Europe joins fight against Canada wildfire smoke

By Deutsche Welle
2023/06/08 

New York City ranked as the most polluted city in the world Wednesday, as heavy smoke shrouded the city's skyscrapers


European firefighters have joined in on the fight to put out hundreds of active wildfires in Canada, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Thursday.

"Canada has requested support from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism — and we are responding promptly," von der Leyen said.

"France, Portugal and Spain are offering the help of more than 280 firefighters. More will come," she added.

Spain, which battles wildfires each summer and is bracing for a difficult season amid a prolonged drought and record-hot spring, will send 80 to 100 firefighters to Canada.

Neighboring Portugal, which has a record of deadly fires as well, has pledged another 100 firefighters.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Thursday also directed authorities to respond to Canadian requests for help.

"I have directed the National Interagency Fire Center to respond promptly to Canadian requests for additional firefighters and fire suppression assets such as air tankers," Biden said in statement.
Norway expects smoke from wildfires

Norwegian scientists said Thursday they expected smoke from the wildfires in Canada to travel into the country as well, though the air would not pose a danger to the health of the average Norwegian.

The smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since June 1st, scientists with the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute said.
Smoke from wildfires disrupt air travel, school close

The smoke from the wildfires in Canada has been drifting into the US for weeks, but the recent fires in the province of Quebec resulted in the harmful smog that is currently blanketing the eastern US, especially central New York Wednesday.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center reported Thursday that more than half of the 440 fires burning in nine provinces and two territories were out of control. 163 of those fires were in Quebec.

Schools in the US states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have moved classes online or canceled after-school activities.

Air travel logged major delays and disruptions for a second day in a row, as more than 2,600 flights to, from and within the US were delayed as of Thursday afternoon, according to FlightAware.

Washington DC bumped up its air quality index to indicate worsening level of air quality, while the White House canceled an LGBTQ Pride event scheduled Thursday.

The air quality slightly improved in New York Thursday, but winds could bring smoke back into the state, authorities warned.

According to an initial analysis by a team at Stanford's Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab, as reported by the Verge, the average American witnessed their worst pollution levels from heavy smoke Wednesday.

rm/rs (Reuters, AP)

Global warming surged in past decade, says research

The research said human-induced warming was rising at an 'unprecedented' rate

Deutsche Welle 

Published 09.06.2023

Climate heads are convening in Bonn, Germany, to lay the groundwork for the coming COP28 summit

Deutsche Welle

Global warming has increased in the past decade by 1.14 degrees Celsius, according to new research presented on Thursday in the German city of Bonn during the interim negotiations for the annual UN Climate Conference (COP28).

The research warned that human-induced warming has been rising at an "unprecedented rate" of 0.2 degrees per decade. The study, which looked at the decade between 2013 and 2022, was published in the Earth System Science Data journal.

The global community convenes annually at COP summits to review climate efforts and measure them against targets set during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

A peer-reviewed assessment presented on Thursday revealed that the net-zero plans of most countries contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions lacked credibility.

The United States and China, which together contribute to about a third of the global greenhouse gas emissions, were among the countries whose plans were regarded as lacking.

Who scored low on the 'net zero' plans review?

Nearly all of the 35 countries that contribute to over four-fifth of the global greenhouse gas emissions scored low.

Only one of the world's top carbon polluters had a credible plan: the European Union. Other top scorers included Britain and New Zealand.

Most countries are targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, with China and India committing to the years 2060 and 2070, respectively.

Thursday's assessment noted that many net-zero goals lacked important details, including whether the targets only cover CO2 or include other important planet-warming gasses such as methane and nitrous oxide.

How did emerging economies fare?

The majority of emerging economies were at the bottom of the list, scoring the lowest ratings. They included Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia.

Arab states such as Egypt, which hosted last year's COP, and the UAE, which is hosting this year's COP, also scored low.

COP28 call to scale down fossil fuel emissions

In Bonn, the UAE's incoming COP28 president tried to strike a stricter tone on the phasedown of fossil fuels. Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber had previously called in controversial comments for scaling down fossil fuel emissions rather than the use of the fuels themselves.

