The Horror! Transphobic Trudeau Government 

To Block Chelsea Manning From Entering 

Canada!

Canada aims to block Chelsea Manning from entering country

A decade after Chelsea Manning revealed U.S. state secrets about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, officials in Ottawa are seeking to permanently block her from entering Canada.

A tribunal hearing to determine Ms. Manning’s admissibility – meaning, her legal ability to enter Canada – is scheduled to take place on Oct. 7.

Posted in "Another Damn Election", Big Tranny on September 7, 2021 

by Blazingcatfur. 

Canada aims to block Chelsea Manning from entering country


Sep 7, 2021 | Canada

Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning speaks to the press ahead of a Grand Jury appearance about WikiLeaks, in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 16, 2019. Officials in Ottawa are seeking to permanently block her from entering Canada.
ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images

A decade after Chelsea Manning revealed U.S. state secrets about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, officials in Ottawa are seeking to permanently block her from entering Canada.

A tribunal hearing to determine Ms. Manning’s admissibility – meaning, her legal ability to enter Canada – is scheduled to take place on Oct. 7.

In 2013, an American judge ordered the former U.S. Army private to spend 35 years in jail after finding her guilty of providing the WikiLeaks organization with hundreds of thousands of sensitive U.S. military and diplomatic documents. That sentence was later commuted by U.S. president Barack Obama.

Now, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), an administrative tribunal that makes decisions about who can enter Canada, is about to revisit the case. Federal officials are preparing to argue that Ms. Manning’s past crimes render her too dangerous to be allowed entry into the country. The government’s position is that she should be blocked on grounds of serious criminality. Thousands of people are turned away at the Canadian border for similar reasons each year.

Chelsea Manning says she was denied entry to Canada over criminal record

But lawyers acting in Montreal for Ms. Manning describe her case as anything but routine. They argue in pre-hearing submissions that the government’s bid to block “one of the most well known whistleblowers in modern history” would offend Canada’s constitutional and press freedoms.

Legal questions surrounding Ms. Manning’s ability to cross the Canadian border have been unresolved since 2017. That year, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards turned her away at a crossing. The federal government later let her enter Canada for a few days in 2018, without making a formal decision about her admissibility.

Ever since, Ms. Manning’s lawyers have been fighting for an admissibility hearing, which she is entitled to have under immigration laws. After years of delays, the hearing will now happen in October.

Pre-hearing submissions filed in August to the IRB by Canadian lawyers Joshua Blum and Lex Gill plead the case for Canada to open its doors to Ms. Manning.

Their filings recall the events of 2010, when she was an Army private deployed abroad as a military analyst, with ample access to U.S. government databases. “Her work involved reviewing intelligence about on-the-ground activities in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the documents say, adding that she “gradually became incapable of ignoring the devastation that U.S. forces were inflicting on Iraqi and Afghan civilians.”

Ms. Manning’s handovers to WikiLeaks were in turn passed along to global news organizations, which used the disclosures to highlight cases of wrongful civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led military coalitions.

She also handed over hundreds of thousands of government records that remain relevant today. For example, years before the Taliban took over Afghanistan this summer, Ms. Manning disclosed U.S. reports about how the war effort against them was foundering. Some of the material highlighted how American officials feared Pakistani officials were secretly supporting the extremist insurgents.

WikiLeaks also disclosed documents that showed how Canadian Forces commanders had been struggling to get feuding Afghan and Pakistani factions to work together to tackle Taliban fighters. Canada lost 158 soldiers in the coalition effort in Afghanistan before it pulled its troops out in 2014.

Diplomatic cables disclosed by Ms. Manning revealed the political calculations surrounding Canada’s security alliances. One showed that past prime minister Paul Martin was worried that his party’s decision to stay out of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq could cause the Americans to cut off Canada from intelligence sharing. Other documents spoke to how diplomats and detectives in the U.S. were tracking alleged Chinese and Iranian agents in Canada.

If a foreigner who comes to Canada has been convicted abroad of crimes that could have led to a Canadian jail sentence of 10 years or more, border guards can deem them inadmissible. Statistics show such considerations lead the agency to turn away as many as 4,000 people each year. Such red-flagged travellers usually return to their home countries and forgo their right to hearings.

But Ms. Manning has pressed for years for the government to send her case to the IRB. Lawyers acting for her accuse the CBSA of failing to live up to its legal obligation to refer the case to the immigration tribunal. They say in documents that this fall’s hearing is happening only after they repeatedly pressed the border agency to follow through. “Three and a half years have elapsed with the tribunal never being sent this case,” reads a copy of a letter Ms. Manning’s legal team sent to the CBSA in March.

