Iraq's heritage battered by desert sun, rain and state apathy 

AND AMERICAN IMPERIALISM 

AFP 

One of the world's oldest churches is crumbling deep in Iraq's desert, another victim of years of conflict, government negligence and climate change in a country with a rich heritage.

© Mohammed SAWAF Al-Aqiser archaeological site in Iraq, home to what is considered one of the world's oldest churches, is a victim of neglect and climate change like many of Iraqi ancient sites

After Pope Francis made a historic visit to Iraq in March, many Iraqis hoped that busloads of tourists would flock to Al Aqiser church southwest of the capital Baghdad.

But in a country that has been battered by consecutive conflicts and economic crises, the church -- like Iraq's numerous Christian, Islamic and Mesopotamian relics -- has been left to weather away.

© Haidar INDHAR Iraq's Diwaniya province has more than 2,000 historic sites and is home to the pyramid-shaped "ziggurat" structures of the ancient Sumerian city of Nippur

All that remains of Al Aqiser, which has stood in Ain Tamr for more than 1,500 years, are crumbling brick and red earthen walls.

Archaeologist Zahd Muhammad blamed this on "climate conditions, the fact that under Saddam Hussein the area was transformed into a military firing range and the lack of regular conservation".

© Shwan NAWZAD The 3,000-year-old citadel and the Ottoman-era "qishla" or garrison in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk are also in a sad state of disrepair with local authorities saying frequent heavy rains that batter the mountainous region are to blame

Ain Tamr mayor Raed Fadhel said upkeep is a question of budget.

"Such maintenance requires an enormous amount of money, but we only get meagre funds" from the federal government, he said.

Some 60 kilometres (38 miles) further east, Shiite shrines in Karbala attract millions of pilgrims each year.

But these potential visitors fail to stop by Iraq's numerous ancient churches, its Mesopotamian cities and the fabled "ziggurat" pyramid-like structures of Babylon, a UNESCO World Heritage site, residents and officials say.

 Mohammed SAWAF Iraq is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the UN, and that along with government negligence has taken a toll on its Christian, Islamic and Mesopotamian ancient sites

- Missed opportunities -

Abdullah al-Jlihawi, who lives in Diwaniya province bordering Karbala, told AFP he believes that "foreigners care more about our heritage than we do".

"Until the 1980s, an American university led excavations here, there were plenty of job opportunities," he said.

"Our parents and grandparents worked on those sites, but all that stopped in the 1990s" with the international embargo against Saddam's regime.


Diwaniya's governor, Zuhair al-Shaalan, boasts of the province's more than 2,000 historic sites and sees in each a potential economic windfall.


But almost 20 years since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam's dictatorship, promising democracy and prosperity, Iraqis are still waiting to for an economic upturn.

Diwaniya is home to Nippur, the ancient Sumerian city and jewel of Iraq's glorious Mesopotamian past with its temples, libraries and palaces.

Seven thousand years ago Nippur, now in southern Iraq, was one of the main religious centres of the Akkadians and later the Babylonians.

Much of that site was looted after Saddam's fall from power by armed bandits and many others destroyed by jihadists who seized swathes of Iraq in 2014 until their defeat three years later.

"Investing in these sites would create jobs in our province, which is poor and has few investment opportunities," Shaalan said.

But there is another problem beyond renovation and preservation, Jlihawi said. If they came, "where would the tourists go?" he asked.

"There's nothing for them -- the roads haven't been paved since the 1980s, the electricity poles are from the 1970s," in a country with chronic shortages of electricity and water.

Energy-rich Iraq suffered due to a decline in world oil prices and has been struggling with rising prices, high unemployment and poverty, which doubled last year to 40 percent amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

- Returned to dust -

Historical sites in the central province of Kirkuk are also in a sad state of disrepair and "neither authorities nor private organisations are doing anything for heritage", said resident Muhammad Taha.

He pointed to the 3,000-year-old citadel and the "qishla", an Ottoman-era garrison, where chunks of mosaics have crumbled while sections of wall threaten to crash down.

Like Nippur, the citadel's deterioration could mean it might not be promoted from UNESCO's Tentative List of heritage sites to the coveted World Heritage List.

Local authorities said frequent heavy rains that batter the mountainous region are to blame.

Iraq is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the United Nations.

Galloping desertification in a country where desert already covers 50 percent of the territory is threatening human and animal life, and has sounded death knells for Mesopotamian sites as well as recent constructions.

Abdullah al-Jlihawi from Diwaniya recalled that between the 1960s and the 1980s archeological ruins "were protected by the green belt".

But trees that had blocked the wind were burned, blasted apart by shelling during successive Iraqi wars or felled to make way for new towns.

Scorching summer temperates above 50 degrees (122 Fahrenheit), dust storms and heavy winter rains have also dealt blows to Iraqi heritage.

And many fear that sites built with bricks made thousands of years ago by Mesopotamian labourers will one day soon turn back into dust.

bur-sbh/sw/hkb

Even before Covid struck, Modi's $1.8B architectural revamp divided opinions

Oscar Holland, CNN 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's overhaul of New Delhi's historic center was always going to be controversial -- even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

© HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd The project will see an overhaul of buildings and public space along New Delhi's central boulevard, Rajpath.

Since it was announced in September 2019, the $1.8 billion Central Vista Redevelopment Project has been branded unduly expensive, environmentally irresponsible and a threat to cultural heritage. And with Modi's elaborate new private residence -- which comprises 10 buildings across 15 acres (6 hectares) of land -- among dozens of planned new government structures, many critics have dismissed the scheme as an architectural vanity project that serves India's populist leader, not its people.

© Shutterstock The North Block of the Secretariat Building will be turned into a museum.

This outrage has been brought into sharp focus by the coronavirus crisis. Amid a devastating second wave that has pushed the country's hospitals to breaking point, opposition MP Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter last week to compare the cost of the project to the amount needed to vaccinate 450 million Indians or purchase 10 million oxygen cylinders. "But (Modi's) ego is bigger than people's lives," he concluded.

© HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd 

A copy of India's constitution will be on display in the new parliament building.

Indignation has only grown in recent days, after it emerged that construction at the site has been deemed an "essential service" -- meaning work continues, even as building projects elsewhere are at a standstill. This urgency is widely thought to reflect a race to complete the new triangular parliament -- the project's centerpiece -- before the end of 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of independence.

Indeed, for nationalists, the building's symbolism lies not only in its design, which alludes to the importance of triangles in the sacred geometries of several religions, but in India's ability to complete large-scale infrastructure projects quickly and on schedule.

