FROM HUBRIS TO CROCODILE TEARS

‘I have been hard on staff’: WHO Asia chief accused of abuse and racism, secretly sharing data with Japan



Carl Samson
Fri, January 28, 2022

More than 30 current and former World Health Organization officials reportedly came together to accuse Dr. Kasai Takeshi, director of the Western Pacific arm, of abusive and racist behavior toward staff members.

The agency’s Western Pacific region, headquartered in the Philippine capital of Manila, covers nearly 1.9 billion people across 37 countries and territories.

These include the American Samoa, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna.





The allegations

In an internal complaint filed in October of last year, staffers reportedly accused Takeshi of making racially-charged remarks toward Filipinos, as well as improperly sharing potentially sensitive COVID-19 data with Japan.

The complaint, which was obtained by the Associated Press, describes a coronavirus meeting in which Kasai allegedly demanded of a Filipino staffer, “How many people in the Pacific have you killed so far, and how many more do you want to kill further?”

Kasai then allegedly asked if she was “incapable of delivering good presentations, because she was a Filipina.”

The email containing the allegations was reportedly co-written by over 30 current and former officials. In it, they accused Kasai of blaming COVID-19 surges in some Pacific countries for their “lack of capacity due to their inferior culture, race and socioeconomic level.”

Kasai was also accused of abusing his power by sharing data to aid Japan — his home country — in vaccination planning.

According to the AP, a WHO vaccinations scientist working in Asia said Kasai helped Japan gain political advantage by informing its decisions on which countries it donated vaccines to.

CROCODILE TEARS

Kasai’s response

Kasai has been the Western Pacific’s director since February 2019, according to AFP. Prior to his appointment, he served as the region’s No. 2, having worked more than 15 years with the WHO.

Kasai has denied the allegations in a statement in which he claimed that he has been asking “a lot” of himself and the staff amid the pandemic, but “it should not result in people feeling disrespected.”

The director also rejected claims about him being racist: “It is true that I have been hard on staff, but I reject the suggestion that I have targeted staff of any particular nationality,” he explained.

As for the data sharing claim, he responded, “At no time have I pressured staff to facilitate donations from Japan rather than COVAX.”

The WHO’s main headquarters in Geneva is reportedly aware of the allegations and is taking steps to follow up with an investigation.

Simon Manley, the U.K.’s Permanent Representative, stressed that there is “no place” for racism or discrimination in the WHO or any of their partners.

“We expect the WHO to investigate robustly all allegations of misconduct and to provide support to those affected. We will therefore monitor closely WHO’s response to these reports and continue to hold it to the highest ethical standards,” Manley said, according to AFP.

Kasai, for his part, said he is “ready to cooperate fully” with the investigation; however, the AP also reported seeing an internal WHO message that showed Kasai ordering all his senior directors to “reject” the allegations and to “totally support” him.

Lebanon will not 'hand over' Hezbollah arms at Gulf meeting, minister says


Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut

Fri, January 28, 2022
By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's foreign minister said he was not going "to hand over" Hezbollah's weapons during a meeting this weekend with Gulf Arab counterparts that want Beirut to rein in the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite group in exchange for improved ties.

In a nod to Gulf concerns, Lebanon will however say that the country will not be "a launchpad for activities that violate Arab countries," according to sources familiar with a draft government letter responding to Gulf terms for improved ties.

Lebanon is due at the meeting in Kuwait on Saturday to deliver its response to the terms for thawing relations, which have suffered as the heavily armed Hezbollah has grown more powerful in Beirut and the region.

"I am not going (to Kuwait) to hand over Hezbollah's weapons. I am not going to end Hezbollah's existence, it is out of the question in Lebanon. We are going for dialogue," Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Al Jazeera.

Hezbollah supports Iran in its regional struggle for influence with U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states, which say the group has aided the Iran-aligned Houthis who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, Hezbollah has a militia more powerful than Lebanon's army and has backed pro-Iran allies in the region, including Syria.

The group and its allies also exercise major sway over Lebanese state policy.

DISASSOCIATION

The terms delivered to Beirut on Jan. 22 by the Kuwaiti foreign minister include setting a time frame for implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions, among them Resolution 1559 which was adopted in 2004 and calls for the disarmament of non-state militias in Lebanon.

