Rebels in Senegal's Casamance under pressure after offensive

Issued on: 11/02/2021 - 

Senegalese troops launched an offensive against rebels in Casamance on January 26 

JOHN WESSELS AFP


Kaour (Sénégal) (AFP)

A military offensive in Senegal's southern region of Casamance has thrown separatist rebels on the back foot, raising the prospect that one of Africa's oldest conflicts may finally end.

Thousands have died since the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) began its fight for independence in 1982.

The poor region had returned to an uneasy calm in recent years.

But Senegal, supported by neighbouring Guinea-Bissau, suddenly launched an offensive on January 26, claiming the capture of several bases and forcing the rebels to fall back.

Several war-weary local residents told AFP that they welcomed the development.

"We very much wish for an end to the rebellion," said Bailo Coly, who has been displaced by the conflict.

"It has done us a lot of harm, delaying the region by 50 years and creating social rifts."

The conflict has rumbled on at a low level for several years, with occasional flareups.

In 2018, 14 young men were slaughtered in execution style-killings north of the regional capital Ziguinchor.

Senegal's army says the latest operation aimed at stopping alleged rebel exactions on civilians and helping displaced people return home.

Another aim is to curb the illegal cannabis and timber trade, which Casamance separatists are thought to control.

Troops captured several simple tin and wood shelters from the rebels under the huge trees of the Blaze forest, which they said had served as bases.

Army officers led media, including AFP, on a tour of the captured bases and displayed dilapidated items they had captured, including mortars, rusty rifles and kitchen utensils.

An expert in Casamance politics, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the separatists had been badly outgunned.

But he also added that the MFDC is also losing its emotional appeal among locals.

"Those Casamancais who believe in independence have come to realise, little by little, that this is no longer straightforward," the expert said.

Casamance, home to 1.9 million people, was once part of Portugal's colonies in West Africa, along with what today is Guinea-Bissau.

Adding to this historical distinction is Casamance's location.

It is almost separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia -- a remoteness that fed into perceptions of discrimination by the government in far-off Dakar and helped create an independence movement that erupted into violence in 1982.

- Political firepower -

An MFDC fighter who fled to Guinea-Bissau after the offensive, and who requested anonymity, told AFP that the rebels were poorly equipped.

"We withdrew because we could not face the firepower of the Senegalese army," he said.

The operation against the rebel forest bases began with artillery fire and ended with a ground offensive, which had air support, according to an army officer who requested anonymity.

As well as improved military capabilities, a realignment in West African politics may have played into Senegal's hands.

The Gambia had long been accused of aiding the rebels, for example. But Gambian President Adama Barrow, who came to power in 2017, is considered close to Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Guinea-Bissau has faced similar accusations. But Umaro Sissoco Embalo, another ally of Sall's, took office in the poor former Portuguese colony last year.

The expert in Casamance politics said it was Embalo's ascent which proved "decisive".

- 'Ready to lay down arms' -

The rebels are still believed to have bases in the Ziguinchor region and near the Gambian border.

Colonel Souleymane Kande, one of Senegal's military commanders in Casamance, nonetheless said he thought some MFDC factions "are ready to lay down their arms".

He added that soldiers would remain on the captured bases and any rebel exactions on civilians "will be viewed as a declaration of war."

Solo Sima, a villager, told AFP he was "very happy" with the army's operation.

"I find it hard to realise that the armed men are no longer there because we are so traumatised," he said.

Edmond Bora, an 80-year-old former separatist leader, said he had tried, at the request of villagers, to convince the rebels to negotiate when the army began its offensive.

"We can't continue to shoot each other (and continue) without negotiating for 40 years," he said.

Writing in Le Quotidien newspaper this week, Senegalese political analyst Yoro Dia warned that peace is not guaranteed despite the military gains.

"The army won the war," Yoro Dia said. "It is the politicians who are incapable of winning the peace".

© 2021 AFP

Leftist rebels deny plot to attack Colombian capital


Issued on: 11/02/2021 - 
The National Liberation Army (ELN) is the last active rebel group operating in Colombia 

Luis ROBAYO AFP/File

Bogota (AFP)

National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels on Thursday denied planning an attack on Colombia's capital Bogota, despite a warning from Cuba.

But the leftist guerrillas insisted they would not renounce "military action" against the state.

