Saturday, January 04, 2020

Looking back at the legacy of Albert Camus, 60 years after his death

Albert Camus’ death, sixty years ago, stunned France. The French literary icon was just 46 years old when he died in a car crash southeast of Paris on January 4, 1960.

The author of “The Stranger” was also a playwright, a journalist and a philosopher. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature at the age of 43.

Camus’s work often touched on themes of justice, freedom and revolt. He wielded his pen against the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, the Franco dictatorship in Spain, the horror of Soviet gulags, and the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.

Algeria, where he was born, was often a central part of his writing, though his lack of a clear stance in favour of the country’s independence was heavily criticised.

FRANCE 24’s Axelle Simon and Wassim Cornet look back at the author’s legacy.
The Stranger (1967) by Albert Camus : Albert Camus; Stuart Gilbert : https://archive.org/details/AlbertCamusTheStranger1967 

texts
Albert Camus

GERMANY

'Daddy was a man of honor,' daughter of Nazi SS officer insists

Ilse, 85, still refers to her father as "daddy," and gets annoyed when someone says she should be ashamed of him. He had Germany's interests at heart, emphasized the daughter of the Nazi Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
   

Von dem Bach-Zelewski the father, right foreground, and the Nazi SS officer, middle wearing glasses
In an aged care home in Roth, not far from the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, Ilse introduced herself as the daughter of a Nazi. It's a fact she never concealed. She said her father could not stand Nazi leaders Heinrich Himmler, and that he didn't like Hermann Göring or Joseph Goebbels either.
"Because only money counted for them," Ilse said, adding that "daddy" thought of the nation.
Ilse's father, Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski, was born on March 1, 1899, in what is now in the Polish town of Lebork, near Gdansk. Soon German nationalism cast its spell on the young von Zelewski. Three months after the outbreak of World War I, he joined the German Reich army and was awarded the Iron Cross after a year of service. At the age of 18, he was promoted to lieutenant.
In 1930, having since acquired the double name of von dem Bach-Zelewski, he became a member of the Nazi party (NSDAP) and joined the SS one year later. In 1932, already an SS Obersturmführer, he became a Reichstag delegate.

Ilse von dem Bach: 'Daddy was an honorable man'
In November 1939, von dem Bach-Zelewski, who was regarded by his superiors as a "very good National Socialist, loyal and honest, very impulsive," was given a new task: He was to Germanize the Poles in what was then Silesia. In the summer of 1941, he organized the mass executions of Jews in Belarus as an SS and police commander. Later he led the fight against the partisans, which also claimed countless civilian victims.
Playing cards with his uncle
In the summer of 1944, 7-year-old Stanislaw Maciej Kicman, affectionately known as Macius, was sitting at a table eating lunch with his mother, father and grandmother.
"The soldiers came to take my father to the army," he said recently. "They showed him a letter and my father said, 'I'm coming.' He left his soup and said goodbye. He hid a gun under his coat. My mother asked: 'Czesiu, when will I see you?' He said: 'It will be over soon. In a week.'"
Macius did not know where his father was going. "Papa is going to your uncle's. Maybe they play cards. Maybe Papa will lose," his mother explained. "Papa always wins," Kicman replied. His father "played cards" for almost a year. That's how long the war lasted. And he won.
Later, Kicman's mother wrote of the return of her husband: "I took off my coat in the hall. Suddenly, the sight of a hand with a hat took my breath away. Macius screamed with delight: 'Papa, papa, my papa.' I leaned my head against the wall. Thank God."

