Lowest July Antarctic sea ice on record: monitor

Antarctic sea ice cover was at its lowest for the month of July since satellite records began

 44 years ago.

Last month saw the lowest extent of Antarctic sea ice on record for July, according to the European Union's satellite monitoring group.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found Antarctic sea ice extent reached 15.3 million square kilometers (5,900,000 square miles)—some 1.1 million km2, or seven percent, below the 1991-2020 average for July.

This was the lowest ice cover for July since satellite records began 44 years ago, and followed record low Antarctic sea ice levels for June too.

C3S said the low ice values continued a string of below-average monthly extents observed since February 2022.

The service said in its monthly bulletin the Southern Ocean saw "widespread areas of below-average sea ice concentration" last month.

Arctic sea ice cover meanwhile was four percent lower than average, making it the 12th lowest July sea ice extent on record.

In a month that saw temperature records broken across parts of northern Europe and Britain, C3S said July was drier than average for much of the continent, noting a number of low-precipitation records in several locations.

"These conditions affected the economy locally and facilitated the spread and intensification of wildfires," it said.

C3S said July was also abnormally dry across much of North America, South America, Central Asia and Australia.

Climate change makes extreme heat and drought more likely to occur.

"We can expect to continue seeing more frequent and longer periods of extremely high temperatures, as global temperatures increase further," said senior C3S scientist Freja Vamborg.

The service said last month was however wetter than usual in eastern Russia, northern China and in a large wet band spanning from eastern Africa across Asia to northwest India.Portugal sets new July heat record, worsening severe drought

© 2022 AFP

Iran releases British-Iranian prisoner Morad Tahbaz on furlough

Sophie Wingate, PA Political Correspondent

A British-born environmentalist who was jailed for more than four years in Iran has been released on furlough with an electronic tag.

Morad Tahbaz, 66, is at his family’s home in Iranian capital Tehran, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Wednesday.

The wildlife conservationist was allowed out on furlough on the day Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and fellow dual national Anoosheh Ashoori were freed and allowed to return to the UK in March, but he was returned to custody after just two days.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori arriving at RAF Brize Norton in March

 (Leon Neal/PA)

His daughter Roxanne Tahbaz confirmed he is on a “temporary furlough in Iran with an ankle bracelet”, saying in a statement she was glad he could be with his wife and get the medical care he urgently requires.

“However, the UK Government’s work is unfinished. My father is a UK-born national and he and my mother should have been on the flight with Nazanin and Anoosheh four months ago,” she wrote.

“They should be free. Home is not in Iran, home is with their children.

“As the Foreign Secretary campaigns on a promise of results and delivery to the nation, I hope she will stand by her promise to my family and to my father and ensure his unconditional release.”


An FCDO spokesperson said: “The Tahbaz family have confirmed Morad has been released from Evin prison on furlough and is at their home in Tehran.

“Morad is a tri-national and we continue to work closely with the United States to urge the Iranian authorities to permanently release him and allow his departure from Iran.”

It is understood that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has told Mr Tahbaz’s family the UK could not secure his full departure from Iran because he is also a US citizen, and Iranian authorities are also having discussions with US counterparts.

Ms Tahbaz, who has been campaigning for her father’s release for months, in June accused ministers of failing to keep a dialogue open with her about measures being taken to secure his release.

Roxanne Tahbaz, Richard Ratcliffe and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after her release from detention in Iran in March (Victoria Jones/PA)

“Our father has been unjustly jailed in Iran for nearly four and a half years, but Liz Truss and the Government still haven’t informed us over what they’re doing to secure his release,” she said at the time.

“There doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency – nothing to suggest the Foreign Secretary and her office feel they need to get my father out of prison immediately”.

In March, the UK said it had secured Mr Tahbaz’s furlough, along with the release and return of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori.

This came after the UK Government finally agreed to settle a £400 million debt to Iran dating back to the rule of the Shah in the 1970s.

But two days later Mr Tahbaz was forced to return to Evin prison.

Evin prison in the north-western suburbs of Tehran (Alamy/PA)

Eilidh Macpherson, Amnesty International UK’s individuals at risk campaign manager, said: “This is very encouraging news but we’ve been here before and we now need to see the UK pressing hard for Morad’s full, unconditional release and permission for him to leave Iran along with his wife Vida.

“Back in March when Morad was given a temporary release for just 48 hours, it was clear the Iranian authorities were once again playing cruel games with a British national for diplomatic gain.

“It goes without saying that Morad should never have been jailed in the first place and it remains a matter of grave concern that British nationals continue to be held arbitrarily by the Iranian authorities like this.”

Mr Tahbaz, a prominent conservationist and board member of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, was arrested during a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with his colleagues on vague charges of spying for the US and undermining Iran’s security.

