Lim Woon-taek, a professor of sociology at Keimyung University in South Korea. "They don't know why they have to work so hard."

As more young people grow frustrated with relentless pressure, they say they want to — and in some cases are — giving up conventional rites of passage, such as getting married or having children.


Where the young people just want to lie flat

Li spent every day in high school studying. On his college entrance exam, his score placed him in the top 0.37% among all high school seniors in Shandong province. He's studying for his master's degree at one of the top three law schools in China, and was hoping to get a job at a prestigious international law firm based in Beijing.

© Courtesy Kenta Ito Kenta Ito, 25, describes himself a minimalist and identifies with the satori sedai. He earns a decent wage at a consulting firm in Tokyo, but doesn't care about owning things like a house or a car.

But when he applied for graduate jobs and internships in March, he got rejected from more than 20 international law firms in China. Instead, he settled for a trainee position at a domestic law firm.

"The competition between me and other interns was so intense," said Li. "When I see those students who are still trying to go to prestigious international law firms, I feel exhausted and unwilling to contend with them anymore."

The "tang ping" lifestyle has started to resonate with him, he said. Tired of trying to get to the top, Li has decided to "lie flat" by doing the bare minimum at his internship.

"Many people who were better than me were working harder than me, so I felt anxious," he said. "'Tang ping' is ... contending with the status quo, not being ambitious, not working so hard."

Supporters of the phrase have also developed a philosophy that extends beyond the initial Baidu post. In one group on the social platform Douban, someone posted a manifesto describing the characteristics of the "tang ping" lifestyle.

"I will not marry, buy a house or have children, I will not buy a bag or wear a watch," the "lying flat manifesto" read. "I will slack off at work ... I am a blunt sword to boycott consumerism."

That group was eventually banned this spring, after attracting thousands of participants. A hashtag for the term was also censored on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

The pressures facing young people in China are high. A record 9.09 million students graduated from university or college this year, according to data from China's Ministry of Education.

Even after finding jobs, many workers have bemoaned intense work schedules, especially at major tech firms. The culture, known as "996," refers to working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. The excessive work culture was blasted by China's top court on Thursday. It called out companies across a range of industries it said violated labor rules, including an unnamed courier firm that told employees to work 996 hours.

A lot of young people are working for such companies, according to Terence Chong, an associate professor of economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

"They compete with each other," he said. So even if not everyone wants to work such hours, they may feel compelled to do so to keep up.

Those stresses aren't limited to the tech sector. Tony Tang — a 36-year-old university professor in Guangdong — said he was tired from working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

"I think I'm too overworked," said Tang, who requested to be referred to by the pseudonym Tony Tang because he was afraid of facing repercussions for his views. "They just regard working hard as one kind of things for Chinese people to do."

The rising cost of housing is adding to the pressure. As measured by square meter, the average cost of a unit in a residential building in Beijing more than doubled in the six years to 2019, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. Over the same period, the average annual disposable income in the city increased 66%.

"No matter how hard they work, it is very difficult to buy [a] house," said Chong of CUHK. "In a society [where] you see some hope there, if you work hard, then you can ... buy [a] house and so on, then you can work hard. But the thing is if you cannot see any hope, then you want to 'tang ping.'"

Opting out of dating, marriage and kids

While "tang ping" is a relatively new trend in China, young people in other parts of East Asia say they've been struggling with similar frustrations for years.

At just 22, Shin Ye-rim has given up on ever getting married, giving birth or owning a home.

"I think the biggest problem is that house prices are going up too severely," said Shin, who studies at the prestigious Yonsei University in Seoul. She added that she didn't know if she could financially support a child.

In 2011, a South Korean newspaper coined the word "sampo" — literally "give up three" — to describe a generation who has given up on dating, marriage and having kids.

In 2014, interpersonal relationships and home ownership were added to that list, giving rise to the "opo" generation, or "give up five." More sacrifices have been added since then, eventually giving rise to the term "n-po," referring to the nth degree.

In 2017, 74% of South Korean adults said they gave up at least one thing — meaning marriage, dating, leisure activities, home ownership or another aspect of life — because of economic difficulties, according to a survey of 3,880 people conducted by job portal Incruit.

As in other countries, pressures on South Korea's job market have increased, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, South Korea's unemployment rate rose to 4%, its highest level in 19 years, according to government website Statistics Korea. The data also showed that 9% of people between the ages of 15 and 29 were unemployed.

