'It’s pretty astounding:' Celebrating demise of 'Indians' after years of fighting

Jacqueline Keeler, Cleveland born, is happy her hometown team won’t be called the Indians anymore.

She is an activist and journalist who is Navaho and Yankton Dakota Sioux. She is editor-in-chief of Pollen Nation magazine, which is dedicated to fighting the invisibility of Native people, and a founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, which seeks to end the use of stereotypical representations in popular culture.

© Jacqueline Keeler Jacqueline Keeler’s son, Joneya Kinyaani, protesting at Nike headquarters in October 2014, when he was 11.

The American League baseball team in Cleveland announced this week that it will jettison the moniker it has used since 1915, though not until after the coming season. The change was not unexpected — the team had said over the summer that it was reconsidering use of its team name — and yet the news took Keeler by surprise.

“I have to say, I didn’t think this day would come, almost,” she says. “It’s pretty astounding.”

She gives thanks to advocates in the Native community who fought the good fight for more than 50 years. Credit should also go, she believes, to activists in the Black Lives Matter movement. The nation looked at the issue of systemic racism with fresh eyes following the death of George Floyd.

“I credit the activism of the Black community, which is always changing the parameters of what is acceptable in this country, and putting their bodies on the line to do so,” Keeler says. “Before, teams could always string us along and just claim they were doing it to honor us, or because that’s what their fans wanted. But the Black Lives Matter movement really changed that.”

The Washington Football Team cast aside its team name in the weeks after Floyd’s death. That’s also when the Cleveland baseball team said it would look into a change of its own. That came a couple of years after a move away from Chief Wahoo, the big-toothed, red-faced caricature that served for so long as the team’s cartoon logo.

LATEST UPDATES: What we know about Cleveland baseball team dropping 'Indians' nickname

VIDEO These sports nicknames have racially insensitive origins

The Chief’s idiot grin was part of the culture that greeted Keeler’s parents when they arrived in Cleveland circa 1960 as part of the federal government’s so-called American Indian Relocation program.

“Basically, it relocated young Native people from reservations to urban centers,” Keeler says. “They brought about 20,000 Native people between the ages of 18 and 30 to Cleveland in the 1950s and 1960s.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, on its front page in 1957, reported the news this way: “Cleveland is going to get some new Indians, but this is no baseball story. Honest Injun.”

That tells you a lot about the era when Keeler’s parents met and married in Cleveland. Some years later, they joined other members of the local Native community in protesting the Cleveland club’s team name and its malignant mascot.

The family moved to Denver when Keeler was 4. As she grew up, she heard her parents talk about the protests, and the community work, in which they had been a part.

“When a game was on, they’d go on about it,” Keeler says. “But I just kind of ignored it, because it was before my time, and I didn’t watch much professional baseball. But then I went off to school at Dartmouth and got confronted by the mascot issue there. And I had to take a stand as an undergraduate.”

This was the mid-1990s, long after Dartmouth had shed its “Indians” team name.

“The college had stopped using it 20 years before I got there, but the alumni kept trying to bring it back. They would hand out ‘Dartmouth Indians’ T-shirts to freshmen. I tried to explain the issue to my Irish-American roommate from Massachusetts, but she didn’t understand it at all. She wanted to wear the shirt because it was free. That was shocking to me. I didn’t think it was a hard issue to understand.”

Years later, in Portland, Oregon, where she now lives, Keeler was taking her children on the city’s light rail system for a visit to the zoo.

“A little blonde girl in the family sitting across from us was wearing a Cleveland Indians hat with Chief Wahoo. I was horrified that my children were seeing this. So I asked the father if they could please take the hat off her head. I said, ‘We’re Native Americans, and I don’t want my children to see that.’ He refused. That was when I realized, ‘Wow, this is really bad.’ ”

Soon Keeler was an activist herself. Mascotry is a made-up word meant to convey the act of white fans in war paint who mock Native people while purporting to honor them. Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry uses social media to spread the word, often with the hashtag #NotYourMascot, which it launched for the Super Bowl in 2014.

That is also the year her group originated the hashtag #DeChief, for the act of unstitching Chief Wahoo from Cleveland caps — de-chiefing them — and leaving behind only a ghostly outline. As it happens, that is the year that her son and daughter joined her for protests outside Nike headquarters, in suburban Portland, where they urged the company to step selling merchandise with the Chief on it.

Her children, at that moment, became the third generation of her family to take up the fight. This made her proud and sad at the same time.

Keeler thinks this latest move by the Cleveland baseball team is a sign that perhaps her children’s children will not have to live with Native mascotry. The big-league holdouts in Atlanta (baseball), Chicago (hockey), and Kansas City (football) are on the clock.

