DRC fishermen try to keep ancestral methods alive

Fishermen perch precariously on wooden scaffolds stretching over turbulent rapids in northeastern Democratic Republic Congo, hauling up wicker baskets in the hope of catching tilapia or a Nile perch -- a time-honoured practice now threatened by overfishing.

 

Ugandan farmers turn black soldier flies into cheap, green fertiliser

As the war in Ukraine continues to increase fertiliser prices worldwide, the larvae of the black soldier fly are helping smallholder farmers in Uganda turn domestic waste into an eco-friendly alternative.

Most World Cup fans back compensation for Qatar migrant workers: poll

NICOSIA, Sept 15, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - A majority of World Cup fans support FIFA
compensating migrant workers for rights abuses during preparations for the
2022 tournament in Qatar, a poll commissioned by Amnesty International and
released on Thursday showed.

Qatar has repeatedly faced criticism over conditions for migrant workers, but
insists it has made major improvements in recent years.

The YouGov poll surveyed more than 17,000 adults from 15 countries -- mostly
in Europe, but also the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Morocco and Kenya,
Amnesty said in a statement.

Seventy-three percent of respondents said they "strongly support" or "tend to
support" football's governing body using some of its 2022 World Cup revenues
to compensate migrant workers, according to the figures.

Out of those who said they were likely to watch at least one game, 84 percent
backed the proposal.

"There is still time for FIFA to do the right thing," Amnesty's Steve
Cockburn said in a statement calling on it "to set up a remediation
programme... before the tournament kicks off" on November 20.

"Supporters don't want a World Cup that's indelibly tainted by human rights
abuses," Cockburn added.

In response, FIFA said it took note of the poll but cautioned that
"respondents may not be fully aware of the measures implemented in recent
years by FIFA and its partners in Qatar to protect workers involved in the
delivery of the FIFA World Cup".

"Workers have been compensated in various forms where companies failed to
uphold the workers' welfare standards," it said in a statement.

"FIFA will continue its efforts to enable remediation for workers who may
have been adversely impacted in relation to FIFA World Cup-related work."

Qatar has faced accusations of under-reporting deaths and injuries among
migrant workers and of not doing enough to alleviate harsh conditions. Unpaid
wages have also been frequently raised.

The Qatari government has highlighted major reforms it has introduced,
including a minimum wage, dismantling a scheme that gave employers stringent
rights over labourers, and imposing stricter rules on working in the summer
heat.

In an interview with French magazine Le Point, Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad Al-Thani said he was proud of the measures the emirate had taken to
safeguard workers' welfare.

"We understood that we had a problem with work on construction sites and we
took strong measures in record time," the emir said in only his third
interview since he took the throne in 2013.

"We have changed the law and we are punishing anybody who abuses an employee.
We have opened our doors to non-governmental organisations and we are
cooperating with them. We are proud of it."

Qatar: Global survey shows overwhelming demand for …

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/qatar-global-survey...

8 hours ago · The YouGov poll, which surveyed more than 17,000 adults across 15 countries, also showed that an overwhelming majority (67%) want their national Football Associations to

Cheetahs from South Africa go to parks in India, Mozambique

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and SEBABATSO MOSAMO

September 8, 2022

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Wildlife veterinarian Andy Frasier darts a cheetah to be tranquilized and loaded into a crates, at a reserve near Bella Bella, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. South African wildlife officials have sent four cheetahs to Mozambique this week as part of efforts to reintroduce the species to neighboring parts of southern Africa. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)


BELA-BELA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa is flying cheetahs to India and Mozambique as part of ambitious efforts to reintroduce the distinctively spotted cats in regions where their population has dwindled.

Four cheetahs captured at reserves in South Africa have been flown to Mozambique this week after being held in quarantine for about a month and cleared for travel. Conservationists are preparing to fly 12 more cheetahs, reputed to be the world’s fastest land mammals, to India in October.

Speaking to The Associated Press shortly after those going to Mozambique were tranquilized and placed into crates, wildlife veterinarian Andy Frasier said the relocations are tough for the animals.

“It’s a very stressful process for the cats to be in a boma (livestock enclosure) environment because they have nowhere to go whilst we are darting them,” said Frasier of shooting the cats with darts of tranquilizers.

“We need to use our drug doses very carefully and make sure that we give them enough drugs to anesthetize them safely,” he said.

“They have woken up nicely in their crates and they are all relaxed enough that we are happy for them to leave in their transport,” he said.

Frasier said the team is preparing for the larger and more challenging relocation of cheetahs to India which will require the cats to travel a much longer distance with stops in commercial airports.

Those cheetahs would be treated with a tranquilizer that lasts for three to five days during their travel, he said.

There are two subspecies of cheetahs. Those that once roamed in Asia were declared extinct in India in 1952 and are now found only in Iran. Since then there have been efforts to reintroduce these cats to India’s savannahs. Initially the plan was to bring in cheetahs from Iran but now they are being moved from southern African countries.

In this restocking effort, Namibia is contributing eight cheetahs which will be flown to India this month, according to Vincent van der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative. South Africa will send an additional 12 cheetahs to India in October, he said.

“For a genetically viable population in India in the long-term you need at least 500 individuals, so every year we will send eight to 12 animals, to top them up, to increase numbers, to bring in new genetics until they have a viable population,” said van der Merwe.

