RAPIST PRIESTS, CELIBACY COVER UP

Bolivia seeks files on pedophile priests from Pope

AFP
Tue, May 23, 2023

Most of the alleged abuses were committed at the Juan XXIII boarding school for poor, rural children in Cochabamba in the center of the country

Bolivia's president has asked Pope Francis for files on sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests in the South American country following revelations of alleged large-scale exploitation of children.

Investigations are under way after confessions were found in the diary of a deceased Spanish Jesuit priest, Alfonso Pedrajas, that he had abused possibly dozens of minors in Bolivia, where he arrived in 1971.

The revelations, published by the El Pais newspaper in Spain last month, have resulted in prosecutors opening at least eight cases against priests including Pedrajas and three others from Spain: Luis Maria Roma, Alejandro Mestre and Antonio Gausset.

All four are deceased, but there are other accused still alive.

President Luis Arce, in a letter sent to the Pope on Monday, appealed for "access to all the files and information concerning these allegations and acts of sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests and members of the religious order on Bolivian territory."

The letter was made available to journalists by the president's office.

Bolivia has been shocked by revelations that have emerged since a family member of Pedrajas, who died of cancer in Bolivia in 2009 at the age of 66, gave the priest's diary to El Pais.

In the journal, which he kept on a laptop, Pedrajas wrote he had done "harm to many people... too many," with the number 85 and a question mark. He wrote that senior clergy had known about his crimes and kept quiet.

Pedrajas had worked as a teacher in various parts of Bolivia. Most of the alleged abuses were committed at the Juan XXIII boarding school for poor, rural children in Cochabamba in the center of the country.

- 'Cover-up' -

Hilarion Baldivieso, head of an association of former pupils of Juan XXIII, at a press conference denounced "the cover-up" of Pedrajas' crimes by the Church.

Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said that since the media revelations, alleged victims have come forward in the capital La Paz, in Cochabamba, Tarija in the south and Santa Cruz in the east.

Some of the complaints were filed by the Jesuit order itself, but Lanchipa expressed concern at "the apathy this Catholic organization has shown in not denouncing these events" earlier but rather "providing cover and protection for these aberrant events."

More cases could follow, with a recent investigation by Bolivian newspaper Pagina Siete finding at least 170 alleged victims.

Former Jesuit priest Pedro Lima told AFP last week that not only minors but also trainee clergy were subjected to sexual abuse in Bolivia. Lima claimed he was expelled from the Jesuit order in 2001 for reporting abuses.

Days after the exposure of Pedrajas' diary, the Bolivian Episcopal Conference -- an assembly of bishops -- asked for victims' forgiveness.

"We stand in solidarity with victims who have suffered acts of sexual abuse," it said in a statement.

The Jesuit order, for its part, said it would assist in the investigation.

Spanish priest Jordi Bertomeu, a top sex crimes investigator for the pope, has been dispatched to Bolivia.

Thousands of reports of pedophilia within the Catholic Church have surfaced around the world in recent years.

Pope Francis has pledged an "all-out battle" against clerical abuse, holding an unprecedented summit on the issue in 2019 and enacting reforms that include new obligations to report clerical child abuse and cover-ups.

jac/ll/mlr/t

London show explores sari's 21st century reinvention

Helen ROWE
Wed, May 17, 2023 

Over the past decade, according to curator Priya Khanchandani, the sari has seen the most rapid invention in its 5,000 year history

The sari is being reinvented for the modern age in an Indian "fashion revolution," with around 60 trailblazing examples due to go on display at a new exhibition in London.

Over the past decade, according to curator Priya Khanchandani, the sari has seen the most rapid transformation in its 5,000-year history.

From sari styles worn by young women on their way to work in Delhi and Mumbai to the spectacular creation that was the first sari to grace New York's famous Met Gala, the London showcase spotlights the garment's 21st century revival.

Khanchandani says she first became aware of a renaissance in 2015 when she met some of the designers in Delhi who were transforming the sari, traditionally a single long piece of unstitched fabric draped over the body.

"I saw the sari being revived as an everyday garment in a way that was very fashionable. They were being worn by younger women than I knew before," she told AFP ahead of the show, The Offbeat Sari, which opens at the Design Museum on Friday.

