Taliban trying to 'erase' women from public life: UN experts

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Afghan women march as they chant slogans and hold banners during a women's rights protest in Kabul. File/AFP

Gulf Today Report

A group of UN human rights experts have warned against the Taliban's attempts to "steadily erase women and girls from public life", the media reported.

The experts on Monday said that large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls has been ongoing since the fall of the country to the Taliban last August, reports TOLO News.

"Taken together, these policies constitute a collective punishment of women and girls, grounded on gender-based bias and harmful practices," the experts said.

"Today, we are witnessing the attempt to steadily erase women and girls from public life in Afghanistan including in institutions and mechanisms that had been previously set up to assist and protect those women and girls who are most at risk."

According to the experts, women and girls in Afghanistan are being pushed out of public life.

"We are concerned about the continuous and systematic efforts to exclude women from the social, economic, and political spheres across the country."

 An Afghan woman carries a basket full of roses for sale as another woman working as a cobbler sits in a street in Kabul. AFP

The human rights experts also raised concerns over the risk of exploitation of women and girls including trafficking for the purposes of child and forced marriage, sexual exploitation and forced labour, according to IANS. 

According to the experts, barring women from returning to their jobs, requiring a male relative to accompany them in public spaces, prohibiting women from using public transportations on their own, and denying secondary and tertiary education for girls are the policies being implemented for the exclusion of women.

"In addition to severely limiting their freedom of movement, expression and association, and their participation in public and political affairs, these policies have also affected the ability of women to work and to make a living, pushing them further into poverty," the experts said.

According to the experts, the humanitarian crisis in the country has been more devastating for women, children, minorities and female-headed households.

The Taliban-led government however, denied that it has imposed any type of restrictions on women and said that women are continuing to work in government departments.

"No restrictions are imposed on women. Women are working in government departments. The plan to include women in the formation of the new government is under discussion," TOLO News quoted Taliban deputy spokesman Ahmadullah Wasiq as saying on Monday.

SOCIAL JUSTICE WALES
Policing Bill vote takes place in the Senedd

The Senedd has voted to withhold legislative consent on elements of the UK Policing Bill branded “draconian” and “racist” by members.

By Rebecca Wilks @WilksBeccaReporter

The Senedd voted on whether to grant legislative consent for the Policing Bill on Tuesday (Picture: Senedd Cymru, Huw Evans Agency)

The Senedd has voted to withhold legislative consent on elements of the UK Policing Bill branded “draconian” and “racist” by members.

The vote, which took place on Tuesday evening, was held to decide whether the Welsh Parliament should give consent for Westminster’s Policing Bill to make law changes that would impact on devolved areas.


The Senedd voted to withhold consent on a number of the Bill’s clauses, including most of its restrictions to public protest, the criminalisation of trespass, and a new offence that could punish vandalism of statues with a ten year prison sentence.


Some clauses, however, were given consent - including measures on public nuisance and the extraction of data from mobile devices by police.

Jane Hutt, Minister for Social Justice (Picture: Huw Evans Agency)

“The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a complex and controversial piece of legislation,” Jane Hutt, Social Justice Minister, told members before the vote.

“There are some provisions that fall within the competence of the Senedd, which make changes that will benefit Wales.


“However, there are also provisions in the Bill… that we should not accept, some of which are egregious breaches of people's rights.”

In her Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM), the minister recommended members vote in favour of Clause 61, which introduces the offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance”. The offence will carry a possible sentence of one year’s imprisonment, a fine, or both.

READ MORE:

How will the UK Policing Bill affect the right to protest in Wales?

UK Police Bill could strain 'weakened' Welsh prisons

The Welsh Government stipulates that the offence should only be considered where “serious harm” is caused, which can include “serious annoyance” to a member of the public, and says that it supports the measure “in relation to protecting residents from increased noise pollution”.

The recommendation appeared to cause some discontent.