Kicman as a child with his family
'Close your eyes, it doesn't hurt'
Willy Fiedler served in the Wehrmacht. In the early days of the Warsaw Uprising, when the Polish underground army rose up in the capital against the German occupiers, he witnessed an execution in Pfeifer's tannery. He saw people forced to lie down before being shot. About 2,000 people died in the tannery. The executions went on for weeks.
Fiedler saw only a part of the killings. He didn't know about Hitler's order: Warsaw was to be razed to the ground. The soldiers of the Dirlewanger Regiment, notorious for their cruelty, received the order on August 5, 1944. At 7 a.m. they began an attack on the Wola district. The SS exterminated the civilian population. Historians have estimated that between 20,000 and 45,000 people died that day. On August 6 there were more mass executions. It was one of the worst massacres of World War II.
Stanislaw Maciej Kicman, who is now a pastor, said he remembers Nazis rushing into his house and pushing him and his mother to a church. They ordered them to kneel down and pointed guns at them.
"I was aware of my imminent death. I snuggled up against my mother," said Kicman. "My mother hugged me and said, 'Close your eyes, it doesn't hurt.'"
The gun jammed. Kicman and his mother were lucky and escaped with their lives.

Stanisław Maciej Kicman did not know where his father went during the war
'That son of a bitch!'
When asked by the Nuremberg prosecutor Jerzy Sawicki when he had arrived in the Polish capital, Erich von dem Bach — he had dropped the Polish-sounding surname Zelewski in 1940 — said, "It was two weeks after the outbreak of the uprising."  He answered as a key witness for the prosecution, not as a defendant.
The Nuremberg Trials begin on November 20, 1945. Historical sources show that in exchange for his testimony, the Americans, to whom he had given himself up in August 1945, did not hand von dem Bach over to the Poles or the Soviet Union.
Once a month, Ilse traveled with her mother to Nuremberg to see her father. She did not read newspaper reports. "I wanted to shield myself from them," she said.
Von dem Bach's testimony heavily incriminated his comrades. Göring, who was later sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, among other charges, reacted indignantly, calling von dem Bach a "traitor, "bastard" and "the bloodiest murderer in this whole system."

Unlike Göring and Hess, right, von dem Bach-Zelewski was at the Nuremberg trials as a witness, not as a criminal
'Yes, women and children too'
Von dem Bach wanted to save himself: "I told the commanders that civilians should be treated according to the Geneva Convention."
"In the cemetery, I saw how a group of civilians ... was shot by members of the Heinz Reinefarth's combat group. I pointed out to him that his troops were shooting innocent civilians. ... He said that he had received an explicit order not to take prisoners and to kill every inhabitant of Warsaw. I asked: 'Women and children too?' To which he replied: 'Yes, women and children too.'"
With this testimony, he betrayed himself. Von dem Bach had claimed that he had only come to Warsaw on August 13, after the most terrible massacres. The group commanded by SS-General Heinz Reinefarth did indeed kill about 1,500 people near the cemetery, but that was on August 6.
Everything indicates von dem Bach was in Warsaw that day and knew about the extent of the mass murders. Von dem Bach never had to answer for this crime. Neither did Reinefarth, who made a career for himself after the war in the state of Schleswig-Holstein as a mayor and member of the state parliament.
'Hitler's man to the end'
After the war, von dem Bach-Zelewski tacked the Polish component back onto his name. He was not charged in the Nuremberg Trials, though he was put under house arrest. Later, he worked as a night watchman. In 1961, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for ordering the murder of the SS officer Anton von Hohberg und Buchwald. A year later, he received a second sentence because of more murders in the 1930s. This time, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in 1961 that "when he was asked by the judges how he reconciled the ethos of a former Prussian lieutenant … with helping Hitler's SS, the defendant went on record as saying: 'I was Hitler's man to the end. I am still convinced of his innocence."

Von dem Bach-Zelewski said he was 'Hitler's man to the end'
His children were in the courtroom that time, too.
"I wanted to support my father, give him some security. I was terribly angry that everyone was saying we should be ashamed of him. I was never ashamed," Isle said.
She said she still remembers their time together, but she does not like talking about her feelings.
"He always called me Ila. I loved him very much," she said. "Whatever I asked him, he always knew the answer. He was well-read in history, had a sense of humor and was a good story-teller."
Writing to his wife and daughter from prison, von dem Bach-Zelewski admitted to making many mistakes and that he had difficulty being a "witness of the truth" against those who he called his own people and knowing that "Germany would be scorned for generations."
On March 8, 1972, von dem Bach-Zelewski died in prison, and his daughter said she still misses him. "Daddy was an honorable man," the 85-year-old said.
This article is part of the Guilt without Atonement project by DW's Polish desk in cooperation with Interia and Wirtualna Polska.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Indonesia races to provide aid as flood death toll rises

Severe flooding in and around the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, has killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands. With the relentless rainfall, and many people reported missing, the death toll is expected to rise.