“The CBSA is unable to speak to the specifics of this case for privacy reasons,” agency spokesperson Jacqueline Callin said in an e-mail.

Filings to the IRB on Ms. Manning’s behalf argue that the records she disclosed “were of profound historical significance and played an essential role in transforming the public’s understanding of the so-called War on Terror.”

Last year she spent several months in jail in the U.S. after refusing a summons to testify in continuing legal matters involving WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested in Britain in 2019 and is now facing extradition to the U.S. Prosecutors allege he unlawfully solicited and published volumes of state secrets that emanated from Ms. Manning. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a 2019 statement that the disclosures from 2010 included “approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables.”


The Globe And Mail

Enbridge advances Gulf Coast strategy with US$3B Moda Midstream purchase

By Staff The Canadian Press
Posted September 7, 2021 

View image in full screen

In this file photo taken on March 11, 2019 a refinery near the 

Corpus Christi Ship Channel is pictured in Corpus Christi, Texas. 

LOREN Elliott/AFP via Getty Images

Enbridge Inc. has signed a US$3-billion deal to purchase a U.S.-based terminal and logistics company

The Canadian pipeline giant says it will buy Moda Midstream Operating LLC from private-equity firm EnCap Flatrock Midstream.

READ MORE: Energy exodus — Life in the Lone Star State for Canadians

As part of the deal, Enbridge will acquire the Ingleside Energy Center located near Corpus Christi, Texas.

Ingleside is North America’s largest crude export terminal. It loaded 25 per cent of all U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports in 2020.

READ MORE: Alberta budget benefits from oil prices no one had bargained for

The deal also gives Enbridge access to other crude export assets in the Gulf Coast region, including the Cactus II Pipeline, the Viola Pipeline and the Taft terminal.

Enbridge says the purchase will advance its U.S. Gulf Coast export strategy.

It says the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and will immediately add to the company’s earnings.

Enbridge in US$3B deal to add U.S. oil export capacity

Enbridge Inc., the Canadian pipeline giant, agreed to acquire a smaller U.S. rival to add export capacity on the Gulf Coast.

The company is buying Moda Midstream Operating LLC for US$3 billion in cash from EnCap Flatrock Midstream, Enbridge said Tuesday in a statement. Enbridge’s stock price rose as much as 50 cents to CUS$50.62 in Toronto, the highest since March 2020, before erasing gains.

The deal marks a shift in focus toward the U.S. market for Enbridge as it wraps up construction of the Line 3 oil sands export line after years of regulatory and legal battles to build the project. The company, which already handles about a quarter of all crude produced in North America, is betting on a strong outlook for exports of oil pumped from the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins in Texas.

The fracking revolution has not only revived U.S. oil production over the past decade, it has turned the country into one of the largest shippers of the commodity. The deal includes Ingleside Energy Center, near Corpus Christi, Texas. Built in 2018, it’s North America’s largest crude export terminal, which loaded 25 per cent of all U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports last year.



“Our strategy is driven by the important role that low cost, sustainable North America energy supply will play in meeting growing global demand,” Enbridge Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said in the statement.

Enbridge will also acquire a 20 per cent stake the Cactus II Pipeline, which connects the Permian with the Gulf Coast, plus the Viola pipeline and the Taft Terminal.

Enbridge seeks to increase its dividend and cash flow, and the Moda Midstream acquisition is a quick way to advance that strategy at a low price, Matthew Taylor, an analyst at Tudor Pickering & Holt, said by phone. Still, some investors would have wanted the company to pay down debt or invest in core assets instead, he said.

“I think the spreadsheet math makes a lot of sense but it’s not what investors were looking for at this time,” he said. Shareholders “want to see growth and returns but in a way that reduces emissions intensity and attracts new investors.”

Enbridge said the acquisition will be initially funded with current liquidity, and that the deal -- which is expected to close in the fourth quarter -- will immediately add to earnings.

Barclays Plc is Enbridge’s financial adviser on the deal. Sidley Austin LLP is the company’s legal counsel in its purchase agreement with Encap Flatrock Midstream to acquire Moda Midstream.

Simon Casey and Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

Enbridge's US$3 billion Moda Midstream purchase raises questions about terminal for Canadian producers

Enbridge's deal in Texas expands the company’s footprint in the heart of the largest oilfield in the U.S.