A draft of the government's response seen by Reuters sidesteps the issue, expressing Lebanon's respect for U.N. resolutions "to ensure civil peace and national stability."

But it mentions no specific U.N. resolution or any steps to implement them.

Bou Habib told Al Jazeera implementing resolution 1559, which would require Hezbollah's disarmament, "will take time".

The Gulf rift has added to the difficulties facing Lebanon as it struggles with a financial crisis that the World Bank has described as one of the sharpest depressions ever recorded.

Saudi Arabia and its fellow Gulf Arab monarchies once spent billions of dollars in aid in Lebanon before ties soured.

Ties hit new lows last October when Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states expelled Lebanese ambassadors in response to comments by a former Lebanese government minister criticising the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

The visit to Beirut last week by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah was the first since the rift. He said Lebanon must not be a platform for hostile acts or words toward Gulf Arab states, and that members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were sympathetic to the Lebanese people.

In the draft letter, Lebanon commits "verbally and actually" to a policy of disassociation from regional conflicts - a policy adopted by successive governments even as Hezbollah has deployed fighters to Syria.

It also pledges to strengthen measures being taken by Lebanon in cooperation with other Arab states to prevent drug smuggling to Gulf Arab states.

Hezbollah's adversaries accuse it of links to regional drugs trade - something it denies. The GCC in December called on Lebanon to tighten border controls and take measures to deter drug smuggling via exports into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Nayera Abdallah in Beirut and Alaa Swilam in Cairo; Writing by Nayera Abdallah and Tom Perry; Editing by Grant McCool and Matthew Lewis)

No one knows how many 'forever chemicals' could be in Maine's organic foods

Julia Bayly, Bangor Daily News, Maine
Sat, January 29, 2022,

Jan. 29—Mainers who have purchased food from local farms certified as organic have felt safe in the knowledge that the label meant they were getting a chemical-free product.

But the discovery of high levels of forever chemicals in soil and groundwater is throwing into question the safety of food grown or raised in the state.

Songbird Organic Farm in Unity halted all sales and pulled its products from store shelves earlier this week after its water, soil and produce tested positive for toxins known collectively as forever chemicals, or PFAS and PFOS.

The growing awareness of the problem — and the uncertainty of how widespread it is throughout the state — is quickly creating a regulatory nightmare for growers where the chemicals have been found. Whether the food is certified organic or not, there are no standards that clarify when it is unsafe to eat.

To have a product certified organic by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, an advocacy group that promotes local and organic foods, a grower must prove that their land and practices meet the requirements laid out by the federal national organic program. Those include proving no prohibited substances like chemical pesticides or herbicides have been used in at least three years.

Proving that the food was free of forever chemicals has never been part of the certification process.

"Because there has been nothing in the national program about PFAS or PFOS it was never on anyone's radar," Sarah Alexander, executive director of MOFGA, said. "It was never anything we had to think about."

The issue, according to Alexander, is not whether the presence of forever chemicals renders food non-organic. It's a matter of overall food safety.

"In terms of food and farms, this is a national issue and not just an organic issue," Alexander said.

Maine became the first state to establish thresholds for forever chemicals in food when it did so with milk and beef.

But similar thresholds do not exist for other foods such as produce and grains. Any lasting solution, according to Alexander, hinges on the state or federal government establishing specific food safety guidelines.

Without those guidelines, farmers must decide for themselves whether or how to take action.

"Songbird Organic Farm really set the example as the first farm to find out they had these high levels," Alexander said. "They have been incredibly and immediately responsive and transparent with voluntary pulling their food from the market until further testing can be done."

The state has begun testing food to establish PFAS and PFOS thresholds and guidelines, according to Nancy McBrady, director of the bureau of agriculture, food and rural resources at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

"We are now in a leading role nationally and it's lonely," McBrady said. "We want more help and really need federal help and we take every opportunity to explain that to them when we get the chance."

Once those forever chemical guidelines are set, MOFGA could start applying them to the organic certification process.

Many of the farmers dealing with potential forever chemical issues are victims of decisions and practices made decades before they even took ownership of their land. As the Maine Department of Environmental Protection continues testing sludge and septage sites around the state, the number of contaminated farms will likely increase.

