India's endangered lion prides conquer disease to roam free

ABHAYA SRIVASTAVA (AFP) 

Three years after a deadly virus struck India's endangered Asiatic lions in their last remaining natural habitat, conservationists are hunting for new homes to help booming prides roam free.

The majestic big cats, slightly smaller than their African cousins and with a fold of skin along their bellies, were once found widely across southwest Asia.

Hunting and human encroachment saw the population plunge to just 20 by 1913, and the lions are now found only in a wildlife sanctuary in India's western Gujarat state.

Hunting and human encroachment saw the Asiatic lion population plunge to just 20 by 1913
SAM PANTHAKY, AFP

Following years of concerted government efforts, the lion population in Gir National Park has swelled to nearly 700, according to an official census last year.

But just three years ago, the conservation success looked to be in danger when several lions started to die in one part of the 1,400 square kilometre (545 square mile) forest.

The canine distemper virus -- a highly infectious disease -- was detected among dozens of the royal beasts, killing at least 11 of them.

"We picked all the lions from the area and isolated them," Dushyant Vasavada, the park's chief conservator of forests, told AFP.

Authorities imported special vaccines from overseas and each animal was given three doses each, followed by a booster shot.

Cattle and dogs living near the park were also inoculated as suspected carriers of the virus.

"We vaccinated the lions in captivity and successfully controlled the disease and no new outbreak has been observed," Vasavada said, adding that park rangers were still closely monitoring their health.

- 'Very thrilling experience' -

SAM PANTHAKY, AFP

Lions are a source of pride for India, particularly in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, where man and beast coexist.

A cattle-rearing tribe lives among the animals in the sanctuary, and it is not uncommon to see a pride of lions crossing a highway in the region as motorists wait and watch.

The king of the jungle is also a major tourist attraction, along with leopards, panthers and other big cats found in the sanctuary.

Around 550,000 people visit Gir National Park each year
SAM PANTHAKY, AFP

Around 550,000 people visit the park each year, riding in open-top jeeps as they try to spot the predators prowling among pale yellow deciduous trees.

"It is a very thrilling experience to see the lions from close in the wild," said forest guide Dinesh Sadiya.

But the 2018 virus outbreak was a reminder that the steady growth in the animal's population cannot be taken for granted.

- New habitats -

The lions have low genetic diversity due to their small population size
SAM PANTHAKY, AFP

The lions have low genetic diversity due to their small population size, making them more vulnerable to epidemics.

A 1993 outbreak of canine distemper virus in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park killed a third of its 3,000 lions.

Wildlife biologist Ravi Chellam said that outbreak underscored the need to move a few prides to other sites nearby.

"Translocation is a risk mitigation strategy akin to us getting health or life insurance," he told AFP.

The sanctuary is now too small for its steadily growing lion population
SAM PANTHAKY, AFP

"If something happens to the population in Gir, there is always going to be an additional free-ranging population of wild lions available."

Chellam said the sanctuary was also now too small for its steadily growing lion population.


"There are far more lions than what Gir can hold... these animals are not static, they are constantly moving outside and interacting with domestic animals and people," he added.

Efforts to move some lions to other states have been mired in legal wrangles with the state government, which wants to keep the animals in Gujarat.

Authorities have instead proposed finding new homes for some lions in other parts of the state.

In the meantime, rangers keep a close watch on the wandering lions -- which sometimes stray into villages and kill livestock -- with the help of dozens of imported radio collars.

"If a lion has not moved for 48 hours we can alert our staff," said Mohan Ram, the park's deputy conservator of forests.

The tracking collars are fitted around a lion's neck, helping rangers monitor their health and movements, reduce road and rail accidents, and lessen human-wildlife conflict.



Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/india-s-endangered-lion-prides-conquer-disease-to-roam-free/article/585919#ixzz6nHWi9R5w

Plastic waste on course to reach 1.34 billion tons by 2030

BY TIM SANDLE FEB 21, 2021 IN ENVIRONMENT
Plastic is the much-maligned detritus of modern living. It is the broken toy, the used carrier bag and the surgical face mask polluting our streets, streams and oceans. Yet plastic can become a force for good as a valuable re-usable commodity.

