NATIONALIZE BIG PHARMA
Private equity group swoops on pharma services provider UDG Healthcare with a £2.6bn bid

By MATT OLIVER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 12 May 2021

Private equity buyers have swooped on pharmaceuticals services provider UDG Healthcare with a £2.6billion bid.

The London-listed firm urged shareholders to back the cash offer from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which is worth 1023p per share. That is a 21.5 per cent premium on UDG’s closing price on Tuesday.

It is the latest British company to fall into private equity hands after a string of deals, including approaches which were made for John Laing and St Modwen last week.


Pharmaceuticals services provider UDG Healthcare has urged shareholders to back a £2.6bn cash offer from private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

Analysts say the bonanza is being fuelled by a perception that UK firms appear ‘cheap’, due to the weak pound and the knock to share prices in the pandemic.

UDG’s shares leapt more than 20 per cent in response to the takeover bid.

They closed up 20.7 per cent, or 174p, at 1016p.

Shane Cooke, chairman of Dublin-based UDG, insisted the board was ‘confident’ in its future prospects but that the takeover bid was ‘an attractive offer for shareholders’.

‘The offer reflects the quality, strength and long-term performance of UDG’s businesses and its future growth potential,’ he added.


‘We believe that our people, our clients and our businesses will continue to prosper under the stewardship of CD&R.’

Eric Rouzier, partner at CD&R, said: ‘UDG has long established itself as a leading provider of high-value services to pharma and biotech companies globally, supported by a highly skilled workforce.’

UDG, which has its headquarters in Dublin, specialises in healthcare advisory, communications, commercial, clinical and packaging services.

Its manufacturing services include making placebos used in clinical trials.

However, the offer premium of 21.5 per cent is lower than the average of 36 per cent that has been offered in a string of other recent deals, according to AJ Bell.

Russ Mould, AJ Bell’s investment director, said that the avalanche of bids ‘suggests that someone, somewhere feels UK companies are still going cheap’.

He said overseas buyers were attracted by the weak pound, which still sits below levels reached ahead of the EU referendum in 2016, giving them improved buying power.

UDG also reported for the six months the end of March, showing that revenues fell 5 per cent to £469million but profits rose 5 per cent to £46million

APARTHEID ISRAEL

Mob 'lynching of Arab' aired live on Israeli TV

By AFP - May 13,2021 - 

This video grab obtained from a footage released by Kan 11 Public broadcaster on Wednesday, shows a far-right Israeli mob attacking who they considered an Arab man, on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, a town south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv (AFP photo)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Fooage of a far-right Israeli mob attacking a man near Tel Aviv they believed to be an Arab was aired live on television Wednesday night, as the Israel-Palestinian conflict raged on.

The shocking images show a man being forcibly removed from his car and beaten by a crowd of dozens until he lost consciousness.

The attack, broadcast by public broadcaster Kan, took place on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv.

Police and emergency services did not arrive on the scene until 15 minutes later, while the victim lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street.

Those in the crowd justified the attack by saying the man was an Arab who had tried to ram the far-right nationalists, but the footage shows a motorist trying to avoid the demonstration.

"The victim of the lynching is seriously injured but stable," Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital said in a statement, without revealing his identity.



Issawi Fredj, an Arab deputy from the left-wing Meretz party, said the images were a sign that the country was heading towards "civil war".

Demonstrations by far-right activists broke out Wednesday night in several cities, leading to clashes with police and sometimes Arab Israelis.

Police said they were responding to violent incidents in cities including Acre, Haifa and Lod.

In Acre, a mixed Arab-Jewish town in northwest Israel, a Jew was seriously injured by stone throwers, police said.

"The rioters in Lod and Acre do not represent Israeli Arabs, the rioters in Bat Yam... do not represent Israeli Jews, violence will not dictate our lives," said opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is currently tasked with forming a government after March elections.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have launched hundreds of rockets since Monday at Israel, which has carried out air strikes on the crowded coastal enclave.

The most intense hostilities in seven years between Israel and Gaza's armed groups were triggered by weekend unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Polish bishop resigns after probe into cover-up allegations

OPPOSES LGBTQ RIGHTS COVERS UP CHILD ABUSE

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop following a Vatican investigation into alleged negligence in addressing cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests under the bishop's authority.

