Politicians normalising violence should know it can turn against them: US expert

ByPrashant Jha
Jul 14, 2024 

Top US expert Rachel Kleinfeld compares current moment in US politics to the 1960s, and in global politics to the 1930s

Washington: The attack on former American President Donald Trump is a part of a rising trend of political violence in America. To make sense of it, both in a broader historical arc and the contemporary moment, HT reached out to Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and among the leading authorities on political violence and democratic backsliding in the US. Kleinfeld’s latest book, A Savage Order, examines how extremist violence cripple democracies and how can they recover from it. The interview was conducted on Sunday over email. Excerpts:

Rachel Kleinfeld. (Linkedin)

How do you place the attack on Donald Trump in the broader arc of recent political violence in America?

Political violence and threats have been rising in America for much of the last decade – against politicians at every level, from people running for school boards and local offices, to state legislators and national candidates. America has had a number of past eras of political violence, when politics have been highly polarised and when political figures have implicitly called for violence against Americans who differ. These ugly parts of our history – such as the rise of the Know-Nothing party in the early 1800s, the Civil War, and the violence against Civil Rights protestors — ends when the government prosecutes violence, politicians stop normalising it, and regular Americans make it clear that they believe political violence is unequivocally wrong. That is what we need now.

A lot of scholarship on American political violence, especially since January 6, has focused on Right-wing extremists. But in this case, since the attack was on the face of the American political Right, do you think it will lead to a change in assumptions about the nature of radicalisation and the kind of people turning to violence? Is there radicalisation and violence on the Left that’s been underestimated?

We do not yet know if the shooter, who was a registered Republican, acted out of political belief on the Left or Right, or was simply disturbed, and we should not jump to conclusions. However, people who believe that violence can be used to solve political differences exist on all parts of the ideological spectrum. In the 1960s and 1970s, most political violence in the United States came from the Left.

Also Read | Victim and Hero: Donald Trump’s shooting seals his political edge for 2024

In the last eight years, research shows it has overwhelmingly come from the Right, though there has also been a normalisation of violence by the extreme Left that can be seen in a number of attacks on political figures and on university campuses. In all cases, the targets are not just the other side, but are often moderates on the same side as the perpetrators – because political violence is used to hollow out the centre and force people to extremes. That is why it is so important to stop the normalisation of violence as a political tool – it spreads and can create retaliatory cycles.

What is leading to this spike in violence in recent years, and what’s the period of American history that it reminds you of most sharply?

Populist politicians who polarise their societies have heralded spikes in political violence in many countries. In Brazil, Bolsonaro was also the target of an assassination attempt, yet his own rhetoric yielded a sharp increase in violence against journalists and others. India has seen an increase in anti-Muslim lynchings while other forms of violence have fallen. In the US, polarising rhetoric from MAGA politicians, and normalisation among far Left fringes, has increased violence against Republican and Democratic politicians at all levels.

In America, this looks something like the 1960s, when America faced rising violence and assassination attempts against multiple politicians. As violence became normalised as a political solution, assassins took the lives of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy in the few years between 1963 and 1968. What followed after that was the normalisation of violence more broadly, and the US saw a doubling of homicide and an ongoing increase in criminal murder that continued to rise until the early 1990s.

But globally, I fear it looks like the early 1930s, when we saw violence from Fascists on the Right leading to clashes with Communists on the far Left in many countries, such as Italy and Germany. That sort of extremist violence tends to lead to a centralisation of power and government violence.

What do you think will be the political implications of the attack on Trump and its effect on political violence in general in US?

I hope that it will serve as a shock to the system, and force politicians to stop finger pointing and dividing American society. I fear that it will do the opposite. In either case, it is incumbent on regular Americans to speak out. Majorities of Americans across the political spectrum condemn political violence as unequivocally wrong, in every single case, against anyone. That voice needs to be heard loud and clear.

You have worked extensively on democratic backsliding within US. How does that story intersect with the rising violence?

Most political violence actually takes place in authoritarian countries, when people feel there is no other way to affect politics except through violence. In democracies, political violence rises when politicians and cultural leaders normalise violence as a political solution and undermine accountability for perpetrators by politicising law enforcement. That breaks down the rule of law and corrodes democracy. It allows political violence to spread across the political spectrum, and to seep into everyday and criminal violence as well. Violence, once begun, is hard to corral, and it can turn against those who try to wield it for their purposes. All countries where politicians are normalising violence against others should be aware of what can occur.

"Easy availability of guns in America, definitely a contributing factor": Foreign Affairs Expert on attempted assassination of Trump

• BY INDIATRIBUNE
•  JULY 14, 2024

New Delhi [India], July 14 (ANI): Highlighting the increasing gun culture in the United States, Foreign Affairs expert Robinder Sachdev said that the easy availability of guns in America is "definitely a contributing factor" to the attack on former President Donald Trump.
He emphasized that in the US, people can just walk out of their homes, go to a nearby store, and buy a gun.

The foreign affairs expert said that anybody who wants to kill and is really intent on it can maybe arrange a gun anywhere in the world, however, in the US, you can buy a gun like you buy a pack of cigarettes.

