Tourists return but Easter Islanders draw lessons from Covid isolation

Easter Island's giant human moai statues were carved by the indigneous Rapa Nui

people some time between 1200 and 1500 AD -Copyright AFP/File MANDEL NGAN

By AFP
Published August 9, 2022

Miguel SANCHEZ

During more than two years of the coronavirus pandemic, Easter Island was closed to tourism — forcing inhabitants to turn to a more sustainable way of life and relearn forgotten skills.

Now that the island’s borders are open once again, local people, including the Rapa Nui indigenous population, want to resist the temptation to return to their pre-pandemic lifestyle.

“The time has come that the ancients predicted,” Julio Hotus, a member of the Easter Island council of elders, told AFP.

Hotus said the Rapa Nui people’s ancestors had warned about the importance of maintaining food independence because of the risk the island faced of one day becoming isolated, but that recent generations had ignored the warnings.

Before the pandemic, the island’s food supply was almost exclusively provided by Chile.

Easter Island lies 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) off the west coast of Chile and is world renown for its monumental statues of human figures with giant heads, called moai.

With a population of just 8,000, it used to attract 160,000 tourists a year — “an avalanche” according to Hotus — but in March 2020 Easter Island closed its borders over Covid.



– No tourists, no income –



Olga Ickapakarati used to sell small stone moai figurines to tourists but once she was left without an income, she turned to agriculture and fishing to survive, just as her ancestors had lived before contact with European explorers.

“We were all left with nothing, we were left in the wind …. but we began planting,” Ickapakarati told AFP.

She took advantage of a program that delivered seeds before the island was shut off from the outside world.

Ickapakarati planted spinach, beets, cilantro, chard, celery, basil, pineapple, oregano and tomatoes.

What she didn’t eat, she shared with neighbors, just as many families did in creating an island-wide support network.

“All the islanders are like this. They have good hearts. If I see that I have a surplus of something, I give it to another family,” said Ickapakarati, who lives with her children and grandchildren.

This new focus on sustainable living does not mean an end to tourism on Easter Island.

Last week, the first airplane of tourists for 28 months landed on the island, to much excitement from the locals desperate to see new faces.

But there will be no immediate return to the two flights a day of yesteryear. There will be just two a week for now, although the number will gradually increase.

Large hotel chains have decided to stay closed.

“We will continue with tourists, but I hope that the pandemic has taught a lesson that we can apply for the future,” said Hotus.



– ‘Archeological heritage at risk’ –



Another thing the pandemic did was to create awareness of the necessity to look after natural resources affected by climate change, such as water and energy. And also the emblematic moais.

Carved from volcanic rock by the Polynesian Rapa Nui people between 1200 and 1500, there are more than 900 on the island, which measures 24 kilometers by 12 kilometers.

The statues can measure up to 20 meters in height and weigh more than 80 tons.

Most remain at the quarry where they were originally carved but many others were carted to coastal areas to look inland, presumably for ceremonial purposes.

The moais have been damaged by heavy rainfall, strong winds and the ocean waves crashing against the statues and their bases, leading to fears for their future.

“Climate change, with its extreme events, is putting our archeological heritage at risk,” said Vairoa Ika, the local environment director.

“The stone is degrading” and needs to be protected.

“The problem with the moais is that they are very fragile,” added Pedro Edmunds Paoa, the island’s mayor, who says the statues’ worth is “incalculable.”

He said that authorities need to “forget about the tourist” vision and take protective measures, even if that means covering the statues “with glass domes”, which would ruin not just the authentic view but also tourists’ photographs.

He also wants inhabitants to make maximum use of natural resources and to prioritize locals in employment, while resurrecting the ancestral practise of fostering community solidarity.

“From now on the tourist must become a friend of the place, whereas before they were visiting foreigners,” said Edmunds Paoa.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/tourists-return-but-easter-islanders-draw-lessons-from-covid-isolation/article#ixzz7bXxcBLLO

DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Forever 16: America's teens succumbing to deadly fentanyl

Maria DANILOVA
Tue, August 9, 2022 


Makayla Cox, a high school student in the US state of Virginia, thought she was taking medication that her friend had procured to treat pain and anxiety.