“The reasons that teams always gave to continue the mascoting of Native people,” she says, “are all untenable now.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It’s pretty astounding:' Celebrating demise of 'Indians' after years of fighting

A dozen new species are discovered deep in the Atlantic Ocean

© Provided by Daily Mail MailOnline logo

After four-and-a-half years, the world's largest deep-sea exploration mission has identified at least 12 new species of marine life, including a new kind of coral.

Funded by the European Union, the just-completed ATLAS Project carried out some 45 research expeditions since June 2016, exploring undersea life in a deep stretch of the North Atlantic.



More than 80 scientists and student volunteers, representing disciplines ranging from marine biology to ocean chemistry. from 13 nations took part in the $11 million project.

In addition to new lifeforms, the team discovered species living in areas where they were previously unknown, as well as evidence of climate change's devastating impact on the world's oceans.

© Provided by Daily Mail Cold-water corals and seastars. The ATLAS Project carried out 45 research expeditions since June 2016, exploring a deep stretch of the North Atlantic and uncovering 12 new species of marine life

Because they're so inaccessible, little is known about the deepest parts of the oceans.

'We have better maps of the surface of the Moon and Mars than of the sea floor,' ATLAS Project ocean chemist George Wolff told the BBC

'So whenever you go to the deep ocean, you find something new — not just individual species but entire ecosystems.'

The original plan was to map the deep Atlantic off the coasts of the US, Canada and Europe, and venture out into international waters.




a group of pink flowers: Among their discoveries were mollusks, fish, sponges and a new kind of coral growth, Epizoanthus martinsae, which lives on black corals more than 1,300 feet beneath the surface.3 SLIDES © Provided by Daily Mail

Among their discoveries were mollusks, fish, sponges and a new kind of coral growth, Epizoanthus martinsae, which lives on black corals more than 1,300 feet beneath the surface.

Instead, the team ended up focusing their gaze on 12 specific sites in the deep northern Atlantic.

A former Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker, the Amundsen, was refitted as an arctic research vessel and served as a floating base of operations for missions in Scotland, Iceland, Spain, England, . © Provided by Daily Mail A former Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker, the Amundsen, was refitted as an arctic research vessel and served as a floating base of operations

Their stops included the Bay of Biscay, Rockall Bank, the Gulf of Cadiz, Alboran Sea, Reykjanes Ridge and Mingulay Reef.

Because they were exploring depths that would crush human divers, underwater robots were deployed and were able to reach regions never before explored.

Among their discoveries were mollusks, fish, sponges and a new kind of coral growth, Epizoanthus martinsae, which lives on black corals more than 1,300 feet beneath the surface.

Microporella funbio, a bryozoan — or sedentary animal resembling moss — was located in an undersea mud volcano off the coast of Spain.

© Provided by Daily Mail Microporella funbio, a bryozoan — or sedentary animal resembling moss — was located in an undersea mud volcano off the coast of Spain

© Provided by Daily Mail The ATLAS team found evidence of rising temperatures, slowing currents and increased ocean acidity, which threaten delicate coral 'cities'ain

In addition, 35 known species were found in areas they had never been observed before.

In the Azores, ATLAS researchers observed a field of hydrothermal vents, sea-floor hot springs that are home to complex marine communities.

They're rare outposts of biological productivity in the vast deep but they are threatened by global warming.

The ATLAS team found evidence that greenhouse gasses are contributing to rising temperatures, slowing currents and increased ocean acidity, which threaten delicate coral reefs.

© Provided by Daily Mail Anemones at the Rockall Bank. 

Because they were exploring depths that would crush human divers, underwater robots were deployed

'Their skeletons are getting more porous as that slightly acidic sea water corrodes and damages their skeleton, Roberts told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

'It's almost like an osteoporosis. They've become more brittle, more vulnerable to breaking.'

He predicted that, over the next century, many deep-sea habitats will collapse.

Marine biologist Murray Roberts, who led the project, told the BBC the networks formed by sponges or deep-ocean corals form 'cities' in the deep sea.

© Provided by Daily Mail Fish and sea urchins at the Rockall Bank. Researchers warn that, because of climate change, many deep-sea habitats like this one will collapse

'They support life. So really important fish use these places as spawning grounds,' he said.

'If those cities are damaged by destructive human uses, those fish have nowhere to spawn and the function of those whole ecosystems is lost for future generations.

The ATLAS project has already generated 110 peer-reviewed research studies, with nearly 100 more expected soon.