"The job market is so poor that it becomes hard to get a job," said Lim, the Keimyung University professor. "Because there are no jobs, you are less able to plan a future-oriented life."

As in China, apartment prices are skyrocketing. Median prices for an apartment in July were higher than at any point since KB Kookmin Bank began keeping records in December 2008.

There are also social reasons for giving up on traditional roles. Feminist issues, such as gender discrimination and digital sex crimes, have recently come to the fore in patriarchal South Korea.

Shin, the Yonsei student, said her mother quit her job after giving birth to her and her younger sister. Now, she doesn't want to let marriage get in the way of her own personal or professional life.

"I thought that my marriage partner could get in the way of my professional work or things that I want to do personally," Shin said. "I've been studying and working hard to achieve self-fulfillment, but I don't want to give up on that by getting married or having a child."

Resignation generation

Young Japanese people have been frustrated with work pressure and economic stagnation for years, too.

Some identify as the "satori sedai," or "resignation generation," a term first used in 2010 on 2channel, an anonymous message board in Japan that was popular at the time. It's characterized by pessimistic attitudes towards the future and a lack of material desire.

"I spend my money only on things [that] I like and find value [in]," said Kenta Ito, 25, who describes himself a minimalist and identifies with the satori sedai. He earns a decent wage at a consulting firm in Tokyo, but doesn't care about owning things like a house or a car.

Almost 26% of the 2,824 people ages 16 to 35 living in Japan surveyed by the consulting firm Dot in Tokyo in 2017 — its most recent survey on this topic — said they associate themselves with the characteristics of the satori generation.

"They would do what they're expected to do, but maybe not so much beyond that," said Sachiko Horiguchi, an associate professor of anthropology at Temple University's Japan Campus. "They're less materialistic, not so interested in consumption."

She added that the "satori sedai" have not seen a lot of economic development, resulting in their outlook.

"The resignation partly comes from the gap between the older generation who have seen economic progress ... versus this generation," she added.

Japan's economy has remained largely stagnant since its asset bubble burst in the early 1990s. The country's GDP growth slowed from 4.9% in 1990 to 0.3% in 2019, according to the World Bank, while the average real annual salary declined from 4.73 million yen ($43,000) in 1992 to 4.33 million yen ($39,500) in 2018, according to data from the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

"Their salary isn't basically going to go up either under the economic decline, so you can't look for economic reward or material reward for what you do," Horiguchi said of the satori generation.

For 21-year-old Nanako Masubuchi, a senior at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, stagnant wages are one of the factors that impacted her decision to work overseas a few years after she graduates.

"About [the] Japanese [economy], I still cannot feel positive," she said.


What the future looks like

Ito, the 25-year-old consultant in Tokyo, is pessimistic about Japan's future. He worries that the country's resources will be focused on taking care of its elderly population, rather than his generation.

People in their 20s and 30s make up a fifth of Japan's population, while more than a third are over the age of 60, according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan. By contrast, about 27% of the US population in 2019 was in their 20s and 30s, while less than a quarter was over 60.

"As elderlies keep increasing and we Generation Z become a minority, most of Japan's tax will be spent to make those elderlies live long," Ito said. "Things will be difficult for us."

Shifting demographics are a concern across other parts of East Asia, too.

Last year, South Korea recorded more deaths than births for the first time ever, according to Statistics Korea.

China's population, meanwhile, grew at its slowest rate in decades in the 10 years prior to 2020, according to census data.

In a bid to arrest a demographic crisis, China announced in May it will allow couples to have three children — but it's not clear how effective that will be. A two-child policy introduced in 2015 failed to spur more births.

With 13.5% of its people now age 65 or above, China has as many elderly people as Japan in the early 1990s, spurring concerns that there won't be enough young workers to keep powering its economic growth.

How much of that shift toward an older population will ultimately be attributable to "tang ping," though, may not become clear.

And some experts, like CUHK's Chong, suggested that while the trend might reflect what's taking place in the minds of some young people right now, many aspects of the manifesto — like slacking off at work and forgoing material things — may never become widespread.

"'Tang ping' may be just the thought of some young people," Chong said. "Ultimately, in the heart of people, people still want to work hard and get a good life."

— Zixu Wang, Laura He, Oh So-yeong, Chie Kobayashi, Wako Sato, Miku Morigasaki, Lauren Lau, Sasha Chua and Kazumi Duncan contributed to this report.

