Land use changes and China’s carbon sequestration potential

Peking University

Peking University, December 11, 2024: A team of researchers led by Professor Piao Shilong at the Institute of Carbon Neutrality of Peking University (PKU) has made significant advances in understanding how China’s land-use changes—such as forest planting—can contribute to the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Their study, published in Nature Communications, offers fresh insights into China’s carbon removal capacity through land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), a key strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Why it matters: As part of its commitment under the Paris Agreement, China has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060, meaning it will need to balance the amount of carbon dioxide it emits with the amount it can remove from the atmosphere. One important way to achieve this balance is through land-based solutions, particularly forestation, which helps capture and store carbon. However, there has been uncertainty about how much carbon China’s forests can actually sequester due to varying estimates and models. This new research helps clarify the role of land-use changes in China’s carbon budget and provides more accurate projections for future carbon removal.

Key Findings:
 

China’s forests are a vital carbon sink: The study confirms that China’s ongoing forestation efforts—planting trees and restoring forests—have turned the country’s land-use changes into a significant carbon sink, meaning more carbon is absorbed by the land than is emitted. From 1994 to 2018, China’s forests absorbed a substantial amount of carbon, aligning with the country's national greenhouse gas inventories.
 

The role of forestation in carbon neutrality: If China continues its afforestation efforts at the current rate, its forests could offset a significant portion of emissions that are difficult to reduce through other sectors, such as energy and industry. In fact, continued forestation could help China meet about one-third of the emissions that remain hard to abate by 2060.
 

Limits to carbon capture over time: However, the study also emphasizes that the carbon sequestration potential from forestation has its limits. As available land for new forests becomes scarce, the rate of carbon removal will slow. The study predicts that after the mid-century, the capacity of forests to capture carbon will begin to decline as land-use opportunities diminish.
 

Long-term strategies are crucial: The research highlights the need for sustained forestation efforts beyond 2035, when China’s current forestation targets are expected to be met. This continued expansion is crucial for maximizing the carbon removal potential of the LULUCF sector and ensuring that China stays on track for carbon neutrality.

What’s new in this research?
This study offers more precise estimates of China’s carbon removal from land-use changes by using an improved modeling approach. The researchers used a version of the OSCAR model specifically tailored for China (OSCAR-China) to better reflect the country’s land-use changes. This new model integrates both direct and indirect effects of land-use changes, offering a clearer picture of how much carbon China’s forests are actually capturing.

a. LULUCF Carbon Flux from 1980 to 2100
b. Multi-year Average LULUCF Carbon Flux from 1994 to 2018
c. Estimates of Forest Area in China Based on Different Data Sources

Significance:
The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers as they look to enhance China’s carbon sequestration strategies. While forestation is an important tool for reducing emissions, the study also stresses that China cannot rely solely on land-use changes to meet its carbon neutrality goal. Ongoing efforts across all sectors, including energy and industry, will be necessary to reduce emissions on a larger scale. Furthermore, the research underlines the importance of improving carbon accounting methods to ensure that land-based carbon sequestration is accurately measured.

The paper, titled “Future Land Carbon Removals in China Consistent with National Inventory,” was co-authored by He Yue, Assistant Researcher at Peking University, and Professors Piao Shilong and Thomas Gasser from IIASA.

Link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54846-2

*This article is featured in PKU News' "Why It Matters" series. More from this series.

Written by: Baorui
Edited by: Niki Qiu

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-024-54846-2 

Article Title

Future land carbon removals in China consistent with national inventory

 

PKU scientists reveals phenological divergence between plants and animals under climate change

Peking University

Peking University, December 19, 2024:  A collaborative study led by Piao Shilong’s team and Zhang Yao’s team from the Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Peking University reveals the distinct mechanisms by which plants and animals respond to climate change in their life-cycle phenology. This research provides comprehensive global-scale evidence on the asynchronous phenological changes between plants and animals.
 

Why it matters: 

Climate change has altered the timing of recurring biological cycles in both plants and animals. Asynchrony in phenological changes between plants and animals can disrupt trophic interactions, such as food chains, and ultimately threaten ecosystem stability and functionality. While numerous phenological observations have been documented for plants and animals, most studies have been limited to regional or national scales. This research synthesizes phenological observations on a globe scale, offering critical insights into the impact of climate change on phenological synchrony across landscapes. 

 

Key Findings:

The research team compiled a global phenological dataset, encompassing 451,956 plant phenological time series (covering 1,629 species or genera across 248 events) and 43,857 animal phenological time series (covering 949 species or genera across 432 events).

The later the plant phenophase, the more it advances over time: Analysis indicates that plant phenophases during spring and summer predominantly advanced with shortened intervals between consecutive events. Nearly 30% of spring-summer phenological shifts in plants are influenced by prior events, creating a time-dependent response where warming effects accumulate and amplify over seasons.

