Protests in India against release of 11 convicted rapists

By BHUMIKA SARASWATI

August 27, 2022

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A woman holds a placard during a protest against remission of sentence by the government to convicts of a gang rape of a Muslim woman, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. The victim, who is now in her 40s, was pregnant when she was brutally gang raped in communal violence in 2002 in the western state of Gujarat, which saw over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, killed in some of the worst religious riots India has experienced since its independence from Britain in 1947. 

(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)


NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of people on Saturday held demonstrations in several parts of India to protest a recent government decision to free 11 men who had been jailed for life for gang raping a Muslim woman during India’s devastating 2002 religious riots.

The protesters in the country’s capital, New Delhi, chanted slogans and demanded the government in the western state of Gujarat rescind the decision. They also sang songs in solidarity with the victim.

Similar protests were also held in several other states.

The 11 men, released on suspended sentences on Aug. 15 when India celebrated 75 years of independence, were convicted in 2008 of rape, murder and unlawful assembly.

The victim, who is now in her 40s, recently said the decision by the Gujarat state government has left her numb and shaken her faith in justice.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify victims of sexual assault.

The victim was pregnant when she was brutally gang raped in communal violence in 2002 in Gujarat, which saw over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, killed in some of the worst religious riots India has experienced since its independence from Britain in 1947. Seven members of the woman’s family, including her three-year-old daughter, were also killed in the violence.

“The whole country should demand an answer directly from the prime minister of this country,” said Kavita Krishnan, a prominent activist.

Officials in Gujarat, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party holds power, have said that the convicts’ application for remission was granted because they had completed over 14 years in jail. The men were eligible under a 1992 remission policy that was in effect at the time of their conviction, officials said. A newer version of the policy adopted in 2014 by the federal government prohibits remission release for those convicted of certain crimes, including rape and murder.

The riots have long hounded Modi, who was Gujarat’s top elected official at the time, amid allegations that authorities allowed and even encouraged the bloodshed. Modi has repeatedly denied having any role and the Supreme Court has said it found no evidence to prosecute him.

Asiya Qureshi, a young protester in New Delhi, said she participated in the demonstrations to seek justice for the victim.

“Modi gave a speech on 15th August on the safety and protection of women of India and the same day they released the rapists,” Qureshi said. “How am I safe in such a climate?”

UK STRIKES
Garbage piles in Scotland raise health concerns amid strikes

August 27, 2022

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A view of overflowing bins in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh where cleansing workers from the City of Edinburgh Council are on the fourth day of eleven of strike action, in Scotland, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. Workers at waste and recycling depots across the city have rejected a formal pay offer of 3.5 percent from councils body Cosla. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Stinking piles of garbage on the streets of Edinburgh are threatening the health and safety of the public, a health authority warned Saturday as strikes by garbage collectors in the Scottish capital moved into their ninth day.

The warning from Public Health Scotland came as garbage collectors in Newham, a borough of London, also walked out for a week over a pay dispute.

Images of food waste and diapers rotting on the streets is just adding to scenes of chaos in U.K. as industrial disputes multiply amid soaring food and energy costs. Bathers in the U.K. were warned last week to stay away from dozens of beaches as heavy rain flushed raw sewage into rivers and seas.

Public Health Scotland told local authorities that the “decontamination of public areas where bins have overflowed may be required.” It warned that “if organic waste builds up, it can become a risk to human health.”

Garbage collectors walked out on Aug. 18 and plan to stay off work until Aug. 30. Even more strikes lay ahead if the pay dispute is not resolved.

Britain is facing a massive cost-of-living crisis, with wage increases failing to keep up with inflation, which last week stood at 10.1%. Those financial challenges have only been increased due to soaring energy costs — authorities say residents in Britain will see an 80% increase in their annual energy bills in October.

The country has seen waves of strikes this summer, with the public transport system grinding to a virtual halt on several days due to rail strikes. Primary schools and nurseries in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, will be forced to close for several days next month if a strike from council workers goes ahead.

In London, garbage drivers in Newham Council began a week of walkouts on Saturday, with union officials warning there could be more. Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, said those workers were paid less than others in neighboring councils.

“The council must now focus on reaching a deal with the workers, who face a financial crisis,” Graham said. “If they don’t, then the coming days will undoubtedly mean more industrial action.”