"Even though they have been doing the best organic management practices, this is something that is outside their control," Alexander said. "And it can affect any farm no matter their current practices because these are chemicals that were applied through biosolids, in many cases decades ago, and they are just finding out about them."

Despite the lack of guidelines, there is no reason to panic, according to Tricia Rouleau, farm network director at Maine Farmland Trust.

"I know it feels like a scary issue because it is all new and constantly changing and we are learning so much on a daily basis," Rouleau said. "It's a moving target and we are trying to stay on top of all the changes."

Rouleau said she is confident solutions will be found, especially since multiple state agencies and groups like MOFGA and Farmland Trust are all working together on the issue.

"No, this is not the death knell for organic farming in Maine," Alexander said.

Study: Permian Basin 'super emitters' identified in aerial study

Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus
Sat, January 29, 2022, 

Thirty “super-emitting” oil and gas facilities were responsible for up to 100,000 metric tons of air pollution in the Permian Basin across southeast New Mexico and West Texas, per a recent study from the Energy Defense Fund (EDF).

The study was conducted between 2019 and 2021 by the EDF and nonprofit Carbon Mapper using aircraft surveys that tracked methane emissions from fossil fuel production sites throughout the region.

The 30 sites identified as having the highest emissions included well pads and pipelines, along with gas compressor and processing facilities.

More: Funds to plug abandoned oil wells headed to to New Mexico via Biden's infrastructure bill

The sites allegedly leaked methane and other air pollutants into the atmosphere, and fixing those leaks, per the study, would remove 100,000 metric tons of methane from the air per year, saving $26 million annually in wasted resources.

While that’s as much pollution as about half a million cars or trucks, the study found the 30 facilities made up less than 0.01 percent of the region’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Riley Duren, chief executive officer of Carbon Mapper and a research scientist at the University of Arizona, said fixing the leaks and curbing pollution was essential to mitigating the environmental and public safety risks of climate change.

More: Oil and gas expansions planned in Permian Basin as production forecast to rise this year

“In this decisive decade for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every molecule matters, and the fact that some facilities are persistently leaking methane for years without detection or repair highlights the urgent need for comprehensive and transparent methane monitoring,” Duren said.

“The magnitude of emissions coming from a handful of methane sources in one of the top oil- and gas-producing regions illustrates the opportunity to make significant near-term progress toward the stated methane reduction goals of the U.S., other countries, and companies around the world.”

In total, the study found about 1,100 facilities throughout the basin that contributed to about half of its total methane emissions.

More: Oil and gas mergers continue in 2022, focused on increased profits in the Permian Basin

The sources of these emissions could be hard to detect, scientists warned, as they tend to release large amounts of pollutants in short amounts of time.

David Lyon, senior scientist with the EDF said this means constant monitoring of the sites was needed to be able to tell exactly when and where a leak occurs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) each plan to up such requirements imposed on operating with both the federal and state agencies in the midst of their own rulemakings.

More: Eddy County collects $5.5M in November oil and gas taxes, expects summer surplus

The EPA began to develop new regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from not only new, but also existing sources and NMED hoped to finalize its rules this spring that would increase monitoring of air pollution and the release of ground-level ozone precursors like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is parts of the state in exceedance of federal air quality standards.

Last year, the State’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) enacted its own rules to require oil and gas operators capture 98 percent of produced gas by 2026.

“It takes a combination of ground-based inspections and frequent advanced screening, such as aerial monitoring, to effectively find and fix these recurring sources of methane emissions,” Lyon said. “

We know methane can be emitted across a wide range of infrastructure and can be cost-effectively reduced with a combination of strong regulations and available technologies.”

More: New Mexico's oil and gas regulators seek more funds from lawmakers to fight pollution
Oil and gas industry seeks to reduce pollution in response to concerns

As research such as the EDF’s and public policy shift toward stricter pollution controls, investors in the oil and gas sector called on companies to lower their environmental impacts and take action on climate change.

In response, one of the world’s largest energy companies ExxonMobil announced in January it planned to cut its emissions completely by 2050.

The company-wide plan followed a previous announcement by the fossil fuel giant that it would cut all emissions in the Permian Basin by 2030, focusing on developing “lower-emission solutions” like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels, per a news release.

