A decade after genocide, Iraq's Yazidis make bittersweet return to Sinjar

Issued on: 03/01/2025 - 
VIDEO 12:51 min

By: Marie-Charlotte ROUPIE
From the show

Ten years after the genocide perpetrated against the Yazidis by the Islamic State group in Iraq's Sinjar region, tens of thousands of displaced survivors are returning home. But their homecoming is bittersweet, as the atrocities have left indelible wounds. FRANCE 24's Marie-Charlotte Roupie reports.

On the morning of August 3, 2014, the Islamic State group launched a highly coordinated attack on the Yazidi community in the northwestern Iraqi region of Sinjar. Faced with this offensive, the population had few choices: convert, flee or die.

In the space of a few weeks, more than 5,000 people were killed, while the captured women and children were enslaved. Among them was Rayhan, now 24, who has finally found her brother again and settled with him in Sinjar. But this young Yazidi, like many survivors, is hoping to leave Iraq as soon as possible. In many villages, returning to live in this war-torn region of northwestern Iraq still means living among ruined houses, lunar landscapes and the sad memory of those who are gone.

A decade after the genocide, some 2,600 people are still missing and many mass graves have still not been excavated. Unanswered questions weigh heavily on those who have chosen to return home.

An estimated 350,000 Yazidis fled during the genocide. Since January 2024, between 130,000 and 150,000 of them have returned to Sinjar, amid pressure from Baghdad to close the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Although life is gradually returning to Sinjar, the fear of a new genocide still looms large and the wounds of 2014 are far from healed.

Watch more

'Sinjar, the Birth of Phantoms': Director Alexe Liebert on trauma of Yazidis

FLOATING BOMB SHIP

Ivory Coast's Abidjan on edge as ship loaded with volatile cargo nears port

A vessel loaded with 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate – the same chemical that left large parts of Beirut in ruins in an explosion in 2020 – is nearing the port of Abidjan. Campaigners have expressed concern about letting the ship unload its allegedly damaged cargo, but authorities say they have put measures in place to ensure the population’s safety.


Issued on: 05/01/2025
By: NEWS WIRES
A general view of the port of Abidjan on May 8, 2020. © Issouf Sanogo, AFP file photo


Officials at the Ivorian port of Abidjan said Saturday they were taking precautions ahead of the arrival of a ship carrying 20,000 tons of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate.

Campaigners have expressed concern about the condition of the cargo, which is arriving Monday on the Barbados-flagged Zimrida.

“Following allegations of damage to the cargo transported and as a precaution to protect the population and property”, the ship would remain in the outer harbour, said the port authority.

On Monday morning port and customs officials will meet with owners of both the cargo and the vessel to examine the situation in depth, the statement added.

The port is due to unload 3,000 tonnes of the controversial cargo.

Although normally used as an agricultural fertiliser, ammonium nitrate can also be used to make explosives.

It was an explosion of ammonium nitrate in Beirut that killed more than 220 people, injured at least 6,500 and devastated swathes of the Lebanese capital in 2020.
A long journey

It is not the first time this particular cargo has raised concerns.

Last August the Ruby, a Handymax bulk carrier, left Russia carrying the 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser.

Having left the port of Kandalaksha on August 22, it ran into a storm in the Barents Sea and limped, damaged, into the Norwegian port of Tromso for inspection.

But it was ordered to leave and proceed with the aid of a tug to another port elsewhere for repairs.

After being turned away by Lithuania – which wanted it to unload its volatile cargo before docking – it anchored off southeast England for several weeks.

In early December, French ecologist group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) and several British media reports said the cargo had been transferred to the Zimrida at the English port of Yarmouth.

Abidjan’s port authority said in its statement Saturday that it wanted to “reassure the Ivorian population that all merchandise entering or leaving the Ivorian ports is subject to strict checks”.

Many here still remember the August 2006 Probo Koala disaster.

Toxic residues on board the Panamanian-registered freighter arrived in Abidjan for treatment after the Dutch port of Amsterdam had refused to receive them.

An Ivorian sub-contractor dumped the waste on the city’s garbage sites and in at least 18 other locations.

Ivorian judges say that more than 500 cubic metres (18,000 cubic feet) of spent caustic soda, oil residues and water killed 17 people and poisoned thousands more.

(AFP)

MAKE A MASS CITIZEN ARREST

South Korean protesters face off in snowstorm over fate of impeached president

Thousands of South Koreans on Sunday braved heavy snow to rally for or against the country’s impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol, who is resisting arrest over his botched attempt to declare martial law. A warrant for his detenton expires on Monday.