With climate change back on the U.S. government’s agenda, President Joe Biden is in the best position possible to deliver a killer punch in the fight against global warming; by shifting focus away from carbon emissions and other green gestures to plastics, says Haggai Alon is the founder and chief executive of brand protection and authentication company Security Matters. Alon has recently produced a White Paper titled New Plastic Economic Order: Regulate the entire value chain, not just the product, which calls for a transition to a new regulatory approach over plastics.

Digital Journal caught up with Alon to understand why plastic and plastic waste leaves a huge carbon footprint on the world.

Digital Journal: What is the cost and impact of plastic waste?

Haggai Alon: A 2019 report from the Center for International Environmental Law warned that if plastic production stayed on its current trajectory, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach 1.34 billion tons per year by 2030, equivalent to the emissions produced by 300 new 500MW coal-fired power plants. And in data compiled by the International Energy Agency, plastic and other petrochemicals were shown to account for 14 percent of global oil use today. If the trend continues, they will drive half of the world’s oil demand growth by 2050.

These are staggering figures and the band-aid approach of carbon offsetting is simply not enough to heal the wound we are creating. We need a radical new approach and Biden must lead the way, becoming a beacon for real change.

DJ: How is this issue addressed?

Alon: This is a multi-task challenge because the soaring demand for plastic is not balanced in any way by the collection and use of old plastics. Thankfully, America has two great advantages at her disposal; the financial markets and IT power.

Carbon credit was invented in order to motivate companies to decarbonize, but it doesn’t work anymore; it has become a financial game between big players and, in many ways, carbon credit and carbon credit offsetting are more of an obstacle to change because people are simply buying guilt pleasure mileage rather than solving the problems we face. This is why the carbon credit system has to change, and the first critical step in doing this is to transform carbon credit to plastic credit in order to motivate those who collect, sort and recycle plastic. As the world’s biggest economy, America has to take the lead. She has to set the example.

Once this decision is taken, and to avoid duplicating the mistake of the carbon credit offsetting niche market, plastic credit needs to be taken to the financial markets. Why? Because financial markets, once they begin trading plastic credit, based on recycled plastic content and plastic recycling activities, will create a tangible commercial value that will fall under the auspices of SEC regulation, further pumping financial motivation into recycling.

DJ: Will incentives help?

Alon: Right now, there is no motivation to recycle. There is no motivation to use plastic recycled content. And regulation won’t help. When there is no connection between recycled plastic and the financial markets, it doesn’t matter how much you regulate or how many quotas you specify or what incentives you offer; it will not catch up with demand. The challenge here is not plastic waste, it’s not even smart sorting. The big challenge is finding a way to meet the soaring demand for plastic that doesn’t increase environmental damage.
In December, the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 550 other environmental advocacy groups released a draft plastics strategy called the Presidential Plastics Action Plan, and called on Biden to adopt it. The plan includes suspending and denying permits for all new or expanded plastic production facilities.

DJ: Is this achievable?

Alon: For me, this is an unrealistic goal. Plastic is here to stay. It’s no longer a question of controlling demand, but of creating an equilibrium within this soaring demand whereby we generate a larger percentage of that demand for recycled plastic content. Whoever thinks we are going to live in a world without plastic is dreaming. When you have rates of poverty, of any equation, alternatives to plastic are simply not feasible because they are often more expensive.

The anomaly of the plastic problem is that unwanted plastic is collected, usually with a great amount of effort, it is then sorted and never used again. There is no demand for recycled plastic, and there is no demand because there is no data on the plastic. This is the second step of the plastic revolution; establishing the data that will serve circularity and sustainable economic models.

In my company, we call this IT data the ‘new gold’. It is the ability to mark, track and authenticate plastic using molecular sequence – a kind of chemical barcode that enables all of the data to be collected from the point of production as a raw material through to a recycled product. Plastic degrades after the first use, along with every other material, except gold. That’s why the data is important because manufacturers will need to balance recycled plastic with virgin material and other additives. It’s doable but you need the data in order to rebalance the substrate.

DJ: What can the U.S. do to lead the way?

Alon: Right now, America has three major plus points when it comes to managing the challenge of plastic waste: its financial markets; its IT and AI power; and a new president committed to tackling climate change. To this end, Biden has appointed two climate czars; White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, who will be working to rebuild goodwill with other countries following the actions of the previous administration. It’s a task that would be made a whole lot easier for Kerry should Biden be the first to stand-up and adopt a truly innovative solution to the world’s plastic problem.