Indian officials say the move will aid global cheetah conservation efforts since their range in Africa is limited. The plan is for the cats to be kept in large enclosures in central Indian forests, protected from other predators like leopards or bears, to give them time to get used to their new home. The enclosures have prey — like deer and antelope — which scientists hope the cheetahs will hunt. After a few months of close monitoring, the cheetahs will be radio-collared and released.

The southern African countries of South Africa, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe still have significant cheetah populations and are expected to play a significant role in their reintroduction in India following the first shipments this year.

South Africa’s cheetah population is expanding at a rate of about 8% annually, allowing the country to move about 30 of the cats to other game reserves within South Africa and to export some to other countries, van der Merwe said.

Conservationists say Mozambique’s Zambezi River delta had a significant cheetah population which was drastically reduced by rampant poaching and because lions and leopards preyed upon the smaller cats.

In this week’s operation the two male and two female adult cheetahs were tranquilized in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province and then were flown to Mozambique’s Marromeu National Reserve in the Zambezi delta region.

___

Magome contributed from Johannesburg. AP journalist Aniruddha Ghosal in New DeIhi, India, contributed.

Conservation plan highlights Arabs’ fraught ties to Israel

By SAM McNEIL

September 8, 2022

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Goats gaze on a hillside where Beduins have grazed their animals for generations near Rumihat in the Galilee region, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. Plans to turn the 2,500-acre area into a wildlife corridor have sparked rare protest from Bedouin in the northern Galilee region who were one of the few Arabs embracing early Zionist pioneers before 1948, and since served in the police and military, and elebrated by the military for their knowledge of the land, they say the government now seeks to sever their ties to the same land. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)


HILF, Israel (AP) — Ayoub Rumeihat opened his palms to the sky in prayer as he stood among tombstones for Bedouins killed in action while serving the state of Israel.

Finishing the holy words, he gazed at the distant Mediterranean Sea across a valley full of olives and oak where his community has grazed goats for generations.

Rumeihat says the Bedouins, celebrated by the Israeli military for their knowledge of the land, fear the government now seeks to sever their ties to that same piece of earth.

Rumeihat and his fellow Bedouins see a plan to turn their land into a wildlife corridor as an affront to their service to the country. They say it’s in line with steps taken by nationalist Israeli governments against the Arab minority in recent years that have deepened a sense of estrangement and tested the community’s already brittle ties to the state.

The plan has sparked rare protests from Bedouins in Israel’s northern Galilee region — some of the few local Arabs to embrace early Jewish settlers before Israel’s creation in 1948. Many have since served in the Israeli police and military, often fighting against fellow Palestinians.

“We were with you from the beginning,” said Rumeihat, standing next to a tombstone engraved with a Star of David in honor of a Bedouin tracker likely killed by a Palestinian. “We are like the lemon and the olive trees. How can you uproot us?”

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up 20% of the country’s 9 million people. They have citizenship and can vote, and some reach the highest echelons of government and business. But they have long faced discrimination in housing, jobs and public services and face neglect at the hands of the state. Many Jewish Israelis see them as a fifth column for their solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Within that same minority are subgroups, like the Bedouins, who have become more embedded in Israeli society through their service in the security forces.

But in recent years, the Bedouins have accused Israel of belittling their service with its policies, particularly a 2018 law that defines the country as the nation state of the Jewish people. Bedouin and Druze Israelis, who both serve in the military, felt the law demoted them to second-class citizens.

The community sees the wildlife corridor as another slight. It will set controls on their grazing and could limit the residents’ housing options in the future.

The Bedouins have started small weekly protests with Jewish supporters in the Galilee and also in Jerusalem, outside the offices of the prime minister and the Nature and Parks Authority.

The 2,600-acre (1,050-hectare) wildlife corridor is meant to allow foxes, quail and other animals to move safely around the urban landscape of Haifa, the country’s third-largest city. The Bedouins call the lush ravines of the area al-Ghaba, or “forest” in Arabic.

Environmentalists say wildlife corridors, which serve as safe migration zones for animals, are an important part of conservation efforts.

Uri Shanas, an ecology professor at the University of Haifa-Oranim, said the corridor was essential because the surrounding area is built up and the animals, especially the endangered mountain gazelle, require the land bridge.

“The only place that it’s still thriving in the world is in Israel and we are obliged to protect it,” he said.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have in the past accused Israeli authorities of justifying land seizures under the guise of environmental stewardship. In January, Bedouins in southern Israel staged protests against tree planting by nationalists on disputed land. And advocacy groups say many forests in Israel were planted atop the ruins of Palestinian villages emptied during the events that led to Israel’s creation.

A spokeswoman for the parks authority, Daniela Turgeman, said the corridor plan was crafted with local leaders in the 1980s and surveyed plants and animals. She said that it allows for controlled grazing and said there are only “a few individuals who still have objections.”

The Bedouins object to the plan’s omission of traditional land-use rights and reject any limits on grazing. They claim private ownership of certain parcels and total grazing rights after settling in the area over 100 years ago, buying land, planting olive groves and farms, and building homes.

They also deny there was any prior consultation with the parks authority, which Turgeman said formed the plan after six recent meetings and “a joint tour” with local leaders.

Guy Alon, an official with the parks authority, told Israel’s Channel 13 TV in July that the wildlife corridor would benefit Jews and Arabs while respecting property rights and striking an ecological balance.

For “Bedouins who come and say ‘we want open spaces,’ the nature reserve offers just that,” he said. “Those who ask that we let them graze on the land, we respect that,” he said.

After learning of the plan, three Bedouin villages filed an objection, charging the corridor didn’t take into consideration private Bedouin property. The Haifa district planning committee rejected that objection, and an appeal is now being heard.