His wife has also been placed under a travel ban by the Iranian authorities.

Beluga stuck in Seine river: Rescuers to move whale to saltwater basin

Issued on: 09/08/2022 - 

 A beluga whale which strayed into the River Seine, far from its usual habitat of arctic or subarctic waters, will be moved to a saltwater river basin close to the sea on August 9, marine conservation group Sea Shepherd France said.

 

France readies 'exceptional' rescue of beluga astray in Seine

AUGUST 9, 2022

Belugas are a protected species that cannot survive long in fresh water.

French officials are moving ahead with a delicate plan to transport a beluga whale back to the ocean after it swam far up the Seine river toward Paris, putting its life in danger, a marine expert said Tuesday.

The four-metre (13-foot) cetacean was discovered a week ago and appears sick and underweight but its condition is "satisfactory," Isabelle Brasseur of the Marineland sea animal park in southern France, Europe's biggest, told AFP.

"As of this morning we have an idea of something that could work, we're going to explain and refine it with the people who are going to help us," she said.

Belugas are a protected species that cannot survive long in fresh water.

This one is currently around 130 kilometres (80 miles) inland from the English Channel at Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne in Normandy.

"What's exceptional is that here the banks of the Seine are not accessible for vehicles... everything is going to have to be done by hand," Brasseur said.

It is stuck behind a lock and unable to move further inland—it's now some 80 kilometres from the French capital—but is not turning around, and officials warn that attempts to "nudge" the beluga back toward the sea are not viable.

The idea is to take the beluga by road to an undisclosed seawater basin where it can be treated before being released.

But the challenges are considerable and the journey is likely to further stress an animal weighing 800 kilogrammes (nearly 1,800 pounds).

The Sea Shepherd France NGO, which is assisting the operation, said in a statement Tuesday that tranquilisation was not an option, since belugas are so-called "voluntary breathers" that need to be awake to inhale air.

Appeal for donations

"In any case, we have to get it out of there... and try to figure out what is wrong," Brasseur said.

Veterinarians will keep constant surveillance during the move.

"There may be internal problems that we can't see," she said despite the fact that belugas are "extremely hardy" as a species.

Sea Shepherd has issued an appeal for donations of heavy-duty ropes, nets, mattresses and other equipment.

Belugas are normally found only in cold Arctic waters, and while they migrate south in the autumn to feed as ice forms, they rarely venture so far.

According to France's Pelagis Observatory, specialised in sea mammals, the nearest beluga population is off the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway, 3,000 kilometres from the Seine.


Explore further  Beluga whale is now stationary in Seine: NGO

© 2022 AFP

"Last-chance operation" to save a beluga stranded in a French river

Elaine Cobbe -CBS News -3h ago

An image taken by environmental group Sea Shepherd shows a beluga whale in the Seine river in Notre Dame de la Garenne, northwest of Paris, August 8, 2022. 

/ Credit: Sea Shepherd

Paris — Marine conservationists said Tuesday that a risky operation was planned to try to save a beluga whale stranded for a week in France's Seine river. The beluga — a species that should be found in arctic or subarctic seas — has been monitored for days amid mounting fear over its deteriorating health.

It was stranded in the Seine, which runs right through the center of Paris, about 40 miles northwest of the French capital, swimming slowly between two locks.

"Today, a major, complex operation will be undertaken that is not without risk but is indispensable for the beluga. This a major first in France," said the Sea Shepherd group in Tuesday a post on its Facebook page.

"Today's major operation will consist of transporting the beluga, which is 150km [about 93 miles] from the sea, to a saltwater basin, better adapted to its physiology, so that it can receive treatment and medical follow up," Sea Shepherd said. "We want to determine if what is ailing him and stopping him eating is something we can help with [or] if it is incurable."


A beluga whale is seen swimming up France's Seine river, near a lock in Courcelles-sur-Seine, western France, August 5, 2022. 

/ Credit: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty

The group promised to finance the operation and said it was urgently trying to raise 30,000 euros (about the same in U.S. dollars) for this operation. Sea Shepherd said it had already received generous donations of some of the materials that would be required.

Related video: Rescuers scramble to save Beluga whale trapped in river Seine

Duration 1:38   View on Watch

As of Monday, experts were voicing little optimism that the beluga could survive. It was first spotted in the river last Tuesday, northwest of Paris.

Local police and fire services were mobilized to monitor it and they used drones to track its movements before closing it between to two locks to keep it safe.


A beluga whale swims between two locks on the Seine river, in Notre-Dame-de-la-Garenne, northwest France, August 6, 2022. 