Animals show less pronounced observation on phenological changes at the start of the active season tahn for plants: Animals show no consistent time-dependent trends across different phenological events. The first occurrences of Aves, Mammalia and Amphibia are delayed at various rates, while that for Insecta exhibits a slight advancement rate. These shifts are much weaker than spring leafing or flowering of plants.

Temporal dependency of phenophases in plants: The research found a strong temporal linkage between neighbouring plant phenophases during spring and summer, with a clear trend towards shortening of intervals, potentially due to the increased plant productivity caused by warming and carbon dioxide fertilization, shortening the time required to produce foliage, flowers or fruits.

 

Significance: 

This study underscores the intrinsic connections between phenological events in plants and the contrasting mechanisms in animals, shedding light on the increasing asynchrony caused by climate change. The overall advancement of late-season phenophases for plants is more significant than that for animals. Such discrepancies may indicate different (relative importance of) external and internal drivers for plant and animal phenology. The findings provide a new perspective for understanding trophic-level mismatches and predicting ecosystem stability under ongoing global warming.

The paper, titled “Phenological divergence between plants and animals under climate change”, was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Lang Weiguang , a postdoctoral researcher at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, is the first author. Piao Shi-Long and Zhang Yao are co-corresponding authors. 

Link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02597-0

*This article is featured in PKU News' "Why It Matters" series. More from this series.

Written by: Wu You
Edited by: Aden Tan
Source: PKU News (Chinese)

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Journal

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-024-02597-0 

Article Title

Phenological divergence between plants and animals under climate change

 

New research about drought impacts on wildlife can inform conservation strategies

Animals may endure three-year droughts nearly seven times more often.

USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station

 

image: 

A giant kangaroo rat, rescued and safely released by a permit-holder during a PG&E pipeline excavation project. Giant kangaroo rats are native to dry habitats in CA and adapted to short droughts, though multi-year droughts can cause populuations to plummet. Increased drought adds to conservation concerns for this endangered species.  

view more 

Credit: Ryan Donnelly

FORT COLLINS, Colo., December 11, 2024 — People around the world are dealing with drought, so it’s not shocking that it affects wildlife, too: lack of moisture contributes to habitat loss, affects how animals compete for resources, and leads to dehydration and heat stress. The surprising part? The extreme degree to which many animals may need to adapt.

New research predicts that many wildlife species in the continental United States will experience year-long droughts nearly five times as often in the coming decades (2050-2080) than they did historically (1950-2005). In an even more dramatic turn of events, three-year droughts may become nearly seven times more frequent.

“The degree of increased drought exposure for each species in our analysis strongly depends on future greenhouse gas concentrations,” said Dr. Merijn van den Bosch, the lead author of the study. “But even under a lower-concentration scenario, virtually all vertebrates face increased year-long and multi-year droughts in the second half of this century. The implications will depend on the species and the length of the drought.”

For example, the endangered giant kangaroo rat, which is native to dry habitats in California, has adapted to occasional short droughts. However, populations can plummet after multi-year droughts, compounding existing threats, including a loss of nearly all their historic habitat. This study shows that much of the remaining giant kangaroo rat range soon could face these longer droughts much more often. “That does not bode well for this already-endangered species,” said van den Bosch.

Likewise, the ranges of many game species whose populations are not currently at risk—including certain ducks and other waterfowl and ungulates like elks—also will face more frequent year-long and three-year droughts in the future. This trend could have implications for wildlife and game management.

Scientists aimed to identify areas with both high biodiversity and large predicted increases in drought to provide information about places where adaptive water management or habitat restoration could benefit the most wildlife species. They used state-of-the-art modeling techniques to predict future scenarios based on six different projections of temperature and moisture conditions. Then, they compared the frequency of observed and projected drought exposure to the range maps of 349 birds, 339 mammals, 280 amphibians, and 253 reptile species and created regional summaries.

It turned out, after they adjusted for land area, that the southwestern United States had the highest number of different species, the highest number of drought-threatened species, and the highest predicted change in drought exposure. “Some of the areas expected to see the greatest increase in drought, such as the southwestern U.S., are already quite dry,” said Dr. Zack Steel. “Many species living in these regions are adapted to periodic droughts, but the concern is that if they are already near the limit of what they can tolerate, the large increase in drought we’re expecting can have grave consequences for these ecosystems and the wildlife that depend on them.”

This research was led by Dr. Merijn van den Bosch, post-doctoral scientist at Colorado State University and the Rocky Mountain Research Station, along with senior author, Dr. Zack Steel, a research ecologist with the Rocky Mountain Research Station. Additional coauthors of this research include Dr. Jennifer Costanza from the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Research Station, Dr. Ryan Peek from California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Dr. John Mola from Colorado State University. For more information, please visit the scientific publication in Communications Earth & Environment.