"On the one hand, anybody who wants to kill or has made up a mind can maybe arrange a gun anywhere in the world...if you're really intent on it. But the easy availability of guns in America is definitely a contributing factor. In the US, you can literally walk out of your home, go to the nearby grocery store, and buy a gun like a packet of cigarettes or beer," Sachdev told ANI.
He further stressed that the gun culture in America is very difficult to remove.

"The gun culture in the US is very, very difficult to reduce or remove. It will never be," he said, adding that especially Trump's supporters are the ones who say that they need to have guns.
"Especially, the Trump supporters, the Republicans, are the ones who say that we need to have guns. If I want to defend my own home, and that is right, you know, my defence is my right. So that's why I need a gun. I love hunting. That's why I need a gun. I like to do sports. That's why I need a gun," he added.

Sachdev said that a strong lobby is very strong and exists in America.

"All presidents, especially democratic presidents, even Biden, have tried. Obama tried, but they could not change the laws to make it difficult to get guns in the United States," he said.
Donald Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania's Butler before gunshots rang out and Secret Service agents stormed the stage, The Hill reported. The Secret Service agents surrounded the Republican candidate and escorted him off the stage, with blood visible across his face.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has termed the shooting at Trump an attempted assassination. FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, Kevin Rojek, said, "This evening, we had what we're calling an assassination attempt against our former President Donald Trump. It's still an active crime scene."

The FBI has identified the gunman involved in the assassination attempt against Donald Trump as Thomas Matthew Crooks.

A shooting at former US President Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday (local time) has sparked concerns about political violence and increased awareness of past attacks and assassination attempts against presidents and candidates, CBS News reported.

There have been multiple instances of past attacks on US presidents, former presidents, and major-party presidential candidates.

Of the 46 individuals serving as US President, 13 have been subject to actual or attempted assassinations, the number does not mention the Pennsylvania shooting incident involving Trump. At least seven of the past nine presidents have faced assaults, attacks, or assassination attempts.

PAKISTAN
 
Islamabad raises minimum marriage age to 18 to protect Christians

by Shafique Khokhar
07/11/2024

The country's Churches have been pushing for this measure to counter the problem of early marriages, often linked to abductions. (FORCED CONVERSIONS)

“We hope the government will take further steps to criminalise forced religious conversions," the Bishops' Conference said.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Pakistan finally passed a law that raises the minimum marriage age for Christian boys and girls to 18. The new legislation amends the Christian Marriage Act of 1872.

Lawmaker Naveed Amir Jeeva introduced the bill in the National Assembly of Pakistan, where it was unanimously approved, a step the Pakistani Senate took a few months ago.

Under the old law, girls could get married as early as 13 while boys could marry at 16, a legacy of the past that made it harder to protect minors, in particular girls, from sexual abuse and child marriage.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan (CBCP), through its human rights body, the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), has warmly welcomed the passage of the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

Bishop Samson Shukardin, who chairs the CBCP, together with NCJP national director Fr Bernard Emmanuel, and NCJP executive director Naeem Yousaf expressed their gratitude in a joint statement.

All three stressed that this amendment fulfils a request they had made for some time.

"We extend our sincere appreciation to the entire parliament for passing this bill unanimously,” their statement reads.

“This legislation will play a crucial role in protecting our young and minor girls from forced conversions and child marriages. We hope the government will take further steps to criminalise forced religious conversions," it goes on to say.

“The beauty of the act is that it was presented after the consensus of all main Churches of Pakistan,” Naeem Yousaf Gill told AsiaNews.

“We are hopeful,” he added, “that this legislation will protect our girls” and “secure their fundamental rights, particularly their right to education, health, and other ancillary rights.”

What is more, “This Act demands that marriage to be solemnised and registered only when the age of both contracting parties are 18-year-old.”

The legislation “further states that in case of a dispute regarding the age of any contracting party, the court will determine the age based on a CNIC,[*] birth certificate, educational certificates, or any other pertinent documents. In the absence of such documents, the age may be determined based on a medical examination report.”

Photo: WikiCommons/Gull1122

Robusta ‘kopi’ beans and coffee genes can save your Arabica from disease

Arabica leaves affected by coffee leaf rust, a fungal disease that has no cure. 

PHOTO: PURDUE UNIVERSITY/CATHERINE AIME

Shabana Begum

ST

JUL 15, 2024, 05:00 AM


SINGAPORE – The Robusta bean often used to brew cheaper cups of coffee – like the traditional Nanyang kopi – can save the more premium Arabica from a fungal disease.

For generations, Arabica plants, from which about 60 per cent of all coffee is produced, have been ravaged by an incurable fungal disease called coffee leaf rust.

Agriculture institutes in coffee-producing regions have been using selective breeding to confer the Robusta traits to Arabica plants, after a rust-resistant plant hybrid was found in Timor, Indonesia, in the 1920s.

Now, recent international research co-led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) could optimise the breeding process. The study involved mapping the genomes of various coffee varieties, and the researchers zeroed in on the specific Robusta genes that are resistant to coffee leaf rust.

“For the Timor hybrid descendants, in every generation the hybrids have been crossed with an Arabica variety, the offspring’s Robusta content gets smaller and smaller,” said Assistant Professor Jarkko Salojarvi from NTU’s School of Biological Sciences, who led the research team.