A woman rides a tricycle on a flooded street in Jakarta, Indonesia (picture-alliance/AP/D. Alangkara)


Indonesian rescue teams flew aid to remote districts around Jakarta on Saturday, as the government announced that the death toll had risen to at least 60.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said the fatalities included those who had drowned or been electrocuted.

Read more: Deforestation triggering natural calamities in Indonesia

The situation worsened when rivers broke their banks early Wednesday, after torrential rains that began on New Year's Eve unleashed flash flooding and landslides.

Stranded amid floods

Tens of thousands of people in the capital were unable to return to their homes, with fears growing about the possibility of more heavy rainfall. At one point more than 170,000 people sought refuge in shelters across Jakarta's massive urban conglomeration, after whole neighborhoods were submerged.

Further south, in the Lebak municipality, police and military personnel dropped boxes of noodles and other supplies into isolated districts supplies by helicopter. Many areas have been made inaccessible by road after bridges were destroyed, while blackouts and bad weather have hampered rescue efforts.



INDONESIA FLOODS INUNDATE JAKARTA, KILL DOZENS
'Hit without warning'
As many people in Jakarta were celebrating the New Year, heavy rains brought flooding and landslides, killing dozens and leaving the city paralyzed. Many were forced to flee their homes in the dark or retreat to roofs and upper floors. "The floods hit without warning," said one survivor.  PHOTOS 12345678

"It's tough to get supplies in there," police chief Tomsi Tohir told the AFP news agency. "There are about a dozen places hit by landslides."

Read more: Indonesia files WTO lawsuit against EU over palm oil biofuels

Cloud seeding

The government on Friday started cloud seeding — inducing rain by using chemicals sprayed from planes — to the west of Jakarta. It was hoped this would prevent approaching rainfall from exacerbating the situation by making it fall earlier before reaching the capital region.

Jakarta's numerous infrastructure shortcomings, including bad drainage and runaway overdevelopment, are thought to have worsened the situation in the city.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced in August a plan to move the country's capital to the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, an idea that some environmentalists fear will exacerbate deforestation.

rc/cmk (dpa, AP, AFP)
Phages: Bacterial eaters from Georgia to fight antibiotic resistance

What are we to do when antibiotics are no longer effective? Patients from all over the world come to Georgia to be treated with bacteriophages. In the meantime, phage therapy is also available in Belgium.


Tanja Diederen lives near Maastricht in the Netherlands. She has been suffering from Hidradenitis suppurativa for 30 years. Its a chronic skin disease in which the hair roots are inflamed under pain — often around the armpits and on the chest.

€3,900 for treatment in Georgia

In August 2019, the now 50-year-old made a radical decision: she discontinued the antibiotics, which were becoming less and less effective. And she traveled to Georgia for two weeks to undergo treatment with bacteriophages (or phages for short).

Read more: Big Pharma nixes new drugs despite impending 'antibiotic apocalypse'



Radical decision: treatment with bacteriophages has helped Tanja Diederen

Such phage therapy is not yet approved in most Western European countries. She paid 3,900 euros out of her own pocket in the hope that the unconventional therapy would help her.

Bacteriophages are viruses that fight against the proliferation of their host bacteria. Therapy with bacteriophages involves the oral administration of a single, isolated type of phage. They attach themselves to their bacterial counterparts in the patient's body in order to survive.