A new enterprise exploring the southern Atlantic is expected to start soon, Science Alert reports, and is expected to conclude in 2023.

Read more

US IMPERIALISM AND NUCLEAR COLONIALISM 

U.S. restores Medicaid for Marshall Islands, exposing longtime injustice, experts say

The government recently restored federal health care to the Marshallese and other Pacific Islanders, decades after the programs were taken away.

"I've explained to Republicans, in particular, this is not an immigration issue. This is what we should provide under our compacts. It seemed to be really hard for Republicans to understand that these are not immigrants. These are people who are legally in our country."

© Provided by NBC News

Lawmakers, led in part by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, reinstated Medicaid for the groups as part of the larger coronavirus relief and year-end funding, which President Donald Trump signed this week.

President Bill Clinton signed a welfare bill 24 years ago that altered who was eligible for federal aid, stripping the Marshallese and other nations of coverage. Experts say it was an injustice that had long been ignored.

Hirono said the measure was necessary given the U.S.'s history of destruction in the region, which is in the central Pacific Ocean. The government used the Marshall Islands as a nuclear testing site, and the Pacific Islander community has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is a group of people who sacrificed much, and in fact their countries [play] a big part of our national security, especially in the Indo-Asia Pacific region," Hirono said of the Marshallese and others. "They certainly deserve this kind of coverage, which never should have been taken away."

The package reinstated Medicaid not only for the Marshallese but also for those from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. Since the 1980s, the three nations have been under the Compacts of Free Association (COFA), a series of treaties that established the U.S.'s exclusive military use rights in them.

The treaties have given the U.S. access in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the agreement, citizens of COFA nations are able to live, work and study in the country. The populations, considered "legal nonimmigrants," also pay U.S. taxes and had previously been promised medical care.

Eldon Alik, consul general of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in Arkansas, who had been advocating for such measures for some time, said that after a decadeslong gap in the U.S. commitment, he found himself in tears upon hearing the recent news.

"Many of our folks came here to not only seek medical care, but also employment and educational opportunities for our families. We are not a rich nation, and we come here to look for the American dream," Alik said. "A lot of our folks are hard workers. A lot of them face a lot of hardships. Just like everybody else, we pay all the taxes that are required. So it is just right that we get Medicaid also."

Alik said relations with the U.S. have always been friendly. But the history has also been dotted with pain. For about a decade during the Cold War, the U.S. detonated 67 nuclear bombs in and around the Marshall Islands. The U.S. also dumped 130 tons of soil from an irradiated Nevada testing site onto the Enewetak Atoll, part of the nation.

The testing had devastating consequences, vaporizing entire islands and forcing people from their land. Birth defects and cancers spiked in the population.

Even so, Alik said, the Marshall Islands has stood loyally by the U.S., particularly on the global stage. A 2018 voting report from the State Department found that the Marshall Islands was among the top 10 countries whose United Nations voting record most closely matched that of the U.S. He said that not only do its citizens pay taxes but that many, including him, have also served in the U.S. military.

"We gave the ultimate sacrifice for the United States, which is our land." Alik said. "We really sacrificed not just the land, but our health, our culture. There was so much at stake."

The pandemic, Alik said, further emphasized the dire need for Medicaid among the Marshallese population. The Covid-19 cases in Arkansas, home to one of the largest Marshallese communities in the world, are perhaps the most chilling example. During one of the peaks of the outbreak in June, there were 600 active cases of the coronavirus in Northwest Arkansas. While the Marshallese are about 3 percent of the population there, they accounted for half of the pandemic-related deaths.

"In Arkansas, the majority of the Marshallese are working the poultry plants. They say we are essential workers. At one point, Donald Trump said, 'You guys got to keep those plants open to feed the nation,'" Alik said. "We're up at the front. So it's just fair that we get Medicaid."

Hirono said that stripping the program was inadvertent and that there's no evidence in the legislative history of the welfare reform law to justify exclusion of COFA citizens from Medicaid.

"It just took a long time. And I tell you, it took far longer than it should have," she said. "And the conference, citizens were suffering health disparities long before Covid came along."

However, reinstating the program has been a long, arduous battle for Hirono and other Democratic lawmakers.

Alik said he the slow progress can be chalked up to the lack of education in government agencies about the Marshall Islands and the plight of its people. But Hirono said one big roadblock was the way some Republican lawmakers framed the issue.

"The Republicans chose to view it as an immigration issue. But there are a lot of times that facts do not impinge on some of their decision-making — a lot of their decision-making, in my view," she said.