Op-Ed: Texas' politicians responsible for power grid going down

BY KAREN GRAHAM     FEB 20, 2021 IN POLITICS

L-R) Texas congresswoman Penny Morales Shaw, US congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sylvia Garcia help distribute food at the Houston Food Bank on February 20, 2021

Elizabeth Conley, POOL/AFP

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was quick to blame ERCOT for the disastrous mess left after a snowstorm's below-freezing temperatures knocked out the state's power grid, but the blame should be put on the politicians who ignored an August 2011 FERC report.

After suffering for days with freezing temperatures, power outages, busted water pipes, no heat or water, and food shortages, the state's 29 million people still don't know when their lives will get back to a semblance of normal.

“Every source of power the state of Texas has access to has been compromised,” Gov. Greg Abbott said, blaming the unaptly named Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) for the disaster and demanding an investigation, which is the least that should be done, reports NBC News.

Many Texans are blaming Abbott and his Republican government for failing to warn them that power would be out for days amid a historic freeze not seen in 70 years. And people and their homes were just not prepared for the cold snap. Homes are not insulated, roads are not salted, and snowplows are nearly non-existent.

“It was clarifying,” a former Ohio resident told the Texas Tribune, “because now we know when things hit the fan, we’re in it alone.”

By Tuesday, the situation in Texas had come down to utility operators and politicians squabbling over responsibility for "load shedding" and "rolling blackouts" while parents slept in cars with their children, just to keep them warm, and families with fireplaces burned pieces of furniture, trying to stay warm.

Put the blame on the politicians

But what is the reality here? How is it possible that the number one energy producer in the country couldn't keep their own people warm? I dislike saying this, but one contributing factor may be the "Go-it-Alone" attitude of many politicians and corporations in Texas.

However, the decision for the main electric grid to be separate from other grids — unlike that of other states — was born of Texas’ famous go-it-alone attitude. The Texas grid was created during World War II when several Texas utilities banded together to form one large operation called the Texas Interconnected System. This was a political move to stay out of the reach of federal regulators.

As a result, this basically means that the interconnection is exempt from most regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Secondly, it's not like Texas wasn't aware of the coming deep-freeze, either. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning on January 5, 2021, announcing that rising temperatures in the North Pole are causing parts of the polar vortex to split off and move southward, leading to the possibility of a particularly harsh winter in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

People help fill jugs at a drive-through water distribution center at a high school in Kyle, Texas on February 20, 2021

JOE RAEDLE, GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

And it seems that Texas politicians have forgotten the cold spell of 2011 that froze natural gas wells and affected coal plants and wind turbines, leading to power outages across the state.

Texas politicians and regulators were warned after the February 1-5, 2011 storm that more “winterizing” of power infrastructure was necessary, according to an August 2011 report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

ERCOT said that some generators since then implemented new winter "best practices," but these were on a voluntary basis and mandatory regulation had not been established. Ed Hirs, an energy fellow and economics professor at the University of Houston, says. “They limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances.”

Yet this week, Abbott and his Republican cronies blamed the proposed solar power policies of the Green New Deal and the 40 wind farms that dot the Texas landscape for the collapse of the power grid, ignoring the fact that natural gas wellheads froze up and uninsulated water lines burst.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-texas-politicians-responsible-for-power-grid-going-down/article/585814#ixzz6nHMsb23p

Malaysian court halts Myanmar deportation after outcry

© Mohd RASFAN Activists are making a last-ditch attempt to stop the deportation of 1,200 Myanmar detainees on navy ships

BY M. JEGATHESAN (AFP) 

A Malaysian court ordered a temporary halt to a controversial plan to deport 1,200 Myanmar detainees to their homeland Tuesday weeks after a coup, following a last-ditch legal challenge.

The migrants, including members of vulnerable minorities, had already been taken in buses and trucks to a military base on Malaysia's west coast to be loaded onto waiting Myanmar navy ships.

The United States and the United Nations had criticised the plan, while rights groups said there were asylum seekers among those due to be repatriated.

Rights groups Amnesty International and Asylum Access had lodged a court challenge, arguing Malaysia would be in breach of its international duties by sending vulnerable people back to a country where they could be in danger.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered a halt to the repatriation to allow a hearing to take place on Wednesday into the groups' bid to stop the deportations, their lawyer New Sin Yew told AFP.

