Iran to hold public trials for 1,000 people involved in Mahsa Amini protests


Issued on: 31/10/2022 

08:30

In this VIDEO taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police last month, in Tehran, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. AP

Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: François PICARD

Iranian authorities announced on Monday they will hold public trials for 1,000 people in the capital, Tehran, over the protests that have convulsed the country. The mass indictments mark the government's first major legal action aimed at quashing dissent since unrest erupted over six weeks ago.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted judicial officials as saying that a thousand people who had a central role in the protests would be brought to trial in Tehran alone over their “subversive actions,” including assaulting security guards, setting fire to public property and other accusations.

The nationwide protests first erupted over the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police. She was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. Although the protests first focused on Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, they have since transformed into one of the greatest challenges to the ruling clerics since the chaotic years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Those who intend to confront and subvert the regime are dependent on foreigners and will be punished according to legal standards,” said Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, indicating that some protesters would be charged with collaborating with foreign governments. Tehran officials have repeated unsupported claims that Iran’s foreign enemies have fomented the unrest.

“Without a doubt, our judges will deal with the cases of the recent riots with accuracy and speed," he said.

Security forces have dispersed gatherings with live ammunition and tear gas over the weeks of sustained protests. At least 270 people have been killed and 14,000 arrested, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Demonstrations have continued — even as the feared paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has warned young Iranians to stop.

Ejei claimed that prosecutors sought to differentiate between angry Iranians who merely sought to vent their grievances on the streets and those who wanted to take down the theocracy.

“Even among the agitators, it should be clarified who had the attention of confronting the system and overthrowing it,” he said.

Judicial authorities have announced charges against hundreds of people in other Iranian provinces. Some have been accused of “corruption on earth” and “war against God,” offenses that carry the death penalty.

(AP)

PHILIPPINES

Images of navy ships sunken in wake of Tropical Storm ‘Paeng’ cause social media alarm

Coconuts Manila - 18h ago

Filipinos were alarmed after footage released by the Office of the Press Secretary showed three Philippine Navy ships submerged in its Cavite shipyard after the onslaught of Tropical Storm Paeng.

Image: Office of the Press Secretary

However, the Navy clarified in a statement that the half-submerged ships were already decommissioned vessels. The three ships, the former BRP Rajah Humabon, BRP Sultan Kudarat and BRP Cebu, were decommissioned in 2018 and 2019, and were stationed at the Navy’s Graveyard Dock in Cavite.

According to the Navy, the Graveyard Dock is where decommissioned vessels are temporarily berthed “until final disposal,” after which the ships would likely be sold for scrap.

Nonetheless, many on social media still felt the government could have done more to prevent the disgraceful image and ignoble end to the long-serving navy’s ships.

“That is not the proper way to decommission a ship. Which has been in service and served and has been home to many sailors. Whether its condition is questionable. They should have bailed the water out to keep it afloat and decommission properly with honors,” one wrote.

“Poor Rajah Humabon,” another said, referring to the Navy’s old frigate. “The last ship of her class bravely served the Navy for 60+ years (aside from previous JMSDF and WW2 USN service) but didn’t survive due to the PN’s poor leadership and just left to die/rot and sank without her dignity spared. What a disgraceful end to its long, enduring career.”

Tokyo starts recognising same-sex relationships


By AFP
October 31, 2022

Hopes are high that the introduction of same-sex partnerships to all Tokyo residents will help fight anti-LGBTQ discrimination in Japan - Copyright AFP/File Philip FONG

Tomohiro OSAKI

Tokyo began issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the capital on Tuesday, a long-awaited move in a country without marriage equality.

The certificates allow LGBTQ partners to be treated as married couples for some public services in areas such as housing, medicine and welfare.

More than 200 smaller local authorities in Japan have already made moves to recognise same-sex partnerships since Tokyo’s Shibuya district pioneered the system in 2015.

The status does not carry the same rights as marriage under the law but represents a welcome change for couples like Miki and Katie, who have long had no official proof of their relationship.

“My biggest fear has been that we would be treated as strangers in an emergency,” Miki told AFP at home in Tokyo, where photos of the Japanese 36-year-old with her American girlfriend Katie, 31, adorn the fridge.