Author of the article:Geoffrey Morgan
Publishing date:Sep 07, 2021 •

Pipelines run to Enbridge Inc.'s crude oil storage tanks at their tank farm in Cushing, Oklahoma, March 24, 2016. 

PHOTO BY NICK OXFORD/REUTERS FILE PHOTO

CALGARY – Enbridge Inc., North America’s largest pipeline company, is spending US$3 billion to buy North America’s largest oil export terminal and expand its customer base among Texas oil producers, leaving questions about the future of an export terminal designed for Canadian oil producers.

“We’re very excited about acquiring North America’s premium, very large crude carrier (VLCC) capable crude export terminal,” Enbridge president and CEO Al Monaco said in a release Tuesday, announcing a deal with San Antonio, Tx.-based EnCap Flatrock Midstream to buy Moda Midstream Operating LLC and its Ingleside Energy Centre port near Corpus Christi for US$3 billion in cash.

Ingleside, which will soon be renamed Enbridge Ingleside, is the largest crude export terminal on the continent and is capable of moving 1.5 million barrels of oil per day off the U.S. Gulf Coast. The facility can also store 15.6 million barrels of oil on site.

Calgary-based Enbridge’s deal in Texas also expands the company’s footprint in the heart of the largest oilfield in the United States. The pipeline giant is also buying the 3000,000-bpd Viola pipeline, a 20 per cent stake in the 670,000-bpd Cactus 2 pipeline and a storage terminal to move oil from the prolific Permian Basin in West Texas to export markets.

“With close proximity to world-class Permian reserves, and with cost effective and efficient export infrastructure, our new Enbridge Ingleside terminal will be critical to capitalizing on North America’s energy advantage,” Monaco said in a statement.

Enbridge released a map showing the close proximity between the Ingleside facility and its existing pipelines, including Flanagan South and the Seaway Twin, which move heavy oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, but analysts expect the Ingleside facility to be primarily used to export American crude from Texas given its location.

“Ingleside is not connected to our existing assets but adds a complementary light value chain with sustainable competitive advantages,” the company said in a statement. “It’s expected the majority of North American crude exports will be light barrels from the Permian and Eagle Ford, with estimates suggesting Permian could comprise about 80 per cent of U.S. exports by 2035.”


Enbridge had also been working alongside Enterprise Products Partners LP to build the Sea Port Oil Terminal in the Houston region and some analysts now question how quickly Enbridge will develop that project, which would more directly to serve heavy oil proucers in Western Canada, following its Tuesday’s deal for the Ingleside terminal.

Enbridge’s commitment to funding the SPOT terminal “could be modest” given Tuesday’s deal to buy the Ingelside terminal, National Bank analyst Patrick Kenny wrote in a research note Tuesday.

SPOT is a proposed 2 million bpd export terminal in the Houston area that is directly connected to Enbridge’s existing south-bound pipelines Flanagan South and Seaway Twin and is designed to handle both heavy and light oil exports, making it an ideal export facility for Western Canadian oil producers. The company is expecting approvals of that project in the second half of 2021.


Kenny called Tuesday’s acquisition of Ingleside a continuation of the company’s “buy-over-build crude oil export growth strategy.”

Enbridge also has regulatory approvals in place to expand the Ingleside terminal to ship 1.9 million bpd and to expand the shipping berths at the facility to handle Suezmax crude oil tankers.

The Ingleside terminal in Corpus Christi is positioned to export crude oil from the Permian and Eagle Ford oil plays in Texas, “almost exclusively,” said John Coleman, research director at Wood Mackenzie in Houston.

“It gives them a much stronger presence in probably the lone growth region for the Lower 48 (oil) supply going forward. The Permian Basin is really the lone growth engine of the Lower 48, so if you’re going to increase your long-haul presence that’s not a bad place to do it,” Coleman said.


MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Enbridge buys Moda Midstream for $3 billion in cash to bolster presence in U.S. Gulf Coast

Enbridge to start moving oilsands crude in the new Line 3 in October


“It’s kind of a no brainer for Enbridge to go for that,” Coleman said.

But Enbridge could likely pursue both port projects at the same time, offering capacity at Ingleside primarily to U.S. producers and at SPOT to Canadian producers.

“I think the SPOT terminal is really going to be a strong solution for what I would call their bread and butter customers,” he said. “Just because they bought a highly attractive export terminal in the Corpus Christ market, it doesn’t preclude them from moving forward with the SPOT terminal because it gives them solutions for a more prevalent part of their client base.”