The forced departure of Bishop Jan Tyrawa was the latest in a string of sanctions the pope has meted out since mid-2020 to Polish Catholic Church leaders over cases of cover-up of sexual abuse by other priests.

The Vatican Embassy in Poland said that on Wednesday Francis accepted Tyrawa's resignation from the diocese of Bydgoszcz, in central Poland, and placed Bishop Wieslaw Smigiel from the neighboring Torun diocese temporarily in charge.

The Vatican communique said the investigation was launched in response to signs of negligence in addressing sex abuse of minors. It didn't say what the findings were concerning these allegations.

It said Tyrawa handed in his resignation after the probe was concluded and also due to some other difficulties in the running of the diocese.

Tyrawa was mentioned among other cases described in TV documentaries in Poland about alleged sex abuse by priests and cover-up by their superiors. The allegations came as a shock in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

The Associated Press

Prosecutors shelves probe of gang rape that shocked Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian prosecutors said they have shelved their months-long investigation into an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel, ordering the release of all suspects for lack of evidence.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The case shocked Egypt’s conservative society when it was revealed last year by a social media account that tracks alleged sexual assaults in the country.

In a detailed statement late Tuesday, prosecutors said evidence collected during their nearly nine-month investigation was not enough to refer the case to a criminal court. The statement said witnesses gave conflicted testimonies.

Prosecutors ordered the release of the four suspects, who were arrested last year and jailed pending investigations. Three of them were arrested in Lebanon and deported to Cairo last year.

Prosecutors said the probe could be reopened if new evidence emerges.

The alleged gang rape involves a group of young men from wealthy and powerful families. They allegedly drugged the teen at a party at a five-star Cairo hotel, then took turns raping her.

Accounts of the alleged assault surfaced amid a renewed #MeToo campaign on social media that swept Egypt last summer.

Potential witnesses in the suspected gang rape case and acquaintances were arrested as private, explicit videos purportedly from their phones circulated via private messenger apps. Some of them were later released.

In a joint statement Wednesday, seven Egyptian rights groups asked prosecutors to reconsider their decision. The groups, including the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said prosecutors ignored the arrest and intimidation of some of the witnesses, which “undoubtedly contributed to such regrettable outcome.”

The investigation into the hotel case uncovered another alleged gang rape in the North Coast resort on Mediterranean. Three suspects were referred to criminal trial last month in that resort case.

The Associated Press

Doctor apologizes for letting a registered sex offender into a retreat for sex assault survivors

Ashley Burke, Kristen Everson 

© Laura Osman, CBC News Dr. Manuela Joannou has posted a public apology to participants in one of her therapy retreats.

The doctor running Project Trauma Support now says she regrets her decision to allow a registered sex offender to peer mentor a group of sexual assault survivors with post traumatic stress disorder under her care.

Seven female first responders and Canadian Forces veterans shared their story publicly with CBC News yesterday. They said their trust was violated by Dr. Manuela Joannou because she failed to tell them their peer mentor recently had been convicted in two separate cases of sexual assault before attending the six-day trauma retreat in July 2018.

CBC News obtained an image of a statement posted by Joannou to Facebook on Wednesday apologizing to participants in her program.


"I am deeply saddened by the compounded hurt and pain that having a registered sex offender as a mentor on our program in 2018 has caused for so many people," Joannou wrote in the Facebook post.

"If I had a chance to do it all over again, this would not have happened. Did we make some errors in our early efforts? Undoubtedly, but it has shaped our awareness and our methods going forward."

The post comes a day after Joannou, in an exchange with CBC News, defended her actions and did not apologize for using retired Canadian Forces major Jonathan Hamilton as a peer mentor at the retreat.

Retreat participants said they were upset that Joannou's public apology came after several major donors to the program — including the Mood Disorder Society of Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion — severed ties with her charity in the wake of CBC's report and said they would not be funding it in future.

Joannou said she started Project Trauma in 2015 as a suicide prevention program. CBC News spoke to a Canadian Forces member who said she became suicidal after taking part in the program.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) investigated the case and advised Joannou in 2019 to be more careful in her hiring practices.

In her Facebook apology, Joannou wrote she now has code-of-conduct agreements for peer mentors to sign and is conducting police background checks on them.

"We fully intend to continue to offer our programming as we feel it is unethical to cease our mission that has resonated with so many," wrote Joannou. "We are committed to doing better …"

The Centre of Excellence on PTSD said Joannou's actions contravened its member agreement and it will no longer affiliate with her or Project Trauma Support.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with those women impacted by this egregious act and recognize the deep hurt associated with this situation," said the Centre's CEO and president Dr. Patrick Smith in a media statement.