Study: Loss of threatened vertebrates may lead to drop in functional diversity


Loss of species that play a unique role in the environment could have dramatic effects on the global ecosystem, a new study has found. Photo by Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo
| License Photo

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Loss of species currently identified as threatened with extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature could cause up to a 30% decline in their functional diversity in some parts of the world, according to a study published Friday.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found the loss of functional diversity -- which refers to population levels needed for living organisms to perform their essential roles in the environment -- could be particularly severe for five groups of vertebrates, including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and freshwater fish.

For example, parts of South and Southeast Asia would be the most impacted by the loss of threatened species for mammals and birds, with an up to 20% decrease of functional diversity, the researchers said.

Meanwhile regions of northern Europe, Asia and north Africa would be the most affected by loss of reptiles, amphibians and freshwater fish, with as much as a 30% drop in functional diversity, according to the researchers.

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"Loss [of these species] would strongly imperil those fragile ecosystems," study co-author Aurele Toussaint said in a press release.

"This highlights the need for action required for the biodiversity conservation in Asia," said Toussaint, a research fellow at the University of Tartu in Estonia.

The number of vertebrate species inhabiting the different regions of the world, and those that are threatened, varies, according to Toussaint and his colleagues.

RELATED Variety of fish helps coral stay healthy

However, the loss of species refers not only to their respective populations but also on their ecological role, the researchers said.

These roles depend on the characteristics of the species, such as size, weight, shape and reproductive capacity, as well as the food resource they use.

If threatened species have similar characteristics to non-threatened species, their loss due to extinction may be counterbalanced by other species, according to the researchers.

RELATED Scientists study changing U.S. forests

Conversely, if threatened species have unique characteristics, their loss can have a dramatic effect on the functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide to human well-being.

To understand how the different regions across the world could be functionally impacted by the loss of threatened vertebrates, researchers compiled data on the characteristics of roughly 50,000 vertebrate species -- about 70% of all vertebrates globally -- and their populations.

Then, the researchers assessed whether the loss of threatened species will have similar consequences on the functional diversity in six regions worldwide.

The loss of threatened species will have similar consequences across the world, but with different intensities, according to the researchers.

For mammals, loss in functional diversity is mainly linked with the extinction of primate species such as chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas in Africa or orangutans in Asia, as well as spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys in the tropics.

With birds, any loss of functional diversity in southern Asia would be fueled by population drops of the White-shouldered ibis or the Indian vulture, both of which are close to extinction, mainly due to habitat loss and degradation.

Many large-bodied freshwater fish, such as sturgeons, are threatened in the upper northern hemisphere, while many small-bodied species, such as catfish, are threatened in the global south.

As these species have different levels of functional uniqueness in terms of their roles in the ecosystem, global measures to protect them need to be adapted to each region, the researchers said.

Currently, most conservation plans target species diversity, under the assumption that this approach protects biodiversity.

For example, there are around 300 amphibian species in northern Europe and Asia and more than 1,000 species in tropics, Toussaint said.

Because the amphibian species in the north have more unique functional traits than those in the south, their loss would have a more significant effect on functional diversity, he said.

"Conservation strategies should ... go beyond the sole number of species and target the species with a unique ecological role," Toussaint said.

Astra rocket fails after liftoff from Alaska



Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 stands ready Friday for its launch from Alaska. Photo courtesy of Astra Space

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- California-based Astra Space, a small, relatively new rocket company, failed in flight Saturday after a launch from Alaska supported in part by the U.S. Space Force.

The rocket "suffered an anomaly" about 2 1/2 minutes after liftoff from Kodiak shortly after 6:30 p.m. EDT, the company said, not elaborating on what happened.

The failure followed an aborted attempt the day before, which the company did not explain. That launch was called off just seconds before the planned liftoff.

Astra Space had not released details about the payload Saturday, except to say that it contain sensors to monitor conditions during launch for future Space Force missions

Company officials said they expected to learn a great deal from the telemetry data before the 38-foot rocket experienced "technical difficulties."

A top executive at Astra Space, which is publicly traded, acknowledged during an Aug. 12 teleconference the risks involved in producing an experimental rocket.

"Maximizing our learning requires us to make advances and take appropriate technical risks," Astra founder and CEO Chris Kemp said during the call. Kemp is a former NASA chief technology officer.