"The phasedown of fossil fuels is inevitable. The speed at which this happens depends on how quickly we can phase up zero-carbon alternatives, while ensuring energy security, accessibility and affordability," he said.

Al-Jaber also runs the UAE's state oil giant.

Last month, over 100 US congressmen and the EU parliament urged US President Joe Biden and European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen to pressure the UAE to oust him.

The Bonn interim negotiations are meant to lay the groundwork for the decisions reached during the COP summit.

US scientists have warned that El Nino could bring extreme weather and temperature records


An aerial view shows A boat lies on the dried-up bed of a section of Iraq's receding southern marshes of Chibayish in Dhi Qar province, on July 24, 2022

 AFP


Deutsche Welle
Published: June 8, 2023

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Thursday that the expected, so-called El Nino phenomenon has arrived.

"Depending on its strength, El Nino can cause a range of impacts, such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain locations around the world," the NOAA quoted as saying Michelle L'Heureux, climate scientist at the Climate Prediction Center.

"Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate certain impacts related to El Nino. For example, El Nino could lead to new records for temperatures, particularly in areas that already experience above-average temperatures during El Nino."

El Nino often brings increased rainfall to southern South America, central Asia and the Horn of Africa, raising hopes that it may bring an end to droughts there. However, the climate pattern is also associated with an increased risk of droughts in other areas such as Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia.

Earlier this week, Australia warned that El Nino would deliver warmer, drier days to the country that is already vulnerable to wildfires.

Japan has partly blamed the climate pattern for its warmest spring on record.

In the US, El Nino has a relatively weaker effect in the summer, but gets stronger starting from late fall through spring, according to the NOAA.

While El Nino has a suppressive effect on hurricane activity in the Atlantic, it usually boosts hurricane activity in the central and eastern Pacific.

The climate pattern takes place every two to seven years on average. The work El Nino is Spanish for "Little Boy," and it refers to the warm phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation.

It starts largely because of unusually warm waters in the eastern Pacific, and is likely formed when the trade winds blowing east-to-west along the equatorial Pacific slow down or reverse as air pressure changes.

Before this El Nino began, the average global sea surface temperature in May was already about 0.1°C higher than any other on record.

The warming effects of El Nino last occurred from 2018 to 2019, and was followed by a cooling period, known as La Nina, from 2020 until its return.

La Nina, Spanish for "Little Girl," is El Nino's colder counterpart, during which sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean near the equator are lower than normal.

The strongest El Nino effects on record were in the 2015 and 2016 period, when nearly a third of the corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef died.

Thousands evacuated amid Philippines volcano threat

Updated June 8 2023 - 

Seismologists are warning the Philippines' Mayon Volcano is " in a relatively high level of unrest". (AP PHOTO)

Philippine officials have begun evacuating some 10,000 residents living near the country's most active volcano amid threats of a hazardous eruption.

The Mayon Volcano in the eastern province of Albay, which is known for is perfect cone shape, generated pyroclastic density currents or hot flows of ash and debris as lava domes at the summit collapsed, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

"Fair crater glow and incandescent rockfall shed from new fluidal lava at the summit of Mayon Volcano were also observed last night," the institute said in an advisory on Friday.

Mayon is at alert level three, meaning "it is currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days", the advisory continued.

According to the Albay province information office, about 2400 families, or 10,000 residents, will have to evacuate the danger zone.

"As much as possible, I want to maintain the zero casualty record of our province, so ... I hope we'll be able to evacuate them to safer places," Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman said during an emergency meeting on Thursday.

Australian Associated Press

Philippines evacuates hundreds of people over Mayon eruption risk

Online News EditorJune 8, 2023

 

Manila, June 8 (EFE).- The Philippines on Thursday was evacuating of hundreds of people due to the increased risk of eruption of Mayon volcano after a significant increase in seismic activity and rockfall, the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) confirmed to EFE.