Britain’s image has taken a battering this summer. French lawmakers in the European Parliament complained this week that the raw sewage flushed into rivers and seas by the U.K. also threatens bathing waters, fishing grounds and biodiversity in the European Union as well.

Parts of Britain’s sewage system became overwhelmed after several days of unseasonably heavy rainfall.

___

Follow all AP stories on the environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

DEBTORS PRISON U$A

At $249 per day, prison stays leave ex-inmates deep in debt

By PAT EATON-ROBB

August 27, 2022

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In this Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022 photo, Fred Hodges, left, and Da'ee McKnight at their workplace, Family ReEntry, a reentry support group aiming to break cycles of violence, crime and incarceration in Bridgeport, Conn. Hodges and McKnight are former Connecticut inmates who have been paying for cost of their incarceration.

 (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Two decades after her release from prison, Teresa Beatty feels she is still being punished.

When her mother died two years ago, the state of Connecticut put a lien on the Stamford home she and her siblings inherited. It said she owed $83,762 to cover the cost of her 2 1/2 year imprisonment for drug crimes.

Now, she’s afraid she’ll have to sell her home of 51 years, where she lives with two adult children, a grandchild and her disabled brother.

“I’m about to be homeless,” said Beatty, 58, who in March became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the state law that charges prisoners $249 a day for the cost of their incarceration. “I just don’t think it’s right, because I feel I already paid my debt to society. I just don’t think it’s fair for me to be paying twice.”

All but two states have so-called “pay-to-stay” laws that make prisoners pay for their time behind bars, though not every state actually pursues people for the money. Supporters say the collections are a legitimate way for states to recoup millions of taxpayer dollars spent on prisons and jails.

Critics say it’s an unfair second penalty that hinders rehabilitation by putting former inmates in debt for life. Efforts have been underway in some places to scale back or eliminate such policies.

Two states — Illinois and New Hampshire — have repealed their laws since 2019.

Connecticut also overhauled its statute this year, keeping it in place only for the most serious crimes, such as murder, and exempting prisoners from having to pay the first $50,000 of their incarceration costs.

Under the revised law, about 98% of Connecticut inmates no longer have to pay any of the costs of their incarceration after they get out, said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, a Bridgeport Democrat and a sponsor of the repeal legislation.

The state retained its ability, though, to collect some prison debts already on the books before the law changed. It’s unclear whether the change in the law, made after Beatty sued, will be enough to keep her in her home. That will be decided in court.

Her lawyers have asked a federal judge to block the state from enforcing the law against anyone, saying it remains unfair even after the amendments.

Beatty acknowledges she was guilty of selling and possessing drugs, but said nobody told her when she went to jail that every day behind bars would cost her more than a night at a fine hotel.

“It just drags you back to despair,” said Beatty, who has had other brushes with the law over drug possession since her release from jail, but has also become a certified nursing assistant. “That’s where I feel like I’m at. I feel like no hope. Where do I go? All of this work and it feels like I’ve done it in vain.”

Pay-to-stay laws were put into place in many areas during the tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and ’90s, said Brittany Friedman, an assistant professor of sociology at University of Southern California who is leading a study of the practice.

As prison populations ballooned, Friedman said, policymakers questioned how to pay for incarceration costs. “So, instead of raising taxes, the solution was to shift the cost burden from the state and the taxpayers onto the incarcerated.”

Laws vary from state to state. Many, like Connecticut, only go after inmates for the cost of incarceration if they come into money after leaving prison. A few, such as North Carolina, have laws on the books but almost never use them, Friedman said.

Connecticut’s partial repeal went into effect July 1. The state is projected to collect about $5.5 million less per year from ex-prisoners because of the change.

State Sen. John Kissel, the top Republican on the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said he opposed the repeal passed by the Democratic majority, but might support reforms like allowing inmates to pay off debt in installments.

Kissel said that while Beatty’s situation tugs at one’s heartstrings, “Everybody has issues.”

“The policy is to make one appreciate that your incarceration costs money,” he said. “The taxpayers footed the bill. They didn’t do anything wrong. And knowing that one has to pay the state back a reasonable sum on a regular basis is not a bad policy.”

Connecticut used to collect prison debt by attaching an automatic lien to every inmate, claiming half of any financial windfall they might receive for up to 20 years after they are released from prison, said Dan Barrett, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. That included things like insurance settlements, inheritances and lottery winnings.

The state even collected money awarded to inmates in lawsuits over alleged abuse by prison guards.

