Putin to land in India with eye on military, energy ties


Sun, December 5, 2021, 8:29 PM·3 min read

Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Monday for just his second overseas trip since the pandemic, seeking to bolster military and energy ties with a traditional ally being courted by Washington.

In its efforts to address a rising China, Washington has set up the QUAD security dialogue with India, Japan, and Australia, raising concerns in both Beijing and Moscow.

India was close to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a relationship that has endured, with New Delhi calling it a "special and privileged strategic partnership".

"The friendship between India and Russia has stood the test of time," Modi told Putin at a virtual summit in September. "You have always been a great friend of India."

It is only the Russian leader's second trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began -- he skipped both the G20 and COP26 summits this year -- after a June summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva.

"It's hugely symbolic," said Nandan Unnikrishnan from New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank.

"It's indicative how they do not want the relationship to stagnate or slow down for want of something from the Russian side."

But Putin has to contend with complex regional dynamics, with tensions mounting between India and Russia's traditional ally China following deadly clashes in a disputed Himalayan region.

"Russia's influence in the region is very limited," said Tatiana Belousova of OP Jindal Global University in Haryana, "mostly because of its close ties with China and unwillingness to act in dissonance with the Chinese regional interests."

- 'Quite remarkable' -

The Kremlin said last week the talks will be dominated by defence and energy issues, with the boss of Russian energy giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin, also travelling as a "number of important energy agreements" were on the table.

Russia has long been a key arms supplier to India, which is looking to modernise its armed forces, and one of their most high-profile current contracts is for the long-range S-400 ground-to-air missile defence system.

The deal, worth over $5 billion, was signed in 2018 and deliveries have reportedly begun, but it threatens to upend the burgeoning relationship between New Delhi and Washington.

The US has threatened sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is aimed at reining in Russia, and the state department said last week that no decisions had been made on any waivers for India.

"It is quite remarkable that India still decided to go ahead with the S-400 deal, despite the US disapproval," said Belousova.

New Delhi has long sought to diversify its military imports but analysts believe it could take some time before it moves away from Russia.

Military equipment was "paramount" to India given "unabated" tensions with Pakistan, according to Unnikrishnan. "You're going to try and nurture whatever is required to ensure that."

India is also keen to increase domestic production and has launched a joint venture with Russia to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles.

India and Russia normally hold annual summits, but the leaders' last in-person meeting was on the sidelines of the 2019 BRICS Summit in Brazil.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," India's ministry of external affairs said in a statement last month.

The two countries' foreign and defence ministers will also hold talks Monday.

bur-ash/slb/reb

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Governments help arms firms avoid Covid slump: report





Marc PRÉEL
Sun, December 5, 2021,

The world's biggest weapons manufacturers largely avoided the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 and recorded a growth in profits last year for the sixth year in a row, according to a report published on Monday.

Governments around the world have continued to buy arms during the pandemic and some also passed measures to help their big weapons firms, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Overall, the 100 top weapons firms saw their profits rise by 1.3 percent on 2019 to a record $531 billion, despite the global economy contracting by more than three percent.


"Military manufacturers were largely shielded by sustained government demand for military goods and services," said SIPRI researcher Alexandra Marksteiner in the institute's annual assessment of arms companies.

"In much of the world, military spending grew and some governments even accelerated payments to the arms industry in order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis."

The top five arms firms were all from the United States, Lockheed-Martin -- which counts F-35 fighter jets and various types of missiles among its bestsellers -- consolidating its first place with sales of $58.2 billion.

Britain's BAE Systems, in sixth position, was the highest-placed European firm, just ahead of three Chinese groups.

- Rise of China -

"The rise of China as a major arms producer has been driven by its aim to become more self-reliant in weapons production and by the implementation of ambitious modernisation programmes," the report said.

While China's arms sales have expanded, they still lag US and British firms, accounting for a total of 13 percent of the top 100 arms sales in 2020.

Sales by the five Chinese firms in the top 100 totalled an estimated $66.8 billion in 2020, up 1.5 percent on the previous year.

"In recent years, Chinese arms companies have benefited from the country's military modernisation programmes and focus on military–civil fusion," SIPRI senior researcher Nan Tian said.

"They have become some of the most advanced military technology producers in the world."

Of the top-producing countries, only France and Russia saw their firms' sales decline last year.

The institute said the firms had benefited from the broad injection of cash into economies, as well as specific measures designed to help arms companies such as accelerated payments or order schedules.