More: New Mexico to seek federal funds for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells

Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said the company’s efforts were intended to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Permian Basin and around the world.

“We are developing comprehensive roadmaps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operated assets around the world, and where we are not the operator, we are working with our partners to achieve similar emission-reduction results,” Woods said.

In addition to its own commitments, ExxonMobil officials also voiced support for emission reduction policy like a price on carbon which would create market incentives to reduce pollution, along with investing in low-emission technology.

More: Permian Basin solar farm green-lit by State of New Mexico. Will power oil and gas operations

“As we invest in these important technologies, we will advocate for well-designed, high-impact policies that can accelerate the deployment of market-based, cost-effective solutions,” Woods said. “We will create shareholder value by adjusting investments between our existing low-cost portfolio and new lower-emission business opportunities to match the pace of the energy transition.”

As some of the largest energy companies in the world voice support for reducing emissions, operators on the ground also deployed new technologies hoped to reduce the impacts of fossil fuel production.

Evolution Well Services this month announced it contracted with Permian Basin operators to employ electric hydraulic fracturing equipment by the end of 2022, powered by natural gas rather than the traditional diesel engines.

More: Oil and gas leads record $141.8 million in revenue for New Mexico Land Office last month

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the process of pumping a combination of water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock formations and extract crude oil and natural gas.

The technology will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions when completing Permian Basin wells, read a news release from the company, and increase safety by reducing the physical footprint of operation by 50 percent.

“We look forward to providing high-efficiency, lower carbon, and safe Simul-frac operations for our new partners in the Permian Basin,” said Steven Anderson, chief executive officer.

Adrian Hedden achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Study: Permian Basin 'super emitters' identified in aerial study

Boomers have a drug problem, but not the kind you might think

Laurie Archbald-Pannone, Associate Professor of Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Virginia
Sat, January 29, 2022

Some boomers are on multiple medications. Combinations of those drugs could have serious side effects. Getty Images / Sporrer/Rupp

Baby boomers – that’s anyone born in the U.S. between 1946 and 1964 – are 20% of the population, more than 70 million Americans. Decades ago, many in that generation experimented with drugs that were both recreational and illegal. Although boomers may not be using those same drugs today, many are taking medications, often several of them. And even if those drugs are legal, there are still risks of interactions and side effects.

The taking of multiple medications is called polypharmacy, typically four or more at the same time. That includes prescriptions from doctors, over-the-counter medicines, supplements and herbs. Sometimes, polypharmacy can be dangerous.

I am a geriatrician, one of only 7,500 in the U.S. That’s not nearly enough to accommodate the surging number of elderly boomers who will need medical care over the next two to three decades – or help in dealing with the potential problems of multiple drug use.

Make sure your doctor is regularly reviewing your medication list. Getty Images / dszc

Reactions to medications can change over time

We geriatricians know that polypharmacy isn’t always bad; multiple medications may be necessary. If you’ve had a heart attack, you might be on four medications or more – beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, statins and aspirin, for instance. And that’s appropriate.

But about half of older adults take at least one medication that’s not necessary or no longer needed. Doctors need to periodically reevaluate to make sure each medication is still right for the patient and still the correct dose. During treatment, the patient’s weight may fluctuate, either up or down. Even if it stays the same, body composition might change; that occurs as people age. As a result, one may react differently to a drug. That can happen even with a medication a person has been on for years.

Polypharmacy often means higher health care costs and more drug interactions. Patients are more likely to miss medications or stop taking them altogether. Sometimes, physical activity diminshes; falls, cognitive impairment, malnourishment and urinary incontinence increase; there may be less ability to do daily tasks. Those on five or more medications have a much higher incidence of having an ADE – an adverse drug event – compared to those using fewer meds. Making matters worse, the symptoms of polypharmacy are sometimes masked and taken as signs of aging.
Check the list

Studies have suggested solutions, with better coordination among care providers being one. Making the pharmacist an integral part of routine care is another. The increasing use of electronic patient records helps. So do smartphone apps, sometimes an easier way for patients and providers to connect. But so far, there’s no magic pill, and as researchers and clinicians investigate improvements, much of the burden remains on patients and their families.