But while the speed, cost and timing of the development have attracted ire, the underlying question of whether New Delhi's aging government district needs revamping exposes deeper divides.

Indian MP and writer Shashi Tharoor, a fierce critic of Modi's, has long rallied against the project. Since the earliest days of the pandemic he has called for the government to redirect funds earmarked for the development to help fight Covid-19.

"Why now, at such colossal expense and at a time when the country and economy are reeling from the effects of the lockdown?" he told CNN in a phone interview earlier this year.

Yet even this most vocal of critics accepted that modernizing India's parliament and Central Visa -- a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) stretch of New Delhi's central boulevard, Rajpath -- could, in theory, have its merits.

"From a purely utilitarian point of view, many would agree there is a need for some significant changes," Tharoor said. "One is that the parliament building would have needed an extensive renovation to be fit for purpose, and clearly the government concluded that they couldn't do that, and that they needed to build a new one."

"And as for the Central Vista, a number of the 1950s and '60s buildings, some of which I've had the dubious pleasure of working in ... there really is an architectural case for getting rid of them and replacing them.

"My concern here is the utter lack of consultation before such a momentous decision was taken," he said, adding: "There's really been no opportunity for comments, criticism, suggestions, ideas. There's a vibrant architectural community and very few of them feel like they've been given a fair hearing."

© HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd

Fit for purpose?

When work began on the original Central Vista plan in the early 20th century, English architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker envisaged a long ceremonial boulevard akin to the Champs Elysees in Paris or the Capitol Complex in Washington D.C.

© HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd 

A digital impression of the new Lok Sabha, the Indian parliament's lower chamber.

It came to be known as Kingsway, and the grand buildings running along its edges were designed to serve a colonial government, not an Indian one.

When the country gained independence from Britain in 1947, India sought to reappropriate the district for its own burgeoning democracy. A statue of King George VI, the then-reigning British king and last emperor of India, was torn down, but the colonial structures were largely retained and repurposed. The circular council house became India's parliament, the opulent Viceroy's House was transformed into a presidential residence and Kingsway was given a new name: Rajpath.

In the decades that followed, development in the area accelerated to accommodate the growing administration. Police barracks were erected, car parking was introduced, and new ministry buildings spilled out either side of the central boulevard.

© Manish Rajput/SOPA Images/Sipa USA A man walks past the construction site for part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

According to the architect behind the new redevelopment, Bimal Patel, this "haphazard" sprawl has corrupted Lutyens and Baker's original urban plan and left the area unfit for a modern government. Designs by Patel's firm, HCP, were chosen from six proposals in a competition to reimagine the area and modernize the facilities.

Shutterstock Known as Viceroy House by the British, Rashtrapati Bhavan now serves as the presidential residence.

"You have old stables and barracks that have been converted into offices -- they're completely dysfunctional. It's like an old slum -- it's like a little village in there," said Patel in a video interview, referring to some of the buildings flanking Rajpath.

His firm's sweeping vision for the 86-acre (35-hectare) site includes new chambers for MPs, a conference center and landscaped public gardens. The country's National Archives will be refurbished, while the North and South Blocks of the Secretariat Building, which currently house India's cabinet, will be turned into museums.

With the creation of new office space, ministries currently scattered around New Delhi will all be relocated to the site. Patel argues this will make the Central Vista a "synergistic location" that will improve the efficiency and productivity of India's government.

The symbolic heart of the project is the country's new parliament. HCP's triangular design sits directly next to its predecessor, which is also being turned into a museum. Inside, two horseshoe-shaped chambers will house the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha -- the parliament's upper and lower houses respectively -- while a light-filled Constitution Hall features an adjoining gallery displaying India's written constitution.

MPs will be seated in twos rather than crammed onto long benches, and the new, larger parliament features touch screens for each member.

For Patel, this modernization is a matter of necessity. While the current parliament has been updated over the decades, with new floors added, the old building is now simply too small, he argued.

"It's crowded and there's no more possibility for expansion at a time when we need to increase the number of seats," Patel said, alluding to a planned increase in the number of Indian MPs to reflect the country's growing population.

"We need to improve the technology, we need space for dining, we need to create toilets, we need to create storage space, and office and administration space -- it's very clear that it can't be done in the space available, so we've created a new facility next door."

Ongoing concerns

On Wednesday, two Indian citizens lodged a case with the Delhi High Court to try to halt work at the Central Vista, arguing construction could aid the spread of Covid-19. The petitioners then took the matter to the Supreme Court, after city authorities had "failed to appreciate the gravity" of the situation.

This is not the first attempt to formally oppose the revamp. In April last year, eight months before Modi laid the parliament's foundation stone in a high-profile photo-op, a petition was filed to the Supreme Court opposing plans on legal and environmental grounds. The next month, a group of 60 former civil servants wrote a scathing open letter to Modi describing the project as a "thoughtless and irresponsible act" that was motivated by "a superstitious belief that the present Parliament building is 'unlucky.'"

The wide-ranging letter went on to discuss the "severe environmental damage" the redevelopment will cause to "the lungs of the city." The plans are "shrouded in secrecy," it read, and "not substantiated by any public consultation or expert review."

The group also highlighted the architectural value of buildings earmarked for demolition, saying that the scheme would "irrevocably" destroy the area's cultural heritage.

Historian Swapna Liddle, who has written various books on New Delhi's history, echoed some of their concerns. She highlighted the risks of turning symbolic political buildings -- like the North and South Blocks --- into museums.

"When you say North Block you don't just mean a building, you mean a particular institution," Liddle said over the phone. "The fact that buildings are associated with history, with traditions and with institutions is very important.

"Parliament House is the place where constitutional debate (has taken place), so you should think very long and hard before separating the building from the tradition."

In a polarized political landscape, it's perhaps little surprise that a project of this magnitude has invited criticism from many quarters. But regardless of the scheme's virtues or shortcomings, Modi's insistence on pushing ahead amid India's worst public health crisis in a generation may see him lose the support of allies he might once have counted on.

"People are dying of Covid but (Modi's) priority is the Central Vista project," tweeted Yashwant Sinha, a former minister of finance and external affairs, and a member of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party until 2018. "Should we not be building hospitals instead? How much more (must) the nation ... pay for electing a megalomaniac?"

Last wild macaw in Rio is lonely and looking for love

RIO DE JANEIRO — Some have claimed she’s indulging a forbidden romance. More likely, loneliness compels her to seek company at Rio de Janeiro’s zoo.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Either way, a blue-and-yellow macaw that zookeepers named Juliet is believed to be the only wild bird of its kind left in the Brazilian city where the birds once flew far and wide.