/ Credit: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty

Veterinarians called in by the authorities noted that the 13-foot-long whale appeared thin and in poor health, leading many to conclude that it likely had been deteriorating for several weeks.

Efforts to feed the beluga have been unsuccessful. Even after vets injected it with steroids and antibiotics, it still ignored the food being offered.

Sea Shepherd, which has had staff present at the site, said it was possible the animal had been suffering from an illness for several weeks.

"Its lack of appetite is almost certainly a symptom of something else, something we don't know about, an illness," said Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France. "It is undernourished and likely has been for several weeks, or even months. It stopped eating while it was still at sea."

The group noted, however, that the whale was still showing curiosity about the activity around it and was still moving, albeit slowly. Those factors kept talk of euthanizing the animal at bay until the rescue attempt plan was announced on Tuesday.

US lifts policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico

Tue, August 9, 2022


The US Department of Homeland Security announced Monday night it will end a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications play out in court.

The DHS announcement comes hours after a judge lifted an injunction that had prevented US President Joe Biden's administration from ending the so-called "Remain in Mexico" policy.

Under the policy, instituted in 2019 under former president Donald Trump, tens of thousands of asylum-seekers were sent across the border until required to appear in the United States for their immigration hearings.

Critics called the program cruel and dangerous, with vulnerable people sometimes forced to wait in border towns the United States had advised its own citizens against visiting due to violence.

The policy will be rolled back "in a quick, and orderly, manner," the department wrote in a statement.

No one else will be enrolled and those who cross the border for their court dates will no longer be sent back to Mexico afterwards, the DHS added.

The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), as the policy is officially called, "has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border," DHS said.

Soon after taking office, Biden attempted to fulfill a campaign promise to end the border measure as part of what he called a more humane approach to immigration.

But a group of Republican-governed states led by Texas sued the administration and a US District Court ordered the policy to be reinstated.

The case eventually ended up before the Supreme Court, which ruled on June 30 that Biden had the authority to end the program.

From the start of the policy in January 2019 until its initial suspension under Biden, at least 70,000 people were sent to Mexico, according to the American Immigration Council.

Human Rights First said there were 1,544 publicly documented cases of murder, rape, torture, kidnapping or other assaults of individuals sent across the border under Remain in Mexico between January 2019 and 2021, with multiple people, including at least one child, dying.

The Trump administration had argued a "zero tolerance" approach was needed to stem illegal immigration to the United States.

Under the resurrected policy, from December 2021 until June 2022, 9,563 people were enrolled in the policy, most of whom were not from Mexico but Nicaragua.

During Biden's tenure, more than 200,000 people attempting to enter the country illegally have been stopped at the border each month and sent back, either under Remain in Mexico or a separate, Covid-related policy blocking people at the border.

bur-lb/leg

ZIONIST ETHNIC CLEANSING 

Gaza parents mourn children killed in conflict with Israel

Palestinian mother Rasha Qadoom clutches tight the tiny pink rucksack belonging to her five-year-old daughter Alaa -- which will never again be carried on her little back.


© SAID KHATIBA 

Palestinian boy salvages a toy from the rubble of his home in the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which was destroyed in the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza militants

-AFP - 

Alaa was the first of 16 children killed in three days of intense conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of Gaza.


© Mahmud HAMS

Palestinian mother Rasha Qadoom mourns her five year-old daughter Alaa, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment of Gaza, as she looks after her surviving child Rayed, who was wounded

"It was a Friday like any other," said Qadoom, 27, remembering how Alaa had been dressed in a pink T-shirt to match her pink bag with a pink ribbon tied in her hair.


© MAHMUD HAMS

Palestinians inspect the ruins of a building in Gaza City that was levelled by an Israeli air strike on August 6

"She was happy, she wanted to go to the park with her aunt."

But as she went to her aunt on Friday afternoon, Israel launched an intense "pre-emptive" bombardment of militant positions.

Alaa was knocking on the door of her aunt's home when a missile smashed down from the sky.

Later that day -- hours after Alaa was killed -- militants began firing barrages of rockets in retaliation, violence that raged until a tenuous truce came into force late Sunday.


© MOHAMMED ABED

A gaping hole is all that remains of the Shamalagh family home in Gaza City after it was blown up in an Israeli strike

- 'Clothes full of blood' -

In her hands, Qadoom holds the blood-stained rags of Alaa's T-shirt, unable to comprehend why her daughter died.

"Nobody was armed in the neighbourhood. Instead of going to play in the park, she came back to me with clothes full of blood," she said.


© MOHAMMED ABEDShamalagh family members sift through the rubble of their flattened home looking for cherished possessions among the concrete slabs

"What was the point of this war?" she asked. "We lost children... all her dreams were on a school bag and a notebook."