“Nature has been used as a political tool before many, many times, so for people there is no trust,” said Myssana Morany, a lawyer with the Arab legal rights group Adalah, which filed the objection on the residents’ behalf.

She said the parks authority has dealt with the Bedouins differently than it has with other citizens, pointing to nearby examples of its plans to integrate nature reserves with existing farms and other types of land use.

Environmental claims ring hollow to villagers who see ongoing construction at nearby Jewish villages as far more ecologically disruptive than grazing goats and olive groves.

Fatima Khaldi, 73, sitting in her large family home in the village of Khawaldeh, said local knowledge will protect the land more than any outside expertise. “Their whole goal is to remove us and destroy our heritage.”

Mustafa Rumeihat, 70, a distant relative of Rumeihat, said he’s worried his grandchildren won’t inherit the family ties to the land.

“I see myself dying of desperation,” he said, shuffling downhill from his pen of two dozen goats. “When my son asks me about the land, I won’t be able to answer him.”

___

Associated Press journalists Ariel Schalit in Hilf, Israel, and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Record 8 fledged chicks for Louisiana’s wild ‘whoopers’

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY

September 8, 2022


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In this image obtained via trail camera and provided by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, two adult whooping cranes, one female and the other male, stand over a one-day-old chick in Allen Parish, La., on May 6, 2022. A record eight whooping crane chicks have taken wing in Louisiana after hatching in the wild. It’s not just a record for fledglings of the world's rarest crane in Louisiana, but for any flock of the endangered birds reintroduced to the wild, the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries via AP)


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A record eight whooping crane chicks have taken wing in Louisiana after hatching in the wild. It’s not just a state record for fledglings of the world’s rarest crane, but one for any flock reintroduced to the wild to help save the endangered birds, the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Thursday.

“That is very exciting. We’re absolutely thrilled that the Louisiana program has done so phenomenally well,” said Anne Lacy, senior manager for North America programs at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

The previous record was set in 2018, when six wild-hatched birds fledged in the flock that was taught to migrate between Wisconsin and Florida by following ultralight aircraft, Louisiana wildlilfe biologist Sara Zimorski said in an email. That also was Louisiana’s previous record wild fledgling year, at five.

The brown-and-white juveniles which survive to adulthood will be white with red caps and black mustaches and wingtips, and about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall. Their wingspan can reach 7 feet (2.1 meters) across.

Only about 800 “whoopers” exist, according to the crane foundation. About 500 are in the only natural flock, which winters in Texas and breeds in Alberta, Canada. About 80 are in the Wisconsin-Florida flock, nearly 140 in captivity and seven in an introduced flock that failed in Florida.

Louisiana’s flock now totals 76, said a news release from Wildlife and Fisheries.

Three males and three females raised at the Audubon Nature Institute’s species survival center in New Orleans will join them in November, said assistant curator Richard Dunn.

A fourth female will remain at Audubon for breeding to be sure her good genes meet up with a good match, Dunn said. That’s important because every crane alive is descended from 15 that lived in Texas in 1941. Biologists estimate there were more than 10,000 before habitat loss and overhunting nearly killed them off.

The Louisiana and Wisconsin-Florida flocks are being nurtured in hope of creating a cushion in case anything happens to the natural flock.

Two of the 14 or 15 birds hatched in Wisconsin’s wilds this year will survive to fledging and a third, which broke a wing, is being kept for captive breeding, Lacy said.

She said the foundation just released two yearlings that were raised at the Calgary zoo but couldn’t be sent to Wisconsin last year because of COVID-19 precautions. Seven bred in captivity are to be released later this year.

The Texas-Canada flock is listed as endangered, though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether to change that to threatened. The “experimental” flocks are classified as threatened because that loosens regulations, making reintroductions more feasible.

“We can’t point out exactly why this was our best year” for fledglings, Zimorski said in the news release. Experience may have played a part — only one of 17 nesting pairs were first-timers, and that pair’s chicks didn’t survive, she wrote in an email.

“Three pairs that had nested unsuccessfully in previous years hatched and fledged chicks this year,” she wrote.

Zimorski said dry conditions during the breeding season, from February until June, may also have played a part.

“I don’t think we’ve had a nesting season during a drought like we had this year,” Zimorski said in the news release. “Intuitively it doesn’t seem like that would be good, but according to some colleagues from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other species of water birds often have really good breeding success in drought years that follow wet years, which we definitely had last year.’’

Last year, 24 pairs mated for what was then a record 14 hatchlings in Louisiana, but only four grew old enough to fly.

Biologists don’t know the sex of this year’s fledglings or those of two birds that hatched last year. The others are 38 males and 28 females.

Whooping cranes mate for life.

“A few birds that nested in 2021 lost their mate and though I think most of them were repaired they didn’t nest with their new mates,” Zimorski said in an email. “Additionally, there were a couple of pairs that nested in 2021 who are still alive and together but just didn’t nest this year.”

Federal and state agencies began Louisiana’s reintroduction in 2011; the first chick hatched in 2016.

This year was the second in a row and the third since 2016 that twins both fledged, the department said. Whooping cranes lay one or two eggs per nest, but generally only one grows up even if two hatch.
___

To follow AP coverage of the environment, go to https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

As monkeypox drops in the West, still no vaccines for Africa

By MARIA CHENG and CHINEDU ASADU

yesterday

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A man holds a sign urging increased access to the monkeypox vaccine during a protest in San Francisco on July 18, 2022. With monkeypox cases subsiding in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists say now is the time to prioritize stopping the virus in Africa. 

(AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)


ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — With monkeypox cases subsiding in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists say now is the time to prioritize stopping the virus in Africa.

In July, the U.N. health agency designated monkeypox as a global emergency and appealed to the world to support African countries so that the catastrophic vaccine inequity that plagued the outbreak of COVID-19 wouldn’t be repeated.

But the global spike of attention has had little impact on the continent. No rich countries have shared vaccines or treatments with Africa, and some experts fear interest may soon evaporate.

“Nothing has changed for us here, the focus is all on monkeypox in the West,” said Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health research department at Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research.

“The countries in Africa where monkeypox is endemic are still in the same situation we have always been, with weak resources for surveillance, diagnostics and even the care of patients,” he said.

Monkeypox has sickened people in parts of West and Central Africa since the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the disease triggered unusual outbreaks in Europe and North America that public health officials even thought to use vaccines. As rich countries rushed to buy nearly all the world’s supply of the most advanced shot against monkeypox, the World Health Organization said in June that it would create a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help needy countries get doses.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

“Africa is still not benefiting from either monkeypox vaccines or the antiviral treatments,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director, adding that only small amounts have been available for research purposes. Since 2000, Africa has reported about 1,000 to 2,000 suspected monkeypox cases every year. So far this year, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified about 3,000 suspected infections, including more than 100 deaths.

In recent weeks, monkeypox cases globally have fallen by more than a quarter, including by 55% in Europe, according to WHO.

Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, head of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, said the lack of help for Africa was reminiscent of the inequity seen during COVID-19.

“Everybody looked after their (own) problem and left everybody else,” he said. Adetifa lamented that monkeypox outbreaks in Africa never got the international attention that might have prevented the virus from spreading globally.

Rich countries have stretched their vaccine supplies by using a fifth of the regular dose, but none have expressed interest in helping Africa. WHO’s regional office for the Americas recently announced it had struck a deal to obtain 100,000 monkeypox doses that will start being delivered to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean within weeks. But no similar agreements have been reached for Africa.

“I would very much like to have vaccines to offer to my patients or anything that could just reduce their stay in the hospital,” said Dr. Dimie Ogoina, a professor of medicine at Nigeria’s Delta University and a member of WHO’s monkeypox emergency committee.

Since WHO declared monkeypox a global emergency, Nigeria has seen the disease continue to spread, with few significant interventions.

“We still do not have the funds to do all the studies that we need,” Ogoina said.

Research into the animals that carry monkeypox and spread it to humans in Africa is piecemeal and lacks coordination, said Mbala, of Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research.

Last week, the White House said it was optimistic about a recent drop in monkeypox cases in the U.S., saying authorities had administered more than 460,000 doses of the vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic.

The U.S. has about 35% of the world’s more than 56,000 monkeypox cases, but nearly 80% of the world’s supply of the vaccine, according to a recent analysis by the advocacy group Public Citizen.

The U.S. hasn’t announced any monkeypox vaccine donations for Africa, but the White House did make a recent request to Congress for $600 million in global aid.

Even if rich countries start sharing monkeypox tools with Africa soon, they shouldn’t be applauded, other experts said.

“It should not be the case that countries only decide to share leftover vaccines when the epidemic is declining in their countries,” said Piero Olliaro, a professor of infectious diseases of poverty at Oxford University. “It is exactly the same scenario as COVID and it is still completely unethical.”

Olliaro, who recently returned to the U.K. from a trip to Central African Republic to work on monkeypox, said WHO’s emergency declaration appeared to offer “no tangible benefits in Africa.”

In Nigeria’s Lagos state, which includes the country’s largest city and is hard hit by monkeypox, some people are calling for the government to urgently do more.

“You can’t tell me that the situation wouldn’t have improved without a vaccine,” said Temitayo Lawal, 29, an economist.

“If there is no need for vaccines, why are we now seeing the U.S. and all these countries using them?” he asked. “Our government needs to acquire doses as well.”

Pandemic, labor shortage keep hurricane victims in limbo
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and GARY D. ROBERTSON

yesterday

1 of 5

Floodwaters from the Neuse River surround several homes after Hurricane Matthew in the western part of Wayne County near Goldsboro, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Nearly six years after extreme rainfall and flooding from Hurricane Matthew damaged many North Carolina homes, some homeowners are still left waiting on repairs. A new bipartisan General Assembly committee tasked with investigating the delays holds its first meeting Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, on the four-year anniversary of when Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina.

 (Casey Mozingo/The Goldsboro News-Argus via AP, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nearly six years after flood damage from Hurricane Matthew displaced Thad Artis from his home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he has still not been placed in permanent housing.

Living alone in a motel for the past two years, growing increasingly frustrated with what he considers empty promises of swift action from government officials, the 68-year-old spends every penny on his wife’s health care after a stroke left her unable to walk.

Before he moved his wife into an assisted living facility, the two lived in their decaying house, roughly an hour southeast of Raleigh by car, for several years after the storm — both developing respiratory illnesses as mold spores grew in the ceiling and bird droppings spattered atop their leaking roof. Roaches and “other creepy crawlies” inhabited the kitchen floorboards. The back of the house was so rotten, Artis said, that the washroom was about to fall through the floor.

“We stayed sick for a year,” he said in an interview. “The house and all the furniture, it’s gone, it’s rotten. We ain’t got nothing. I take everything I can get right down the road to see her, to take care of her. I don’t give up because I got to help my wife.”