Tuesday’s US$3-billion acquisition, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will not put a financial strain on Enbridge, according to one analyst.

“We do not expect Enbridge will require equity to finance the acquisition,” Bank of Montreal analyst Ben Pham said in a research note Tuesday, adding the company has between $5 billion and $6 billion in annual financial capacity, $9 billion in balance sheet liquidity and “lots of breathing room” on its credit rating.

• Email: gmorgan@nationalpost.com | Twitter: geoffreymorgan

VACCINE EVADERS SHOULD BE QUARNTINED 

Braid: MLA says Kenney was mean to the unvaxxed — while offering them $100

WHAT A SNOWFLAKE

Kenney was quite kind to the unvaxxed, actually. He offered them $100 each to get the jab, thereby irritating the majority of Albertans who did it for free

Author of the article: Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Sep 07, 2021 •

ANTI VAX SYMPATHIZER SNOWFLAKE

MLA Peter Guthrie for Airdrie-Cochrane. 

The restless peace in the UCP caucus is over. The latest to blast his own premier is Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie.

Guthrie’s biggest gripe is that Jason Kenney wasn’t nice to the unvaccinated.

He wrote on Facebook on Tuesday: “Last Friday the Government of Alberta announced restrictions, adopting a disparaging tone towards unvaccinated individuals.

“People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the health-care system.

“This type of communication from our leader feeds a narrative of anger and division which is unproductive in an already turbulent time.

“The $100 vaccine incentive has also created animosity within the constituency, and I am not in favor of the negative tone adopted by leadership.”

Kenney was quite kind to the unvaxxed, actually. He offered them $100 each to get the shots, irritating the majority of Albertans who did it for free.

But Guthrie’s thinking, common in the UCP caucus, is that we should all embrace each other in blissful harmony, with no one group demeaning another.

“If one believes that we should have these individual rights and we are indeed ‘in this together,’ then we should respect the decisions of our fellow constituents regardless of what those decisions may be,” the MLA wrote.

There’s very little embracing of the unvaccinated in the medical community. Nothing angers doctors and nurses more than devout anti-vaxxers who suddenly show up in hospital to fight for their lives.

“It feels like some people want to punch a hole in the life-rafts, while expecting health-care workers to keep bailing,” said Dr. Peter Brindley of the department of critical care medicine and other senior roles at the U of A.

“We have done our compassionate best not to shame, but it hasn’t worked,” he wrote in a blog post.

“We respect your ability to make choices, but choices come with consequences.

“I have witnessed too many people reject science right up until they reach the hospital doors, and then suddenly demand science ‘STAT’.”

Dr. Brindley worries about a growing loss of empathy among exhausted health workers, who see first-hand evidence that the fourth wave is caused by the unvaccinated.

Peter Brindley, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, and the Dosseter Ethics Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton. universityhospitalfoundation.ab.ca

Dr. Scott Malmberg, who just worked a 48-hour stretch in the Medicine Hat COVID ward, wrote on Facebook: “It is unequivocally negligent for eligible people to avoid a life-saving vaccine, then clog our hospitals . . .

“Please get vaccinated, take your $100 reward for being negligent, and give us our hospital back.”

MLA Guthrie’s criticism aligns him with Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes, who were kicked out of the UCP caucus for criticizing Kenney.

But does the premier dare to eject more people? How many more would follow voluntarily?

Debate on new measures continued in caucus last Thursday for at least three hours, and in cabinet committee for another two hours.

That was a clear sign of rekindled discontent. Some MLAs would prefer only the mildest measures, or none at all.

They dislike the subsidy and hate the very idea of a vaccine passport, which Guthrie says would “create a false sense of security for those who are vaccinated.”

The result of all that debate was just weird — a bounty reward for vaccination, to cover off rekindled hostility to masking.


On Tuesday there was no sign of an uptick in vaccinations, even with the incentives.

It’s early. The payoff could still work, but even in government there are doubts.

In June, Kenney was ecstatically saying the pandemic was as good as over and we’d have the greatest summer ever. People working on COVID were soon shifted to other duties.

There was almost an incentive to look the other way while the fourth wave crept up the ladder.

Behind it all lay the fear of another caucus rebellion that could upend Kenney’s leadership.

That may be one way to hold a government together during a pandemic. It is no way to govern a province during a pandemic

.

Premier Jason Kenney announces a three-stage plan to reopen Alberta by early July on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, in Edmonton.

 PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ/GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics

'Feeds a narrative of anger and division': Letter from UCP MLA questions Kenney’s leadership

Dave Dormer

CTVNewsCalgary.ca Digital Producer

Published Tuesday, September 7, 2021 

CALGARY -- A UCP MLA has penned an apology letter to constituents saying he is sorry the province imposed new health restrictions after he and others declared "Alberta was not only 'Open for Summer' but 'Open for Good.'"

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie also took aim at Premier Jason Kenney, accusing the province of taking a "disparaging and accusatory tone" toward those who choose not to be vaccinated.

Gutherie said he "truly believed," the province wouldn't have to re-impose COVID-19 health measures when he made the statements about Alberta being open, "yet here we are, weeks later, imposing restrictions on constituents again."

"I think most Albertans watched in trepidation over the last several weeks as patient numbers in hospitals, particularly ICUs, began to climb and vaccination rates stalled," the letter read in part.

"Increased anxiety from the public regarding the load on the healthcare system triggered discussions on mandatory vaccination, masks and vaccine passports. These contentious issues have created division in our community."

New rules imposed by the province call for masks to be worn in all indoor public settings and alcohol sales to end at 10 p.m. The province is also now offering $100 to Albertans who receive their first or second dose of vaccine until Oct. 14.

Guthrie says he is vaccinated and believes vaccines are an effective way of protecting Albertans, but he also supports the right of an individual to choose.

"Last Friday, the Government of Alberta announced restrictions adopting a disparaging and accusatory tone toward unvaccinated individuals," the letter read.

"People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the healthcare system. This type of communication from our leader feeds a narrative of anger and division which is unproductive in an already turbulent time. The $100 vaccine incentive has also created animosity within the constituency and I am not in favour of the negative tone adopted by leadership."

Guthrie also accused the province of shifting its position on vaccine passports, which Kenney has said several times would not be used in Alberta.

"During last week's announcement it was also revealed to me that the province will be introducing a QR code for Albertans to use as proof of vaccination for organizations choosing to introduce a so-called 'vaccine passport,'" he wrote.

"Such a move suggests that the government's position on this practise is shifting. Various public opinions exist on the use of vaccine passports, but I am not convinced it is a good practise for domestic use as it not only limits access to services and isolates individuals, it also provides a false sense of security for those who are vaccinated."

CTV Calgary has reached out to Kenney's office for comment.

Guthrie declined comment, saying the letter stands for itself.

Alberta MLA accuses government of 'disparaging' the unvaccinated

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Peter Guthrie says 'negative tone' of premier's recent speech feeds 'anger and division'

Drew Anderson · CBC News · Posted: Sep 07, 2021 

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie says he supports the rights of the unvaccinated to choose and condemned his own government for its 'disparaging and accusatory tone.' (Facebook)

An Alberta MLA who criticized his colleagues for breaking ranks with Jason Kenney's government has himself taken aim at its new policy on masks and vaccinations. 

Peter Guthrie, the United Conservative Party MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane, which hugs the north and west edges of Calgary, said Tuesday that the provincial government's recent announcement about renewed mask mandates and incentives for vaccinations adopted a "disparaging and accusatory tone" toward the unvaccinated.

"People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the health-care system," he wrote in a letter to constituents posted to his social media. 

Kenney on Friday said the large number of unvaccinated people in Alberta was causing problems, as cases of the delta variant rip through that population. 

"I wish we didn't have to do this, but this is not a time for moral judgments," the premier said, as he announced a $100 incentive for those receiving first or second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

"We still have 30 per cent of the eligible population without full vaccine protection — that is to say, without two doses. And the delta variant is ripping its way through this group at an aggressive rate."

Guthrie did not offer specific examples from the premier's speech, but said that the "negative tone adopted by leadership" feeds "a narrative of anger and division." 

He also argued against vaccine passports and apologized to constituents for supporting the government's promise earlier this year that the province was "open for good."

Earlier this year Guthrie criticized 16 of his fellow UCP MLAs after they wrote a letter objecting to the government's return to pandemic restrictions in April. 

WATCH | Alberta health-care workers say they're frustrated with COVID-19 response:

Health-care workers speak out against Alberta’s pandemic response

8 hours ago

2:57

As the worsening fourth wave of COVID-19 takes a severe toll on health-care workers, some are voicing their disapproval over how the province has handled the pandemic and say the official case count has been understated. 2:57

CBC News has reached out to the premier's office, and to Health Minister Tyler Shandro, for comment on Guthrie's letter. 