Colombia's Defense Minister Diego Molano reported on Monday that Cuba had tipped off the government about a plan by the ELN, Colombia's last remaining active armed rebels, to attack Bogota in the "next few days."

On Wednesday, Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez said the capital was taking the threat "very seriously" and had stepped up security.

"After verifying with all guerrilla structures ... we clarify that the information received by the Cuban embassy in Bogota is not part of the ELN's military plans," the rebels' high command said in a statement.

It added, however, that it would be "naive" to expect the rebels to cease their armed operations.

"This must be arranged around a negotiating table with an equivalent behavior on the part of the state," said the ELN statement.

The ELN speculated that the Colombian intelligence services were behind the warning released by the Cuban embassy with the objective of attributing attacks to the guerrillas to increase international pressure on their delegation based in Cuba.

Since 2018, Havana has hosted an ELN delegation that was negotiating a peace deal with former president Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018).

But right-wing President Ivan Duque called off the talks following a car bomb attack on a police academy in January 2019 that killed 22.

Since then, Duque has demanded Cuba extradite the rebels on its territory to Colombia, but the island nation has refused.

The administration of former US president Donald Trump included that as a reason for putting Cuba back on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The ELN has around 2,300 fighters and an extensive support network in urban centers.

© 2021 AFP

Vestas reveals offshore turbine with world's largest sweep

By Paul Ridden
February 11, 2021

The Vestas V236-15.0 MW offshore turbine will go into prototyping in 2022, followed by serial production in 2024
Vestas

Denmark's Vestas is looking to become an industry leader in offshore wind, and has introduced the V236-15.0 MW turbine to take the fight to GE. The new design's blades offer the largest swept area in the world.

Vestas got into the offshore turbine business over 25 years with the installation of 500-kW V39 units at Denmark's Tunoe Knob wind farm. The size and energy production capacities of turbines has grown steadily ever since, with GE Renewable Energy recently announcing that its world-beating 14-MW Haliade-X will be part of phase C of the Dogger Bank offshore wind project due for completion in 2026. Now Vestas has gone even bigger.


Thanks to its three 115.5-m (379-ft) blades, the new design is reported to have the largest swept area in the world, which adds up to 43,742 m2. It should be good for sites where wind speeds are high too, with Vestas saying that it's "rated to withstand IEC 1 extreme wind conditions up to 50 m/s and IEC T up to 57 m/s."

Each turbine is expected to deliver around 80 GWh of energy per year, depending on site-specific conditions, which is said to work out as being enough to power 20,000 European homes.

The V236-15.0 MW also offers the potential to reduce the number of turbines deployed at offshore windfarm level – with Vestas calculating that the "offshore turbine offers 65 percent higher annual energy production than the V173-9.5 MW, and for a 900-MW wind park it boosts production by five percent with 34 fewer turbines."

The company expects the first V236-15.0 MW prototype to be built in 2022, with serial production following two years later. It has a design lifetime of 25 years.

“With the V236-15.0 MW, we raise the bar in terms of technological innovation and industrialization in the wind energy industry, in favor of building scale," said Anders Nielsen, Vestas CTO. "By leveraging Vestas’ extensive proven technology, the new platform combines innovation with certainty to offer industry-leading performance while reaping the benefits of building on the supply chain of our entire product portfolio. The new offshore platform forms a solid foundation for future products and upgrades.”

CORONAVIRUS

WHO virus probe seeks answers beyond Wuhan, discounts lab theory

Although they did not reach definite conclusions, they have all but ruled out the possibility that the virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory.
 

Medical team work at Temple Street in Hong Kong. Photo: Liau Chung-Ren/dpa.

FOREIGNER.FI/DPA
FEBRUARY 10, 2021 

More research is needed to find out whether the novel coronavirus originated in bats in China or in another country, an expert group led by the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday at the end of a month-long investigation in China.

The most likely hypothesis that has emerged is that the virus came from an animal species, moved to a second intermediary species and jumped to humans, WHO animal disease expert Peter Ben Embarek told a press conference in Wuhan, where the Covid-19 disease was first detected in December 2019.

Scientists from China, 10 other countries and UN organizations spent the past weeks examining markets, health facilities and laboratories in and around the city of Wuhan to find the source of the pandemic.

Although they did not reach definite conclusions, they have all but ruled out the possibility that the virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory.