Read more: Drug-filled rivers aiding resistance to antibiotics

Healing without antibiotics

The phages reverse the polarity of the bacterial cell in such a way that it produces further phages, filling up with more and more phages and finally bursts. Then, the released phages attach themselves to other bacteria until all of the bacteria has been destroyed.

Journey into the unknown

"It tastes a bit like mushrooms," Tanja Diederen remarked as she took her morning phage dose. "When I went to Georgia, I was at first very nervous and excited, but above all disappointed about the treatment here in Holland."

After antibiotics stopped working for her, her doctor suggested that she take biopharmaceuticals, i.e. genetically engineered drugs. He had never heard of bacteriophages.

Instead, Diederen decided to look for treatment options with bacteriophages on her own, which she had heard about in a television program. 

Read more: Superbugs kill 33,000 in Europe each year, says study


A phage model — phages are viruses, that multiply in bacteria and then destroy them

The doctor never heard of phages

She came across the Georgi-Eliava Institute in Georgia, which has been researching bacteriophages since 1923 — just a few years after their discovery. Georgia has since developed into the global center of phage therapy.

During the Cold War, antibiotics were difficult to get there or anywhere in the Soviet Union. Treatment with phages was the best way to cure infectious diseases. Today, the Eliava Institute has one of the largest therapeutic collections of bacteriophages in the world.

Tanja Diederen stayed in treatment for two weeks, after which she traveled back to the Netherlands with a large suitcase full of phage tins. Since she began taking two different phages a day and applying a cream, she feels better.

She has more energy again and the small inflammations on her chest and armpits have decreased. The large inflammations come and go, but not as severe as before.

"It doesn't feel illegal to me"

Every three months Diederen travels to Belgium — 15 kilometers away — to pick up a new ration of bacteriophages sent from Georgia for 500 euros. Her health insurance doesn't pay for this. Belgium is the only Western European country where phages are allowed. In the Netherlands, as in all other countries, they can only be used in individual cases to save lives or relieve severe pain.

Read more: Chicken meat rife with antibiotic-resistant superbugs



Communicating with the Georgian doctors was difficult for Tanja Diederen. She needed a translator.

Her physician is solely responsible for the application.

"It doesn't feel illegal to me," said Diederen. "I am one hundred percent sure that this medicine will help many people."

Like antibiotics, bacteriophages can also lead to bacterial resistance. Their big advantage, however, is that they are always one step ahead of the bacteria and can overcome the resistance. In addition, they are always directed against a specific type of bacteria and thus leave useful bacteria undamaged, like in the intestine, for example.

Before phage treatment, it is always necessary to determine which bacteria actually trigger the disease. The phages are then produced individually for each patient — often in Georgia.

Bacteriophages permitted in Belgium

Such an individual medication does not meet the applicable regulations for medicinal products in any Western European country. It would take too much effort to have each individual phage formulation approved by the authorities.

Read more: 90 years after penicillin: Artilysin could replace antibiotics


Professor Jean-Paul Pirnay from the Queen-Astrid Military 

Hospital in Brussels works with bacteriophages

Not so in Belgium. Since last year, this process can be legally circumvented by the Scientific Health Institute, in cooperation with doctors, patients, manufacturers, pharmacists and the Belgian Federal Office for Medicinal Products, issuing a certificate for the required phage ingredients. Pharmacists will then be able to use them for the manufacture of bacteriophages, subject to certain guidelines.

"We have used the existing legal framework to insert the bacteriophages," said Dr Jean-Paul Pirnay, who works at the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels on bacteriophages.

Around 30 patients have already been treated there. Currently, the military hospital is the only place in Belgium where bacteriophages are produced.

Useful supplement to antibiotics

"We need pharmaceutical companies to make the phage," says Pirnay. "A hospital can't produce all phages for a growing number of patients."

But industrial production of phages would require a clearer legal framework, and research is not yet ready.

"I believe that phages will not replace antibiotics," he said. "Both will be used together to make antibiotics more effective."

Tanja Diederen wants to continue her treatment in Brussels in the future. Communication with the Georgian doctors was difficult for her, she always needed a translator.