Instead, the pill she took two weeks after her sixteenth birthday was fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. It killed her almost instantly.

After watching a movie -- a prequel to "Harry Potter" -- with her mother Shannon one evening in January, Makayla appeared fine as she headed to her bedroom with her husky dog that often slept on her bed.

But when Shannon entered Makayla's room the next morning, she found her partially sitting up, perched against the headboard, orange fluid coming out of her nose and mouth.

"She was stiff. I shook her, I screamed her name, I called 911," Shannon told AFP. "My neighbors came over and did CPR, but it was too late. After that, I just don’t remember much."

America's opioid crisis has reached catastrophic proportions, with over 80,000 people dying of opioid overdoses last year, most of them due to illicit synthetics such as fentanyl -- more than seven times the number a decade ago.

"This is the most dangerous epidemic that we’ve seen," said Ray Donovan, chief of operations at the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). "Fentanyl is not like any other illicit narcotic, it’s that deadly instantaneously."

And deaths are rising especially quickly among young people, who obtain counterfeit prescription drugs through social media. Unknown to them, the pills come either laced with or made of fentanyl.

In 2019, 493 American adolescents died of drug overdose, in 2021 that figure was 1,146.
- Dealers seek teens via apps -

Drug dealers reach adolescents on apps such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and others, often using emojis as code.

Oxycodone, an opioid, may be advertised as a half-peeled banana, Xanax, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety, as a chocolate bar, and Adderall, an amphetamine that acts as a stimulant, as a train.

Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the number of Americans doing drugs has largely stayed the same in recent years, but what changed is how deadly they've become.

One cup of heroin is equivalent to one teaspoon of fentanyl, and less than one gram can mean the difference between life and death.

"It takes very small quantities to be a poison that can stop somebody breathing," Compton told AFP in an interview.

Most of the illicit fentanyl in the United States is manufactured by Mexican drug cartels in clandestine labs from chemicals shipped over from China.

Because fentanyl is much more potent, it takes much less of it to fill a pill, resulting in more supply and more profit to the cartels.

One kilogram of pure fentanyl can be purchased for up to $12,000, pressed into half a million of pills that will sell for up to $30 each, raking in millions of dollars, Donovan said. And it’s also much easier to smuggle in pill form.

Last year, the DEA seized 15,000 pounds (nearly seven tons) of fentanyl -- enough to kill every American. Four out of 10 seized pills contain lethal quantities of fentanyl.

- 'One pill can kill' -

At the agency’s headquarters, a collection of photographs titled "Faces of Fentanyl" hangs in the hallway. It features dozens of portraits of people who recently lost their lives to fentanyl. One of them reads "Makayla. Forever 16."

An honor-roll student and a cheerleader, Makayla liked to paint, cuddle with her two huskies, Maize and Malenkai, and planned to go to university to study law, said her mother Shannon Doyle, 41, who works as a paralegal in a loan service firm.

Makayla had battled anxiety after her parents’ divorce, but things got worse during the pandemic.

Last summer she started a job at a water park, where she met a friend who introduced her to counterfeit prescription drugs.

The blue pills found in Makayla’s bed turned out to be 100 percent fentanyl. Police are investigating, but so far no arrests have been made.

"It used to be that when you were addicted to drugs you had five, 10, 15 years to try and get over your addiction and get the help and change your life," Shannon said at her house in Virginia Beach, a town on the Atlantic coast some 240 miles (400 kilometers) south of the US capital.

"You don't have that chance anymore."

Last year the DEA launched a campaign called "One pill can kill" to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl, and there are efforts across America to make naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, more easily available, including in schools.

Makayla’s ashes are in her bedroom and Shannon still peeks into the room every morning and evening, like she did when her daughter was alive.