Amnesty International Malaysia's executive director, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, said that "the government must respect the court order and ensure that not one of the 1,200 individuals is deported today".

She called on authorities to grant the UN refugee agency access to the migrants set to be deported, so they can assess whether any should be granted refugee status.

"It's important to note that the stay of execution granted by the court does not mean the 1,200 are safe from being deported. They are facing life-threatening risks," she added.

"We urge the government to reconsider its plans to send this group of vulnerable people back to Myanmar."

- 'Could be tortured' -

Earlier, dozens of buses and trucks carrying the migrants and escorted by police cars arrived at the naval base in Lumut, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

The Myanmar military seized power at the start of February and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a series of massive protests.

Malaysia initially expressed "serious concern" at the coup -- but just days later, news emerged it had accepted an offer from the Myanmar junta to send warships to repatriate the detainees.

Officials insist those being sent back have committed offences such as overstaying their visas and no members of the persecuted Rohingya minority -- not recognised as citizens in Myanmar -- are among them.

But the detainees include members of the Christian Chin minority and people from conflict-riven Kachin and Shan states, according to Lilianne Fan, international director of the Geutanyoe Foundation, which works with refugees.

Malaysian authorities have blocked the UN refugee agency from immigration detention centres since late 2019, meaning they have not been able to determine who should be granted refugee status.

James Bawi Thang Bik, chairman of the Malaysia-based Alliance of Chin Refugees, said he was "shocked" to learn Chin were among those to be deported.

"They are refugees who came from a conflict area," he told AFP.

Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia who work in low-pay jobs such as construction. As well as Myanmar, they come from countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia.



Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/malaysian-court-halts-myanmar-deportation-after-outcry/article/585931#ixzz6nHKbDAQY

French dance music superstars Daft Punk split
BY ERIC RANDOLPH (AFP) 

One of the era's defining dancefloor acts hung up their helmets on Monday, as electronic music stars Daft Punk announced their retirement in typically enigmatic fashion with a video showing one of them exploding in a desert.

The French duo released an eight-minute clip titled "Epilogue", using footage from their cult 2006 film "Electroma" in which one of the robots sets other to self-destruct mode.

After the explosion, a cutaway reads "1993-2021" with two robot hands making a circle around a sunset.

Their publicist, Kathryn Frazier, confirmed the news to AFP by email, without giving a reason for the split.

From "Da Funk" in 1995 to "Get Lucky" in 2013, Daft Punk became the torch-bearers for French house music across the globe, winning six Grammy awards and pioneering the monumental sound-and-light shows that came to characterise the electronic dance movement (EDM) of recent years.

They did so while almost never revealing their faces -- the ubiquitous helmets became another much-copied trope of EDM stars, but also afforded Thomas Bangalter, 46, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, 47, freedom from the fame that quickly encircled them.

"We have daily lives that are a lot more normal... than the lives of artists who have the same level of fame as us, but who might be attached to being physically recognised," Bangalter said in a 2015 BBC documentary.

- 'A flawless legacy' -

Monday's announcement set off a wave of tributes to Daft Punk's hit-making influence.

"They always cultivated a taste for the paradoxical," electro pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre told AFP, praising the duo's "extremely elegant manner of saying goodbye to their fans".


"Eternally grateful," tweeted Christine and the Queens singer Chris.

Star music producer Marc Ronson also hailed the "gorgeous French robots", writing on Twitter: "Daft Punk left the game with a flawless legacy."

Daft Punk in five songs
Cléa PÉCULIER, AFP

Despite endless rumours of an imminent new tour or album, Daft Punk had been quiet for several years.

Their last album, 2013's "Random Access Memories", was a phenomenal success, winning them four Grammies the following year including record of the year for "Get Lucky", the millions-selling lead single featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.

But the much hoped-for return to touring never took place.

They showed up one more time for the Grammies in 2017.

Despite the Twittersphere erupting in excitement last month amid rumours they would appear alongside The Weeknd for the Super Bowl half-time show, that did not materialise.

- 'Daft punky thrash' -

Bangalter and Homem-Christo met at school in Paris before an inauspicious start in music with the rock band Darlin', which also featured a future member of the French indie band Phoenix.

One review in the British music press dismissed the band as "daft punky thrash" -- which struck a chord with them.

Reemerging as an electronic outfit, they met with instant success.

Early singles "Da Funk" and "Around the World" became club fixtures, and led to massive sales for their debut album "Homework" in 1997.