"They were often quite intellectual women, writers and artists... wearing them in ways that I didn't expect," she said.

Having previously viewed saris as a garment to be worn for special events or weddings, she suddenly noticed them being reinvented as everyday clothing, even teamed with T-shirts and sneakers.

The birth of mass consumerism and social media in India combined with the growth of the country's urban middle class has accelerated the sari's revamp, Khanchandani said.

"The influence of digital media which has a really significant reach in India, particularly among young people, allowed trends to spread and I think allowed the way that saris were being worn to become a grassroots movement," she added.

- Pushing boundaries -

Popular hashtags that have seen a vast array of images shared online include #sarilove, #sarifashion, #designsarees and #sareeindia.

Despite the sari's long history, it was not until last year that a sari was seen at the celebrated annual Met Gala event in New York.

Worn by Indian businesswoman and socialite Natasha Poonawalla, the showstopping ensemble featured a flowing gold sari by Sabyasachi with a gold Schiaparelli bustier.

In addition to extravagant couture saris, designers in India have also pushed boundaries by experimenting in a range of ways.



The Raj Kilt, by the Little Shilpa brand, is described as "half kilt, half sari" and reflects the cross-cultural experiences of Indian designer Shilpa Chavan who studied in Britain.

Some of the most eye-catching and innovative exhibits include a sari adorned with sequins cut from old X-ray images from hospital waste and another in distressed denim.

But while the sari's potential for extravagance and creativity is on full display in the exhibition's selections, there are also examples of how it is being pressed into use to express ideas of identity and resistance.

Hundreds of thousands of members of the so-called Gulabi Gang, a group set up to fight domestic violence, including sexual abuse and child marriage in rural India, have adopted bright pink saris along with bamboo sticks as the symbol of their movement.

Also included in the show is a purple silk sari embroidered with sequins and crystals by the brand Papa Don't Preach.

After the label posted a photograph of the sari being worn by the author and comedian ALOK, who founded the #DeGenderFashion movement, it decided to remove the "womenswear" wording from their messaging.

har/jj/pvh

Before and after images show how Russia's invasion has shattered the city of Bakhmut

Grace Eliza Goodwin,Ryan Pickrell,Charles R. Davis
Mon, May 22, 2023 

Destroyed buildings in the city of Bakhmut on February 27, 2023.

AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images

Before and after images show the devastation in Ukraine's city of Bakhmut.


The 10-month battle for the eastern city has been the longest and deadliest in the war in Ukraine.


Bakhmut was once flush with greenery. Now it's a gray city littered with skeletal buildings and brown earth.

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been all but completely destroyed. Homes, schools, and businesses have been blown out by months of ceaseless combat and reduced to rubble, and most of the city's people are long gone. What remains is a scarred landscape where thousands of lives have ended.

Satellite images from Maxar, released May 17, highlight the scale of the destruction caused by the battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.

The horrific fight that began last summer is the longest and bloodiest battle in the war in Ukraine. The battle has seen some of the hardest and most intense fighting and tremendous losses, and it's not over. Neither side is backing away.

The Russian military and Wagner mercenaries began their siege of the city last August — though it faced regular shelling before that — and have been fighting to take control of the city for ten months. The Ukrainian army put up a fierce resistance, but it's unclear if they can hold out against the Russian assault.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Wagner for its fighting in Bakhmut, crediting them with the "liberation" of the ruined city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disputed that, with independent observers saying that the fight for control continues, though he conceded that the city exists now "only in our hearts."

While the city's ultimate fate remains uncertain, the following images capture how a thriving town of roughly 73,000 people became a war-torn, bloodstained battlefield.

Bakhmut was once a beautiful city full of leafy green trees until it became the target of Russia's ambitions and a symbol of Ukraine's resistance.

Bakhmut in May 2022 before the battle for the city began.Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Nearly all the trees and greenery have been wiped out. Bombs, artillery, and incendiary weapons, among other things, have laid waste to the city.

The same section of the city as seen in May 2023 satellite images.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

A school and apartment buildings in Bakhmut, now the site of brutal urban combat, were surrounded by grassy lawns and trees.

This section of the city was also lush and green.Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

The same section of the city now looks like a brown and battered wasteland.

A section of the city as it looks now.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

Bakhmut's university buildings and radio tower were surrounded by homes before the war.