She added: "I've explained to Republicans, in particular, this is not an immigration issue. This is what we should provide under our compacts. It seemed to be really hard for Republicans to understand that these are not immigrants. These are people who are legally in our country."

Alik said he hopes further benefits will be provided to those from the Marshall Islands, including programs like food stamps.

"All these things that we do for the United States — this is just something in return, in my opinion, to solidify this relationship that we have with the United States," he said.

PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

Lawsuit targets US  State Department over

 $23 billion weapons sale to UA

A foreign policy research organization is suing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Department in an effort to block the sale of $23 billion in advanced military systems to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), arguing the U.S. government did not meet the requirements of the law.

© Getty 

Lawsuit targets State Department over $23 billion weapons sale to UAE

The New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs (NYCFPA), a think tank and research group with headquarters in New York and an office in Washington, D.C., filed its lawsuit in federal district court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday.

The move follows a failed attempt in Congress this month to block the sale. Opponents of the deal fell short of the votes needed to pass two resolutions that said the Trump administration did not go through the proper congressional review process and left unanswered questions about the purpose and security of the transfer, which included F-35 advanced fighter jets and MQ-9 reaper drones.

The Trump administration pushed ahead with the weapons sale following the UAE's agreement to open diplomatic relations with Israel in September. The multibillion-dollar weapons package drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers who said it would contribute to a dangerous arms race in the region and was not given the proper congressional oversight.



The lawsuit makes similar arguments.

It is likely the first time a nongovernmental organization has sued to stop foreign military sales, said Justin Russell, the NYCFPA's principal director.

He said the group felt that litigation was the last option following the failed attempt on Capitol Hill to block the deal.

"We thought, if no one else is going to try and do this, we're going to stand up and try," Russell said in an interview.

"This is a continuing operational move by the State Department to fast-track these arms sales," he added.

NYCFPA alleges that the State Department's actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a reasoned explanation for its decision to sell the F-35's.

The group also alleges that the State Department has not shown "a rational connection between the facts considered and the ultimate conclusion" in the decision to move forward with the weapons sale.

Litigation involving the Administrative Procedure Act usually concerns an organization or company suing the federal government for blocking a company's sale to a foreign government that they say has met the letter of the law, not that the government has failed to meet legal requirements.

Matthew Collete, the lead attorney for NYCFPA and a partner at the Washington-based firm Massey & Gail LLP, called the lawsuit precedent-setting.

"This is definitely a unique situation in the sense of trying to stop an arms deal approval," Collette said. "I have not seen a case like this one."

Collette said the next step will be for the court to serve the State Department, at which the agency will have the chance to respond, likely with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.



A State Department spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit comes just three weeks before President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20. While the president-elect has not commented on the UAE arms sale, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a co-sponsor of the failed legislation to block the arms sale, has said he hopes to work with the incoming administration to look more closely at the sale before any transfers are completed.

It's unclear when the Trump administration will deliver the weapons. Assistant Secretary of State R. Clarke Cooper said earlier this month that following the congressional notification period, which ended on Dec. 11, the two countries will draft letters of offers and acceptance that, if concluded, will finalize the deal.

"Only at the end of this process will the Department of Defense be able to work with U.S. industry to hammer out the production schedules and delivery timelines," Cooper said in a briefing with reporters at the time.

Russell said his hope is that the court blocks the weapons sale, but that his group is prepared to continue the legal fight into the next administration.

The Biden transition team declined to comment.

Russell said his group could drop the case if the Biden administration cancels the sale outright.

"We are hopeful that this will get the attention of the Biden national security team and they will do the right thing in striving to seek peace in the region," he said. "We are hopeful that the Biden administration will stop the beginning stages of an arms race in the Middle East."

Alberta NDP calls for cabinet minister to step down over report of Hawaii vacation

EDMONTON — Alberta's Opposition NDP is calling for Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard to step down over reports she took a vacation to Hawaii despite public-health recommendations against unnecessary travel.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

NDP municipal affairs critic Joe Ceci says Allard vacationed while Albertans have been sitting in their homes through the holidays to avoid getting COVID-19.

CBC News is reporting that Allard was in Hawaii this month on a family vacation and returned home on Wednesday.

Allard's press secretary and a spokeswoman for Premier Jason Kenney did not respond to phone calls or emails requesting comment.

The NDP says the United Conservative government should release how many of its caucus members have left the country since the Alberta legislature rose earlier this month.

Ceci notes that Allard is responsible for emergency management and her deputy minister is in charge of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the province.

"She vacationed while Albertans have been sitting in their homes through the holidays, following strict public health orders and separated from family and friends while waiting on the vaccine," Ceci said Thursday in a release.