“I will vote for the motion, before the whips get onto the phone with me,” Labour MS Alun Davies commented.

“But let me say this - I find myself with a very, very heavy heart in this matter.

“We should be united, as politicians - united, across political parties - in saying that people’s right to make our lives uncomfortable is more important than our right to keep people quiet.”

Jenny Rathbone MS called Part 4 of the Policing Bill "an abomination". (Picture: Huw Evans Agency)

Jenny Rathbone, Labour MS for Cardiff Central, disagreed, calling the measures “unremarkable proposals which safeguard communities.”

The government also recommended consenting to new powers for police to extract data - including deleted data - from electronic devices, providing that a device has been provided to authorities voluntarily.

This measure has been criticised by civil liberties groups including Big Brother Watch and Privacy International, who said that the Bill did not include strict, precise limits on the kind of information that can be extracted and why, and would rely on consent from potentially distressed victims and witnesses.

READ MORE: Westminster 'increasingly authoritarian' says Welsh Government

Similarly, another policy recommended for consent by the Welsh Government, the Serious Violence Duty, was condemned late last year by more than 600 experts - including doctors, teachers and social workers - who expressed concerns that the policy would obligate them to inform on vulnerable children to the police, and therefore prevent them from accessing support services.

Under Clause 16 of the Bill, a wide range of public bodies would be required to share information with the police if requested to. Civil liberty campaign group Liberty said the measure would breach data confidentiality “in a racially disproportionate way”.

The government also recommended consenting to measures that would increase punishments for poaching and double the maximum prison term for assaulting emergency workers.

Plaid Cymru members voted against allowing consent for any part of the Policing Bill.

Sioned Williams MS, Plaid spokesperson for Social Justice (Picture: Huw Evans Agency)

The party’s Social Justice minister, Sioned Williams, told members: “The dangerous extremism of the present Tory Westminster government is evident when it prompts the House of Lords to act with the determination it showed last night - sitting into the early hours, defeating clause after clause.

“We must send an equally powerful message from this place, that we will have no part in the passage of a Bill containing draconian measures which are in many cases racist, authoritarian, and disproportionate - undermining as they do the very cohesion of our society, and the values we hold dear, upon which our democracy rests.”

Consent was nevertheless agreed for all those measures recommended by the Welsh Government.

Part Four of the Policing Bill, which would make residing on land without permission a criminal offence, was voted against by members - meaning that consent was withheld.

This afternoon, The National reported on the potential impact of this policy on Gypsy Roma Traveller (GRT) communities. Charities and campaign groups had today lobbied Senedd Members over fear that the measure would put GRT people at risk of poverty and homelessness, and place increased pressure on social services.

Jenny Rathbone called this element of the legislation “an abomination”, adding that she held “little hope” that the Westminster government would take notice of opposition by either the Senedd or the House of Lords.

“It is extremely likely that they will railroad these proposals through the House of Commons as part of their ‘Save Big Dog’ campaign’.”

Mark Isherwood, the Conservative MS for north Wales, acknowledged concerns that the plans would discriminate against GRT people, but said that the onus was on the Welsh Government to ensure suitable encampment sites were provided.

Pointing to Monday’s late night defeat at the House of Lords for the UK government, Mr Isherwood emphasised that Westminster’s policies were subject to “robust” scrutiny.

“We must therefore trust our colleagues in the UK Parliament to do their job, just as we expect to be trusted to do ours,” he added.

The Welsh Conservatives voted in favour of all the clauses laid before the Senedd.

Other measures for which consent was withheld included the ability to try those accused of damaging a memorial in Crown Court - with the possibility of ten years’ imprisonment - and many of the Policing Bill’s restrictions to public protest, including the ability for police to impose limits to one-person

Climate change has 'saved lives', says UK Tory Lord

By Nick Lester, Chief Lords Reporter, PA

Former UK minister, Lord Lilley, said that climate change had "saved lives". (Picture: Policy Exchange)

A Conservative former UK Cabinet minister has hailed the “good news” that climate change has “prolonged or saved the lives of over half a million of our fellow citizens”.