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Journal

Communications Earth & Environment

DOI

10.1038/s43247-024-01880-z 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Climate change scenarios forecast increased drought exposure for terrestrial vertebrates in the contiguous United States

Anthropologists call for tracking and preservation of human artifacts on Mars

University of Kansas

 

image: 

Map of Mars illustrating the fourteen missions to Mars, key sites, and examples of artifacts contributing to the development of the archaeological record: (B) Viking-1 lander; (C) trackways created by NASA’s Perseverance rover; (D) Dacron netting used in thermal blankets, photographed by NASA’s perseverance rover using its onboard Front Left
Hazard Avoidance Camera A; (E) China’s Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover in southern Utopia Planitia photographed by HiRISE; (F) the ExoMars Schiaparelli Lander crash site in Meridiani Planum; (G) Illustration of the Soviet Mars Program’s Mars 3 space probe; (H) NASA’s Phoenix
lander with DVD in foreground.

view more 

Credit: Justin Holcomb

LAWRENCE — Are human spacecraft, landers, rovers and other space-exploration debris little more than trash littering the surface of Mars, or the modern equivalent of Clovis points — treasured artifacts marking Homo sapiens’ lust for new frontiers?

New scholarship by University of Kansas anthropologist Justin Holcomb argues physical artifacts of human Martian exploration deserve cataloging, preservation and care in order to chronicle humanity’s first attempts at interplanetary exploration.

The paper, “Emerging Archaeological Record of Mars,” appears today in the peer reviewed journal Nature Astronomy.

“Our main argument is that Homo sapiens are currently undergoing a dispersal, which first started out of Africa, reached other continents and has now begun in off-world environments,” Holcomb, its lead author, said. “We've started peopling the solar system. And just like we use artifacts and features to track our movement, evolution and history on Earth, we can do that in outer space by following probes, satellites, landers and various materials left behind. There's a material footprint to this dispersal.”

Much as archaeologists use “middens” (or, ancient garbage dumps) to reveal secrets of past societies here on Earth, Holcomb argues that much of the material deemed “space trash” actually has great archaeological and environmental value.

“These are the first material records of our presence, and that's important to us,” he said. “I've seen a lot of scientists referring to this material as space trash, galactic litter. Our argument is that it's not trash; it's actually really important. It's critical to shift that narrative towards heritage because the solution to trash is removal, but the solution to heritage is preservation. There's a big difference.”

The KU researcher argues future missions to Mars and other planets must consider potential archaeological damage at landing locations and other sites where human exploration is planned.

NASA Mars Curiosity's view of Martian soil and boulders after crossing the "Dingo Gap" sand dune. Photo courtesy NASA.

“Missions to other planets must consider this in their planning,” Holcomb said. “They won't land in areas that could disturb these sites. They'll think about them differently than just trash lying around. That's probably the main thing. From an academic perspective — which is what these papers aim to address — what are the implications? We need to track our species' movements through space and time, and we do that through stratigraphy.”

Holcomb’s co-authors were Beth L. O’Leary of New Mexico State University; Alberto Fairén of Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain, and Cornell University; KU’s Rolfe Mandel; and Karl Wegmann of North Carolina State University.

Holcomb’s argument for safekeeping traces of human exploration on other planets builds on earlier work, where he argued for declaration of a “lunar anthropocene” — or age of human dominion over the moon’s landscape.

“On the moon, we argued we could create an anthropocene — a human age,” he said. “On Mars, we don't think there's an anthropocene, but there is an archaeological record that needs to be a stratigraphic horizon, allowing us to place this material into a framework. And of course, we could do this across the solar system.”

The KU researcher traces the origin of human alteration of the Martian landscape to the crash landing of the Soviet Union’s Mars 2 rover in 1971. 

Postage stamp from Soviet Union commemorating its 1971 Mars 2 mission, the first time humans launched an object to reach the Martian surface.   

“The Mars 2 crash represents one of the first times our species touched another planet — not a celestial body, because that was the moon,” Holcomb said. “But the Mars 2 crash is the first time our species left a preserved imprint on the surface of another planet.”

While anthropologists have some grasp of how climate and geology contribute to the degradation of artifacts on Earth, the otherworldly environments of planets like Mars are sure to affect how quickly and severely artifacts experience damage by cosmic energies, winds, water and soil. These Martian processes are little understood presently.