"This goes beyond just a member of the government caucus or a member of the government cabinet — Minister Allard is in charge of emergency management. She has made an unforgivable error and must resign her position immediately."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2020

Feds Say International Travel Is A Bad Idea Right Now & There Are So Many Reasons Why

© Hamzeh Shatnawi | Dreamstime, aircanada | Instagram

Now is not the time for vacations abroad! That was the message coming from the federal government this week, as they reminded Canadians that non-essential travel outside Canada is still a bad idea.

On December 29, the Government of Canada shared a new statement that confirmed an international travel advisory remained in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The best way to protect yourself, your family and those most at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 in our communities is to choose to stay in Canada.

Government of Canada

As well as warning travellers that they may struggle to return home if they choose to leave the country, the feds also reminded Canadians that vacation plans “may be severely disrupted.”

“It's important to remember that if you choose to travel abroad your trip may become much longer than you planned,” reads a Government of Canada notice.

The statement also warns that Canadian travellers abroad may have reduced access to quality health care and could be subject to the measures of other countries.

In addition, many countries have travel or border restrictions in place right now, including quarantines. 

The message explains that “these restrictions are changing quickly and may be imposed by countries with little warning.”

In a press conference earlier this month, Canada’s top doctor Dr. Theresa Tam acknowledged that many people have been “dreaming” of vacations.

However, she reiterated that the best way to keep Canadians and their families safe is to avoid any non-essential travel, particularly abroad.

Alberta municipal affairs minister took Hawaii vacation, sources say

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© Paul Taillon/Office of the Premier Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard speaks at a news conference on Dec. 15. CBC News has learned that Allard took a vacation in Hawaii this month.

CBC News has learned that Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard spent time in Hawaii this month on a family vacation, despite direction from both the federal and provincial governments to avoid non-essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Allard's press secretary, Justin Marshall, did not respond to repeated requests for clarification on whether she had been out of the country this month.

Marshall would only say that the minister is now home in Grande Prairie, "mostly relaxing but with some work, too."

CBC News has confirmed with sources that the United Conservative Party MLA, who was appointed to the senior cabinet position in August, was in Hawaii this month on a family vacation. Sources indicate she returned home on Wednesday. CBC News has not confirmed the exact dates of the trip or where in Hawaii Allard was staying.

Allard tested positive for COVID-19 in late October, but she has since recovered. 

Consider optics of vacations, pollster warns

Calgary political commentator and pollster Janet Brown said the stakes are very high in the current political climate, following the resignation of Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips after he took a Caribbean vacation while the province was under strict lockdown measures and discouraging non-essential travel.

"People were asked to make some very tough decisions this holiday season," Brown said.

"Most Albertans rose to the challenge and made the tough decisions. So it's very hard for them to watch people, people of privilege, do things that they opted not to do. Do things that were not even in their capacity to do."

Brown described Allard's decision to leave the country as a poor choice. 

© CBC Janet Brown is a Calgary-based pollster and political commentator.

"I think all ministers should have stayed home," she said. "It was the right thing to do from a public health point of view, and it was the right thing to do from a political point of view as well."

Brown said every elected official needs to consider the optics of vacationing during the pandemic.

"The government's website says quite clearly to avoid non-essential travel," she said. "It doesn't really matter what position you hold in the government. These were decisions that are not going to be looked [upon] fondly by constituents, no matter what your position is."

Global Affairs Canada has advised Canadians against non-essential travel out of the country until further notice. The Alberta government's COVID-19 travel restrictions page restates the federal advisory against non-essential travel.

All international travellers must isolate for 14 days upon returning to the province unless they are participating in the international border testing pilot.

Despite the advisories, Canadians can travel to Hawaii without quarantining, so long as they show proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

NDP calls for minister to resign

The NDP Opposition issued a news release Thursday night calling for the minister to resign.

"Serious mistakes have been made with our only long-term weapon against the COVID-19 virus and it turns out the minister responsible for the rollout of the program was vacationing in Hawaii," said NDP municipal affairs critic Joe Ceci in the release.

"She vacationed while Albertans have been sitting in their homes through the holidays, following strict public health orders and separated from family and friends while waiting on the vaccine.

"This goes beyond just a member of the government caucus or a member of the government cabinet — Minister Allard is in charge of emergency management. She has made an unforgivable error and must resign her position immediately."
Most Alberta politicians remained in the province

On Wednesday and Thursday, CBC News contacted the press secretaries for the premier and all cabinet ministers, along with the director of communications for the UCP caucus.