And as military contracts usually span several years, firms were able to make gains before the health crisis took hold.

"However, despite these and other factors, global arms production was not fully immune to the impact of the pandemic," the report said, pointing to France's Thales which blamed a 5.8 percent fall in arms sales on lockdown disruptions.

The report highlighted that the rate of increase in profits had slowed substantially between 2019 and 2020, and noted that measures taken to halt the spread of the virus had disrupted supply chains in the weapons industry just as they had across the wider economy.

SIPRI: Global arms industry flourishing despite COVID

A $531-billion business: The new SIPRI report shows that the world's top 100 arms producers have continued to increase sales — even in the pandemic year of 2020 and despite the global economy contracting.

Arms sales by German companies went up 1.3% in 2020, says SIPRI

Lockdowns, crumbling supply chains, jittery consumers: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about massive economic slumps around the world. One sector, however, has proved immune to the virus: the arms industry. This is confirmed by the latest report on the world's 100 largest arms manufacturers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

SIPRI researcher Alexandra Marksteiner told DW that she was especially surprised by the data from 2020, the first year of the pandemic: "Even though the IMF put global economic contraction at 3.1%, we saw that the arms sales of these top 100 companies increased nonetheless — we saw an overall increase of 1.3%."

The sales of the top 100 arms manufacturers totalled $531 billion (€469 billion) in 2020, more than the economic output of Belgium. Some 54% of this was accounted for by the 41 US companies in SIPRI's top 100. The main companies in the industry are US-based: Lockheed Martin alone sold more than $58 billion worth of weapons systems last year —  a sum bigger than the GDP of Lithuania.

Effective lobbying

Companies that big also wield political power. Markus Bayer, a political scientist at the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), says arms companies are deliberately exerting influence. He quotes a report by the US NGO Open Secrets: "Defense companies spend millions every year lobbying politicians and donating to their campaigns. In the past two decades, their extensive network of lobbyists and donors have directed $285 million in campaign contributions and $2.5 billion in lobbying spending to influence defense policy."

And for the arms manufacturing giants, the spending appears to pay off. Alexandra Marksteiner explains that the US Department of Defense provided targeted support for the arms industry during the pandemic. "For example, they made sure that employees of defense companies were largely exempted from stay-at-home orders. On the other hand, there were some orders that were set up so that funds could be transferred to the companies a bit earlier, ahead of schedule, so that they would have a bit of a buffer."

Big Asian players

Simone Wisotzki has also examined SIPRI's new figures. An arms control expert at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), she was especially struck by "the fact that arms companies from the Global South are becoming increasingly important." Wisotzki mentions India in particular: It has three companies in the top 100, whose combined sales total 1.2% — on a par with South Korea.

However, there are far more weapons leaving the factories of India's northern neighbor, China. SIPRI has been including Chinese companies in its studies since 2015, despite the many problems with transparency. China's five companies on the list are benefiting from the Chinese military's modernization program, and their shipments now account for 13% of the top 100's sales.

Wisotzki says India has not signed up to the international

 arms agreement

Looking at the Chinese entries, Marksteiner notes that "these companies are capitalizing on what is called military-civilian fusion," citing the largest Chinese arms conglomerate as an example: "There was a satellite system that NORINCO co-developed, and it makes quite a bit of revenue from that, and it's used both for military and civilian purposes."

China has been modernizing its military

Militarized information technology

Simone Wisotzki also notes that the boundary between civil and military technologies is becoming increasingly blurred. "Information technology can no longer be separated from weapons technology," she says. In its new report, SIPRI specifically looks at the growing role tech companies play in the arms business.

Marksteiner emphasizes that, if you want a clear picture of the arms industry, "you can't just talk about traditional players like Lockheed Martin." SIPRI says that, in recent years, some Silicon Valley giants like Google, Microsoft and Oracle have sought to deepen their involvement in the arms business and have been rewarded with lucrative contracts.

SIPRI gives the example of a deal between Microsoft and the US Department of Defense worth $22 billion. The company has been contracted to supply the US Army with a type of super-glasses, called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, which will provide soldiers with real-time strategic information about the battlefield.

The US military's interest in Silicon Valley is easy to explain. "They realize that, in these new enabling technologies, be it artificial intelligence or machine learning or cloud computing, these Silicon Valley companies' expertise is far beyond what you would see from traditional arms industry players," says Marksteiner. "There is a chance that some of these companies will actually end up entering the [SIPRI] top 100."