Guthrie's office declined an interview request and said they would let the letter speak for itself.

Alberta currently leads the country in daily new COVID-19 cases and active cases. On Monday the province reported 4,903 new cases over past four days, and 17 more deaths.

Letter 'confusing'

It's unclear what Guthrie thinks should happen to stem the tide of hospitalizations.

"It was confusing," said Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary, when asked about the letter. 

"He talks about the importance of vaccination and then criticized the premier for criticizing the unvaccinated. Well, the stats back up what Kenney said. You know, the vast majority of those hospitalized in the ICU for COVID are unvaccinated. This is a crisis of the unvaccinated."

Bratt argues the letter could indicate a broader sentiment in caucus and explain why the government was unable or unwilling to bring in a more forceful measures like a vaccine passport.

Guthrie said in his letter that he is vaccinated but supports "the rights of individuals to choose for themselves."

He argues that creating division is unproductive and says the province should focus on incentivizing Albertans to get vaccinated, while also accusing it of sowing division for offering $100. 

Guthrie's proposals, presented in the letter, involve wage incentives for health-care employees, "increased use of rural facilities and the possible utilization of temporary private services" to deal with the crush of new cases.

• 'I wish we didn't have to do this': Alberta to offer $100 incentive to get vaccinated against COVID-19

• Alberta's updated COVID-19 modelling projects close to 2,000 daily cases in 4th wave 'high scenario'

• ANALYSIS
  The political consequences of Kenney's 4th-wave vacation

"The degradation of our public health system and the inability to react to an evolving situation is the issue at hand, not accusing individuals who are unvaccinated," he wrote. 

Bratt said that kind of logic is faulty. 

"That would be like saying we've got a whole bunch of people in hospital because of drunk driving, but let's not blame the drunk drivers," he said.

With files from Colleen Underwood

Hurricane Larry to skirt Bermuda, could hit Newfoundland


Hurricane Larry is expected to bring swells to the U.S. Atlantic coast. Photo courtesy of NOAA


Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Hurricane Larry was forecast to skirt east of Bermuda, but possibly make landfall in Newfoundland later this week, forecasters said Tuesday.

The Category 3 storm slightly weakened throughout the day and was expected to drop down to Category 2 strength in the coming hours.

In its 11 p.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said the eye of Hurricane Larry was located about 660 miles southeast of Bermuda. It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.

It is moving toward the northwest at 12 mph and that general motion is expected to continue through Wednesday, followed by a turn toward the north-northwest and north on Thursday.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for Bermuda.

"Swells generated by Larry will continue to affect the Lesser Antilles, portions of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas through midweek, and impact Bermuda through the end of the week," the NHC said. "Significant swells should reach the east coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada by midweek and continue affecting these shores through the end of the week."

The swells are forecast to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Banana tree planted in large pothole on Florida road

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A banana tree was planted in a pothole in the middle of a Florida road in an apparent act of protest to draw attention to the condition of the pavement.

Witnesses said two men were seen tending to the tree in the middle of Honda Drive in Fort Myers after planting it in the large pothole in the middle of the roadway.

Drivers said the road is fraught with potholes that have caused damage to cars that failed to swerve around them.

Those who frequent the road said the tree makes the pothole easier to spot, but it hasn't solved the road's problems.

"The tree makes it harder to get around the next pothole that's right next to it. Because normally I just drive over the pothole, but because there's a big tree you can't drive through a tree," Nicholas Angus told WINK-TV.

Lee County officials said the road is privately owned, so the potholes won't be repaired by county crews. They said it is up to the road's owners to have the pavement repaired.

Mass Covid testing launched in Bangkok's biggest slum


Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

The Bangkok Community Help Foundation has launched a mass testing drive to try to identify cases and help them stop Khlong Toei becoming a reservoir that reinfects the whole city

 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Bangkok (AFP)

For families struggling to survive on $150 a month in Bangkok's biggest slum, coronavirus swab tests are a luxury that few can afford.

The Khlong Toei slum, where an estimated 100,000 people live packed into tiny, overcrowded dwellings, has been a major concern as Thailand battles its third wave of the pandemic.

Now the Bangkok Community Help Foundation, a charity, has launched a mass testing drive to try to identify cases and help stop Khlong Toei from becoming a reservoir that reinfects the whole city.


The foundation said the programme -- linked to guaranteed hospital beds for positive cases -- was long overdue.