Most have confirmed the politicians remained in Alberta during the holiday season. One even provided a video of Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen in his constituency setting up an ice rink.

"The minister has been in his constituency and hauling grain over the holidays," Dreeshen's press secretary, Justin Laurence, wrote in an email.

Sources tell CBC News that prior to the Christmas break, Premier Jason Kenney advised his caucus to remain in Alberta for the holidays.

The premier's press secretary, Christine Myatt, did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CBC News. Myatt also did not acknowledge texts, emails or phone messages left over two days.

Kilauea Eruption Update: Lava Lake Rising Again

(Dec. 31, 2020)

•Dec 31, 2020

 Island Video NewS

The lava lake level has been rising slowly again since December 27th, and recently reached a new peak elevation at 2,300 feet above sea level, with a depth of 603 feet. A synthesized voice was utilized in the narration for this story. Video and photos are from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, NPS.

Australia changes national anthem to acknowledge Aboriginal people

Issued on: 31/12/2020 -

People wave Australian flags as they watch the Anzac Day parade in Sydney on April 25, 2017. AFP - PETER PARKS

Text by:NEWS WIRES

A line in Australia's national anthem officially changed Friday in a move the nation's leader said was aimed at better recognising the country's Indigenous people.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the second line in the national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, would change from "For we are young and free" to "For we are one and free".

"Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, but our country's story is ancient, as are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship we rightly acknowledge and respect," Morrison wrote in The Age newspaper on New Year's Eve.

"Changing 'young and free' to 'one and free' takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much."

The move had been previously floated to better recognise Indigenous Australian history, which spans back tens of thousands of years, but the conservative leader had not flagged the change until announcing it late on Thursday night.

Australia is a country still reckoning with its colonial past and inequality facing its First Nations peoples, with Indigenous children twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday, according to official statistics.

Earlier this year, large protests were held in several cities around the country calling for an end to deaths in custody of Indigenous people -- which number more than 400 in the last three decades.

No prosecutions have been brought despite dozens of investigations, inquests and in some cases video evidence of abuse.

(AFP)

Celebrations in Argentina after landmark abortion law passes


Issued on: 31/12/2020 - 

Two women hug and cry after learning of the result of the vote in the Argentine Senate authorising the legalisation of the voluntary termination of pregnancy in Buenos Aires, December 30, 2020. © Agustín Marcarián, REUTERS

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Pro-choice activists celebrated on the streets on Wednesday as Argentina joined a handful of South American nations to legalize abortion, a landmark decision in a country where the Catholic Church has long held sway.

Senate president Cristina Kirchner confirmed the vote after more than twelve hours of debate that began Tuesday, sparking scenes of jubilation in the capital Buenos Aires.

"Safe, legal and free abortion is law ... Now we're a better society that is increasing women's rights and safeguarding public health," President Alberto Fernandez, who sponsored the original bill, wrote on Twitter.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal terminations are carried out every year in Argentina with at least 3,000 women dying after backstreet abortions since the 1980s, said Fernandez, who is Catholic.

Before the vote he said the law was necessary "to legislate for everyone."

"After so many attempts and years of struggle that cost us blood and lives, today we finally made history," protester Sandra Lujan, a 41-year-old psychologist, said after the vote in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday.

"Today we leave a better place for our sons and daughters."

The bill in the country of 44 million succeeded despite strong opposition from Evangelical Christians and traditional Roman Catholics -- with Pope Francis tweeting his tacit disapproval of change ahead of the vote.

Human Rights Watch Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco hailed the decision as historic, and hoped it would energize other governments in the region to follow in the footsteps of one of Latin America's largest nations.

"The criminalization of abortion has failed. It's time to end it," he tweeted.

However the far-right leader of neighboring Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, quickly signalled his disapproval.

"I deeply regret the lives of Argentine children, now exposed to being cut from the wombs of their mothers with the consent of the state," tweeted the head of the world's biggest Catholic country, where abortion remains illegal.

The new Argentine legislation will allow voluntary terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, and was approved 38 to 29 with one abstention.

The vote overturns a similar one in 2018 which -- although also passed the lower house -- ultimately foundered in the Senate by 38 votes to 31.

Only Uruguay, Cuba and Guyana allow voluntary terminations in South America, which has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world.

In El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, it is banned, and women can be sentenced to jail even for having a miscarriage.

In Argentina, terminations were previously allowed in only two instances: rape, and danger to the mother's life.

'Gift of life'

The bill passed the Chamber of Deputies on December 11.

Francis, who is Argentine, has not commented directly on the vote but many felt he indirectly addressed the issue in a speech on Wednesday morning.