The line between technology for civilian use and miltary use is becoming increasingly blurred

Russia is falling behind

Along with France, the biggest drop in arms sales was recorded by Russia. The nine Russian companies on the list sold 6.5% fewer weapons last year than in 2019. The BICC's Markus Bayer believes this drop, to just 5% of the top 100's total sales, is directly related to India and China having developed arms factories of their own. Both countries were previously big buyers of Russian armaments.

Bayer cites the example of aircraft carriers. The first Chinese carrier was based on a Soviet-built ship purchased by Beijing in 1998. The Chinese carrier, named Liaoning, came into service in 2012.

A lot has happened since then, says Bayer. "In the last 20 years, China has not just caught up with Russia in terms of aircraft carrier production capabilities, it's overtaken it. Russia hasn't put a single aircraft carrier into service in that time. And now India has developed its own carrier as well, based on what was originally Soviet technology."

The Soviet aircraft carrier Warjag turned into the Chinese vessel Liaoning

Where does Europe stand?

The European arms industry has a combined 21% of the top 100's sales on its books. In 2020, the 26 European companies listed sold $109 billion worth of weapons. The four wholly German arms companies accounted for just under $9 billion of this total.

There are also trans-European companies like Airbus, which handled arms deals worth almost €12 billion — 5% more than in 2019. Europe is increasingly relying on joint ventures like these. Markus Bayer explains: "Europe is now trying, by political means, to expedite such cooperative ventures for the development of a 'Next Generation Weapon System,' the 'Future Combat Air System,' or the 'Main Ground Combat System,' so it can bear the high development costs for new systems like these."

These joint productions certainly make sense from a cost point of view. But as far as arms export control is concerned, they can often be problematic, says Simone Wisotzki. Referring to the Eurofighter Typhoon, a fighter jet developed by Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, the PRIF analyst comments that "it is also specifically supplied to problematic third countries, such as Saudi Arabia, which is still waging war in Yemen." National export regulations are often not applied to joint productions — and it seems that Europe is still a long way from implementing effective joint controls on arms exports.

This article was translated from German

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Ilhan Omar calls Kevin McCarthy 'liar' and 'coward' for not condemning Lauren Boebert's anti-Muslim remarks

Colin Campbell
·Managing Editor
Sun, December 5, 2021

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., harshly criticized House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Sunday for his tepid response to anti-Muslim remarks made by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

"McCarthy is a liar and a coward. He doesn't have the ability to condemn the kind of bigoted Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric that are being trafficked by a member of his conference," Omar said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"We have to be able to stand up to them. And we have to push them to reckon with the fact that their party, right now, is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry," she continued.



Omar was responding to McCarthy's answer after being asked on Friday why he didn't forcefully condemn Boebert's comments In a video clip that emerged last month, which the Colorado lawmaker on stage comparing Omar to a terrorist. ”Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,” Boebert said about a time she allegedly shared an elevator with Omar. (Omar denies the incident ever happened.) Boebert also called Omar a member of the "jihad squad."

More than 40 House Democrats have called on Boebert to be stripped of her committee assignments, saying in a joint letter last week that there "must be consequences when Members of Congress demonize an entire religion and promote hate from their positions of public trust." A handful of GOP lawmakers have also condemned Boebert.

On Friday, though, McCarthy claimed that Boebert had already resolved the issue.

"Let me be very clear. This party is for anyone and everyone who craves freedom, that supports religious liberty," the House GOP leader said. "She apologized publicly. She apologized personally," McCarthy said.

But Boebert didn't issue a full public apology. She had tweeted that she apologized “to anyone in the Muslim community I offended,” without mentioning Omar. And by both lawmakers' accounts, their phone call afterward went awry, with Omar asking for a direct public apology, being rebuffed and hanging up on Boebert.

"Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments," Omar said in a statement after the phone call. "She instead doubled down on her rhetoric, and I decided to end the unproductive phone call."

Boebert offered more incendiary rhetoric in her own when recounting of the phone call.

"Rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of 'cancel culture 101,' and a pillar of the Democrat Party. Make no mistake, I will continue to fearlessly put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists. Unfortunately, Ilhan can't say the same thing," Boebert said in an Instagram video.

How McCarthy has handled this controversy sheds light on his effort to become the next House speaker if Republicans retake control of the chamber next year. He has largely avoided directly criticizing far-right members of his caucus who spark firestorms with their attacks on Democrats.