In the last three days, Phivolcs registered two volcanic earthquakes around Mayon, in the southeast of the island of Luzon, and an increase in rockfall, and on Thursday it raised the alert level from two to three (out of a maximum of five) due to “increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.”

Given the risk, Phivolcs recommended the evacuation of all residents within a 6-kilometer radius around the volcano and the authorities have prohibited planes from flying over due to the danger posed by the expulsion of ash.

Hundreds of people will have to be evacuated from the villages and settlements around the volcano due to the increased alert, the chief of the Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, Maria Antonia Bornas, told EFE.

In addition, school classes in the towns near Mayon have been suspended since Wednesday.

To the west of the same island, the other of the two most active volcanoes in the Philippines, Taal, increased sulfur dioxide emissions in recent hours, causing an increase in the number of people with respiratory problems in the nearby villages, however alert level one remains for now.

Since October 2021, Taal, located in the province of Batangas and just 80 kilometers from Manila, has increased its emission of toxic gases intermittently, but in recent days one of these episodes has once again alarmed the residents. Its eruption in 2020 forced the evacuation of thousands of people and covered the Philippine capital with ash.

In addition, Mount Kanlaon, another active volcano in the center of the archipelago on the island of Negros, and which is on alert level one, has also registered an increase in its seismic activity in the last 24 hours.

These three volcanoes keep volcanologists on alert, although for now a relationship between the three episodes has been ruled out, according to Bornas, who said that it is “coincidence” since “they are just three of the 24 active volcanoes” in the Philippines. EFE

Philippines on alert as volcano spews ash

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Philippine scientists said that a "hazardous eruption" of a volcano in the archipelago could be days or weeks away, and urged the evacuation of nearby residents from their homes.

Hundreds of families living around Mount Mayon in central Albay province are expected to be moved to safer areas after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alarm.

Mayon, a near-perfect cone located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of the capital Manila, is considered one of the most volatile of the country's 24 active volcanoes.

The seismology agency said it observed three fast-moving avalanches of volcanic ash, rock and gases, known as pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), on Mayon's slopes on Thursday.

There are "increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs... and of potential explosive activity within weeks or even days", the agency said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five.

"All necessary preparations are being done," said Eugene Escobar, the Albay provincial disaster management agency's officer-in-charge.

Rommel Negrete, an officer for the agency, said residents would be evacuated from Anoling village on the volcano's slopes.

Meanwhile, Taal volcano, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Manila, has been releasing sulfur dioxide this week, blanketing surrounding areas in smog and prompting warnings for people to stay indoors.

Steam-rich plumes have been recorded rising two kilometers (1.2 miles) into the sky, the seismology agency said on Thursday. It has left the alert level at one.

Earthquakes and volcanic activity are not uncommon in the Philippines due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide deep below the Earth's surface.

Five years ago, Mayon displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tons of ash, rocks and lava.

The most powerful explosion in recent decades was the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Manila, which killed more than 800 people.

It sent out an ash cloud that traveled thousands of kilometers in a matter of days and was blamed for damaging nearly two dozen aircraft.

© 2023 AFP

Philippines' Mayon volcano alert raised as eruption feared

Thousands March In Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, Israel



Tel Aviv (AFP) – An estimated 150,000 people marched Thursday in Israel's coastal metropolis Tel Aviv for the Middle East's largest Pride parade, amid protests against the presence of anti-LGBTQ ministers in the government.

People march with rainbow and Israeli flags during the annual Pride Parade in Tel Aviv

 © JACK GUEZ / AFP

Revellers in colourful outfits danced on and around floats playing music on the seafront promenade of Israel's cultural and financial hub, seen as a rare oasis of LGBTQ tolerance in the region, AFP journalists said.

"It's a huge celebration and I want to be here today to support the LGBTQ+ community, I really want to be with you," 26-year-old Elise Zhdanova told AFP.

The annual march was held under the new extreme-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes multiple cabinet members who have expressed homophobic views in the past and coalition partners with a long record of voting against LGBTQ rights.