Military doctor stepping away from Project Trauma

The Canadian Armed Forces confirms its chief of rehabilitation medication has now left his volunteer role with Project Trauma Support in the wake of the story.

Lt.-Col. Markus Besemann, who has spent his career rehabilitating injured soldiers, had been volunteering with Project Trauma Support and is featured in uniform on the program's website. Some of the participants said they took part in 2018 because of Besemann's reputation in this field.

The Office of the Veterans Ombudsman said retired Brig.-Gen.Paul Rutherford has resigned from his role on the veteran's ombudsman advisory council and his name has been removed from its website in light of the CBC story.

Rutherford is the chair of Project Trauma Support's board of directors and also was an adviser to the veterans ombudsman. He and Joannou signed a letter in response to CBC's report, saying that "the truth cannot be realized by listening to one side of the story."

Veterans ombudsman Nishika Jardine said she was "deeply disturbed" by participants' accounts.

"No one who has experienced sexual trauma should be placed in a position where a peer support mentor is a sex offender," said Jardine in a statement to CBC News. "Individuals who have experienced this type of trauma need the safest space possible to promote their healing."

© Hallie Cotnam/CBC Female participants of Project Trauma Support take part in a group hug at the centre of a labyrinth in Perth, Ont.

Crown attorney did not grant approval

Some of the women who participated in the retreat only learned the full extent of the mentor's criminal past this month after CBC News published a story about the military's handling of one of his court cases.

In 2017, a justice found Hamilton guilty of unlawfully entering a Kingston home and sexually assaulting retired Capt. Annalise Schamuhn on two different occasions. Hamilton also was convicted of twice physically assaulting Schamuhn's husband, retired major Kevin Schamuhn.

Hamilton was sentenced to three years parole as a result, according to the attorney general's office.

In a second, unrelated case, Hamilton was sentenced to three years in custody on April 20, 2018 after a jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault.

Joannou had told the CPSO she had permission from the Crown attorney and the court for Hamilton to participate in Project Trauma Support, according to a report from the college obtained by CBC News.

But the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General said Wednesday that while it did consent to Hamilton staying there as part of his community service, the Crown did not grant permission for him to be a peer mentor.

"I can confirm that the Crown did not authorize Mr. Hamilton's participation in any peer mentoring groups," ministry spokesperson Brian Gray said in a statement to CBC News.

The Canadian Military’s Sexual Misconduct Crisis Explained
Zi-Ann Lum 

Provided by Chatelaine The Canadian flag waving in front of the The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence in Ottawa.

The Canadian military is embroiled in another moment of reckoning. Separate allegations of sexual misconduct against former chief of defence staff General Jonathan Vance and his successor, Admiral Art McDonald, have spurred a controversy that is testing the armed forces’ commitment to eradicating sexual harassment and violence—and the federal government’s “feminist approach” to policy. (Vance has denied the allegations and McDonald has not commented publicly, citing an ongoing investigation.)

It’s déjà vu for survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the military. The issue has been repeatedly raised in recent decades, and it’s clear that sexual harassment and assault of military employees is a systemic problem. Now, a new review—the second in six years—has been launched to draft recommendations for the creation of an external agency to have oversight of the armed forces. Here’s what you need to know:
How did this controversy start?

The latest controversy involves Vance and McDonald, but Canada’s military culture has long been criticized for failing to protect victims of sexual harassment and assault.

In 1998, Maclean’s wrote about “a pattern of sexual harassment and assault” in the Canadian military, interviewing 13 women who said they were sexually assaulted in the armed forces. The survivors experienced nervous breakdowns and depression as well as at least one attempted suicide, reporters wrote. “All have left the Forces, heartbroken that their careers were shattered and angry that the military response worsened their conditions.” When the magazine revisited the issue in 2014, they found little evidence of a culture shift. The military “sometimes still closes its eyes to victims of sexual assault, and even punishes the women who denounce their rapists, rejecting them the very moment they start heading down the spiral of trauma.” The 2014 Maclean’s investigation also stated that an estimated five people are sexually assaulted every day in the military community.