"Christians, as all believers, bless God for the gift of life. To live is above all to have received," he said in his last speech before the New Year.

"All of us are born because someone wanted us to have life."

More than 60 percent of Argentines call themselves Catholic, according to a 2019 survey by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet).

Another Conicet survey this year found more than half of Argentina's Catholics supported abortion only in limited circumstances -- with around 22 percent supporting it, and roughly 17 percent rejecting it in all cases.

"The interruption of a pregnancy is a tragedy. It abruptly ends another developing life," said Ines Blas, a senator from the ruling coalition.

However, Senator Silvina Garcia Larraburu, from the same coalition, had said she would vote for the bill this time despite being against it in 2018.

'Centuries of regression'

Despite measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of pro-choice and anti-abortion demonstrators had gathered outside parliament ahead of the vote, following the debate on giant screens.

Pro-choice activists have campaigned for years to change the abortion laws that date from 1921, adopting a green scarf as their symbol.

Anti-abortion activists, who recently started wearing light blue scarves, expressed sadness after the vote passed.

The alliance of evangelical churches issued a statement calling it "a sad day."

"Today Argentina regressed centuries in terms of civilization and respect for the supreme right to life," said the alliance.

Social law changes have always been slow in Argentina: divorce was legalized only in 1987, sex education introduced in 2006, gay marriage approved in 2010 and a gender identity law passed in 2012.

(AFP)

Opinion: A victory for Argentinian women

Argentina has passed a law that legalizes abortions. The Senate vote represents a landmark decision in the country's history, says Veronica Marchiaro.



The sometimes colorful pro-abortion protests in Argentina have ended in success

As of today, Argentina is a changed country. Reason has triumphed over religion. Argentina's decision to make abortions legal is based on facts.

This issue, after all, is not about ideology but about public health. This vote was about giving women a legal, safe and free way to terminate pregnancies, if they so choose. This is what the country's feminist movement aimed for when it initiated an unprecedented debate on the matter in Argentinian society.

Its efforts have paid off. On Wednesday morning, the Argentinian Senate adopted a law that legalizes abortion up to 14 weeks after conception.

This day will go down in history. The secular Argentinian state has taken a stand for civil rights and a more just society.


DW's Veronica Marchiaro

The new law puts an end to the dangerous practice of illegal abortions. These are very risky for young girls and women, especially those from poorer neighborhoods. According to Argentina's Health Ministry, between 350,000 and 500,000 unsafe abortions are carried out in the country each year. Over the past 40 years, more than 3,000 women have died after illegally terminating pregnancies.

The ban on and stigmatization of abortions did not lower the number of terminations in the country. And judging by the experience of western European countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, the number of abortions will rise only slightly now that the practice is legal.
A vibrant democracy

This legalization is a victory for Argentinian democracy that transcends political camps. Male and female senators from across the political spectrum voted according to their conscience, many of them ignoring the party line — a first in Argentinian history. This, too, is a victory for Argentinian women.

Politicians made a deliberate effort to support a demand expressed by Argentinian society. Doing so brought lawmakers from opposing camps together. Hopefully, this move will lay the groundwork for further compromises in a country that has all too often found itself divided along firmly entrenched party lines.

Argentinian society has matured. Nevertheless, antidemocratic elements within the anti-abortion camp did become visible. Some Argentinian delegates received threats and suffered attempts to intimate them. Argentina's Catholic Church tried to influence the political decision-making process though clandestine negotiations and public sermons. And Argentinian-born Pope Francis even took to Twitter to criticize the proposed legalization.
Building a more just Argentina

The abortion law is also a victory for Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez, who had personally backed the bill. It comes as a relief to the government amid this crisis-ridden year of the pandemic.

The vote is a victory for Argentina, which today is a more just country. It is also a victory for democracy. Yet the biggest winners of all are Argentina's women, who took to the street to bring about this change. They have made history.

EQUALLY DANGEROUS JOBS
Teachers and lion tamers get same wage under Cuban reform

Issued on: 31/12/2020 - 

In this file photo taken on February 8, 2018 a Cuban worker shows 1 CUP (Cuban peso - top) and 1 CUC (Cuban convertible peso - bottom) in Havana Adalberto ROQUE AFP/File

Havana (AFP)

Cuban school teachers, journalists, lion tamers and doctors-in-training will earn the same salary under reforms spelled out Thursday and taking effect in the new year.

The changes will quintuple the minimum salary to the equivalent of $87 a month and prices in the state-run economy will jump as part of an overhaul in which Cuba's two currencies will be unified, ending a system in place for 26 years.

