A GLOBAL PHENOMENA
'Burnt out': Philippine nurses battle Covid, resignations

Issued on: 18/09/2021 - 

The pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing lack of nurses in the Philippines 

Maria TAN AFP

Manila (AFP)

Exhausted nurses in the Philippines are struggling to care for patients as colleagues contract Covid-19 or quit a profession that was dangerously understaffed even before the pandemic.

The country is enduring a record rise in infections, fuelled by the Delta variant, with the health department reporting a nursing shortfall of more than 100,000 -- forcing those left to work long hours for little pay on often precarious short-term contracts.

"They are tired and burned out," nursing director Lourdes Banaga, at a private hospital south of Manila, told AFP.

"At the start of the pandemic we had almost 200 nurses," said Banaga, director for nursing services at the Lipa Medix Medical Center in Batangas province.

"By September that will reduce to 63."

Official figures show 75,000 nurses are working in public and private Philippine hospitals but roughly 109,000 more are needed.

The pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing lack of nurses, said Maristela Abenojar, president of Filipino Nurses United -- a situation she describes as "ironic" in one of the world's biggest exporters of healthcare workers.

The "chronic understaffing" is down to inadequate salaries, she said.

An entry-level nurse in a public hospital can earn 33,575 pesos ($670) per month, official data show.

About 40 percent of private hospital nurses have resigned since the start of the pandemic Maria TAN AFP

But Abenojar said most were on short-term contracts, earning 22,000 pesos with no benefits such as hazard pay. Meanwhile, those in the private sector were making as little as 8,000 pesos.

And many have had enough: About 40 percent of private hospital nurses have resigned since the start of the pandemic, according to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines.

More than 5,000 nurses have been given the green light to go abroad this year after a Covid-19 ban was replaced with a cap to ensure enough nurses were available in the Philippines.

It hasn't worked.

"We can't get additional nurses, we can't compel them to apply," said Jose Rene de Grano of the private hospitals association.

- 'We feel exhausted' -

In recent weeks, health workers have protested over unpaid benefits, including a coronavirus special risk allowance. Abenojar said many were still waiting.

President Rodrigo Duterte has asked for patience while the government tries to come up with the money.

"We don't feel cared for," said Melbert Reyes of the Philippine Nurses Association.

Many hospitals boosted their bed capacity after a virus surge earlier this year threatened to overwhelm them.

Official data show coronavirus ward and ICU bed occupancy rates at more than 70 percent nationwide as daily cases often exceed 20,000, fuelled by the hyper-contagious Delta variant.

A public hospital in Binan city, near Manila, turned a car park into a ward.

"Many of our nurses are sick and in quarantine," medical director Melbril Alonte told AFP.

Due to to the nursing shortfall, some facilities have had to slash their bed capacity Maria TAN AFP

"We feel exhausted... but we always keep in mind that we have to help our people because... no one else will."

But due to the nursing shortfall, some facilities -- like the Lipa Medix Medical Center -- have had to slash their bed capacity, and extend their nurses' shifts.

Nurse Trixia Bautista said she works up to 15 hours per shift looking after mostly severe Covid-19 patients at a public referral hospital in the capital.

At times, she has cared for as many as 30 patients on her own after nurses on her ward quit or got sick.

"Physically it's very tiring," she said. "There's not enough people to cater to all these patients."

- 'Not worth being a nurse' -

But there are plenty of qualified nurses in the Philippines, said Abenojar of Filipino Nurses United.

She estimated 200,000 to 250,000 were not working in the sector.

Many healthcare workers enter the profession to try to secure better-paid jobs abroad, but the shortage is not due to overseas migration.

"It's because nurses have left the profession," said Yasmin Ortiga, assistant professor of sociology at Singapore Management University, pointing to the dearth of stable jobs and dismal wages.

The Philippines is one of the world's biggest exporters of healthcare workers 

Maria TAN AFP

A proliferation of nursing programmes led to an oversupply, with many unable to get a permanent position in a local hospital -- necessary to work abroad -- and subsequently a drop in enrolments.

Ortiga said: "People realised that if I am unable to leave the country it's really not worth being a nurse at home."