The latest allegations came to light in February, when Global News first reported that Vance—who had retired in January—was facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour. Weeks later, McDonald, his successor, temporarily stepped aside as chief of defence staff after a separate misconduct allegation was made against him related to an incident in 2010 involving a female junior officer. (Global News has also reported on a separate allegation against Vance that involves a second female subordinate and a 2012 email invitation to “a trip to a clothing optional vacation destination.”) These revelations put pressure on the defence minister and prime minister’s office to explain who knew what—when. For the armed forces, it has exposed hypocrisy in the chain of command and undermined the work of high-profile campaigns to end sexual misconduct in the military.

Who are the people involved—and what have politicians said?

Maj. Kellie Brennan came forward publicly with allegations against Vance. She told a House of Commons committee in April that they had a 20-year sexual relationship which started when he was her boss and continued when he was chief of the defence staff. He fathered two of her children, she said, and provided no financial support.

Lieut. Heather Macdonald came forward after details of her case involving allegations against McDonald, then the chief of defence staff, were leaked without her consent. She told Global News she wanted to draw attention to the double standard within Operation Honour, the military’s mission to change its culture to track and prevent sexual misconduct. There’s no independent process to hold senior troops accountable for their actions, she said.

Former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne told a Commons committee that he raised allegations of misconduct against Vance with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in a meeting in March 2018. Walbourne said Sajjan refused to review the evidence. Sajjan later told the committee Walbourne was wrong to come to him on the matter, suggesting his involvement in a potential investigation would risk politicizing it. Walbourne should have known this, Sajjan said. “In our society, the last thing we want is for elected politicians to make decisions that investigators need to make independently.” Despite having the authority to ask for an investigation, Sajjan referred the case to the Privy Council Office, a branch of government that supports the prime minister’s office and cabinet. The military ombudsman office, however, is not permitted to share details about a case to anyone without written consent from the complainant, which Walbourne did not have.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he personally did not have any knowledge about the allegation against Vance in 2018 and that “no one knew it was a Me Too complaint.” When members of a parliamentary committee asked why Trudeau was not informed of the allegation, his chief of staff, Katie Telford, told MPs during the May 7 hearing that they didn’t know any details of the complaint at the time. The Liberal government committed to making the military a workplace free from harassment and discrimination in 2015, Telford said, but acknowledged they have yet to achieve that goal.
How is misconduct and harassment reported in the military?

The military’s investigative arm is the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS). It’s the branch that is also responsible for investigating “serious or sensitive offences” including allegations of sexual misconduct. But concerns have long been raised about the efficacy of the military investigating itself using its own justice system. The CFNIS launched investigations into the allegations against Vance and McDonald earlier this year. Systemic issues, including inadequate training and the fact that an overwhelming majority of its investigators are male, as reported by Global News, are considered factors why some women are reluctant to report incidents in the first place.

Complaints can also be filed with the military ombudsman office. But the office is hamstrung with how a probe can proceed: it can share information related to a case or investigation with police or public servants only with the written consent of the complainant for privacy reasons.

How has the military responded?

Vance has denied all the allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him. McDonald has declined to respond to the allegation against him. The two investigations exploring the allegations against both Vance and McDonald remain ongoing.

The Canadian military has a problem with how it handles sexual misconduct and harassment within its ranks: That was the conclusion from former supreme court justice Marie Deschamps’ 2015 report that described an endemic “hostile, sexual environment” that has become normalized to create a culture “where no one speaks up and which functions to deter victims from reporting sexual misconduct.” The Canadian Armed Forces had hired Deschamps to write the external report in response to Maclean’s 2014 investigation.

One recommendation was to follow in the footsteps of the United States, Australia, and France and create offices independent from the military responsible for receiving and investigating complaints. These agencies would also provide support to victims and training to members. There was “very little accountability in the chain of command or the military police as to the outcome of any particular incident,” Deschamps found. The lack of statistics also stymied efforts to address sexual misconduct. The military launched Operation Honour later that year, led by Vance. In the five years since Operation Honour launched, the military has recorded 581 reports of sexual assault.

The Canadian military has yet to set up an independent centre for accountability to handle allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, as reccomended by Deschamp’s 2015 report.

What did the prime minister’s office know about the allegations against top military brass?

It’s unclear who in the prime minister’s office was the first to learn about the allegation against Vance. Elder Marques, a former senior advisor in Trudeau’s office, said he first heard about the allegation through either Telford or a member of her staff in early March 2018. Telford, on the other hand, has said that she learned about the allegation from Marques.