“That field is called geoarchaeology — specifically, the field that studies geological effects on archaeological materials,” Holcomb said. “Planetary geoarchaeology is a future field for sure, and we need to consider the materials not only on Mars in general but also in various places on Mars, which have different processes. For example, Mars has a cryosphere in the northern and southern latitudes, so ice action there will increase the alteration of materials much more rapidly. With Mars’ iron-rich sands — what happens when materials get buried? The most obvious issue is burial by large dune sands. Mars has global dust storms, which are unique. A single storm can literally travel across the entire globe. On top of that, there are local dust storms. The Spirit Rover, for example, is right next to an encroaching dune field that will eventually bury it. Once it's buried, it becomes very difficult to relocate.”

Holcomb advocates establishing methodology for tracking and cataloguing human material on Mars and subsequent planets humans might visit, perhaps via an already existing database like the U.N. Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

“If this material is heritage, we can create databases that track where it’s preserved, all the way down to a broken wheel on a rover or a helicopter blade, which represents the first helicopter on another planet,” Holcomb said. “These artifacts are very much like hand axes in East Africa or Clovis points in America. They represent the first presence, and from an archaeological perspective, they are key points in our historical timeline of migration.”

---

Journal

Nature Astronomy

DOI

10.1038/s41550-024-02439-w 

Panamanians protest ‘public enemy’ Trump’s canal threat

By AFP
December 24, 2024

Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama - Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO

Protesters in Panama on Tuesday burned an image of US President-elect Donald Trump following his threat to demand control of the Panamanians protest ‘public enemy’ Trump’s canal threat

ByAFPPublishedDecember 24, 2024

Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama

Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama - Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO

Protesters in Panama on Tuesday burned an image of US President-elect Donald Trump following his threat to demand control of the country’s interoceanic canal be returned to Washington.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and “Get out invading gringo,” as about 20 police officers guarded the compound.

Some in the crowd carried banners reading “Donald Trump, public enemy of Panama.”

“The (Panamanian) people have shown that they are capable of recovering their territory and we are not going to give it up again,” protester Jorge Guzman told AFP.

The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.

“Panama is a sovereign territory and the canal here is Panamanian,” said Saul Mendez, the leader of a construction union that jointly organized the protest.

“Donald Trump and his imperial delusion cannot claim even a single centimeter of land in Panama,” Mendez added.

Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.

If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.

The status of the canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the Central American country.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/business/panamanians-protest-public-enemy-trumps-canal-threat/article#ixzz8vXcoBgg3country’s interoceanic canal be returned to Washington.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and “Get out invading gringo,” as about 20 police officers guarded the compound.

Some in the crowd carried banners reading “Donald Trump, public enemy of Panama.”

“The (Panamanian) people have shown that they are capable of recovering their territory and we are not going to give it up again,” protester Jorge Guzman told AFP.

The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.

“Panama is a sovereign territory and the canal here is Panamanian,” said Saul Mendez, the leader of a construction union that jointly organized the protest.

“Donald Trump and his imperial delusion cannot claim even a single centimeter of land in Panama,” Mendez added.

Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.

If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.

The status of the canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the Central American country.

Panama leaders past and present reject Trump’s threat of Canal takeover

By AFP
December 24, 2024


The Panama Canal is owned and operated by the Central American nation, but US President-elect Donald Trump has made waves about excessive shipping fees and has threatened to demand control of the vital waterway be returned to Washington - Copyright Panama Canal Authority/AFP/File Handout

The status of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the country, after Donald Trump’s recent threats to reclaim the man-made waterway.

The US president-elect on Saturday had slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.

Mulino dismissed Trump’s comments Sunday, saying “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama”.

He reiterated Monday in a statement — also signed by former presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos and Mireya Moscoso — that “the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable.”


Panama took full control of the Canal in 1999 – Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO

The canal “is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” read the statement, which the four politicians had signed after a meeting at the seat of the Panamanian government.

“Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag.”

Former leader Laurentino Cortizo, who did not attend the meeting, also showed support for the statement on social media, as did ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal carries five percent of the world’s maritime trade. Its main users are the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.

It was completed by the United States in 1914, and then returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.

Panama took full control in 1999.

Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump’s sights

By AFP
December 23, 2024

A cargo ship passes through the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI
Juan José Rodríguez

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, complaining of “unfair” treatment of American ships and hinting at China’s growing influence.

Here are five things to know about the waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

– Panamanian operated –



The 80-kilometer (50-mile) interoceanic waterway is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous public entity.

The Central American nation’s constitution describes the canal as an “inalienable heritage of the Panamanian nation” that is open to vessels “of all nations.”

The United States is its main user, accounting for 74 percent of cargo, followed by China with 21 percent.

Panama’s government sets the price of tolls based on canal needs and international demand. Rates depends on a vessel’s cargo capacity.