Through identifying the resistant genes, the researchers found a means to enable more efficient targeted breeding of resistant plants, similar to targeted therapies against human diseases.

The study was done with Nestle and two universities in the United States and France.

When the coffee-hunting fungus attacks Arabica coffee plantations, it leaves brownish-orange spots on the leaves – much like rust on steel.

The Arabica leaves then wither and die off. Leaf loss lowers the amount and quality of coffee berries harvested, leading to great economic losses for farmers in Latin America and other places.

In 2020, the disease spread to Hawaii for the first time, and a 2015 outbreak in the Mexican state of Oaxaca caused a 50 per cent loss in yields.

While farmers have used fungicides as well as pruning and weed management to drive out the pesky fungus, the best way to control it is through the use of resistant cultivars, said Dr Luiz Filipe Pereira, a researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).

Since the 1970s, the Arabica-Robusta hybrid from Timor and its descendants have been cross-bred with the preferred Arabica plants to create rust-resistant varieties.

While Robusta beans are considered inferior to Arabica beans in terms of flavour, they are used in the well-loved kopi served at hawker centres.

In the study, the scientists mapped out all the genetic material – or genomes – of Arabica, Robusta and a third coffee species called C. eugenioides using advanced technology to sequence the DNA.

Eventually, the researchers found a region of DNA sequences common among the different leaf rust-resistant plants, giving them a new combination of Robusta-based genes that could convey resistance to the Arabica plants.

“Using publicly available data, we identified which of the common Robusta genes reacted to the leaf rust. And that helped us narrow down the region,” said Prof Salojarvi.

The study’s findings and full genome sequences were published in scientific journal Nature Genetics in April.

Mapping out the full genetic information of coffee plants will make the identification of resistant genes faster and more accurate, said NTU.

Prof Salojarvi added that breeders can now use modelling techniques to predict leaf rust-resistance in plants at their seedling stage, without having to wait close to a decade to find out if the selective breeding was successful.

Assistant Professor Jarkko Salojarvi with an Arabica coffee plant. 

PHOTO: NTU SINGAPORE

Dr Pereira added: “The main problem is that during selection, some of the resistant genes can be lost. The genomic information allows us to easily select plants having the resistant genes, at early stages, saving time and resources.”

And useful traits from the Arabica plants – from taste notes to growth – can also be selected with the help of the same species’ genetic map, he said.

This will come in useful as coffee plantations have another threat to contend with – climate change. A 2022 study by Switzerland’s Institute of Natural Resource Sciences projected that by 2050, global warming may lead to a decline in half of the world’s coffee growing regions.

Arabica variants also have low genetic diversity, which limits their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

“That’s why we need targeted breeding to have more variants that are tolerant to extreme conditions,” added Prof Salojarvi.

SPACE

China launches "Rocket Street" project to boost commercial space development

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 

BEIJING July 14. 2024 (Saba) - China has launched the "Rocket Street" project, which aims to establish a national-level scientific research and production center to support the development of commercial space in China.

The project is located in the "Beijing E-Town" area, an economic and technological development zone in the southeast of the capital with a total floor area of 140,000 square meters, and includes some basic facilities such as a joint technology platform, an advanced manufacturing center and an innovation research and development center. It also plans to build an interactive science and technology exhibition hall that provides visitors with immersive virtual reality experiences.

The government expects the project to help rocket companies explore new technologies and expand their application scenario, and at the same time, it has led a space commercial alliance that brings together companies, universities, institutions and cooperatives.

"Beijing E-Town" hosts a group of more than 70 aerospace companies, including 75 percent of China's rocket makers.

How The ‘Heart And Lungs’ Of A Galaxy Extend Its Life

An artist’s impression showing bi-polar jets of gas originating from a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy. CREDIT: ESA/Hubble, L. Calçada (ESO)

 July 15, 2024 

By Eurasia Review

Galaxies avoid an early death because they have a “heart and lungs” which effectively regulate their “breathing” and prevent them growing out of control, a new study suggests.

If they didn’t, the Universe would have aged much faster than it has and all we would see today is huge “zombie” galaxies teeming with dead and dying stars.

That’s according to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, which investigates one of the great mysteries of the Universe – why galaxies are not as large as astronomers would expect.

Something appears to be stifling their enormous potential by limiting the amount of gas they absorb to convert into stars, meaning that instead of endlessly growing, something inside resists what was thought to be the inevitable pull of gravity.

Now, astrophysicists at the University of Kent think they may have uncovered the secret. They suggest that galaxies could in fact control the rate at which they grow through how they “breathe”.

In their analogy, the researchers compared the supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy to its heart and the two bi-polar supersonic jets of gas and radiation they emit to airways feeding a pair of lungs.

Pulses from the black hole – or “heart” – can lead to jet shock fronts oscillating back and forth along both jet axes, much like the thoracic diaphragm in the human body moves up and down inside a chest cavity to inflate and deflate both lungs.

This can result in jet energy being transmitted widely into the surrounding medium, just as we breathe out warm air, resulting in slowing galaxy gas-accretion and growth.

PhD student Carl Richards came up with the theory after creating new, never-before-tried simulations to investigate the role supersonic jets might play in inhibiting galaxy growth.