McCarthy responded similarly to a recent controversy in which Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., posted an animated video depicting him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and swinging a sword at President Biden. Democrats stripped Gosar of his committee assignments; McCarthy said he would restore them as speaker.

Ilhan Omar: Kevin McCarthy Is a ‘Coward and a Liar’ for Not Condemning Boebert’s Islamophobic Comments

Peter Wade

ROLLING STONE
Sun, December 5, 2021

Ilhan Omar - Credit: CNN/Screencap

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a “liar and a coward” for his refusal to condemn remarks by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) where she suggested that Omar, a Muslim who wears a hijab, was a terrorist who might detonate an explosive device in the Capitol. But, Omar said, she is “confident” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will take “decisive action” against Boebert.

Omar called Boebert’s comments “shocking” and “unacceptable” during an interview with Jake Tapper on Sunday, adding, “It’s very unbecoming of a congresswoman to use that kind of derogatory, dangerous, inciting language against a colleague.”

More from Rolling Stone

Ilhan Omar Plays Voicemail of Vile Death Threat She Received After Boebert Video


Lauren Boebert Got a Lot of Mileage Out of Her Bigoted Ilhan Omar Elevator Story, New Video Shows


Lauren Boebert Confirms Her Apology to Ilhan Omar Was Bullshit

Since video of the remarks started circulating on social media, Omar — who is one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress — has said she’s received numerous death threats. Last week she played a voicemail aloud at a press conference where a man told her, “You’re a fucking traitor. You will not live much longer, bitch.”

When asked about Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s refusal to condemn Boebert’s remarks and his claims that Boebert has apologized (even though she doubled-down , Omar said, “McCarthy is a liar and a coward.” Omar continued, “He doesn’t have the ability to condemn the kind of bigoted Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric that are being trafficked by a member of his conference.”

Tapper interjected, asking, “Why doesn’t he have the ability to do that?”

“This is who they are,” the congresswoman answered. “And we have to be able to stand up to them and we have to be able to push them to reckon with the fact that their party right now is normalizing anti-Muslim bigotry.”

Tapper pointed out that a few Republican members of the House have condemned Boebert’s comments. Omar responded by noting that those members have been attacked for doing so. “Which tells you that their conference condones this, and that’s why it’s dangerous. Because people across the world, not just in the United States, are seeing this and they’re worried. As you know, Islamophobia is on the rise … This isn’t about me, this is about all of the young girls across this country who wear the hijab so proudly who are afraid for their lives.”

The conversation then turned to whether Democrats can take action can be taken against Boebert for her bigotry. “We should punish and sanction Boebert by stripping her of her committees, by rebuking her language, by doing everything that we can to send a clear message to the American public that if Republicans are not going to be adults and condemn this, that we are going to do that.”

Omar added, “I’ve had a conversation with the speaker and I’m very confident that she will take decisive action next week.”

She further explained why she trusts Pelosi: “As you know, when I first got to Congress, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be allowed to be sworn in because there was a ban on the hijab. She promised me she would take care of it. She fulfilled that promise. She’s made another promise to me she will take care of this, and I believe her.”

Shell Said to Evacuate Staff From Australian LNG Plant After Outage


Stephen Stapczynski and Matthew Burgess
Sun, December 5, 2021,

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc has evacuated non-essential staff from its floating liquefied natural gas facility in northwest Australia as the operator struggled to restore power that knocked out operations earlier in the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

The delay in bringing essential power generators back online at the Prelude LNG export plant had left workers without ventilation, potable water services and a sewage treatment system, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they’re not authorized to speak to media. The evacuation of non-essential staff was assisted by Inpex Corp.’s helicopter and rescue vessel, the people said.

Shell said in an emailed statement that work to restore main power is underway, without commenting on the evacuation.

The world’s biggest floating LNG plant suspended production and delayed the loading of a prompt cargo on Friday after suffering an issue that tripped power at the facility. The evacuation indicates that the plant could be shut for longer than originally anticipated, exacerbating a global shortage of natural gas.

Shell and its partners are now considering canceling the scheduled LNG cargo loading due to the ongoing power issue, one of the people said.

VERITAS

Orthodox priest shouts 'Pope, you are a heretic' at Francis in Athens



Sat, December 4, 2021
By Philip Pullella and Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS (Reuters) -An elderly Greek Orthodox priest shouted "Pope, you are a heretic" as Pope Francis was entering the Orthodox Archbishopric in Athens on Saturday and was taken away by police, a reminder of the lingering distrust between the two divided churches.