A section of Bakhmut seen from an aerial view in May 2022, before the battle for the city began.Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

The university and surrounding buildings are now nearly unrecognizable. The buildings, now skeletal, have been devastated in the war. The radio tower now lays on its side.

Those same buildings as they look in May 2023.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

A theatre and surrounding stores in Bakhmut were bustling with cars before the battle began.

A closer look at a section of the city before the battle.Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

Some trees remain in the city but most of its buildings have been destroyed as the Ukrainians and Russians trade fire daily. As a high-casualty fight, the battle has been described as a "meat grinder" by Ukrainian and Russian troops and "slaughter-fest" by outside military observers.

Roofs have been blasted away and reveal the guts of the theatre and stores.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

In an aerial view of the entire city from May 2022, Bakhmut had corridors of greenery between buildings.

The entire city as it looked before the battle began.Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies

The city's buildings now appear brown and much of the greenery within city limits is gone. Bakhmut has been a focal point for front-line combat in a war that, in a span of six months between December and May, claimed an estimated 20,000 Russian lives. The Ukrainian defense has also come at a heavy cost.

An aerial view of the entire city as it looks now.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

'Playing War': Conflict Militarises Ukraine Children

By Joshua Melvin and Elizabeth Striy

May 23, 2023
BARRON'S

AFP is republishing this story which has been selected by the agency's chief editors as one of the best of the week. 

Picture by Sergei Supinsky. 

Video by Elizabeth Striy

The boys wear second-hand helmets and their guns cannot kill, but the war they play at in a verdant Ukraine field is real for them and carries consequences.

Over a year into Russia's invasion, the fighting has seeped into Ukrainian children's games and worldviews, impacting them in ways they will carry forever.

"I really enjoy playing war. I want to grow up to be a real war hero," said 10-year-old Maksym Mudrak, wearing child-size battle fatigues, a beat-up helmet too big for his head and a plastic toy gun.

Maksym's father, who was not in the military, was killed near Kyiv in the war's early days after going out to deliver supplies to volunteers defending against Russia's attack, the family said.

The boy's grandmother said he became steadily more interested in war following the invasion and the loss of his 40-year-old dad Oleksiy Mudrak on March 4, 2022.

"He was very, very affected by his father's death. Maksym constantly thinks about him. He goes to the cemetery and cries," 72-year-old Valentyna Mudrak said.

Maksym sees becoming a soldier as a way to preserve his father's memory and has a clear idea who is responsible for the war that took him.

"I treat Russians like my worst enemies," said Maksym, who lives with his grandmother near Kyiv in Stoyanka.

The war has brought staggering destruction and suffering to Ukrainians, and for children that has meant losing loved ones, being ripped from schools or homes and exposure to horror.

Also, over 500 children have been killed since the invasion, according to UN statistics.



Psychologist Kateryna Goltsberg said children have long played war in conflict situations and it is both a reflection and a means to process their experiences.

And while all Ukrainian children are impacted by the war in some way, it's not clear whether those experiences will result in life-long trauma.

"War changes us. But we have to realise that there is such thing as post-traumatic stress growth, when a person who has survived traumatic events... becomes stronger," she said.

The confrontation on the front line has changed the way children interact on the playground.

Lesya Shevchenko said her eight-year-old daughter Dana used to have just one question for the children she met in public: "What's your name? Let's go play."


But on a family trip to the beach in Bulgaria after the war began, Shevchenko was stunned when she realised her daughter was asking where potential playmates were from.

When children said they were Russian, Dana would turn silently and walk away.

"I just think that I don't want to talk to them, that's all. Probably because I think that all Russians are a certain way, because in my eyes they are evil," Dana said.

Her mother, a 49-year-old dentist, said this was not behaviour she had taught, noting that she has told her children they cannot hate everyone from Russia.

Yet Dana has been left traumatised by the war –- shelling has made her fearful of loud noises and she has been afraid to leave the protection of a bomb shelter.

Dana's mother herself is willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Russians clear about their opposition to Moscow's seizure of Ukrainian land in Crimea and the eastern Donbas region.


"If a person says that 'this is a very controversial topic', then I won't talk to them. There is no grey area there –- only black and white. We were attacked," Shevchenko said.