"I really hope that phages will soon be allowed in Europe," she said. "Going to Georgia is quite difficult and expensive."

Germany and the Netherlands are currently conducting pilot studies to see whether an individual prescription of bacteriophages would be possible. France has already imported Belgian phages and agreed to their use.

Read more: Beware of germs in hand dryers

BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE


Ewww!
Just scrape the mold off, right? Wrong. A moldy old sandwich like this one is anything but harmless. While there are some harmless kinds of mold - like on Camembert cheese - many molds are toxic. Furthermore, mycelium spores can trigger allergies. Through contact with highly toxic types of mold, humans with weakened immune defenses could even die as a result of an extended exposure.


BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE


Also viruses can contaminate food
Norovirus or stomach flu is transmitted person-to-person through traces of vomit or feces. Just 100 tiny norovirus particles are enough to infect someone. The virus can easily pass into the food chain via infected drinking water.



BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE

Mold as a biocatalyst
Mold can also be useful: Fungi is able to break down carbon hydrates, fats and proteins - more efficiently than any other organism. Industry makes use of a genetically modified Aspergillus niger fungus, which produces enzymes that can be used in food processing and production of detergents - like a living factory.



BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE
Salami tactics
"Botulus" is Latin for "sausage." If mistakes are made in the production of sausage, or if meat or vegetables get contaminated during canning, this can cause botulism. The bacteria Clostridium botulinum causes this life-threatening poisoning.


Fresh vegetables not always healthy 
Fenugreek sprouts were a favorite among Germans trying to eat healthy - until 2011. That year, seeds contaminated with the bacteria Escherichia coli (EHEC) caused an outbreak that killed 53 people - hundreds more were sickened. EHEC produces a toxin that destroys intestinal wall cells, and later attacks brain and kidney cells. Cooking raw vegetables and meat kills the harmful bacteria.                      

BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE
A useful relative
But not all varieties of E. coli are dangerous. Inside the human large intestine, the bacteria are usually responsible for producing vitamin K - important for the development of bones and cells, and for blood coagulation. In biotechnology, the bacteria play a role in producing insulin and growth hormones. They can even be used for turning microalgae into alcohol-based biofuel.






BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE

Bacteria preserves foods
Thousands of years ago, humans learned to use lactic acid bacteria - for the production of yoghurt, kefir, sourdough bread and cheese. Raw milk warmed to 20 degrees Celsius is heaven for bacteria: Within 10 hours, the milk will go sour. Milk fermented with the help of bacteria, however, can stay edible for much longer.




BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE

Too much of a good thing

One of the many varieties of lactic acid bacteria are streptococci, which play a role in producing sauerkraut and fermented milk products. Although streptococci are everywhere - on humans, animals and plants - some of them are unhealthy. Some strains of strep can trigger tooth decay or sepsis, commonly known as blood poisoning.



BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE
Dangerous diarrhea
Rod-shaped bacteria like Campylobacter and Salmonellae cause illness and death the world over. Undercooked beef, pork or chicken containing Campylobacter is a common cause of diarrhea wordwide. Typhus is the most dangerous form of salmonellae, triggering high fever, weak heartbeat and constipation. Every year, about 32 million people are si
 BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSABLE
Dangerous diarrhea
Rod-shaped bacteria like Campylobacter and Salmonellae cause illness and death the world over. Undercooked beef, pork or chicken containing Campylobacter is a common cause of diarrhea wordwide. Typhus is the most dangerous form of salmonellae, triggering high fever, weak heartbeat and constipation. Every year, about 32 million people are sickened from typhus - mainly by drinking impure water.

WWW LINKS

AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC

HEALING WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS   

cleaned from typhus - mainly by drinking impure water.