© 2021 AFP

Climate a top issue in Canada election, yet Greens in death spiral

Issued on: 18/09/2021 

Green Party candidate Paul Manly (R) speaks with local resident Wayne Dawes at Colliery Dam Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on September 5, 2021 

COLE BURSTON AFP

Nanaimo (Canada) (AFP)

Concerns over climate change that gave rise to the Green Party are top of mind for Canadians preparing to vote in elections Monday, yet the party itself is fighting for survival.

Beset by internal feuding and other challenges, the Green Party has lost momentum and is struggling to hold on to its two seats in the 338-member parliament in the upcoming vote.

Ten years after the Greens won their first seat in the national legislature, the party is polling at just two to three percent. Liberals and Conservatives, meanwhile, are neck and neck, each with about 32 percent of voting intentions.

The stakes for the Greens are "to show that the party is still alive and kicking, that it is an option for those who believe in the fight against climate change," said Daniel Beland, a politics professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Its survival hinges on at least holding onto its two seats on Vancouver Island in westernmost British Columbia province, which was hit hard by wildfires and an unprecedented heat wave that left hundreds dead over the summer.

Elizabeth May, the first Green elected to Canada's parliament in 2011 and the party's former leader, is likely to retain her seat in the Saanich–Gulf Islands. But fellow Green Paul Manly, seeking re-election in the nearby district of Nanaimo-Ladysmith on the picturesque Pacific isle, is facing tough competition.

Workers put together campaign signs for Green Party candidate Paul Manly, at his campaign office in Nanaimo, British Columbia, September 2021

 COLE BURSTON AFP

"I think climate change is one of the top issues for sure in this election," Manly told AFP.

Canada is the world's fourth largest oil producer, and Manly said the government needs to act decisively.

"We need really bold action on climate change and that means we need to end all subsidies for fossil fuels," he said.

- Dueling climate plans -

The Greens also want to cut greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, a more ambitious target than what's on offer from other parties.

A car carries signs for Green Party candidate Paul Manly at the base of the anti-old growth logging protest of the Fairy Creek watershed in Port Renfrew, British Columbia in September 2021 

COLE BURSTON AFP

But their message has been drowned out in part because the main political parties have stepped up with their own relatively strong climate plans. And the Tories have been busy fighting a Liberal carbon tax that could curtail oil production in their base of Alberta.

The Greens "have lost their monopoly on the environment. It has become a popular cause for all parties in Canada," Beland explained.

Nancy Powell, 59, from Vancouver Island, said she once supported the Green Party, but now believes that their focus on the environment is too narrow.

"I'd really like to see them break out of that and expand their expertise in different areas," Powell told AFP, adding that helping small business is an important for her.

Just two years ago, the Greens won 6.5 percent of the popular vote in the last ballot.

In the lead-up to this snap election call in early August, the Greens were busy arguing among themselves over the loss of an MP to the Liberals, party finances, and its leadership.

Annamie Paul, who last year replaced May as leader, narrowly survived a recent party revolt.

Paul, the first black and Jewish woman to lead a federal political party in Canada, has lamented having had little time to put together a team. As a result, the party is running only 252 candidates in this election.

She is now facing a tough fight to win a seat herself; this is her third attempt to break through in the Toronto-Centre district held by powerful Liberal cabinet ministers since 1993.

© 2021 AFP

Tanzania: First female defense minister ignites gender debate

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan caused a stir after she appointed Stergomena Tax as defense minister. She becomes the first woman to hold the critical portfolio since the country's independence.

    

Stergomena Tax is Tanzania's new defense minister

"I have decided to break the longtime myth that in the defense ministry, there should be a man with muscles," President Samia Suluhu Hassan said earlier this week as she administered the oath of office to Stergomena Tax.

"The minister's job in that office is not to carry guns or artillery," Suluhu Hassan declared.

Tax's appointment was part of President Suluhu Hassan's second cabinet reshuffle since she took over from the late President John Magufuli.

In handing the defense ministry job to a woman, Suluhu Hassan set another milestone regarding women holding top positions in Tanzania.

Currently, eight women have cabinet positions in the East African nation.

"Our president has proven that women too can hold powerful positions," Dar es Salaam resident Catherine Evarist told DW. She said she was confident that Stergomana Tax's past work experience would help her to excel in her new role.