Conservative peer Lord Lilley, who was previously linked to the climate sceptic think-tank The Global Warming Policy Foundation, was responding to analysis carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

Data over the last two decades showed there had been a reduction in deaths caused by cold winters since 2001 in Wales and England as the climate warms, while there was relatively little increase in deaths due to hotter weather.

Temperature-related deaths, with the UK experiencing fewer cold days and more warm days, fell by 555,103 or an average of 27,755 deaths a year between 2001 and 2020.

Raising the figures in Parliament, Lord Lilley, who sits on the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, said: “Isn’t that good news, that climate change has prolonged or saved the lives of over half a million of our fellow citizens?”

Addressing the work and pensions minister, Baroness Stedman-Scott, he added: “How long does she expect this beneficial effect to continue?”

The minister said: “I’m afraid the impact of climate change is way outside my brief, but I am sure everybody notes the points made.”

Earlier, responding to a separate question, the environment minister, Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, indicated his frustration with “endless consultations” on Government plans.

READ MORE: Welsh pensioner among Extinction Rebellion activists cleared over train protest

He had been pressed in the upper chamber over moves to ban the use of peat in horticulture in England and Wales, the extraction of which is environmentally damaging.

Lord Goldsmith said the Government was currently canvassing views on ending its professional use in England and Wales.

In reply, Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb said: “Environmentalists are just sick of all these consultations because the Government promised to ban it in 2020.”

Lord Goldsmith said: “She is not the only person who is sick of endless consultations, but unfortunately consultations are unavoidable when the impact of a policy affects the value of a business or the value of assets.

“So we have no choice but to consult and that is what we are doing, but we are doing so as quickly as we can.”

Doctors say claim that China's 1st Omicron case came from Canada isn't based on science

Catharine Tunney 

Doctors say an allegation out of Beijing that China's first Omicron case may be linked to mail received from Toronto should be treated with deep skepticism.

Chinese health authorities said earlier Monday that a case of Omicron in Beijing may have spread from a package received from Canada. They urged citizens to stop ordering parcels from abroad as the opening of the Winter Olympics approaches.

"I find this to be, let's say, an extraordinary view," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference Monday.

"Certainly [it's] not in accordance with what we have done both internationally and domestically."

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said health officials "cannot rule out the possibility" that the patient was infected by goods from overseas carrying the virus.

The centre claims the package in question was routed through the U.S. before arriving in Hong Kong and then its final destination in Beijing.

But medical experts say the theory that such a shipment could spread the virus contradicts what recent studies say about COVID-19's ability to survive on surfaces.

"I don't think any of that's based on science," said Dr. Anna Banerji, an associate professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

She said the airborne Omicron variant "would never survive" on an envelope shipped across the world.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the virus is primarily transmitted through the air.

"While mail may be contaminated, the risk of COVID-19 infection when handling paper mail or cardboard packages, including international mail, is extremely low," it said in an emailed statement.

"We know that the virus is most frequently transmitted when people are in close contact with others who are infected with the virus (either with or without symptoms)."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say studies show an "inability to detect viable virus within minutes to hours" on porous surfaces, like paper.

An April 2020 study published in The Lancet journal concluded that "no infectious virus could be recovered from printing and tissue papers after a three-hour incubation."

Epidemiologist Dr. Donald Vinh, a professor with McGill University's division of experimental medicine, said the chance of such a package actually infecting someone is "very, very low."

"Is it believable or likely or probable that this has happened? And the answer is no," he said.

Olympics drawing near

China's claim comes as it tries to clamp down on cases ahead of the Winter Games, set to open in Beijing on Feb. 4.

The Chinese government has introduced strict pandemic control measures — including frequent lockdowns, universal masking and mass testing — in a bid to drive new transmissions to zero. On Monday, the country announced it won't be selling Olympics tickets to the general public due to concerns about the virus.

Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and now vice-president and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said he thinks China is getting an excuse ready in case there's an outbreak during the Olympics.

"If things were to go badly, then they can suggest it came from the outside and not from within China because they've made every effort to try and contain, taking a zero tolerance approach, completely shutting down cities up to now," he said.

Guy St-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he expects to see more finger-pointing if there are outbreaks during the Olympics.

"It is easy for China to blame Canada as there is no way to investigate the issue to say if it is true and if so, did the virus amount really constitute a threat?" he said.

"As China has more and more difficulty with its zero-COVID policy, it will blame foreigners for its predicament."

© Andy Wong/AP Workers wearing face masks to help protect from the coronavirus set up a decoration for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022.

The claim about the Canadian parcel comes at a time of heightened tensions between Ottawa and Beijing following China's imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for nearly three years — an apparent act of retaliation for the RCMP's arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant.

Late last month, China's foreign ministry warned that Beijing's relations with Canada stand "at a crossroads."

Robertson said he thinks the Chinese government would like to open up the relationship again.

"But they're dealing with — in the case of Canada and most western countries — public opinion which has shifted dramatically over the last couple of years and is now highly suspicious of the Chinese, particularly around its human rights record," he said.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole called the news reports out of China "comical."

"Stories like this remind us that from the beginning of the pandemic, some of the news and reporting out of China could not be trusted," he said.

 Omicron In China: China Postal Service Orders Disinfection Of All International Mailhttps://www.news18.com/news/world/omicron-in-china-china-postal-service-orders-disinfection-of-all-international-mail-4670441.html

IOC disputes Citizen Lab's security concerns about Chinese Olympics app

Controversy has swirled around China's MY2022 Olympics app due to privacy and security vulnerabilities.


Written by Jonathan Greig, Staff Writer
on January 18, 2022 | 

Citizen Lab

The International Olympic Committee has defended China's MY2022 Olympics app following a report from Citizen Lab that found serious privacy issues with the platform.

All attendees of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing need to download and use the app, but Citizen Lab released a report on Monday that said a "simple but devastating flaw" allows the encryption protecting users' voice audio and file transfers to be "trivially sidestepped."

According to Citizen Lab, passport details, demographic information, and medical/travel history in health customs forms are also vulnerable. Server responses can be spoofed, allowing an attacker to display fake instructions to users, according to the report.

The MY2022 app also allows users to report "politically sensitive" content and includes a censorship keyword list involving topics like Xinjiang and Tibet.

Citizen Lab noted that the app may violate Google's Unwanted Software Policy, Apple's App Store guidelines, and China's own laws and national standards pertaining to privacy protection. Google and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

The report caused widespread outrage, since the thousands of people at the games will have no choice but to download the app if they want to represent their country.

In comments to ZDNet, the International Olympic Committee defended the app and downplayed the severity of the issues discovered by Citizen Lab.

A spokesperson justified the app's security holes by saying that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "special measures" needed to be put in place to "protect the participants of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Chinese people."

"Therefore, a closed loop management system has been implemented... The 'My2022' app supports the function for health monitoring. It is designed to keep Games-related personnel safe within the closed loop environment," the IOC said.

The IOC also defended the app by saying it received approval from the Google Play store and the App Store.

While robust passwords help you secure your valuable online accounts, hardware-based two-factor authentication takes that security to the next level.

"The user is in control over what the 'My2022' app can access on their device. They can change the settings already while installing the app or at any point afterwards. It is not compulsory to install 'My 2022' on cell phones, as accredited personnel can log on to the health monitoring system on the web page instead," the IOC claimed.

"The IOC has conducted independent third-party assessments on the application from two cyber-security testing organizations. These reports confirmed that there are no critical vulnerabilities."

Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, told ZDNet that the IOC's comments do not address the serious security vulnerabilities the organization discovered and reported.