Arrests at Fairy Creek top 800; protest organizer sees more support for cause

Carla Wilson / Times Colonist
AUGUST 28, 2021 0

Aug. 23, 2021: People protest outside the RCMP detachment in Victoria in response to arrests of protesters at Fairy Creek. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST

Old-growth trees in B.C. are bound to be spared from logging now that the months-long dispute in the Fairy Creek region has been taken up by the federal Liberal party, predicts Glen Reid, an organizer with the Rainforest Flying Squad.

“It’s going to be saved,” he said Saturday. “It’s an election issue now.”

The federal Liberals announced this past week that if elected they will set up a $50-million old-growth nature fund to protect old trees.

Meanwhile, the number of arrests at Fairy Creek reached 824 on Friday, bringing a reminder of what was called the War in the Woods when more than 800 people were arrested in the 1990s for protesting logging in Clayoquot Sound.

RCMP have been clashing with protesters in the Fairy Creek watershed where they are stationed to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court injunction against blockades. On Friday, six people were arrested, processed and released.

Two people were in locking devices in a trench — a frequent tactic to slow down logging efforts — at the entrance to a bridge, police said. RCMP said the trench is unsafe and not stable.

Reid said there are people in trenches daily. Others will lock themselves up with a type of device that attaches to rebar in the ground.

“It is just to slow industry down,” Reid said.

As well, the Land Back camp, led by a Pacheedaht youth, was taken down from its location on a bridge last week but was back in place on Friday, he said.

Ongoing protest over old-growth logging on Vancouver Island marks one year

PORT RENFREW, B.C. — In the year since the first camp was set up to prevent old-growth logging around the Fairy Creek watershed on southern Vancouver Island, an expert in Canadian environmental movements says the protests have made a mark on politics and public discourse

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

Advocates have been calling for an end to old-growth logging in British Columbia for decades, but the issue flared again recently with more rallies, people speaking out and media attention, said David Tindall, a professor in the sociology department at the University of British Columbia.

Tindall said he believes certain changes would not have happened without the ongoing blockades near Port Renfrew, B.C.

He points to the speed of the B.C. government's decision to approve the request of three Vancouver Island First Nations to temporarily defer old-growth logging across about 2,000 hectares in the Fairy Creek and central Walbran areas, and to the federal Liberals' election pledge to establish a $50 million old-growth fund.

Whether the public memory of the Fairy Creek protest persists over time — like the so-called War in the Woods over old-growth logging in Clayoquot Sound near Tofino in 1993 — could depend on the province taking action to set larger areas of old-growth forests aside from logging for good, Tindall said.

"I think if the provincial government just kind of makes some small-scale changes to plans and then continues business as usual, you know, two or five years from now, then (the protest) won't really be on the minds of people as Clayoquot was."

The recent flurry of arrests may also deter some people from joining the blockades, making it more difficult for the group to sustain its presence, Tindall added.

Since May, the RCMP have enforced a court injunction granted to the Teal-Jones Group, the forestry company that holds the harvesting license in the area.

The Mounties have said protesters' tactics include locking themselves into precarious structures above the ground and trenches dug into the road.

The protests continued after the B.C. government approved the deferral request from thePacheedaht, Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht First Nations in June.

Kathy Code, a member of the protest group dubbed the Rainforest Flying Squad, said in an interview that parts of both deferred areas were already set aside through old-growth management and wildlife habitat areas. The same can be said of nine other areas temporarily deferred from logging by the province last year, she added.

Research from Rachel Holt, Karen Price and Dave Daust — independent experts appointed in June to advise the province on old-growth management — shows that less than three per cent of the most productive old-growth remains across B.C.

The deferral of logging in the most at-risk old-growth ecosystems is among the top recommendations in a report last year from an independent panel on old-growth management, which the B.C. government has pledged to fully implement.

The No. 1 recommendation from that report was "for government to engage with First Nation rights and titleholders and that's exactly what we're doing," the ministry said in a statement, adding it expects to announce additional deferrals soon.

The Pacheedaht First Nation has signed a forest revenue-sharing agreement with the province and Chief Jeff Jones has asked the Fairy Creek protesters to leave, saying the nation is working on a resource stewardship plan that will guide forestry activities.

The Teal-Jones Group said all harvesting and road-building in the deferred areas has been suspended and most of its work in the area involves second-growth forests.

The protest group says its members are staying at Fairy Creek at the invitation of Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones and old-growth forests outside the deferred areas are still at risk of logging with road-building or cut blocks planned or already approved.

The number of arrests since the RCMP began enforcing the injunction at Fairy Creek in May is over 800, similar to arrests made during the 1993 War in the Woods, one of thelargest acts of civil disobedience in recent Canadian history.