“The canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union, nor the United States or any other power,” Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said Sunday as he dismissed Trump’s threat.

All vessels, including warships and submarines, are given a Panama Canal pilot.



– National history –



Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903 is linked to the canal.

Following the failure of French count Ferdinand de Lesseps to open a channel through the isthmus, the United States promoted the separation of the province of Panama and signed a treaty with the nascent country that ceded land and water in perpetuity to build it.

After 10 years of construction and an investment of $380 million, the canal was inaugurated on August 15, 1914 with the transit of the steamer Ancon.

Some 25,000 deaths from disease and accidents were recorded during its construction.

The canal “is part of our history” and “an irreversible achievement,” Mulino said.



– American enclave –



Washington’s establishment of a “Canal Zone” — an enclave with its own military bases, police and justice system — gave rise to decades of demands by Panamanians to reunify the country and take control of the waterway.

In 1977, Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos and US president Jimmy Carter signed treaties that allowed the canal to be transferred to Panama on December 31, 1999.

“Any attempt to reverse this historic achievement not only dishonors our struggle, but is also an insult to the memory of those who made it possible,” former president Martin Torrijos, the general’s son, wrote on social media.

Under the treaties, supported by more than 40 countries, the canal is deemed neutral and any ship can pass through.

The only conditions are that ships must comply with safety regulations and military vessels from countries at war must not pass through at the same time.



– System of locks –



Unlike Egypt’s Suez Canal, the Panama Canal operates using freshwater stored in two reservoirs.

A drought led to a reduction in the number of transits in 2023, but the situation has since normalized.

The canal, which has a system of locks to raise and lower vessels, transformed global shipping.

Crafts can travel between the two oceans in about eight hours without having to sail all the way around Cape Horn, the southern tip of the Americas.

The canal allows a ship to shave 20,300 kilometers off a journey from New York to San Francisco.



– Cash cow –



Five percent of world maritime trade passes through the canal, which connects more than 1,900 ports in 170 countries.

By the early 21st century, it had become too small, so it was expanded between 2009 and 2016.

Today, the canal can accommodate ships up to 366 meters long and 49 meters wide (1,200 feet by 161 feet) — equivalent to almost four football pitches.

It generates six percent of Panama’s national economic output and since 2000 has pumped more than $28 billion into state coffers.

More than 11,200 ships transited the canal in the last fiscal year carrying 423 million tons of cargo.

‘Go to hell’: Trump melts down at Canada and Panama in ‘Merry Christmas’ post

Erik De La Garza
December 25, 2024 


Donald Trump wished a “Merry Christmas to all” on Wednesday, but the merriment took a sharp turn as the president-elect quickly let loose on a wide range of Christmas Day grievances.

“Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in 'repair' money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything,’” Trump wrote Wednesday afternoon on his Truth Social platform.

He next shifted his attention to Canada, the “Radical Left Lunatics” and the group of federal inmates whose sentences this week were commuted by President Joe Biden – who was also a target of Trump’s rage.

“Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!...”

He continued in a follow-up post:

“Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME,” Trump told his followers. “They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. “Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden."

Trump went on to say, “I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky ‘souls’ but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

Biden for his part sent out his own Christmas Day message to his social media followers for the last time as president, where he wrote: “it's my honor to wish all of America a very Merry Christmas.”

“My hope for our nation, today and always, is that we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency," Biden wrote. “May God bless you all.”

‘Make America Skate Again’: MAGA world cheers as Trump urges ally to replace Trudeau

TRUMP HATES TRUDEAU BECAUSE HE IS BETTER LOOKING

Erik De La Garza
December 25, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump talks with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Plenary Session at the NATO summit in Watford, Britain, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

President-elect Donald Trump unwrapped a Christmas Day flood of reaction after he continued his revived feud with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by urging the Canadian people to start a movement to draft hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to replace him.

Trump took to his Truth Social platform Wednesday to say he told the Canadian hockey great that he should run for prime minister of Canada during a Christmas Day visit.

“I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles,” Trump posted Wednesday. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada - You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’ He had no interest, but I think the people of Canada should start a DRAFT WAYNE GRETZKY Movement. It would be so much fun to watch!”

Trump’s suggestion that Gretzky – a MAGA ally who spent election night at the incoming president’s Mar-A-Lago golf resort – run for prime minister was heaped with praise from MAGA world but raised eyebrows from curious onlookers.

“I can't be mad that Wayne Gretzky just had his Christmas ruined,” former journalist James McLeod wrote on Bluesky. “This sort of suggests that Trump is basically unaware and/or indifferent to the existence of Pierre Poilievre,” he said about the conservative Canadian politician.

“I know Donald Trump claims he doesn’t drink but babbling about Wayne Gretzky makes me think otherwise,” artist Art Candee wrote to her social media followers. “Did someone slip him a pot brownie?”