Many Israelis fear the government's controversial plans for a legal reform curbing Supreme Court powers could remove safeguards and call into question acquired rights.

Yael Ben Yosef said her participation was important because of the domestic political situation.

Revellers in colourful outfits danced on and around floats playing music on Tel Aviv's seafront promenade © JACK GUEZ / AFP

"I think we have to show we're here, that we're not afraid and that they won't put us in the closet," the 22-year-old psychobiology student told AFP.

"We will keep on fighting until we'll be completely equal," she said.

The chant "Democracy!", used at demonstrations against the government and its legal reform plans for 23 consecutive weeks, was also heard at the Thursday parade, AFP reporters said.

Despite the current government's conservative nature, Israel is more progressive than many of its Middle East neighbours, with gay marriages conducted abroad recognised by the state and an openly gay speaker of parliament.

A spokesman for the Tel Aviv municipality said 150,000 people participated in Thursday's march, among them thousands of foreigners.

One of them was 27-year-old Leon Mueller from Frankfurt, who said he and his friend visited Israel "especially for the Pride" march.

"We heard a lot about it, we want to feel the Israeli Pride's spirit," he told AFP.

© 2023 AFP

Thousands march in Jerusalem Pride parade under Israel’s far-right government

By —Isaac Scharf, Associated Press
By — Tia Goldenberg, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of people on Thursday marched in Jerusalem’s Pride parade — an annual event that took place for the first time under Israel’s new far-right government, which is stacked with openly homophobic members.

The march in the conservative city is always tense and tightly secured by police, and has been wracked by violence in the past. But this year, Israel finds itself deeply riven over a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary. The plan has torn open longstanding societal divisions between those who want to preserve Israel’s liberal values and those who seek to shift it toward more religious conservatism.

Jerusalem’s march is typically more subdued than the one in gay-friendly Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands of revelers pour into the streets for a massive, multicolored party. But Thursday’s parade, amid tight security, drew bigger crowds than usual in a show of force against the government and its plan to reshape the legal system.

“There isn’t one struggle in Israel for democracy, and another one for LGBTQ+ rights,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a speech to the crowd. “It’s the same struggle, against the same enemies, in the name of the same values.”

Other opposition politicians and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, joined Thursday’s march. “I don’t find this controversial one way or the other,” Nides said. “This is about the rights and human rights, and this is what brings America and Israel together.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious parties who openly oppose homosexuality, although the Israeli leader has promised to protect LGBTQ+ rights and a member of his party who is gay is the Knesset speaker.

The country’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has in the past declared he was a “proud homophobe.” Before entering politics, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who now oversees the police, was a fixture at Pride parades, joining a group of protesters who oppose the march. Avi Maoz, a deputy minister with authorities over some educational content, has said he wanted the legality of the Jerusalem Pride parade examined.

Ben-Gvir said Wednesday there would be a “massive” police presence guarding the marchers and that he supported the freedom of expression manifested by the parade. Israeli police said more than 2,000 officers were deployed along the parade route.

“It will be the police’s duty to protect, guard and ensure that even if the minister disagrees with the parade, the safety of the marchers is above all else,” Ben-Gvir said.

At one point during the parade, Ben-Gvir was jeered with chants of “shame” as he walked on the sidelines for what he said was a visit to monitor security.

Hagar Bonne, of Jerusalem, called the march a “happy occasion” but also said it was the “antithesis” to the national climate.

“There are people who are very much homophobic and very much transphobic who are in the government today and hold positions of power and budget and are working against us actually right now,” she said.

People carried a flag that read: “There is no pride without democracy.”

WATCH: The state-level battles brewing in America over LGBTQ+ rights

Like other years, a small group of anti-LGBTQ+ activists attended Thursday’s parade. At the parade in 2015, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli man stabbed 16-year-old Shira Banki to death and wounded several others.