Without a partnership certificate, the couple, who asked to be referred to by their first names, used to tuck a note inside their wallets with the other’s contact details.

“But these were insubstantial, and we felt official documents certified by the local government would be more effective,” Miki said as their grey-and-white cat frolicked in a rainbow necktie.

As of Friday morning, 137 couples had applied for a certificate, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said last week.

Hopes are high that the introduction of the same-sex partnership certificates, which cover both Tokyo residents and commuters, will help fight anti-LGBTQ discrimination in Japan.

“The more people make use of these partnership systems, the more our community will feel encouraged to tell family and friends about their relationships,” without “hiding their true selves”, Miki said.

– ‘More flexible’ –

Recent years have seen Japan — run by a conservative ruling party that espouses traditional family values — take small steps towards embracing sexual diversity.

More firms are now proclaiming support for same-sex marriage, and gay characters feature in TV shows with greater openness.

A 2021 survey by public broadcaster NHK showed 57 percent of the public was in favour of gay marriage, versus 37 percent against.

But hurdles remain, with a court in Osaka ruling in June that the country’s failure to recognise same-sex unions was constitutional.

That marked a setback for campaigners in the wake of last year’s landmark verdict by a Sapporo court, which said the current situation violated Japan’s constitutionally guaranteed right to equality.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been cautious about the possibility of legislative changes that would recognise same-sex partnerships on a national level.

Meanwhile, Noboru Watanabe, a local assemblyman for Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, came under fire last month for calling same-sex marriage “disgusting”.

“Some politicians have made really negative comments, like that we are mentally ill,” Katie told AFP.

But “families are not always made up of a mother, a father and two kids. We should be more flexible,” she said.

Miki and Katie threw a wedding party last month, but despite their joy at the introduction of the new system, they acknowledge its limitations.

The right to inheritance in the event of a partner’s death is still not guaranteed, while Katie’s lack of spousal visa status makes her ability to stay in Japan less stable.

“I feel that Japanese people’s level of understanding towards same-sex marriage is now high enough”, Miki said.

“All that’s left is for policymakers to be serious about it, and make changes”.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/tokyo-starts-recognising-same-sex-relationships/article#ixzz7jMEce7le

‘Starlink is the difference’: Internet connection gives Ukraine edge in drone war • FRANCE 24

Starlink, the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has become a vital tool for Ukraine’s drone operators, allowing them to relay the coordinates of Russian positions to artillery units in real time. But the future of use of Starlink by Ukrainian forces has been thrown into doubt in recent weeks after Musk suggested his company may no longer provide it for free. #Starlink #SpaceX #Ukraine

THE PURGE OF KULTISTS CONTINUES
Japan’s finance minister resigns over ties to Unification Church
Daniel Stewart - Oct 24


Japan's Minister of Economy, Daishiro Yamagiwa, resigned on Monday before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over his ties to the controversial Unification Church, a sect that has been in the spotlight following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by a man who blamed him for encouraging the establishment of the religious group in the Asian country.


File - File image of a photo of Shinzo Abe after his assassination. - Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press via Z / DPA© Provided by News 360

Yamagiwa's resignation letter is another blow to the Kishida administration and responds to calls from the opposition, which demanded his departure from the government, as reported by the Kiodo news agency.

The secretary general of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Kenta Izumi, said that "he should have resigned before parliamentary plenary sessions resumed" and accused Kishida of "lacking the necessary decision-making capacity".

Kishida has shown a more rigid stance towards the Unification Church after receiving criticism about the government's laxity towards the religious movement, especially after receiving numerous complaints from followers who claimed to be coerced into donating large sums of money to the sect.

Last week, the government asked the Ministry of Education to open an investigation into the "sales" tactics of the group, which could lose its "religious corporation" status if it violated the law governing such movements on Japanese soil, although the final decision rests with the courts. However, even if it loses this status, the movement could continue to carry out its religious activity.

Yamagiwa, meanwhile, has been receiving criticism for a lack of explanation about his ties to the group after admitting that he had met in 2018 with Hak Ja Han Moon, widow of the church's founder, Syun Myung Moon.

PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT DEPUTES

 Several Japanese deputies have denounced having been pressured by groups affiliated with the Unification Church to push forward policies akin to the sect. Two of these groups have reportedly tried to persuade the governmental Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to promote policies in response to the support received by them in previous elections.

Hideyuki Teshigawara, who heads the Unification Church, has admitted that one of its affiliated groups, the World Peace Federation, has tried to urge some members of parliament to sign documents that include related policies, according to Kiodo news agency.

Sources close to the matter have said that two organizations have reportedly contacted members of the formation nationwide and that some of the documents have been signed. At least three deputies have admitted receiving the documents in question.

In September, a survey conducted within the formation suggested that at least 180 deputies had had some kind of relationship with the group, whose name has recently gained prominence following the accusations of Abe's confessed murderer, Tetsuya Yamagami, who claimed that the sect had bankrupted his family.

LIBERAL TORY SAME OLD STORY

Ottawa has ‘failed’ veterans as calls grow for minister to resign: advocates

Sean Boynton - Yesterday 

Ongoing issues at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), including long waits for disability benefits, are sending the message that the federal government doesn't care about veterans, advocates say — adding it's time for the minister in charge to resign.


Members of the Canadian Armed Forces march at a parade in Calgary on July 8, 2016.

© Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press file photo

Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson on The West Block Sunday, the advocates — along with former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole who served as veterans affairs minister under Stephen Harper — said they've heard from veterans who have grown increasingly disheartened.

"A lot of them have expressed that they don't feel valued, they don't feel important," said Debbie Lowther, the co-founder and CEO of VETS Canada, a charity that helps veterans in crisis.

"These are men and women who put their lives on the line for our country, so I think we owe them a lot more than what we're providing."

Read more:

Trudeau urged to fire Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay by union

Bruce Moncur, the founder of the Afghanistan Veterans Association, was even more blunt.

"The current government has failed to understand the problems or even frankly care, and the 'triple-D policy' — delay, deny, die — is alive and well," he said.

An update from the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman released on Tuesday found veterans are waiting an average of 43 weeks for disability claim decisions, far above the 16-week standard set by VAC.

The Trudeau government has repeatedly promised to meet that standard and reduce the backlog in files for case managers, who veterans and advocates say are overwhelmed.

The union representing those case managers and hundreds of other VAC employees is now calling for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay to resign or be fired, accusing him of repeatedly refusing to meet with members to discuss their concerns.

Veterans affairs minister speaks before committee over MAID controversy

Those include a $570-million contract the department recently awarded to an outside company to provide rehabilitation services for veterans, as well as the department's continued reliance on hundreds of temporary staff to address backlogs.

MacAulay's office says the minister has met with Veterans Affairs employees, the union and its senior leadership on numerous occasions. He did not make himself available to The West Block for an interview.

"The bar wasn't set very high with (MacAulay's) predecessors, and he seems to be not able to even make that," said Moncur, who also co-chairs the VAC's service excellence advisory group, adding the minister should "100 per cent" resign.

O'Toole also agreed the time has come for MacAulay to leave his post.

"This (file) always needs a minister who's very capable, very hands-on and action-oriented," he said. "Mr. MacAulay is not like that, so he's got to either step up or step out."

Read more:

Veterans Affairs assisted dying discussion a ‘serious wake-up call,’ advocates tell MPs

O'Toole added he takes some of the responsibility for the current state of the department as a former veterans affairs minister, saying he should have "moved much faster" in increasing mental health supports for former military members.

But he argued the Trudeau government needs to own up as well and make those services a priority.

The issue of veterans' mental health was brought to the forefront on Aug. 16, when Global News first reported that a VAC employee had discussed medically-assisted dying with a veteran, a case that has brought renewed scrutiny of the department and the ongoing struggle for veterans seeking support.

Sources told Global News a VAC service agent brought up medical assistance in dying, or MAiD, unprompted in a conversation with the combat veteran, who was discussing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.

Global News is not identifying the veteran due to privacy concerns, but has spoken directly with the individual, who says the service agent mentioned MAiD repeatedly, even after the veteran asked the service agent to stop.