Almost every morning for the last two decades, Juliet has appeared. She swoops onto the zoo enclosure where macaws are kept and, through its fence, engages in grooming behaviour that looks like conjugal canoodling. Sometimes she just sits, relishing the presence of others. She is quieter — shier? more coy? — than her squawking chums.

Blue-and-yellow macaws live to be about 35 years old and Juliet — no spring chicken — should have found a lifelong mate years ago, according to Neiva Guedes, president of the Hyacinth Macaw Institute, an environmental group. But Juliet hasn’t coupled, built a nest or had chicks, so at most she’s “still just dating.”

“They’re social birds, and that means they don’t like to live alone, whether in nature or captivity. They need company,” said Guedes, who also co-ordinates a project that researches macaws in urban settings. Juliet “very probably feels lonely, and for that reason goes to the enclosure to communicate and interact.”

Aside from Juliet, the last sighting of a blue-and-yellow macaw flying free in Rio was in 1818 by an Austrian naturalist, according to Marcelo Rheingantz, a biologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and there are no other types of macaws in the city. The lovebirds featured in the 2011 film “Rio? are Spix’s macaws, which are native to a different region of Brazil and possibly extinct in the wild.

Being boisterous with brilliant plumage helps macaws find each other in dense forest, but also makes them easier targets for hunters and animal traffickers. They're often seen in other Brazilian states and across the Amazon, and it is suspected Juliet escaped from captivity.

Biologists at BioParque aren’t sure if Juliet’s nuzzling is limited to one caged Romeo, or a few of them. They’re not even certain Juliet is female; macaw gender is near impossible to determine by sight, and requires either genetic testing of feathers or blood, or examination of the gonads.

Either would be interference merely to satisfy human curiosity with no scientific end, biologist Angelita Capobianco said inside the enclosure. Nor would they consider confining Juliet, who often soars overhead and appears well-nourished.

“We don’t want to project human feelings. I look at the animal, and see an animal at ease,” Capobianco said, noting Juliet has never exhibited behaviour to indicate disturbance, such as insistently pecking at the fence.

“Who am I to decide it should only stay here? I won’t. It comes and goes, and its feathers are beautiful.”

After more than a year of COVID-19 quarantine and travel bans, the appeal of roaming without restriction is evident to humankind. Macaws are used to flying great distances of more than 30 kilometres (20 miles) a day, Guedes said.

Last year, BioParque g ave its macaws more space: a 1,000-square-meter (10,700-square-foot) aviary where they fly beside green parrots and golden parakeets to compose an aerial, technicolour swirl. It’s a massive upgrade from prior enclosures that were roughly 100 square feet. BioParque reopened to the public in March, after privatization of Rio’s dilapidated zoo and almost 17 months of renovations.

BioParque aims to feature species associated with research programs at universities and institutes. One such initiative is Refauna, which reintroduces species into protected areas with an eye on rebuilding ecosystems, and is participating with BioParque to start breeding blue-and-yellow macaws.

The plan is for parents to raise some 20 chicks that will receive training on forest food sources, the peril of predators and avoidance of power lines. Then the youngsters will be released into Rio’s immense Tijuca Forest National Park, where Juliet has been sighted and is thought to sleep each night.

“Their role could be important in terms of ecosystem and reforestation. It’s a big animal with big beak that can crack the biggest seeds, and not all birds can,” said Rheingantz, the university biologist, who is also Refauna’s technical co-ordinator. “The idea is for it to start dispersing those seeds, complementing forest animals that can’t.”

After some pandemic-induced delays, the project has slowly restarted and Rheingantz expects to release blue-and-yellow macaws into Tijuca park toward the end of 2022.

After two decades of relative solitude, Juliet will then have the chance to fly with friends. Neves said Juliet could teach them how to navigate the forest, or even find a love of her own.

David Biller, The Associated Press

SHOCKING BUT TRUE

School principal paddling of child was not a crime, Florida state attorney says

By Susannah Cullinane, CNN 

5/9/2021

A Florida school principal did not commit a crime when she paddled a 6-year-old girl on the buttocks, as she appeared to have been asked by the child's mother to discipline the girl, according to a review by the state attorney's office

.

© Courtesy Brent Probinsky A Florida school district is investigating the circumstances regarding video taken of a child being paddled at an elementary school

The girl's mother secretly recorded the incident at Central Elementary School in Clewiston, Florida, on April 13 after the school phoned her to say her daughter had damaged computer equipment. The family's attorney, Brent Probinsky, said the woman was told to bring $50 to the school to pay for damages and that sometimes children were paddled.

In cellphone video sent to CNN by Probinsky, an adult staff member can be seen paddling the 6-year-old girl as another adult holds her in place. In the video, after the first strike, the child starts to cry and tries to move away from the adults, but the adult yells at the child to get back in position and hits her twice more.

CNN is not naming the mother and child because of their concerns about their safety.

The Florida State Attorney conducted a review and found no evidence school Principal Melissa Carter had committed a crime, according to a memo to Clewiston Police Department dated May 7.

However, Probinsky argues that the State Attorney's office used flawed legal analysis to reach its decision.

In his memo, Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney Abraham R. Thornburg said school staff member Celia Self had called the child's mother to inform her she would be charged after her daughter apparently intentionally damaged computer equipment.

The phone call appeared to have been conducted in Spanish, he said. According to Self's statement, the mother said that her daughter had also been damaging things at home and that she was "afraid to discipline her by spanking, because her daughter threatens to call the police and DCF."

"Ms. Self further stated that (the mother) then requested that the school spank the child for her, to which Ms. Self replied that she would have to physically come to the school, specifically request such discipline, and be present during the spanking if she wished school staff to do it for her. According to both Ms. Carter and Ms. Self, (the mother) then arrived at the school and made that request," Thornbury wrote.

Thornbury said the video showed Carter explaining to the child what was going to happen and why.

"Ms. Self and Ms. Carter then appear to make efforts to position the child so that she can be safely spanked without injury. Ms. Carter then strikes the child with a wooden paddle three times in succession on the buttocks. After the spanking, both staff members ask the child to apologize to her mother, and again explain the reason for the spanking and that it may occur again if she continues misbehaving. Both staff members appear to treat the child and her mother with respect throughout this process."

Thornbury said in the mother's initial account of the incident to HCSO on April 14 she indicated she understood that she was going to the school to be present for school staff to spank her daughter.