It was in the video for "Around the World" that they first donned the helmets that would become their signature look.

Daft Punk were known for their spectacular life shows
Karl Walter, GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

It mirrored the tight control they exercised over every part of their career, which included ownership of their master recordings.

They followed up with the even more successful "Discovery" in 2001, which spawned the hits "One More Time" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

There were some distinctively left-field choices in the years that followed, including producing the 2003 film "Interstella 5555" by Japanese anime master Leiji Matsumoto, which featured music from "Discovery".

If their next album in 2005, a more sombre "Human After All", received mixed reviews, these were quickly forgotten amid the euphoria of their live shows over the next two years.

This included a headline appearance at US festival Coachella in 2006, performed inside a giant LED pyramid. EDM fans still speak about it with an almost religious reverence.

In 2010, they released a soundtrack to the Disney reboot of Tron, which picked up a Grammy nomination.

But no one predicted the massive success of "Random Access Memories", for which they gave up their usual makeshift home rig for a full commercial studio -- and used entirely live instruments.

The resulting work dominated album-of-the-year lists and helped lift their total worldwide sales to 12 million.

In December, Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas told music website The Needle Drop that he'd been "trying to do something" with Daft Punk after collaborating with them on their 2013 single "Instant Crush".

But he was told they were "not doing music right now", with one of the duo "focused on video stuff" and the other "obsessing with ancient aliens or something".


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/french-dance-music-superstars-daft-punk-split/article/585926#ixzz6nHHZw0Md

NON BINDING FEEL GOOD MOTION Canadian MPs say China's treatment of Uighurs is 'genocide' BY AFP     Canadian MPs voted Monday to label Beijing's treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang as genocide, a move angrily slammed by China as a "malicious provocation." Rights groups believe at least one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps in the northwestern region, where China is also accused of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor. The motion "Uighurs in China have been and are being subject to genocide" passed unanimously in the Canadian House of Commons, and ministers called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to officially label it as such. The motion also called for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to be moved if the "genocide" continues. The United States has already used the label, with the administration of former president Donald Trump slamming China in January for a "systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs." Trudeau had said Friday that there were significant reports of abuses coming out of Xinjiang. And following a G7 meeting, he said Canada was consulting with its international allies on the use of the term "genocide" for the treatment of Uighurs. Beijing hit back Tuesday, calling the motion a "shameful act" and "malicious provocation against the 1.4 billion people of China." "Canada's attempt to contain China's development through passing the Xinjiang-related motion will not succeed," the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement. The embassy accused "hypocritical and shameless" Canadian lawmakers of "using the excuse of human rights to engage in political manipulation on Xinjiang." - Deteriorating ties - The growing calls for action in Canada echo complaints about China's human rights record in other Western nations, including the United States where President Joe Biden is seeking to rebuild alliances to maintain pressure on Beijing. The new president has already criticized Beijing on its human rights situation, especially the abuses in Xinjiang, including in a marathon two-hour call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. After initially denying the existence of the camps in Xinjiang, China later defended them as vocational training centers aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism. Beijing had said Monday that its treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet has "stood out as shining examples of China's human rights progress." And Foreign Minister Wang Yi later told the UN Human Rights Council via videolink that "there has never been so-called genocide, forced labor or religious oppression in Xinjiang." Relations between China and Canada have deteriorated in recent years. Ties soured in late 2018 over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant, and China's detention of two Canadians -- former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor -- in what Ottawa has called retaliation. The two men have had virtually no contact with the outside world since being detained on spying charges .

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/canadian-mps-call-china-s-uighur-treatment-genocide/article/585912#ixzz6nHFKh6Ke

Western countries step up pressure on Myanmar junta as protesters defy warnings


(Reuters) - The European Union said it is considering sanctions on Myanmar while the United States penalised two more generals for links to the military coup, as Western countries sought to press the junta to avoid a violent crackdown after weeks of protests.

Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing called for energy to be put into reviving the ailing economy, state media reported, a day after a general strike shut businesses and huge crowds gathered despite a warning from authorities that confrontation could get people killed.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said millions had marched on Monday in a “breathtaking” turnout, despite the junta’s threat.

“The generals are losing their power to intimidate and with it, their power. It is past time for them to stand down, as the people of Myanmar stand up,” Andrews said on Twitter.