She started a foundation in Makayla's name to help prevent similar tragedies -- a way, she says, helps her cope with her grief.

Makayla's best friend Kaydence Blanchard, 16, is spending the summer without her, trying to make good on the dreams the girls had: to get a driver's license and drive to the beach.

But for Makayla "the future will never happen," Blanchard said. "She will never complete any of the plans that we had together."

md/bgs

Jury finds ex-Twitter worker spied for Saudi royals

Tue, August 9, 2022 


A former Twitter worker was found guilty on Tuesday of spying for Saudi officials keen to unmask critics on the platform.

Ahmad Abouammo was pronounced guilty on criminal counts including money laundering, fraud, and being an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to a copy of the verdict.

Prosecutors in federal court in San Francisco told jurors that Abouammo sold Twitter user information for cash and an expensive watch some seven years ago.

His defense team contended that he did nothing more than accept gifts from free-spending Saudis for simply doing his client management job.

"The evidence shows that, for a price and thinking no one was watching, the defendant sold his position to an insider of the crown prince," US prosecutor Colin Sampson said in final remarks to the jury.

Defense attorney Angela Chuang countered that while there certainly appeared to be a conspiracy to get revealing information about Saudi critics from Twitter, prosecutors failed to prove Abouammo was part of it.

Abouammo quit Twitter in 2015 and took a job at e-commerce titan Amazon in Seattle, where he lives, according to court documents.

Jurors deliberated for three days before finding Abouammo guilty on 6 of the 11 charges against him.

Chuang conceded to the jury that Abouammo did violate Twitter employee rules by not telling the San Francisco-based company that he had received $100,000 in cash and a watch valued at more than $40,000 from someone close to the Saudi crown prince.

However, she downplayed the significance of the gift, saying it amounted to "pocket change" in Saudi culture known for generosity and lavish presents.
- Trust traded for cash? -

Abouammo was arrested in Seattle in November of 2019.

Prosecutors accused Abouammo and fellow Twitter employee Ali Alzabarah of being enlisted by Saudi officials between late 2014 and early the following year to get private information on accounts firing off posts critical of the regime.

The then-Twitter workers could use their credentials to glean email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and other private data to identify people behind anonymous accounts, prosecutors said.

Abouammo remained free on Tuesday pending sentencing, despite concerns expressed by prosecutors that he might try to flee the country.

Alzabarah, a Saudi national, is being sought on a charge of failing to register in the United States as an agent of a foreign government as required by United States law, according to an FBI statement.

Chuang contended in court that prosecutors were trying to punish Abouammo for Alzabarah's actions.

"As much as the government wishes that was Mr Alzabarah sitting at the table right now, it is not," Chuang told jurors.

"And that is on them, they let Mr Alzabarah flee the country while he was under FBI surveillance."

gc/wd

Guinea dissolves leading opposition group amid political unrest

NEWS WIRES - Yesterday 

Guinea’s junta-appointed government has dissolved the country’s leading opposition movement, the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), under a decree authenticated by AFP on Tuesday.


© Cellou Binani, AFP

An alliance of political parties, trade unions and civil groups, the FNDC spearheaded protests against former president Alpha Conde before his ouster in a coup last year.


Friction has been growing for months between the FNDC and the junta, culminating in an announcement by the coalition on Monday that it would stage demonstrations on August 17.

A decree, dated Saturday, declared the FNDC’s dissolution, signed by Territorial Administration Minister Mory Conde. It was authenticated by AFP on Tuesday.

“The de-facto group called the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution, is dissolved... with effect from the date of signature,” the ruling said.

Rumours of the decree had spread on social media late Monday.

It said the FNDC’s “operational mode is based on violent attacks (perpetrated) during banned demonstrations, attacks against individuals who do not share their ideology, and targeted attacks against the security forces”.

The organisation has “the behaviour of combat groups and private militias... threatening national unity, public peace and cohabitation”, it said.
Unstable

Rich in minerals but deeply poor, the West African state has had little stability since it gained independence from France in 1958.