"She further indicated to HCSO that there was a language barrier and that she was 'confused' and 'did not understand the process correctly.' CPD made several attempts to obtain a more specific and detailed statement from (the mother) but she did not return phone calls from the agency," he said.

"It is of note that despite refusing to give a sworn statement to law enforcement, (the mother) has made several statements to the media during the pendency of the investigation -- one of them indicating that she intentionally 'sacrificed' her daughter because no one would believe her about what was happening at the school unless she video recorded it. Such a statement that she knew all along that the paddling was going to occur is wholly inconsistent with her initial statement to law enforcement that she was confused and did not consent," he said.

Thornbury said the evidence suggested "the child's mother sanctioned and consented to the spanking of her daughter as discipline for misbehavior." The mother's secretly-recorded video did not show her objecting to the paddling and she could be heard thanking staff afterwards, he said.

"A parent has the right to use corporal punishment to discipline their children, and similarly has the right to consent that others do so on their behalf," he said. Thornbury said the evidence suggested "that any reasonable person in Ms. Carter's position would have believe that (the mother) consented to the spanking in the manner it was performed."

Thornbury said that similarly there was no evidence of the offense of aggravated battery as alleged by Probinsky. "Here, there is no evidence or indication of great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement," he said and that "using a paddle to spank a child is not likely to cause death of great bodily harm."

"Similarly, the law in Florida is clear that spanking a child does not amount to child abuse," Thornbury wrote.

Thornbury said he reviewed evidence from the Hendry County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), the Cledwiston Police Department as well as speaking with Probinsky for his review of the case.

'Illegal and a criminal battery'

In a statement issued Saturday, Probinsky said Florida State Attorney Amira Fox's decision not to file criminal charges against Carter and Self "relied on a flawed legal analysis."

"Most of us have seen the video of the horrific beating with a large wooden paddle of this little six-year-old girl who stood three feet tall and weighed forty pounds. Fox's decision not to criminally charge these women relied on a flawed legal analysis and she applied the wrong law to decide if a criminal act was committed," he said.

Probinsky said Hendry County School District, where the school is located, had a written rule prohibiting any corporal punishment of students and that state law requires that principals and teachers must follow the rules of the local school district.

"The principal, Melissa Carter, and her assistant, Celia Self, who held down and severely paddled this six-year-old first grader, violated the clearly written rule of the Hendry County School District and the laws of the State of Florida," Probinsky said.

Some other Florida counties allowed corporal punishment, he said, and in cases in those areas the state attorney would need to decide whether punishment was reasonable and not excessive. But that should not have been the measure in this case, as Probinsky argues the punishment was not legally permitted.

"The paddling was illegal and a criminal battery," he said.

"What message are we sending to other teachers who now believe they will suffer no criminal consequences if they paddle our elementary school children, some severely, even for the smallest of infractions?" he said.

Probinsky added that corporal punishment was "a brutal relic of the past and should be banned in all of our schools."

CNN is reaching out to the State Attorney's Office for additional comment.

Probinsky previously told CNN that the girl's mother had been confused as to whether paddling was allowed. She had been "frightened and confused" when she came to the school and started secretly recording, Probinsky said.

The Clewiston Police Department received a request from Hendry Regional Medical Center staff at 1:31 p.m. the following day, April 14, after "a complaint of a child with injuries accompanied by the child's mother who requested a police report," the department said in a May 2 release sent to CNN.

The mother went to the Hendry County Sheriff's Office on April 14 to file a report, Probinsky told CNN. The HCSO has not responded to multiple requests from CNN for comment. CNN has not been able to obtain a copy of the report.

Probinsky told CNN he was representing the mother and child at their request and had taken the case pro bono. When asked if there were plans to pursue civil action, Probinsky said they were waiting to see what the school board and state attorney's office did.

In a statement to CNN, the Department of Children and Families said it is investigating the "concerning incident that happened at Central Elementary School in Clewiston."

Hendry County District Schools Superintendent Michael Swindle declined to comment when reached by CNN, but confirmed the district was also investigating.

"The situation is under investigation, at this time we have been advised to not give any statements." Beverly Thompson, Administrative Secretary of Hendry County School Board, said in an email Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Education which, per its policy, would not confirm or deny an investigation into staff at the school.

"The department has a robust system for investigating allegations of educator misconduct and taking disciplinary action when allowable by law," Cheryl Etters, a spokesperson for FDOE said in a statement to CNN. "While educators are entitled to due process rights, the department is committed to making sure the appropriate disciplinary action is taken on the educator's certificate."

At this time, no charges have been filed in the case.

Nova Scotia's top doctor sparks meme with caution on non-essential shopping

© Provided by The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's top doctor has launched a social media meme with his comments imploring residents to cease shopping for non-essential items, including Birkenstock sandals offered at sale prices.

As the province hit record-high numbers of new COVID-19 positive cases on Friday, Dr. Robert Strang referenced a sale of the sandals at Costco, where they were being sold for just under $60.

Strang said during a briefing that "it is not the time to go to Costco for sandals you heard were in stock. It's critical you limit your trips."

Former premier Stephen McNeil, who during the province's first wave famously coined the phrase "Stay the Blazes home," later posted a tweet of his feet in old Birkenstocks, writing, "Listen to the Good Doctor: this is not the time."

This set off other postings from Nova Scotians, including one woman wearing multi-coloured, plastic fish sandals as her personal reminder to stay home.

Despite chilly, freezing rain outdoors, Strang posted his own tweet of his feet in old Birkenstocks, responding to the premier under the hashtag #thisisnotthetime.

Not all social media users got on board.

"People of Nova Scotia need to stop showing their feet...We get you have sandals already," wrote one Twitter user. "Whip dee doo da day!"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2021.

The Canadian Press

The Observers
Violence against Peru’s indigenous communities surges as drug traffickers move in


Issued on: 08/05/2021 - 

Herlín Odicio (president of the Cacataibo native communities’ federation) and Berlín Diques (president of Orau) © Herlín Odicio/ Luis Miranda and Berlín Diques

Text by: Olivia Biz

Nine indigenous leaders in Peru’s central Amazon have been murdered in the past year and many more have received death threats as their ancestral land is seized by drug traffickers. Covid-19 restrictions have made the remote region even more vulnerable as governmental efforts to protect the land have been hindered. In the face of mounting pressure, authorities have recently taken action, but our Observers say that more needs to be done.

