Islamists routed by liberal parties in Morocco: provisional results

Issued on: 09/09/2021 

Liberal parties thrashed Morocco's long-ruling Islamists in parliamentary elections, according to provisional results 

FADEL SENNA AFP

Rabat (AFP)

Morocco's long-ruling Islamists have suffered a crushing defeat to liberal parties seen as close to the palace in parliamentary elections, according to provisional results announced early Thursday.

The Justice and Development Party (PJD) which headed the ruling coalition for a decade saw its support collapse from 125 seats in the outgoing assembly to just 12, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said during a press briefing following Wednesday's polls.

It was far behind its main liberal rivals, the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with 97 and 82, respectively, and the centre-right Istiqlal Party with 78 seats in the 395-seat assembly.

The RNI, which was a junior member of the governing coalition, is headed by billionaire businessman Aziz Akhannouch, described as close to the palace.

And the main opposition PAM was founded by the current royal adviser, Fouad Ali El Himma, in 2008. The Istiqlal (Independence) party is the oldest party in Morocco.

King Mohammed VI will name a prime minister from the party that won the parliamentary poll to govern the nation of 36 million for the next five years, succeeding Saad-Eddine El Othmani.

The final results should be known on Thursday.

Turnout was 50.35 percent, according to the interior minister, higher than the 43 percent turnout at the previous legislative polls in 2016, but lower than the 53 percent during the 2015 local elections.

But this was the first time that Morocco's 18 million voters chose their deputies and municipal and regional representatives on the same day.

On Wednesday evening, the Islamists had raised allegations of "serious irregularities," including "obscene cash handouts" near polling stations and "confusion" on some electoral rolls, with some voters finding they were not listed.

However, the interior minister said voting took place "under normal circumstances" apart from some isolated incidents.

In 2011, Morocco adopted a new constitution devolving many of the monarch's powers to parliament and the government. However, decisions in key areas continue to come from initiatives of King Mohammed VI.

© 2021 AFP

Islamists suffer crushing defeat in Moroccan parliamentary elections

Issued on: 09/09/2021 - 

A Moroccan woman cast her ballot on September 8, 2021

 in Rabat as Moroccans voted in parliamentary and local elections. © AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES|

Video by: Fraser JACKSON

Morocco's liberal RNI party has won the most seats in the country's parliamentary elections followed by another liberal party, PAM, while co-ruling moderate PJD Islamists suffered a crushing defeat, preliminary results showed on Thursday.

RNI, led by billionaire agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch, took 97 of the 395-seat parliament, followed by PAM with 82 seats and the conservative Istiqlal with 78 seats.

The PJD, which had been a coalition partner in the previous two governments had only taken 12 seats after a count of 96% of all parliamentary seats. The results show a massive turnaround in fortunes as the RNI had only won 37 seats at the last election in 2016, while the PJD took 125.

Islamists defeated in Moroccan parliamentary elections

RNI ministers controlled the key economic portfolios of agriculture, finance, trade and tourism in the outgoing government.

Turnout in Wednesday elections improved to 50.3%, up from 43% in 2016, as Morocco held parliamentary and local elections on the same day.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy where the king holds sweeping powers in the North African country. He picks the prime minister from the party that won the most seats in parliament who will then form a cabinet and submits it for the King's approval.

The Palace has the last say on appointments concerning key departments including the interior, foreign affairs and defence.

New voting rules were expected to make it harder for bigger parties to win as many seats as before, which means the RNI will have to enter into coalition talks to form a government.


The palace also sets the economic agenda and has commissioned a development model country of 37 million people that the new government is being asked to implement.

In a statement on Wednesday, the PJD accused rivals of buying votes, without naming any or providing details.

Despite having been the largest party since 2011, the PJD has failed to stop laws it opposes, including one to bolster the French language in education and another to allow cannabis for medical use.

The PJD will move into the opposition if it does not win elections, Lahcen Daoudi, former PJD minister told reporters.