Video showed the man, who was dressed in black robes and black hat and had a long white beard, shouting the words in Greek outside the building before police bundled him away.

Witnesses said he shouted loud enough for the pope to hear the commotion. The man appeared to have fallen while being taken away and was lifted up by police.

Francis arrived in Greece on Saturday for a three-day visit that Greek Catholics hope will bring the Eastern and Western churches closer together.

Christianity split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054 in what is referred to as the Great Schism, and for centuries relations were rocky.

In his address to the archbishop, Beatitude Ieronymos II, Francis asked forgiveness in the name of the Roman Catholic Church for its part in the historical wrongs that led to the breakup.

"Tragically, in later times we grew apart. Worldly concerns poisoned us, weeds of suspicion increased our distance and we ceased to nurture communion," Francis told Ieronymos, whom he met during his first trip to Greece in 2016.

"I feel the need to ask anew for the forgiveness of God and of our brothers and sisters for the mistakes committed by many Catholics," Francis said.

Pope John Paul II first asked forgiveness for the Catholic role in the break-up when he visited Greece in 2001.

Catholics and Orthodox have been involved in dialogue aimed at eventual reunion for decades and cooperate in many social initiatives but the two sides are still far apart theologically.

"We believe you have the courage and the sincerity to examine the failures and omissions of your fathers," Ieronymos told Francis. "Between those who want to be called Christian brothers, the best language is, and always will be, honesty."

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Protesters block roads in Serbia to criticize mining plans





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Protesters stand on the highway during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Thousands of protesters have gathered in Belgrade and other Serbian towns and villages to block roads and bridges despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the participants. Thousands of protesters have gathered in Belgrade and other Serbian towns and villages to block roads and bridges despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the participants. 

(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Sat, December 4, 2021, 

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of protesters in Belgrade and other Serbian towns blocked main roads and bridges Saturday to decry a planned lithium mine despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the demonstrators.

Blowing whistles and chanting “Uprising! Uprising!” protesters stopped traffic on the main highway that goes through the Serbian capital. In the Balkan nation's second-largest city of Nis, the main downtown street was blocked, as was a Danube River bridge in the northern city of Novi Sad.

In Novi Sad, soccer hooligans hurled rocks and bottles at the protesters, who responded by chasing them down. One hooligan was severely beaten.

Uniformed police were not visible during the two-hour protests.

It was the second such nationwide protest called by environmental groups amid growing public discontent with the autocratic rule of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Last Saturday, the protesters skirmished with police and in one town unidentified masked men attacked them with sticks and hammers.

Environmental groups have criticized Vucic’s populist government for not combating widespread pollution enough in the Balkan nation. They are especially against two laws passed by parliament that they see as laying the groundwork for a lithium mining operation by Rio Tinto in western Serbia.

In a sign of defiance, Vucic on Saturday ignored the protests and traveled to the site where the international mining company plans to start its excavations. His office said he wanted to talk to the locals about the project.

“Our goal is to have a civilized conversation and not under pressure from the streets,” Vucic told the pro-government Pink TV, adding that the police will not intervene Saturday against the protesters.

Many protesters complained that police officers came to their homes and warned them they could face legal consequences and fines if they took part in the environmental rallies. Activist Danijela Vujovic from the southern city of Nis said police came to her home in the morning to warn her that the protests amounted to a “criminal act."

“I don’t see how this is a criminal act,” Vujosevic told N1 regional television. Vujosevic’s daughter could be seen holding a small banner reading “I am public interest!”

The police on Saturday repeated their warning that the protests are illegal and that the organizers will have to bear all eventual consequences. They also issued a special telephone number and an email address for anyone who wanted to report “violence caused by the blockade.”

Vucic and other Serbian officials have denounced the protests and alleged they are financed by the West to destabilize the country.
___

AP writer Jovana Gec contributed.

Honolulu water utility shuts down well after fuel contamination



Erin Doherty
Sat, December 4, 2021

Honolulu's water utility said Friday it shut down one of its wells amid concerns over fuel contamination in the Navy's tap water supply, according to the Board of Water Supply.

Why it matters: The fuel contamination concerns threaten one of Honolulu’s most important water sources and a key military base, where submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region are located, AP reports.

The big picture: The move comes after the Navy on Thursday announced that a water sample from one of its wells had shown the presence of petroleum.

Nearly 1,000 military households have complained about tap water coming from the well, either of smelling like fuel or causing physical pain, including stomach cramps, per AP.