These involved allowing the black hole “heart” to pulse and the jets to be at high pressure – much like a form of hypertension, if extending the comparison to the human body.

This caused the jets to “act like bellows”, he said, by sending out sound waves “like ripples on a pond surface”.

The phenomena is similar to the terrestrial equivalent of sound and shock waves being produced when opening a bottle of champagne, the screech of a car, rocket exhausts and the puncture of pressurised enclosures.

“We realised that there would have to be some means for the jets to support the body – the galaxy’s surrounding ambient gas – and that is what we discovered in our computer simulations,” Richards said.

“The unexpected behaviour was revealed when we analysed the computer simulations of high pressure and allowed the heart to pulse.

“This sent a stream of pulses into the high-pressure jets, causing them to change shape as a result of the bellows-like action of the oscillating jet shock fronts.”

These overpressured jets effectively expanded “like air-filled lungs”, the researchers said.

In doing so, they transmitted sound waves into the surrounding galaxy in the form of a series of pressure ripples, which were then shown to suppress the galaxy’s growth.

There is some evidence of ripples in extra-galactic media, such as those observed in the nearby Perseus galaxy cluster associated with enormous hot gas bubbles, which are believed to be examples of sound waves.

These ripples were already thought to be responsible for sustaining the ambient environment surrounding a galaxy, although a mechanism to generate them was missing.

Conventional cosmological simulations are therefore unable to account for the flows of gas into galaxies, leading to one of the great mysteries of the Universe, so it relies on the highly-active black hole at a galaxy’s heart to provide some resistance.

“To do this is not easy, however, and we have constraints on the type of pulsation, the size of the black hole and the quality of the lungs,” said co-author Professor Michael Smith.

“Breathing too fast or too slow will not provide the life-giving tremors needed to maintain the galaxy medium and, at the same time, keep the heart supplied with fuel.”

The researchers concluded that a galaxy’s lifespan can be extended with the help of its “heart and lungs”, where the supermassive black hole engine at its core helps inhibit growth by limiting the amount of gas collapsing into stars from an early stage.

This, they say, has helped create the galaxies we see today.

Without such a mechanism, galaxies would have exhausted their fuel by now and fizzled out, as some do in the form of “red and dead” or “zombie” galaxies.

Minneapolis is on the leading edge of biochar, a carbon sequestering material full of promise and still under research

Susan Du - Star Tribune (TNS)


Minneapolis is on track to become one of the first U.S. cities to invest in biochar, a multifunctional, charcoal-like material said to help grow bigger plants, reduce storm water runoff and remove carbon from the atmosphere.


The city has committed $700,000 to develop an industrial yard and buy a BluSky Carbon pyrolyzer, a spinning drum about the size of a 40-foot shipping container that heats organic material with minimal oxygen. According to the manufacturer, the wood doesn't burn in this low-oxygen environment, but is converted into a multiuse char that can lock away carbon that otherwise would have been released through natural decomposition. Natural gas starts the machine, but then the wood gas created as a byproduct of the process sustains it.

"It's almost obnoxious how many applications there are for biochar," said William Hessert, CEO of BluSky Carbon, as he named a few: improving nutrient and water retention, increasing crop yield and improving the strength of concrete, plastics and steel. "As long as you're not using the char to burn it like a briquette, the carbon in there can be stable, depending on how you do this, for hundreds or thousands or millions of years.


Jim Doten, the city's carbon sequestration program manager, said producing municipal biochar will be Minneapolis' first initiative under that program as it tries to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a goal outlined in Minneapolis' Climate Equity Plan.

A lot of wood chips are produced within the city, Doten said. The Minneapolis Park Board manages the city's public trees, including cutting down diseased and damaged trees. Private tree companies do the same on private properties. Xcel and CenterPoint Energy trim along electrical lines to prevent fires.

Right now, all that wood waste is shipped over to St. Paul and incinerated for electricity and steam. But if it's converted to biochar, Doten believes that the city could prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere and create material to be used in large-scale transportation projects and community gardens.

"I'm glad that now not only is it happening but that it's sparked a lot of interest, and I'm getting a lot of calls from different cities and counties around the country about it," Doten said.

Minneapolis eventually may consider selling carbon removal credits to private companies looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, or bank them for the city's own carbon reduction goals, Doten said.

Council Member Robin Wonsley, in whose ward the biochar site is being built, said she would need to study the efficacy of other agencies' carbon credit programs, such as the one the Park Board launched in 2022, before supporting a similar one for the city.

"I'm really excited about this helping the city figure out how we can continue investing in bold and innovative municipally owned strategies to combat climate change," Wonsley said.

Eric Singsaas, director of the materials and bioeconomy group at the University of Minnesota, is studying biochar to better understand how its properties are affected by different factors, such as heating temperature and the type of source material, in hopes of informing industry as well as cities like Minneapolis wanting to predict exactly how long its biochar will be able to sequester carbon.

"Carbon removal credits, there's a lot of revenue potential there," Singsaas said. "The scientific community is developing tools and mathematical models that are allowing us to say with more confidence (that) if you make a biochar with the following properties, it will sequester carbon for 100 years or 1,000 years, to make a better estimate of that."