(REUTERS)

 

CANADIAN AND BRIT UNDERDOGS

Teen titans Fernandez, Raducanu on brink of US Open final

Issued on: 09/09/2021 -

British 18-year-old sensation Emma Raducanu would become the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final with one more victory at the US Open 

TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP


New York (AFP)

Teen powerhouses Leylah Fernandez and Emma Raducanu are each one victory from reaching their first Grand Slam final at the US Open, displaying the next generation's formidable talent.

Raducanu, a British 18-year-old who became the first US Open qualifier to reach the last four, and Fernandez, a Canadian who ousted Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber before turning 19 on Monday, have starring roles in Thursday's women's semi-finals at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fernandez, a 73rd-ranked left-hander, will face second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who has matched her deepest Slam run from July at Wimbledon, while 150th-ranked Raducanu faces Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari, who matched her best Slam run from June's French Open.

"I think we all have equal chances of winning the semifinals and then winning the title," Sakkari said. "We are all for a reason here. We're all playing well."

One of the four will capture her first Grand Slam title in Saturday's final, which could be an electrifying prodigy battle.

"I've known Leylah since we were juniors, in Under-12s," Raducanu said. "We played Orange Bowl and all of those tournaments. I played her in Junior Wimbledon, actually.

"The fact we're both in the semifinals of the US Open after having played each other from the early days, it's very cool to see just how far we have come. She's a really cool person."

Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion who turns 40 later this month, won her first major title at the 1999 US Open at age 17, three years before Raducanu or Fernandez were born.

Raducanu, only the fourth qualifier in the semis at any Slam, could become the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final.

"We're all just super hungry to make a difference in the tennis world," said Fernandez. "I'm just glad we're doing such great jobs and doing just that.

"We want to make an impact. This tournament just proves how well we're adapting to everything."

Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, beaten by Raducanu in a quarter-final, hopes the rising stars will receive a nurturing environment to develop.

"It's great for tennis. It's obviously great stories," she said. "I just really hope that everyone will protect them and will hope the best for them and not try to put so much pressure and so much hype around them so it just gets too much... so they can just develop in peace also a little bit."

Canada's Leylah Fernandez, who turned 19 on Monday, is one victory from a berth in the US Open final

 Kena Betancur AFP

Sabalenka, 23, is looking forward to facing crowd darling Fernandez, whose poise under pressure and powerful shotmaking have produced shock upsets.

"She's playing well, moving well. I would say it's nothing to lose for her," Sabalenka said. "She's a great player. She's fighting for every point. The crowd are there and they are supporting her really loud.

"It will be interesting one. Really looking forward for this match."

Sabalenka hopes for a breakthrough title of her own in her 16th Slam start.

"Hopefully I can keep it up," she said. "I'm really proud of myself. I'm here in the semifinal and I have another chance to show my best."

- 'Being young and free' -

Raducanu, who handed out cupcakes in the locker room to celebrate her birthday, has not dropped a set at the Open.

She is trying to become the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 and the first British woman to win the US Open since Wade in 1968.

Raducanu became the youngest US Open women's semi-finalist since Maria Sharapova in 2005.

"To have so many young players here doing so well, it shows how strong the next generation is," Raducanu said.

"There's definitely an element of being young and free -- there's a quality to that, being free swinging and loose."

Sakkari, 26, has defeated three top-10 seeds in Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova and Bianca Andreescu.

"I beat some really good players. My tennis looks in a good place right now," Sakkari said. "I'm at the best age of my career."

'Anything is possible' in Raducanu's US Open fairy tale

Issued on: 08/09/2021

Britain's Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to reach the US Open women's semi-finals on Wednesday by defeating Switzerland's Belinda Bencic

 TIMOTHY A. CLARY AFP


New York (AFP)

Emma Raducanu, an 18-year-old British qualifier, is living a US Open dream as astonishing as anything one might see down the road on Broadway.

Raducanu, ranked 150th, became the first qualifier to reach the US Open women's semi-finals on Wednesday by defeating Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic, the Tokyo Olympic champion, 6-3, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

She's only the fourth qualifier in Grand Slam history to reach the semi-finals, but Raducanu still resists comparisons to such stars as Naomi Osaka.