The Israeli air and artillery strikes targeted positions of the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group

The health ministry in the Palestinian territory run by the Islamist group Hamas said 46 people were killed, including 16 children.

After the strike in which Alaa was killed, the Israeli army said it was targeting members of Islamic Jihad operating in the area.

Israel also said that some of the civilian deaths recorded in the Palestinian toll were the result of militant rockets that fell short or misfired.

Elsewhere in Gaza City, a few blocks back from the Mediterranean Sea in a neighbourhood with houses crammed tight together, the home of the Shamalagh was blown up.

Only a gaping hole remains.

Poking out of the slabs of smashed concrete are the remains of people's lives; a new fridge, a sofa crushed by tons of concrete, a stuffed toy animal.

Dozens of paper scraps from what was an English textbook lie in the dirt.

One page, a lesson focused on the British seaside town of St Ives, sets a task for schoolchildren in the blockaded enclave: "Think of your ideal location for a holiday."

The shattered building was once home to 17 people, including children, who were given just a 30-minute warning to leave by Israel before the devastating air strikes hit.

Sitting beside the ruins of her home, 70-year-old Nadia Shamalagh said that, even after the Egypt-brokered ceasefire began late Sunday, she struggled to rest.

"I couldn't sleep, I was staring at the ceiling and thinking 'they (Israel) are going to strike'", she said.

"Everyone was scared, the children couldn't stop crying".

- 'Tragedy' -

Shamalagh says they had nothing to do with any of the Palestinian political or militant groups.

"They are not linked to Hamas, Fatah or Islamic Jihad," she said.

In Gaza, the cost of war on children is not only on those killed or wounded but impacting all.

The conflict was the worst violence in Gaza since an 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in May 2021, when 66 children died in Gaza, and two in Israel.

In June, Save the Children had already warned in a report of the impact on the young since conflict escalated with Israel in 2007 after the Islamist group Hamas took control in Gaza.

"During this time, their childhoods have been marred by five escalations in violence and a decade and a half of blockade," the aid agency said.

"They have repeatedly experienced or witnessed traumatic events and serious violations of their rights."

In her exhaustion, Shamalagh simply repeats a phrase, over and over.

"What is this life?" she said. "Are we going to continue to live this tragedy?"

Behind her, two girls have dragged a plank of wood out of the wreckage and placed it on a concrete block, sitting on either side and rocking on a makeshift seesaw.

cgo/pjm/kir

‘Blood, body parts, screams’: Gaza reels after Israeli strikes

Maram Humaid - Sunday

Rafah, Gaza – Another night of terror passed in the southern Gaza Strip as an attack by Israeli warplanes killed a senior commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, Khaled Mansour, along with many nearby civilians.

Until the early hours of Sunday, civil defence and rescue crews continued to retrieve the bodies of the dead and wounded from under the rubble of the refugee camp, despite limited equipment.

According to medics, seven people were killed in the Rafah bombing on Saturday, among 43 others killed in Israel’s three-day attack, including 15 children and four women. More than 300 other Palestinians have been wounded.

The rescue process was made more difficult by the narrow alleyways of the camp because of how closely the asbestos-roofed homes lined up together.

Ashraf al-Qaisi, 46, said he did not think twice before allowing bulldozers to demolish his entire house in order to help rescue teams reach his neighbours buried under the debris.

“This is the hardest night ever in my life,” al-Qaisi told Al Jazeera. “I was sitting in my house with my wife and six children until we suddenly heard the sound of shelling, and part of the ceiling collapsed. One of my sons was injured.”


Ashraf al-Qaisi, 46, second left, allowed bulldozers to demolish

 his house in order for rescuers to save his neighbours 

[Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

‘Enough is enough’

Al-Qaisi ran outside only to find a number of his neighbours’ homes had been completely destroyed by the Israeli bombing. “Those were tough moments. Blood, body parts, screams under the rubble, bodies being pulled out dead and wounded,” al-Qaisi said.

“It was very difficult for the bulldozers to reach the targeted house, so I let the bulldozers demolish my entire house in order to save my neighbours next door,” he told Al Jazeera as he stood on the rubble of his home.

Although al-Qaisi is unemployed and has no income to support his family, he said he did not hesitate to allow the rescue crew to demolish his house. “The situation was difficult to put into words,” he said. “I wanted to help in any way.”

“I tell the world that enough is enough. The wars, bombings and killings that are happening to us are enough. We are tired. We are really tired,” al-Qaisi said while holding his injured son, Ahmed.

Wissam Joudeh, 39, did just what al-Qaisi did. He, too, allowed bulldozers to partially demolish his house in order for rescue teams to evacuate the wounded.