"To date, the app vendor has not either. In fact, the app vendor has not responded at all to our vulnerability disclosure, and the latest version of the app, unfortunately, still includes the vulnerabilities," Deibert noted.

"The IOC has a responsibility to ensure user privacy and security is protected for any applications and systems used during the Olympic Games. The IOC's comments suggest that rather than taking that responsibility seriously, they are in fact hoping to minimize the risks."

DW was the first to report on the vulnerabilities, and many news outlets noted that the US, UK, Australia, and Germany have urged their citizens to leave all of their personal devices and laptops at home over concerns that they will be hacked or monitored by the Chinese government both during the games and once they go home. The Dutch Olympic Committee has already banned its citizens from bringing their devices to the games.

Some experts said the vulnerabilities would also give criminal hackers a way to steal sensitive personal information. The Beijing 2022 organizing committee, however, told USA Today that personal information collected by Beijing 2022 "will not be disclosed unless the disclosure is necessary."

"Information of accredited media representatives will only be used for purposes related to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," the Beijing 2022 organizing committee said.

The games begin on February 4.

Toronto lab finds security vulnerabilities, censorship framework in Olympic app


TORONTO — Researchers at a Toronto-based tech laboratory have uncovered security vulnerabilities and censorship frameworks in an app all 2022 Beijing Olympics attendees must use.

The Citizen Lab, a research institute at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy that studies spyware, found a "simple but devastating" flaw in the MY2022 app that makes audio files, health and customs forms transmitting passport details, and medical and travel history vulnerable to hackers.

Researcher Jeffrey Knockel found MY2022 does not validate some SSL certificates, digital infrastructure that uses encryption to secure apps and ensures no unauthorized people can access information as it is transmitted.

This failure to validate means the app can be deceived into connecting with malicious hosts it mistakes as being trusted, allowing information the app transmits to servers to be intercepted and attackers to display fake instructions to users.

"The worst case scenario is that someone is intercepting all the traffic and recording all the passport details, all the medical details," said Knockel, a research associate, who investigated the app after a journalist curious about its security functions approached him.

Olympic organizers have required all games attendees, including athletes, spectators and media members, to download and start using the MY2022 app for submitting health and customs information like COVID-19 test results and vaccination status at least 14 days ahead of their arrival in China.

The app from a state-owned company called Beijing Financial Holdings Group also offers GPS navigation and text, video and audio chat functions and the ability to transfer files and provide news and weather updates.

Knockel found it's unclear with whom the app shares highly-sensitive medical information.

The Olympic playbook outlines that personal data such as biographical information and health-related data may be processed by Beijing 2022, International Olympic and Paralympic committees, Chinese authorities and “others involved in the implementation of the (COVID-19) countermeasures."

Knockel say MY2022 outlines several scenarios where it will disclose personal information without user consent, which include but are not limited to national security matters, public health incidents, and criminal investigations.

However, the app does not specify whether court orders will be required to gain access to this information and who will be eligible to receive data.

The final concern Knockel uncovered was that the app allows users to report “politically sensitive” content and found it has a censorship keyword list.

The list includes 2,442 political terms, including some linked to tensions in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as references to Chinese government agencies. On the list are Chinese phrases translating to "Jews are pigs" and "Chinese are all dogs," Uyghur terms for "the Holy Quran" and Tibetan words referring to the Dalai Lama.

Knockel couldn't find evidence that the list was being used by the app.

"We don't know whether they intended for it to be inactive or whether they intended for it to be active, but either way, it's something that....can be enabled at the flick of a switch," said Knockel.

The Citizen Lab disclosed the concerns it found with MY2022 to organizing committees on Dec. 3, giving them 15 days to respond and 45 days to fix the issues, before it publicly disclosed the problems.

A new version of MY2022 for iOS users was released on Jan. 6, but Citizen Lab said no issues were resolved with the update. In fact, Citizen Lab said the update introduced a new "Green Health Code" feature that collects more medical data and is vulnerable to attacks because of its lack of SSL certificate validation.