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"I think to compare yourself and your results against anyone is probably like the thief of happiness," Raducanu said.

"I didn't compete for 18 months, but here I am and it just shows that if you believe in yourself, then anything is possible."

Raducanu could become the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final, and from there a trophy is only one step away, even though she insists on never looking ahead.

"Let's say I have a hunger to win every single match I play," Raducanu said. "So I don't want to get ahead of myself at all, because I just like to take it one day at a time.

"If I take care of what I can control, that's going to give me the best chance. Until now, I think it's worked very well for me not getting ahead of myself, just focusing on one point at a time. It's got me to this stage, and I'm not going to change anything."

That includes her red attire on court.

"It's not the same set, to be clear," Raducanu said. "I just really like the color red."

It hasn't been a bad couple of weeks for a woman who planned to pack her bags for a much earlier exit.

"I didn't expect to be here at all. I think my flights were booked at the end of qualifying, so it's a nice problem to have," Raducanu said.

"I've just been focusing one day at a time, taking care of each day. When you're playing tournaments, you just get into this sort of autopilot mode of your routines, recovering on the day off in between."

She is trying to become the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 and the first British woman to win the US Open since Wade in 1968.

- Inspired by legends -

British tennis legends Wade, Andy Murray and Tim Henman have boosted her confidence.

"All are such great role models and figures for me to follow," she said. "I think that their presence and everything they've achieved is inspiration in itself for me."

Raducanu made her Grand Slam debut with a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July and followed with WTA events in San Jose and Chicago.

"I worked my way up to this level gradually but, yeah, the amount of matches I have had has really helped with my confidence," Raducanu said.

She's most pleased with improving her court movement at the Open.

"Physically I would say I'm not 100% developed yet, but my speed and ability to get to some of the balls has definitely surprised me," Raducanu said.

"I've started sliding, which I didn't know I could do actually, and I kind of do it by accident now. I've always wanted to learn how to do it, but now I can."

She credits her parents with the mental toughness that has been her trademark in clutch situations.

"The calmness and the mental strength definitely comes from my upbringing," Raducanu said.

"I'm pretty relaxed. I trust myself and it's all mental at the end of the day."

© 2021 AFP

Horror offers 'escape' from pandemic year at Universal theme park

Issued on: 09/09/2021 - 

The creators of the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood say customers will be in the mood for terror after months of pandemic 

VALERIE MACON AFP

Universal City (United States) (AFP)

Universal Studios Hollywood is notorious for its spooky annual Halloween transformation, when a series of ghoulish interactive "mazes" inspired by classic horror films pop up around the California theme park.

While last year's "Halloween Horror Nights" were canceled due to the real-life terror of Covid-19, organizers are betting that customers in 2021 will be more in the mood for an evening of frights than ever before.

"Horror always does extremely well in the most challenging of times," creative director John Murdy told AFP on a recent behind-the-scenes tour.

"The 'Universal Monsters' movies... when were they made? 'Frankenstein' 1931. 'Dracula' 1931. 'The Mummy' 1932. 'Bride of Frankenstein' 1935."

That remarkable string of seminal spine-chillers is often credited with saving the Universal Pictures studio from bankruptcy during the Great Depression -- the worst economic collapse in US history.

Gallons of fake blood have gone into the sets 

VALERIE MACON AFP

"These were huge hit movies in their day," said Murdy. "Horror always speaks to the present fears of society, and it becomes an escape."

Visitors -- seeking goosebumps and gore, or otherwise -- have already been welcomed by theme parks around Los Angeles, which mostly reopened in April after a year in which Covid-19 ravaged the second-largest city in the United States.

California Governor Gavin Newsom chose Universal Studios Hollywood as the site for his June "reopening day" event, which celebrated the ending of nearly all Covid-19 restrictions, although some measures such as mask-wearing have since been restored.

Masks are not a problem inside this year's Halloween mazes, where most performers are already clad in elaborate face coverings as they transform into zombies, vampires and Frankenstein's monsters.