“I was sitting with my family when we heard and felt shelling that shook the place,” he said.

“I went out and the missile had hit right behind our house. Moments until the civil defence vehicles rushed in, the situation was very difficult. Injured people were screaming under the rubble … [There were] burned bodies, and it was late at night.”


© Provided by Al JazeeraWissam Joudeh allowed bulldozers to partially demolish his house for rescue teams to evacuate the wounded [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

‘Gaza is alone’

Related video: Watch: Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 10 in Gaza

The only thing the ambulances could do is to have al-Qaisi’s house and part of Joudeh’s house demolished to help access the bombing site.

“Even though I only bought this house three months ago, after a long struggle to find stability, I did not hesitate to allow it to be demolished to try to reach the injured and the bodies under the rubble,” Joudeh said. “They are my neighbours and I was very sad about what happened to them.”

Joudeh called on the international and humanitarian community to pressure Israel to stop its repeated attacks on Gaza.

“Gaza is alone. We didn’t start a fight with anyone. We are civilians who just want to live in peace.”

Just north of Gaza, Najwa Abu Hamada, 46, had not yet recovered from the shock of losing her only son, Khalil, 19, in a bombing near their home in Jabalia refugee camp.

Abu Hamada said she had just had lunch with her son before he went out with one of his friends.

“Less than a minute after he left, I heard a loud bombing,” Abu Hamada said. “Immediately I went out into the street yelling ‘my son, my son!'”

Najwa Abu Hamada, 46, lost her only son, Khalil, 19 [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

‘He is all my life’

The bombing took place in front of a supermarket next to their home, killing five civilians, including children.

“The first thing I saw was the body of my son’s best friend. That’s when I screamed and knew that my son might also have been killed,” Abu Hamada said. “Minutes later I found my son. He was soaked in his blood and lying on the ground. I was screaming so hard calling for an ambulance.”

Abu Hamada said that Khalil was her only son, whom she conceived after 15 years of trying to have children.

“I did five in vitro fertilisation rounds, all of which failed. Then the last IVF round was successful and Khalil came to light.

“He is all my life. I wanted him to graduate quickly so that I could find a bride for him. I have no one else but him. I can’t believe what happened and I don’t want to believe,” Abu Hamada said, breaking down in tears.


Relatives mourn the death of Khalil, a 19-year-old Palestinian, 

killed by an Israeli missile strike

 [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

‘We can’t endure more’

Umm Mohammad al-Nairab, 60, sat weeping in the wake of the deaths of her grandchildren, Ahmad, 11, and Moamen, 5.

“Last night, the two children went out to buy things from the supermarket across the street from the house where people gathered after evening [Isha] prayers,” al-Nairab said, sobbing heavily. “It was only moments before we heard a loud bombing.”

“Their parents and I went out screaming: ‘Our children, our children!’. There were body parts soaked in their own blood,” al-Nairab said.

The children’s parents were too distraught to speak to members of the media.

“Ahmed was very accomplished in his studies. He is the eldest son and he has two sisters,” al-Nairab said.

“What did they do to get bombed this way? The street was full of pedestrians and children. How many families in Gaza have a wake today because of the ongoing Israeli aggression? We can’t endure more.”


Umm Mohammad al-Nairab weeps after the killing of her two grandchildren 

[Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

ZIONIST ETHNIC CLEANSING 

Three Palestinians killed, 69 shot in Israeli West Bank raid

Gareth BROWNE
Tue, August 9, 2022 


Three people were killed and dozens wounded Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

The Israeli military said a senior militant commander was among the dead.

The latest violence comes two days after deadly fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in the coastal enclave of Gaza was halted by a truce.

In the old city of Nablus, an AFP correspondent reported Palestinians trading gunfire with Israeli security forces.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 69 people for gunshot wounds across the Nablus area, at least four of them in critical condition.


"The terrorist Ibrahim al-Nabulsi was killed in the city of Nablus," the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that "another terrorist who was staying in the house" also died.


Israeli forces said they launched a shoulder-fired missile at the house and detained four suspects in the raid.

Nabulsi was a commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, one of the main militant groups present in the West Bank operating under the ruling Fatah party.

Following the deadly raid, the militant group said "the response will fit the crime".

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Nablus hospital where Nabulsi was brought by a dozen gunmen, an AFP correspondent reported.
- Teen killed -


The Palestinian health ministry named those killed as Nabulsi, Islam Sabbouh and Hussein Taha.

Jamal Taha said his 16-year-old son was killed while they were walking to work.

"The army was in the old city. My son went ahead of me to the market, he was carrying his food. There was shooting and four of us were injured," he told AFP.

Heavy gunfire was heard as dozens of Israeli military vehicles brought traffic in one of the West Bank's largest cities to a standstill.