“The president-elect is spending his Christmas trolling Canadians by suggesting they make Wayne Gretzky their ‘governor,’ freelance journalist Justin Ling wrote on Bluesky.

But the feelings of many others were encapsulated by X user redsnoopy69, who told his over 17,000 X followers: “Wayne Gretzky was a great hockey player, but he is currently a terrible Canadian...”

“Make America Skate Again,” proclaimed another X user. “Donald Trump cheerleading for ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to stand as Governor of Canada. Oh sweet Moses.”

Trudeau and the country he leads have remained the subject of Trump’s taunts in recent weeks, with Trump repeatedly suggesting Canada become a U.S. state, and promising to impose massive new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China goods that experts have said would be “damaging” to Ottawa, the Toronto CityNews reported.

Trump's 'deeply weird' Greenland obsession exposed by columnist

Brad Reed
December 24, 2024 

RAW STORY


Donald Trump speaks at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

With President-elect Donald Trump once again making noise about seizing Greenland from Denmark, MSNBC columnist Hayes Brown decided to examine the origins of Trump's years-long fixation on buying the large ice-covered territory.

After reviewing past reports on Trump national security officials' interactions with him during his first term about Greenland, Hayes finds that Trump seems to simply covet Greenland because it's a large piece of land.

In fact, Trump is directly quoted by reporters Susan Glasser and Peter Baker as saying of Greenland, "I love maps. And I always said: ‘Look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States.’”

Taking stock of this, Hayes comes away unimpressed with Trump's geopolitical acumen.

"As tends to be the case with Trump, the real answer is both entirely on-brand and deeply weird," writes Brown. "Even if Trump really did come up with the idea of buying Greenland himself as he claimed, the motivation of 'it’s massive' doesn’t speak highly of his strategic vision for the United States — or his own business sense as a developer."

Hayes then adds that, were Trump to get serious about taking Greenland for the United States, it would likely not end well for him.

"It’s especially fitting that a real estate developer whose properties have declared bankruptcy multiple times is besotted with this particular landmass," he writes. "Greenland is one of the oldest bait-and-switch real estate cons in the book, named to encourage settlement on what is a mostly barren expanse of ice. And, as any cartography fan would tell you, the way Greenland looks on most common maps is extremely misleading thanks to the distortion needed to make a globe flat. Instead, the island — while still huge — isn’t quite as massive as Trump seems to think."

Read the full analysis here.

Review: ‘Nosferatu’ exquisitely delivers its vision of darkness

By Sarah Gopaul
December 24, 2024

DIGITAL JOURNAL

A scene from 'Nosferatu' courtesy of Focus Features

‘Nosferatu’ is an impressive adaptation that uses dramatic cinematography to generate an intensely striking Gothic horror picture.

Vampire lore has existed in some form for centuries. Superstitions and fairy tales warned of monsters that hunt at night and feed off the blood of their victims. The legends told of protections that ranged by region and time, including crucifixes, garlic and iron or wooden stakes. Bram Stoker was inspired by these stories and the specific legend of Vlad the Impaler when he wrote Dracula more than a century ago. His book presented one of the first romantic representations of the bloodsucker, inspiring countless other tales and adaptations, though vampires have evolved even further over time. Nosferatu is a return to the monsters of old.

Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) are newly wed and madly in love. But the young bride spent much of her life plagued by nightmares until she met her husband. Yet, in spite of Ellen’s protests, Thomas agrees to a long journey that will secure his position in a law firm. His task is to deliver legal documents to Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), a mysterious eccentric who lives in an isolated castle feared by locals. His departure causes Ellen’s melancholy to return, which is eventually diagnosed as a curse by Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe). At the same time, a series of horrific events signal the presence of evil — and it wants Ellen.

Initially captivated by Max Schreck’s portrayal in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film of the same name, director Robert Eggers spent several years thinking about his own version of the movie. Inspired by the actor’s unique interpretation and the stark aesthetic, he would adapt the silent picture more than a century after its original release. While Eggers’ translation is a clear representation of his style, he also skillfully incorporates elements of German Expressionism. Most notably, his expert use of shadow and light is not just a means of hiding evil, but of articulating it. The audience’s first introduction to Orlok is as a shade cast over Ellen. In addition, the scenes are carefully framed, creating depth and full use of the space. This, along with the contrasts produce a stunning picture, beginning in the film’s opening moments and continuing to its last.