Crowds gathered again on Tuesday though in much smaller numbers. There were no reports of confrontations with security forces.

Overnight, EU governments showed support for those seeking to reverse the Feb. 1 coup and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi

“We are not prepared to stand by and watch,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Brussels, adding that sanctions could follow if diplomacy failed.

The European Union is considering sanctions that would target businesses owned by the army, but the bloc ruled out any curtailing of its trade preferences to avoid hurting poor workers.

The security forces have shown more restraint since the coup than in earlier confrontations with those pushing for democracy in almost half a century of direct military rule.

Even so, three protesters have been killed - two shot dead in the second city of Mandalay on Saturday, and a woman who died on Friday after being shot more than a week earlier in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The army has said one policeman died of injuries sustained during the protests. It has accused protesters of provoking violence.

Virginia lawmakers approve bill ending capital punishment

BY KAREN GRAHAM 

Richmond - State lawmakers gave final approval on Monday to legislation that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people than any other, dating back to Colonial time

The House bill advanced to Governor Ralph Northam's desk on Monday on a 22-16 vote. Republican Sen. Jill Vogel joined with Democrats in the chamber in voting for passage. Later Monday, the House voted 57-43 to approve the Senate version, which is identical to the House bill.

Governor Northam has already said he would sign the legislation, abolishing capital punishment in Virginia, making the state the 23rd to end the death penalty, reports The Guardian.

Only two people remain on Virginia's death row. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death in the 2004 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, two of her children, and her brother, according to the Associated Press. Thomas Porter was sentenced to die for the 2005 killing of a Norfolk police officer.

Once the legislation is signed, their sentences will be converted to life in prison without parole.

"Over Virginia’s long history, this Commonwealth has executed more people than any other state. And, like many other states, Virginia has come too close to executing an innocent person. It’s time we stop this machinery of death," said Northam and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate in a prepared statement, per the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Virginia's long history of executions

Historically, Virginia has executed over 1,400 people, more than any other state, with the first recorded execution in what is now the United States, taking place in Jamestown Colony in Virginia. Captain George Kendall was executed for treason.

In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians.

There were a number of ways executions were performed, although the preferred method was hanging. Three people convicted of piracy in 1700 and gibbeted, four pirates were hanged in chains in 1720, and a female slave was burned in 1737.



The Herb Garden at Old Donation Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, showing the memorial stone to Grace Sherwood. The stone was dedicated July 10, 2014.
PumpkinSky

Here's an interesting story. In 1706, Grace Sherwood, a 46-year-old midwife was charged with being a witch. She lived in what today is the rural Pungo neighborhood in Virginia Beach, and she later became known as “The Witch of Pungo.”

She was accused of using her powers to cause a neighbor to miscarry and dunked into the Lynhaven River - where she floated, proving she was guilty. She was the only person to be tried for witchcraft using the "dunking stool," and of course, if she had drowned, it would have proven her innocence.
But seeing as she didn't drown, Sherwood may have been jailed until 1714. On July 10, 2006, then Gov. Timothy M. Kaine gave an informal pardon to Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became Virginia’s only person convicted as a witch tried by water.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/virginia-lawmakers-approve-bill-ending-capital-punishment/article/585904#ixzz6nHClUbpP

Denver plane engine fire consistent with metal fatigue in fan blade, say investigators

US reveals preliminary results of inquiry into Pratt & Whitney engine fire that led to grounding of dozens of Boeing 777s around the world

The damaged starboard engine of United Airlines flight 328 after it caught fire over Denver on Saturday. Photograph: NTSB/Reuters

Reuters

Tue 23 Feb 2021 05.11 GM

Metal fatigue in the fan blades may have been behind the engine failure of a Boeing jet in Denver at the weekend, the US National Transportation Safety Board has said.

The Pratt & Whitney engine caught fire shortly after take off on a United Airlines Boeing 777-200, during a flight from Denver to Honolulu, with 231 passengers and 10 crew onboard. Pilots issued a mayday call and returned to Denver.

The next day, dozens of 777 planes were grounded after Boeing said those with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines should not be used until full inspections could be carried out.

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Robert Sumwalt, said on Monday a preliminary assessment suggested the damage was consistent with metal fatigue and that the blade would be examined on Tuesday at a Pratt & Whitney laboratory under the supervision of NTSB investigators.