Two years after the protests ended in Clayoquot Sound, the B.C. government changed its policies on clear-cutting forests.

Code said protesters are staying put at Fairy Creek even though the RCMP have broken up their main kitchen, medical and communication stations.

The protesters allege police have used excessive force, such as pepper-spraying people's faces at close range, shoving and throwing them to the ground, she said.

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP said as of Thursday, 21 of 91 complaints it has received about the conduct of police enforcement at Fairy Creek fall within its mandate and will be investigated.

RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Chris Manseau said over email he cautions anyone viewing videos of recent arrests circulating online "to keep in mind that they do not fully capture the events leading up to or following the interactions."

The injunction is set to expire on Sep. 26 and Teal Jones said it has applied for an extension, which the protest group is set to oppose.

— by Brenna Owen in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press

Canadian coal company appeals tough U.S. selenium rule as provinces consider mines

Author of the article:
The Canadian Press
Bob Weber
Publishing date: Aug 28, 2021 • 

A Canadian coal-mining giant is fighting new American environmental rules that tighten restrictions on the release of a contaminant toxic to fish.

On Aug. 13, Teck Resources petitioned Montana to rescind a rule brought in last fall that dramatically cuts acceptable levels of selenium in Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir crossing the U.S.-Canada border that takes water flowing from the company’s mines in British Columbia.

“No credible evidence of harm based on fish tissue samples has been presented,” says Teck’s petition to Montana’s Board of Environmental Quality.

Montana’s new rules reduce allowable selenium concentrations to 0.8 micrograms per litre of water. B.C.’s current guideline is two micrograms per litre.

Montana officials have said those tougher restrictions on selenium are needed to protect waters shared by both countries.

Erin Sexton, a senior biologist at the University of Montana, said fish caught in U.S. waters show selenium concentrations high enough to damage their ability to lay eggs and reproduce.

“Selenium is far more toxic than we originally thought,” she said.

She said the new levels were set through a rigourous process that began in 2014 and involved governments and agencies on both sides of the border, as well as First Nations, scientists and Teck.

B.C. should be matching Montana’s move, Sexton said, pointing to a 2014 letter to state officials from the province’s then-deputy minister of the environment.

“Should sound science and the results of the processes above identify a more appropriate target that is suitably protective of aquatic ecosystem health, then the province is committed to amending the long-term target of (two micrograms per litre),” the letter says.

“I haven’t heard a good answer as to why (B.C.) hasn’t met its commitments,” said Sexton.

B.C.’s environment ministry is working on its own standard, with the Ktunaxa First Nation, which will protect aquatic and human health, said a statement provided by ministry spokesman David Karn.

“B.C. is working with (the Ktunaxa) on the process for public comment on the draft selenium water quality objective,” he wrote in an email.

Teck says the science behind Montana’s new rule is flawed.

“The new rule does not account for naturally occurring and background levels of selenium,” its petition says.

Teck also argues Montana’s rule is invalid because state law requires the goal of any new regulation to be “achievable.”

“(Montana regulators) recognized the inability of Montana to regulate work in Canada,” the petition says.

The head of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality told a December 2020 hearing on the selenium rules that he believed Montana’s tougher requirement would influence B.C to follow along.

“What that does is put the pressure on British Columbia to indeed adopt their own standard which is aligned with us,” said Shaun McGrath.

In an email, Teck spokesman Dale Steeves said the Montana level is unreasonable.

“The level set by Montana is the lowest freshwater standard in North America, is only applicable in this transboundary waterway and is below natural background levels in some upstream Canadian waterways,” he wrote.

Teck has long struggled with selenium contamination from its mines in B.C.’s Elk Valley.

In March, the company was fined $60 million for that pollution, the largest fine ever levied under the Fisheries Act. Teck says it has spent more than $1 billion since 2011 to address the problem and has budgeted another $755 million by 2024.

Teck’s petition comes as both B.C. and Alberta weigh the effects of selenium, an element often found in coal deposits. The federal and provincial governments are considering plans from Teck for a major expansion to its B.C. coal mines.

Selenium has also been a concern in Alberta, where several companies have taken large coal exploration leases along the summits and foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the source of most of the province’s drinking water.

Alberta regulators have already denied one proposed mine at least partly over selenium concerns, although that decision is under appeal. A committee is also canvassing the province for public input on how, or if, coal development in Alberta should proceed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2021.