Johnson Soah, head of Dar es Salaam University's journalism school, welcomed Tax's appointment.

"Men have long dominated this ministry, and so she [President Samia Suluhu Hassan] has broken with tradition by giving a woman this role," Soah told DW, adding that he believed Suluhu Hassan's choices are based on qualifications and capabilities.

Divided opinions on social media

On DW's social media pages, people were divided about whether to celebrate Tax's appointment. 

"I don't understand Tanzanians. How can you shower praises on someone before she begins her duty?" one user commented on DW Kiswahili Facebook page. "How can we know she is capable if she hasn't started working?"

Octavian, another social media user, said he totally supports Suluhu Hassan's decision. "For 60 years men have led this country but there is nothing to show off. Let women have a chance because this [Tanzania] is not Afghanistan," he commented.

Facebook user Musaty Goody said gender equality is essential but added that such a position could only fit a man if service delivery and immediate response are required.

Praise Matovu was full of praise for Tax's appointment commenting: "Women can!" 

Many African countries are perceived as conservative and patriarchy runs deep in most societies.

But for Ummi Salma Babbu, change is in the air. "What men can do, women can do better,"  Salma Babbu commented on the DW Africa Facebook page.

"Leadership requires knowledge, competence, and loyalty, not gender equality," Asher Zahid commented. "Women can be more loyal than men but gender equality begins at home, not at leadership."

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan has appointed a record eight women to ministerial positions

Stergomena Tax's Curriculum Vitae

Before she took over as Tanzania's defense minister, Tax had just finished her tenure as secretary-general of the South African Development Community (SADC).

The 61-year-old, who attended the Lake Secondary school with the late President Magufuli, has worked as a public servant since the early 1990s.

She previously worked with Tanzania's finance ministry and later became the permanent secretary at the ministry of East Africa Cooperation.

Stergomena Tax has also worked under the United Nations Development Program, where she was credited for mediating and supervising security operations in conflict areas such as the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique.

Equal opportunities for women is still a challenge for many African countries

A step in the right direction

Now that Tanzania has its first woman president and first woman defense minister, rights advocate Anna Henga believes it is a step in the right direction.

"The President has shown that anything is possible, there is no difference in leadership between man and woman, what matters is qualities," Henga, who heads Tanzania's Legal and Human Rights Center, told DW.

Tax replaced Elias Kwandikwa, who passed away in August while undergoing treatment in Dar es Salaam.  

German election: Is this the climate election, or isn't it?

After a summer of floods, wildfires and extreme heat waves, many thought the German election would be dominated by talk of the climate crisis. Why, then, have the Greens not relied more heavily on this key voter issue?

Annalena Baerbock GREEN (left), Armin Laschet CDU (center) and Olaf Scholz SDP have been facing climate questions on the campaign trail

For many Germans this past summer, alarming events at home and abroad drove home the urgency of the climate crisis. Deadly heat waves, wildfires burning out of control and, especially, the devastating mid-July floods in Belgium and Germany that left more the 200 dead pushed the issue of climate change to the top of voters' minds.

A September 10 poll commissioned by public broadcaster ZDF showed that climate change and the environment were the most pressing problems for 43% of respondents. Even the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was seen as less worrying, with 30% naming it as their primary concern. And a recent survey by German insurers R+V showed that some 61% of Germans were worried that climate change was having dramatic consequences for humanity.

And yet, in the weeks leading up to the federal election on September 26, climate change hasn't always been front and center on the campaign trail. The candidates are doing their best to stand out in the race to replace outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been a formidable presence in Germany and on the world stage for the better part of a generation. And they're also keenly aware of the host of other crucial concerns facing the country, among them the COVID recovery, the economy, digitalization, social justice and the future of the flagship car industry.

"All the parties have noticed that the climate issue is an important one, and they've noticed that during the campaign they're being asked how they plan to implement the [climate] goals that they've set," said Manfred Fischedick, the scientific managing director of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. "But in spite of all that, it's all still a bit on the surface."

Fischedick, who is also a lead author of the latest assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told DW that one reason for this relative lack of attention is that the huge challenge of climate change is now seen as established fact, not just a niche concern.