Embarek said that the "laboratory incident hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the population," given no laboratory in the area had been working with such a virus.


The novel coronavirus, scientifically known as Sars-CoV-2, is most closely related to viruses found in bats and in pangolins.

"However, the viruses identified so far from neither of these species are sufficiently similar to Sars-CoV-2" to determine the winged creatures as the source and the scaled mammals as intermediary hosts, said Chinese investigation team leader Liang Wannian.
Other countries in Asia

Embarek stressed that further investigations should not only focus on China but on other countries in Asia and beyond.

More work is needed to sample bats and other possible host species abroad, he said.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the "jury is still out" on whether China has provided enough transparency regarding the novel coronavirus.

"Broadly speaking we have expressed our concerns regarding the need for full transparency and access from China and the WHO to all information regarding the earliest days of the pandemic," Price added.

The US under former president Donald Trump pushed the theory that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab, while the administration of President Joe Biden has called for more evidence before concluding an origin of the virus.

Embarek also pointed out that the virus may have been introduced to Wuhan by travellers or through frozen wild animal products from other Chinese regions or countries.

Liang highlighted some studies suggesting that the virus was already present abroad in late 2019, in line with theories of a foreign virus origin that have been propagated by Beijing.

The foreign investigation team members did not confirm such theories, but they said that more data from early cases outside China are needed to map the path that the virus took.

While it is clear that the virus can survive on frozen products, there is no proof yet that anyone has been infected in this way, Embarek pointed out.
Huanan market

The WHO-led mission in China focused on Wuhan's Huanan market where the first cluster of Covid-19 infections appeared in late 2019.

The market sells seafood and farmed wild animals, raising the question whether some of the animals carried the virus.

None of the animal samples from the market have tested positive, Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans told the press conference.

However, some of the species, including rabbits, are known to be susceptible to the virus. There are suspicions that ferret-badgers and bamboo rats that were on offer at Huanan market are also able to catch the virus, according to Koopmans.

Some of these animals have been traced back to regions with bat populations, she said, stressing that further investigations on this issue are needed.

The market was not the only place in Wuhan where people started falling ill with Covid-19 in December 2019, according to the WHO team members. However, they did not find evidence of earlier cases in hospital and pharmacy records.

Brazil: Air conditioning equipment days of use will double without climate action

CMCC FOUNDATION - EURO-MEDITERRANEAN CENTER ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Research News

 

IMAGE: ANNUAL WET-BULB COOLING DEGREE DAYS CDDWB (°C-DAYS) IN THE BASELINE AND THE SPECIFIC WARMING LEVEL SCENARIOS. view more 

CREDIT: SEE THE PAPER

Space cooling already accounts for 14% of residential electricity demand in Brazil, and it is expected to increase further because of climate change.

Very few studies investigate the relationship between climate change, cooling needs, and electricity demand. In a new study in Energy and Buildings, a team of researchers from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and CMCC@Ca'Foscari - a joint program of Ca'Foscari University of Venice and CMCC Foundation - investigate how climate and income during the period 1970-2010 shaped cooling services in Brazil. This historical relationship allows projecting the resulting energy demand for cooling services across three warming scenarios: +1.5°C, +2°C, +4°C.

The study shows that the average air conditioning equipment days of use would increase by more than 100% in Brazil, in a 4°C warming scenario. This would substantially impact the need for space cooling and consequently, the associated energy consumption. But even in the case of more optimistic future warming scenarios, energy consumption - and consequent emissions - will increase. Because of cooling needs, average CO2 emissions, today of 0.62 Mt per year, are projected to increase in the three warming scenarios respectively by 70% (+1.5°C), 99% (+2°C) and 190% (+4°C).

"To define past and future ambient thermal comfort needs we use the wet-bulb Cooling Degree Days (CDDwb), a measure of temperature which accounts for air's humidity" explains Enrica De Cian from CMCC@Ca'Foscari, co-author of the study and principal investigator of the ERC Starting Grant project ENERGYA - Energy use for Adaptation. "Brazil is a very peculiar country as it varies widely in climatic conditions and population density. Our study shows that the highest temperature growth will happen in the northern region, characterised by low population density. Therefore, it will not translate into relevant energy consumption, excepting for the city of Manaus, the seventh largest city of Brazil, which is in the North region of the country, at the center of the Amazon rainforest".