Clashes with the Israeli army also broke out in other parts of the city, as Palestinians hurled stones at the troops.


"A violent clash developed with dozens of rioters who threw stones and threw explosives at the forces, who responded by means of crowd dispersal and shooting. Several injuries were confirmed," the army said.

"All the forces have left the city, there are no casualties to our forces," it added.

Israeli security forces have conducted near-daily and often deadly operations in the West Bank in recent months, focusing on militants from the Islamic Jihad group.
- Deadly Gaza fighting -

On Friday, Israel launched what it called a "pre-emptive" aerial and artillery bombardment of Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip, leading militants in the coastal enclave to fire more than a thousand rockets in retaliation, according to the army.

An Egypt-brokered ceasefire reached Sunday ended three days of intense fighting that killed 46 Palestinians, 16 of them children, and wounded 360, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday, with the premier praising Cairo for its role in "preserving regional stability and security."

But following the Nablus raid, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Israel is "not interested in calm and stability".

Related video: Israeli forces kill two Palestinian gunmen in West Bank clash (Reuters) Duration 1:02  View on Watch

"It's exploiting and killing Palestinians for gains in internal Israeli politics," Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, alluding to a snap Israeli general election called for November 1.

The Israeli prime minister said Monday the strikes on Gaza had hit the "entire senior military command of Islamic Jihad" in the Palestinian enclave.

Islamic Jihad said 12 of its members had been killed, including commanders Taysir al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour.

Israel insists that some civilians counted in the Palestinian toll were killed by Islamic Jihad rockets that fell short or misfired.

© Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP

Israeli forces kill several, wound dozens in West Bank raid

CANADIAN MINER

Chile to seek 'consequences' for sinkhole near copper mine

Yesterday 

SANTIAGO - Chile will seek to apply harsh sanctions to those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the country's north, the mining minister said on Monday.

The mysterious hole of 36.5 meters in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator to suspend operations of a nearby mine owned by Canada's Lundin in the northern district of Candelaria.

"We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine," Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said in a press release, adding that fines tend to be insignificant and the ruling must be "exemplary" to mining companies.

Chilean authorities have not provided details of the investigation into causes of the sinkhole.

Chile investigate mysterious sinkhole near a copper mine
View on Watch

Local and foreign media showed various aerial images of the huge hole in a field near the Lundin Mining operation, about 665 kilometers north of the Chilean capital. Initially, the hole, near the town of Tierra Amarilla, measured about 25 meters (82 feet) across, with water visible at the bottom.

The Canadian firm owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is in the hands of Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp.

The minister added that although the country's mining regulator had carried out an inspection in the area in July, it was not able to detect this "overexploitation."

"That also makes us think that we have to reformulate what our inspection processes are," she said.

(Reporting by Fabian Andres Cambero; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler)

 

Chile to ‘sanction’ those responsible for sinkhole near copper mine
Reuters | August 8, 2022 | 

Sinkhole at the Alcaparrosa mine. (Image by Sernageomin, Twitter).

Chile will seek to apply harsh sanctions on those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the country’s north, the mining minister said on Monday.


The mysterious hole of 36.5 meters in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator Sernageomin to suspend operations of a nearby mine owned by Canada’s Lundin in the northern district of Candelaria.

“We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine,” Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said in a press release, adding that fines tend to be insignificant and the ruling must be “exemplary” to mining companies.

Chilean authorities have not provided details of the investigation into causes of the sinkhole.

Local and foreign media showed various aerial images of the huge hole in a field near the Lundin Mining operation, about 665 kilometers north of the Chilean capital. Initially, the hole, near the town of Tierra Amarilla, measured about 25 meters (82 feet) across, with water visible at the bottom.

The Canadian firm owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is in the hands of Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp.

The minister added that although the country’s mining regulator had carried out an inspection in the area in July, it was not able to detect the “over-exploitation.”

“That also makes us think that we have to reformulate what our inspection processes are,” she said.

In a statement, Lundin said the over-exploitation referred to by the minister had been duly reported.

“We want to be emphatic that, to date, this hypothesis as reported by Sernageomin has not been determined as the direct cause of the sinkhole. The hydrogeological and mining studies will provide the answers we are looking for today,” Lundin said.

“Different events that could have caused the sinkhole are being investigated, including the abnormal rainfall recorded during the month of July, which is relevant,” added Lundin.

(By Fabian Andres Cambero and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler and Kenneth Maxwell)

RCMP says it's not using controversial Pegasus spyware to covertly access cellphones

OTTAWA — The RCMP says it is not using the controversial Pegasus spyware to circumvent encryption and monitor cellphone activity, but it has been using similar surveillance technology for 10 years.