There are steps you can take to stay safe, however. Regularly clean out the medicine cabinet and get rid of expired medicines or those you’re no longer taking. Either throw them away or ask your doctor or pharmacist about the best way to dispose of them. When seeing the doctor, bring in the meds you take and review each one in detail. Make certain you need to continue taking them all and verify the right dose.

Make sure you regularly check the expiration dates on your medications. Getty Images / dszc

You can also check the PIMs list, also known as the Beer’s List. Published by the American Geriatric Society, it’s an index of medications potentially harmful to the elderly. Some are linked to increased risks of side effects, and not a few are sold over-the-counter without prescription.

That includes medicines containing antihistamines like diphenhydramine, or Benadryl. In the elderly population, Benadryl carries an increased risk of dizziness, confusion and urinary retention. Medicines that are part of the NSAID family (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are also on the list. In some elderly patients, they can cause high blood pressure or kidney failure. Commonly used medicines in the NSAID family are those containing ibuprofen or naproxen.

Just because a medicine is on the Beer’s List doesn’t mean your doctor was wrong to prescribe it, or that you should stop using it. Instead, use the medication with caution and discuss with your doctor to make sure you need it. Determine with your doctor the lowest useful dose, monitor for side effects, and speak up if you have any.

As a geriatrician, I see patients in an outpatient setting, either as their primary care provider or as a specialist consultant. We review medications at every visit: the list, the dose and how often the patient is taking it. A true and accurate medication list is the critical first step in geriatric care.

This is especially important during care transitions, such as when a patient is coming out of the hospital or nursing home. Particularly at that time, we find out if the patient is using the medication as prescribed, or taking it more frequently or less or not at all. Which leads to my final piece of advice: If you’ve strayed with your meds, one way or another, know that we doctors don’t judge or punish patients. Just tell us the truth. That’s all we want to hear. Then we can move forward together to find the best regimen for you.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Laurie Archbald-Pannone, University of Virginia.

Read more:


Teen use of cannabis has dropped in New Zealand, but legalisation could make access easier

Assisted dying is not the easy way out


What I’ve learnt about drug testing in Nigeria over the last 20 years

Laurie Archbald-Pannone is affiliated with American Geriatrics Society.

 PRO LIFE GOP STATES

Biden sued by 8 states over program that allows Central American children to legally 

reunite with parents in the US

Connor Perrett

Sat, January 29, 2022, 

President Joe Biden (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

• Republican attorneys general in eight states sued the Biden administration on Friday.

• They asked a federal judge to stop a program that legally allows children to reunite with their parents living in the US.

• The program was enacted under the Obama administration and has been expanded under Biden.

Republican attorneys general in eight states on Friday filed a lawsuit requesting a federal judge stop a Biden administration program that allows children of legal immigrants from Central America living in the US to reunite with their parents.

The attorneys general in Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas sued over the program, called the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program.

"There are no lawful paths for aliens who lack status to come join other aliens who lack status in the United States—and for good reason. It defies common sense," the attorneys general wrote in the lawsuit.

"No sovereign nation would reward those who break the law by permitting family members abroad to join them in living in the sovereign territory unlawfully, particularly with the assistance of the government itself," they said, adding to "do so would undermine national sovereignty and would be fundamentally unfair to those who pursue lawful immigration channels and patiently wait for their opportunity to immigrate to the United States."

According to the US State Department, the program started in 2014 to "give at-risk children in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras the opportunity to come to the United States as refugees."

The program, created during the administration of former President Barack Obama, expanded under President Joe Biden to include children of legal guardians and parents who have ongoing asylum cases, the Texas Tribune reported.

The program began a two-phase reopening on March 10 last year after it was halted in 2017 under the administration of former President Donald Trump. At the time, according to the Washington Post, Trump's decision to end the program left 2,714 children, who had already received approval, unable to come to the US.

The pause also meant that 1,465 children who had come to the US under the program, which grants a two-year renewable parole for them to legally live in the US, had to find another way to remain in the country when the program expired, according to the Post.

Last March, when the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program restarted, it was first focused on opening cases closed without an interview in 2018, when the program ended, according to the State Department.

The State Department announced new guidelines for submissions in June last year, which require parents from the three countries be legally living in the US on "permanent resident status; temporary protected status; parole, deferred action; deferred enforced departure; or withholding of removal," the State Department website said.