The latest attack was reported on April 23, 2021 in the eastern region of Ucayali, where alleged drug gangs set fire to the home of Elmer Gonzales, who belongs to the indigenous Cacataibo ethnic group. The traffickers also left a warning that read “I am Colombian. Elmer, I want my load” (see photo below). Meanwhile, Fredy Yaycate, from the same community was kidnapped and found several days later with signs of torture. They are now among a growing number of Cacataibo people who have gone into hiding, fearful for their lives.

  

Warning left by traffickers that reads “I am Colombian. Elmer, I want my load” © Observers

We spoke to the President of the Native Federation of Cacataibo Communities, Herlín Odicio, who was forced into hiding in April after death threats and attacks on his land in Ucayali escalated.

The situation started to get bad last September, when a Columbian [narcos] came to my community and offered me a lot of money to collaborate with them. They were offering to give me money for every drug flight that left from a secret airstrip on my territory. I didn’t accept the offer, and since then, the death threats have gotten worse. But they already knew me, I received the first threats five years ago.

In February 2021, the government of Ucayali released a report that identified 46 clandestine airplane runways in the region, used to transport coca into neighbouring Brazil and Bolivia. The report also revealed that narcotrafficking in Ucayali caused the deforestation of 42,600 hectares of land in 2020.

Aerial view of an airstrip in Ucayali region © © GERFFS


When the coronavirus state of emergency began, governmental institutions stopped and the narcos took advantage of the silence to go deeper into the Amazon and assassinate more leaders. The Amazon is huge and the police cannot be everywhere. But the main problem is that the state does not work, they have not been protecting us. We’ve seen the illegal crops and maceration pits they use to make cocaine paste, and we’ve sent proof to the police. But nothing has been done.

Suspected clandestine airstrips in 2020 © © GeoBosques

From coca to cocaine


Phase 1: Forest cleared so that coca camps can be built on the land, Ucayali 

Phase 2: Coca cultivation, Ucayali 

Phase 3: Coca lab to transform plant into cocaine. 

Photo taken by indigenous land monitors in Sinchi Roca,

 Ucayali in May 2021. 

Gasoline and kerosene, ingredients used to make cocaine paste. Photo taken by indigenous land monitors in Sinchi Roca, Ucayali in May 2021.

5/6

Clandestine coca lab in Ucayali 

6/6

Wood sold illegally and used to build coca labs. 

Photo taken by indigenous land monitors in Sinchi Roca, 

Ucayali in May 2021. 

 © The Observers

Denouncing what is happening is the only thing that I can do. For too long, our communities have had no rights, but we haven’t spoken out. It’s time for this to change. I know that I am risking my life but I will continue this fight until the last days of my existence.

The nine indigenous leaders who were murdered this year all stood up to the drug trafficking mafias in their territories. But there is another denominator in each of the cases: impunity. We spoke to Zulema Guevara, whose husband, Arbilo Meléndez, was assassinated in April 2020. Shortly after the Cacataibo leader’s death, the prosecution identified the alleged perpetrator, but he was never sentenced. More than a year later, Zulema Guevara is still demanding justice for her husband.

Justice is not happening even though they have all the cards in their hands. The person who killed my husband is still free and it looks like he could remain free. I seek justice not only for my husband, but for all the leaders who are being killed and for their widows and children that they have left behind. (...) Our communities are being abandoned.

Zulema Guevara has been receiving death threats from the same group of people who killed her husband. In an attempt to save her life and those of her children, she has gone into hiding with her family.

Such stories are becoming increasingly common and have prompted indigenous organisations and the land defenders at risk to launch an emergency campaign to draw the government's attention.

The government takes welcome but 'superficial' action

Responding to pressure from these indigenous communities, as well as from the US, Norway and the UN, the Peruvian government announced the creation of an "intersectoral mechanism" in April, under which various sectors of the government would come together to protect the human rights of defenders.

Since the beginning of April, authorities have also started destroying clandestine airstrips and coca labs.

 

Although these initiatives are a step in the right direction, indigenous leaders say the mechanism is a superficial solution to the problem

Berlin Diquez, president of the regional indigenous organisation ORAU, told us that until the government makes a commitment to assist tribes in obtaining legal titles to ancestral land, the violence would continue unmitigated.

Until we own something that is legally recognised, we will keep on fighting, because until that moment, justice will not be served.

No man’s land

Ucayali is vulnerable to land invasions, as many of its indigenous communities don’t have legal titles to their ancestral territory. To procure these titles, tribes must navigate their way through a complex procedure that can take decades.

Meanwhile, the process of titling individual properties is much faster, which has encouraged outsiders, with the government’s support, to buy land in indigenous territories.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Lavaro Masquez, a lawyer specialising in indigenous rights at Lima’s Legal Defence Institute.

Titling is the most important problem facing indigenous communities in Peru. One of the cases I am working on at the moment concerns a tribe that has been requesting titles to its land for 25 years, but they still haven’t been given legal ownership to what is rightfully theirs. In the meantime, drug trafficking and other illegal activities have spread and are threatening the community.

There is structural discrimation and racism against indigenous communities in our country. The government does not prioritise indigenous cases as the balance is tipped in the favour of those who have money.

Indigenous people are risking their lives to stop the proliferation of coca and to protect their land. It’s time to give them the importance that they deserve. We need to give them their land back.

The difficulties that Peruvian indigenous communities face in obtaining land titles is not unique to Peru. Indigenous peoples and rural communities occupy more than half of the world’s land, but they legally own just 10 percent of it.

A special thanks to Gabrielle Colchen and Laura Peña Silva for their help translating the interviews.

Scores more wounded as Israeli police, Palestinians clash anew in Jerusalem

Issued on: 09/05/2021

An Israeli police officer aims his rifle towards Palestinian demonstrators during clashes at Damascus Gate just outside Jerusalem's Old City, on May 8, 2021. © Oded Balilty, AP

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Scores of people were injured Saturday as Israeli police fired water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters in annexed east Jerusalem, a day after fierce clashes at the city's Al-Aqsa mosque.

The fresh violence, a day after more than 200 people were wounded at the mosque, prompted international calls for an end to the violence.

Police said they dispersed the rally in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where demonstrators had thrown stones at security forces.

Officials said Sunday a rocket had been fired from the Gaza Strip, with the Israel Defense Forces responding by striking a "military target" in the south. Earlier, officers had fired tear gas towards protesters on the border.

In Jerusalem, police said they made three arrests for attacks on officers, while Palestinians reported 13 other arrests earlier in the day.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 90 people were wounded in Saturday's clashes in Jerusalem, revising up their earlier estimate of 53.