Other parents see it as their duty to teach their children a view of Russia that leaves no room for doubt.

Iryna Kovalenko has taught her children since the invasion that Russians are collectively responsible for the war and those who are good have to prove it.

Her six-year-old daughter Sofiya summarised by saying: "My mother told me they are launching bombs into Ukraine from Russia."

"Mum also said that (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is very bad. And he beat cats and dogs when he was a child. And then, when he grew up, he turned to people," she added.

Kovalenko, a 33-year-old nurse, views her words to her children as a warning.

"One way or another, they should know who they live next to. Ukraine will always have a border –- Russia will always be our neighbour."

One of the other boys who plays war with Maksym, the child whose father was killed in the war's opening weeks, has taken that message a step further.

"I really want to somehow take revenge for the soldiers who died at the front," said 13-year-old Andriy Shyrokyh, who wore battle fatigues and homemade body armour.

He dreams of becoming a soldier, and says he has absolutely no interest in going to school –- unless it is to learn military tactics.

"I want to do to the Russians the same as they did to us," the boy said.

© Agence France-Presse

8-year-old migrant girl who died in US Border Patrol custody was treated for flu several days before her death, authorities say

By Tina Burnside and Zoe Sottile, CNN
 Mon May 22, 2023

Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, a citizen of Panama, died Wednesday in a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, just eight days after her family was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection in Brownsville, Texas, the agency said in a news release Sunday.Courtesy Alvarez Family
CNN —

An 8-year-old migrant girl who died in the custody of US immigration authorities last week was treated for flu-like symptoms for several days prior to her death at a Texas hospital, according to authorities.

The girl, Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, a citizen of Panama, died Wednesday in a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, just eight days after her family was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection in Brownsville, Texas, the agency said in a news release Sunday. Members of her family, including her parents and two siblings, are all citizens of Honduras, says the news release.

According to CBP records, Reyes was medically assessed on May 10 and did not complain of any illnesses or injuries at the time. However, her family did report a medical history, including chronic conditions of sickle cell anemia and heart disease, according to the news release.


8-year-old who died in US Customs and Border Protection custody identified by the Honduran Foreign Ministry

It was not until four days later, on May 14, that Reyes’ mother took her to a treatment area after the girl complained of abdominal pain, nasal congestion and a cough, the release says. At the time, Reyes tested positive for Influenza A and was given several medications, including Tamiflu and Zofran. CBP says she was also given acetaminophen and ibuprofen. She had a temperature of 101.8 degrees, according to the release.

The girl and her family were then taken to the US Border Patrol Station in Harlingen, per agency protocols, CBP said. The Harlingen station is “designated for cases requiring medical isolation for individuals diagnosed with or closely exposed to communicable diseases,” CBP said in the release.

The girl was again assessed by medical personnel after she and her family arrived in Harlingen on May 14. She was given medication for three days, the agency said.

CBP said medical records show Reyes’ mother brought her to the Harlingen medical unit three times on Wednesday. During the first visit, the girl had complained of vomiting, was given Zofran and instructed to hydrate and return as needed.

During the second visit, Reyes complained of stomach pains, according to the release. CBP medical personnel wrote in their records that she was stable and instructed her mother to follow up if needed, the release said.

Reyes’ mother brought her daughter to the medical unit for the third time around 1:55 p.m. CT, according to the release. She was carrying her daughter, who seemed to be having a seizure and then became unresponsive. Medical personnel gave the girl CPR and called for emergency medical help, CBP said.

Emergency medical personnel took the girl and her mother to the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen. Reyes was pronounced dead less than an hour later, at 2:50 p.m. CT, the release said.

An autopsy was performed on the girl by the Cameron County Medical Examiner’s office Friday but an exact cause and manner of death is still pending, according to the release.

In a statement released Sunday, CBP acting commissioner Troy Miller said “we are deeply saddened by the tragic death” and announced a series of actions intended to “reinforce existing policies and continue to ensure appropriate care for all medically fragile individuals.”

The agency has reviewed and will continue reviewing cases of “all known medically fragile individuals” in custody and, along with the agency’s medical services contractor, will review services rendered to in-custody individuals, “especially those who are medically at-risk,” Miller says in the statement.

“The Department of Homeland Security’s Chief Medical Officer will immediately initiate a review of medical care practices at CBP facilities and ensure the deployment of additional medical personnel as needed,” says Miller.