Knockel recommends anyone headed to the Olympics only use the app when connected to networks they trust, like a virtual private network (VPN).

Olympic participants should also consider taking conversations and other actions that are not mandatory to complete in MY2022 to other apps with better security, he said.

"But it's tricky," he said. "Even if they are aware of the security vulnerabilities in the app, they might not have a choice."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2022.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

Opinion:

 IOC partly responsible for My 2022 APP

The extreme security gaps in the My 2022 app for the Winter Olympics in Beijing seem to indicate that the IOC has failed to live up to its duty of care for all competitors, writes DW Sports editor Stefan Nestler.


There are concerns about cybersecurity on the My 2022 app

It's no secret that authoritarian governments (and others) have a tendency to exploit security weaknesses on the internet. It's also no secret that China is a world leader in the field of electronic espionage.

So you could expect that an Olympic app developed in China and recommended for use by all foreign guests could be used not only to trace the paths of possible COVID-19 infections during the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing.
Secret text file

This makes the conclusion of IT forensics experts from the "Citizen Lab" at the University of Torontothat "My2022's security measures are wholly insufficient to prevent sensitive data from being disclosed to unauthorized third parties" all the more serious.

DW Sports editor Stefan Nestler

The IT researchers also discovered a text file with more 2,400 terms — including some that are politically sensitive in China, such as "Uyghur" or "Dalai Lama" — included in the app but not yet been activated.

This is proof of what experts have been warning about for a long time: This is not only about medical surveillance, but also about spying on the athletes, their support staff and all other Olympic guests, such as journalists — for political purposes.
Naive, negligent or complicit?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the organizer of the Games, has a duty of care for all competitors. So how does this reflect on it? In the so-called "playbook" for the Beijing Games, the IOC encourages all participants to use My 2022 and assures them that the app complies with "international standards and Chinese law."

Did the IOC really assume that the app would be used exclusively to combat COVID-19? And if IT specialists investigated the app on behalf of the IOC, why didn't they discover these serious security flaws? Could they have tacitly looked the other way in order to avoid any friction with the host of the Games, which happens to be the international power China?

By also doing nothing, one can also make common cause with autocrats.

This opinion piece was translated from German.

THIS VOLCANO IN ETHIOPIA IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES IN THE WORLD

Pawika Tongtavee/Shutterstock

BY SANDRA MARDENFELD/JAN. 18, 2022 

Some 93 million Americans travel abroad each year, with about 800 individuals dying on their trips from things like traffic accidents, violence, drowning, and other mishaps, according to Insider. One-third of these deaths happen on the road, including collisions that involve cars, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians. International transportation can offer riskier challenges than the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency cites poorly maintained roads, unsafe vehicles, and speeding and unlicensed drivers as part of the problem. Traveling unfamiliar terrain also exhausts tourists, who can become disoriented and unprepared for animals or people darting unexpectedly onto the road. For those reasons, the CDC recommended that travelers wear seatbelts when in cars, and helmets on bikes and cycles.

You can also choose your destinations wisely. Many roads offer hazardous conditions you can avoid. The 800-mile Karakoram Highway (above) that sprawls between China and Pakistan, for example, may offer stellar views — earning it the informal title as the eighth world wonder — but the path is prone to disasters like landslides, avalanches, and floods. In Bolivia, the North Yungas Road, allegedly the globe's most treacherous highway, sports the nickname "Death Road." Its narrow space, just 12 feet wide, often becomes clouded with rain and fog, a deadly mix that kills 200 to 300 people yearly (From Business Insider).

Another dangerous thoroughfare lies in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, and forces travelers to tangle with Erta Ale, an active volcano that erupts unrelentingly (per Dangerous Roads).