Skarsgård is becoming a character actor, taking on these distinctive villains and losing himself behind their daunting façades. Even though Orlok does not have a lot of screen time, his presence looms over the whole picture — and the scenes in which he is physically present are unnerving. Eggers makes specific efforts to focus on unsettling aspects of Orlok’s appearance via close-ups, particularly concentrating on his unusually long fingernails and unsightly features. Dafoe reunites with Eggers to play another eccentric, consulted because of his offending interest in the occult. Simon McBurney’s portrayal of Thomas’ boss is even more bizarre as he takes on the Renfield-inspired character with maniacal fervour. Meanwhile, Hoult — who also starred in Renfield as the comedy’s title character opposite Nicolas Cage’s vampire — is a lover turned fighter after barely clinging to life to warn Ellen of Orlok’s interest in her. For her part, Depp is outstanding as a young woman haunted by nightmares that prove real, going from hysterical to formidable from one scene to the next.

Nosferatu was inspired by Stoker’s Dracula, so the story will seem familiar in spite of the different character names. But it’s also an exceptional and unique retelling, featuring a distinct vision, committed actors and striking cinematography.

Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård

Demand for Japanese content booms post ‘Shogun’


By AFP
December 24, 2024


The critical and commercial success of TV's 'Shogun' has helped spark a new wave of Japanese content being developed for global consumption - Copyright AFP/File Michael Tran

Mathias CENA

Fuelled in part by the success of TV hit “Shogun”, foreign studios are hungry for quality Japanese content and local creators are adapting to meet demand.

Fans of Japanese manga and anime cartoons have often criticised foreign adaptations that are unfaithful to the original material.

But “Shogun”, based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke the mould when the period drama series — mostly in Japanese and hailed for its authenticity — won 18 Emmy awards in September.

Other recent Japanese works have also become worldwide hits.

Franco-US-Japanese show “Drops of God”, based on a manga of the same name, won best drama series at the International Emmy Awards in November.

Netflix’s 2023 adaptation of the manga superhit “One Piece” — starring Mexican actor Inaki Godoy as the lead — was hailed by viewers and critics alike and will return for a second season.

More adaptations of major manga and anime hits are in the works, including the superhero adventures of “My Hero Academia” and the ninja escapades of “Naruto”.

“Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing,” said Kaori Ikeda, managing director at TIFFCOM, the content trade fair affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival.

But Japanese companies lack “know-how” when it comes to things like negotiating rights, she told AFP.

So TIFFCOM has organised Tokyo Story Market, a space to facilitate networking and meetings between international producers and Japanese publishers.

– ‘Whitewashing’ –

Foreign studios are also getting better at avoiding some of the pitfalls of the past, such as the 2017 film version of the manga “Ghost in the Shell” starring Scarlett Johansson.

Critics accused the movie, whose main actors except Takeshi Kitano were all non-Japanese, of “whitewashing”.

Similarly, the 2017 supernatural thriller “Death Note” was panned for veering too far from the original manga.

“Manga authors are highly respected and fan communities are very vigilant,” said Klaus Zimmermann, producer of “Drops of God”.

His adaptation takes some liberties, such as starring a French actor as one of the main characters, but Zimmermann insists it was developed in collaboration with the authors of the original manga.

“It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it,” he told AFP.

Yuki Takamatsu, a rights negotiator at the manga’s publishing house Kodansha, said the process of adapting “Drops of God” was “amazing”.

“Everyone was open to tackling those challenges together… At every step, everyone was understanding about how we should do it,” he said.

Past failures were in part down to publishers struggling to communicate their wishes to foreign producers, who in turn lacked a proper understanding of manga and anime, Takamatsu said.

“Back just 15, 20 years ago, most of the enquiries we received from those big studios were like, hey, I know ‘Dragon Ball’, do you have ‘Dragon Ball’ IP?” Takamatsu told AFP.

“But nowadays, especially since Covid, the producers in their 30s, 40s, they watch anime together with their kids on Netflix or Amazon” and then reach out, he said.

– Japanese TV goes global –

Japanese broadcasters have also become “better and better (at) presenting and marketing their content” abroad, said Makito Sugiyama, executive director at the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ).

This includes their participation at global events such as MIPCOM in Cannes, an annual trade show for the television industry, Sugiyama said.

Japanese broadcasters have long had success selling show concepts abroad, like the one for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, known in Britain as “You’ve Been Framed”.

Now, some Japanese dramas are also finding a wider echo abroad.

Nippon TV’s original drama “Mother” became a hit thanks in part to its Turkish remake, and has been broadcast in around 50 countries.

Western viewers have overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors, believes Masaru Akiyama, chief executive of the BEAJ.

“They have got used to it, they don’t care anymore. They want to see, they want to feel the stories.”

“Shogun” was “a game changer for Japan,” he added, and Ikeda agrees.