He added that CBP would make the results of the investigation public.

The girl’s parents have been released from immigration custody and will be headed to New York to meet up with family, the Honduran Foreign Ministry previously told CNN.

Once in New York, the family plans to attend their immigration court hearings and request asylum, according to the ministry.

The Honduran Foreign Ministry is working to help the Reyes family with the transfer of their daughter’s body to New York, where she will likely be buried, the ministry said.

CNN’s Rosa Flores and Marlon Sorto contributed to this report.

Jailed Kremlin critic Kara-Murza's health failing: wife

Nina LARSON
Wed, May 17, 2023 

The wife of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza voiced deep concern Wednesday at his failing health behind bars

The wife of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza voiced deep concern Wednesday at his failing health behind bars, hailing his courage in the face of an act of "cynical vengeance" by Moscow.

"I am obviously concerned," Evgenia Kara-Murza said in an interview with AFP. "His health indeed is failing."

Her husband had serious health issues even before he was detained last year, suffering from a nerve condition called polyneuropathy which she said is due to two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017.

During the past year in pre-trial detention his condition has deteriorated significantly, she said, warning that with a harsh sentence now imposed, the situation would certainly worsen.

Kara-Murza, 41, was sentenced last month to 25 years in a high security prison on treason and other charges for criticising Russia's war in Ukraine.

He has appealed against the sentence -- the longest given to a Russian opposition figure in recent years -- but his wife said she "of course" expected it to be rejected.

She pointed out that Russian law barred the incarceration of people suffering from polyneuropathy, which can lead to paralysis, but that the "Russian authorities were not bothered by this".

- Aimed 'to kill' -

Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Evgenia Kara-Murza voiced anger at her husband's sentence.

"It is pure and cynical vengeance by the Russian government," she said, pointing out that Kara-Murza's judge and the head of the prison where he is detained were subjected to sanctions that he had been pushing the United States and Europe to impose.

He contributed to the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, a US bill intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009.

"The regime clearly sees my husband as its personal enemy," she said.

"Twice in the past... our kids almost lost their father," she added, saying he was poisoned in attempts "to kill, not to threaten".

Despite the dangers, she said her husband had not hesitated to return to Russia and that she supported his decision.

"Of course it makes me scared for his life," she said, her dark eyes filling with tears, pointing out that "Vladimir and I have been carefully building our little world for years: our kids, our family."

"But I know what he's fighting for," she said, adding that "through all of these risks, through all of the attacks", he had remained "true to himself".

"If I accepted him the way he is over 20 years ago, it would be quite hypocritical of me to ask him to change now. That would not be Vladimir.

"The only option for me is to stand by him and fight with him and fight for him."

- 'Cracks' -

She acknowledged the situation was "excruciatingly painful" for the couple's three children, but said Kara-Murza "somehow manages to continue being a good father to them even from behind bars."

"He's teaching them a very valuable lesson: that they should face bullies with courage, that they should never give up without a fight, that they should accept the risks... acknowledge them, and still fight despite those risks."

Asked if she thought others would dare follow his example, she pointed to the "20,000 people arbitrarily detained" since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

That so many people had dared protest at a time when "the regime is using the entire arsenal of Soviet-style repressive techniques against anti-war protesters", she said, meant that "there are probably millions who are against the regime, but are afraid to speak up".

In the Soviet era, "mass protests only became possible when the regime started showing cracks", she pointed out, confident that "it will happen... when Putin's regime begins showing cracks".

As for when that might happen, she suggested a clear Ukrainian victory could, after "over two decades of impunity by Vladimir Putin's regime... finally send a signal to the Kremlin that it will not get away with committing such crimes anymore."

nl/rjm/lcm/mca

Private satellites give boost to public sector in climate fight

by Lucie AUBOURG

ESA's Sentinel-6 satellite, which tracks methane emissions across the globe.

From satellites that can pinpoint the sources of industrial pollution, to others that track hurricane movements by the hour, space has emerged as a key front in the fight against climate change.

New launches are—literally and metaphorically—skyrocketing, and giving rise to increased cooperation between space agencies and private companies.

Among the most fruitful areas of collaboration: tracking greenhouse gas emissions.