UK bans some Boeing 777s from airspace after engine fire over Denver

Read more

Sumwalt said it was not clear whether Saturday’s failure of the PW4000 engine was consistent with another engine failure on another Hawaii-bound United flight in February 2018 that was attributed to a fatigue fracture in a fan blade

“What is important that we really truly understand the facts, circumstances and conditions around this particular event before we can compare it to any other event,” Sumwalt said.

In another incident on the same engine type on a Japan Airlines 777 in December 2020, Japan’s Transport Safety Board reported it found two damaged fan blades, one with a metal fatigue crack.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) planned to issue an emergency airworthiness directive soon that will require stepped-up inspections of the fan blades for fatigue.

After the February 2018 United engine failure was attributed to fan-blade fatigue, the FAA ordered inspections every 6,500 cycles.

Sumwalt said the United incident was not considered an uncontained engine failure because the containment ring contained the parts as they were flying out. There was minor damage to the aircraft body but no structural damage, he said.

The NTSB will look into why the engine cowling separated from the plane and also why there was a fire despite indications fuel to the engine had been turned off, Sumwalt added.

Georgian police arrest top opposition leader, use tear gas in party HQ raid

Critics accuse the country's richest man Ivanishvili of persecuting political opponents and creating a corrupt system where private interests permeate politics.

BY IRAKLI METREVELI (AFP) 

Georgian police on Tuesday arrested a top opposition leader and used tear gas in a violent raid on his party headquarters, further deepening a political crisis sparked by last year's disputed parliamentary elections.

Live television footage showed Nika Melia, the leader of the United National Movement, the country's main opposition party, being dragged from his party headquarters to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Meanwhile hundreds of riot police used tear gas against his supporters and the leaders of all of the country's opposition parties, who have been camped out in the building since Wednesday, the live pictures on Mtavari TV showed.

Scores of opposition supporters were detained.

One of the UNM leaders, Giorgi Pataraia, told AFP that police "stole computer servers" from UNM headquarters.

Georgia's interior ministry said in a statement that "police used proportional force and special means" in the police operation.

"Shocked by the scenes at UNM headquarters this morning," British ambassador Mark Clayton wrote on Twitter.

"Violence and chaos in Tbilisi are the last thing Georgia needs right now. I urge all sides to act with restraint, now and in the coming days."

- 'Broken democracy' -

Georgia has been in the grip of a political crisis since last October's parliamentary elections, which opposition parties have denounced as rigged after the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over Georgian Dream's plans to arrest Melia.

News of the plan sparked outrage among the opposition and warnings from the ex-Soviet country's Western allies.

Last week, a court in Tbilisi ordered Melia placed in pre-trial detention after he refused to pay an increased bail fee ahead of hearings in a case related to anti-government demonstrations in 2019.

He has been charged with "organising mass violence" during the protests and faces up to nine years in prison

Melia, 41, rejects the case as politically motivated.

The detention order has raised the stakes in the crisis over the disputed elections.

Opposition members have refused to take up their seats in the new parliament, in a boycott that weighs heavily on the ruling party's political legitimacy.

They have demanded a new poll.

Georgia's new Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who was confirmed by parliament on Monday, said in an address to lawmakers his government would proceed with Melia's arrest, saying the politician "will not manage to hide from justice".

Garibashvili is a loyal lieutenant of the powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili who is widely seen as the man in charge in Georgia, despite having no official political role.

Analysts said the spiralling political crisis in Georgia is fraught with serious consequences for the fledgling democracy and is unlikely to be resolved without a greater diplomatic engagement from Tbilisi's Western allies.

Matthew Bryza, a senior fellow at a US think tank, the Atlantic Council, said Georgia's "backward movement in terms of democracy" under Georgian Dream reached the point where "opposition parties say they can't take their seats in parliament because the democratic system in Georgia is broken."

"Without a greater Western mediation, the situation could become very dangerous," said the former diplomat who had coordinated the US Caucasus policy in the administration of ex-president George W. Bush.

The United States and the European Union have expressed concerns over plans to arrest Melia, calling on Georgia's government to resolve the crisis peacefully and ensure its judicial system stays free of political bias.

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream has seen its popularity fall over its failure to address economic stagnation and perceived backsliding on commitments to democracy.

Critics accuse the country's richest man Ivanishvili of persecuting political opponents and creating a corrupt system where private interests permeate politics.


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