"We are now in a situation where, with the exception of one party — namely the [far-right] AfD — all the political parties have actually taken up the climate issue and are pursuing ambitious goals, so there aren't that many differences between the parties in terms of targets," he said. "The differences are in the question of how these goals are to be achieved — which measures will be used, which instruments. And this is a very technical question for an election campaign."

'A tremendous, huge task for the next government'

Johannes Orphal, of the Climate and Environment Center at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, said it doesn't help that policymakers and the public can easily be overwhelmed by the scale of what needs to be done to make the transition to a carbon-neutral economy by mid-century.

"It's a very complex task. Everybody has acknowledged that, and none of the parties has a perfect solution now. And even the verdict of our highest court earlier this year [Germany's Constitutional Court ruled in April that the government's existing climate protection plan was "insufficient" — Editor's note] again changed the conditions for what has to happen in the next years. It's a tremendous, huge task for the next government," he told DW.

Reconstruction after the July floods is expected to cost billions of euros

It's not just the complexity of the climate challenge that has muted the debate, said Fischedick. For the first time in a German election campaign, the Green Party has had a serious shot at winning the top job with chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock — or at least of playing a significant part in the next coalition. As a result, he said, the Greens couldn't afford to only focus on one single issue, no matter how important it may be.

"In recent weeks, there was certainly an attempt by the Greens to give equal weight to a broad range of topics, and not just play the climate card," he said, highlighting their focus on pensions, security and various social issues. "That's also necessary if you want to get into the chancellor's office."
A strategic platform?

The Greens' attempt to think strategically may also be reflected in their election platform. The party's two main challengers, Merkel's conservative Union bloc of the Christian Democrats and Bavaria's Christian Social Union and the center-left Social Democrats (SDP), have pledged to make Germany carbon neutral by 2045; on the other extreme, the socialist Left Party has promised to reach that goal by 2035 — earlier even than the Greens.

The Green Party, perhaps in an attempt to woo voters from both camps, has said it would immediately enact a climate program for all sectors and reach climate neutrality "in 20 years," if 100% renewable energy is achieved by 2035.

Despite the various vows, none of the major parties has been able to credibly explain how Germany will reach its 2030 emissions reduction target, according to a report released last week by the German Institute for Economic Research. It called on the parties to "deliver on the concrete steps needed for successful climate action."

"The Greens have been in power in some of the federal states in Germany now for years, and they know that such a transition is very complex. It's complex from the economic point of view, but also from the acceptance, the social point of view," said Orphal.
Discrimination, lack of respect

Finding that balance between climate action and social and economic acceptance isn't the only difficulty facing the party. "With the Greens, some people still think they are too young and that they are not well established," said Orphal, adding that Baerbock herself has also faced discrimination because she is a woman. "When we look at the debates, I still feel that there is maybe a little bit of lack of respect because she's younger, she's a woman. You can see that."

Orphal said, however, that Baerbock hasn't let that stop her from getting the Greens' core climate message to voters. "If you look at [her] public appearances … she is not shy, and she makes it very clear that it's urgent. It's very helpful because it has ended the inertia of the so-called established old parties, the Social Democrats and the Union — they've had to learn from that," he said.

Fischedick agrees. "It seems certain that the climate issue will have a higher priority in the next federal government, whatever form it takes, and that there will be major pressure from the voters but also from the industry to implement this plan," said Fischedick, pointing out that it's "a completely different world" from the last time Germans went to the ballot box in 2017.

"Even if [the climate issue] hasn't always been at the forefront in the election campaign, this will be a decisive climate election. By the time the next government is formed, at the latest, [Germany] must actually begin to implement and work toward the 2030 targets. And a lot remains to be done to realize that."

German election: 85,000 adults with disabilities can vote for the first time

Germany’s top court decided in their favor in 2019 that adults who have legal guardians should no longer be barred from taking part in elections. Now many of them will do so for the first time.



Hannah Kauschke will vote for the Bundestag for the first time in her life

Hannah Kauschke is excited about casting her vote — for the first time in her life, at the age of 30.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Kauschke, adding "they really could have given people with disabilities in Germany more rights sooner. We have our own opinions."