The well, which serves nearly 93,000 people, is near a World War II-era fuel tank complex that has caused numerous leaks over the years.

Driving the news: The Navy will flush clean water through the distribution system to clear petroleum products from the water, a process that could take four to 10 days, per AP.

Manager and Chief Engineer of the Board of Water Supply Ernest Lau said Friday he was concerned the "utility could pull contaminated water through the porous lava rock that forms the aquifer, and deliver it to its customers," AP writes.

There is no indication that the non-Navy drinking water was contaminated, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat.

What they're saying: "We are deeply concerned that we were not notified immediately by the Navy regarding the shut down of their Red Hill water source," Lau said in a statement.

"We have data that shows when they stop pumping at Red Hill, water starts moving in the direction of our Halawa Shaft due to our pumping. In an abundance of caution, we must shut down Halawa Shaft until further notice."

 Axios 

Fuel smell drove health official out of Iqaluit water treatment plant 4 days before public was notified

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Department of Health flagged concerns from residents 10

 days before do-not-consume order was issued

April Hudson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2021 

Iqaluit issued its do-not-consume order for city water on Oct. 12. Documents show a Nunavut environmental health officer flagged an 'unbearable' diesel smell at the city's water treatment plant four days earlier — and the Department of Health heard public concerns as early as Oct. 2. (Dustin Patar/The Canadian Press)

When Wilfred Ntiamoah, a Nunavut environmental health officer, assessed Iqaluit's water treatment plant on Oct. 8, the smell of diesel was so intense he had to leave the building to get some fresh air.

That was six days after the Department of Health first began investigating public concerns over a fuel smell in Iqaluit's drinking water. It would be another four days before the City of Iqaluit told its residents stop drinking the tap water due to possible fuel contamination.

Documents obtained by CBC through an access to information request show Ntiamoah flagged what smelled like diesel at the plant — an odour Ntiamoah described as "unbearable" at times.

Using an air quality monitor from Nunavut's Department of Environment, Ntiamoah recorded "significant" levels of fumes inside the plant, which he guessed were diesel fumes. The levels dropped when he went outside. He noted that they were the worst in the facility's basement.

• 'We're all tired': Iqaluit residents unable to drink tap water for nearly 2 months

• City of Iqaluit says historical fuel spill likely source of drinking water contamination

He suggested the city bring on a consultant to find out whether the fumes inside the plant might be contributing to the smell in the water supply.

Photos Ntiamoah provided to Nunavut health officials also included a description of one water tank inside the plant as having an "oily" surface.

In another email sent to health officials that day, Ntiamoah said he wanted to explore the issue of the fumes further and questioned why the doors to the plant were opened widely.

"Was it to dissipate built-up … diesel smell/fumes," he wrote.

Health officials flagged issue on Oct. 2

Other emails obtained by CBC show the Department of Health first began investigating the issue on Oct. 2 after residents posted to social media about the smell. Health officials met with the city about it on Oct. 3.

Between Oct. 2 and 11, the city sent out initial water samples to an Ottawa lab for testing, but the samples hadn't been collected correctly — they were put in normal plastic bottles instead of specialized glass bottles. The water had to be transferred to the right containers by the lab, and ultimately those issues meant it was difficult to interpret the lab results.

Iqaluit on November 14. It's now been nearly two months since people in the city have been able to drink their tap water. (Jane George/CBC)

City officials told Iqaluit's 8,000 residents not to drink the tap water on Oct. 12, after complaints started flooding in about the fuel smell.

The city declared a state of emergency that same day.

Steven Siciliano, a microbiologist and toxicologist who has done research in the North, later told the Canadian Press that the human nose is "incredibly sensitive" to hydrocarbons, meaning people can smell it even if there's a very low amount.

He compared drinking the water every day for a week to smoking one or two cigarettes a day vs. smoking an entire pack a day. He said long-term exposure to compounds found in gasoline could be "very risky" but drinking it for a week probably wouldn't do much harm.

Dr. Michael Patterson, the territory's chief medical health officer, has said repeatedly that there don't seem to be any risks to residents who drank the fuel-contaminated tap water.

He's also said he wants to be 100 per cent certain the water is safe to drink before lifting the do-not-consume order. 

With files from Nick Murray

Iqaluit frustrated still unable to drink tap water after nearly 2 months

By Emma Tranter The Canadian Press
Posted December 3, 2021 

WATCH: Contaminated Iqaluit water tank isolated following initial inspection 

– Oct 22, 2021

In the summer, the Sylvia Grinnell River near Iqaluit is a popular spot to fish for Arctic char where ice-cold water cascades over rocky ledges.