- Ladies' fright night -

One of this year's mazes, called "The Bride of Frankenstein Lives," is a brand-new sequel to the 1935 movie.

Executive producer and director John Murdy says the 2021 Halloween mazes at Universal Studios Hollywood are a bid to highlight the role of overlooked female characters 

VALERIE MACON AFP

It imagines that the monster's undead mate survives the film and works to bring him back to life again in a makeshift lab -- donning a handy surgical mask as she carries out her experiments.

"It's an extra creative challenge," said Murdy, of the Covid-19 measures.

Along with the usual gallons of fake blood, rumbling sound effects and special smoke and light effects, the maze contains real movie props from a more recent Universal horror -- 2004's "Van Helsing" starring Hugh Jackman as the monster hunter.

Murdy was inspired to give the Bride of Frankenstein her own maze because she only appears for "about five minutes" in the 1935 film.

In a departure from the usual canon of horror movies, "Bride of Frankenstein" is part of a bid to highlight the genre's often overlooked female characters, featuring terrifying hordes of Dracula's daughters.

The maze exits into a "scare zone" in which the She-Wolf of London can be found roaming.

Jars of blood are a key feature in the displays 

VALERIE MACON AFP

Other female-centered installments this year include an "Exorcist" attraction, and a new "Haunting of Hill House" experience based on the Netflix TV series.

"I have a six-year-old daughter, and I wanted to create those female characters for my kids," said Murdy, who had the help of fellow horror fan Slash from Guns N' Roses for the maze's soundtrack.

"Horror teaches us how to deal with our own fears in our everyday lives," Murdy added.

© 2021 AFP

Wind turbine giant Siemens Gamesa claims world-first in blade recycling

PUBLISHED TUE, SEP 7 2021
Anmar Frangoul

KEY POINTS

Siemens Gamesa claims its RecyclableBlades are “the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades ready for commercial use offshore.”

Firm says it will work with German utility RWE to install and pilot the blades at the Kaskasi offshore wind farm


Wind turbine in backlight
Jorg Greuel | DigitalVision | Getty Images

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said Tuesday it had launched a recyclable wind turbine blade, a move which represents the latest example of how the industry is attempting to find ways to re-use materials.

In a statement, the Spanish-German engineering group claimed its RecyclableBlades were “the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades ready for commercial use offshore.”


Siemens Gamesa said it would work with German utility RWE to install and pilot the blades at the Kaskasi offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, which is expected to commence commercial operations in 2022.

The firm – whose major shareholder is Siemens Energy – said it was also working with EDF Renewables on the goal of deploying “several sets” of the blades “at a future offshore wind farm.”

A similar collaboration is taking place with wpd, a German-headquartered company which develops and operates wind farms.

The issue of what to do with wind turbine blades when they’re no longer needed is a headache for the industry. This is because the composite materials blades are made from can prove to be difficult to recycle, which means that many end up as landfill when their service life ends.

As governments around the world attempt to ramp up their renewable energy capacity, the number of wind turbines worldwide only looks set to grow, which will in turn increase pressure on the sector to find sustainable solutions to the disposal of blades.

According to Siemens Gamesa, its recyclable blades use a new type of resin which “makes it possible to efficiently separate the resin from the other components at end of the blade’s working life.”

The business said this process, which it described as “mild,” protected “the properties of the materials in the blade, in contrast to other existing ways of recycling conventional wind turbine blades. The materials can then be reused in new applications after separation.”

Over the last few years a number of major players in wind energy have announced plans to try to tackle the problem of what to do with wind turbine blades.

In June, Denmark’s Orsted said it would “reuse, recycle, or recover” all turbine blades in its worldwide portfolio of wind farms once they’re decommissioned.

The same month saw General Electric’s renewables unit and cement manufacturer Holcim strike a deal to explore the recycling of wind turbine blades.

Back in April, it was announced that a collaboration between academia and industry would focus on the recycling of glass fiber products, a move that could eventually help to reduce the waste produced by wind turbine blades.

Last December, GE Renewable Energy and Veolia North America signed a “multi-year agreement” to recycle blades removed from onshore wind turbines in the United States.