The North is already saturated, with an average of 328 annual days of air conditioning use. On the opposite in the South region, a temperature increase of 4°C would inflate the energy consumption by almost 5 times.

Total energy demand for space cooling in the country may rise consistently because of the income effect alone, as it has been observed in the ?rst decade of this century. "In addition to temperature and population density, income of a region is crucial in shaping energy demand" explains Malcolm Mistry, a researcher at CMCC@Ca'Foscari. "Socio-economic drivers are also important to assess trends in ownership rates and types of air conditioning units in use, as typically there is a de?cit in achieving thermal comfort in many Brazilian households because of budget constraints."

Considering population and income increase alone, the ownership rate of space cooling appliances in Brazil can reach 96 air conditioning units per 100 households in 2035, compared to a current average of 40 units, boosting energy demand by 125%.

Energy ef?ciency can potentially reduce this growth in energy consumption observed for all warming scenarios. The potential carbon emissions avoided by energy savings from ef?ciency measures depends on the fuel mix of the power sector. In Brazil, the authors conclude, a 59% improvement of ef?ciency is feasible but it would require much more aggressive energy ef?ciency policies than those currently in place.

###

For more information:

Paula Bezerra, Fabioda Silva,Talita Cruza, Malcolm Mistry, Eveline Vasquez-Arroyo, Leticia Magalar, Enrica De Cian, André F. P. Lucena, Roberto Schaeffer, Impacts of a warmer world on space cooling demand in Brazilian households (2021), Energy and Buildings. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110696

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

Pulses: More than just a meat alternative

Beans, peas and lentils are often overlooked when it comes to food staples. In a world where the devastating environmental impact of mass meat production is becoming increasingly clear, could pulses provide a solution?

PULSES: DAWN OF A NEW SUPERFOOD
Tasty with an added health benefit
Pulses, the dry seeds of legume family plants such as peas, beans, lentils or chickpeas, are easy to prepare and have all sorts of positive health effects. They've been credited with helping to prevent diabetes, reduce the risk of heart disease and help with cholesterol and weight loss. But despite their potential to rapidly improve nutrition in the developing world, they are often overlooked.
PHOTOS 123456789

Pulses, a broad category of edible seeds that includes pantry staples like lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas, are one of the world's most important food crops.

This underrated legume has featured heavily in diets around the world for thousands of years. Pulses are the main source of protein for people who don't eat meat — whether by choice or by circumstance — they're good for the environment, nutritious and tasty.

In recent years, the United Nations has recognized their global significance and declared February 10 as World Pulses Day. Read on to learn more about this humble superfood.

Environmentally friendly meat alternative

Changing our diet, and how we produce what we eat, can have a huge and positive impact on the planet.

A recent key report on food and biodiversity loss linked global eating habits to around 30% of human-made emissions in terms of energy and fertilizer, making them a "key driver of climate change." It also highlighted the devastating impact of our food production on nature.

A big part of the problem is meat and other animal products. Though it might be a good source of protein, meat is terrible for the environment. Getting a kilogram of beef to your kitchen emits as much as 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of CO2-equivalent, according to a 2018 study published in Science. And with the world population set to surpass 10 billion in a little over 30 years, increasing demand for food — especially meat and monocrops like wheat, corn and soybeans — will further stress the climate, limited natural resources and biodiversity.


Pulses like peas and lentils, however, produce some 0.9 kg of CO2-equivalent for every kilo grown. And they provide a far higher protein yield per square kilometer than a herd of cattle or flock of chickens, meaning existing farmland can be used more efficiently and untouched forests can be spared.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has promoted pulses as "a good alternative to meat," pointing out that they "can play a key role in future healthy and sustainable diets." In recent years, calls from environmental groups for people in the Western world to drastically reduce their meat consumption, has inspired a growing trend toward vegetarian and vegan diets.

In a September analysis, climate data provider Carbon Brief said "a global switch to veganism would deliver the largest emissions savings out of any dietary shift," preventing some 8 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions annually by 2050. Current food production is responsible for around 13.7 billion tons per year.

"It is now becoming clear that a plant-based diet is not just a crock," said Christina Ledermann, head of the German advocacy group Humans for Animal Rights. "The future of nutrition is plant-based, or there is no future."