In 2010, Conde, today aged 84, became the country’s first democratically elected president.

But his popularity dived in his second term as critics accused him of authoritarianism, and opposition protests were violently repressed.

Dozens died, the overwhelming majority of them civilians, in protests launched by the FNDC.

On September 5, as anger mounted over Conde’s successful bid for a third term—a move he defended on the grounds of a change to the constitution—mutinous troops rebelled.

Junta strongman Mamady Doumbouya has pledged to return power to elected civilians within three years.

The timeline has put the junta into conflict with the region’s bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECOWAS’ chair, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, said late last month that he had convinced the junta to shorten the transition to two years. But that figure has not been confirmed by Guinea.

Cellou Dalein Diallo, a leading opposition figure under Conde, condemned the decision to dissolve the FNDC, calling it “a blow to freedom, justice, democracy and peace” in a social media post.

Protests

Demonstrations broke out in Guinea on July 28 and 29 over concerns the junta was dragging its feet on restoring civilian rule, leaving five dead.

The FNDC on Monday called for nationwide protests on August 17 to condemn the lack of “credible dialogue” and use of lethal weapons against demonstrators. The organisation is also calling for the release of jailed supporters.

The coalition’s communications officer, Abdoulaye Oumou Sow, refused to comment Tuesday on the dissolution order.

But the Guinean Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights (OGDH) separately warned that “confiscating civil liberties or silencing all dissenting voices will only make the situation more complicated.”

It said it was “very concerned... by the turn of events”.

Two FNDC leaders, Oumar Sylla and Ibrahima Diallo, were jailed after the July demonstrations.

They have been charged with taking part in an illegal gathering, destruction of property and bodily harm.

The organisation suspended its activities for a week, including a demonstration planned for August 4, in response to an appeal for calm issued by ECOWAS on August 1.

(AFP)

In report on LGBT, Human Rights Watch urges Malaysia to end state-funded conversion camps

In a report on the discrimination against the LGBT in Malaysia, Human Rights Watch

 said public funds were being used on the camps that even attempt to convert 

schoolchildren perceived as queer or gender nonconforming, via methods 

that were psychologically damaging. — AFP pic

Follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our Telegram channel and browser alerts for the latest news you need to know.

By R. Loheswar

Wednesday, 10 Aug 2022 7:00 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — Malaysian authorities should stop “conversion” programmes involving the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community including mukhayyam camps, said Human Rights Watch.

In a report on the discrimination against the LGBT in Malaysia, the rights advocacy group said public funds were being used on the camps that even attempt to convert schoolchildren perceived as queer or gender nonconforming, via methods that were psychologically damaging.

Such camps were conducted by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department and state religious authorities.

“LGBT Malaysians report that pressure to change contributes to harms including bullying and suicidal ideation. The officially sanctioned discourse on the need to ‘change’ or return to ‘the right path’ contributes to discrimination, restricted access to justice, vigilante violence and imprisonment.

“The state’s insistence that being LGBT is unacceptable, its funding of conversion practices, and its failure to respond to harmful conversion practices by non-state actors, all harm LGBT people.

“The Malaysian government should immediately stop sponsoring, funding and otherwise supporting conversion practices and should, in consultation with LGBT community groups, educate public officials, including police, judges, and government staff, on gender, diversity, and human rights,” they said in a report titled “I Don’t Want to Change Myself”.

According to the report, Jakim in 2018 noted that 1,450 LGBT people had “recovered” from the “disease” through mukhayyam since the programme was initiated in 2012. By June 2021, the government reported that 1,733 LGBT people had attended these programmes.

The group also asked for more acceptance in the workplace, noting a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) report where 57 out of 100 people were denied employment at least once because of their gender identity.

Such experiences discouraged the revelation of gender identities for fear of discrimination, the HRW said in the report when noting the lack of access to legal gender recognition in Malaysia.