Right now the city should stay on top of the science and resist the trap of making hyperbolic claims because some kiln technologies on the market make biochar with "wildly varying properties," Singsaas warned. He said he is working with the city and believes BluSky's pyrolyzer is legitimate.

As private and public-sector organizations face increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions, the market for carbon offset and removal credits is growing, with environmental organizations often playing a watchdog role differentiating between initiatives that actually remove pollution and those that "greenwash" it.

Per the Minnesota Natural Gas Innovation Act, Xcel Energy plans to purchase carbon offset credits from a local company that produces biochar. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy argued on CenterPoint's NGIA plan against allowing companies to use carbon reductions in another location to offset the amount of natural gas delivered to customers. The Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a decision on that point later this month, which may affect Xcel's inclusion of biochar in its NGIA plan.

Hudson Kingston, legal director of the rural environmental nonprofit CURE, said the use of natural gas to create biochar through pyrolysis makes him wonder how beneficial it is for the environment.

"It's important that there's third-party analysis of what (Minneapolis) is doing," he said. "The fact that it's near the (University of Minnesota) is a great opportunity for them to pull in professors and grad students who don't work for the city to assess things ... for this to move forward in a way where the community knows whether it's actually benefiting them or not."

Biochar has been used in pilot projects through the city over the years. The city's biochar website shows a grinning Doten brandishing two ears of corn — one almost twice the size of the other — grown at Little Earth of United Tribes in 2015. The fatter corn was grown in biochar, Doten said.

Another biochar demonstration was conducted by the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council on a segment of the old trolley line near York Avenue and 44th Street from 2019 to 2022. The soil was so degraded along the trolley path that very few plants grew there, said Ginny Halloran, who was on the neighborhood group's environmental committee on the time. The demonstration used biochar and deep-rooted native to restore the soil.

"The beauty of it is because of all the ash trees in Minneapolis ... coming down, we can sequester that carbon ... by making biochar out of all these trees and using it to enrich the soil," Halloran said. "It gives us time to decrease the CO2 that's going up into the atmosphere, and it's just such a beautiful, ecological solution to some of our problems."

North America’s Largest Biochar Plant Announced In Canada


By Carbon Credits

July 5, 2023




A consortium of Canadian and French companies, including Airex Energy, Groupe Rémabec, and SUEZ, are investing C$80 million to construct North America’s largest biochar production facility.

This initiative highlights the growing global recognition of biochar’s potential in carbon sequestration and soil enhancement.

The plant will be located along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Port-Cartier, Quebec, Canada.


The Quebec Biochar Plant: A Major Step in Canada’s Decarbonization Efforts

The Port-Cartier facility is Canada’s first industrial-scale biochar production plant, marking a significant milestone in the country’s net zero efforts.

The first phase of the plant will be finalized in 2024. It will focus on transforming forestry waste into biochar, contributing to a circular economy, and playing a crucial role in the fight against climate change.

With an initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year, the plant will triple its annual production capacity by 2026. This makes it the largest biochar plant in North America.

The consortium aims to produce 350,000 tonnes of biochar by 2035.

They have identified locations in Europe and Africa where they can access the input to produce biochar, as well as potential buyers.

The Project’s Impact and Plans

The facility, owned by CARBONITY, a joint venture equally owned by the three partners, will employ 75 people locally. It will produce carbon-rich biochar with high environmental qualities from the residual biomass of Groupe Rémabec’s operations.

The project will sequester 75,000 tonnes of carbon per year.

By sequestering carbon, biochar production will generate guaranteed, certified carbon credits. First Climate will then sell them on the voluntary carbon market.

This project became possible thanks to the financial participation of the Quebec and Canadian governments. A federal official commented on this milestone, the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED, said that:

“Government of Canada has made concrete commitments to demonstrate that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand. That is why Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) is granting a repayable contribution of $3M to CARBONITY for its set-up project in Port-Cartier.”
Biochar: A Powerful Tool for Carbon Sequestration and Soil Enhancement

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance produced from plant matter. It’s created through a process called pyrolysis, where organic material is heated in a high-temperature, low-oxygen environment.

The result is a stable form of carbon that resists decomposition, effectively locking away carbon that would otherwise return to the atmosphere. When added to soil, biochar can significantly improve soil health, enhancing water retention, nutrient availability, and microbial activity. All these lead to increased crop productivity.

Moreover, the production of biochar can generate Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) carbon credits. These credits can be sold or traded, providing an additional revenue stream for biochar producers and incentivizing further carbon sequestration efforts.

Airex earlier this year raised $38M to increase capacity at another Quebec facility that torrefies biomass.

A Shift in the Carbon Credits Market

The construction of the Quebec biochar plant signifies a shift in the carbon credits market. As countries and corporations strive to achieve their carbon neutrality goals, the demand for effective carbon offsetting solutions is growing.

Biochar production offers a tangible, measurable way to offset carbon emissions. The carbon credits generated from this process can attract significant interest from environmentally conscious investors and corporations.

Used as a soil amendment, biochar offers several benefits, including carbon sequestration, increased nutrient retention, and optimized soil aeration and drainage. Its properties allow it to contribute to soil regeneration, limit the use of fertilizers and sustain water resources.

When added to concrete or asphalt formulations, biochar brings new functionalities to the final material while helping to reduce its carbon footprint, a key issue for the construction sector.