Former Connecticut inmate Fred Hodges, who served more than 17 years in prison for killing a man while trying to retrieve his son’s stolen bicycle, came into $21,000 after his car was totaled in a 2009 traffic accident. The state claimed half of that, he said. After paying his lawyer, he was left with about $3,000.

“I have seven grandchildren and the money could have helped them. It could have helped me,” said Hodges, who works for a nonprofit that helps other inmates reenter society. “You’d be surprised at the effect it can have on you psychologically when they tell you you owe them $249 a day. I was locked up for 17 1/2 years. At $249 a day, how are you going to come up out of that?”

Beatty’s lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, argues that the pay-to-stay seizures violate the excessive fines clause of the Constitution.

Da’ee McKnight, who works with Hodges as a coordinator for an organization called Family ReEntry, said the state took an insurance settlement from him, even though he served most of his sentence before the law was on the books.

“Here, I’m being penalized for something that I was not even made aware of at the time I was sentenced, because it did not even exist,” he said.

____

Associated Press writer Dave Collins contributed to this report.

ZIONIST POLICE STATE

Israeli Supreme Court rejects hunger striker’s petition


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Khalil Awawdeh, a Palestinian who has been on a hunger strike for several months protesting being jailed without charge or trial under what Israel refers to as administrative detention, lies in bed at Asaf Harofeh Hospital in Be'er Ya'akov, Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. Israel's Supreme Court court rejected an appeal by his lawyer on Sunday calling for his immediate release due to his failing medical condition. Around 670 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention by Israel. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition for the release of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for nearly six months and whose lawyer says is in danger of “sudden death.”

Khalil Awawdeh is protesting being held by Israel in what’s known as administrative detention, a practice in which detainees suspected of militant activities are imprisoned for months or years without charge or trial.

In recent pictures he resembles a human skeleton, his skin tightly stretched over a bony frame.

Israel says administrative detention is needed to keep dangerous militants off the streets without revealing sensitive intelligence. The Palestinians and rights groups say it denies detainees the basic right of due process.

Awawdeh’s lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, says Israel accuses him of being a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group, an allegation he denies. Islamic Jihad demanded his release as part of a cease-fire that ended a flare-up of violence in Gaza earlier this month, but did not identify him as a member.

Haddad says the 40-year-old Awawdeh weighs 37 kilograms (around 80 pounds) and is suffering from neurological damage. He took vitamins over two weeks in June when he thought his case was being resolved but has otherwise only had water since the strike began in March, his family says.

“He is in a stage between life and death,” Haddad said. “According to the medical literature, he is in a danger of a sudden death.”

In its ruling, the court said it “hopes that the petitioner will come to his senses and stop the hunger strike,” adding that it was confident he would receive the necessary medical care.

Israel has officially suspended his arrest, but he remains in custody at an Israeli hospital.

Several Palestinians have gone on prolonged hunger strike in recent years to protest being held in administrative detention. In most cases, Israel has eventually released them after their health significantly deteriorated. None have died in custody, but many have suffered irreparable neurological damage.

Israel is currently holding some 4,400 Palestinian prisoners, including militants who have carried out deadly attacks, as well as people arrested at protests or for throwing stones. The Palestinians view all of them as political prisoners held for resisting Israel’s 55-year military occupation of territories the Palestinians want for a future state.

Around 670 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention. The number has jumped since March, as Israel has carried out near-nightly arrest raids in the occupied West Bank following a series of deadly attacks against Israeli

‘It’s had a chilling effect’: Florida teachers anxious about ‘don’t say gay’ bill


Lack of guidance by state’s education department and possible implications has teachers worried as school year begins

The Tampa Pride 2022 was held in the wake of the passage of Florida's controversial "don't say gay" bill. Photograph: Octavio Jones/Getty Images


Michael Sainato

Wed 31 Aug 2022 

Michael Woods, a high school special education teacher in Palm Beach county, Florida, with 30 years of experience teaching and who grew up as a student in the area who was bullied for being gay, said he cried the night before this school year began in August 2022 because of anxiety related to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill that went into effect in July 2022.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis attacks media in ‘Top Gun’ campaign ad

“As a gay teacher, as a queer male, it’s been painful for me, it’s been very painful and very upsetting,” said Woods. “It’s had a chilling effect, because I’m really questioning myself, about what conversations I can have and there’s really no clarity on it.”