For her, one of the most important topics that Germany needs to tackle is protecting the environment, especially after catastrophic floods struck the west of the country in July. Her biggest wish for the new government, she said, was "that they listen to us [with disabilities] and take us seriously."

Kauschke works stocking shelves and sorting products at an organic supermarket in Nuremberg. Her legal guardian is her mother, who checks in on her twice a week. In Germany, legal guardians may be required to be on hand from once a week to round the clock, and usually provide assistance for bureaucratic needs and household or financial organization.

There are special ballots for blind people in Germany

'Without inclusion, there is no democracy'

It took a concentrated effort on the part of activists and NGOs over the course of decades to get here.

"Politicians could have changed the law at any time," said Peer Brocke, spokesman for the organization Lebenshilfe, Germany's largest NGO advocating for people with disabilities. "It took filing a lawsuit to get where we are today."

Brocke explained that smaller parties, such as the environmentalist Greens and the communist Left Party, as well the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), had voiced their support for enfranchising all German adults. "But many in the CDU stopped it from happening. The SPD said they would put a measure forward before the election in 2013, but after they entered into a coalition with the CDU, they dropped it."

The CDU is Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats, and the reason for their resistance, Brocke said, was that "they assumed that adults with guardians couldn't form their own opinions. Or, they claimed, their postal vote could be manipulated." Which, Brocke says, would also apply to very old voters who use mail-in voting.

Jürgen Dusel, who advises the German government on disability policy, echoed Brocke's statements. He sees a culture of ableism also in the media and everyday society. "We heard the same arguments over and over, that some people with disabilities could not form their own opinions, or understand what was at stake...arguments no dissimilar to those used by opponent of granting women the right to vote 100 years ago."


Jürgen Dusel (l) advises the German government on disability policy

"People with disabilities are not a homogenous group," Dusel added, "and to bar some from voting is not only unfair, its unconstitutional. Without inclusion, there is no democracy."

Together with the Catholic charity Caritas, Lebenshilfe paid the legal fees of eight Germans with disabilities who sued the federal government for their right to vote. It then took Germany's top court six years to hear the case. But 2019 the eight plaintiffs finally won. Many celebrated by voting for the first time in European elections that came shortly after.

The new law affects tens of thousands of Germans — mostly with a range of learning disabilities, some also with physical impairments - such that they require a legal guardian, who had been barred from voting on a case-by-case basis.

"All you need is the will to vote and you deserve to do so, " said Brocke, observing that no one tests the political knowledge of other adult voters, or challenges people who cast their vote solely based on whether they like the look of someone.

A study from the University of Hamburg found that 6.2 million adults in Germany could not read or write properly — yet there have never been widespread calls to disenfranchise this group, the activists point out.

Brocke explained that a letter arrives six weeks before the election, letting every voter know that a vote is coming up and how to fill out their ballot, either at a polling place or via post. This explanation is available in simpler language for those who need it. Some may require additional assistance filling out their postal vote — but Brocke did not believe that left the system open to widespread manipulation, which would be a criminal offense: "Who would risk up to four years in jail for a single vote?" he asked.

Germany has a dark past when it comes to disability rights. The Nazi regime murdered nearly 300,000 people with disabilities, which, as Dusel pointed out, means Germans have a special responsibility not to "define people with disabilities by their perceived deficiencies."

Even today, the country lags far behind many of its allies. In the US, the UK, and France, for example, people under guardianship have long had the right to vote.

Moreover, it is violating its responsibilities as a signatory to a 2009 UN convention on the rights of those with disabilities

Germany still maintains an educational system that segregates many children with disabilities — something that was phased out in the US and UK decades ago. There is a documented history of prejudice against inclusion in German schools, and little political will to make inclusion a reality.

Kauschke said she found it "very unjust" that she was not allowed to vote in Germany's federal elections before now.

Africa Swine Fever: Is China downplaying another disease outbreak?

China might praise its own success in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains quieter about its fight against a rampant African Swine Fever outbreak at home.



China is the world's top pork consumer

During a teleconference more than two years ago, Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua urged health authorities to step up efforts to rein in a growing outbreak despite initial "positive results," and suggested that "enhancing quarantine and monitoring" measures would help prevent the spread of the virus.