Israel is generally tolerant toward the LGBTQ+ community, a rarity in the conservative Middle East, where homosexuality is widely considered taboo and is outlawed in some places. Members of the LGBTQ+ community serve openly in Israel’s military and parliament, and many popular artists and entertainers are openly gay.

Yet activists say there is a long road toward full equality. Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties, which wield significant influence over matters of religion and state, oppose homosexuality as a violation of religious law, as do other religious groups in Israel.

The conservative make-up of Netanyahu’s government sparked new fears in the LGBTQ+ community, which had seen gains under the previous, short-lived administration led by Netanyahu’s rivals. Those fears were exacerbated when the government pushed ahead on its plan to overhaul the judiciary, a plan that was put on hold in March after a burst of spontaneous mass protests.

The plan would weaken the judiciary and limit judicial oversight on laws and government decisions, what critics say poses a direct threat to civil rights and the rights of minorities and marginalized groups.

Protests have continued even though the government and opposition are in talks to find a compromise on the plan and demonstrators are expected to show up in Jerusalem to lend their support to the community.

The government says the judicial plan is meant to rein in what it says is an overly interventionist Supreme Court and restore power to elected legislators. Critics say it will grant the government unrestrained power and upend the country’s system of checks and balances.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

First self-driving urban ferry sets sail in Stockholm

June 9, 2023 - 10:35AMAFP

A captain oversees the autonomous craft but doesn't need to touch the controls

A self-driving electric ferry set sail in Stockholm on Thursday, making the Swedish capital the world's first city to put the technology to use, the company behind it said.

A captain oversees the autonomous craft but doesn't need to touch the controls, and from Monday, the MF Estelle will begin plying short routes between islands in Stockholm.

Torghatten CEO Stein Andre Herigstad-Olsen said that eventually, the idea is to make the vessel "fully autonomous", with no need for an onboard supervisor.

The system already "sees like a captain", he said.

The boat is fitted with radar, cameras, lidar laser and ultrasonic systems, compiling the data to steer its course, the Norwegian company's operative chief Erik Nilsson said.

"If a boat changes direction or if there's a canoe we see it right away in less than a second. We update the course accordingly," he added.

The first ten-metre boat cost around $1.6 million and will be able to carry up to 30 passengers. A single ticket will cost around $3.

It's hoped the ferry will encourage Swedes to walk or cycle to work rather than taking the car.

The firm wants to increase the number of shuttles in Stockholm and abroad.

The ferry initiative was a private and public cooperation and partly EU-funded.

Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, IN U$A dead at 93





Paul HANDLEY
Thu, June 8, 2023 

Pat Robertson, the soft-spoken televangelist who helped make America's Christians a powerful political force while demonizing liberals, feminists and gays as sinners, died Thursday at the age of 93, his organization announced.

The longtime host of "The 700 Club" on his huge Christian Broadcasting Network and one-time presidential candidate died at his home in Virginia Beach, according to a network statement.

Robertson promoted "a worldview that believes in the inerrancy of the Bible," CBN said.

"Today, his influence and legacy crisscross interests and industries that have broken barriers for countless Christian leaders and laypeople."

Broadcasting "The 700 Club" daily since 1966, the avuncular Robertson promoted a literal belief in "end of times" prophecies of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel that forecast the destruction of the world to become a Christian paradise.

In practice, he advocated for an extremely conservative Christianity focused on "traditional" families and a country founded on the Bible, rejecting the longstanding US principle of separation of church and state.

He defined the world as riven by an epochal fight between Islam and Christianity, and meanwhile spearheaded US Christian support for Israel as the land of the "chosen" Jewish people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called Robertson "a tremendous friend of Israel and a tremendous friend of mine."

But he also drew loathing from progressives with his condemnations of feminism and LQBTQ culture as destroying America.

His powerful support in 2016 for Donald Trump -- arguably helping seal Trump's presidential victory -- further widened the cultural chasm dividing the country.

- Marine, lawyer, minister -

Robertson was born on March 22, 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, son of a conservative Democratic member of the US House of Representatives and then the Senate for 34 years.

After graduating from Virginia's Washington and Lee University, in 1948 he joined the US Marines, serving in Korea.

He then graduated from Yale Law School, was ordained a Baptist minister, and in short order launched in 1961 what became the massive CBN empire from a small television station in Tidewater Virginia.

After CBN's early financial struggles, he named "The 700 Club" for an early core of 70 supporters who pledged $10 each month.

The program mixed news, spiritual and lifestyle stories along with interviews of public figures, and became a hit especially in rural communities across the country.

That made it a mainstream stop for political candidates courting Christian voters: guests included Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Robertson expanded into other media business, launching what became the popular, conservative "Family Channel" on cable television, and the influential Christian-based Regent University in Virginia Beach.

- Push into politics -

In 1987, he launched the Christian Coalition, seeking to bring together different Christian denominations as a force for the conservative values he espoused.

Ever since, the organization has been at the forefront of the US culture wars, pressuring Congress and the White House on moral and religious issues such as abortion and the separation of church and state.

In 1990, he launched the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal lobby to advance Christian religious rights against secularism in the courts.

Robertson himself sought political office, running unsuccessfully in the Republican presidential primary in 1988.

But what he built had a lasting impact: a conservative Christian voter bloc instrumental in bringing Trump to power and still exercising enormous influence over the Republican Party.

"He shattered the stained glass window," TD Jakes, a Dallas pastor said in CBN's statement. "People of faith were taken seriously beyond the church house and into the White House."

- Controversies -

But there were controversies along the way.

He courted Democratic Republic of the Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, hoping to convert their countries to Christian states where gay people were banned -- while investing in diamond mining in a deal with Mobutu.

In 2001, as America reeled from the September 11 attacks, Robertson endorsed the view that tolerance for lesbians, gays and doctors carrying out abortions had drawn God's wrath on the country.

In 2005, he called for the United States to assassinate then Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war," he quipped on "The 700 Club."

And last year, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "compelled by God" to attack Ukraine, because it was predicted in the Book of Ezekiel as a step toward the end of times.

Washington's political establishment was remarkably quiet Thursday in response to Robertson's death.

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, said Robertson "touched so many lives and changed so many hearts."

"He stood for America -- and more importantly, for truth and faith," she said.

But on the left, there was little sympathy.

"Robertson's death doesn't mean we must overlook his long record of extremist rhetoric," wrote Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"Robertson spent most of his time spreading hate, conspiracy theories and lies," he said.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PAT ROBERTSON 

Home hope Conners among leading quartet at tense Canadian Open

Issued on: 09/06/2023

Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Canada's Corey Conners grabbed a share of the first-round lead on Thursday at the Canadian Open, where questions over the PGA Tour's stunning deal with LIV Golf's Saudi backers continued to dominate the conversation.

Canada's Corey Conners has a share of the first-round lead in the US PGA Tour Canadian Open 

© Minas Panagiotakis / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Conners had five birdies in a five-under par 67 at Oakdale, joining England's Aaron Rai and Americans Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley atop a jam-packed leaderboard that featured another nine players one stroke off the lead.

It's the first time since 2004 that a Canadian has held a share of the first-round lead in the national open, and no Canadian has lifted the trophy since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

Conners got off to a hot start, tapping in for an opening birdie at the 10th. He rolled in a four-foot birdie at the 12th and got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 18th.

Coming in, he drained a 24-foot birdie at the first and a 12-footer at the seventh

But his sparkling effort couldn't distract attention from the big news of the week -- the surprise announcement on Tuesday that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour would join forces with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund -- the entity that backed breakaway LIV Golf to launch a rift in the global game that has rankled players on both sides for the past two years.

While the news was sinking in, myriad questions remained about how the tour would change, who among LIV golfers might be reintegrated and how players loyal to the PGA Tour might be rewarded.

"Obviously we just have a very, very broad and general framework," Hadley said after firing a 67 that included seven birdies and two bogeys.

"So, there's some long-term things that I would like to see and some short-term things -- obviously, we just don't know anything short-term.

"Hopefully, they can get a move on it and they can start giving us some answers to a lot of the questions that we have. I mean, I know nothing."

Hadley, ranked 297th in the world, has one tour title, at the Puerto Rico Open in 2014 -- when he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

The 35-year-old said he'd heard talk of star players like Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods being rewarded for their loyalty to the PGA Tour, and he thinks those rewards should extend beyond the game's stars.

"Those guys didn't do the wrong thing, who went to LIV," Hadley said. "They made a business decision. I don't hold that against anybody. But I would like to be rewarded for my decision to stay loyal."

The leading quartet will have to try to keep their minds on golf with 21 players within two shots of the lead.

England's Matt Fitzpatrick, warming up for defense of his US Open title in Los Angeles next week, headed a group of nine on 68.

England's Justin Rose headed a group of 15 on 69 that also featured Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, making an impressive professional debut.

Syrians lose life-saving care as Turkey halts medical visits

Issued on: 09/06/2023 -

Halzoun (Syria) (AFP) – Huddled inside a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Umm Khaled says she fears her baby will die unless she gets specialist treatment in neighbouring Turkey for a congenital heart defect.

Baby Islam needs urgent cardiac surgery that is unavailable in Syria's war-scarred Idlib region © OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Seriously ill Syrians in the country's last rebel bastion of Idlib used to be able to access life-saving care across the border.

But the main crossing there for medical visits slammed shut after a deadly earthquake ravaged southern Turkey on February 6, prompting Ankara to prioritise its domestic needs.

Born just a week before the disaster, baby Islam needs urgent cardiac surgery, unavailable in Syria's war-scarred Idlib region where the healthcare system fell into further disarray after the quake.

"I watch my daughter suffer and I can't do anything about it," said Umm Khaled, showing only her eyes and hands beneath her black niqab.

The 27-year-old said her baby was losing weight and her condition worsening.

Islam often struggles to breathe, and a doctor has warned that repeated such episodes, which put further strain on her heart, could be deadly without an operation or treatment.

But only cancer patients have been allowed to cross into Turkey after months of waiting -- and only since Monday.

Firas al-Ali, diagnosed with a benign tumour near his brain in 2017, has undergone surgery and tests in Turkey © OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

"When she cries, she turns blue and her heart beats very fast," Umm Khaled said, as her three other young children sat on the ground in their tent in the village of Halzoun.

"I hope they'll open the crossing soon," she said, baby Islam squirming in her lap.
Treatment 'unavailable'

Doctors in Idlib refer most heart and cancer patients to Turkey, where they can receive free treatment under an agreement between local authorities and Ankara.

Burns victims, premature babies and people requiring complicated surgery have also been allowed to cross.

But after the quake ravaged health facilities on the Turkish side of the border, Ankara halted medical visits through the Bab al-Hawa crossing -- the sole access point for patients from Idlib.

The border has remained open for United Nations humanitarian aid, goods and even Syrians visiting relatives in the area.

Firas al-Ali, diagnosed with a benign tumour near his brain in 2017, has undergone surgery and tests in Turkey, where he usually gets medication and treatment every three months.

He had been waiting for treatment on February 23, but then the earthquake struck.

"Due to the delay, I'm getting pain in my eyes and my head," the 35-year-old blacksmith said.

Yusuf Haj Yusuf, 60, had been scheduled to have chemotherapy in Turkey the day the quake struck © OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

"My treatment is unavailable here and if it is, it is expensive and I can't afford it."

Rebel-held Idlib is home to around three million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria and dependent on humanitarian aid.

Government-held areas of Syria are off limits to civilians from Idlib. The Syrian side of the Bab al-Hawa crossing into Turkey is controlled by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Syrians 'risk dying'

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) runs the only centre in Idlib for cancer patients.

Paediatric oncologist Abdel Razzaq Bakur said the clinic lacked diagnostic equipment and medications, and had been overwhelmed by "numerous patients who urgently need to be admitted in Turkey".

The children's ward alone has admitted 30 patients left untreated by the border closure, he said.

Around 40 more "haven't been getting chemotherapy and their condition is very bad -- some risk dying".

Some families had tried to get medicine from Turkey or Lebanon, but prices were often prohibitive, he added.

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) runs the only centre in Idlib for cancer patients and has been overwhelmed since the border closure 

© OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

"Most people can't cover their basic daily needs, so how are they supposed to secure chemotherapy doses?" he asked.

Yusuf Haj Yusuf, 60, was scheduled to have chemotherapy in Turkey the day the quake struck and said a recent scan showed his lung cancer had worsened.

He had asked relatives to help pay for treatment in Idlib but "no longer had the strength" to raise funds.

"I was very happy about the reopening of the crossing," he said.

"After the earthquake, we cancer patients have suffered a lot. We have all been waiting to return to the Turkish hospitals."

After Saudi visit, Blinken raises Palestinian state with Israel PM


Gaza residents view mortar shells and fragments of exploded Israeli missiles on display from the rubble of homes destroyed in recent fighting with Israel in Deir al-Balah on June 8, 2023. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Israel not to undermine prospects for a Palestinian state. (AP)


AFP
June 09, 2023

Blinken spoke by telephone with Netanyahu on “deepening Israel’s integration into the Middle East through normalization with countries in the region”

Saudi FM earlier said any normalization with Israel will have limited benefits " without finding a pathway to peace for the Palestinian people"


WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to undermine prospects for a Palestinian state, after talks in Saudi Arabia which linked normalization to peace efforts.

Blinken spoke by telephone with Netanyahu to discuss “deepening Israel’s integration into the Middle East through normalization with countries in the region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Blinken “discussed the need to uphold the commitments made at regional meetings in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh to avoid measures that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution,” Miller said, referring to talks earlier this year in Jordan and Egypt that brought Israeli, Palestinian and US officials together.

Blinken in a speech this week before the leading US pro-Israel group said that he would work to win recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia — a major goal for Israel due to the kingdom’s size and role as guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.

Speaking alongside Blinken on Thursday, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that normalization with Israel “is in the interest of the region” and would “bring significant benefits to all.”

“But without finding a pathway to peace for the Palestinian people, without addressing that challenge, any normalization will have limited benefits,” he said.

“Therefore, I think we should continue to focus on finding a pathway toward a two-state solution, on finding a pathway toward giving the Palestinians dignity and justice.”

Netanyahu during his last stint in power won normalization from the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain in what both he and the then US administration of Donald Trump saw as crowning achievements.

The longest-serving Israeli premier has returned to power leading the country’s most right-wing government ever with supporters adamantly opposed to a Palestinian state.

Israeli reforms ‘threat to Palestine’: report

ARAB NEWS
June 09, 2023

RAMALLAH: Controversial judicial reforms proposed by Israeli’s far-right coalition government pose a threat to Palestinians, an independent commission of inquiry set up by the UN said on Thursday.

The proposals, which would curb some Supreme Court powers and increase government control of judicial appointments, have set off unprecedented protests in Israel.

In a 56-page report, the commission said proposed legislation could increase taxation of pro-Palestinian NGOs and limit their ability to document Israeli soldiers’ activities in the occupied West Bank.

Other proposals by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme religious-nationalist coalition would strip Israel’s Arab minority of citizenship and enable their deportation if they commit pro-Palestinian violence, the report said.

“The proposed changes would dismantle fundamental features of the separation of powers and of the checks and balances essential in democratic political systems,” it said.

“Legal experts have warned that they risk weakening human rights protections, especially for the most vulnerable and disfavored communities, including Palestinian citizens.”

The commission, set up by the UN’s Human Rights Council in 2021, found Israel had increasingly stifled rights advocates “through harassment, threats, arrests, interrogations, arbitrary detention, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.”

The commission, which conducted about 130 interviews, also found that Palestinian authorities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza had targeted Palestinian rights activists.

“The arrest and detention of Palestinian activists by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities was noted as a particularly harsh reality for many Palestinian activists,” the report said.