In the lawsuit, the attorneys general argued Biden doesn't have the authority to enact such a program without the approval of Congress, arguing the program places a burden on states who are required to provide social services to the children.

The children must be under 21 years old, unmarried, and the parents must submit to DNA testing and provide paperwork to prove their relationship to the child. The process to gain approval can take up to a year, the Texas Tribune reported.

"The Biden Administration has sown nothing but disaster for our country through its illegal, unconstitutional immigration policies," Texas Attorney General Paxton, who has targeted the Biden administration with numerous lawsuits over the past year, said.

"Biden's latest round of flagrant law-breaking includes his Central American Minors Program, which has contributed significantly to many states being forced to take in even more aliens. My fellow attorneys general and I are suing to stop it," he added.

Last year, the Department of State and Homeland Security defended the program's reopening as means to deliver a safer and more humane pathway to protection for migrant children who make an oftentimes dangerous and unaccompanied trek to the US southern border.

"We are firmly committed to welcoming people to the United States with humanity and respect, and reuniting families. We are delivering on our promise to promote safe, orderly, and humane migration from Central America through this expansion of legal pathways to seek humanitarian protection in the United States," the State Department and Homeland Security said in a joint statement.

SE ASIAN STALINIST ALLIANCE

China: UN council should try to avoid civil war on Myanmar

EDITH M. LEDERER
Fri, January 28, 2022

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador said Friday the U.N. Security Council’s primary goal in strife-torn Myanmar should be to avoid more violence and a civil war.

Zhang Jun told several reporters after the council heard closed-door briefings from the new Myanmar envoys for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations that he hopes their efforts and others “can really continue to calm the situation.”

Almost a year ago -- on Feb. 1, 2021 -- Myanmar’s military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Its takeover was quickly met by nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly force, killing over 1,400 civilians, according to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Peaceful protests have continued, but amid the severe crackdown, an armed resistance has also grown, to the point that U.N. experts have warned the country could be sliding into civil war.

The southeast Asian regional group ASEAN, which includes Myanmar, has sought to play a mediating role in Myanmar’s crisis given concerns over how it could affect regional peace, and ambassador Zhang said China believes it should play “a crucial role.”

In April, ASEAN reached consensus on a five-point plan to try to help restore peace and stability including an immediate halt to violence, starting a dialogue among all parties, and appointment of an ASEAN special envoy who would visit Myanmar to meet all concerned parties. But Myanmar has made little effort to implement it.

ASEAN also took months to choose Brunei’s Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as its envoy, but he never visited Myanmar because the military would not allow him to meet Suu Kyi. In October, Cambodia took over ASEAN’s presidency and in mid-December Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed the country’s foreign minister, Prak Sokhonn to be the regional group’s Myanmar envoy.

Hun Sen himself became the first foreign leader to visit Myanmar since the military takeover, a visit that sparked protests at home and criticism abroad. Opponents said his visit earlier this month legitimized the military takeover and broke the generals’ near-total diplomatic isolation — and he didn’t meet Suu Kyi.

But Cambodian foreign minister Sokhonn said afterward that the talks between Hun Sen and Myanmar’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, achieved “a very good, positive result with a progressive step forward” on implementing the ASEAN agreement.

China’s Zhang said Friday that Beijing welcomes the efforts made by Hun Sen, calling his visit “quite good, quite fruitful,"" and saying “we asked them to continue to make further efforts.”

Zhang said Sokhoon told the council Friday that members have to understand Myanmar’s historic background, “unique political structure” and the role the military plays in that structure -- and “only based on that, we can find a solution.”

“Some people do not like the kind of situation (now), but I think what we have to also bear in mind is that we should avoid the worsening of the situation, to avoid more violence, to avoid a civil war,” Zhang said. “That’s, the primary goal we should have bearing in our mind.”

He said China also welcomes the appointment of Noeleen Heyzer as the new U.N. special envoy for Myanmar. She is talking to key parties and has requested to visit Myanmar, he said, and “let’s hope that she can get it done.”

Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador James Kariuki said Heyzer will try to go to Myanmar soon, “but the condition has to be right.”