Almost 1,000 people have been swabbed in recent days, it said, with close to 50 coming back positive.

"There are many people living in very tight and confined spaces. In many cases people are living with 10 people in a house... of maybe 20 square metres, which means if one has Covid, the rest have it," foundation co-founder Friso Poldervaart told AFP.

"It's usually the case that if people (test positive), they get given a home isolation kit. The issue is here that they cannot home isolate."

Rice donations, mangosteen juice and a free lunch were among incentives the charity used to encourage hesitant residents to undergo a swab test.

Almost 1,000 people have been swabbed in Khlong Toei in recent days, the foundation says, with close to 50 coming back positive 

Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Since April, Thailand has been reeling from a deadly third wave of infections, with more than 1.3 million cases and 13,000 deaths.

The kingdom is also experiencing its worst economic performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Lockdown restrictions have meant many people already on the poverty line in Khlong Toei lost jobs or income.

Among those getting tested Monday was Praohpilai Jaroenpong, 23, who said many slum-dwellers have no welfare safety net and feel like they have fallen through the cracks.

"It's bad. Some people in the community are out of jobs and they could hardly put food on their tables," she told AFP.

As well as testing, the foundation has been delivering 3,000 meals a day to the community along with care packages and medications.

Volunteer tester Ekkachai Moolla, an out-of-work flight attendant, said helping the foundation got him through difficult times and put his basic medical training to good use.

"I can't wait for the time I can go back to work, but in the meantime, I just enjoy this -- coming to help, it's the best," he told AFP.

© 2021 AFP

Myanmar cell towers attacked after shadow government 'war' call

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

Protesters hold up a three-finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon in July - AFP

Yangon (AFP)

Protesters have destroyed around a dozen military-owned communications towers in Myanmar, witnesses and reports said Wednesday, after the country's self-proclaimed shadow government issued a call for a "defensive war" against the junta.

The country has been in chaos since the military seized power in February, sparking mass pro-democracy rallies followed by a deadly crackdown and renewed fighting with ethnic rebel militias in border areas.

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 8,000 arrested, according to local observers.

Protesters said they targeted 11 mobile phone masts belonging to the military-owned Mytel, one of the country's four main cell networks, in the town of Budalin in the central Sagaing region.

"Our intention is to destroy the military business. Their businesses support (them) to maintain their power. Therefore, we have to destroy it," a resident involved in the operation told AFP.

Video footage from local media shows an explosion at the base of one tower followed by the structure falling down, to applause from onlookers.

Two more masts were destroyed elsewhere in the Sagaing region, local sources told AFP.

- 'Defensive war' -

While attacks on military-owned infrastructure and businesses have been seen before, Tuesday's spate of blasts comes after a call to arms from the so-called National Unity Government (NUG).

The NUG, which claims to be the country's legitimate government, is made up of dissident lawmakers in hiding or exile, many of them from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La on Tuesday urged citizens to target military assets in their areas.

"We launch a people's defensive war against the junta," he said in a recorded video.

"All citizens within... Myanmar revolt against the military terrorists led by Min Aung Hlaing."

As early as May the NUG announced the formation of "people's defence forces" to take on the junta's heavily-armed, battle-hardened troops, but they have yet to have a major impact.

The military authorities -- officially known as the State Administration Council (SAC) -- dismiss the NUG and its affiliates as "terrorists" seeking to bring the country to ruin.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun accused the NUG of attention-seeking ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week which will consider whether the junta or shadow government should represent Myanmar.

"The terrorist groups realise that they are nearly failing. That's why the attempt to keep up their efforts in order to grab international attention," Zaw Min Tun said in a statement.

The junta has defended its power grab by alleging massive fraud during elections in late 2020 which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide.

Military chief Min Aung Hlaing -- named by the SAC as prime minister of a "caretaker government" -- last month pledged to hold fresh elections by August 2023.

© 2021 AFP

Beam, bolt flaws caused Mexico metro crash, probe finds

Issued on: 08/09/2021 - 

An altar with candles and flowers is seen near the section of an elevated track that collapsed bringing a train crashing down on May 3 in Mexico City

 Alfredo ESTRELLA AFP


Mexico City (AFP)

An investigation into the Mexico City metro disaster that left 26 people dead concluded Tuesday that the buckling of beams and problems with bolts caused the elevated track to collapse.

The accident, in which an overpass gave way on May 3, bringing a passenger train crashing down, has prompted angry demands for justice from relatives of the victims.