AFP journalists in Jerusalem said Israeli riot police had fired rubber bullets, sound grenades and water cannon on Palestinians Saturday, some of whom threw projectiles at the police. One officer received a head injury, said police.

On Friday, riot police stormed Al-Aqsa mosque compound, after they said Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at officers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the police actions.

"Israel is acting responsibly to ensure respect for law and order in Jerusalem while allowing freedom of worship," he said in a meeting of security officials.

The violence was the worst in years at Al-Aqsa, Islam's third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina, located on the site Jews revere as the Temple Mount.

A focal point

Palestinians have held nightly protests in Sheikh Jarrah against an attempt by Israeli settlers to take over Arab homes.

On Saturday, protesters chanted, waved Palestinian flags and threw stones before police moved in.

Dozens of Arab Israeli protesters also gathered across Israel in solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah residents, holding up signs that read "the occupation is terrorism".

East Jerusalem Palestinians face evictions following settlers' lawsuits

A reporter for Israeli public TV tweeted footage of a Jewish driver whose car was attacked with stones and windows shattered at the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah Saturday.

Police blocked buses filled with Arabs headed for Jerusalem from northern Israel, saying they would not be allowed "to participate in violent riots".

Instead, hundreds marched on highways leading to the city.

Thousands of worshippers stayed on at Al-Aqsa on Saturday for Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), a peak of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to remain at Al-Aqsa until Ramadan ends, warning that "the resistance is ready to defend Al-Aqsa at any cost".

Outside the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, Palestinians set fire to a barricade before police on horseback dispersed the protesters.

'Extreme concern'

The Quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations expressed "deep concern" over the violence.

"We call upon Israeli authorities to exercise restraint," they wrote.

The United States -- an Israeli ally whose tone has toughened under US President Joe Biden -- said it was "extremely concerned" and urged both sides to "avoid steps that exacerbate tensions or take us farther away from peace".

"This includes evictions in east Jerusalem, settlement activity, home demolitions and acts of terrorism," the State Department said.

The European Union called on the authorities "to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions," saying "violence and incitement are unacceptable and the perpetrators on all sides must be held accountable".

Russia voiced "deep concern", calling the expropriation of land and property in the occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem "a violation of international law".

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he held the Israeli government responsible for the unrest and voiced "full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa".

Yair Lapid, an Israeli politician attempting to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backed the police.

"The state of Israel will not let violence run loose and definitely will not allow terror groups to threaten it," he tweeted.

'Barbaric attack'

The Al-Aqsa clashes drew sharp rebukes across the Arab and Muslim world.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel as a "cruel terrorist state" in a speech in Ankara Saturday, calling on the United Nations to intervene to "stop the persecution".

Jordan condemned Israel's "barbaric attack" and Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Pakistan and Qatar were among Muslim countries that blasted Israeli forces for the confrontation.

Israel also drew criticism from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that signed normalisation accords with the Jewish state last year.

Iran called on the United Nations to condemn the Israeli police actions, arguing that "this war crime once again proved to the world the criminal nature of the illegitimate Zionist regime".

Tensions are expected to remain high in Jerusalem.

Israel's supreme court is to hold a new hearing in the Sheikh Jarrah case on Monday, when Israelis mark Jerusalem Day to celebrate the "liberation" of the city.

(AFP)

Hundreds injured as Israeli police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque

Issued on: 08/05/2021 -

Palestinians react as Israeli police fire stun grenades during clashes at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, amid tension over the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, in Jerusalem's Old City, on May 7, 2021. © Ammar Awad, Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Video by: Yena LEE

Israel braced for more protests Saturday after clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound wounded more than 200 people and as the US, EU and regional powers urged calm after days of escalating violence.

In the unrest following Muslim prayers Friday, Israeli riot police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians who hurled rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers at Islam's third-holiest site, which is also revered by Jews.

Israeli police said 18 officers were wounded while the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 205 Palestinians were injured in the violence at Al-Aqsa and across annexed east Jerusalem, including more than 80 who were hospitalised.

Video footage showed Israeli forces storming the mosque's sprawling plaza and firing sound grenades inside the building, where throngs of worshippers including women and children were praying on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

An AFP reporter witnessed hundreds of Palestinians hurling stones at police. He said officers locked the doors of Al-Aqsa mosque, trapping worshippers for at least an hour.

The clashes came as tensions have soared over Israeli restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during Ramadan and the threat of eviction hanging over four Palestinian families in east Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers.

02:51

The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, urged Palestinians to remain at the Al-Aqsa compound until Thursday morning, when Ramadan ends, warning that "the resistance is ready to defend Al-Aqsa at any cost".

Al-Aqsa is in the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which also includes the Dome of the Rock.

'Heavy price'

On Saturday dozens of Arab citizens of Israel protested in Nazareth in solidarity with Jerusalem Palestinians, holding signs that read "the occupation is terrorism".

The High Follow up Committee for the Arabs in Israel, which represents the country's 20 percent minority, called for protests in other Arab cities and Jerusalem.

The United States -- a staunch Israeli ally whose tone has however toughened under US President Joe Biden -- said it was "extremely concerned" by the events and urged both sides to "avoid steps that exacerbate tensions or take us farther away from peace".

"This includes evictions in east Jerusalem, settlement activity, home demolitions and acts of terrorism," the State Department said.

The European Union called on the authorities "to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions," saying "violence and incitement are unacceptable and the perpetrators on all sides must be held accountable".

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he held the Israeli government responsible for the unrest and voiced "full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa".

Yair Lapid, an Israeli politician attempting to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sent encouragement to police officers.

"The state of Israel will not let violence run loose and definitely will not allow terror groups to threaten it," he tweeted. "Whoever wants to harm us must know that he will pay a heavy price."

'Barbaric attack'

Al-Aqsa mosque director Omar al-Kiswani said in a video posted by Palestinian activists that, directly after the evening iftar break fast meal, "the Al-Aqsa mosque was stormed and unarmed worshippers were attacked to empty it".

Hundreds of people slept on the carpets on the mosque Friday night. Although this is not unusual during Ramadan, many stayed in an act of defiance against the police action.

Jordan condemned Israel's "barbaric attack", and Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Pakistan and Qatar blasted Israeli forces for the confrontation.

Israel also drew criticism from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that signed normalisation accords with Israel last year.

Iran called on the United Nations to condemn the Israeli police actions, arguing that "this war crime once again proved to the world the criminal nature of the illegitimate Zionist regime".

The clashes followed a week of intensifying violence.

Earlier Friday, Israeli police said officers killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the three men opened fire on the Salem base in the occupied West Bank -- the latest of several deadly shootings that week.