WWW LINKS

AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC

Healing without antibiotics   


Author: Fabian Schmidt
SEE 
 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PHAGES
 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BACTERIOPHAGE
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PHAGE
 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BIOPHAGES













































Author: Fabian Schmidt

BACTERIA, VIRUSES, MOLD: LIFE-THREATENING YET INDISPENSIBLE
Bacteria preserves foods

Thousands of years ago, humans learned to use lactic acid bacteria - for the production of yoghurt, kefir, sourdough bread and cheese. Raw milk warmed to 20 degrees Celsius is heaven for bacteria: Within 10 hours, the milk will go sour. Milk fermented with the help of bacteria, however, can stay edible for much longer.
































































Libya's battle for Tripoli — what you need to know

General Khalifa Haftar's push for Tripoli could be the most important moment for Libya since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Who are the players and what's at stake for the war-torn country?

The overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 plunged Libya in a conflict between rival militias . What has emerged is a fragile governance over the oil-rich country that has shifted between power centers from west to east. But in April, a coalition of fighters under Khalifa Haftar made a push to take Tripoli, the seat of Libya's UN-backed government, and with it control of the entire country. Who's who in the battle for Tripoli and what do they want?

Who is Khalifa Haftar?

A former Libyan army officer who helped bring Gadhafi to power in a 1969 coup, General Haftar is seen as a strongman in the mold of his country's former leader. The pair ultimately fell out, and Haftar spent two decades in the United States. He returned to Libya during the 2011 NATO campaign to oust Gadhafi, developing a power base in the east against Islamists and the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. Since 2014, his self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) has taken control of Libya's significant oil production, consolidated gains across the country and announced an advance on Tripoli in April this year.

What does he want?

Haftar has said he wants to restore security, fight armed gangs and "terrorists," and has cultivated a reputation among foreign allies for combating Islamists despite the Salafist forces under his command. But detractors fear Haftar wants to rule Libya in a permanent state of dictatorship ― a Gadhafi 2.0. His recent attempt to take Tripoli was timed just before UN-backed peace talks aimed at finding a way towards a democratic centralized-government, forcing them to be postponed.

Who is Fayez Serraj?

A career public servant with little military influence of his own, Prime Minister Serraj leads the GNA in Tripoli, but is criticized by some as being a leader installed by foreign powers. While his legitimacy is challenged by a rival government in the east, he is both supported and dominated by Tripoli militias.

Who controls Tripoli now?

Tripoli militias previously helped overthrow Gadhafi, but have since taken control of state institutions and plundered their resources. A looser coalition of rival western fighters have joined the GNA's defense in the face of another potential military dictatorship.

Who are Haftar's regional and international backers?

Egypt wants to shore up defense of its western border and is sympathetic to a strongman that might prevent Islamist integration into Libya's government, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE share similar concerns over the Muslim Brotherhood. France has expressed surprise at Haftar's grab for Tripoli but has quietly supported him since 2015, while its soldiers attempt to tackle Islamists south of Libya. France has also blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for an end to Haftar's advance, along with Russia, which is reported to be interested in selling Haftar weapons. It is unclear who the US supports.

Who supports Serraj?

The United Nations has been the GNA's chief backer in support of a political process to end the deep divisions in the country. Although they have been quieter in the recent conflict, Turkey and Qatar's anti-Haftar stance came from a regional Gulf rivalry over support for Muslim Brotherhood forces throughout the conflict. Italy's interest in stemming migration across the Mediterranean from its former colony has aligned it with Serraj's government, which receives support to turn back asylum-seekers.

Where do Germany and the EU stand?


While the split between Italy and France has stymied a unified response from the European Union, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, has called for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian corridors. Member states have failed to find a way to redistribute migrants arriving from Libya at the EU's closest ports in Italy, after anti-immigrant sentiment influenced the political climate in much of the bloc.

Although Germany called an emergency UN Security Council meeting in an attempt to defuse the fighting and Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to de-escalate, critics have called Germany's reaction "inaudible."

Who gets left out?

Thousands of civilians are trapped in the conflict zones. Many of them requested evacuation, but authorities and aid groups have been cut off by shifting front lines. Reports of indiscriminate shelling in residential areas have heightened their sense of alarm.