Watch video 08:10 Appetite for beef eats into rainforest

Pulses enrich soils, save water

Pulse crops are very efficient when it comes to capturing existing carbon from the air and storing it in the soil. One analysis suggested that legumes can store 30% more carbon than other plant species due to their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil via root nodules.

These nodules, which are formed by rhizobia bacteria attached to the roots, absorb inert nitrogen from the soil. This symbiotic relationship helps increase microbial biomass and improve soil biodiversity, while also providing plants with nutrients and energy.

Nitrogen, along with phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium and magnesium, is one of the key macronutrients found in soil. And according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 190 million hectares (470 million acres) of pulse crops contribute to as much as 7 million metric tons of nitrogen in soils around the world every year.


Such an important part of the world's food culture is bound to inspire works of art, such as these opera masks in China...

...or, perhaps inadvertently, the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago, commonly called The Bean

This naturally produced fertilizer results in higher yields for pulses and other crops and implies a lesser need for polluting organic and synthetic chemical fertilizers, reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and preventing further contamination of soils and waterways. Bean crop residue — stalks, leaves and seed pods — can also be used as fertilizer, or as fodder for livestock.

Beans also get by with much less water, making them ideal crops for regions prone to drought. The FAO has estimated that growing a kilo of lentils requires around a third less water than a kilo of chicken, and just a tenth less water than a kilo of beef. Some pulses like pea and lentils also rely more heavily on rain and other surface moisture for their water needs, leaving more groundwater available down below for future crops.

Healthy way to improve food security

Pulses make up 75% of the average diet in developing countries. Countries in South Asia, especially India, are famed for their extensive use of pulses — which are also very healthy. Besides being an excellent source of protein, pulses are also high in fiber, have little fat and no cholesterol.


The FAO devoted an entire year to pulses in 2016 to raise awareness about how important the likes of lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas are for billions of people around the world. And over the last decade, new seed varieties developed by programs like the Tropical Legumes initiative have made high-yield, climate-resilient pulses an increasingly important crop for smallholder farmers.

Pulses such as chickpeas and lentils are a key component of agricultural practices like intercropping, which help regenerate soils and foster the growth of other non-pulse crops. Planting them in rotation with other plants also helps ward off certain pests and diseases that only affect specific species.

WESTERN CANADA IN PARTICULAR SASKATCHEWAN HAS LINKS TO INDIAN AGRABUISNESS FOR PURCHASING ITS PULSE EXPORTS, THE VERY KIND OF FREE TRADE INDIAN FARMERS ARE PROTESTING 

State oil firms risk wasting $400 billion as energy shift speeds up

FEB 10, 2021 REUTERS


The push by national oil companies to pump more oil is already delivering poor returns

State-owned oil companies could squander about $400 billion on investments in the next decade on new oil projects that will struggle to turn a profit as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, a non-governmental organization said on Tuesday, February 9.

The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) estimated national oil companies, or NOCs, would invest $1.9 trillion in the next 10 years with about a fifth of those investments only breaking even if oil prices stay above $40 a barrel.

Oil prices have climbed to around $60 this week, after plunging below $20 last year when demand plummeted due to the coronavirus crisis. But the long-term outlook is weakening, as more analysts and energy firms see peak oil demand being reached sooner than the previous forecasts of the early 2030s.

"A huge amount of state investments in oil projects will likely only yield returns if global oil consumption is so high that the world exceeds its carbon emission targets," Patrick Heller, who co-authored NRGI's Risky Bet report, said in reference to goals set out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Major oil companies like BP, Total, and Royal Dutch Shell have progressively lowered their long-term oil price estimates to the $50 to $60 a barrel range. But some analysts see even lower levels, depending on the pace of the energy transition.

In countries where NOCs are based, about 280 million people live below the poverty line. Funds invested in more challenging oil projects might be better spent on health care, education, or diversifying the economy to reduce inequality, the report said.

"State oil companies' expenditures are a highly uncertain gamble," said David Manley, NRGI's senior economic analyst and also co-author of the report.

He said investments might turn a profit but could instead "pave the way for economic crises across the emerging and developing world and necessitate future bailouts that cost the public dearly."

The report said Middle East producers, such as Saudi Arabia, would be less affected as their break-even levels were lower. But higher-cost African and Latin American countries faced bigger risks, with Mexico's Pemex and Angola's Sonangol already weighed down by debt.