The veteran said he felt pressured as a result.

Canadian veteran felt ‘pressured’ to consider medically-assisted death

The agent who discussed MAiD is still working at the department, but is no longer interacting directly with veterans, officials have confirmed.

Earlier this month, MacAulay appeared for the first time in front of the House of Commons standing committee on veterans affairs to discuss that call. Yet he repeatedly deferred questions about the investigation to his deputy minister, Paul Ledwell, and only apologized for the incident after being pressed by lawmakers on the committee.

Ledwell said then that the investigation into the discussion, which is still ongoing two months after it was launched, had determined the service agent’s behaviour was an isolated incident. Yet he also said a majority of service calls are not recorded, adding the conclusion was based on a review of employee files.

O'Toole said he found MacAulay's testimony at the hearing "horrendous" and that the department needs to ensure such discussions never happen again.

"We should not be having MAiD for people with treatable mental health conditions, particularly (because) when a veteran feels like they are a burden on their family and can't access supports, they are

vulnerable," he said.

Read more:

Veterans Affairs assisted dying discussion was isolated, but probe ongoing: ministers

The department says it is still undergoing training for all VAC employees who interact with veterans to ensure MAiD is never discussed during service calls.

Lowther with VETS Canada said better training for VAC employees overall would be a first step toward improving the department and its relationship with veterans.

"About 80 per cent of the referrals we receive do come from Veterans Affairs case managers, and some are very good, and they know what they're talking about," she said.

"And then there are others that are just baffled by their own benefits. They can't understand them themselves, so they can't explain them to the veterans. So, there's a big gap there."

Full investigation underway after Canadian veteran offered medical assistance in dying: Trudeau

As Remembrance Day approaches, those advocates say they are concerned about the ongoing epidemic of veterans dying by suicide, making the discussion of MAiD with someone who wasn’t seeking it all the more painful.

Studies by Veterans Affairs have concluded veterans have a “significantly higher” risk of death by suicide compared to to the general Canadian population, particularly for younger male veterans. Over the past decade, more veterans have died by suicide than the number of Canadian Forces members killed during the entire war in Afghanistan.

"Dead veterans cost no money," Moncur said. "The fact that (MAiD) was offered is disgusting. But how the government has handled it since is even worse."

— with files from The Canadian Press

Want to save the bees? Pay attention to pathogens and flowers

by University of Massachusetts Amherst

New research published in the journal Ecology conclusively shows that certain physical traits of flowers affect the health of bumblebees by modulating the transmission of a harmful pathogen called Crithidia bombi. In particular, the research, conducted by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, shows that the length of a flower's corolla, or the flower's petals, affects how this pathogen gets transferred between bees because shorter corollas mean that fewer bee feces wind up inside the flower itself and in the path of the bees in search of nectar.

Scientists have recently sounded the alarm over the "insect apocalypse," or massive die-off of the world's bugs. By some estimates, the past 50 years have seen a 75% decline in the world's insect life. Among the many ecological implications of this apocalypse is the collapse of pollinator species, some of which scientists estimate have died back by 90% in the US during the last twenty years.

Though there are many reasons for the apocalypse, including habitat loss, pesticide use and more, one cause is the devastation wrought by pathogens. For bumblebees, a parasite called Crithidia bombi, often transmitted by bee poop, has been a widely prevalent scourge.

One widespread and popular attempt to save the bees has been to plant pollinator gardens. "But what plants ought we to be planting?" asks Jenny Van Wyk, a postdoctoral researcher in biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the paper's lead author. "We are trying to gather information on how floral traits impact pollinator health, so that we can think beyond species-specific information. That way, we may be able to generalize across species that have similar traits and so help to guide planting decisions."

In particular, flowers with shorter petals may transmit fewer pathogens than flowers of the same species with longer petals.

This is because, in their search for nectar, bees crawl deep into flowers. When the petals are long, a bee might wiggle its entire body inside. When that bee defecates, its feces remain inside the flower, and the next bee to come through in search of nectar and pollen will wind up smeared in another bee's poop. If that poop happened to contain C. bombi, then the second bee would be at high risk for infection.