Now, with thick layers of ice and snow covering the flowing water below, it has become one of the Nunavut capital’s main water sources for drinking and cooking.

The other comes in thousands of plastic water bottles that arrive by plane.

READ MORE: Military headed to Iqaluit to help provide safe drinking water, Blair says

It’s been almost two months since Iqaluit’s tap water was declared undrinkable. On Oct. 12, the city declared a state of emergency when fuel was found in the water supply. Residents had complained the water coming out of their taps smelled like fuel.

Since then, the city has dug up an old underground fuel tank from 1962, which was buried next to the water treatment plant and thought to be the source of the contamination.

Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell says he’s frustrated because the city’s testing has come back clean since Oct. 23, but the Nunavut government has the final say in lifting the do-not-consume order.

The city has installed a device to monitor for petroleum, but the territory says it wants two. It also wants the city to build a system that would bypass the water treatment plant’s underground tanks.

Members of the Iqaluit Fire Department assist with flushing the city’s water pipes in Iqaluit, Nunavut, on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. According to a City of Iqaluit news release issued earlier in the day, flushing will conclude by Thursday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar

Bell says those are important steps to preventing future problems, but he doesn’t think they should be tied to lifting the order.

“It could take three weeks, could take a month, could take two months to build the bypass because of parts and labour and what not,” Bell says.

“That’s going to take time that we frankly just don’t have.”

The city has said it will cost $130 million to fix the long-term problem and has called on the federal government to pay for it.

Water quality monitoring from the city shows that between Nov. 16 and Nov. 23 all sample results came back negative for petroleum hydrocarbons.

“The water is clean. These requirements are for a future possible event,” says Bell.

Throughout the emergency, the city has continued to hand out bottled water to residents at different sites around the city.

READ MORE: Iqaluit officials recommending rebate for customers amid drinking water crisis

But staff are strained, Bell says, and the city has had to close its gym, pool and two arenas to reallocate workers.

“We’re offering $32 per hour to hand out water, but we’ve only hired a couple of people. We just need more staff,” Bell says.

“We’re all tired. We were short-handed well before this crisis. It’s crap for all of us.”

The city has asked the Nunavut government for extra hands, but Bell says that request was denied because the territory has its own staffing issues.

In a statement, Nunavut’s health department says it’s still reviewing the city’s water quality assessments.

“The (Government of Nunavut) is awaiting confirmation from the contracted engineering firm that the site assessment and required remediation have been completed to assure the risk of repeat contamination has been mitigated,” says the statement.

“The Department of Health is working closely with the third party to assess the City of Iqaluit’s field investigation report.”

2:30 Tap water contaminated in Nunavut’s capital, triggering state-of-emergency – 

Oct 13, 2021

Nunavut’s department of community and government services, which contracted the engineering firm, did not respond when asked for the name of the company.

The Canadian Armed Forces also arrived in Iqaluit on Oct. 23 to collect and purify water from the Sylvia Grinnell River using a reverse osmosis system.

But the operation ground to a halt on Nov. 22, when high winds knocked over a military tent that was protecting the water purification system.

The military has since moved its system inside a hangar at the city’s airport, and plans to truck river water there for treatment. There’s no timeline for when the operation will start again.

  

CHINA'S ALLY

Five dead after Myanmar security forces ram car into Yangon protest - media


FILE PHOTO: Police stand on a road during an anti-coup protest in Mandalay

Sat, December 4, 2021,

(Reuters) - Five people were killed and at least 15 arrested after Myanmar security forces in a car rammed into an anti-coup protest on Sunday morning in Yangon, local news portal Myanmar Now reported.

Witnesses on the scene told Reuters dozens had been injured. Photos and videos on social media show a vehicle that crashed through the protesters and bodies lying on the road.

Another protest was held in Yangon in the afternoon despite the morning violence.

Anti-military protests are continuing despite the killing of more than 1,300 people since the Feb. 1 coup. The scattered protests are often small groups voicing opposition to the overthrow of an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of military rule.

The opposition's shadow government said it was heartbroken to see peaceful protesters crashed and shot to death.

"We will strongly respond to the terrorist military who brutally, inhumanly killed the unarmed peaceful protesters," the National Unity Government's defence ministry said in a statement on social media after Sunday's attack.