Doctors Without Borders said migrants locked in detention centers in conflict zones are "particularly vulnerable" due to inhumane conditions in the camps and no ability to make choices about their own safety.


---30---

Tripoli military school hit by deadly airstrike 05.01.2020


More than two dozen cadets have been killed in a raid on a military academy in Libya's besieged capital, Tripoli. Medical workers are still sifting through the rubble and warn the death toll could rise.

An airstrike hit a military school in southern Tripoli late Saturday, killing at least 28 students and injuring dozens more, Libyan health authorities said.


Medical workers have said the death toll could still rise

The bombing targeted the capital's Hadaba area, which has been the scene of intense fighting between the besieged UN-backed government and a self-styled army led by General Khalifa Haftar.

A Health Ministry spokesman said the raid struck as cadets gathered on a parade ground before retiring to their dormitories.

Medical workers at the scene were looking for bodies in the rubble, and warned the number of victims could rise. Authorities also called for blood donations to help hospitals treat the wounded.

Read more: Libya's battle for Tripoli — what you need to know

A ray of hope in war-torn Libya

The internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) holds Tripoli, but since April has been under sustained attack by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which is supported by a rival administration based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's strike. The government in Tripoli has blamed the LNA, which denied involvement.

Battle intensifies

Clashes have escalated in recent weeks following Haftar's announcement of a "final" offensive to seize the capital. The push came after Tripoli authorities signed military and maritime deals with Turkey, which has authorized the deployment of troops to Libya.

More than 280 civilians and over 2,000 fighters have been killed since the start of Haftar's assault, according to the United Nations.

Libya's two governments began vying for control after the 2011 fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi plunged the country into chaos.

Haftar's LNA and the eastern administration enjoy the support of France, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and other key Arab countries, while the Tripoli-based government is backed by Turkey, Italy and Qatar.

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Oceans play role in Australian bushfires drama, say experts

Australia's dry and hot weather, coupled with ocean heat waves, could last for months. Meteorologists' forecasts don't bode well for battling bushfires across Australia.


Raging bushfires in Australia, so extreme that ash, smoke and carbon monoxide from the burning have reached distant New Zealand, could rage for months, climate experts in both countries are warning.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) in its latest forecast said "large parts" of the continent run a "high likelihood" of enduring days and nights that are warmer than average, with "below-average" rainfall, well into 2020.

Downwind, across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said the westerly Southern Ocean jet wind stream — between Antarctica and Australia — has changed "dramatically," with resultant "calmer, drier conditions."

Smoke from the Australian fires has been detected in New Zealand

Warmer than usual

In a climate statement earlier this year, BoM said it had recorded average surface water temperatures for January across the Tasman Sea "as a whole" that were 1.66 degrees Celsius (2.98 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual.

Last week, a Pacific Ocean surface "heat blob" located between New Zealand and South America and mapped by University of Maine climatologists in the United States, was described by NIWA as a huge anomaly with regard to sea temperature.

"It's still there at the moment, and remains the biggest sea temperature anomaly out there," said Nava Fedaeff from NIWA. Fedaeff said, however, that its position meant it would have no influence on weather patterns in New Zealand.

Delay in monsoons

In a 2019/2020 outlook for the southern hemisphere's summer, published in late November, the BoM's head of long-range forecasts, Andrew Watkins, said the "key culprit" behind the hot, dry weather was a slower than usual weakening of the "Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)."

The IOD, an oscillation in sea surface temperature differences between the Indian Ocean's western and eastern waters, had seen "cooler than average water pooling off Indonesia," delaying rain-bearing summer monsoon weather, known in northern Australia as the "wet."

The impact, said the BoM in a December 19 special report, was "notably low humidity, which enhances potential evaporation and increases the fire danger."

Stratospheric winds over the Southern Ocean had shifted in October and November 2019, "increasing spring temperatures and decreasing rainfall" over Australia's eastern states of New South Wales and Queensland, said BoM.