And in January 2020 another wind energy giant, Vestas, said it was aiming to produce “zero-waste” turbines by the year 2040.

THE BEGINING OF THE COLD WAR

On This Day: U.S. troops arrive in Korea,

 take up occupation

On Sept. 8, 1945, U.S. troops arrived in southern Korea after Soviet troops

 occupied the north. The occupations, initially thought to be temporary, 

eventually resulted in the Korean War and separate states.

By

UPI Staff

Japanese forces surrender to U.S. troops in Seoul on September 9, 1945, 

one day after  U.S. forces arrived in southern Korea. 

File Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy

 

GREENWASHING

Is Blue Hydrogen The Key To Reaching ESG Goals?

By Robert Rapier - Sep 02, 2021

In the previous article, I discussed the growing importance of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) for companies. Perhaps no industry has a higher visibility on ESG metrics than the energy sector. After all, a substantial fraction of global carbon emissions arise from the production, transportation, and consumption of fossil fuels.

Energy companies have tackled this issue in several ways. Today, I want to discuss the role of hydrogen as a way of improving ESG metrics.

The Role of Hydrogen

Hydrogen is increasingly being viewed as an important tool for reducing carbon emissions, because the use of hydrogen for energy generates no direct carbon dioxide emissions. In May 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a new report detailing the “Seven Pillars” that would be required to get the world to net?zero carbon emissions (NZE) by 2050. The report is Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. One of those pillars is “Hydrogen and hydrogen?based fuels.”

The IEA report forecasts that “Global hydrogen use expands from less than 90 million metric tons (Mt) in 2020 to more than 200 Mt in 2030, as the proportion of low?carbon hydrogen rises from 10% in 2020 to 70% in 2030.”

The IEA projects that about half of low?carbon hydrogen produced globally in 2030 will come from coal and natural gas with carbon sequestration. Demand will come from industry, refineries, power plants, and the transportation sector. Hydrogen will be increasingly blended into natural gas for distribution to homes and industry.

Bank of America recently released its own hydrogen forecast, in which they estimated annual hydrogen revenues of $2.5 trillion by 2050 made possible by hydrogen infrastructure investments of $11 trillion. The authors project that hydrogen volumes will increase by 6x by 2050, supplying 22% of global energy production.

Not All Hydrogen is Created Equally

But the key to having hydrogen help transition the world to net zero emissions is to ensure that the carbon is produced with a low carbon intensity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), more than 99% of hydrogen today is produced from fossil fuels. Around 95% is produced via the steam methane reforming (SMR) process, and another 4% comes from partial oxidation (POX). While fossil fuels currently provide feedstock for hydrogen production, most production is done without regard to the carbon dioxide released, negating the net zero contribution of the resulting hydrogen fuel.

Hydrogen production “pathways” can be evaluated according to their carbon intensity (CI). This measures the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released into the atmosphere per unit of fuel energy over the fuel’s lifecycle. Carbon index analysis considers the entire production process from site location, to facility construction, to energy requirements for production, to CO2 capture, to transportation and delivery. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has estimated that hydrogen production via SMR has a relatively high CI of around 150 grams of carbon dioxide equivalents per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ). A low-carbon economy will require hydrogen production with a lower CI.

Hydrogen production can also be classified using a color scheme. Grey hydrogen denotes hydrogen produced from fossil fuels – with the subsequent carbon byproduct being emitted to the atmosphere. Most of today’s hydrogen production is grey.

The long-term ideal is green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced from renewable sources at a low CI, compared to SMR. However, the DOE estimates that the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable sources is presently $6 to $12 per Kg, versus less than $2/Kg when it is produced from fossil fuels.

Source: Hydrogen Strategy: Enabling A Low Carbon Economy; Department of Energy; July 2020. Link.

At a price that is 3-6 times higher than hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, the green hydrogen ideal is still at a significant economic disadvantage.

It is possible to capture and store (CCS in the previous graphic) or otherwise utilize the carbon dioxide when hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels. This hydrogen has a low carbon footprint and is classified as “blue hydrogen”.