Waiting on an unfinished modular home in nearby Pikeville, Artis is among hundreds of low-income homeowners enrolled with the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency who are living in temporary accommodations years after the 2016 storm and Hurricane Florence in 2018.

A bipartisan General Assembly committee tasked with investigating these delays in disaster relief held its first meeting Wednesday — the four-year anniversary of when Florence made landfall in North Carolina.

Co-chair Rep. John Bell, a Wayne County Republican whose district along the Neuse River incurred some of the worst flood damage statewide, said he’s seeking accountability on behalf of displaced constituents like Artis.

“We had to deal with multiple hurricanes, tropical storms and a pandemic, but those are the realities, not the excuse,” Bell said in an interview. “We’ve been back and forth on this issue for years now. We’ve made some headway, and then we take a step backwards and then politics gets thrown into it. It never should’ve gotten to this point.”

While meteorologists say the Atlantic hurricane season has been quiet this year — a record-tying zero storms formed in August — residents of storm-prone Southeastern states remain vigilant. Still working through long-term repairs from Matthew and Florence, North Carolina officials say recent labor shortages and supply chain issues have exacerbated the existing challenges.

Laura Hogshead, the recovery agency’s director, said in an interview that complications brought on by COVID-19, compounded by rising prices and high demand for contractors, have slowed efforts to make homeowners whole.

Construction holdups have left some funding recipients like Artis in short-term lodging for months or even longer. Hogshead said that is partially the result of two manufactured housing vendors pulling out of contracts with the state in 2021 and 2022 as unit prices soared.

Taking “full responsibility” for the recovery delays at Wednesday’s meeting, Hogshead outlined several recent policy changes designed to improve efficiency. In the last six months, she said, NCORR simplified its program requirements and brought case management services in-house to streamline communication with homeowners.

“This recovery is not going as you want it to go, it is not going as I want it to go, it is certainly not going as the families sitting behind me and out in eastern North Carolina want it to go, and that is on me,” she said at the meeting.

Several lawmakers and displaced homeowners criticized Hogshead and another top official Wednesday, calling their disaster recovery system “broken.”

Co-chair Sen. Brent Jackson, a Sampson County Republican, questioned whether NCORR will even be able to complete the projects it started before time runs out. Under a government mandate, federal funds allocated for the recovery must be spent by June 2026.

“Now we’re in a hole so deep that, quite frankly, I don’t think you or your staff can dig yourself out of it,” Jackson said, instructing Hogshead to return in about three months with significant progress updates.

North Carolina’s legislature created NCORR in 2018, in part to distribute what became $778 million in federal recovery funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Matthew in 2017 and Florence in 2020.

The agency, under Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s control, has committed more than 60% of these funds to support homeowners, with about $231 million actually spent so far.

Funds are used to make major repairs or replace homes owned by low-income families in counties battered by both storms. They also support affordable and public housing projects that are less susceptible to flooding.

Homeowners must navigate an eight-step process designed to ensure they qualify for these funds and haven’t already received similar disaster money. It includes an environmental review of their damaged property, followed by a grant award, contractor selection and construction.

Of the nearly 4,200 Homeowner Recovery Applicants since Matthew money arrived, nearly 800 projects are completed, according to NCORR. But Hogshead said additional applicants — now more than 1,100 — are either waiting to find a contractor willing to take on a government-funded project with its additional paperwork, or for the contractor to begin work.

“I don’t care how many (contractors) you have,” Sen. Jim Perry, a Lenoir County Republican, told Hogshead at the meeting. “I did notice that you said you’ve had a consistent number. Well, we’ve had pretty consistently bad results.”

As of Tuesday, 294 applicants currently waiting for repairs or a replacement manufactured home were living in temporary accommodations — often a rental property or hotel.

Shiletha Smith, 68, has inhabited her damaged home in Fremont — a five-minute drive north of Pikeville — since Hurricane Matthew flooded the property in 2016, wiping out her insulation, destroying the central air conditioning unit and damaging the roof. This week, Smith said in an interview, she is finally moving into a hotel so construction can begin.

“Finally, after two years of waiting, they’re supposed to start construction on my home,” Smith said. “I almost got flooded out of my house and had to repair the whole side of my house that was from the water damage.”

Smith described the relief application process as “extremely frustrating” and said her award determination was so minimal, she felt like she had no choice but to appeal, further delaying repairs.

With another hurricane season in full swing, Hogshead said she’s always checking the tropics for developing storms that could cause further damage or delays.

“The thing I really worry about is another storm,” she said. “Upsetting this apple cart in the middle of construction is the X-factor that none of us can control.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

Texts: Mississippi ex-governor knew of Favre welfare money


 Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre speaks to the media in Jackson, Miss., Oct. 17, 2018. The governor of Mississippi in 2017 was “on board” with a plan for a nonprofit group to pay Brett Favre more than $1 million in welfare grant money so the retired NFL quarterback could help fund a university volleyball facility, according to a text messages between Favre and the director of the nonprofit in court documents filed Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)


JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Newly revealed text messages show how deeply a Mississippi governor was involved in the state paying more than $1 million in welfare money to Brett Favre to help fund one of the retired NFL quarterback’s pet projects.

Instead of the money going to help low-income families in one of the nation’s poorest states, as intended, it was funneled through a nonprofit group and spent on a new $5 million volleyball facility at a university that the football star and the governor both attended.