But in shorter-petalled flowers, "bees' butts hang out," says Van Wyk, and their feces fall harmlessly to the ground.

Research assistant Fiona MacNeill trimming one of the 105,000 flowers. Credit: Ben Barnhart

To reach this conclusion, Van Wyk and her colleagues recruited an army of UMass Amherst undergrads and grad students to plant patches of native wildflowers, which were enclosed in tents. Bumblebees were turned loose in these tents. Half of the bees were healthy, and Van Wyk and her colleagues painted them blue, for easy identification. The other half were inoculated with C. bombi.

The team then altered the physical traits of the flowers in each tent to test which trait had the most impact upon bee health. To test corolla length, Van Wyk and her team used tiny scissors to trim over 105,000 flowers. To test whether or not the orientation of flowers on the plant had an effect, the researchers arranged some flowers in a cross-like pattern, and others in a more linear shape.

They also tested whether or not the amount and distribution of nectar played a role in bee health. The team did this by inserting a tiny nectar-filled pipette into more than 6,500 flowers, squirting more of the sweet substance, to see if the amount of nectar-per-flower played a role, and they spritzed entire groups of plants with sugar water to test whether the distribution of nectar affected bee health. Finally, the team tested tightly bunched plantings of flowering plants against those more spread out.

To track which bees' poop landed where, Van Wyk and her colleagues fed the bees fluorescent paint. Using a black light, they located the glowing poop to understand where the pathogen was deposited.

After all of this, the team found that pathogen transmission was reduced when the corolla lips were trimmed, when nectar was distributed evenly within a group of flowers or when the flowers were planted more widely apart. Flowers with trimmed corollas saw more larval production, as did plant patches where nectar was more evenly distributed.

"This work is really exciting and novel," says Lynn Adler, professor of biology at UMass Amherst and the paper's senior author, "because there's only a handful of studies that have compared how flowers from different species can transmit bee diseases—and only a single study, published more than 25 years ago, that manipulated a floral trait to establish its causal role in disease spread. Our work demonstrates that a wide range of traits may be important."

"The number one question I get when I give public talks," says Van Wyk, "is 'What should I plant for bees?' Our research opens the door to further efforts to understand how specific physical flower characteristics support bee health, which can inform management practices."

More information: Jennifer I. Van Wyk et al, Manipulation of multiple floral traits demonstrates role in pollinator disease transmission, Ecology (2022). DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3866

Journal information: Ecology 

Provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst Shorter, wider flowers may transmit more parasites to bees

 

Catholic Church can reduce carbon emissions by returning to meat-free Fridays, study suggests

by University of Cambridge

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales called on congregations to return to foregoing meat on Fridays. Only around a quarter of Catholics changed their dietary habits—yet this has still saved over 55,000 tons of carbon a year, according to a new study led by the University of Cambridge.

Researchers say that in terms of CO2 emissions, this is equivalent to 82,000 fewer people taking a return trip from London to New York over the course of a year.

The current Catholic leader, Pope Francis, has called for "radical" responses to climate change. The researchers argue that if the Pope reinstated meatless Fridays across the global church, it could mitigate millions of tons of greenhouse gases annually.

For example, they say that if Catholic bishops in the United States alone issued an "obligation" to resist meat on the last day of the working week, environmental benefits would likely be twenty times larger than in the UK.

"The Catholic Church is very well placed to help mitigate climate change, with more than one billion followers around the world," said lead author Professor Shaun Larcom from Cambridge's Department of Land Economy. "Pope Francis has already highlighted the moral imperative for action on the climate emergency, and the important role of civil society in achieving sustainability through lifestyle change.

"Meat agriculture is one of the major drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. If the Pope was to reinstate the obligation for meatless Fridays to all Catholics globally, it could be a major source of low-cost emissions reductions," Larcom said, "even if only a minority of Catholics choose to comply, as we find in our case study."

Traditionally, the practice of refraining from meat one day a week saw many Catholics—and indeed large sections of the population in predominantly Christian countries—turn to fish on Fridays as a protein substitute.