Thus, production or use of blue hydrogen offers the fossil fuel industry a significant opportunity to improve their ESG scores. The DOE estimates that blue hydrogen can be produced via the SMR process for $2.27 per kilogram – an overwhelming cost advantage over hydrogen produced from renewable sources. 

Blue hydrogen has a substantially lower CI score than grey hydrogen, and is significantly cheaper than green hydrogen. It can serve as an ideal transitional step in the decarbonization of the economy.

The Cornell and Stanford Study

I would be remiss to ignore that a recent report from researchers at Cornell and Stanford Universities claims that the use of blue hydrogen is actually worse than simply burning natural gas.

However, as Ted Nordhaus, Founder and Executive Director of The Breakthrough Institute recently pointed out in a Twitter thread, the study’s findings were based on worst-case scenarios throughout the analysis.

Nordhaus writes “If gas production is crazy leaky, you value methane reductions MUCH more than carbon reductions, and you assume that carbon capture tech doesn’t capture over a third of the carbon, blue hydrogen is worse than gas!” He adds that by using a less extreme set of assumptions — by the admission of one of the study’s authors —the global warming potential (GWP) would be 10 times lower than the study concluded.

However, it is fair to point out that the CI of blue hydrogen will depend very much on the entire production process. If methane is obtained from a process with a high leakage rate, and the carbon isn’t captured and stored, then the CI is going to be much higher.

In the next article, I will provide specific examples of how some companies are using hydrogen to improve ESG metrics.

Study: Up to 50K people in Brazil hospitalized due to wildfire smoke annually

Smoke can be seen rising from wildfires in Brazil in this 2019 image captured by a NASA satellite, and is an example of increasing blazes in the Amazon that send tens of thousands of Brazilians to the hospital every year. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo

Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Nearly 50,000 Brazilians are hospitalized annually after exposure to air pollution from wildfires, an analysis published Wednesday by the Lancet Planetary Health found.

And that figure may be rising, given that in 2020, the number of reported wildfires increased by just under 13% to reach a 10-year high, the data showed.

Children age 4 and younger and adults age 80 and older account for the bulk of fire-related hospitalizations in Brazil, the researchers said.

A similar analysis published in July found that wildfire smoke in California increased hospitalizations for heart and respiratory problems by up to 5%.

RELATEDCrews have Caldor Fire almost 50% contained near Lake Tahoe

"This data reveals significant health impacts of wildfires," study co-author Yuming Guo said in a press release.

The findings come "at a time before the 2019 fires across Brazil captured global attention followed by an equally intense fire period last year," said Guo, a professor of public and preventive health at Monash University in Melbourne.

Some 260 major fires have been detected in Brazil's Amazon region in 2021, and collectively have burned more than 260,000 acres.

RELATEDWildfire smoke may raise odds for preterm delivery, study says

Wildfires have been more common in Brazil since the 1990s, largely due to deforestation and forest degradation from human activities such as mining, logging and farming, researchers said.

While fire activities generally occur during the dry season in August to November, the duration of the dry season is lengthening, according to earlier research.

For this study, Guo and his colleagues analyzed data on more than 143 million hospitalizations across 1,814 cities and towns in Brazil over a 16-year period, from 2000 to 2015.

RELATEDStudy: Wildfires ravage firefighters' long-term physical, mental health

IN THE USA FIREFIGHTERS ONLY MAKE $15 AN HOUR A RAISE UNDER BIDEN

Collectively, the communities included in the study covered nearly 80% of the country's population, according to the researchers.

They compared the hospitalization statistics to data on daily wildfire-related PM2.5 levels in the air in each of these towns.

PM2.5, or particulate matter, refers to small airborne particles that make up smoke and other forms of pollution. These microscopic particles can trigger asthma, heart attacks, strokes and cause a decrease in lung function.

Between 2000 and 2015, an increase of 10 micrograms of pollutant per cubic meter of air was associated with a 0.5% increase in hospitalizations directly related to exposure to wildfire pollutants, the data showed.