The push by NOCs to pump more oil was already delivering poor returns. On average, just $1 in every $4 of revenue is returned to government coffers, the report said.

NRGI pointed to heavy investments by Azerbaijan's SOCAR and Nigeria's NNPC. It said half of NNPC's investments could turn into a loss if the global energy transition moved rapidly.

Other countries where investments should be reviewed included Algeria, China, Russia, India, Mozambique, Venezuela, Colombia, and Suriname, it said. – Rappler.com

 

Poland: 'I had an abortion'

Poland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. An estimated 200,000 women from Poland seek abortions each year, either abroad or illegally at home. Marta Solek shares her experience with DW.

Opinion: The Holocaust and Poland's good reputation

Poles do not want to be classed alongside Nazis when it comes to the Holocaust. But it would be wrong not to research cases in which individual Poles were complicit, DW's Katarzyna Domagala-Pereira writes.

    

Two survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp with a Polish flag on the 75th anniversary of its liberation

I recently worked on a report about the murder of an entire Polish family. Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma (who was pregnant) and their six children were executed as punishment for hiding Jews in their home and attempting to rescue them from the Holocaust during World War II. 

The man suspected of betraying them, a member of the police force put in place by German authorities during the Nazi occupation of Poland, was later murdered by Polish underground resistance fighters.

His stepdaughter reacted with outrage to academic papers that named him as the person who had denounced the family. In a letter written to a historian, she said that he had been a good person and had "accidentally spilled the beans” about the Ulmas. She did not take the issue to court, however.

But the 81-year-old niece of a village mayor in eastern Poland during the German occupation did go to court over a similar matter. She brought a case againt two renowned historians who, in a book, quoted a Holocaust survivor as accusing her uncle of betraying the whereabouts of 20 Jews hiding in a forest near the village. She said that her uncle had been acquitted and accused the historians of defaming his memory by not mentioning this.

A nation of heroes

But this was basically not at all about the good reputation of one village mayor but about that of Poland as a whole. The Polish League Against Defamation supported the lawsuit. This right-wing nationalist foundation and other far-right groups, as well as Poland's government, have been fighting vehemently for years against all attempts to identify cases where Poles were complicit in the Nazis' crimes and the Holocaust. For such cases do not fit in with the ruling Law and Justice Party's approach to history and its bid to portray Poland solely as a nation of heroes.

Of course, it is not surprising that Poles do not want to be mentioned in the same breath as Nazi criminals. Without Germany's invasion of Poland, without the daily terror exercised by the occupiers, there would not have been any denouncing of Jews or pogroms carried out by Poles during this period.

Nonetheless, it would be wrong to ignore that such things took place and, worse, to downplay these crimes. It is good that the Warsaw judges did not recognize "identity and national pride" as fundamental rights. That would have meant that any Polish citizen could sue anyone who said anything critical about the Polish nation or the Polish state.

The most 'Righteous Among the Nations'

All those in German-occupied Poland who helped Jewish people to escape deportation and extermination risked their lives. Many did so nonetheless, and 7,112 Poles are honored at Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, making Poles the largest national group by far. And those 7,112 are doubtless not the only one who deserve to be remembered for their services to humanity. 

But alongside research of heroic deeds such as those of the Ulma family, it must also be possible to fully document cases where Jews were persecuted and who was involved.

Tuesdays' ruling, which required the two historians to apologize to the mayor's niece, is not yet legally binding. The defendants can appeal and will continue to use historic sources to defend their case. So there is still hope for the freedom of research in Poland.

This article was adapted from German.

DW

Nunavut hunters agree to end protest at iron ore mine after offer of a meeting

Lawyers for Inuit hunters blocking an airstrip and road at an iron ore mine in Nunavut say the group will end its protest.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The blockade started a week ago after seven hunters travelled two days and over 150 kilometres to get to Baffinland's Mary River mine site.

It ended after the regional Inuit organization and land-claim body offered the hunters a face-to-face meeting, which they accepted.

The hunters, who call themselves the Nuluujat Land Guardians, were protesting Baffinland's proposal to double its output and build a 110-kilometre railway to the ocean.

The hunters are to stay at a nearby cabin until at least Friday, then make the journey back to Pond Inlet where they will meet with local leaders.

On Wednesday, a Nunavut judge ordered the hunters to clear the airstrip so mine workers could fly home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2021.

The Canadian Press