Clashes have also repeatedly broken out in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, fuelled by a years-long attempt by Jewish settlers to take over Palestinian homes.

02:10

Israel's Supreme Court is to hold a new hearing in the case on Monday, when Israelis mark Jerusalem Day to celebrate the "liberation" of the city, including with a parade of Israeli flags through the Old City.

(AFP)

NEWS
Fresh Jerusalem clashes leave more than 90 injured, Palestinian medics say

Tensions have been mounting over the possible eviction of Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shaikh Jarrah. The US, Russia, EU and UN have expressed their "deep concern" about the latest clashes.





Tensions have been rising in Jersualem over the possible eviction of Palestinians from an eastern neighborhood of the holy city.


Fresh clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in Jerusalem late on Saturday, leaving dozens of people injured.

Tensions have been rising over the potential eviction of Palestinians from land claimed by Jewish settlers in the Shaikh Jarrah neighborhood of the city.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent told the AFP news agency that 90 people had been wounded in the violence that saw stun grenades and rubber bullets fired to disperse the crowds.

The aid service had given an earlier estimate of 53 people who had been injured.

The clashes took place outside Jerusalem's Old City during what was believed to be the holiest night of Ramadan.

Israeli police had cordoned off areas of the Old City to prevent gatherings and cracked down on protesters in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years. The police defended their actions as security moves but were by Muslims as provocations.
World powers 'concerned'

The four members of the Middle East Quartet — the US, Russia, the EU, and the UN — expressed "deep concern" over the recent unrest.

Watch video 01:29 Demonstrators in Jerusalem protest hatred, violence

They pointed to "last night's confrontations (Friday) between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount."

"We are alarmed by the provocative statements made by some political groups, as well as the launching of rockets and the resumption of incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel, and attacks on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank."

"We call upon Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and to avoid measures that would further escalate the situation during this period of Muslim Holy Days," the statement said, insisting that "all leaders have a responsibility to act against extremists and to speak out against all acts of violence and incitement."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went so far as to call Israel a "terrorist state," criticizing the country's actions in East Jerusalem.
The "cruel Israel, the terrorist state of Israel" is "brutally and immorally" attacking Muslims in Jerusalem, Erdogan said on Saturday
evening. "A world that cannot protect Jerusalem and Muslims has betrayed itself."

He called on the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and other international organizations to take action.


More than 200 people have been injured in clashes over the past two days.
Netanyahu defends response

Speaking to a meeting of senior security officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the police.

"Israel is acting responsibly to ensure respect for law and order in Jerusalem while allowing freedom of worship," he said.

Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai said extra officers had been deployed in Jerusalem on Saturday to "enable freedom of worship and maintain order and security."

"At the same time, we will not allow violent riots, lawbreaking, or the harming of police officers. We ask everyone to calm the spirits and violence, particularly on such an important day for the Muslim religion," Shabtai said in a statement.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Israel claims the entire city as its eternal, indivisible capital.

Its annexation of the eastern section was not recognized internationally.

A long-running dispute between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in Shaikh Jarrah is set to be heard by the Israeli supreme court on Monday.

The League of Arab States has urged the international community to intervene to prevent any forced evictions.

jf/aw (AFP, Reuters)

China says most rocket debris burned up during reentry

BEIJING — China's space agency said a core segment of its biggest rocket reentered Earth’s atmosphere above the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and most of it burned up early Sunday

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the tumbling rocket part, said on Twitter, “An ocean reentry was always statistically the most likely. It appears China won its gamble… But it was still reckless.”

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said reentry occurred at 7:24 p.m. local time Saturday. “The vast majority of items were burned beyond recognition during the reentry process," the report said.

Despite that, NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson issued a statement saying: "It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”

Usually, discarded rocket stages reenter the atmosphere soon after liftoff, normally over water, and don’t go into orbit.

The Long March 5B rocket carried the main module of Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, into orbit on April 29. China plans 10 more launches to carry additional parts of the space station into orbit.

The roughly 30-meter (100-foot) -long stage would be among the biggest space debris to fall to Earth.

The 18-ton rocket that fell last May was the heaviest debris to fall uncontrolled since the former Soviet space station Salyut 7 in 1991.

China’s first space station, Tiangong-1, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2016 after Beijing confirmed it had lost control. In 2019, the space agency controlled the demolition of its second station, Tiangong-2, in the atmosphere.

In March, debris from a Falcon 9 rocket launched by U.S. aeronautics company SpaceX fell to Earth in Washington and on the Oregon coast.

China was heavily criticized after sending a missile to destroyed a defunct weather satellite in January 2007, creating a large field of hazardous debris imperiling satellites and other spacecraft.

The Associated Press

Chinese rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean, draws criticism from NASA
By Ryan Woo 2 hrs ago

© Reuters/TINGSHU WANG FILE PHOTO: The Long March-5 Y5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-5 lunar probe, is seen before taking off from Wenchang Space Launch Center, in Wenchang

BEIJING (Reuters) -Remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit but drawing U.S. criticism over lack of transparency.

The coordinates given by Chinese state media, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office, put the point of impact in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago.

Debris from the Long March 5B has had some people looking warily skyward since it blasted off from China's Hainan island on April 29, but the China Manned Space Engineering Office said most of the debris was burnt up in the atmosphere.

State media reported parts of the rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time (0224 GMT) and landed at a location with the coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north.

The U.S. Space command confirmed the re-entry of the rocket over the Arabian Peninsula, but said it was unknown if the debris impacted land or water.

"The exact location of the impact and the span of debris, both of which are unknown at this time, will not be released by U.S. Space Command," it said in a statement on its website.

The Long March was the second deployment of the 5B variant since its maiden flight in May 2020. Last year, pieces from the first Long March 5B fell on Ivory Coast, damaging several buildings. No injuries were reported.

"Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former senator and astronaut who was picked for the role in March, said in a statement after the re-entry.

Video: China says remnants of Long March 5B about to re-enter earth's atmosphere (Reuters)

"It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris."

ANXIETY OVER POTENTIAL DEBRIS ZONE

With most of the Earth's surface covered by water, the odds of populated area on land being hit had been low, and the likelihood of injuries even lower, according to experts.

But uncertainty over the rocket's orbital decay and China's failure to issue stronger reassurances in the run-up to the re-entry fuelled anxiety.

"It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities," Nelson said.

Harvard-based astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Reuters that the potential debris zone could have been as far north as New York, Madrid or Beijing, and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington, New Zealand.