This equates to 35 cases of wildfire hospitalizations per 100,000 people annually, which is more than 48,000 people, the researchers said.

Although most wildfires occur in remote areas of Brazil, "toxic smoke from these wildfires in the Amazon region can rise as high as [1,600 miles] up into the atmosphere and travel great distances, threatening people thousands of miles away," Guo said.

'Gasps all around:' New Burgess Shale fossil sheds light on the evolution of bigness

It was getting late and the team of paleontologists excavating a previously unexplored outcrop of the Burgess Shale was ready to call it a day. A camera crew filming the dig in Kootenay National Park had already packed it in.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Then one of the team members split open a large plate of shale.

"I just remember the gasps all around," said Joe Moysiuk of the Royal Ontario Museum.

"Everyone was running to come and see what had been found. It was clearly a new animal."

What that 2018 dig revealed was something that stood out even in the bizarre world of the Burgess Shale, an outcrop of 500-million-year-old rocks in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia that is chock-a-block with fossils from the earliest days of complex life on Earth.

Most of those fossils are little-finger size. Not this one.

"We uncovered this huge carapace," Moysiuk recalled.

"The whole animal must be at least 50 centimetres long. This is definitely one of the largest animals that we know of from the Cambrian period."

Titanokorys gainesi hails from a time that predated life on land, when the seas were a giant laboratory for evolution to work out answers that plants and animals still use today. Spinal chords, eyes, exoskeletons — they all first appear in the Cambrian.

"All of the major animal body plans first evolved then," Moysiuk said.

"We see the first representatives of things that looked like fish, things that looked like insects and crabs. Any other animal you might dream up, it most likely had some relative from the Cambrian period."

Not that Titanokorys would look remotely familiar.

"These things are very alien-looking," said Moysiuk

The whole beastie was flattish and oblong, with gill slits toward the back, a horseshoe-shaped plate protecting its head and armoured plates underneath. Its eyes, halfway back along the body, would probably have been on stalks. It had claws out front with rake-like outgrowths.

A predator, it probably cruised the sea bottom looking for whatever tasty bits it could sweep into its mouth.

"The mouth itself is really cool," Moysiuk said. "It looks like a pineapple slice that's lined with these sharp, inward-pointing teeth."

Burgess Shale fossils are renowned not only for their age, but for their preservation. Soft body parts such as eyes are often visible. A critter's last meal is sometimes preserved in the rock.




Even for the Burgess, Titanokorys is well-preserved.

"We have relatively complete remains," said Moysiuk. "These fossils are very rare."

The fossil, he said, will allow paleontologists to study some of evolution's most basic questions. Why, for example, do some animals get big and others don't?

"It seems to be related to this evolutionary arms race that was happening during the Cambrian where you have bigger and bigger animals that are trying to outdo each other in size," Moysiuk said. "As a predator, it benefits you to be pretty big."

But whatever eventually comes from the study of Titanokorys, Moysiuk said nothing will match the thrill of seeing its fossil emerge after hundreds of millions of years from the dark shale of the Burgess.

"It was one of those moments I'll never forget."

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

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Fertitta brothers ordered to testify over union-busting allegations

Brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta are accused of undercutting organizing efforts at a casino they own.

By Karim Zidan@ZidanSports Sep 7, 2021,


Former UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta are once again facing accusations of unfair labor practices stemming from their Las Vegas casino business.

According to The Daily Beast, the Fertitta brothers have been ordered to appear before a National Labor Relations Board judge and testify about allegations that their gaming business, Station Casinos, tried to “undercut labor organizing efforts.” The subpoena is part of an administrative trial currently underway before the NLRB.

In July 2021, US District Judge Gloria Navarro issued a ruling ordering Station Casinos to recognize the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, and to begin negotiating a contract with approximately 1,350 culinary workers following a contested 2019 union vote at Red Rock Resorts, which is owned and operated by Station Casinos.