Lastly, the production of biochar at high-temperature and with oxygen-free pyrolysis will generate surplus energy in the form of steam or pyrolysis oil, which is reusable on site.

In summary, here are just some of the potential industrial uses of biochar:

Source: Osman et al. (2022). Environ Chem Lett 20. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01424-x

The Future of Biochar and Carbon Management

The emergence of North America’s largest biochar plant in Quebec is a milestone in the world’s journey toward sustainable carbon management. It highlights the potential of biochar as a solution for carbon sequestration, waste management, and soil enhancement.

With the establishment of the Port-Cartier facility, the future of biochar and carbon management looks promising. The project shows the potential of biochar in sequestering carbon while setting a precedent for future initiatives in the sector.

As we continue to grapple with the challenges of climate change, such initiatives offer a beacon of hope, showing us that with innovation and commitment, a sustainable future is within our reach.

Sciencedirect.comwww.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772416622000900

Biochar production techniques utilizing biomass waste-derived ...

Biochar is an incredibly rich source of carbon formed through biomass's thermal decomposition. There is a rise of interest in employing biochar derived from ...

Researchgate.netwww.researchgate.net/publication/356740620_Biochar_in_climate_change_mitigation

Biochar in climate change mitigation | Request PDF - ResearchGate

Biochar, a chemically stable and highly adsorptive carbonrich material produced by pyrolysis of biological organic materials, has demonstrated promising results ...

Mdpi.comwww.mdpi.com/2311-5629/9/3/67

Biochar for Soil Carbon Sequestration: Current Knowledge ... - MDPI

Biochar, a sustainable solid material derived from biomass pyrolysis enriched in carbon, has emerged as a promising solution for soil carbon sequestration.

 

US President Biden signs bill promoting distinct Tibet identity

Aabshar Ghassi | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US

JULY 14, 2024 

US President Biden on Friday signed into law the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act. The bill declares Congress’s position that Tibetans have a “religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity” distinct from the Chinese people which the Chinese government undermines by its claims and penalizes by its rights violations of Tibetans.

Congress found the Chinese government to be violating its obligations under international law, most notably violating the right of self-determination for Tibetans. It described the Chinese government’s rights violations of the Tibetan people to be systematic and pointed to Tibetan opposition and resistance.

Congress said urged the Chinese government to stop its alleged disinformation campaign against Tibet and the Tibetans, its violations of international law, and its unwillingness to engage in meaningful negotiations with Tibetan leaders. Congress also declared its aim to restart diplomacy between Chinese and Tibetan leaders that started in 2002 and ended in January 2010 without a successful resolution.

The bill implements Congress’s motives in resolving the Tibet-China dispute by statutorily defining Tibet and amending its Tibetan Policy Act of 2002. The bill defined Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region and the areas in China the Chinese government in 2018 recognized as “Tibetan Autonomous.” It amended the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 by adding that the President must annually send reports to congressional committees on “[US] efforts to counter disinformation about Tibet from the [Chinese government] and the Chinese Communist Party” and the Special Coordinator must “work with relevant bureaus … to ensure that [US government] statements and documents” fight the Chinese government’s disinformation campaign against Tibet and Tibetans.

Responding to the bill’s passage into US law, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson issued the following remarks:

The [bill] violates the US government’s long-held position and commitments and the basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s domestic affairs, undermines China’s interests, and sends a severely wrong signal to the “Tibet independence” forces … If the US continues down the wrong path, China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.

Chinese e-trucks in Europe ‘win-win cooperation’, says CEO

July 15, 2024

XINHUA – Collaborating with Europe on the development of electric heavy trucks yields mutually beneficial outcomes in both economic and environmental spheres, founder and CEO of Windrose Technology Han Wen told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Windrose Technology, a Chinese electric long-haul truck start-up, has been ramping up its presence in Europe to seek fresh investment and meet the growing demand for greener heavy trucks in the region.

The electric truck manufacturer has announced plans to establish its European headquarters and its first European factory in Belgium, which will create around 3,000 local jobs. Its assembly plant in Antwerp is expected to produce 10,000 electric trucks annually by 2027.

“We chose Antwerp as our European centre for several reasons,” Han noted. “Antwerp is one of Europe’s largest logistics hubs, with its pivotal role in land, rail, and road transport, making it an ideal location for our operations.”

He also highlighted the proximity of Antwerp to key customers.

With the European Union (EU) focusing heavily on expanding electric transportation, as it aims to become climate-neutral by 2050, Han believes Europe represents a significant market for electric heavy trucks.

“Heavy trucks are significant contributors to global carbon dioxide emissions… addressing their emissions through electrification in Europe is crucial,” Han said.

Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association suggest that more than 400,000 zero-emission trucks will have to be on the roads by 2030 to achieve a 45 per cent carbon dioxide reduction.

Han said the company is considering further localising its supply chain in Europe and leveraging local production capabilities for the next step, with plans also underway to construct a battery factory.

The company’s electric heavy truck completed a 3,100-km single-trip road test in May across Europe, spanning from Antwerp in Belgium to Warsaw in Poland. As Europe is willing to provide an entry, “in return, we will introduce advanced Chinese electric heavy truck manufacturing technologies here,” Han noted. “It is a win-win cooperation.”