The potent planet heating gas methane is regularly measured in the atmosphere by one of the satellites of the European Union Space Programme's Copernicus mission.

The spacecraft scans the entire globe, but its resolution is in the order of several kilometers, making it hard to zero in on the exact source.

That's where private companies can step in.

One of them, the Canadian GHGSat, currently has nine small satellites in orbit, each the size of a microwave. Their mission: to fly over oil and gas sites, looking for methane leaks. By orbiting at a lower altitude, they can take a detailed look at each site.

"Think of it as the wide angle lens camera, versus the telephoto lens camera," Stephane Germain, the company's founder, told AFP. The Copernicus team is in constant touch with GHGSat, telling them where to point their cameras.

Canadian company GHGSat uses a group of small satellites to monitor methane emissions.

GHGSat then sells its information to oil companies, such as Total, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell.

"More and more companies are interested in that because they're realizing they have to better understand their own carbon footprints," said Germain, especially since their customers are insisting on better accounting of emissions' life cycles.

A common source of methane emissions are unlit flares, which are meant to burn off the gas.

GHGSat estimates it has prevented the equivalent of 10 megatons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, equivalent to 1.3 million homes' energy use for a year.

Other companies plan to enter the sector, including France's Absolut Sensing. Another company, Kayrros, has no satellites of its own but is analyzing Copernicus data to track down the biggest leaks.

Technological advances

"The big picture shows you that there is a problem. And the small one then focuses in higher resolution and sells information to somebody. So this works very well together," European Space Agency director Josef Aschbacher said of such public-private partnerships to AFP.

NASA recently launched the SWOT mission to survey the Earth's surface water in 

unprecedented detail.

But government agency constellations—comprised of mostly large, very expensive satellites—remain the backbone of the Earth observation system.

Copernicus will soon enter a new era, with new missions such as CO2M measuring the carbon dioxide released specifically by human activities. NASA has about thirty Earth observation missions.

In the last six months alone, the US space agency has launched the SWOT mission to survey the Earth's surface water in unprecedented detail, TEMPO to measure pollutants in the troposphere above North America, and TROPICS, to track tropical weather systems, including hurricanes, hour by hour.

Advances in technology make it possible to measure today what was thought impossible just five or 10 years ago, said Aschbacher.

Better forecasts

In addition to these scientific missions, meteorological satellites, such as those overseen by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), play a vital role.

Their data, collected over decades, have revealed stark shifts to global climate systems: from warming sea and land temperatures to receding Antarctic ice sheets, helping feed the models climate science relies on today.

Hurricane Ian approaching Florida, as seen by a NOAA satellite.

But increasingly, they can also help play a major role in adapting to a heating world. To mitigate the impact of increasingly frequent natural disasters, "you've got to provide better forecasts," NOAA's chief scientist Mitch Goldberg told AFP.

The agency has been increasing its partnerships with the private sector. For example, it has teamed up with the company GeoOptics to collect information on the humidity or the temperature of the atmosphere.

According to a report by Inmarsat and Globant, if current satellite technologies were universally adopted, they could reduce carbon emissions by 5.5 gigatons—quadrupling current reductions of 1.5 gigatons enabled by the sector.

These savings could be achieved by, for example, helping the aviation and maritime sectors decarbonize through voyage optimization, weather routing and air traffic control management.

© 2023 AFP

New Space satellite pinpoints industrial methane emissions

Scent of tradition lingers in Lebanon's 'village of roses'

Elisa Amouret
Wed, May 17, 2023 

The oil derived from the famed Damask rose is a staple of perfumers, while rose water is used across the Middle East

On a gentle slope looking out over Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, villagers work their way across pink-dotted terraces, gathering perfumed Damask roses that are used for essential oils, sweets and cosmetics.

The rose harvest "gives you a bit of hope, it makes things beautiful, it calms you down -- it gives you strength to carry on", said Leila al-Dirani, picking the flowers from her family's land in the village of Qsarnaba.

A soft bag tied around her waist and her hands scratched from the thorns, the 64-year-old plucks the small, pink buds from their bushes as their rich and heady scent wafts across the hill.



The oil derived from the famed Damask rose --- named after the ancient city of Damascus located just across the mountain range separating Lebanon and Syria -- is a staple of perfumers.