“No law in Malaysia explicitly prohibits gender recognition for trans people, but almost all transgender people who are known to have approached the National Registration Department to request such changes have been rejected. In Suhakam’s study of 100 trans women in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, 86 said they would like to change their gender marker on their documents, but only 20 had tried, and only four had succeeded in doing so,” the group said.

HRW also urged the government to repeal laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

These included Sections 377A and 377B of the Penal Code, which criminalise “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” and 377D that criminalises gross indecency.

The government should further review Section 377 of the Penal Code pertaining to “unnatural offences,” together with Sections 375 and 376 to develop a comprehensive law against sexual violence,” HRW said.

It also asked that Parliament reject the proposed law increasing allowable Shariah criminal punishments under the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as Act 355.

DAY FIVE

Cuba: Firefighters, helicopters battle to contain fuel depot blaze

Helicopters and firefighters battled Tuesday to contain a days-old blaze at a fuel depot in Cuba that has already destroyed four tanks and was threatening four more.

AFP
Updated Aug 10, 2022 | 



Cuba fuel fire
Photo : AP

Havana: Helicopters and firefighters battled Tuesday to contain a days-old blaze at a fuel depot in Cuba that has already destroyed four tanks and was threatening four more. The fire, which started on Friday after lightning struck one of the tanks, left a 60-year-old firefighter dead and 14 colleagues missing, according to authorities.

More than 100 people were reported injured, with 22 still hospitalized. About 5,000 people have been evacuated from around the disaster zone on the outskirts of Matanzas, an industrial city of 140,000 people some 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Havana.

As teams prepared Tuesday to try and douse the fire with foam, fears were rising that the blaze could threaten the fuel supply to thermoelectric plants at a time Cuba is already battling electricity outages. Four military helicopters flew repeated sorties over the depot, dropping sea water on the blaze.

"The firefighting teams continue to clear a path to the flames so the teams charged with applying the foam can get to the place," Matanzas governor Mario Sabines said on Twitter. He added that smoke from the fire had reduced visibility to near zero, and drones were deployed to provide a better view.

- Help arrives -

Four of the eight tanks on site have already collapsed in the blaze, have spilled their contents, and were still burning, according to deputy fire chief Alexander Avalos Jorge. Water was being sprayed on the remaining four tanks, clustered just 150 meters (about 492 feet) from the other four tanks, in a bid to keep them cool.

The tanks each have a capacity of some 50,000 cubic meters or 50 million liters of fuel. The Matanzas depot, built in the 1980s and modernized several times, supplies the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the communist nation.

Also Read: 77 injured, 17 fire fighters missing after massive fire breaks out in crude oil tank in Cuba's Matanzas

The plant features five docks to receive ships of up to 180,000 tonnes, and can handle 40,000 barrels a day. The big question now is "the supply of fuel to thermoelectric plants," said Jorge Pinon, a Cuban expert in energy policy at the University of Texas.

"The problem with (electricity generation) has not been the lack of fuel, but the plants are very old and have maintenance problems. Now they will also have a lack of fuel," he said. "If they lose Matanzas, they lose the ability to supply the power plants," said Pinon.

The disaster comes at a time when the island -- with an outdated energy network and persistent fuel shortages -- has faced mounting difficulties in meeting energy demands. Since May, authorities have imposed energy blackouts of up to 12 hours a day in some regions -- sparking protests around the nation of 11 million people.

Thirteen flights have arrived from Mexico and four from Venezuela with technicians, firefighters and equipment, including fire retardant foam, fire hoses, helicopter water buckets, spray pumps and medicines. A Mexican Navy logistics support ship also arrived at Matanzas Bay Tuesday with a helicopter on deck.

And Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, thanked the United States -- which has maintained six decades of sanctions against the communist nation -- for an offer of "technical advice."