Hu's comments came before the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Instead, he was referring to a different, far deadlier disease: African Swine Fever (ASF) — an illness that affects pigs.

Chinese officials first identified ASF in 2018 in Liaoning, a coastal province in China's northeast. Unlike SARS-CoV-2, ASF does not threaten human health. The disease, however, is highly virulent in pigs and mortality rates approach 100%.

ASF is of particular concern in China, the world's top pork consumer and home to roughly half of the world's pigs. Given the country's enormous pig population, ASF could turn China into a significant reservoir of disease and pose a threat to China's neighbors in the region if it becomes endemic.

Threats to food security

This year, China reported 12 ASF cases to the OIE, the intergovernmental body that tracks animal diseases, down from a high of 105 in 2018. Except for a small bump in cases earlier this year, ASF numbers have consistently declined, according to official figures.

Some industry experts, however, believe that China may be obfuscating African Swine Fever's actual toll on hog herds by under-reporting infection numbers, and painting an artificially rosy picture.


The cost of pork in China is an economic bellwether. Tapping into China's strategic pork stockpile allowed Beijing to stabilize pork prices from a high last year, but ASF could still cause headaches of epic proportions.

A report by the Asian Development Bank estimated the outbreak's economic cost in China last year at $50 to $121 billion (€42.5 to €103 billion) with a minimum loss of 25-55% of Chinese pig herds since 2018. The report also said ASF threatens "increases in poverty, vulnerability, and food insecurity" and poses a "substantial" risk to climate change resilience and human health.

The burden disproportionately falls on smallholder pig farmers.
Food safety standards fall through the cracks

Measures such as vigilant herd monitoring and the culling of pigs that exhibit ASF symptoms could help to contain China's current outbreak. But containing ASF in China is not an easy task.

Smallholder pig farming, defined as backyard farms of 50 pigs or less, is an economic safety net or significant source of income for tens of millions of Chinese, and accounts for nearly a third of national pig production. But the practice may be driving China's ASF outbreak.

Many smallholder pig farmers rely at least in part on swill — food scraps and kitchen waste — to feed their hogs. While swill is an economical source of fodder, biosecurity or food safety standards are not always reinforced.

Consequently, swill is a particularly potent transmission vector for African Swine Fever.

If ASF is suspected locally, some farmers could sell off pigs before herds exhibit the disease, helping disseminate the lethal virus more widely throughout the country.

ASF vaccines 'years away'

Linda Dixon, an ASF expert at The Pirbright Institute, an infectious disease research group, said that due to the complexity of ASF, it has proven "very difficult to make a vaccine that's effective" against the disease.

Although there are several ongoing ASF vaccine trials, a commercialized vaccine is at best "one to two years away" if current prototypes prove safe and effective, she said.

Paul Sundberg, the Executive Director of the Swine Health Information Center, said there might even be vaccines in use in China that prevent some pigs from dying, but "cause low-level infection." Ultimately, these mystery vaccines make controlling the disease "more difficult."

 

Germany to shut controversial Gorleben nuclear waste facility

After serving for decades as a storage location for German radioactive nuclear waste, the government said it would close the Gorleben mine. Locals and environmental groups have protested against the facility for years.

  

Germany has been searching for a permanent spot to store its nuclear waste for decades

The Gorleben mine in the German state of Lower Saxony will close, the country's Environment Ministry announced on Friday.

The mine in the Wendland region became the center of a long-running controversy after it was proposed as a possible site for the disposal of radioactive nuclear waste.

"This ends the chapter on the Gorleben repository. I hope in Wendland wounds opened by the decades-long argument over Gorleben will now be able to heal," State Secretary at the Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth said.

The Gorleben mine controversy

Gorleben had been earmarked as a site for nuclear waste disposal almost 40 years ago.

But locals rejected the decision, arguing that the salt in the ground could weaken containment structures and cause radioactive leaks. The site became the focus of Germany's anti-nuclear movement with activists staging sit-in protests and blocking trains bringing containers of nuclear waste to the facility.

Protesters often slowed the delivery of trains bringing Germany's radioactive waste to Gorleben

In the fall of 2020, Germany's Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) announced that large parts of Germany met the geological criteria for a nuclear repository but the Gorleben salt dome — the site of the mine ­ — was not among them.