Experts swear by the flower's therapeutic properties in fighting infection and as a relaxant, while rose water is used across the Middle East both as a refreshing drink, in sweets such as Turkish delight, to scent mosques and even to bestow luck at weddings.

After a morning collecting roses, the workers in Qsarnaba drop their fragrant bundles at a warehouse in the village where they are paid based on their harvest.

At the facility carpeted with pink petals, Zahraa Sayed Ahmed -- whose first name means "flower" -- buys the raw materials to produce her rose water, syrup, tea and jam.

Around four years ago, she set up a small workshop at her house, using a traditional metal still that "belonged to my grandfather", said Sayed Ahmed, 37.

- 'Roses help put food on the table' -

With a kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of rose petals, she said she can make up to half a litre of rose water.

She then also bottles and labels her modest production by hand, putting it on limited sale locally.

"The production of rose water is a part of our heritage," said Sayed Ahmed. "In every home in Qsarnaba there is a still, even if it's just a small one."

The rose season only lasts a few weeks, but it is a busy time for Qsarnaba's residents.

"This year is the first year that we didn't bring workers to help us because the production is low and we couldn't afford it," said Hassan al-Dirani, 25, who has been picking the flowers alongside his mother, Leila.

Since late 2019, Lebanon has been grappling with a devastating economic crisis that has seen the local currency collapse and pushed most of the population into poverty.

"The rose harvest and all other harvests have lost about 80 percent of their value... because of the economic crisis," said local official Daher al-Dirani, who hails from the extended family that is the biggest in Qsarnaba.

"But the roses help people put food on the table," he added.

Exported from Syria to Europe for centuries since the time of the Crusades, the ancient Damask rose is also cultivated in countries including France, Morocco, Iran and Turkey.

"Our village produces the most roses out of any village in Lebanon" and more than half of the country's rose water, Sayed Ahmed claimed proudly, as the captivating scent lingered in the air.

"Qsarnaba is the village of roses."

ea/lg/aya/ami

'Could Be Your City': A Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivor's Warning

By Sara HUSSEIN

May 17, 2023

Masao Ito, 82, is one of a dwindling number of 'hibakusha', survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945

Richard A. Brooks

On August 6, 1945, four-year-old Masao Ito was riding a tricycle near his home in Hiroshima when a bomb fell from the sky and changed his life forever.

He survived the US nuclear attack and made it home to his mother, but the horror was just beginning.

His father, at work closer to the centre of the western Japanese city, searched the post-apocalyptic landscape for Ito's 12-year-old brother.

When he found the boy, he was so badly burned that Ito's parents refused to let their four-year-old see his brother, who died several days later at home.

Ito's 10-year-old sister had been at a relative's house, which was destroyed without a trace.

"People escaping the hypocentre headed towards the outskirts, where our house was. They had terrible burns and could hardly walk," the 82-year-old told AFP.

His parents invited the survivors to rest in their home. "But they died, one after another."

In the August heat, the bodies had to be moved, but there was no cemetery to take them to.

"They were moved to an open space, not even in caskets but placed one on top of another. Kerosene was poured over them to burn them," Ito said.

The scene is one he doesn't talk about often, but it remains visceral more than seven decades later.

"It was just horrible, a horrible smell," he said.

"It's a scene I really wish I could forget."

A retired bank employee, Ito has worked for almost two decades as a volunteer guide for the peace memorials and museum in Hiroshima, and as an anti-nuclear campaigner.


Atomic bomb survivor Masao Ito has worked for almost two decades as a volunteer guide for the peace memorials and museum in Hiroshima

Richard A. Brooks

He is one of a dwindling number of hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombings in the last year of World War II that killed around 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki.

This week, leaders of the G7 developed economies will meet in Hiroshima, and are expected to visit the Peace Memorial Park and speak to hibakusha.

He said he would warn them: "If you have nuclear weapons, you may be tempted to use them, and accidents can happen."


"It's simply better not to have them," added Ito, who wears large glasses and a pin depicting a bent missile with an anti-nuclear symbol over it.

He acknowledges that a world without nuclear weapons might seem impossibly idealistic, particularly as Russia makes thinly veiled threats about using the weapons, and North Korea continues missile tests.

But he believes holding the summit in Hiroshima can send world leaders a powerful message.