Privacy commissioner learned of RCMP spyware use from media, calls for stronger laws

The Mounties' use of what they call on-device investigation tools is the subject of an investigation by the House of Commons ethics and privacy committee this week.

These tools enable police to access a phone or computer without a person knowing, allowing them to do everything from intercepting messages and phone calls to turning on the camera and microphone.

"These are used in extremely rare and limited cases," said Bryan Larkin, the RCMP's deputy commissioner of specialized policing services.

Pegasus is one such technology, which was created by an Israeli cybersurveillance company called NSO Group.

It has been under scrutiny after an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in 2021 found Pegasus has been used to target journalists and human-rights activists.

Larkin said the force has never used any technology from NSO Group, but said for national security reasons he could not tell the committee any details about the technology it is using.

Earlier Monday Philippe Dufresne, the federal privacy commissioner, told the committee his office learned about the RCMP's use of spyware through the media, and he wants Parliament to strengthen and modernize privacy laws.

Dufresne said the country's laws should be changed to include "privacy by design" and create a section in the Privacy Act that requires organizations and departments to do a privacy impact assessment when new technology is introduced that could affect the public.

"These tools may well be needed, but do they have an impact from a privacy perspective that is greater than the intended purpose?" Dufresne said.

In response to a written question tabled in the House of Commons in June, the RCMP disclosed it had obtained warrants to use these tools in 10 investigations. That prompted the committee to launch its summer investigation.

The force has actually used spyware in 32 investigations since 2017, accessing 49 devices. RCMP witnesses at the committee did not explain the discrepancy in the numbers.

Sgt. Dave Cobey of the RCMP's technical investigation services said anecdotally, about one in 10 investigators who ask to use spyware actually get internal approval to seek a warrant to do so.

"We really encourage them to consider less invasive tools."

Related video: Public Safety Minister takes questions on use of Pegasus spyware by RCMP Duration 1:44  View on Watch

The requests that have been approved involved investigations into serious crimes such as terrorism, murder, drug trafficking, and breach of trust.

"These tools are never used to conduct mass surveillance," Cobey said.

The privacy commissioner's office was not notified when the RCMP began using the technology, or when it launched a privacy impact assessment of on-device tools in 2021. Dufresne said he has asked for details and will have a briefing from the RCMP on Aug. 23.

Several MPs on the committee say they are concerned that assessment began after years of use, and without the privacy watchdog's knowledge.

Mark Flynn, the RCMP's assistant commissioner of federal policing, national security and protective policing, said he thinks the committee is focusing too much on the tool, rather than the impact.

"We've installed for years … listening devices, hardware devices, cameras hidden discreetly in a particular location where criminal behaviour is occurring," he said.

"This is a new method of invading privacy, but invading privacy at the same levels that it had been previously."

But the privacy commissioner said a lack of public scrutiny erodes trust.

"What's important is that the tools be looked at in terms of their impact, in terms of their purpose and in terms of the public interest that's at play," Dufresne said.

"The important thing is that this exercise take place … it will strengthen trust because it will reassure Canadians."

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, meanwhile, did not deny that other government agencies may be using similar technology. Conservative committee members repeatedly asked him whether organizations such as CSIS, CSE or the CBSA have used spyware, but he chose not to answer directly.

"When this techniques is used, it is done in a manner that is compliant with the law and the Charter," he said, referring the committee to ask those agencies directly.

Liberal MP Iqra Khalid questioned the commissioner about whether more public disclosure could allow criminal organizations to "get ahead" of the technology police are using.

Privacy and technology lawyer David Fraser said in an interview Sunday that this concern has been raised in the past, and he has "some sympathy" for that argument.

"But I think that the police and the prosecution service are not qualified to make that critical societal judgment call, because it's law enforcement interest against public interest," he said.

"And very often law enforcement imagine that law enforcement equals public interest."

Dufresne said privacy assessments can take into account the need for confidentiality in investigations.

"Privacy is not an obstacle to public interest."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2022.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press

ERASURE IS CULTURAL GENOCIDE

'So many emotions have been stirred up': After Pope's apology, expert says knowledge of trauma is key

Pope Francis’s “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada is over, and his apologies for horrors inflicted on Indigenous children in the residential school system have been made.

Pope Francis prays at Ermineskin Cemetery in Maskwacis, Alberta on July 25, 2022, the first stop on his penitential visit to Canada to apologize for the Roman Catholic Church's role in Canadian residential schools.

Madeline Smith - Sunday -Edmonton Journal

But an expert says it’s also sparking an ongoing conversation about trauma.

Maskwacis, just south of Edmonton, hosted the first of several high-profile stops on the papal tour, and people marked a moment in history there as Francis asked for forgiveness “for all the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples.”