“That a samurai story with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential” of Japanese content, she said

NOT A DEMOCRACY

Pakistan military convicts 60 more civilians of pro-Khan unrest


By AFP
December 26, 2024

Fresh pro-Khan unrest gripped the streets of the capital Islamabad last month - Copyright AFP/File Aamir QURESHI
Shrouq TARIQ

Pakistan military courts have sentenced 60 more civilians for taking part in pro-Imran Khan unrest last year, the armed forces said Thursday, after international outcry over earlier announced convictions.

Ex-prime minister Khan was arrested in May last year after being ousted from office and mounting an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the nation’s powerful military leaders.

His detention over graft allegations sparked nationwide unrest, some targeting armed forces installations.

The military — which has ruled Pakistan directly for decades at a time and still wields enormous influence — said last summer it would try the accused in court martials closed to the public.

The process was largely opaque until Saturday, when the military announced the first 25 convictions — prompting condemnation from the United States, European Union and United Kingdom.

“These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Announcing 60 more convictions on Thursday, the military said the court martials had now concluded.

All of the 85 men were sentenced to between two and 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment”. The military did not make clear what their convictions were, listing only the location of their offences.

“The Nation, Government, and the Armed Forces remain steadfast in their commitment to upholding justice and ensuring that the inviolable writ of the state is maintained,” a military statement said.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said his nephew was among the men whose convictions were announced on Thursday, and that he was sentenced to a decade in prison.

“Conducting trials in military courts has undermined the fundamental rights of citizens,” Khan said, according to a summary of a conversation he had with lawyers and press inside jail, released on X.



– Broadsides from abroad –



The UK government said on Monday that Pakistan’s decision to convict civilians in army courts “lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial”.

The European Union said Pakistan is reneging on its international rights obligations, which guarantee legal judgements are made public.

But Islamabad’s foreign ministry spokeswoman on Thursday rejected the criticism, saying “Pakistan’s constitution and legal systems have the capacity to resolve any issues that arise internally”.

Former cricket star Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted by parliament in a no-confidence vote.

Khan’s May 2023 detention lasted a matter of days but he was re-arrested three months later and has remained imprisoned since, facing a parade of court cases he claims are politically motivated.

The 72-year-old was barred from running in February elections which were marred by rigging allegations.

Meanwhile, PTI was targeted by a sweeping crackdown following the unrest, with thousands of grassroots supporters and senior officials arrested.

A coalition of parties considered close to the military establishment emerged as the new government.

Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN

– ‘Targeting the most vulnerable’ –

By AFP
December 23, 2024

Police forces take part in an operation against powerful gangs in the city center near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on July 9, 2024 - Copyright AFP Clarens SIFFROY

A massacre of more than 200 people in Haiti this month followed a gang-ordered manhunt that saw victims, many of them elderly, pulled from their homes and shot or killed with machetes, the UN said Monday.

The victims were suspected of involvement in voodoo and accused by a gang leader of poisoning his child, with the suspects taken to a “training center” where many were dismembered or burned after being killed.

A civil society organization had said at the time that the gang leader was convinced his son’s illness was caused by followers of the religion.

“On the evening of December 6, (Micanor Altes) ordered the members of his gang — around 300 — to carry out a brutal ‘manhunt.’ They stormed into about ten alleys of the (Port-au-Prince) neighborhood and forcibly dragged the victims out of their homes,” said the report, authored jointly by the UN office in Haiti, BINUH, and the UN Human Rights Commissioner (OCHR).

In the days that followed, the gang returned to the neighborhood, abducting adherents from a voodoo temple, targeting individuals suspected of tipping off local media and slaughtering people seeking to escape.

Some of the bodies “were then burned with gasoline, or dismembered and dumped into the sea,” the report concluded.

A total of 134 men and 73 women were killed in total over six days, the report said.

– ‘Targeting the most vulnerable’ –

A mosaic of violent gangs control most of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. The impoverished Caribbean country has been mired for decades by political instability, made worse in recent years by gangs that have grown in strength and organizational sophistication.

Despite a Kenyan-led police support mission, backed by the United States and UN, violence has continued to soar.

“According to BINUH and OHCHR, since January 2024, more than 5,358 people have been killed and 2,155 injured,” the report said.

“This brings the total number of people killed or injured in Haiti to at least 17,248 since the beginning of 2022.”

The UN Security Council “strongly condemned the continued destabilizing criminal activities of armed gangs and stressed the need for the international community to redouble its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the population.”

A spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “these crimes touched the very foundation of Haitian society, targeting the most vulnerable populations.”

Voodoo was brought to Haiti by African slaves and is a mainstay of the country’s culture. It was banned during French colonial rule and only recognized as an official religion by the Haitian government in 2003.

While it incorporates elements of other religious beliefs, including Catholicism, voodoo has been historically attacked by other religions.