Ahead of that vote, however, Station had announced that it would grant employees new benefits, including free health care for workers earning less than $41,600 annually, or who make under $20 per hour. Red Rock additionally expanded its 401(k) program to offer a per-hour contribution to each worker’s employer-sponsored pension account. According to the NLRB, the improved benefits were with the explicit intention of undermining the union drive.

“Internal communications among Red Rock’s executives show that the promised and granted benefits were formulated with the stated purpose of undermining the union’s appeal, and that the announcement of those benefits was intertwined with anti-union messaging and timed to deter the union’s organizing effort,” NLRB Regional Director Cornele Overstreet said in the court filing.

On August 16, 2021, a NLRB judge denied an attempt by the Fertitta brothers to avoid testifying, stating that their testimony about Station Casinos is essential because they have “direct and unique knowledge” about the company.

Station Casinos has been locked in a decades-long fight with the Culinary Union. The Fertittas, who donated millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s America First Action super PAC, have not been shy about their distaste for the Culinary Union’s organizing efforts. Prior to selling their stakes in the UFC at a $4 billion valuation in 2016, the Fertittas even used the UFC as a platform to attack the Culinary Union. When the Culinary Worker’s Union Local 226 and Teamsters Local 986—two of the largest unions in the US—announced plans to organize fighters into a union in 2015, the UFC lashed out and accused the union of exploiting

“Indeed, UFC has spent considerable time and effort defending against the outrageous allegations by this local union about athletes who have chosen to compete in the UFC,” the UFC told MMAWeekly at the time. “This is nothing more than the newest brazen tactic in a failing effort to organize culinary workers at a Las Vegas casino. It is shameful that local union leaders would try to use UFC athletes as pawns to advance this hidden agenda. UFC fighters.”

It is worth noting that, unlike leagues such as the NBA or the NFL, which split half their revenue with the players, UFC fighters reap less than 20 percent of revenue. In 2019, the promotion reported $900 million in revenue, but only 16 percent was paid out to the UFC’s approximately 600 fighters.

'Enough is enough'; CUPE N.B. members prepare for strike votes this week

Jennifer Basa

Video Journalist

Allan April

CTVNewsAtlantic.ca writer

Published Monday, September 6, 2021 

N.B. CUPE workers prepare for strike vote

FREDERICTON -- Thousands of Public Sector workers in New Brunswick are preparing for a strike votes, as the deadline that Canadian Union of Public Employees N.B. gave to the province to reach an agreement expired Monday.

On May 28, CUPE New Brunswick President Stephen Drost announced a 100-day deadline for New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs to reach an agreement to make improvements for union workers across the province.

That deadline arrived on Labour Day, with an agreement still not reached with the province.


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Now, the union representing about 22,000 public sector workers says its members are prepared to vote to strike.

"They've reached that point where they feel enough is enough,” said Stephen Drost. “They’ve given and given and it's time that they receive some fair compensation.”

Drost said many of CUPE’s members are struggling with the cost of living, and have been forced to take a second job or go to local food banks.

Drost says other members are having difficulty paying their rent, contributing to their determination to receive a fair wage.

"They feel that they are being exploited. They don't feel that they're being treated properly, they certainly don't think they're getting the recognition they deserve," says Drost.

On Friday, premier Blaine Higgs said he was 'disappointed with the union' after its members expressed that they were preparing for strike votes.

“The only issue has been five per cent for four years- 20 per cent increase, $158 million increase - that is not being reasonable,” said Higgs.

The premier believes the union’s 20 per cent increase was more than the province could afford, but members believe it’s a reasonable ask.

“There are huge holes and gaps and we’re starting to see the cracks in the system,” said Norma Robinson President of CUPE local 1252, which represents hospital workers in the province.

Robinson told reporters that hospital workers in the province are overworked and that they are keeping up with a system that is in “dire straits” due to recent staff reductions and temporary emergency room closures.

“That’s what’s really disheartening for me to see as the president is to see that this government is not recognizing the valuable work that we do and provide us with a decent wage increase that we so deserve,” said Robinson.

While the province said contingency plans are in place in the event of a strike, Drost says many CUPE NB members can begin their strike vote as early as Tuesday, and could be walking off the job by the end of the month.