The mine was then removed from the list of potential permanent sites for nuclear waste disposal last year due to geological concerns.

Prior to this decision, the mine had been largely at a standstill since 2013. Almost all the equipment and machinery at the mine have been removed.

BGE, a federally owned company, will be responsible for the decommissioning of the mine, the Environment Ministry said.

The Gorleben mine in Lower Saxony was taken off the list of potential permanent waste storage facilities

Germany's nuclear waste problem

Germany is seeking a safe place to store 1,900 containers of radioactive waste. The containers make up only 5% of the country's nuclear waste but 99% of its radioactivity, according to BGE chairman Stefan Studt.

BGE has named 90 areas around the country as potential places for permanent waste disposal.

The sites are currently being vetted taking into account a number of factors, including population density.

The company says it needs to find a location by 2031 and hopes to begin storing containers of radioactive waste at the site by 2050.

kmm/sms (dpa, AFP)

 

Bangkok’s taxi graveyard garden: Covid-hit cabbies turn to growing vegetables

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

Video by:

FRANCE 24

One Bangkok taxi company has found an innovative way to make ends meet amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With many drivers put out of work by lockdowns and restrictions and their cars left idle, they have transformed a taxi graveyard into a burgeoning vegetable garden to feed employees.

 

Former Liberal MP Sohi aspires to be Edmonton’s next mayor

By Jeff Labine. Published on Sep 3, 2021 3:46pm

Edmonton mayoral candidate Amarjeet Sohi, a former Liberal MP, outside a coffee shop on Aug. 26 (Jeff Labine/iPolitics)

Amarjeet Sohi doesn’t miss federal politics.

The 57-year-old former bus driver is one of 10 candidates vying to succeed Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson in the municipal election on Oct. 18.

Sohi served two terms as a city councillor after getting elected for the first time in 2007.

In 2015, he won as the Liberal candidate for Edmonton—Mill Woods. He played a key role in Justin Trudeau’s government by taking on the portfolios of Infrastructure and Communities, and Natural Resources.

Sohi would only serve one term in the House of Commons after losing to Conservative MP Tim Uppal in 2019.

Sohi said little about his next political move until last May, when he announced his mayoral campaign.

With a federal election underway, Sohi said his sights are set solely on Edmonton.

“I honestly don’t miss being part of partisan politics,” he told iPolitics. “I really enjoyed working as a member of Parliament, as a minister, … but I did not enjoy the lifestyle of going back and forth (to Ottawa) and travelling throughout the country.”

Sohi’s return to municipal politics comes during significant changes in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Iveson and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, both seen as progressive mayors, won’t be running again. Iveson made his decision public in November last year, and Nenshi made his intentions known in April.

The mayors of Alberta’s largest cities often butted heads with Jason Kenney’s provincial government.

A significant point of contention was the United Conservative Party’s decision to reduce Edmonton and Calgary’s base funding of $500 million per year, which is split between the two, by $45 million, thus ending years of negotiations to give the two cities more say in how they spend their money, according to a CBC report.

“We had no sense that the city-charter fiscal framework was going to be ripped up today,” Iveson told reporters afterward.

When asked how he’d handle the situation, Sohi said he’d start by making sure Edmontonians understand what’s at stake.

“If city-infrastructure funding is being cut back, that means you’re going to see cracks in roads, traffic is going to see gridlock, transit systems will not be expanded,” he said. “Those are the kinds of conversations I want to have with Edmontonians and the province. (I want to) find commonalities around those issues.”

If elected, Sohi said he’d try to collaborate with all the city’s partners, including the provincial government.

Indigenous resistance has cut U.S. and Canada's annual emissions

A new study shows indigenous resistance cut emissions by at least 25%.

“From an Indigenous perspective, when we are confronting the climate crisis we are inherently confronting the systems of colonization and white supremacy as well,” said Dallas Goldtooth of Indigenous Environmental Network. “In order to do that, you have to reevaluate how you relate to the world around you and define what your obligations are to the world around you. It’s more than just stopping fracking development and pipelines and it’s more than just developing clean energy, it’s about actually fundamentally changing how we see the world itself.”
https://grist.org/.../indigenous-resistance-has-cut-u-s.../

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