Marques told a parliamentary committee in April that a request from the former military ombudsman for an independent review into the allegation against Vance was approved by the Privy Council Office. “I received their confirmation that they would be taking further steps, I had no further involvement in this matter,” Marques said. Though there was little information available, Marques told MPs on the committee that he presumed the allegation against Vance “could be of a sexual nature.”

Why has this topic become a source of debate and discussion now?

The new allegations have renewed attention over the military’s failure to change a culture that is, as described by Deschamps, “hostile to women and LGTBQ members, and conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault.” Though some witnesses have told MPs that some improvements have been made in the military in terms of efforts to change a sexualized military culture that either, as Deschamps wrote, “[condoned] inappropriate sexual conduct” or turned “a blind-eye” to it, new testimonies give evidence of a problem that continues to exist.

Leah West was a former armoured officer and served in the military for 10 years. She told CBC’s The Current that when she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer from her unit, despite the military police’s involvement, there was no investigation. Her story shows a double standard: when she breached the military’s fraternization rule with a consensual relationship while she was deployed in Afghanistan, West was charged and returned to Canada for disobeying an order. “Women in the military are held to such a different standard. In every way,” West told CBC host Matt Galloway.

Emily Tulloch, an aviation technician, joined the military in July 2018. She told a parliamentary committee in April that she was raped in her first month of basic training and has experienced a “lifetime’s worth of sexual assault and misconduct” in her service since. Tulloch said she believes in the importance of the armed forces, but the military police handling her case made her feel like a criminal. Operation Honour got the conversation going, but its credibility has matured into a joke, she said, it’s time to end it and start something new.

“For many of us, Op Honour has aged like rotten milk. It just leaves a sour taste in your mouth,” Tulloch said. “To make matters worse, in a cruel irony, it’s apparent that the man who created the whole operation is now being investigated under the same pretenses that he swore to fix.”

Florida takes step toward the catching of goliath grouper

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) —

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A divided board of Florida game regulators took a tentative step Wednesday that might eventually allow fishermen to catch and kill goliath groupers, a fish that was almost driven to extinction 30 years ago by overfishing and pollution.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told its staff to craft a regulation it has proposed that would allow 100 goliaths to be caught and kept annually during a four-year period. Supported by fishing groups, the proposed limited harvest calls for a lottery to issue $300-per-week licenses that allow each recipient to catch and kill one goliath, with proceeds funding research of the species.

But board members said that did not mean the regulation would ultimately be approved even over the next few years, saying the science may not support its quick adoption.

There were questions about whether the fish, which typically weigh 400 pounds (180 kilograms) but can exceed 800 pounds (360 kilograms), has seen its population sufficiently recover. The commissioners did, however, seem to oppose a permanent ban, saying a harvest should be allowed eventually. Goliath grouper is not allowed to be caught in any other state or federal waters.

Commissioner Robert Spottswood believes the population is getting near a point where a limited harvest can be allowed. He said many of the arguments against a harvest are based on emotion. While the species’ population is unknown, the commission's staff believes it has grown enough to allow the limited catch.

“We can't just be stuck because there is a philosophy out there that says this big lovable creature can never be taken again,” Spottswood said during the Tallahassee meeting.

But Commissioner Gary Nicklaus said the reports that the goliaths' population is nearing recovery is based upon where it was when it was close to extinction, not when it was abundant in the 1950s. He said the biggest economic benefit the goliath provides to the state is drawing scuba divers who want to swim with it and photograph it.

“I think we should protect it until its population comes back to whatever baseline we want that to be,” said Nicklaus, the son of retired pro golfer Jack Nicklaus.

The goliath once ranged over a wide swath of ocean territory, from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil. But its numbers dropped sharply starting in the 1960s. By 1990, when Florida banned its catch, it was almost gone because of overfishing.

Today, the goliath is found mainly off South Florida. Adults live in reefs and shipwrecks, digging holes that provide hiding spaces for other fish.

Public comment to the board was about equally divided Wednesday. A prime example was scuba divers — some called it a nuisance and told commissioners they want to hunt it on spearfishing trips, while others saw the fish as photogenic and said it should be protected. The goliath is popular with both spearfishers and photographers as it does not flee when divers approach.