One of the texts from 2017 showed Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who left office in 2020, was “on board” with the arrangement. The state is suing Favre and others, alleging they misspent millions of dollars in welfare money. The director of the nonprofit has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in Mississippi’s largest public corruption case in decades.

The texts were in documents filed Monday in state court by an attorney for the nonprofit, known as the Mississippi Community Education Center. Messages between Favre and the center’s executive director, Nancy New, included references to Bryant. The documents also included messages between Bryant and Favre and Bryant and New.

New pleaded guilty in April to charges of misspending welfare money, as did her son Zachary New, who helped run the nonprofit. They await sentencing and have agreed to testify against others. Favre has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

“Just left Brett Farve,” Bryant texted New on July 16, 2019, misspelling the athlete’s last name. “Can we help him with his project. We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.”

New responded: “I would appreciate having the opportunity to follow through with all the good things we are working on, especially projects like Brett’s.”

Later that day, New texted Favre to let him know she was meeting with the governor.

“I love John so much. And you too,” Favre responded to New, referring to the Mississippi Department of Human Services director at the time, John Davis.

The texts also showed discussion between Favre and New about arranging payment from the Human Services Department through the nonprofit to Favre for speaking engagements, with Favre then saying he would direct the money to the volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Favre played football at the university, located in Hattiesburg, before going to the NFL in 1991. His daughter began playing on the school’s volleyball team in 2017.

According to court documents, Favre texted New on Aug. 3, 2017: “If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?”

New responded: “No, we never have had that information publicized. I understand you being uneasy about that though. Let’s see what happens on Monday with the conversation with some of the folks at Southern. Maybe it will click with them. Hopefully.”

Favre replied: “Ok thanks.”

The next day, New texted Favre: “Wow, just got off the phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!”

Favre responded: “Awesome I needed to hear that for sure.”

According to a previous court filing, New’s nonprofit made two payments of welfare money to Favre Enterprises, the athlete’s business: $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018.

On Dec. 27, 2017, Favre texted New: “Nancy Santa came today and dropped some money off (two smiling emojis) thank you my goodness thank you.”

“Yes he did,” New responded. “He felt you had been pretty good this year!”

Attorneys for Favre did not immediately respond to a phone message Wednesday from The Associated Press.

In a July 11 court filing, New’s attorney wrote that Bryant directed her to pay $1.1 million in welfare money to Favre through the education center for “speaking at events, keynote speaking, radio and promotional events, and business partner development.”

In July, a Bryant spokesperson said allegations that the governor improperly spent the money are false and that Bryant had asked the state auditor to investigate possible welfare fraud.

Billy Quinn, an attorney representing Bryant, told the AP on Wednesday that Bryant did not direct New to make the $1.1 million payment to Favre. Quinn said a careful examination of court records will show “there’s no proof that occurred. And that’s because it didn’t.”

Bryant served two terms as governor and could not run again in 2019 because of term limits. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

In May, the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a civil lawsuit against Favre, three former pro wrestlers and several other people and businesses to try to recover millions of misspent welfare dollars. The lawsuit said the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program.

About 1,800 Mississippi households received payments from the program in 2021, according to the Department of Human Services. A family of three must have a monthly income below $680 to qualify, and the current monthly benefit for that family is $260. Payments are allowed for up to five years.

In pleading guilty, Nancy and Zachary New acknowledged taking part in spending $4 million of welfare money for the volleyball facility.

The mother and son also acknowledged directing welfare money to Prevacus Inc., a Florida-based company that was trying to develop a concussion drug. Favre has said in interviews that he supported Prevacus.

Mississippi Auditor Shad White said Favre was paid for speeches but did not show up. Favre has repaid the money, but White said in October that he still owed $228,000 in interest.

In a Facebook post when he repaid the first $500,000, Favre said he didn’t know the money came from welfare funds. He also said his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

As ‘buy now, pay later’ plans grow, so do delinquencies


 A 65-inch television is shown at a warehouse, Thursday, June 17, 2021, in Lone Tree, Colo. Buy now, pay later loans allow users to pay for items such as new sneakers, electronics or luxury goods in installments. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans have grown fond of “buy now, pay later” services, but the “pay later” part is becoming increasingly difficult for some borrowers.

Buy now, pay later loans allow users to pay for items such new sneakers, electronics, or luxury goods in installments. Companies such as Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna and PayPal have built popular financial products around these short-term loans, particularly for younger borrowers, who are fearful of never-ending credit card debt.

Now, as the industry racks up customers, delinquencies are climbing. Inflation is squeezing consumers, making it tougher to pay off debts. Some borrowers don’t budget properly, particularly if they are persuaded to take out multiple loans, while others may have been credit risks to begin with.

“You have an industry with a higher concentration of subprime borrowers in a market that hasn’t been effectively tested through (this type of economy), and you have a kind of a toxic brew of concerns,” said Michael Taiano, an analyst with Fitch Ratings, who co-wrote a report in July highlighting some of the concerns with the industry.

The most popular type of buy now, pay later loans allow for four payments over six weeks — one payment at the time of purchase and three others that borrowers often try to sync up with pay periods. Longer-term loans for bigger purchases are also available. Most of the short-term loans have no interest attached to them. Companies that do charge interest can clearly state upfront how much a borrower will pay in financial charges.

Given those features, consumer advocates and financial advisors initially had seen buy now, pay later plans as a potentially healthier form of consumer debt if used correctly. The biggest concern had been late fees, which could act as a hefty finance charge on a small purchase if a borrower is late on a payment. The fees can run as high as $34, plus interest. But now as delinquencies are rising, and companies are being more aggressive in marketing their products, advocates see a need for additional regulation.