Companies in this story: TSX:TECK.B

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Manitoba health-care support staff vote 97% in favour of strike action

Workers want protected benefits, wage bumps, rules around working conditions: CUPE

CBC News · Posted: Aug 25, 2021
A health-care worker holds a patient's hand. Health-care support staff in Manitoba have voted in favour of strike action. (Interstid/Shutterstock)

Health-care support staff from across Manitoba have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, their union says.

Across Shared Health, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, the Northern Health Region and Southern Health, workers voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.

Shannon McAteer, health-care co-ordinator for the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Manitoba, said those workers have been without a contract for between four and five years.

Now, they're angry and frustrated.

"They feel that they've been touted as part of the health-care heroes. And now they don't feel like they're certainly being treated that way," McAteer said.

"They're done, quite frankly. They're exhausted. They're frustrated. They want some recognition. They want some acknowledgement of everything that they've gone through."

Health-care workers inducted into Order of the Buffalo Hunt for pandemic efforts

Employees in Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action, while those in the Northern Health Region voted 98 per cent in favour, the union said in a news release.

In Southern Health, health-care support staff voted 92 per cent in favour.
Union still 'optimistic'

Voting started Aug. 18 and continued until noon on Wednesday. McAteer said talks at the bargaining table have been slow moving, but she hopes the strike mandate will help speed things along.

"We're optimistic and we're hopeful that the talks will continue ... in a fruitful manner and that we'll get to a collective agreement," she said.

"That's always the goal of any strike mandate is to ... ultimately not to have to go on strike. But if we have to, we will."

McAteer said the union is hoping for protections for benefits and pension plans, wage increases and better rules around safe working conditions — something that came up during the pandemic.

The union also asked for a similar agreement to the one the Manitoba Nurses Union came to with the province, where both parties agreed to go to binding arbitration without job action if bargaining is unsuccessful. McAteer said that request was denied.

Manitoba ICUs could be overwhelmed during 4th wave without more vaccinations, modelling suggests

"They wouldn't give it to us," she said.

"Support workers just want to be treated with the same respect and in the same way that the rest of health care is treated."

Those support workers include health-care aides, clerical staff, biomedical engineers and people working in dietary, laundry, trades and maintenance areas in health care.

More bargaining dates are set to take place in the fall, McAteer said.


With files from Caitlyn Gowriluk

Manitoba health-care support staff vote in favour of strike

Kayla Rosen

CTVNewsWinnipeg.ca Editorial Producer
Published Thursday, August 26, 2021 


WINNIPEG -- Health-care support staff in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), Shared Health, Northern Regional Health Authority and Southern Health-Santé Sud have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that represents the workers, the fact that these workers have been putting their lives at risk during the pandemic is not being recognized at the bargaining table.

“Right now, Manitoba has 18,000 health-care support staff who are exhausted and who feel disrespected by the government, despite being lauded as heroes,” said Debbie Boissonneault, President of CUPE 204, in a news release from Aug. 25.

“This is both an overwhelming mandate, and a scathing review of government’s inability to recognize health-care workers.”

Province-wide CUPE health-care workers voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike. However, when broken down by region the results are:

99 per cent of workers in the WRHA and Shared Health, represented by CUPE 204 and CUPE 500, voted in favour of strike action;

98 per cent of staff in the Northern Regional Health Authority, represented by CUPE 8600, voted in favour of strike action; and

92 per cent of those in Southern Health-Santé Sud, represented by CUPE 4270, voted in favour of strike action.

“It’s time for the provincial government to show leadership and recognize the sacrifice that health-care support workers have been making and immediately make settling health-care contracts a priority,” said Christine Lussier, president of CUPE 8600.

CUPE told CTV News Winnipeg they are still at the bargaining table and no strike date has been set. The union said they want the same deal the nurses got but are being offered less.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Shared Health said they are committed to negotiating a fair and long-term collective agreement for Manitoba’s health-care support staff.

“Unlike the status of ongoing negotiations with the Manitoba Nurses Union, the regular health care bargaining pattern means that negotiations with CUPE are still in early stages, with both sides continuing to work diligently through the comprehensive proposals associated with merging more than 100 collective agreements into just eight,” the statement said.

“We look forward to continuing this extensive collaborative work in the days ahead on shared goals that achieve the security of a fair agreement while addressing the needs of all Manitobans who rely on our health care system.

Required essential service agreements are part of the ongoing negotiations to guarantee continue staff coverage and care in any scenario so any operational impacts are minimal.”