The overall Catholic share of the British population has remained largely stable for decades at just under 10%, say economists behind the study, published today as a working paper awaiting peer review on the Social Science Research Network.

Larcom and colleagues combined new survey data with that from diet and social studies to quantify the effects of a statement issued by the Catholic Church for England and Wales re-establishing meat-free Fridays as a collective act of penance from September 2011 onwards after a 26-year hiatus.

Commissioned survey results suggest that 28% of Catholics in England and Wales adjusted their Friday diet following this announcement. Of this segment, 41% stated that they stopped eating meat on Friday, and 55% said they tried to eat less meat on that day. For those who said they just reduced consumption, the researchers assumed a halving of meat intake on a Friday.

People in England and Wales eat an average of 100 grams of meat a day, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). Researchers calculated that even the small reduction in meat intake by a section of the Catholic population was equal to each working adult across the whole of England and Wales cutting two grams of meat a week out of their diet.

The team then calculated the carbon footprint for this tiny fall in meat consumption by comparing emissions generated from average daily diets of meat eaters and non-meat eaters in England and Wales. The average high protein non-meat diet, including foods such as fish and cheese, contributes just a third of the greenhouse gas emissions per kilo compared to the average meat eater.

Assuming the Catholics who do adapt their diet would switch to high-protein, non-meat meals on Fridays, this would equate to approximately 875,000 fewer meat meals a week, which would save 1,070 tons of carbon—or 55,000 tons over a year, according to researchers.

In addition to their central calculation, the researchers used a natural experiment approach across the United Kingdom to compare meat consumption in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where Catholic bishops did not attempt to reintroduce meatless Fridays, with that in England and Wales from 2009 to 2019.

Using NDNS diet diary data, the team pinpointed mealtime changes on Fridays only, and found meat consumption fell by around eight grams per person in the "treatment jurisdiction" of England and Wales following the re-establishment of the Catholic obligation, compared to the rest of the UK.

There could be many reasons for this dietary shift—meat intake has fallen across the country over this time—but the team argues the reduction at least partly resulted from the return of meatless Fridays. As such, they say that the carbon footprint calculations using a two-gram per week drop are likely to be conservative.

Researchers also tested for "religious impacts" using longitudinal survey data that questioned UK Catholics on their religious lives. No discernible effect on either church attendance or strength of personal religious belief was detected over the period in which meat-free Fridays were reintroduced.

"Our results highlight how a change in diet among a group of people, even if they are a minority in society, can have very large consumption and sustainability implications," said co-author Dr. Po-Wen She, a fellow of Cambridge's Department of Land Economy.

Co-author Dr. Luca Panzone from Newcastle University added, "While our study looked at a change in practice among Catholics, many religions have dietary proscriptions that are likely to have large natural resource impacts. Other religious leaders could also drive changes in behavior to further encourage sustainability and mitigate climate change."

For Christians, the practice of meat-free Fridays dates back to at least Pope Nicholas I's declaration in the 9th century. Catholics were required to abstain from eating meat ("flesh, blood, or marrow") on Fridays in memory of Christ's death and crucifixion.

However, fish and vegetables, along with crabs, turtles, and even frogs were permitted. The researchers point out that the practice was observed so fervently among some American Catholics that it led to the invention of the Filet-o-Fish meal by the burger chain McDonald's.

More information: Food for the Soul and the Planet: Measuring the Impact of the Return of Meatless Fridays for (some) UK Catholics, Social Science Research (2022).

Journal information: Social Science Research 

Provided by University of Cambridge 

Eating lots of meat is bad for the environment, but we don't know enough about how consumption is changing

New species of owl discovered in the rainforests of Africa's Príncipe Island

by Pensoft Publishers

An illustration of Otus bikegila. Credit: Marco Correia

A new species of owl has just been described from Príncipe Island, part of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe in Central Africa. Scientists were first able to confirm its presence in 2016, although suspicions of its occurrence gained traction back in 1998, and testimonies from local people suggesting its existence could be traced back as far as 1928.

The new owl species was described in the open-access journal ZooKeys, based on multiple lines of evidence such as morphology, plumage color and pattern, vocalizations, and genetics. Data was gathered and processed by an international team led by Martim Melo (CIBIO and Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto), Bárbara Freitas (CIBIO and the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences) and Angelica Crottini (CIBIO).