Dick Kempton, a member of the St. Pete Underwater Club, spoke in support of the harvest plan, saying the fish is becoming too plentiful in the waters around Tampa Bay and that is impacting other species.

“There are goliath grouper everywhere,” Kempton said, especially at shipwrecks and other underwater structures. “They eat everything that comes by ... There is plenty of stock out there. A limited harvest is not going to affect that at all."

But Tom Ingram, president of the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association, said the goliath draws divers to the state who simply want to see and photograph them. He said it will take at least another 10 years for the goliath to recover.

“Goliath grouper are still considered vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature," Ingram said. He asked the commission to implement a permanent ban on the catching of goliaths, saying they are as important to the economy at manatees, which are protected.

The proposal as currently envisioned would limit the size of goliaths that could be killed to a range of 4 to 6.5 feet (1.2 to 2 meters) and 70 to 200 pounds (32 to 90 kilograms) — that’s a young adult of 7 to 10 years. Older fish are high in the neurotoxin methylmercury, which is especially dangerous to children and pregnant women.

Outside that range they would be released, just like all goliaths caught now are supposed to be, though poaching is a problem. Goliaths have a lifespan of 35 years or more. Fishing would also remain banned during their spawning season of July to September and at their spawning spots.

Terry Spencer, The Associated Press

Vulture invasion besets residents of Florida neighborhood

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Residents of a Florida neighborhood say they are beset by an invasion of turkey vultures that are damaging homes and causing major messes.

Resident Judy Oliveri told WFLA-TV that her neighborhood in the Tampa suburb of Westchase is overrun with the large black birds, and they've been multiplying since they showed up three years ago.

“We could have 20 to 25 vultures on our roofs. They land on our screens, their under-feathers are all over the roof, their droppings are all over the place,” Oliveri said.

Other homeowners say it's possible the vultures were dislocated from their previous habitat by ongoing development in the area.

Residents say the U.S. Department of Agriculture has promised to remove the vultures, but no timetable has been set.

“They are destroying our neighborhood and our property values. I would like them gone,” Oliveri said.

Vultures are state and federally protected as a migratory bird. That means it is illegal to harm or kill them without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Associated Press

Scientists offer look into life as Caribbean volcano erupted

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The three scientists credited with helping save lives ahead of a recent explosive volcano eruption in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent are known to locals simply as Richie, Rod and TC.

 Provided by The Canadian Press

The team huddled indoors for weeks on little sleep to study and alert the government about activity at La Soufrière, whose eruptions last month displaced nearly 20% of the population and prompted the United Nations to seek $29 million to help the island recover from the devastation.

More than 16,000 people fled the ash-covered hills and homes in northern St. Vincent while the scientists stayed behind. They filed two reports a day and worked in shifts to keep a constant eye on the temperamental volcano as ash kept falling from the sky, blanketing the island’s lush green environment in monotone gray.

“You get kind of used to having ash in your food, in your hair, in your nose. You sleep in a fine layer of ash. It gets very uncomfortable,” said Richard Robertson, a geologist and volcanologist with the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center who oversaw the team in St. Vincent.

The observatory, built about 6 miles from La Soufrière, was located close enough to the volcano to give scientists a full view of it but far enough so that they remained out of danger. It is divided in two: the air-conditioned office where all data including recordings from a seismometer were analyzed and compiled and a room also sealed off from ash that lacked air conditioning and served as the bedroom for all three.

Like many of those affected by the eruptions, the scientists ate a lot of dried and canned goods, although people would drop off donations including fresh fruit, homemade smoothies and even a lasagna from the wife of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, while local residents came by with buckets of water when the team lacked running water for about a week.

“There were two days in which we were a bit smelly,” Robertson said with a laugh. “It was an intense period. We were focused on what we were doing, so we didn’t notice as much.”

A minor eruption in December allowed scientists to set up monitoring stations that helped them collect enough data to recommend evacuations less than a day before the April 9 explosive eruption that shot a plume of ash 32,000 feet (10 kilometers) into the sky as lightning crackled through it.

No deaths or injuries were reported as eruptions continued on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, thanks partly to the life-saving evacuation order based on data collected by Roderick Stewart, a volcanologist and seismologist who goes by “Rock Star” since he shares names with British singer Rod Stewart, although not his vocal ability.

He said recommending the government evacuate the area was an easy decision given the rapid changes in seismic activity.