"As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, there is a possibility that your city could become like Hiroshima."

"Is that really something you are willing to accept?"

Ito's childhood was shattered by the bomb: his father died of radiation poisoning, and the family business collapsed into bankruptcy.


An anti-nuclear symbol is seen pinned on the jacket of atomic bomb survivor Masao Ito in HiroshimaRichard A. Brooks

He and his mother fled Hiroshima to escape their debts, and he contracted tuberculosis, spending over a year in a sanitorium, where he received a US care package containing medicine and a Bible.

He read it, but when he encountered the line beseeching Christians to "love your enemies", he was so angry he threw the book against a wall.

"My enemy was the Americans... Why in the world should I love America?" he recalled thinking.

Ito would later convert to Christianity but his anger did not fade.

When he began offering peace tours, he felt discomfort with the inscription on the Hiroshima cenotaph: "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."

"I felt I should promise to avenge the souls of those who died so they could find peace."

With time though, and especially as he met Americans who were devastated by what they learned in Hiroshima, his feelings changed and he "started to understand finally" what the Bible phrase meant.


His tour groups include school children, who he feels have a particularly important role.

"I can't continue forever. I tell students, it's your turn now to... achieve a world free of nuclear weapons."

© Agence France-Presse

China's Xi hails 'new era' of ties with Central Asia at summit

PATRIARCHY & MISOGYNY WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS

Ludovic EHRET
Thu, May 18, 2023

Map showing Central Asia countries. China's President Xi Jinping will host a two-day summit with the leaders of five Central Asian leaders in Xi'an starting May 18.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a "new era" of ties with Central Asia on Thursday, kicking off a summit Beijing hopes will deepen relations with the strategically vital region.

Held in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an, the historic eastern end of the Silk Road that linked China to Europe through Central Asia, Beijing has said this week's meeting is of "milestone significance".

And in a speech to the region's leaders at a welcoming banquet Thursday evening, Xi said strengthening ties was a "strategic choice".

"I am confident that with our joint efforts, tomorrow's summit will be a full success and will herald a new era of China-Central Asia relations," Xi was quoted as saying in a readout of the speech seen by AFP.

"Join us in opening up a bright future of China-Central Asia cooperation," he said.

This week's meeting is the first of its kind since the establishment of formal relations 31 years ago.

Beijing says trade with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached $70 billion in 2022 and expanded 22 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.

Central Asia has also become key to China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, a defining geopolitical project for Xi, with Beijing keen to restart cooperation and fill the vacuum left in former Soviet states by Russia's war in Ukraine.

China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, has invested billions of dollars to tap natural gas reserves in Central Asia, while rail links connecting China to Europe criss-cross the region.

Analysts told AFP this week's summit is likely to see efforts to reach agreements to further expand that vast network, including a long-stalled $6 billion China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and an expansion of the Central Asia-to-China gas pipeline.

- 'Global economic leadership' -

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hailed the "unique scope" of that project at a meeting with Xi ahead of the summit.

Xi also told Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in talks on Thursday that China was "willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to build a community of good neighborliness, friendship, shared prosperity, and a shared future".

He then met with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, lauding the close ties between them and pledging to expand economic and cultural exchanges.

"Your policies will ensure the development and further prosperity of a modern socialist state, the strengthening of the authority and the global economic leadership of the country in the nearest future," Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told Xi.

Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan greeted the heads of state at a grand welcoming ceremony in the evening, posing for a group photo in front of an old-style Chinese building lit by red lanterns.

Dozens of dancers then performed a musical show inspired by the Tang Dynasty, when relations between China and Central Asia were considered very strong.

A media event will be held on Friday morning, expected to be attended by all six presidents, at which a joint statement is likely to be released.

- Growing influence -

This week's summit also comes as Beijing works to replace Russia as Central Asian nations' preferred partner -- and as Xi positions himself as a global statesman keen to expand China's reach far beyond its borders.

"Xi will position himself as a leader that can promote global development and peace," Zhiqun Zhu, a Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Bucknell University, told AFP.

The summit also coincides with a meeting of the G7 in Hiroshima that will likely focus on efforts to "push back China's growing influence around the world", Zhu said.

"The diplomatic and strategic significance cannot be underestimated," he said.

ehl-oho/pbt