Before the school year began, Woods’ district issued guidance over reviewing all books in classrooms for anything that could be perceived as controversial in regards to the new legislation, which prompted him to remove a library that he’s maintained in his classroom for over 20 years because of how arduous a task it would be to review every single book.

Woods has had several longtime teachers email him with questions about the law, as the Florida department of education still hasn’t issued guidance on the legislation for teachers from fourth to 12th grade. Teachers are also worried about the implications of what violating the law could be, from facing lawsuits to termination.

“I went to school in this district and I thought we had resolved all these issues, and created safe spaces, because I remember being bullied. And I feel almost like as an adult, I’m being re-bullied by these laws,” added Woods. “If you’re going to write legislation, it should be a requirement that it positively impacts the classroom, that it positively impacts teaching, that it positively gives strategies that will make kids successful, and not make it and their adult teachers feel like they are less than or they don’t matter. Because I do matter. My kids matter.”
I think the biggest thing going into the school year is this bill ... gives parents the ability to bring complaints against teachers, bring lawsuits against school districts ...Andrew Spar

The bill, called the parental educational rights bill by its Republican authors, prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, but also vaguely prohibits instruction deemed age inappropriate in the public school system. The bill also grants parents the right to file lawsuits for damages if a school district doesn’t resolve a complaint about their child’s education.

That vagueness and the rhetoric of the bill’s proponents have incited fears and anxiety that the legislation will be used to suppress and intimidate acknowledgement of the LGBTQ+ community in schools and embolden hate toward the LGBTQ+ community.

“These bills are all based on false pretenses, their lies, they’re based on lies, they make assumptions that something is happening in our schools area, that teachers are somehow indoctrinating our students, teaching them to be gay, or whatever the case may be,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.

Spar added: “I think the biggest thing going into the school year is the unknown, because this bill and these other bills that are out there, give parents the ability to bring complaints against teachers, bring lawsuits against school districts, and we just don’t know how it’s going to play out.”

Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the bill as LGBTQ+ groups have strongly opposed the legislation.

The White House criticized the bill and characterized it as “discrimination, plain and simple. It’s part of a disturbing and dangerous nationwide trend of rightwing politicians cynically targeting LGBTQI+ students, educators, and individuals to score political points.”

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, signing the ‘don’t say gay’ bill in March 2022. Photograph: Douglas R Clifford/AP

The bill has gone into effect as Florida is currently facing a shortage of more than 9,000 teacher and staff vacancies across the state.

Clinton McCracken, the president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association in Orlando, Florida, explained he and the district have been working on trying to develop and issue guidance over questions and concerns teachers and students have on how the legislation impacts them, and trying to reaffirm support.

Despite this, McCracken noted there are still concerns over issues such as when to report to parents that their child is having sexual identity issues and fears over parents and far-right groups intent on targeting teachers and the ongoing rhetoric from Florida Republican leaders that vilifies teachers.

“Because the law was written in such a vague way, there are a lot of teachers who are self censoring,” said McCracken.

He argued rather than have to worry about politically motivated culture war attacks on teachers and public education, that teachers would like to see issues such as staffing shortages, low pay, and inadequate funding of public education be addressed.

Florida ranks 48th in the US in overall teacher salaries. According to EducationData.org, Florida ranks 42nd in the US for public education spending and single pupil spending falls thousands of dollars below the national average.

“All of these real huge concerns in public education is what we should be talking about in the news and the governor should be talking about,” added McCracken. “It should be considered a crisis in education but he has everyone talking about these false flag narratives. It’s all very frustrating because we do have massive problems in public education and this isn’t one of them.”

Crist picks Miami teachers union leader as running mate

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE

August 27, 2022

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U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist celebrates as he announces his running mate Karla Hernández-Mats at Hialeah Middle School in Hialeah, Fla., Saturday Aug. 27, 2022 as he challenges Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November (AP Photo/Gaston De Cardenas)


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Democrat Charlie Crist on Saturday tapped Miami-Dade County teachers union president Karla Hernandez-Mats as his running mate as he challenges Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida.

Crist, a congressman who served as the state’s Republican governor a decade ago, announced United Teachers of Dade President Hernandez-Mats as his lieutenant governor pick at a brief rally in South Florida, describing her as a compassionate former teacher of special needs children with the “heart” necessary to govern.

“Caring, loving, empathic, compassionate — that’s what we don’t have in the governor’s office right now and that’s what you deserve to have in the governor’s office,” Crist said before introducing Hernandez-Mats to the crowd.