The Erta Ale volcano started erupting in 1967 and has not stopped since. The area around it involves a treacherous journey that includes possible encounters with landmines, terrorism, bandits, sandstorms, and kidnappers, reported Dangerous Roads. The volcano towers 2,011 feet over the passageway, which is unpaved and often obfuscated with dust. Erta Ale, aptly nicknamed "Smoking Mountain" and "Gateway to Hell," sits in the Danakil depression amid extreme heat (think temperatures around 77 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit). The road begins in Afdera, and can require six hours travel time as your pass through the lava-, rock-, and sand-laden landscape.

Why undergo such an arduous journey? Erta Ale, a basaltic shield volcano, contains a rare persistent lava lake and several pit craters, according to Volcano Discovery. It has become a popular tourist spot despite a 2012 attack that killed several tourists and scientists. In fact, Dangerous Roads recommended anyone undergoing the trip to hire one or two armed guards to accompany them since the area still contains such political instability. Ethiopia Online Visa also advised hiring a tour operator for the visit, since Erta Ale is located in a desert area far from populated areas, and to visit during the winter when the temperatures are lower, like 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Most trips should include transportation to the volcano's base and overnight camping. Sound too taxing? Watch the 2010 movie "Clash of the Titans" instead. Just fast forward to where Perseus visits the underworld and take a look (from The Earth Story).  

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/737398/this-volcano-in-ethiopia-is-one-of-the-most-dangerous-places-in-the-world/?utm_campaign=clip

Louisiana US Senate candidate Gary Chambers smokes marijuana joint in new ad

Chambers, a Black progressive activist, is running on a pro-marijuana legalization platform

Ny Magee |
Jan 18, 2022

Gary Chambers, a former candidate for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, is running for the U.S. Senate in Louisiana. He launched his first ad campaign on Tuesday with a video showing him smoking a cannabis blunt.

Chambers, a Black progressive activist, is running on a pro-marijuana legalization platform. The ad, titled ‘37 Seconds,’ also features a voice-over of him highlighting the statistics for non-violent drug convictions.

“Every 37 seconds someone is arrested for possession of marijuana,” Chambers, a 36-year-old, longstanding community activist in Baton Rouge, says in the video.

“States waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year,” Chambers continues in the ad. “Most of the people police are arresting aren’t dealers but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me.”

The ad was directed and edited by Baton Rouge filmmaker Erwin Marionneaux and filmed in New Orleans with local resident Erick Sanchez, United Public Affairs founder, who wrote and produced the pot-smoking ad.

Also Read:
Female entrepreneurs create cannabis retail space in Los Angeles

Chambers shared the video on Twitter and explained why he smoked weed on camera.

“For too long, candidates have used the legalization of marijuana as an empty talking point in order to appeal to progressive voters,” said Chambers in a statement. “I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.”

Chambers’ ad comes after the New Orleans City Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting police from arresting and citing people for small amounts of marijuana.

“Why would you take the time to write the ticket if you know it’s already going to be pardoned?” said Councilwoman Helena Moreno, who sponsored the simple possession pardon ordinance. “There’s really no necessity for enforcement, in my opinion, anymore.”

A spokesperson for New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that, per the new policy, officers will “no longer issue citations for simple possession alone.”

“NOPD has revised our policy covering procedures related to simple possession of marijuana, and new general order will go into effect Sunday to comply with a new municipal ordinance,” said NOPD spokesperson Gary Scheets, in an email, per The Lens.

Chamber’s pro-cannabis ad also comes weeks after lawmakers approved licensed pharmacies to sell cannabis flowers (loose marijuana leaf) to medical marijuana users or patients with a doctor’s prescription.

Also Read:
California pot companies warn of impending industry collapse

Medical marijuana patients lined up for hours on the first Monday of the new year to purchase raw, smokable forms of cannabis. Up until that point, Louisiana had only allowed cannabis pharmacies to sell the medicine as tinctures and edible gummies.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 8, Chambers and his pro-pot stance will face off against other Democratic candidates in the non-partisan primary. GOP Sen. John Kennedy (who is supported by former President Donald Trump) was first elected to the seat in 2016 and is running for reelection, according to KLAF. The general election will happen on Dec. 10.