The bird is now officially known as the Principe Scops-Owl, or Otus bikegila.

"Otus" is the generic name given to a group of small owls sharing a common history, commonly called scops-owls. They are found across Eurasia and Africa and include such widespread species as the Eurasian Scops-Owl (Otus scops) and the African Scops-Owl (Otus senegalensis).

The scientists behind the discovery further explain that the species epithet "bikegila" was chosen in homage of Ceciliano do Bom Jesus, nicknamed Bikegila—a former parrot harvester from Príncipe Island and now a ranger of its natural park.

Otus bikegila. Credit: Martim Melo

"The discovery of the Principe Scops-Owl was only possible thanks to the local knowledge shared by Bikegila and by his unflinching efforts to solve this long-time mystery," the researchers say. "As such, the name is also meant as an acknowledgment to all locally-based field assistants who are crucial in advancing the knowledge on the biodiversity of the world."

In the wild, the easiest way to recognize one would be its unique call—in fact, it was one of the main clues leading to its discovery.

"Otus bikegila's unique call is a short 'tuu' note repeated at a fast rate of about one note per second, reminiscent of insect calls. It is often emitted in duets, almost as soon as the night has fallen," Martim Melo explains.

The entire Principe Island was extensively surveyed to determine the distribution and population size of the new species. Results, published in the journal Bird Conservation International, show that the Principe Scops-Owl is found only in the remaining old-growth native forest of Príncipe in the uninhabited southern part of the island. There, it occupies an area of about 15 km2, apparently due to a preference for lower elevations. In this small area (about four times the size of Central Park), the densities of the owl are relatively high, with the population estimated at around 1000-1500 individuals.

 

Otus bikegila. Credit: Martim Melo

Nevertheless, because all individuals of the species occur in this single and very small location (of which a part will be affected in the near future by the construction of a small hydro-electric dam), researchers have proposed that the species should be classified as "Critically Endangered," the highest threat level on the IUCN Red List. This recommendation must still be evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Monitoring the population will be essential to get more precise estimates of its size and follow its trends. For this purpose, a survey protocol relying on the deployment of automatic recording units and AI to retrieve the data from these has been designed and successfully tested.

"The discovery of a new species that is immediately evaluated as highly threatened illustrates well the current biodiversity predicament," the researchers say. "On a positive note, the area of occurrence of the Principe Scops-Owl is fully included within the Príncipe Obô Natural Park, which will hopefully help secure its protection."

Martim Melo and Bikegila with an owl. Credit: Bárbara Freitas

This is the eighth known species of bird endemic to Príncipe, further highlighting the unusually high level of bird endemism for this island of only 139 km2.

Even though a new species of scops-owl was just described from Príncipe, genetic data indicated that the island was, surprisingly, likely the first in the Gulf of Guinea to be colonized by a species of scops-owl.

"Although it may seem odd for a bird species to remain undiscovered for science for so long on such a small island, this is by no means an isolated case when it comes to owls," the researchers state. "For example, the Anjouan Scops-Owl was rediscovered in 1992, 106 years after its last observation, on Anjouan Island (also known as Ndzuani) in the Comoro Archipelago, and the Flores Scops-Owl was rediscovered in 1994, 98 years after the previous report."

An aerial photo of south Principe. Credit: Alexandre Vaz

"The discovery of a new bird species is always an occasion to celebrate and an opportunity to reach out to the general public on the subject of biodiversity," says Martim Melo. "In this age of human-driven extinction, a major global effort should be undertaken to document what may soon not be anymore," he and his team state in their paper.

"Birds are likely the best studied animal group. As such, the discovery of a new bird species in the 21st century underscores both the actuality of field-based explorations aiming at describing biodiversity, and how such curiosity-driven endeavor is more likely to succeed when coupled with local ecological knowledge, the participation of keen amateur naturalists, and persistence," they add.

They believe that this "new wave of exploration, carried out by professionals and amateurs alike," will help rekindle the link to the natural world, which will be essential to help revert the global biodiversity crisis.