The selection of Hernandez-Mats ensures a campaign focus on education, an arena where DeSantis has had success in animating his conservative base through his hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic and policies limiting classroom discussions of race and LGBTQ issues

Crist secured the Democratic nomination this week after a campaign that focused heavily on criticizing DeSantis as a “bully” who gained political prominence through his willingness to exploit cultural divides on gender, sexuality and race.

On Saturday, Hernandez-Mats framed the Democratic ticket as a way to “bring decency and respect back to the state of Florida” and preserve abortion access and voting rights.

“It has been dark in here but we’re going to bring the sunshine back,” she said.

Hernandez-Mats advocated delaying students’ return to school in the fall of 2020 and continuing mask mandates in 2021, in defiance of DeSantis’ administration. She has also previously been critical of a new law critics have dubbed “ Don’t Say Gay, ” which bars classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as material that is not deemed age-appropriate.

The daughter of two Honduran immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1970s, Hernandez-Mats was the first Hispanic elected to lead the United Teachers of Dade in 2016. She was born in Miami and her father picked tomatoes in the Everglades before becoming a carpenter and labor leader, according to a statement from Crist’s campaign.



Crist defeated state agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democratic primary in a race that increasingly centered on abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and a new Florida law that bans abortions after 15 weeks. Fried often questioned Crist’s Democratic bonafides, highlighting his appointment of conservative state Supreme Court justices while he was a GOP governor. The state’s high court is soon expected to decide the constitutionality of the GOP-backed 15-week ban.

Crist on Saturday reiterated a pledge to sign an executive order protecting a woman’s right to choose, upon the first day of his new administration.

DeSantis as governor has become one of the most popular Republicans in America, with his frequent and vocal opposition to Democratic President Joe Biden and liberal policies on abortion and gender issues winning him large sums from wealthy GOP donors and fueling speculation of a 2024 presidential bid.

In Florida, with the help of the GOP-controlled Legislature, DeSantis has carried out a brash approach to policymaking, exerting unusual control over the state’s congressional redistricting process, suspending an elected prosecutor who pledged not to enforce the 15-week abortion ban and punishing Disney for opposing the law that bars lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3.

The governor this week, in a speech after Crist’s primary win, did not mention Crist by name, instead casting the general election as a battle against Biden and “woke” ideology.

Sick dolphin calf improves with tube-fed milk, helping hands

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA

August 27, 2022

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Volunteer Tosapol Prayoonsuk feeds a baby dolphin nicknamed Paradon with milk at the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center in Rayong province in eastern Thailand, Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. The Irrawaddy dolphin calf was drowning in a tidal pool on Thailand’s shore when fishermen found him last month. The calf was nicknamed Paradon, roughly translated as “brotherly burden,” because those involved knew from day one that saving his life would be no easy task. But the baby seems to be on the road to recovery. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


RAYONG, Thailand (AP) — The Irrawaddy dolphin calf — sick and too weak to swim — was drowning in a tidal pool on Thailand’s shore when fishermen found him.

The fishermen quickly alerted marine conservationists, who advised them how to provide emergency care until a rescue team could transport the baby to Thailand’s Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center for veterinary attention.

The baby was nicknamed Paradon, roughly translated as “brotherly burden,” because those involved knew from day one that saving his life would be no easy task.

Irrawaddy dolphins, considered a vulnerable species by International Union for Conservation of Nature, are found in the shallow coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia and in three rivers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia. Their survival is threatened by habitat loss, pollution and fishing, when dolphins are caught unintentionally with other species.

Officials from the marine research center believe around 400 Irrawaddy dolphins remain along the country’s eastern coast, bordering Cambodia.

Since Paradon was found by the fishermen July 22, dozens of veterinarians and volunteers have helped care for him at the center in Rayong on the Gulf of Thailand.

“We said among ourselves that the chance of him surviving was quite low, judging from his condition,” Thanaphan Chomchuen, a veterinarian at the center, said Friday. “Normally, dolphins found stranded on the shore are usually in such a terrible condition. The chances that these dolphins would survive are normally very, very slim. But we gave him our best try on that day.”

Workers placed him in a seawater pool, treated the lung infection that made him so sick and weak, and enlisted volunteers to watch him round the clock. They have to hold him up in his tank to prevent him from drowning and feed him milk, initially done by tube, and later by bottle when he had recovered a bit of strength.