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE
Judge signs plan, resolves Puerto Rico bankruptcy battle
By DÁNICA COTO

FILE - A Puerto Rican flag flies on an empty beach at Ocean Park, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 21, 2020. Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle was resolved Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, after a federal judge signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of a restructuring and allows the government to start repaying creditors.  AKA VULTURE CAPITALI$TS

 (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) —

Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle is ending after a federal judge on Tuesday signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of a restructuring and allows the government to start repaying creditors.

The plan marks the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history and was approved following grueling bargaining efforts, heated hearings and multiple delays as the island struggles to recover from deadly hurricanes, earthquakes and a pandemic that deepened its economic crisis.

“There has never been a public restructuring like this anywhere in America or in the world,” said David Skeel, chairman of a federal control board appointed to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances that has worked with the judge on the plan.

He noted that no bankruptcy mechanisms exist for countries or U.S. states like the one Puerto Rico was granted.

“This was an astonishingly complex and large and important bankruptcy,” Skeel said, noting that the island had three times as much debt as Detroit.

Puerto Rico’s government declared in 2015 that it could not afford to pay its more than $70 billion public debt load it had accumulated through decades of mismanagement, corruption and excessive borrowing. It then filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2017, a year after U.S. congress created the financial oversight and management board for Puerto Rico.

The plan that restructures the central government’s debt goes into effect March 15 and could be appealed, although Skeel expected the judge to affirm it.

The board said that the plan signed by federal judge Laura Taylor-Swain cuts Puerto Rico’s public debt by 80% and saves the island more than $50 billion in debt service payments. Board members noted the plan reduces claims against the government from $33 billion to just over $7.4 billion, with 7 cents of every taxpayer dollar going to debt service, compared with the previous 25 cents.

“This period of financial crisis is coming to an end,” said Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive director. “We have accomplished what many thought impossible.”

The plan also avoids proposed pension cuts that had led to heated debates and created a rift between the board and Puerto Rico’s legislature and the island’s governor, which vehemently opposed them.

The plan notes that Puerto Rico has sufficient resources to pay the debt through 2034, but critics have said the government does not have the finances required to meet debt service payments and warned of more austerity measures.

Jaresko brushed away those concerns, saying that while budgets were cut, there were no layoffs or agencies shut down.

“It wasn’t austerity,” she said. “People look at the last five years and think it’s going to continue like that forever, but it doesn’t.”

Still pending is the debt restructuring of some government agencies, including that of the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which holds the largest debt.

“This one is very important for the economy of Puerto Rico because if it means a rise in energy costs, it makes us less competitive,” said José Caraballo, a Puerto Rico economist and professor.

He added that the island likely would be able to access the market in three to five years to issue bonds for capital projects but warned it should avoid repeating past mistakes.

“Borrowing is playing with fire,” he said. “You need to have people who know what they’re doing. Otherwise, one can return to this disaster we call a debt crisis.”

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said that while the plan approved Tuesday is not perfect, it represents a big step for the island’s economic recovery.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.

José Luis Dalmau, president of Puerto Rico’s senate and a member of the main opposition party, also praised the plan and called it a transcendental step for the island’s economic recovery.

“From this moment on, a new page of fiscal responsibility, good governance and unity begins, which will lead to a more prosperous economy, a climate of job creation and greater fiscal stability,” he said.

Jaresko noted the plan has guardrails to prevent a repeat of the island’s debt crisis, including allowing long-term borrowing only for capital improvement projects. The board, known as “la junta” in Puerto Rico and reviled by many, expects to be around for at least three more years, or until Puerto Rico has four consecutive balanced budgets, Skeel said.

“We will not stay a day longer than our mandate,” Jaresko said. “It is our goal to finish what we were instructed to do by Congress.”