The new salary framework sets 32 wage levels depending on the job and the maximum is the equivalent of $396 a month, according to a 77-page Labor Ministry document published Thursday in the official government gazette.

It does not specify how much President Miguel Diaz-Canel will earn, nor the head of the Cuban Communist Party, Raul Castro.

Nor does it say how much people in the military or Interior Ministry make.

But among the highest paid are provincial governors, who take home $375 a month, nearly twice that of a computer engineer.

In Cuba's much-vaunted health care system, an intern, or doctor in training, will earn $210 a month. That's the same as a school teacher, a reporter or an animal tamer at a circus.

An Olympic gold medalist in the sports world takes home $232.

About half of Cuba's more than three million civil servants will earn much less than the average salary of about $159 a month, said Cuban economist Pedro Monreal.

The reform package will see the convertible peso, which is pinned to the dollar and was introduced in 1994 to replace the US currency, phased out over the next six months.

It will leave only the regular peso, which is worth 24 times less.

The idea is to make the Cuban economy more efficient and easier to understand for foreign investors.

This comes at a time when the country is reeling from toughened sanctions imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump and from a drop in tourism and remittances due to the coronavirus pandemic.

© 2020 AFP

Germany rings in 2021 with CO2 tax, coal phase-out

Issued on: 31/12/2020 -

German energy giant RWE's coal-fired Niederaussem D power plant will on Friday become the first to close down as part of Germany's phaseout of coal by 2038 INA FASSBENDER AFP/File

Frankfurt am Main (AFP)

Germany is aiming for a green start to 2021 by shutting down a coal-fired power plant and slapping a CO2 price on transport, but critics say the efforts aren't enough to combat climate change.

The measures are the result of hard-fought compromises thrashed out by Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition government, and are key to Germany's transition away from polluting fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

From January 1, 2021 the government will charge 25 euros ($30) per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions released by the transport and heating sectors.

The pricetag was raised from the government's initially proposed 10 euros per tonne -- a number widely slammed as too low by Germany's Green party, environmentalists and scientists.

The price will increase to 55 euros by 2025, and will be decided at auction from 2026.

Germans will feel the difference at the pump with diesel and petrol set to become more expensive, while heating buildings will also cost more.

The government expects to raise 56.2 billion euros from companies buying the new carbon certificates or "pollution rights" over the next four years.

Also on Friday, the 300-megawatt Niederaussem D unit power plant near Cologne, running on lignite (brown coal), becomes the first to close down as part of Germany's phaseout of coal by 2038.

Energy giant RWE, which has operated the plant since it was built in 1968, said decommissioning the facility -- as required by Germany's 2020 coal exit law -- was "a difficult step" that would lead to some 300 job losses.

Under the same legislation, several power plants fuelled by black or hard coal are going offline from January, taking a combined capacity of 4.7 gigawatts off the market.

- Exceptions -

But the flagship initiatives have drawn criticism.

The 25 euro carbon price will not "make the necessary contribution" to helping Germany meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris climate pact, said Christiane Averbeck, director of the environmental group Climate Alliance Germany.

Germany aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, and derive 65 percent of its electricity from renewables by then.

Averbeck said the carbon tax however allowed for too many exceptions for "entire branches of industry" and was pegged too low to really change behaviours.

The Green Budget Germany (FOeS) think tank said that to avoid companies moving production abroad to dodge the carbon pricing, the government would have done better to incentivise climate-friendly investments instead.

The ADAC motoring association has calculated that petrol and diesel will now cost seven and eight cents more per litre respectively.

To ease the pain, the government will lower the so-called EEG surcharge Germans pay to fund the shift towards green energy. The lost income will be offset by the revenues generated from the C02 pricing.

- Payouts -

Despite a green reputation abroad, Germany remains heavily reliant on dirty coal, partly because of Merkel's decision to abandon nuclear energy after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

In the third quarter of 2020, just over half of the electricity produced in Europe's top economy came from non-renewables, with coal alone accounting for 26 percent.

Climate activists, including the youth-led Fridays for Future movement, have urged the government to speed up Germany's coal exit, saying the current timetable of closing all coal-fired plants by 2038 is not ambitious enough.

To their fury, the government has given special permission for North Rhine-Westphalia's huge open-cast Garzweiler coal mine to keep expanding over the coming years in order to fuel nearby power stations, causing the destruction of several villages in the process.

Environmentalists have also railed against the planned multi-billion-euro payouts set to flow to energy companies in compensation for the plant shutdowns, alongside 40 billion euros in government aid for regions that depend on mining and energy jobs.

© 2020 AFP