A staff veterinarian and one or two volunteers stay for each eight-hour shift, and other workers during the day handle the water pump and filter and making milk for the calf.

After a month, Paradon’s condition is improving. The calf believed to be between 4 and 6 months old can swim now and has no signs of infection. But the dolphin that was 138 centimeters long (4.5 feet) and around 27 kilograms (59 pounds) on July 22 is still weak and doesn’t take enough milk despite the team’s efforts to feed him every 20 minutes or so.


Thippunyar Thipjuntar, a 32-year-old financial adviser, is one of the many volunteers who come for a babysitting shift with Paradon.

Thippunya said with Paradon’s round baby face and curved mouth that looks like a smile, she couldn’t help but grow attached to him and be concerned about his development.

“He does not eat enough but rather just wants to play. I am worried that he does not receive enough nutrition,” she told The Associated Press on Friday as she fed the sleepy Paradon, cradled in her arm. “When you invest your time, physical effort, mental attention, and money to come here to be a volunteer, of course you wish that he would grow strong and survive.”

Sumana Kajonwattanakul, director of the marine center, said Paradon will need long-term care, perhaps as much as a year, until he is weaned from milk and is able to hunt for his own food.

“If we just release him when he gets better, the problem is that he he won’t be able to have milk. We will have to take care of him until he has his teeth, then we must train him to eat fish, and be part of a pod. This will take quite some time,” Sumana said
Paradon’s caregivers believe the extended tender loving care is worth it.

“If we can save one dolphin, this will help our knowledge, as there have not been many successful cases in treating this type of animal,” said veterinarian Thanaphan. “If we can save him and he survives, we will have learned so much from this.”

“Secondly, I think by saving him, giving him a chance to live, we also raise awareness about the conservation of this species of animal, which are rare, with not many left.”

Union chief warns of potential threats in wake of Mar-a-Lago search

Scott MacFarlane - Yesterday 


The leader of the nation's largest federal government employees' union is warning of the potential for threats and harassment against civil servants who work for the National Archives and federal law enforcement agencies, in the wake of the search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Largest federal employee union warns of threats against members

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents approximately 700,000 workers including employees from the National Archives, said union members are reporting worries about menacing and potential violent threats, amid reports of violent rhetoric on some social media platforms and chat groups.

"Certainly we have heard from (members)," said AFGE president Everett Kelley in an interview with CBS News.. "I've been very disturbed over the past few weeks to hear about violent threats against federal law enforcement and most recently those at the National Archives."

Kelley continued, "It's a shame that they continue to be at the receiving end of this kind of treatment, simply for doing their job."


The United States National Archives building is shown on October 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. Later today the National Archives will release more than 3,000 classified files on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. / Credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images© Provided by CBS News

"Any number of federal employees could be subject to harassment," Kelley said, citing increasingly toxic and heated rhetoric. AFGE said it is urging all federal agencies to increase security for employees who are subjected to threats and to ensure federal workers are notified if a threat is made or detected by the agencies.

Kelley reminded union members in a statement earlier this month that "attempts to influence the legal process through intimidation, violence, and terror undermine the rule of law, compromise the security of law enforcement and government officials, and make all Americans less safe."

"Attempts to influence the legal process through intimidation, violence, and terror undermine the rule of law, compromise the security of law enforcement and government officials, and make all Americans less safe," Kelley said in a statement to union members earlier this month.

Last week, the head of the National Archives sent a memo to employees encouraging the staff to continue its "fiercely non-political" work, as the normally low-profile agency receives threats from some and praise from others — neither welcome — over its role in the federal investigation into Trump.

A CBS News review of federal court cases and transcripts shows federal judges have also experienced a series of death threats, including judges handling the high-profile criminal cases of U.S. Capitol riot defendants. During a sentencing hearing earlier this summer, U.S. District Court judge Tanya Chutkan mentioned there had been a series of threats received by Washington D.C. judges overseeing cases involving Jan. 6 defendants.

Earlier this month, an Ohio man died in a standoff with police, after attempting to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati. The standoff occurred less than a week after the FBI executed its search of Mar-a-Lago.

Scientists Puzzled Because James Webb Is Seeing Stuff That Shouldn't Be There

Scientists have long thought early galaxies to be chaotic, misshapen messes — but new James Webb imagery proves that theory to be completely false.