He said it was important for the council to hear for the first time from the two envoys, stressing that they have the council’s full support. He said the council is working on a press statement on Myanmar reflecting areas of agreement.

“As the council heard today, 14 million people are in desperate need of life-saving aid now, compared with 1 million before the coup,” Kariuki told The Associated Press. “The longer this goes, the worse it will get. The military need to stop blocking humanitarian access and start honoring their own commitment to implement the five-point consensus. … There can be no further delay.”

Italy top court: Venezuela's ex-oil czar can't be extradited

Fri, January 28, 2022

ROME (AP) — Italy’s highest court confirmed Friday that Venezuela's former oil czar cannot be extradited to face corruption charges at home because of his country's record in violating human rights, his Italian lawyer said.

The Court of Cassation upheld a lower court’s ruling in September which recognized that Rafael Ramirez enjoys international protection as a refugee, lawyer Roberto De Vita said in a statement.

Ramirez, the longtime head of Venezuela’s PDVSA state oil company, fled to Italy after falling out with President Nicolas Maduro and resigning as Venezuela’s United Nations ambassador in 2017. Soon after, Venezuela’s chief prosecutor ordered his arrest on charges of bankrupting the country’s primary source of income.

Ramirez has called the Venezuelan probe a retaliation for his decision to break with Maduro, whom he has accused of running Venezuela’s once-thriving oil industry into the ground and abandoning the socialist ideals of the country’s late leader, Hugo Chavez.

Ramirez, a Venezuelan citizen, was given refugee status in Italy and his lawyers argued that he would face political persecution if he was sent back.

END ICE ECONOMY
Thai beach declared disaster area after oil spill

Oil spills in eastern coast of Thailand

Fri, January 28, 2022

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A beach in eastern Thailand was declared a disaster area on Saturday as oil leaking from an underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand continued to wash ashore and blacken the sand.

The leak from the pipeline owned by Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited (SPRC) started late on Tuesday and was brought under control https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thai-cleanup-underway-after-oil-spill-off-eastern-coast-2022-01-26 a day later after spilling an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of oil into the ocean 20 km (12 miles) from the country's industrialised eastern seaboard.

Some of the oil reached the shoreline https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/oil-workers-race-protect-beaches-spill-off-thai-coast-2022-01-28 at Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong province late on Friday after spreading over 47 sq km (18 sq miles) of sea in the gulf.

The navy is working with SPRC to contain the leak and said the main oil mass was still offshore with only a small amount washing up on at least two spots along the 12-km-long beach.

About 150 SPRC workers and 200 navy personnel had been deployed to clean up the beach and oil boom barriers had been set up, the navy said.

Twelve navy ships and three civilian ships along with a number of aircraft were also working to contain the spill at sea with booms and dispersant spray.

"We and the company are still working at sea to reduce the amount of oil by cornering the spill and sucking up the oil and spraying dispersant," Rear Admiral Artorn Charapinyo, deputy commander of the first Naval Area command, told reporters.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Mahatma Gandhi: The US shrine that claims to hold India independence leader's ashes


Sat, January 29, 2022

Tushar Gandhi
Great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and the son of journalist Arun Manilal Gandhi

Paramahansa Yogananda
Yogi, Kriya Yoga guru and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship (1893-1952)


Mahatma Gandhi's ashes have turned up in various places over the years

This day marks 74 years since Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, revered as father of the nation, was assassinated. Savita Patel reports from a spiritual retreat in California that claims to be holding his ashes, perhaps the only ones outside India.

Inside Lake Shrine, a spiritual retreat on the famous Sunset Boulevard, just minutes away from Hollywood, is the Gandhi World Peace Memorial. Built in 1950 by the retreat's founder, Paramahansa Yogananda, it lies amid lush gardens and waterfalls with a view of the ocean. And it contains an ancient stone sarcophagus from China which reportedly holds a brass and silver coffer containing Gandhi's ashes.

After Gandhi's funeral in 1948, his ashes were divided into more than 20 portions and dispatched across India so people around the country could mourn his death by holding memorials. Some portions even ended up outside the country.


"There was a lot of demand for Bapu's ashes," says his great-grandson Tushar Gandhi. Bapu, as Gandhi was fondly known by those close to him, was assassinated just months after India won independence from Britain in August 1947.