Southwest Airlines unveils electric air taxi venture

July 15, 2024


NEW YORK (AFP) – United States (US) carrier Southwest Airlines plans to jointly develop a fleet of electric air taxis to serve the California market with transportation startup Archer Aviation, the companies announced on Friday.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding envisioning Southwest making use of Archer’s “Midnight” aircraft throughout the nation’s largest state, offering short trips from California’s 14 airports.

Begun as an aviation venture in 2018, Santa Clara, California-based Archer has been working to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The company’s Midnight eVTOL can carry four passengers in addition to a pilot.

The aircraft is “designed to transform urban travel, replacing 60-to-90-minute commutes by car with estimated 10-to-20-minute electric air taxi flights”, said a joint press release.

“The goal of Archer’s aircraft is to offer a safe, low-noise, cost-competitive transportation option with no direct emissions.”

The Southwest venture follows a joint announcement from Stellantis and Archer earlier this month in which the automaker agreed to an additional USD55 million investment in the startup.

Southwest – the fourth biggest US carrier after American, United and Delta – is “eager to explore the convenience Archer’s air taxis could provide customers flying Southwest at airports in busy urban areas”, said Paul Cullen, a vice president for real estate at Southwest.

In June, Archer received an FAA certificate to begin commercial operations to refine and improve its systems ahead of launching for Southwest and United Airlines, which also has collaborated with the company. Archer could receive FAA certification as soon as 2025, an Archer spokeswoman said.

“We are now in the final phase of certification with the FAA known as the ‘implementation phase’ and will begin crewed ‘for credit’ testing with the FAA next year which are the final sets of flight tests we are required to pass prior to obtaining Type Certification for our Midnight aircraft,” the spokeswoman said in an email.

Last Tuesday, French officials gave the go-ahead for construction of a floating landing pad on the River Seine for flying taxis set to be shown off during the Paris Olympics.

Mixed profits at US banks amid weaker signs from low-income customers

July 15, 2024


NEW YORK (AFP) – JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup reported increased second-quarter profits on Friday despite somewhat higher costs to account for bad loans in light of greater stress on lower-income customers.

Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason pointed to a “bit of a pullback” from consumers with lower credit scores who are strained from higher interest rates and the consumer price hikes of recent years.

“The customer base is being discerning in terms of the nature of the spend in light of the environment that we’re in,” Mason said on a conference call with reporters.

JPMorgan Chase has also seen lower-income segments shift spending from discretionary to essential goods, which “for obvious reasons is understood to be a little bit of a sign of weakness”, said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum, while noting that most of the bank’s customers tend to have higher credit scores.

Barnum offered measured optimism on the economy, saying conditions remain broadly positive, while noting persistent big-picture risks that include geopolitical instability and the chance that inflation and interest rate will stay high.

“Yes the economy is slowing but it seems to be very much on trend of a soft landing,” Barnum said.A Citigroup Citibank branch in California, United States. PHOTO: AFP

The comments came as the two banks reported second-quarter results, along with Wells Fargo, which saw profits dip.

At JPMorgan, profits came in at USD18.1 billion, up 25 per cent from the year-ago period.

The earnings were boosted by a USD7.9 billion gain from a share-exchange transaction with Visa.

Without that one-time boost, profits would have lagged the 2023 quarter. Revenues rose 22 per cent to USD50.2 billion.

The lender, the biggest US bank by assets, pointed to a boost from higher investment banking fees and asset management fees, as well as a lift from greater net interest income (NII); NII is based on the interest JPMorgan earns on loans less the interest it pays out to depositors.

The provision for credit losses rose five per cent to USD3.1 billion, with JPMorgan citing credit cards as a driver of both charge-offs in the latest quarter and reserves over future potential losses.

The bank has noted that consumer balance sheets were boosted by government payout programmes during Covid-19 that have largely lapsed. JPMorgan described the rising delinquencies as “credit normalisation”.

At Citi, second-quarter profits were USD3.2 billion, up 10 per cent from the year-ago period, reflecting the benefit of a six per cent drop in operating expenses following a reorganisation.

That push is expected to reduce overall headcount by 20,000.

Revenues rose four per cent to USD20.1 billion.

While Citi’s net interest income fell compared with the 2023 period, it benefited from a USD400 million gain on the Visa equity exchange, as well as higher profits in four of five divisions, including markets and wealth management.

The one division that suffered lower profit was US personal banking, which was hit by higher credit losses. Mason said the bank had increased monitoring of consumers, while shifting its approach on drawing new credit card customers to favor those with higher credit scores.

While loan delinquencies have risen above pre-Covid levels, the bank saw an improvement at the end of the quarter that may be a sign of consumer “resiliency”, according to Mason.

Earlier this week, two US regulators fined Citi USD135.6 million over the bank’s lack of progress in upgrading risk management and internal controls following a 2020 regulatory crackdown.

At Wells Fargo, profits were down 0.5 per cent at USD4.9 billion, while revenues edged up 0.7 per cent at USD20.7 billion.

While NII fell compared to the year-ago level, the bank pointed to growth in fee-based revenues in investment banking and asset management.