Maggie Harrison -  Futurism

Over the past several weeks, NASA's ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has allowed humankind some unprecedented glimpses into the farthest reaches of our universe. And unsurprisingly, some of these dazzling new observations have raised more questions than they've answered.

For a long time, for instance, scientists believed the universe's earliest, oldest galaxies to be small, slightly chaotic, and misshapen systems. But according to the Washington Post, JWST-captured imagery has revealed those galaxies to be shockingly massive, not to mention balanced and well-formed — a finding that challenges, and will likely rewrite, long-held understandings about the origins of our universe.

"The models just don't predict this," Garth Illingworth, an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz, told WaPo. "How do you do this in the universe at such an early time? How do you form so many stars so quickly?"
Move Over, Hubble

Related video: Latest James Webb Telescope Images Shed Light on the History of Stars

Duration 1:30   View on Watch

As WaPo explains, older images of the universe — as captured by the recently dethroned Hubble Space Telescope — seemingly confirmed the widespread belief that early galaxies were chaotic, haphazard places. The JWST, however, appears to show that those findings were an illusion based on that Hubble's limited capabilities.

"We thought the early universe was this chaotic place where there's all these clumps of star formation, and things are all a-jumble," the Space Telescope Science Institute's Dan Coe told WaPo, adding later that, before the JWST was launched into orbit, Hubble's imagery was "missing all the colder stars and the older stars. We were really only seeing the hot young ones."

Time Machine

While these findings have taken the scientific community by surprise, they're not at all a cause for alarm. Major technological advancements, in astronomy and beyond, have a long history of leading to periods of large-scale scientific discovery. Right now, it really feels like we're in one of those watershed moments, and the discoveries made today may well lay the foundation for future breakthroughs, even if they're decades down the line.

And really, discoveries like this mean that the JWST is doing exactly what scientists want it to do — it's revealing new, exciting stuff about our mind-bogglingly expansive universe, answering old questions and asking new ones along the way.

READ MORE: Webb telescope is already challenging what astronomers thought they knew [The Washington Post]

More on the James Webb Space Telescope: James Webb Catches a Glimpse of the Most Distant Star in the Universe

Trudeau reiterates there will be full review of funding for anti-racism program after Laith Marouf scandal

'It is absolutely unacceptable that federal dollars have gone to this organization that has demonstrated xenophobia, racism, and anti-Semitism,' he said

Author of the article: Ryan Tumilty
Publishing date:Aug 30, 2022 • 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media in Kitchener, Ont. on Aug. 30, 2022. 

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that it is absolutely unacceptable anti-racism dollars went to an organization employing someone with clearly antisemitic views.

The Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) received $133,000 from the government to do anti-racism training this spring. Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen cut off the government’s funding immediately after the initial media reports that the senior consultant and founder of the group, Laith Marouf, had posted a series of antisemitic and anti-francophone message on social media.

At a media availability in Kitchener, Ont., Tuesday Trudeau said there was no justification for the government’s mistake.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that federal dollars have gone to this organization that has demonstrated xenophobia, racism, and antisemitism,” he said. “We cannot accept racism, hatred and anger, particularly not funded by the government and that’s why we took action quickly.”

Former Liberal MP Michael Levitt, who is now president and CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was disappointed more Liberal MPs weren’t denouncing this mistake and making it clear the government won’t defend antisemitism.

“Taking a stand against antisemitism should be a given and yet so few of my former Liberal colleagues have done so. This truly hurts. Jewish MPs shouldn’t be left to call this out alone,” he said on Twitter.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather has said he disappointed in his own government for not moving more quickly, saying he had highlighted the issue to Hussen well before the news broke.

Trudeau said the government would be doing a complete review of any dollars the organization might be receiving, not just for this grant but also looking further to ensure no government money funds hate.

“We are absolutely in the process of doing a complete review to make sure that this organization is not getting any funding from the government. And we are making sure that we’re putting in place procedures that ensure that this never happens again.”

CMAC was given the $133,000 contract to lead consultations on an anti-racism strategy for the broadcasting sector.

In an email to supporters after the contract was cancelled, CMAC said it had suspended the work it was doing. The group said the coverage of the issue did not reflect its goals.

“After this week’s media coverage, CMAC is reminded of how online and mainstream media are powerful tools of white supremacy,” it said in an email to supporters. “CMAC is a not-for-profit corporation, engaging in research, relationship building, and learning to advocate for the rights of Indigenous, racialized and disability communities within the communications, broadcasting and media industries.