The Day Nelson Mandela Conquered America | Your Enemy Is Not My Enemy | Mandela In America

Africa Web TV

Nelson Mandela showing he would not take lectures on human rights and the fight for racial equality and justice in South Africa. Mandela made his mark during his first visit to The USA after his release from jail. Watch as he puts veteran America journalist Ted Koppel in his place! Every day is Mandela day!

COVERED UP LIKE PORN SHOPS
Alberta pot shops now allowed to take down window coverings after robberies

EDMONTON — Alberta's cannabis regulator will allow pot shops to take down window coverings after a spate of robberies.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) says it has removed portions of its retail cannabis store handbook that prohibit pot products from being visible from the exterior of shops.

In a letter sent to retailers today, the AGLC says the move was prompted by a "significant rise" in robberies at licensed pot retailers in recent months, in particular in the city of Calgary.

It says use of violence and weapons has occurred in some of the robberies and the AGLC was concerned for the safety of staff, customers and responding police officers.

The letter says its new policy ensures it is not inadvertently contributing to stores being targeted due to a lack of visibility and warned shops against using the change to replace window coverings with outward-facing promotions.

High Tide Inc., which owns pot shop chain Canna Cabana, says it welcomes the policy change.

"Complying with this regulation meant that most licensed cannabis stores in the province have been forced to black out exterior window’s making them prime targets for criminal elements," said senior vice president of corporate and public affairs Omar Khan.

"Today’s news is a win for our employees safety, and our ability to continue pushing back against illicit market operators.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2022.

The Canadian Press

As Vancouver begins removing tent encampment, residents wonder where they should go

VANCOUVER — A resident of a street encampment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside watched Tuesday as workers began removing some people's belongings after the city handed out notices advising that tents and other structures will be dismantled.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The woman, who didn't want to be identified because of personal security concerns, said she was unsure whether to stay or leave, even as she organized her belongings outside her tent.

There was a heavy police presence as city staff set to work, handing out bags and lining up garbage bins beside several tarp-covered structures in front of an abandoned building.

But other residents of dozens of tents lining several blocks along East Hastings Street were staying put.

The encampment resident said occupants haven't been offered any housing options as part of the process.

"It's really tough because, like, I don't know what to do. I don’t know if I should stand my ground and not move or if I should, you know, just give up and go," the woman said through tears.

"I actually do have a home, but my living conditions are so horrendous that I can’t even go there," she said.

Vancouver fire Chief Karen Fry issued an order last month requiring the tents be cleared, saying they posed an extreme fire safety hazard, and a statement from the city on Tuesday said the removal process is expected to continue for weeks.

The woman's tent was set up near the Overdose Prevention Society where she works, opposite to where city staff were focusing their efforts on what the city has deemed the "highest risk" areas.

She said she agrees the city needs to address concerns, including the risk of fire in certain areas, but she and her neighbours keep their side of the street clean.

"Across the street, it's gotten absolutely out of hand," the woman said.

"Baby on the block!" she shouted, as a passerby pushed a stroller by her tent. She explained that residents put the word out whenever children are around in order to ensure their safety.

Later Tuesday, Vancouver police released a statement saying several officers were assaulted after a man was arrested near the area that was being cleared.

Staff at a nearby community centre called police to report a man throwing computers and behaving erratically, police said.

They said he resisted arrest, and "a large crowd gathered, and became hostile and combative with the officers."

Vince Tao, who works with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, said clearing the tents violates a memorandum of understanding between the city, the B.C. government and Vancouver's park board signed in March last year after previous encampments were cleared.

The agreement is aimed at connecting unsheltered people to housing while preserving their dignity.

It commits the province to respond to encampments by providing outreach through BC Housing, the Crown corporation responsible for managing subsidized housing. It also commits the city to working with provincial, federal and community partners to connect residents with housing options.

The agreement said the city may enforce its bylaws that prohibit structures on sidewalks "when suitable spaces are available for people to move indoors."

The city isn't following that protocol with the cleanup now underway, Tao said in an interview as police vehicles blocked traffic access to the street.