Although Wells experienced higher charge offs in the second quarter due in part to poorly performing commercial real estate loans, the bank’s provisions for bad loans fell compared with the year-ago period.

THE LAST COLONY, VIVA INDEPENDENCE

New Caledonia on the brink of civil war

Published: 09 July 2024

Ann-Sophie Levidis
Australian National University

IN BRIEF

New Caledonia has been experiencing a severe state of unrest since May 2024, which resulted from a controversial voting law viewed as discriminatory by the local Kanak population, leading to barricades, skirmishes, looting and widespread damage. To end the crisis and prevent a civil war, it is essential to establish long-lasting peace, requiring careful consideration of the historical influences, transregional collaboration, increased comprehension of the conflict between the Kanak people and France and awareness of wider global tensions.

Amid heightened global tensions and a local crisis centring on the efforts of the indigenous Kanak people to secure their rights, the restoration of long-lasting peace is necessary in New Caledonia as the threat of civil war looms.

Since 13 May 2024, the nickel-rich islands in the Southwest Pacific have experienced severe unrest, described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an ‘unprecedented insurrection movement’, with the indigenous Kanak population at the forefront of the riots. On 15 May, France declared a state of emergency in its Pacific territory. The riots have targeted vehicles and ambulances bound for hospitals in Noumea, affecting residents’ access to healthcare. Barricades, skirmishes with the police and looting has left nine dead and hundreds injured, inflicting hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

After one month of deadly unrest, Macron announced on 12 June a temporary suspension of the controversial voting reforms to restore order, though this fails to address the long-term issues concerning the future of New Caledonia. The French High Commissioner of Noumea confirmed on 17 June that a curfew will still remain in effect and public gatherings will remain prohibited. The transfer of seven New Caledonian pro-independence activists to prisons in mainland France following the recent unrest has fuelled a new wave of violence in the French Pacific territory since 22 June.

The unrest in New Caledonia stems from a controversial law allowing individuals living in the region for over ten years to vote in local elections, which the Kanak community views as discriminatory. The law contradicted the Noumea Accord, a 1998 agreement granting increased political power to the collegial elected government of New Caledonia, comprising independence and loyalist parties.

New Caledonia and Paris agreed to conduct three independence referendums and the final referendum in 2021 seemed to be a decisive win for those advocating to remain part of France, but Kanak leaders boycotted the vote. As French President Emmanuel Macron had refused to postpone the referendum during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanak leaders argued that traditional mourning rituals for the deceased hindered their participation. This situation has since challenged the pursuit of autonomy and self-governance in New Caledonia.

The unrest in New Caledonia is far more complex, rekindling wounds from French colonisation and intertwining with global tensions. Since 1853, the Kanak people have resisted French subjugation under a restrictive colonial code, which limited their rights and enforced strict segregation. The Kanak independence movement gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s, influenced by increased access to education and exposure to the global civil rights movement. The so-called Red Scarves movement demanded a return of the land, sparking a civil war in 1984.

In 1986, the UN Special Committee on Decolonization listed New Caledonia as one of the seventeen territories that had not achieved full self-governance. Growing tensions between Paris and Noumea resulted in the tragic hostage taking in Ouvea in May 1988. The signing of the Matignon-Oudinot Agreements later that year marked a significant turning point, granting more powers to territorial authorities and initiating a process of land redistribution that marked the end of the civil war.

The deepening crisis in New Caledonia is also embedded in global tensions and wider political instability. At the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore from 31 May to 2 June, the Minister of the Armed Forces for France Sebastien Lecornu levied accusations against Azerbaijan for its interference in New Caledonia, allegations that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan have denied.

France’s support of Armenia in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has also caused tension with Azerbaijan. In response, as the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan may have been providing support to independence movements in French territories, such as the Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste.

Political instability in France could also disrupt the development of enduring solutions to the crisis in New Caledonia. On 7 July 2024, the French National Assembly elections witnessed a historic victory for Emmanuel Tjibaou, a pro-independence leader. Emmanuel Tjibaou is the son of Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the founder of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste), who was assassinated in 1989. This election result is particularly notable as it represents the first instance since 1986 of an independence advocate securing a seat in the French National Assembly, located in Paris.

This triumph is poised to significantly impact the political landscape of New Caledonia, suggesting potential shifts towards greater autonomy or independence. Analysts warn that global tensions and political instability may impact France’s long-term military strategy in the Indo-Pacific, with concerns that French Pacific territories may pursue independence.

Historical memories of colonialism, the discontentment of the Kanak youth, the nickel crisis and global tensions are substantiating fears of another civil war. On 8 June, New Caledonian President Louis Mapou urged immediate action, calling for support from its Pacific neighbours to address the current crisis. A potential first step to remedy the situation may be through the mediation of Pacific nations. The Chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum Mark Brown has already written to Louis Mapou, offering to provide a ‘neutral space … to find a way forward that preserves the interests of the people of New Caledonia’.

Re-establishing long-lasting peace is becoming an urgent priority, requiring transregional collaboration and understanding around the conflict between the Kanak people and France, as well as an awareness of wider global tensions. In the words of Kanak independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the pursuit of reconciliation will be a ‘bet on intelligence’.

Dr Ann-Sophie Levidis is Lecturer at the Australian National University.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720519200