Norwegian engineering company DNV, which was hired by the authorities to investigate the causes, blamed the crash on a structural failure in an initial report published in June.

In its final technical report released Tuesday, the firm said the collapse "occurred as a result of buckling of the north and south beams" and inadequate bolts that "caused part of the elevated section to lose its composite structure."

This led to cracks "that further reduced the structure's ability to carry the load," it added.

The investigation identified poorly welded, missing and misplaced bolts.

Possible reasons for the collapse of the beams include mechanical and design deficiencies, according to the report.

The metro line, the city's newest, has been plagued by problems since it was opened in 2012.

An independent report with analysis of the root causes of the accident will be released at some point in the future, said Mexico City works chief Jesus Esteva.

The fallout of the crash has engulfed two of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's close political allies -- Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and one of her predecessors, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men, also faces scrutiny over the disaster as one of his companies was involved in the construction of the section that collapsed.

Slim has agreed to pay for its reconstruction, according to Lopez Obrador, but rejected suggestions that the line had flaws in its original construction.

© 2021 AFP

Report: Covid-19 disrupted fight against HIV, TB, malaria

Issued on: 08/09/2021

A man walks beneath a mural depicting a hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Soweto, South Africa

 © REUTERS - Siphiwe Sibeko

Text by :NEWS WIRES


The Covid-19 pandemic had a "devastating" impact on the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in 2020, according to a report released by the Global Fund on Wednesday.

"To mark our 20th anniversary, we had hoped to focus this year's report on the extraordinary stories of courage and resilience that made possible the progress we have achieved against HIV, TB and malaria over the last two decades," said Peter Sands, the Global Fund's executive director.

"But the 2020 numbers force a different focus. They confirm what we feared might happen when Covid-19 struck," he said.

"The impact of Covid-19 on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria and the communities we support has been devastating. For the first time in the history of the global fund, key programmatic results have gone backwards."

There were "significant" declines in HIV testing and prevention services, the fund said.

Compared with 2019, the number of people reached with HIV prevention and treatment dropped by 11 percent last year, while HIV testing dropped by 22 percent, holding back new treatment in most countries.

Nevertheless, the number of people who received life-saving antiretroviral therapy for HIV in 2020, rose by 8.8 percent to 21.9 million "despite Covid-19".

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the fight against TB worldwide had similarly been "catastrophic", the report said.

The number of people treated for drug-resistant TB in the countries where the Global Fund invests dropped by "a staggering" 19 percent, with those on treatment for extensively drug-resistant TB registering an even bigger drop of 37 percent, it said.

The fund calculated that around 4.7 million people were treated for TB in 2020, around one million fewer than in 2019.

Interventions to combat malaria "appear to have been less badly affected by Covid-19 than the other two diseases," the report found.

"Thanks to adaptation measures and the diligence and innovation of community health workers, prevention activities remained stable or increased compared to 2019."

The number of mosquito nets distributed increased by 17 percent to 188 million and structures covered by indoor residual spraying increased by three percent.

Nevertheless, the Global Fund -- which brings together governments, multi-lateral agencies, bilateral partners, civil society groups, people affected by the diseases and the private sector -- said that its "rapid and determined response to Covid-19 prevented an even worse outcome".

In 2020, the fund disbursed $4.2 billion to continue the fight against HIV, TB and malaria and approved an additional $980 million in funding to respond to Covid-19.

The Global Fund said that since it was set up in 2002, it has saved 44 million lives and the number of deaths caused by AIDS, TB and malaria decreased by 46 percent in countries where it invests.

(AFP)

Stranded dolphin rescued from Louisiana pond after Hurricane Ida


A team of rescuers led by a SeaWorld crew removed a stranded dolphin from a Louisiana pond after Hurricane Ida and returned the marine mammal to the wild. 

Photo courtesy of SeaWorld

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A dolphin that became stranded in a Louisiana neighborhood by Hurricane Ida's floodwaters was rescued and returned to the wild.

SeaWorld Rescue said in a news release that a crew worked together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Audubon Aquarium's Coastal Wildlife Network, the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the National Marine Mammal Foundation to rescue a dolphin stranded in a small Slidell pond.

The dolphin was first spotted by residents last week after Hurricane Ida's floodwaters swept through the area.

SeaWorld said the rescue team was able to remove the dolphin from the pond and take it to a facility to be examined by a veterinarian.

The dolphin was found to be uninjured and was returned to the wild Sunday, SeaWorld said.