“I’ve seen wrong warnings and hesitancy,” Stewart said. “In this situation, it was actually the other way around. ... We came to this sort of feeling that we would not be happy going into the night if there wasn’t an evacuation, and that things could change quickly.”

On the afternoon of April 8, the government ordered all those living close to the volcano to evacuate. Thousands of people grabbed whatever belongings they could fit into suitcases, backpacks or plastic bags and headed to government shelters or the homes of friends or family.

Some people, however, refused to leave their homes, worrying Robertson, Stewart and their colleague, Thomas Christopher. They knew people could die for insisting on staying or returning to their homes like they did in nearby Montserrat, where the Soufrière Hills volcano has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.

Both Robertson and Stewart said they force themselves to not think about what impact their decisions might have on people.

“You try to focus on what the volcano is doing and less on what the implication is for people,” Robertson said. “If you don’t do that, you’re not going to be doing as good a job as you could.”

A native Vincentian, Robertson recalled the previous eruption of La Soufrière in 1979. He was around 18 years old and helped evacuate people, managed a shelter for two weeks and even provided entertainment to those displaced, playing tenor pan in a steel band at shelters. At the time, he was considering studying physical planning and geography, but the eruption led him to become a geologist and volcanologist.

The team he led during the most recent eruption has since disbanded and gone back to their home base, but not before the scientists praised the director of the seismic research center, Erouscilla Joseph, in a blog: “No man is an island, so it makes sense that our director, Dr. Joseph, is a woman adept at rallying the troops.”

The scientists are still in touch online as they continue to monitor La Soufriere.

“We are currently discussing, ‘Is the eruption finished?’” said Stewart, adding that while scientists expect it to go quiet in upcoming months, it’s not guaranteed. “Volcanoes in their nature are unpredictable.”

Dánica Coto, The Associated Press

Activists ask MacKenzie Scott to help fund their efforts to stop Amazon from building its Africa headquarters on sacred native land

tsonnemaker@insider.com (Tyler Sonnemaker)

  MacKenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019. Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images

Activists in South Africa asked MacKenzie Scott to help them block Amazon from building on sacred lands.

Indigenous Khoi leaders say Amazon's planned Africa headquarters would have harmful environmental and cultural impacts.

The group also wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, but said he hasn't responded.

Barely two years after Amazon faced backlash over its elaborate public search for a "second" headquarters, the company's plans to build its Africa headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa, are coming under fire.

This time, indigenous activists and other local community groups have criticized Amazon's plans to set up its new campus on land that is environmentally and culturally sacred to the first nation Khoi people.

One of those groups, the Observatory Civic Association, is turning to a high-profile source for help in their fight to block the Amazon-led development: MacKenzie Scott, who divorced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019.

"We appeal to you to intervene to bring Amazon to its senses," OCA chairperson Leslie London wrote in an open letter to Scott, adding: "If you wish to assist our struggle for justice in the courts, we will welcome your financial assistance."

London said the group, which has partnered with more than 60 Khoi and other NGOs and civic groups, also wrote to Bezos, but that he didn't respond.

Scott and Bezos could not be reached, and Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

The backlash concerns a planned mixed-use development in Cape Town called The River Club, which would span roughly 37 acres, with Amazon set to be the main tenant, according to South African news site IOL. While Cape Town city officials approved an initial concept for the project, it has faced fierce criticism from many native Khoi groups, according to the OCA's letter and various media reports.

London wrote in her letter the proposed development disregards the history of the land, where the Khoi fought against colonial expeditions and land grabs by the Portuguese and Dutch.

"We think [Scott] can influence Bezos and Amazon to avoid making the biggest business mistake of their lives. Amazon will forever and irrevocably be associated with modern-day colonial dispossession," London told IOL.

Other tech billionaires, such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have faced criticism for attempts to acquire land originally occupied by indigenous people, with critics calling such moves examples of "neocolonialism."

But the OCA said Amazon's proposed headquarters also poses serious environmental concerns and would violate Cape Town's established climate resilience policies, since it would involve pouring 150,000 square metres of concrete into a flood plain. (Concrete infilling can exacerbate the flood damage caused by heavy storms, for example, like what happened in Houston, Texas, during Hurricane Harvey).

The proposal as it currently stands, London wrote, "must surely be of deep concern to anyone who believes in a world where environmental protection, justice and heritage, particularly for First Nation groups, should be adequately considered in development decisions."