Since large chunks of the NASA space station Skylab fell from orbit in July 1979 and landed in Australia, most countries have sought to avoid such uncontrolled re-entries through their spacecraft design, McDowell said.

"It makes the Chinese rocket designers look lazy that they didn't address this," said McDowell.

The Global Times, a Chinese tabloid, dismissed as "Western hype" concerns the rocket was "out of control" and could cause damage.

"It is common practice across the world for upper stages of rockets to burn up while reentering the atmosphere," Wang Wenbin, a spokesman at China's foreign ministry, said at a regular media briefing on May 7.

"To my knowledge, the upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means most of its parts will burn up upon re-entry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low," Wang said at the time.

The rocket, which put into orbit an unmanned Tianhe module containing what will become living quarters for three crew on a permanent Chinese space station, will be followed by 10 more missions to complete the station by 2022.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Hallie Gu and Xiao Han in Beijing and Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Himani Sarkar & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Independence movements in Scotland and Quebec are heading in different directions

Éric Grenier CBC /7/5/2021

© Jane Barlow/PA/The Associated Press Voters in Scotland went to the polls on Thursday to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. Counting is expected to be completed on Saturday.

As Scots contemplate becoming an independent country again — just seven years after deciding against it in a 2014 referendum — Quebec seems further away from independence than it has been for decades.

Due to complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the complete results of the election held in Scotland on Thursday were only announced on Saturday. The governing Scottish National Party (SNP) fell one seat shy of a majority in the Scottish Parliament — but thanks to eight seats won by the pro-independence Scottish Greens, Scotland could be on track for a second independence referendum.

Whether one is held will depend on a number of factors — including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Quebec was able to hold its own referendums on independence twice without seeking approval from Ottawa. Scotland, on the other hand, needs Westminster's permission to hold a legal vote.

But appetite for Scottish independence is running higher than it was back in 2014 — and it's not inconceivable that the United Kingdom might soon find itself disunited.

Canada, by comparison, looks like a paragon of stability.

For roughly half a century — from the start of the Quiet Revolution to the first election of a Parti Québécois government in 1976 and through two sovereignty referendums in 1980 and 1995 — the future of the federation looked shaky. These days, however, grievances in parts of Western Canada arguably might pose a bigger threat to national unity than Quebec's sovereignty movement.

Long decline in support for sovereignty

The paucity of polls on Quebec sovereignty is just one sign of the lack of current interest in la question nationale.

In the 1990s and 2000s, polls on Quebec independence were published on a monthly basis — sometimes even multiple times per month. Now, polls on independence appear once or twice a year at most.

Only three polls on sovereignty have been published since 2018. The most recent came from Mainstreet Research — it found just 32 per cent support for independence, or 36 per cent among decided voters in Quebec.

Another survey by Léger published in December found similar results: 27 per cent in favour of sovereignty, or about 34 per cent among decided voters.

Among decided francophone voters (about 60 per cent of them voted 'oui' in 1995), support for sovereignty in the Léger poll was roughly 44 to 45 per cent.
More Scots saying 'aye,' more Quebecers saying 'non'

While the trend line is drifting away from sovereignty in Quebec, it has moved toward independence in Scotland over the past year.

Polls put support for independence in Scotland at around 45 per cent, just a few points behind support for staying in the United Kingdom (the rest are undecided).

While that is a shift from the summer and fall of 2020 — when Yes support crested to about 50 per cent, nearly 10 percentage points ahead of No — support for independence nevertheless remains at a historic high and is well ahead of where it was before the 2014 referendum (which the No side won by a margin of 55 to 45 per cent).

© Jeff J Mitchell/PA/The Associated Press Under leader Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish National Party could capture a majority of seats in Scotland's Parliament.

The boost in support for independence can be attributed largely to two factors: Brexit, which 62 per cent of Scots voted against in the 2016 referendum, and the election of a majority Conservative government under Johnson in 2019 (and Britain's subsequent "hard" exit from the European Union).

In short, the political situation has changed the landscape in Scotland enough to make a pro-independence vote in another referendum more likely.

Quebec has been going in the opposite direction.

The PQ drifting into irrelevance

There has been a long trend in Quebec politics away from the old sovereignist vs. federalist divide as support for sovereignty has waned. It hasn't hit 40 per cent in polls since 2015 and you have to go back to 2005, during the sponsorship scandal, to find polls with more than 50 per cent support for Quebec independence.

The Parti Québécois, the standard bearer for sovereignty in Quebec, has been struggling as a result.

A poll by Léger for Le Journal de Montréal on Friday showed the PQ with just 12 per cent support, putting it in fourth place behind Premier François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec, the opposition Liberals and Québec Solidaire, a small left-wing sovereignist competitor.

The PQ's share of the vote has slid in three consecutive elections since 2008 and it hasn't done better than 35 per cent of the vote since 1998. In the 2018 election, the PQ put up the worst result in its history.

The Léger poll suggests the PQ could set a new record low when Quebec holds its next scheduled election in October 2022.

Legault's CAQ has changed the game

The PQ's support has been gutted by both the lack of enthusiasm for old constitutional debates and the rise of the CAQ, which has emerged as the main vehicle for French-speaking nationalists in Quebec.

According to Léger, the CAQ has 46 per cent support and enjoys a 26-point lead over the Quebec Liberals. This would be enough to hand the CAQ a massive majority government if an election were held today — perhaps the biggest majority Quebec has seen in over 30 years.

Despite the fact that his party doesn't support independence, Legault has successfully corralled the votes of sovereignists. The poll conducted by Léger in December found that about half of Quebecers who support sovereignty would cast their ballot for the CAQ. Just about a third of sovereignists prefer the PQ.

The push for independence is no longer a priority for Quebec nationalists, who seem quite content with a CAQ government that pushes for more autonomy for Quebec within the federation.

Legault has so far proven wrong one of the arguments sovereignists used against him — that by abandoning the threat of a referendum, the CAQ would lose a lot of Quebec's leverage with the federal government.

© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault have made several joint announcements so far in 2021.

Instead, Legault has emerged as an important figure around the first ministers' table — and isn't the pariah among federalist party leaders that past PQ premiers could be. Federal leaders like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet have courted Legault for electoral gain.

Legault and the CAQ won't maintain their current popularity levels forever, of course. It's difficult to predict what a post-Legault political landscape will look like in Quebec.

But with the political environment looking better for Scottish nationalists and worse for Quebec sovereignists, it seems that the next blue-and-white flag to flutter outside United Nations headquarters may be the Saltire, not the Fleurdelisé.