He says he had heard some 20 years ago that some of Gandhi's ashes were being stored at Lake Shrine and had contacted them, but never received a response.

"Holding them goes against Bapu's wishes as he had said that once he was no more, his ashes should not be kept, but disposed of," he adds.

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But Brother Ritananda, one of the monks who now runs the shrine, says: "We will not overturn what our guru established." He adds that the ashes were a gift to Yogananda and people upset about their existence must make peace with it.

The monk said that it is aware that Gandhi's descendants have in the past requested for the ashes to be returned or disposed.

He says he has never seen the box containing the ashes but recalls watching a video of Yogananda placing it in the sarcophagus before it was encased.

There is no other evidence to support the claim that there is a box containing ashes at the shrine, far less that those ashes belong to Gandhi.

The sarcophagus at Lake Shrine is said to hold a portion of Gandhi's ashes

The ashes are believed to have come from VM Nawle, a publisher and journalist based in the Indian city of Pune, who was a friend of Yogananda.

Parmahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and later moved to the US, where he started Lake Shrine.

His autobiography describes a short 1935 visit to Gandhi's ashram in Wardha in western Maharashtra state. It says he met the leader, and even showed him and others at the ashram some yoga poses. He described Gandhi as a "tiny 100-pound saint who radiated physical, mental, and spiritual health… this statesman has matched wits and emerged the victor in a thousand legal, social, and political battles". He also vowed to set up a memorial for him.

But the biography doesn't explain how Mr Nawle ended up in possession of what he claimed were Gandhi's ashes - Yogananda's biography quotes lines from the publisher's letter to him: "Regarding Gandhi's ashes, I may say that [they] are scattered and thrown in almost all important rivers and seas, and nothing is given outside India except the remains which I have sent to you after a great ordeal."

"That could not be true," says Tushar Gandhi, who is also the author of Let's Kill Gandhi, a book that delves into the leader's assassination and its aftermath.

Gandhi's ashes were taken to the Triveni Sangam in a procession after his death in 1948

"Some of Bapu's ashes were immersed in South Africa in 1948 itself. Whether they were sent out officially or someone just carried it with them, we don't know," he adds.

"I don't know who collected and sent the ashes to Paramahansa Yogananda. A committee of cabinet members and eminent Gandhians of that time was in charge [of distributing the ashes]."

After the funeral, most of Gandhi's ashes were immersed in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. The city lies on the banks of the holy Ganges river and close to the Triveni Sangam, the point where the Ganges meets the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati river, a confluence Hindus consider sacred. Many of them disperse the ashes of family members here as the holy water is believed to offer salvation to the soul.

Gandhi, a devout Hindu, wished for his ashes to be dispersed in a similar manner.

But not all of them were immersed. Over the years they have turned up in various places.

In 2019, some of Gandhi's ashes were stolen from a memorial in central India. Some turned up as recently as a decade ago in South Africa. "My aunts and cousins immersed them in Durban Bay," Tushar Gandhi says.

Before that, he adds, the Gandhi family received another portion of ashes from a museum - they had been bequeathed to them by an Indian businessman whose father had known Gandhi. Those ashes were immersed in Mumbai city in 2008.

The Gandhi Peace Memorial at Lake Shrine was built in 1950

He also found out, through press reports, about an urn containing Gandhi's ashes in a bank locker in Orissa (also known as Odisha) state in the name of a former bureaucrat. These were immersed at Triveni Sangam in 1997.

The last of Gandhi's ashes - that we know of - in India lie at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune city. They are encased in a marble structure, next to a tomb of his wife, Kasturba (She was cremated on the palace premises).

Tushar Gandhi says he understands the reasons someone might be inclined to hold on to them.

"When I immersed the ashes in Triveni Sangam [in 1997], there was a temptation to keep the brass urn in which they were stored for years. But then I thought - I will surely keep it carefully, but what if later, at some time, it can't be maintained in a proper condition? So I donated it to The National Gandhi Museum in Delhi."

While he respects everybody's right to revere Gandhi and believes Lake Shrine maintains its ashes with care, he adds that the family would be hurt if they were ever desecrated.

"Hence, my request is for the ashes to be disposed of properly."