Much of New South Wales has been affected by severe drought

Smoke coming down

New Zealand's NIWA said it had detected higher carbon monoxide at more than 150 parts per billion near ground level in plumes of bushfire smoke blown across the 2,250-kilometer-wide (1,400-mile-wide) Tasman Sea. The normal level is around 60 parts per billion.

"In the past, such Australian fire plumes were only detected several kilometers up in the atmosphere; that air never reached down so low," said Dan Smale, a head atmospheric technician.

NIWA Principle Scientist Craig Stevens said ocean warming — at a rate of 0.1° C to 0.3° C per decade — was "undoubtedly damaging marine ecosystems."

Australia's famous Great Barrier Reef is suffering from the warmer waters

Increasing marine heat waves were an indication, said NIWA, that the earth's climate system is starting to change, despite absorption so far of some 90% of excess heat from global warming.

"Species that normally live in tropical waters are extending their ranges and displacing other species," said Stevens.

Mobile marine life can escape the warmer temperatures, but sedentary maritime plants and animals will be the hardest hit, he said.


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FROM GERMANY

Opinion: Trump's Pyrrhic victory

Iran has forced America's hand, and potentially pushed its troops out of Iraq. But effects of the US strike on Iran's top military figure may not be what the White House hoped for, says guest contributor Rainer Hermann.

General Qassem Soleimani was the second most powerful man in the Islamic Republic of Iran, right behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Though others may have held a higher formal rank, it was his strategic prowess as a commander that allowed him to expand Iran's influence in the region to a degree unimaginable to the leaders of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Khamenei is undoubtedly the religious and political leader of the republic, but it was Soleimani, his trusted associate, who was its military leader.

Thus, Soleimani's assassination will greatly pain Iran. It will also be a test of Khamenei's credibility, for it was he who boasted that US President Donald Trump could do nothing to harm Iran this past December. Now Khamenei has threatened "hard retaliation," and that it is something that cannot be taken lightly.

Still, much as the elimination of Saddam Hussein soon turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory a decade ago in Iraq, Soleimani's killing may not ultimately pay out the dividends that Washington expects.


Read more: US, Iran on precipice of unpredictable war

Turning against the US

Iran is currently suffering on two fronts: Domestic protests call into question the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, and protests in Iraq object to its influence abroad. At home, General Soleimani was a beloved figure because he restored some of the nation's lost luster. His death will give the beleaguered government much-needed support among the people.

Moreover, those in Iraq who want to be rid of American troops will also see a boost. It will be easy for them to argue that US troops have abused their mandate — to coordinate with Iraqi troops in the fight against "Islamic State" (IS).

Therefore, it would seem that Iran's plan to provoke the US into acting in such a way that the Iraqi people would turn against its troops seems to have worked. It would also seem that if this is the case, Iran will have won twice: The Iraqi protest movement will have been temporarily quelled, and Iran could once again keep its neighbor on a short leash.

Futile actions lacking real strategy

By now, the US must realize that its campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran has done nothing to protect American interests inside Iraq, but rather, has put them in harm's way. Furthermore, the US has been unable to curb Iran's influence across the Middle East. In fact, quite the opposite has been the case, with Iran acting more aggressively each passing day.

Iranian leadership is most likely weighing its options to determine whether it makes more sense to attack America head-on, or to go after targets held by US allies in the region. Should Iran attack directly it will take up the gauntlet that Trump has thrown at its feet with Soleimani's assassination. But Iran could also use its numerous proxy militias to go after a wide range of US allies in the region.

Read more: The United States and Iran — Decades of enmity

If Iran were to attack the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Saudi Arabia, for instance, the United States would be forced to decide whether to stand by those allies or not.

If Washington chooses to do so, it would allow the country to be drawn into yet another war with unknown consequences — and the risk of a large-scale regional conflagration would become very real.

Should the US choose not to act, that, too, would dramatically tip the balance of power in the region — at enormous cost to the West.


Rainer Hermann, political editor for Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung