Nobel winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion though she faces 2 more legal cases

Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO, gestures as she talks to reporters after being acquitted by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over a tax evasion case in Pasig city, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO, gestures as she talks to reporters after being acquitted by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over a tax evasion case in Pasig city, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. 

Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO, gestures as she faces reporters after being acquitted by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over a tax evasion case in Pasig city, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. 

Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO, waves from her car after being acquitted by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over a tax evasion case in Pasig city, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. 

Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO, gestures as she talks to reporters after being acquitted by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over a tax evasion case in Pasig city, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

 (AP Photos Aaron Favila)

 September 12, 2023

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa was acquitted of a final tax evasion charge Tuesday though she still faces two remaining legal cases she believes the former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte used to muzzle her critical reporting.

Ressa and her online news organization Rappler had faced five tax evasion charges but a court acquitted her of four of the charges in January. A different court heard the fifth charge and acquitted her Tuesday.

“Facts wins, truth wins, justice wins,” she told reporters outside the courthouse.

Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the 2021 Nobel for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression by fighting for the survival of their news organizations and defying government efforts to shut them.

She had said the charges against her were politically motivated as Rappler was critical of Duterte’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead. The International Criminal Court is investigating the crackdown as a possible crime against humanity.

Rappler also criticized Duterte’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic including prolonged lockdowns that deepened poverty, caused one of the country’s worst recessions and sparked allegations of corruption in government medical purchases.

Ressa also said there appeared to be a “lifting of fear” under the Philippines’ new leader — Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is the namesake son of the dictator overthrown in the army-backed “people power” uprising in 1986.

Ressa is still appealing to the Supreme Court against an online libel conviction, while Rappler is challenging a closure order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“You’ve got to have faith,” Ressa said. “The acquittal now strengthens our resolve to continue with the justice system, to submit ourselves to the court despite the political harassment, despite the attacks on press freedom. It shows that the court system works and we hope to see the remaining charges dismissed.”

In Iran, snap checkpoints and university purges mark the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini protests


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An Iranian woman without wearing her mandatory Islamic headscarf walks her dog at a park with graffiti against the government which is painted over in black, Monday, March 6, 2023. Iranians are marking the first anniversary of nationwide protests over the country’s mandatory headscarf law that erupted after the death of a young woman detained by morality police. 

An Iranian woman without wearing her mandatory Islamic headscarf walks in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Iranians are marking the first anniversary of nationwide protests over the country’s mandatory headscarf law that erupted after the death of a young woman detained by morality police. 

A woman without wearing her mandatory Islamic headscarf walks in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Iranians are marking the first anniversary of nationwide protests over the country’s mandatory headscarf law that erupted after the death of a young woman detained by morality police

Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory Islamic headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Iranians are marking the first anniversary of nationwide protests over the country’s mandatory headscarf law that erupted after the death of a young woman detained by morality police.

 (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

BY NASSER KARIMI AND JON GAMBRELL
T, September 11, 2023

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Snap checkpoints. Internet disruptions. University purges.

Iran’s theocracy is trying hard to both ignore the upcoming anniversary of nationwide protests over the country’s mandatory headscarf law and tamp down on any possibility of more unrest.

Yet the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini still reverberates across Iran. Some women are choosing to go without the headscarf, or hijab, despite an increasing crackdown by authorities.

Graffiti, likely against Iran’s government, is rapidly painted over in black by Tehran’s municipal workers. University professors have been fired over their apparent support for demonstrators.

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International pressure remains high on Iran, even as the administration tries to deescalate tensions with other nations in the region and the West after years of confrontation.

“The weaponization of ‘public morals’ to deny women and girls their freedom of expression is deeply disempowering and will entrench and expand gender discrimination and marginalization,” independent United Nations experts warned earlier this month.

The demonstrations over Amini’s death that erupted after her arrest a year ago by the country’s morality police, allegedly over the hijab, represented one of the largest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A security force crackdown that followed saw over 500 people killed and more than 22,000 people detained.

Iran’s government, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have blamed the West for fomenting the unrest, without offering evidence to support the allegation. However, the protests found fuel in the widespread economic pain that Iran’s 80 million people have faced since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers after then-President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally pulled America from the accord.

As Western sanctions came back, Iran currency — the rial — cratered, decimating people’s lifesavings. Prices of food and other essentials skyrocketed as inflation gripped the nation, in part due to worldwide pressures following the coronavirus pandemic and the launch of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Unemployment officially stands at 8% overall, though one out of every five young Iranians is out of work.

Videos of the demonstrations last year showed many young people taking part in the protests, leading authorities to apparently focus more closely on Iran’s universities in recent weeks. There’s historic precedence for the concerns: In 1999, student-led protests swept Tehran and at least three people were killed while 1,200 were detained as demonstrations rapidly spread to other cities.

Though university campuses have largely remained one of the few safe places for students to demonstrate, even campuses have felt the latest crackdown. Over the past year, the Union Council of Iranian Students has said that hundreds of students faced disciplinary panels at their universities over the protests.

During the same period, at least 110 university professors and lecturers have been fired or temporarily suspended, according to a report by the reformist newspaper Etemad. The firings have been primarily focused at schools in Tehran, including Tehran Azad University, Tehran University and Tehran Medical University.

Etemad said those who were dismissed fell into two groups: teachers concerned by the election of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi and those who supported the protests that followed Amini’s death.

But there were firings at other schools as well.

At Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, outspoken artificial intelligence and bioinformatics professor Ali Sharifi Zarchi, who backed his students taking part in the protests and later faced interrogation by Iranian security forces, was among those laid off.

A petition urging the university to overturn his firing was signed by 15,000 people.

“Putting pressure on professors and students is a black stain on the proud history of #Tehran_University and it must be stopped,” Zarchi wrote online before his dismissal.

University teachers who were dismissed also included Hossein Alaei, a former commander in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and vice defense minister, and Reza Salehi Amiri, a former culture minister. Alaei had once, a decade ago, compared Khamenei to Iran’s former shah, while Amiri was a former official in the administration of the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani.

Rouhani, whose government reached the nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, has criticized the university firings.

“Destroying the prestige of the universities and their professors ... is a loss for the students, science and the country,” Rouhani said, according to a report by the online news site Jamaran.

The head of Tehran University, Mohammad Moghimi, had tried to defend the dismissals, describing professors as facing “ethics problems.” Some hard-liners also have tried to insist the firings weren’t political, though the hard-line newspaper Kayhan directly linked the dismissals to the demonstrations.

“It is not logical to allow someone to propagate against the system under the direction of foreigners,” the newspaper wrote.

Those on the streets of Tehran say the governments’ move will likely make the situation worse.

“They want to insert their own people in the university in hope of stopping the protest, but we students will show our objections in a way that they cannot imagine,” said Shima, a 21-year-old university student. “They failed to prevent last year’s protests since nobody can predict earthquakes.”

Authorities “are fighting against windmills using wooden swords,” added Farnaz, a 27-year-old university student. Both women gave just their first name for fear of reprisals.

The government has been trying to stay publicly quiet about the anniversary. Raisi never said Amini’s name during a recent news conference with journalists — who also only tangentially referred to the demonstrations. State-run and semiofficial media in Iran as well have avoided mentioning the anniversary, which typically signals pressure from the government.

But privately, activists report a rise in the number of people being questioned and detained by security forces, including an uncle of Amini.

Saleh Nikbakht, a lawyer for Amini’s family, faces a court case accusing him of spreading “propaganda” over his interviews with foreign media.

More police officers have been noticed on Tehran’s streets in recent days, including snap checkpoints for those riding on motorcycles in the country’s capital. Internet access has been noticeably disrupted over recent days, according to the advocacy group NetBlocks.

And abroad, Iranian state media reported that someone set tires ablaze in front of the Iranian Embassy in Paris over the weekend. Demonstrations marking the anniversary on Saturday are planned in multiple cities abroad.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

CHAUVINISM & SEXISM IN SOCCER

UEFA hosts women soccer stars for expert advice. Then it thanks ousted Luis Rubiales for his service


Spain’s Veronica Boquete celebrates after scoring a goal against the South Korea during the first half of a FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer match, Wednesday, June 17, 2015 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. European soccer body UEFA has hosted a storied group of women players and coaches for a conference Monday, Sept. 11, 2023 to help shape a brighter future for their game. It was held one day after disgraced Spanish official Luis Rubiales resigned from his leadership jobs including as a UEFA vice president.

 (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

 Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso holds the trophy as they celebrate their Women’s World Cup victory on stage in Madrid, Spain, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Spanish state prosecutors say soccer player Jenni Hermoso has accused Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kissing her on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final. 

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

 President of Spain’s soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, left, stands stands next to Spain Head Coach Jorge Vilda after being received by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Rubiales has resigned, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, from his post after a kiss scandal which tarnished Spain’s victory at the Women’s World Cup. 

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, file)

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, left, applauds as Spain’s Aitana Bonmati, right, holds the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year award and Norwegian’s Erling Haaland holds the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award after the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League group stage draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2013. 

(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Pachuca’s Jenni Hermoso smiles during a tribute before a Mexican Women’s soccer league match between Pachuca and Pumas at the Miguel Hidalgo stadium in Pachuca, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.

 (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

BY GRAHAM DUNBAR
 September 11, 2023

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — One day after Spanish official Luis Rubiales finally resigned from his leadership jobs, European soccer body UEFA hosted a storied group of women players and coaches for a conference Monday to help shape a brighter future for their game.

And when it was over, UEFA thanked its now-former vice president “for his many years of service” in its first major statement since Rubiales’ conduct at the Women’s World Cup final three weeks ago that is now under criminal investigation in Spain.

Three Ballon d’Or winners joined the UEFA meeting in person or online. They included Alexia Putellas, one of Spain’s World Cup-winning team whose triumph has been tarnished by the furor since Rubiales kissed her teammate Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the trophy ceremony. Hermoso said it was without her consent.

At UEFA’s headquarters was Veró Boquete, who as Spain captain eight years ago joined a player revolt that removed the long-time and unpopular male coach of the national team.

“Today, this subject obviously came up,” Boquete told The Associated Press when asked if the Rubiales controversy was on the agenda. “A little bit (of) specifics but also in general, what we can do to protect players or to give them a safe space.”

UEFA launched its Football Board for women’s soccer this year to create “an institutional yet independent voice of experience and expertise” on subjects including player welfare.

Its first meeting Monday afternoon in Switzerland opened less than 24 hours after Rubiales resigned. He accepted the inevitable end of his soccer presidency in Spain after three weeks of defiance and hostility toward his critics and at times Hermoso.

Rubiales, who said the kiss was consensual, is suspended by world soccer body FIFA during its disciplinary case against him and also accused of sexual assault by Spanish prosecutors. He has denied any wrongdoing.

His resignation late Sunday — which appeared coordinated with an interview on a British cable news channel — offered no apology to Hermoso. He did stress not wanting to distract from Spain’s bid to host the men’s 2030 World Cup in a UEFA-backed project with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine.

UEFA was silent on Rubiales, one of its six vice presidents each paid 250,000 euros ($270,000) annually, for 10 days after the final in Australia. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin then told French sports daily L’Equipe the conduct was “inappropriate.”

In the statement Monday noting Rubiales’ resignation, after Ceferin had lunched with the women delegates, there was praise but not words of solidarity toward the Spanish players or women’s soccer in general.

“UEFA acknowledges the public discourse surrounding Mr. Rubiales and his recent actions but would also like to thank him for his many years of service to European football,” it said. “In view of the ongoing legal proceedings, UEFA has no further comments to make on this matter.”

Speaking before UEFA’s comments were published, Boquete described the situation as “a mess” though was optimistic

“What happened in the last three weeks is a mess, but at the same time it can be the right push,” the 36-year-old player told the AP. “How you use a bad situation, bad actions, to change something for good?”

“We have the opportunity here,” said Boquete, whose 38 goals for Spain is second on its all-time women’s list behind Hermoso.

One positive is that Spain’s players should end their refusal to represent their country now Rubiales has gone and the coach he supported during a player rebellion last year, Jorge Vilda, was fired last week.

“In theory, all the players should be back with those demands they (made),” said Boquete, whose national-team career was ended six years ago by Vilda not selecting her. “It’s a good start, we hope that now also the players can be heard more.”

After playing soccer for clubs in the United States, Russia, China and across Europe, the former Women’s Champions League winner was a natural choice for the UEFA advisory panel. She also has been educated with UEFA’s help on its Masters course to help players build careers in the industry.

“If you want to have a place that everyone can hear you or listen to you, you need to know what you’re going to say,” Boquete said.

UEFA did not make any senior manager available for interview at its event Monday.

NEOCOLONIALIST RACISM

Dominican president suspends visas for Haitians and threatens to close border with its neighbor


 People bathe in the Massacre River, named for a bloody battle between Spanish and French colonizers in the 1700s, on the border with Haiti in Ouanaminthe, Dominican Republic, Nov. 19, 2021. The Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader announced on Sept. 11, 2023 he has suspended issuing visas to Haitians. 

(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

BY MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA
 September 11, 2023

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The president of the Dominican Republic announced Monday that he has suspended issuing visas to Haitians, and he threatened to shut down land, air and sea traffic between the two neighbors over their latest dispute.

President Luis Abinader’s move follows the recent excavation of a supposed canal in Haiti that Dominican officials argue will divert water from the Massacre River and harm its farmers and the environment. The river, which runs in both countries, is named for a bloody battle between Spanish and French colonizers in the 1700s.

It is not clear who, if anyone, authorized the digging of the canal in Haiti.

“If the conflict is not resolved before Thursday, (officials will) completely close the border to air, sea and land commerce,” the Dominican government said in a statement.

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That would be an economic blow to Haiti, which gets much of its imports from the Dominican Republic and where inflation has skyrocketed and poverty deepened amid a surge in gang violence.

It would also hurt Dominican businesses.

A study by the Dominican Republic’s Central Bank said $430 million in informal border trade was conducted in 2017 between the two countries, which share the island of Hispaniola. Of that amount, more than $330 million represented exports to Haiti.

Haiti is also the Dominican Republic’s third biggest partner in formal trade, with $1 billion in exports to Haiti last year and $11 million in imports, according to the Export and Investment Center of the Dominican Republic.

Last week, the Dominican government sent a crew to monitor the construction of the canal from across the border, with officials telling local media that it wasn’t an intimidation tactic but rather an offer to help detain, if necessary, civilians that might be working on the project without permission.

The excavation prompted Abinader last week to shut the border near the northern town of Dajabon, a crucial crossing for Haitians who sell and buy a range of goods there several times a week.

Former interim Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph recently defended the construction of the canal and accused critics in the Dominican Republic of being nationalists and racists.

Last year, Abinader banned Joseph from entering the Dominican Republic in an unrelated dispute that heightened the simmering tensions between the two countries.

Abinader has sought to limit the migration of Haitians into the Dominican Republic in recent years and has expelled tens of thousands of Haitians and those of Haitian descen t. His administration also has begun work on a 118-mile (190-kilometer) wall along the Haitian border that Abinader announced early last year.

The last time the Dominican Republic fully closed the border its border with Haiti was in July 2021, after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Since then, it has occasionally closed parts of the border for security reasons.

Australians start applying for mail-in ballots ahead of Indigenous Voice referendum


A skater boarder passes a vote Yes poster for the Voice referendum in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Voters can apply from Monday for postal ballots in the Oct. 14 referendum that would create a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a proposal for constitutional change that opinion polls suggest is becoming increasingly likely to be rejected.

A pedestrian walks past a vote Yes poster for the Voice referendum in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Voters can apply from Monday for postal ballots in the Oct. 14 referendum that would create a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a proposal for constitutional change that opinion polls suggest is becoming increasingly likely to be rejected. 

(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

BY ROD MCGUIRK
 September 11, 2023

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Voters began applying Monday for mail-in ballots ahead of the Oct. 14 referendum that would create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a proposal for constitutional change that opinion polls suggest is becoming increasingly likely to be rejected.

Australians will vote at the first referendum in a generation whether to enshrine in the constitution a collection of appointed Indigenous advocates aimed at giving the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policy.

People who are unable to attend a polling booth on Oct. 14 for reasons including distance, disability and prison sentences can apply from 6 p.m. Monday for authorities to provide them with postal ballots, which will be cast in Australia’s first referendum since 1999.

A majority of voters across the nation and in a majority of Australia’s six states need to support the referendum for it to pass. Only eight out of 44 referendums have achieved that double majority.

But a Resolve Political Monitor opinion poll published in newspapers on Monday suggested the smallest state, Tasmania, was the only one with majority support for the Voice.

National support for the Voice was at 65% when polls on the question were first held in August 2022, but support has been declining for months.

Proponents hope support will rally when voters become more engaged with the question closer to the voting day.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took the final step in ensuring the referendum goes ahead by directing the governor-general late Monday to issue electoral authorities with a required legal order to conduct the vote.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton had earlier urged Albanese in Parliament to call the referendum off because of the declining support in polls.

“Will the prime minister withdraw his Voice referendum so that we can avoid an outcome which sets back reconciliation and divides the nation?” Dutton asked Albanese.

Albanese criticized Dutton over his opposition to the Voice, saying the conservative party leader had “chosen politics over substance.”

The Voice referendum would be the first in Australia’s history to pass without bipartisan support.

Melbourne University election analyst Adrian Beaumont said referendums proposed by Albanese’s center-left Labor Party have always been opposed by their conservative opponents since 1946.

“It’s very clear that Voice support is slumping in all polls,” Beaumont said. “Conservative oppositions always oppose Labor referendums, and they are able to scare the electorate into opposing changes.”

Proponents say embedding the Voice in the constitution would recognize the special place that Indigenous people have in Australian history while giving them input in government policies.

Opponents argue it would be the biggest change to Australia’s democracy in the nation’s history and divide Australians along racial lines without reducing Indigenous disadvantage.

Indigenous Australians account for 3.8% of the population and they die around eight years younger than Australia’s wider population on average.

As US East Coast ramps up offshore wind power projects, much remains unknown





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The five turbines of America’s first offshore wind farm, owned by the Danish company, Orsted, stand off the coast of Block Island, R.I., on Oct. 17, 2022. As the U.S. races to build offshore wind power projects that will transform coastlines from Maine to South Carolina, much remains unknown about how the facilities could affect the environment. And that has some people concerned, particularly those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Crew members of a fishing boat unload their catch in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., on June 20, 2023. The commercial and recreational fishing industry has numerous concerns over offshore wind projects. The wind industry says it has tried to address those concerns, and will pay compensation for those that can’t be avoided. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

 Guests tour the five turbines of America’s first offshore wind farm, owned by the Danish company, Orsted, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., as part of a wind power conference, Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. As the U.S. races to build offshore wind power projects that will transform coastlines from Maine to South Carolina, much remains unknown about how the facilities could affect the environment. And that has some people concerned, particularly those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Workers at the J.T. White Clam Depuration Plant in Highlands, N.J., prepare to move wagons of clams on Aug. 1, 2023. The commercial and recreational fishing industry has numerous concerns over offshore wind projects. The wind industry says it has tried to address those concerns, and will pay compensation for those that can’t be avoided. 

(AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

BY WAYNE PARRY
 September 11, 2023

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (AP) — As the U.S. races to build offshore wind power projects, transforming coastlines from Maine to South Carolina, much remains unknown about how the facilities could affect the environment.

And that worries some people, particularly those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods.

“We don’t have the science to know what the impact will be,” said Jim Hutchinson, managing editor of The Fisherman magazine in New Jersey. “The attitude has been, ‘Build it and we’ll figure it out.’”

The wind power industry disputes such claims, citing years of studies.

So far, four offshore wind projects have been approved by the federal government for the U.S. East Coast, according to the American Clean Power Association. Vineyard Wind will place 62 turbines about 15 miles (24 kilometers) off Martha’s Vineyard, generating enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

South Fork Wind will place 12 turbines in the waters off Long Island, New York, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, to power 70,000 homes. And Ocean Wind I, the first of two Orsted projects in New Jersey, will place 98 turbines about 15 miles off Atlantic City and Ocean City, generating power for 500,000 homes. The company is a Danish wind power business that will build two of the three offshore projects approved for New Jersey.

Those projects are in addition to the planned Revolution Wind development, about 15 miles southeast of Point Judith, Rhode Island, with 65 turbines powering nearly 250,000 homes. Numerous others have been proposed, and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to review at least 16 offshore wind projects by 2025.

“All this is happening so fast,” said Greg Cudnik, a recreational fisherman, bait and tackle shop owner and party boat captain from Ship Bottom, New Jersey. “Science takes time.”

A joint study in March by two federal scientific agencies and the commercial fishing industry documents numerous impacts that offshore wind power projects could have on fish and marine mammals, including noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and heat transfer that could alter the environment.

Like numerous existing studies, the report pointed out the complexities of how the structures and cables might interact with marine life. For instance, turbines can attract some fish and repel others.

The March study said large underwater platforms are rapidly colonized by smaller, bottom-dwelling marine life, including shellfish and crabs, which in turn attract larger predators like black sea bass. At the same time, cloudy water from turbine operations, noise, vibrations and electromagnetic fields could also make species leave an area.

In most instances, report authors agreed that more studies are needed. Andy Lipsky, who oversees the wind energy team at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, is a co-author. He said the work helps agencies define monitoring required for long-term studies and that more work is required to determine how offshore wind energy changes marine habitats.

Research in other countries also is also nuanced. Some European studies have shown that crabs and lobster are attracted to harder sea bottoms that support wind turbines. Others, including flatfish and whiting, were shown to leave those areas.

And in May, the Biden Administration offered an $850,000 grant to collect more information on the hearing abilities of critically endangered North American right whales, citing “knowledge gaps” in how the animals behave. The request was made “in support of the rapid development of offshore wind,” according to a notice on the Grants.gov website.

Substantial research already exists. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has posted a half-dozen or more studies on its web site every year since 2016; in several instances the studies called for further investigation and analysis.

Phil Sgro, a spokesman for the American Clean Power Association, said the industry believes sufficient scientific studies exist to establish that offshore wind development can be done “in a manner that is both economical and environmentally responsible.”

Opponents blame ocean floor preparation for causing or contributing to the deaths of 70 whales on the U.S. East Coast since December. But three federal agencies say there is no evidence the two are related.

The U.S. fishing industry — both commercial and recreational — has numerous concerns about offshore wind impacting operations in places long available for fishing with minimal interference.

Interviews with commercial and recreational fishermen and women show they share common anxieties about the offshore wind turbines chasing away species they have long relied on.

They fear electromagnetic fields emitted from underwater power cables could deter or harm some marine life. They worry about being able to safely navigate around the turbines, and about being prohibited from productive fishing grounds on which they have relied for generations.

They also worry that unforeseen consequences could reduce catches and trigger government limits on how much can be caught if fish stocks diminish.

And while some companies have voluntarily agreed to compensate fishermen for any economic damage, there is no mandate requiring it.

“Offshore wind is the single greatest existential threat to commercial fishing in the United States of America right now,” Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze, a seafood company based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, told New Jersey lawmakers at a recent hearing.

Cudnik, the New Jersey boat captain, worries about prime species being driven away by changes to the ocean floor.

“Clams, scallops, flounder, and sand eels are associated with soft sand bottoms,” he said. “Striped bass, sea bass, mahis — everything eats these eels. When they are in abundance, it’s awesome fishing. All these offshore wind areas are in that prime habitat.”

And Keith Craffey, president of the Baymen’s Protective Association on New Jersey’s Raritan Bay, worries that power cables from a New York project coming ashore in New Jersey will be placed across productive clam beds his members use, potentially rendering the areas off-limits.

“If we have to lay off 50 guys because of it, are the offshore wind companies going to pick those 50 guys up?” he asked.

On Monday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released an environmental impact statement for the proposed Empire Wind project in New York, designed to power 700,000 homes. It determined that the project could have “moderate to major” impacts on commercial fisheries, and “minor to moderate” impacts for recreational fishing, although minor beneficial effects could also occur from the creation of an artificial reef that will attract some fish.

New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry had nearly $690 million in sales in 2020, not including imports, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The recreational sector generated $724 million in sales that year.

Sgro said the wind power industry has worked closely with the government and the fishing industry to address concerns, including agreeing to avoid placing turbines in the areas most heavily used by anglers. He said a study in the waters off southern New England determined that heat and electromagnetic fields from buried cables will not negatively affect important fish species in the area.

Orsted, the developer behind two of New Jersey’s approved projects, said it has worked hard to “avoid, minimize and mitigate” negative impacts on fishing.

The company said a 7-year study of its wind farm in Block Island, Rhode Island, found the catch of most species was unaffected and that there was a greater abundance of black sea bass and cod after construction.

The study was paid for by Orsted, designed in cooperation with local commercial fishermen and carried out by INSPIRE Environmental, which does ocean floor studies for companies and governments.

Orsted says it will compensate boat crews for damage to or loss of gear; pay direct compensation to recreational and commercial vessels adversely impacted, and create a navigational safety fund. It also plans to coordinate with state and federal authorities on seasonal operating restrictions to protect flounder and herring.

The federal government has endorsed — but not required — compensation to the fishing industry for negative effects from offshore wind. Eleven states are considering setting up a regional fund to administer such payments.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, supports the compensation “if the industry experiences economic losses as a result of the transition to offshore wind power.”
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Follow Wayne Parry on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at twitter.com/WayneParryAC

INVASION OF PRIVACY

Candidate in high-stakes Virginia election performed sex acts with husband in live videos

BY SARAH RANKIN AND DENISE LAVOIE
 September 11, 2023

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A candidate in a high-stakes legislative contest in Virginia had sex with her husband in live videos posted on a pornographic website and asked viewers to pay them money in return for carrying out specific sex acts.

Screenshots of Susanna Gibson on the website were shared with The Associated Press. The campaign for Gibson, a Democrat running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in a district just outside Richmond, issued a statement Monday in which it denounced the sharing of the videos as a violation of the law and her privacy. Gibson called the exposure of the videos “the worst gutter politics.”

“It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me,” she said in the statement. “My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up.”

The Washington Post first reported the videos on Monday.

The revelation marked an explosive turn in a contest that will carry significant weight in determining the balance of power in the Virginia General Assembly. The race has attracted large amounts of spending and interest for an off-year legislative race.

Democrats control the Senate by a four-vote margin, and Republicans control the House of Delegates by the same margin, with four seats currently vacant. The parties are waging intense legislative battles as GOP rising national political star Gov. Glenn Youngkin looks to bolster his conservative agenda with full control of state government.

Gibson said that exposing the videos is “an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family.” Gibson’s attorney, Daniel P. Watkins, said that disseminating the videos is a violation of Virginia’s revenge porn law, which makes it a crime to “maliciously” disseminate or sell nude or sexual images of another person with the intent to “coerce, harass, or intimidate.

“A criminal act has occurred here, and that’s the dissemination of revenge porn by a Republican operative,” Watkins told the AP.

Watkins cited a 2021 Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that found it was unlawful for a man to secretly record his girlfriend during a consensual sexual encounter even if he did not show the video to other people. The court found that consent to being seen is not the same as consent to being recorded.

Gibson, 40, a nurse practitioner and married mother of two young children, won a Democratic primary in June and is running against Republican businessman David Owen in one of the most competitve districts in the state.

“I’m sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family, and I’m remaining focused on my campaign,” Owen said in a statement.

A top-ranking Virginia Democrat immediately came to Gibson’s defense after the videos were reported by the Post. “Now we are going to make this the biggest fundraising day of her campaign,” Sen. L. Louise Lucas said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Garren Shipley, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Gibson and Owen are competing in the 57th District, an area that includes suburbs of Richmond in both Henrico and Goochland counties. The district chose Youngkin by a 51.2%-to-48.3% margin in 2021, but in the 2022 congressional midterm elections, the split in the district was 50% Democratic to 49.1% Republican.

Gibson has said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade propelled her into the race.

Gibson had an account on Chaturbate, a legal website where viewers can watch live webcam performances that feature nudity and sexual activity, according to the screenshots reviewed by the AP. The videos show GIbson and her husband, John David Gibson, having sex and at times looking into the camera and asking viewers for donations in the form of “tokens” or “tips” to watch a private show.

Chaturbate videos are streamed live on that site and are often archived on other publicly available sites, the Post reported. More than a dozen videos posted under Gibson’s Chaturbate username were archived on one of those sites — Recurbate — in September 2022, the month after she announced her candidacy. The most recent were two videos archived on Sept. 30, 2022. It is unclear when the livestream occurred.

NEW LEADER OF GOP FREEDOM CAUCUS
Putin says prosecution of Trump shows US political system is ‘rotten’



In this photo released by Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Sergey Shinov, Roscongress Foundation via AP)

In this photo released by Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Vyacheslav Viktorov, Roscongress Foundation via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin applauds as he attends a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

 September 12, 2023

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted Tuesday that the criminal cases against former U.S. President Donald Trump are political revenge that show the fundamental corruption of the United States.

“As for the prosecution of Trump, for us what is happening in today’s conditions, in my opinion, is good because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others democracy,” Putin said at an Eastern Economic Forum gathering in Russia’s Pacific Coast city of Vladivostok.

“Everything that is happening with Trump is the persecution of a political rival for political reasons. That’s what it is. And this is being done in front of the public of the United States and the whole world,” he said.

Opinion polls indicate that Trump is by far the strongest contender to become the Republican Party’s candidate in the 2024 presidential election. During his four years in the White House, Trump repeatedly touted having good relations with Putin, while critics alleged he was submissive to the Russian leader.

Trump has claimed he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of days, if he regains the presidency. He has not provided details of his potential approach.

“We hear that Mr. Trump says that he will solve pressing problems in a few days, including the Ukrainian crisis. Well, this cannot but bring happiness. This is good,” Putin said.

However, the Russian leader said his country’s poor relations with the United States were unlikely to change significantly regardless of who becomes president.

“What to expect from the future, no matter who the president is, it’s hard for us to say, but it’s unlikely that anything will change radically,” Putin said. He claimed the Biden administration has instilled a strong bias against Russia and ”it will be very difficult for them to somehow turn this whole ship” in the other direction.

Russia also is due to have a presidential election in 2024. Putin hedged Tuesday when asked if he would seek another term after being in power, as president or prime minister, since 2000.

“We will talk about it” after the Russian parliament sets an election date, he said.
___

Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

Fukushima nuclear plant’s operator says the first round of wastewater release is complete


A group of plaintiffs and supporters, demanding revokation of TEPCO’s treated water discharge plan, head to the Fukushima District Court to file a lawsuit, in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast filed a lawsuit Friday demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The banner reads “Lawsuit to halt the release of ALPS treated radioactive wastewater."

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
September 11, 2023

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said Monday that it has safely completed the first release of treated radioactive water from the plant into the sea and will inspect and clean the facility before starting the second round in a few weeks.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant began discharging the treated and diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24. The water has accumulated since the plant was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and the start of its release is a milestone in the plant’s decommissioning.

The discharge, which is expected to continue for decades until the decommissioning is finished, has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and by neighboring countries. China has banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response, hurting producers and exporters and prompting the Japanese government to compile an emergency relief fund. Groups in South Korea have also fiercely protested, demanding Japan stop the release.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at summits last week of Southeast Asian countries and the Group of 20 nations, stressed the safety and transparency of the release to win international support and sought the immediate lifting of China’s ban.


Fukushima official says release of treated water is a milestone in nuclear plant’s decommissioning

During the 17-day first release, the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, said it discharged 7,800 tons of treated water from 10 tanks. About 1.34 million tons of radioactive wastewater is stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant.

Plant workers will rinse the pipeline and other equipment and inspect the system over the next few weeks before starting the release of the second round of 7,800 tons stored in 10 other tanks, TEPCO spokesperson Teruaki Kobashi told reporters Monday.

All sampling data from seawater and fish since the start of the release have been way below set safety limits, officials said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been cooperating with Japan and reviewed the safety of the project. It concluded that the release, if carried out precisely as planned, would have a negligible impact on the environment, marine life and human health. On Monday, a team of South Korean experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, under an agreement between South Korea and the U.N. nuclear agency, visited an IAEA office set up at the Fukushima plant to monitor the release and share information, the IAEA said in a statement. The South Korean team has been in Japan for the last two weeks and met with IAEA officials offsite.

TEPCO and the government say the wastewater is treated to reduce radioactive materials to safe levels, and then is diluted with seawater to make it much safer than international standards.

The radioactive wastewater has accumulated since three of the plant’s reactors were damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It continues to grow because cooling water used on the damaged reactors leaks into the reactor basements, where it mixes with groundwater.

TEPCO plans to release 31,200 tons of treated water through March 2024, and officials say the pace will pick up later.

The government and TEPCO say the discharge is unavoidable because the tanks will reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons next year and space at the plant is needed for its decommissioning.

UAW union makes progress with 1 of 3 automakers as strike deadline looms


A worker assembles a Ford vehicle at the company's Chicago Assembly Plant (2010). Ford, General Motors and Stellantis are locked in negotiations with the UAW this week as a strike deadline looms at midnight Thursday

. File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Stellantis NV, the owner of Jeep and Chrysler, reached a partial agreement with the United Auto Workers union on Monday as a strike deadline looms that could cost the auto industry more than $1 billion.

The union and automaker reached a tentative agreement on health and safety issues, a positive step forward to handling other issues for their contract before the current one expires at midnight Thursday.


"There is still more work to do, but we know that Stellantis and the UAW have a shared interest in these discussions: reaching an agreement that secures the future for our employees and their families," said Tobin Williams, senior vice president of human resources of Stellantis North America in a note to workers.

"We are on a good path and remain committed to reaching a tentative agreement without a work stoppage that would negatively impact our employees and our customers."

Stellantis also sent a second proposal to the union on Monday. The first proposal to the union, which included a 14.5% pay raise to most employees was swiftly rejected. UAW President Shawn Fain rejected similar raise proposals from Ford and General Motors as inadequate with members facing inflation pressures.

The UAW proposal wants the automakers to make temporary workers into full-time after 90 days, give the union the right to strike over plant closures, and more paid time off, including recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday.

Ford wants the right to outsource any work at any time and GM and Stellantis have agreed to give workers paid time off during Juneteenth. All three so far have rejected all UAW changes to pension and retiree healthcare plans.

Stellantis reports progress in talks with auto workers and plans to make another offer Monday


 United Auto Workers members walk in the Labor Day parade in Detroit, Sept. 2, 2019. Automaker Stellantis has made a counteroffer to the United Auto Workers that includes wage increases in each year of a new four-year contract totaling 14.5%. The raises, which would be for most workers, doesn’t include any lump sum payments.

 (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

 September 11, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis is reporting progress in talks with the United Auto Workers union with just three days left before contracts expire with Detroit’s three automakers.

Tobin Williams, head of human resources for North America, told employees in an email that the union made counteroffer to its economic proposal on Sunday.

Stellantis released no details of its offer Monday.

He also says both sides have reached agreement in a number of areas including health and safety.

“There was good energy among both teams and great momentum to reach an agreement as we head into the final days before the contract expires Thursday night,” Williams wrote. “We are on a good path and remain committed to reaching a tentative agreement.”

UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday called counter offers from Stellantis, General Motors and Ford inadequate. He warned of strikes against any company without a tentative contract agreement when the contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

On Monday, Fain said in a statement that all three companies waited until the last minute to make economic offers. “When the CEOs are ready to make a serious offer, we’ll be there, day or night,” he said.

On Friday, Stellantis, which was formed in a 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, made its first counteroffer to the union’s demands with a bigger pay raise than offers from Ford and General Motors. Stellantis offered wage increases in each year of a new four-year contract totaling 14.5%.

Last week Ford increased its offer from 9%, to 10% raises over four years, but it also included lump sum payments, while GM’s offered 10% plus lump sums. All three companies offered additional lump sum payments to cover inflation.

The proposal from Stellantis, which was formed in a 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot, is closer to the union’s demands of 46% across-the-board increases over four years, but both sides still are far apart.

Fain said Friday that he threw the offers into the trash. “Things are moving but they’re moving very slow and we’ve got a long way to go in four days,” Fain said on a Sunday night video event.

The union has asked for 46% raises in general pay over four years — an increase that would elevate a top-scale assembly plant worker from $32 an hour now to about $47. In addition, the UAW has demanded an end to varying tiers of wages for factory jobs; a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay; the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans; and a return of cost-of-living pay raises, among other benefits.

Perhaps most important to the union is that it be allowed to represent workers at 10 electric vehicle battery factories, most of which are being built by joint ventures between automakers and South Korean battery makers. The union wants those plants to receive top UAW wages. In part, that is because workers who now make components for internal combustion engines will need a place to work as the auto industry increasingly transitions to EVs.