In the incident, a "flash mob" protest in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, was rammed minutes after it started, witnesses said.

"I got hit and fell down in front of a truck. A soldier beat me with his rifle but I defended and pushed him back. Then he immediately shot at me as I ran away in a zig-zag pattern. Fortunately, I escaped," a protester who asked not to be identified for security reasons told Reuters by phone.

A car occupied by soldiers hit the crowd from the back, two witnesses said, and followed the scattered protesters arresting and beating them. Some were seriously injured with head wounds and unconscious, according to the witnesses.

A spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment on Sunday.

The military has said that protesters who have been killed instigated the violence. It says it staged the coup because a November election won by Suu Kyi's party was rigged. The election commission has dismissed the assertion.

Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to United Nations estimates.

Suu Kyi, 76, faces a dozen cases against her including incitement and violations of COVID-19 protocols.

She has rejected all the charges to date.

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Editing by Kim Coghill and William Mallard)

The NASA-China space race is about to go nuclear


THE HILL
Sun, December 5, 2021, 

Recently, NASA and the United States Department of Energy put out a call for industry to propose designs for a nuclear power plant that could be deployed on the moon within the decade, according to Science Alert. In the meantime, Interesting Engineering reports that China has completed a design for its own lunar-based nuclear reactor. The two news items suggests that both sides of the current space race are very serious about returning to the moon and developing Earth's nearest neighbor in a big way.

The Chinese lunar nuclear reactor is described as being capable of generating a full megawatt of electricity. According to Live Science, NASA requires that the lunar nuclear power plant generate just 40 kilowatts of power for 10 years, fit inside a 12-foot long by 18-foot-wide rocket, and weigh no more than 13,200 pounds. Presumably, if the moon base requires more than 40 kilowatts of power, more power plants can be launched and deployed ready for use.


By going nuclear, both NASA and the Chinese recognize that an immense amount of power is required to operate in space in a big way. The systems that keep astronauts alive and keep their experiments running require power; the more astronauts; the more power. If one adds systems that support commercial activities, such as lunar mining, then the proper conclusion is that solar alone is not the answer. Nuclear power is the key to opening space to a wide variety of human activity, for both scientific exploration and commercial development.

Nuclear power also has the advantage over solar power, whether space based, or Earth bound, in that it runs 24/7. Solar power systems need battery backups when sunlight is blocked.

NASA is also studying nuclear power for spacecraft, especially those that would voyage to Mars and points beyond. The space agency has considered nuclear rockets since the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program in the 1960s. NERVA ended when it became clear that NASA would not send humans to Mars any time soon. Now that Mars is back on the agenda, nuclear rockets, which would use a nuclear reactor to superheat exhaust from the back of a spacecraft, are also back.

A nuclear thermal rocket could send humans and their supplies to Mars much more quickly than a spacecraft with conventional rocket engines. Thus, astronauts voyaging to Mars will spend less time exposed to the radiation-drenched environment of deep space.

Just as nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance for space operations, the technology is being given a second look on Earth. Nuclear power has gotten bad press after high-profile accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. More enlightened environmentalists have concluded that nuclear power should be part of a solution that transitions human civilization away from dependence on fossil fuels.

Bill Gates, the billionaire philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, is partly financing a nuclear power plant that uses new technology to be built in Wyoming by 2028. The nuclear power plant will use liquid sodium instead of water to cool the reactor. The technology reduces the risk of an explosion or a meltdown. It also produces less nuclear waste.

Modern civilization, whether on Earth or in space, requires an immense amount of energy to operate. As technology advances, civilization will require even more power. Nuclear technology is available in the near term to provide that power, whether to run air conditioners in homes on Earth or to keep environmental systems operating on a lunar base or a spacecraft voyaging to Mars.

Will environmentalist opposition arise against nuclear systems in space as it has on Earth, inhibiting their development? Antinuclear activists have protested rocket launches that included fissile material, as they did in 1997 when the Cassini space probe launched with 72 pounds of plutonium 238 that provided power for its mission to Saturn. No doubt similar protests can be expected when a nuclear reactor and its fuel are launched to the moon.

However, as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pointed out, once nuclear power plants are deployed in space, either at a moon base or on a spacecraft voyaging to Mars, they would present no danger to humans on Earth. The debate over nuclear power in space will occur, just as it has on Earth and will have to be engaged.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of space exploration studies "Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?" as well as "The Moon, Mars and Beyond," and "Why is America Going Back to the Moon?" He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.