"Even if they're successful in doing this, people still have nowhere to go. So, they're either going to come right back, or they're going to be a block down," he said.

City parks have been closed off to so-called "tent cities" as well, he added.

It's an "endless cycle" until people have access to affordable housing, Tao said.

The woman whose tent was pitched near the Overdose Prevention Society said she pays to rent a room indoors but doesn't feel safe or comfortable there. A friend sitting nearby said the space was “infested” with insects.

The city has offered to store people's personal belongings, but the woman said items have been stolen or gone missing in similar situations in the past.

A statement from the advocacy group Pivot Legal Society said the city created the deteriorating conditions in the encampment along Hastings Street by failing to provide promised storage, hygiene facilities and garbage disposal, and it's now citing those same safety and health concerns as the reasons for the forced removal.

Pivot called on Vancouver to provide "livable, dignified, and accessible housing," and for the fire department to acknowledge the needs of encampment residents by creating a harm reduction approach to fire safety that accounts for challenges ranging from toxic drugs to police violence and trauma due to colonization.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2022.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

Study: Tinnitus is widespread, deserves more attention from researchers



Tinnitus -- persistent ringing in the ears that's a potential side effect of COVID-19 vaccination for some people -- affects more than 740 million adults globally. 

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chelsea A. Radford

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Tinnitus -- persistent ringing in the ears that's a potential side effect of COVID-19 vaccination for some people -- affects more than 740 million adults globally, a new study says. And it is perceived as a major problem by more than 120 million people.

Given the sometimes debilitating condition's widespread impact on the population, "greater effort should be devoted to boost research" on tinnitus, concludes the research paper published Monday in JAMA Neurology.

According to the meta-analysis, 14.4% of adults experienced some type of tinnitus. while 2.3% experienced a severe form of the condition.

The estimates of tinnitus' prevalence, while not significantly differing by sex, increased with age: steadily rising from 10% of young adults to 14% of middle-aged adults and 24% of older adults, the researchers paper said.

RELATED Over-the-counter pain relievers may increase tinnitus risk, study finds

Data are important in trying to get a firmer handle on the issues surrounding tinnitus, Dr. Gregory Poland, professor of medicine and infectious diseases and director of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, told UPI in a phone interview.

Poland developed tinnitus, which he describes as a "life-altering event," after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

"It started about an hour and a half after my second dose. I was driving home ... and I almost veered into the next lane" when the steady noise began, he said.

RELATED COVID-19 could make ringing in the ears worse, study says

He pushed it into the background, got his first booster dose, "and it got significantly louder and higher pitched." He said it's like "loud humming from a fluorescent light."

Poland said can't go back to sleep if he awakens during the night, or go to restaurants with loud music or conversation. And he saddens when thinking he might never know silence again.

Poland said that while he's been able to put the noise in the background at times, he knows people unable to do this may become anxious and depressed, and the condition may become intolerable to them.

RELATED  Internet-based therapy reduces tinnitus

He's heard this from them -- people who have seen news accounts of his condition -- and tried to offer encouragement that new research will bring hope.

Poland said he understands his situation is "laughably ironic" and stresses he thinks people must get protection for COVID-19.

"In no way do I want to dissuade people from getting COVID vaccination." But people want to know the risks to make informed choices.

"You want to make decisions based on data, not fear," he said.

Even he backed off when his first booster shot made the tinnitus worse, not returning for his second booster.

"I can't take the risk of this becoming intolerable," he said.

A year ago, the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency added tinnitus as a potential side effect of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The World Health Organization is also reviewing reports of sudden hearing problems as well as dizziness following COVID-19 vaccination.

But U.S. regulators didn't find a causal relationship between tinnitus and vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which use messenger RNA technology.

And, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccine Safety Office "jumped all over" investigating myocarditis and pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, Poland said, "we have not been able to get [the CDC] interested" in tinnitus.

He added: "There's almost no research because it's not something you can measure, it's not something you can image. There are no biomarkers and no evidence-based treatment for it."