The industry is posting growth rates not typically found in financial services. Klarna’s customers bought $41 billion worth of product on its service globally in the first six months of the year. up 21% from a year ago. PayPal’s revenue from its buy now, pay later services more than tripled in the second quarter to $4.9 billion.

Jasmine Francis, 29, a technology analyst based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said she first used a buy now, pay later service in 2018 to buy clothes from fast-fashion brand Forever21.

“I remember I just had a cartful,” she said. “At first, I thought, ‘Something’s gotta go back,’ and then I saw Afterpay at checkout – you don’t pay for it all right now, but you get it all right now. That was music to my ears.”

How healthfully customers are using buy now, pay later loans is unclear. Fitch found that delinquencies on these services rose sharply in the 12 months ended March 31, while credit card delinquencies remained steady — although delinquencies at AfterPay, which focuses on mostly short-term loans, have trended marginally lower the last two quarters.

Credit reporting company TransUnion found that borrowers are using buy now, pay later plans even as they also build up credit card debt. A poll by Morning Consult released this week found 15% of buy now, pay later customers are using the service for routine purchases, such as groceries and gas, a type of behavior that sounds alarm bells among financial advisors.

“If these buy now, pay later plans are not adequately budgeted for, they can have a cascading impact across a person’s entire financial life,” said Andre Jean-Pierre, a former Morgan Stanley wealth advisor who now runs his own financial planning firm focused on helping Black Americans adequately save and budget.

Another concern among advisers and consumer advocates, as well as Washington lawmakers and regulators, is the ease with which consumers can layer on these installment loans.

Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday about new financial products, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, noted the benefits of plans that allow consumers to pay for things in installments. But he also criticized the way in which the industry promotes the plans.

“Ads encourage consumers to use these plans for multiple purchases, at multiple online stores – racking up debt they cannot afford to repay,” Brown said.

The short-term loans are potentially problematic because they’re not reported on a consumer’s credit profile with Transunion and Experian. Further the buy now, pay later industry’s customers skew young - meaning they have little credit history to begin with. Hypothetically a borrower could take out several short-term loans across multiple buy now, pay later companies — a practice known as “loan stacking” — and they would never appear on a credit report. If a person puts too many items on buy now, pay later plans, budgeting could be difficult.

“It’s a blind spot for the industry,” Taiano of Fitch said.

The buy now, pay later industry trade group pushed back on the characterization that its products could saddle borrowers with too much debt.

“With zero to low-interest, flexible payment terms, and transparent terms and conditions, BNPL helps consumers manage their cash flow responsibly and live healthier financial lives,” said Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, in a statement.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into the popularity of buy now, pay later loans and is expected to soon issue a report with its findings.

Francis, the technology analyst, said it’s now common among her friends to pay for travel with the installment loans, to not completely drain their bank accounts in case of emergencies.

“If I come back home from vacation and have two flat tires, and I just spent all that money on plane tickets, that’s $400 you don’t have at the moment,” she said. “Most people don’t have savings. They just have enough for those flat tires.”

Meanwhile providers of buy now, pay later services see rising delinquencies as a natural consequence of growth, but also an indication that inflation is hitting Americans most likely to use these services the hardest.

“I would not call it a sort of preamble to a potential downturn, but it’s not the same kind of a smooth sailing it’s been,” said Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Affirm, one of the largest buy now, pay later companies. Levchin said Affirm is taking a more conservative approach towards lending.

Despite the concerns, the consensus is buy now, pay later companies are here to stay. Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, which is owned by Block Inc., as well as PayPal and others are now widely embedded in Internet commerce.

Further, the industry’s growth is attracting more players. Technology titan Apple earlier this summer announced Apple Pay Later, where users can put purchases on a four-payment plan over six weeks.

“I generally plan purchases that I make using PayPal ”Pay in 4″ so that my due dates for purchases land on my pay dates, as the due dates are every other week,” said Desiree Moore, 35, from Georgia.

Moore said she tries to use buy now pay later plans to cover purchases not in her usual monthly budget, so not to take money away from the needs of her children. She has been increasingly using the plans with inflation making items more expensive and is so far able to keep up with the payments.

Buy now, pay later took off in the U.S. after the Great Recession. The product, analysts said, largely has not been tested through a great period of financial distress, unlike mortgages or credit cards or auto loans. Even financial executives have acknowledged the new challenges facing the industry.

“We have seen some stress (among those with the lowest credit scores), and those are starting to have a hard time.” Levchin said.

___

AP Personal Finance Reporter Cora Lewis contributed to this report from New York.

SPACE RACE 2.0
A new space race? China adds urgency to US return to moon

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER

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 An American flag flies in the breeze as NASA's new moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B after being scrubbed at the Kennedy Space Center Sept. 3, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. It’s not just rocket fuel propelling America’s first moonshot after a half-century lull. Rivalry with China’s space program is helping drive NASA’s effort to get back into space in a big way. That's as both nations push to put people back on the moon and establish the first lunar bases. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just rocket fuel propelling America’s first moonshot after a half-century lull. Rivalry with China’s flourishing space program is helping drive NASA’s effort to get back into space in a bigger way, as both nations push to put people back on the moon and establish the first lunar bases.

American intelligence, military and political leaders make clear they see a host of strategic challenges to the U.S. in China’s space program, in an echo of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry that prompted the 1960s’ race to the moon. That’s as China is quickly matching U.S. civil and military space accomplishments and notching new ones of its own.