Related

After Pope Francis's apology for residential school harms, conversation continues about next steps

'The world heard it': Pope Francis apologizes in Canada for Church's role in residential schools

There were preparations ahead of time to support residential school survivors, as well as their families and communities. Mental health and cultural support workers were on hand at papal events to support Indigenous people whose memories of forced family separation and emotional, physical and sexual abuse were resurfacing.

Karen Snowshoe, an Indigenous lawyer and mediator who also runs education on trauma-informed practice through her Gwizhii Institute of Learning, says she’s noticing people reach out in other ways too.

Related video: Pope's Arrival In Edmonton Starts With Indigenous Ceremony Ahead Of Apology  View on Watch

“What I’m seeing is that (the Pope’s visit) is not only impacting Indigenous peoples in different ways, it’s affecting Canadians as well,” she said in an interview Friday.

“I think it’s almost like so many emotions have been stirred up among Canadians. Maybe even Canadians have been triggered about their own traumas.”

At the same time, Snowshoe says people are seeking out ways to help address the root causes of ongoing trauma and contribute in their own way. She says there’s been an increase in individuals and organizations looking to enroll in her workshops on trauma, and how it shows up not just in individual experiences, but in organizations.

“They’re wanting to take a very practical step in contributing to the healing that our nation needs, the reconciliation, the understanding of how trauma affects us on an individual level — on a scientific basis, how trauma affects the body and the brain.”

Snowshoe, who is based in Vancouver, points out there’s no single way that Indigenous people reacted to Francis’s words. Some might have considered it part of their healing journey, and something they wanted to hear, while others might have found his presence and his representation of the Catholic Church retraumatizing. That was evident as calls doubled to the federal government’s 24-hour crisis support line for people affected by residential schools.

Snowshoe says it’s critical that there are ongoing supports for individuals and communities as they grapple with painful memories that might have resurfaced before, during and after the Pope’s visit to Canada.

“The message, ‘Why don’t people move on?’ … It’s really important to remind people that this happened to children.”

“We really need to do a little bit of a reboot on just acknowledging, again, what happened, and the very long-term effects. This didn’t just happen to individuals; it impacted communities and nations.”

She noted these discussions are leading some people to become more aware of their own history of trauma, and how that “shows up” in their personal relationships and work lives — and learning more about that can be part of the way forward.

“It’s a universal thing. We’ve either all been directly impacted by trauma or someone in our life has.”

masmith@postmedia.com

@meksmith

Cenovus Energy to buy remaining stake in Toledo refinery from BP for $300 million

CALGARY — Cenovus Energy Inc. has signed a US$300-million deal that it says marks another step forward in its long-term strategy to integrate its heavy oil production with refining capability

The Calgary-based oil company announced Monday it has reached a deal with British energy giant BP to buy the remaining 50 per cent stake in the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery in Ohio. The two companies have also signed a multi-year product supply agreement.

Cenovus has owned the other 50 per cent of the Toledo refinery since its combination with Husky Energy in 2021.

When the transaction closes before the end of the year, Cenovus will take over operations of the refinery, which is currently operated by BP. The more than 580 employees at the Toledo refinery will become employees of Cenovus.

“This refinery is a strategic addition to our Downstream business,” said Keith Chiasson, Cenovus’s executive vice-president, Downstream, in a release.

“It has provided economic opportunities and critical energy products to the people of Ohio and surrounding areas for decades, and we look forward to continuing that tradition once we assume full ownership of the facility.”


The BP-Husky Toledo refinery can process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil each day, and provides the U.S. Midwest with gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, propane, asphalt and other products.

The Toledo Refinery recently completed a major, once-in five-years turnaround, Cenovus said, which was funded through the joint venture and aimed at improving operational reliability. Cenovus said assuming full ownership of the facility will provide the company with opportunities to optimize its heavy oil value chain by integrating it with its upstream assets.

The transaction will bring Cenovus' total refining capacity to 740,000 barrels per day, and also brings with it the longer-term potential to connect the Toledo Refinery with Cenovus' U.S. refining network, the company said.

"This acquisition is consistent with (Cenovus') strategy and was completed at an attractive price," said Scotiabank analyst Jason Bouvier in a note to clients. "This transaction also includes a supply agreement for BP’s retail locations."

Monday's announcement comes on the heels of a separate, previously announced deal between Cenovus and BP. In June, BP said it would sell its interest in the Sunrise oilsands project in Alberta to Cenovus and would acquire Cenovus' interest in the Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

Following the close of that deal, also expected in 2022, the British energy company will no longer have interests in oilsands production and will shift its focus to future potential offshore growth in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CVE)

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press