More information: Martim Melo et al, A new species of scops-owl (Aves, Strigiformes, Strigidae, Otus) from Príncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea, Africa) and novel insights into the systematic affinities within Otus, ZooKeys (2022). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1126.87635

Bárbara Freitas et al, The recently discovered Principe Scops-owl is highly threatened: distribution, habitat associations, and population estimates, Bird Conservation International (2022). DOI: 10.1017/S0959270922000429

Journal information: ZooKeys 

Provided by Pensoft Publishers 

Bornean Rajah scops owl rediscovered after 125 years

 

'Earth is in our hands': Astronaut Pesquet's plea for the planet

by Juliette Collen

While on the ISS, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet watched the "sinister spectacle" of 

hurricanes, tornadoes and fires storm across Earth.

From his unique viewpoint hundreds of kilometres above Earth, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet told AFP he felt helpless watching fires rage across the planet below, calling for more to be done to protect this fragile "island of life".

Pesquet said his two tours onboard the International Space Station convinced him more than ever that the world is failing to address the threat posed by climate change.

He also witnessed moments of astonishing beauty while in space, some of which are captured in 300 photos published in his new book "La Terre entre nos mains" (Earth is in our Hands), released this week in France, the profits of which will go to charity.

Pesquet wrote that he initially "caught the photo bug" during his first tour on the ISS in 2016-2017.

But it was during his last mission, from April to November 2021, that he fully embraced the endeavour, taking constant photos and sharing his passion with his colleagues in space.

"At first I was a bit of a Sunday photographer, then I really got a taste for it," Pesquet told AFP in an interview.

"When you to arrive at the station, you have that smartphone reflex: you see something great and want to immortalise it," he said.

"But quickly you are confronted with limitations, if you want to take photos at night, for example, or of precise targets with long lenses," he added.

"It's difficult because everything is manual".

Pesquet, left, during a spacewalk outside the ISS in June, 2021.

245,000 photos

Around a dozen cameras are available to astronauts on the ISS, some permanently installed on the Cupula observation module, some in the US laboratory which has a porthole looking down on Earth.

Despite only having a few hours of leisure time a day, Pesquet took 245,000 photos during his last tour.

"Many are not very good, but in six months there is a real progression curve," he said.

Throughout the photos of rivers, oceans, deserts, mountains, sunsets and sunrises, the astronaut's amazement at the world shines through.

"The planet is so vast and diverse that you still don't feel like you've seen everything. Even after 400 days in orbit, there are still some thing that surprise me, places I haven't seen," he said.

The speed of the station, which hurtles through space at 28,000 kilometres an hour, means that "we are never above the same area at the same time of day," he said.

One day, he was surprised to find out that the northern lights appeared blue from space.

Pesquet only managed to get a photo of the phenomenon because his US colleague Shane Kimbrough told him it was taking place, after spotting it out of his bedroom window.

Pesquet in 2017, during his first tour onboard the ISS.

'Sinister spectacle'

But Pesquet did not only witness Earth's beauty.

He also captured images of a world in a state of degradation: the "sinister spectacle" of hurricanes, tornadoes and fires that stormed across the planet during his second stint of 200 days in space.

Pesquet described himself as a "helpless" witness to the carnage.

"What struck me the most were the fires. We could see the flames and smoke very clearly," he said, which gave the impression of "the end of the world."

"Like in the movies," he watched as entire regions were engulfed. Parts of southern Europe, British Columbia and California were "consumed little by little by a blanket of smoke," he added.

"I saw the difference just four years made," he said.

"My first mission was in winter and the second in summer, so it was normal that there were more fires—but overall I saw more violent phenomenona."

Watching these increasingly extreme weather events, "which we know are linked to climate change, has convinced me that we not doing enough to protect our planet," Pesquet wrote in the book.

Without science "we would be lost in the face of the magnitude of the challenges" ahead, he said.

"It's not too late, but the longer we wait..." he trailed off.

"Every year we say 'now is the time act'—and it's the same the next year, we only make small changes without a strong global impact."

© 2022 AFP

From space, astronaut sounds the alarm about climate crisis