On the military side, the U.S. and China trade accusations of weaponizing space. Senior U.S. defense officials warn that China and Russia are building capabilities to take out the satellite systems that underpin U.S. intelligence, military communications and early warning networks.

There’s also a civilian side to the space race. The U.S. is wary of China taking the lead in space exploration and commercial exploitation, and pioneering the technological and scientific advances that would put China ahead in power in space and in prestige down on Earth.

“In a decade, the United States has gone from the unquestioned leader in space to merely one of two peers in a competition,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, declared this week at a Senate Armed Services hearing. “Everything our military does relies on space.”

At another hearing last year, NASA administrator Bill Nelson brandished an image transmitted by a Chinese rover that had just plunked down on Mars. “The Chinese government ... they’re going to be landing humans on the moon” soon, he said. “That should tell us something about our need to get off our duff.”

NASA, the U.S. civilian space agency, is awaiting a new launch date this month or in October for its Artemis 1 uncrewed test moonshot. Technical problems scrubbed the first two launch attempts in recent weeks.

China likewise aims to send astronauts to the moon this decade, as well as establish a robotic research station there. Both the U.S. and China intend to establish bases for intermittent crews on the moon’s south pole after that.

Russia has aligned with China’s moon program, while 21 nations have joined a U.S.-initiated effort meant to bring guidelines and order to the civil exploration and development of space.

The parallel efforts come 50 years after U.S. astronauts last pulled shut the doors on an Apollo module and blasted away from the moon, in December 1972.

Some space policy experts bat down talk of a new space race, seeing big differences from John F. Kennedy’s Cold War drive to outdo the Soviet Union’s Sputnik and be the first to get people on the moon. This time, both the U.S. and China see moon programs as a stepping stone in phased programs toward exploring, settling and potentially exploiting the resources and other untapped economic and strategic opportunities offered by the moon, Mars and space at large

Beyond the gains in technology, science and jobs that accompany space programs, Artemis promoters point to the potential of mining minerals and frozen water on the moon, or using the moon as a base to go prospecting on asteroids — the Trump administration in particular emphasized the mining prospects. There’s potential in tourism and other commercial efforts.

And for space more broadly, Americans alone have tens of thousands of satellites overhead in what the Space Force says is a half-trillion dollar global space economy. Satellites guide GPS, process credit card purchases, help keep TV, radio and cell phone feeds going, and predict weather. They ensure the military and intelligence community’s ability to keep track of perceived threats.

And in a world where China and Russia are collaborating to try to surpass the U.S. in space, and where some point to private space efforts led by U.S. billionaires as rendering costly NASA rocket launches unnecessary, the U.S. would regret leaving the glory and strategic advantages from developing the moon and space solely to the likes of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tesla magnate Elon Musk, Artemis proponents say.

The moon programs signal that “space is going to be an arena of competition on the prestige front, demonstrating advanced technical expertise and know-how, and then also on the military front as well,” said Aaron Bateman, a professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University and a member of the Space Policy Institute.

“People who are supportive of Artemis and people who see it as a tool of competition, they want the United States to be at the table in shaping the future of exploration on other celestial bodies,” Bateman said.

There’s no shortage of such warnings as the Artemis program moves toward lift-off. “Beijing is working to match or exceed U.S. capabilities in space to gain the military, economic, and prestige benefits that Washington has accrued from space leadership,” the U.S. intelligence community warned this year in its annual threat assessment.

A Pentagon-commissioned study group contended last month that “China appears to be on track to surpass the U.S. as the dominant space power by 2045.” It called that part of a Chinese plan to promote authoritarianism and communism down here on Earth.

It’s sparked occasional heated words between Chinese and U.S. officials.

China’s space program was guided by peaceable principles, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in July. “Some U.S. officials are constantly smearing China’s normal and reasonable outer space undertakings,” Zhao said.

Flying on the mightiest rocket ever built by NASA, Artemis 1 aims for a five-week demo flight that would put test dummies into lunar orbit.

If all goes well with that, U.S. astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on it in 2025, culminating a program that will have cost $93 billion over more than a decade of work.

NASA intends that a woman and a person of color will be on the first U.S. crew touching foot on the moon again.

Lessons learned in getting back to the moon will aid in the next step in crewed flights, to Mars, the space agency says.

China’s ambitious space program, meanwhile, is a generation behind that of the United States. But its secretive, military-linked program is developing fast and creating distinctive missions that could put Beijing on the leading edge of space flight.

Already, China has that rover on Mars, joining a U.S. one already there. China carved out a first with its landing on the far side of the moon.

Chinese astronauts are overhead now, putting the finishing touches on a permanent orbiting space station.

A 1967 U.N. space treaty meant to start shaping the guardrails for space exploration bans anyone from claiming sovereignty over a celestial body, putting a military base on it, or putting weapons of mass destruction into space.

“I don’t think it’s at all by coincidence or happenstance that it is now in this period of what people are claiming is renewed great-power competition that the United States is actually investing the resources to go back,” said Bateman, the scholar on space and national security. “Time will tell if this turns into a sustained program.”

Competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Does rivalry with the Chinese “ensure greater sustained interest in our space program? Sure,” Coons said. “But I don’t think that’s necessarily a competition that leads to conflict.

“I think it can be a competition — like the Olympics — that simply means that each team and each side is going to push higher and faster. And as a result, humanity is likely to benefit,” he said.