 05/01/2025 - 
By: NEWS WIRES
Supporters of impeached South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol took part in a rally near his residence as snow fell. © Philip Fong, AFP


Thousands of South Koreans braved a snowstorm Sunday to rally in support or opposition of President Yoon Suk Yeol, suspended over a failed martial law bid and resisting arrest a day before the warrant expires.

Yoon plunged the country into political chaos last month with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in the presidential residence, surrounded by hundreds of loyal security officers.

An attempt to arrest him by investigators Friday failed when a tense six-hour standoff with his presidential security service ended over security fears, with his supporters also camped outside.

Read moreImpeached South Korean President Yoon is resisting arrest. What happens now?


Thousands descended on his residence again Sunday despite bitter snow conditions blanketing the capital -- with one camp demanding Yoon's arrest while the other called for his impeachment to be declared invalid.

"Snow is nothing for me. They can bring all the snow and we'll still be here," said anti-Yoon protester Lee Jin-ah, 28, who had previously worked at a coffee shop.

"I quit my job to come to protect our country and democracy," she said, adding that she had camped outside the residence overnight.

South Korea: a month of turmoil. © John Saeki, AFP

Park Young-chul, in his 70s, said the snowstorm wouldn't deter him from showing up to back Yoon before the warrant expires at midnight on Monday (1500 GMT).

"I went through war and minus 20 degrees in the snow to fight the commies. This snow is nothing. Our war is happening again," he told AFP.

The rallies in the cold come as Yoon this week said he was watching protests in support of his rule on a YouTube livestream, pledging to "fight" those trying to question his short-lived power grab.

-Prosecutors report ministers' pleas -

Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.

If the warrant is executed, Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.

A prosecutors' report for his former defence minister seen by AFP Sunday showed Yoon ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid.
A placard of impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol with horns is seen on an installation during a rally in Seoul. © Philip Fong, AFP

It said the country's then prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister all expressed reservations about the potential economic and diplomatic fallout in a cabinet meeting on the night of the decision.

The country's opposition Democratic Party called Saturday for the dissolution of the security service protecting Yoon.

Their announcement followed scenes of high drama on Friday, when hundreds of Yoon's guards and military troops shielded him from investigators who eventually called off the arrest attempt citing safety concerns.

The security service's top officials have refused police requests for questioning, citing the "serious nature" of protecting Yoon.

Blinken wades in

A staff member works at the Gwanghwamun gate during snowfall in Seoul. © Philip Fong. AFP

Late Sunday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Seoul, likely to wade into the crisis of a key security ally in talks Monday with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul.

Yoon's lawyers decried the warrant underpinning Friday's arrest attempt as "unlawful and invalid", and filed an objection to the Seoul court that issued it.

But the court told AFP Sunday the objection case was dismissed, saying the reasons could not be disclosed.

Yoon's lawyer said they would file another complaint against the head of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) that tried to arrest Yoon.

The president's legal team "intend to hold those who committed illegal acts strictly accountable under the law," Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement.

The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon's impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.

However the suspended leader plans to appear at "an appropriate session" of the trial's five hearings, lawyer Yoon said Sunday.

People hold placards reading 'Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol immediately' during a rally held to protest against the impeached South Korean president. © Philip Fong, AFP

South Korea's Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.

Until then, while suspended, Yoon holds the title of president.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.

(AFP) 

COLD WAR 2.0 SPURIOUS CLAIMS

China rejects accusations it targeted US Treasury in cyberattack

China on Tuesday rejected US accusations that it was behind a cyberattack targeting the Treasury, calling the claims “groundless”, lacking evidence. The breach occurred earlier in December and resulted in remote access to some of the department’s workstations.


31/12/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES
Video by: FRANCE 24

01:44

The US Treasury Department said on December 30, 2024, that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations.

 © Saul Loeb, AFP/ File picture

Beijing on Tuesday hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US Treasury Department, calling the claims “groundless”.

The Treasury said the attack resulted in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP.

According to the Treasury, the incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the workstations and some unclassified documents.

China denied the claims, with the foreign ministry saying Beijing “has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks, and we are even more opposed to the spread of false information against China for political purposes”.

“We have stated our position many times regarding such groundless accusations that lack evidence,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

The Treasury contacted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency after it was alerted of the situation by its provider BeyondTrust, and has been working with law enforcement to ascertain the impact.

“The compromised BeyondTrust service has been taken offline and there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” the department’s spokesperson said.

In its letter to the leadership of the Senate Banking Committee, the Treasury said: “Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor.”

An APT refers to a cyberattack where an intruder establishes and maintains unauthorised access to a target, remaining undetected for a sustained period of time.

The department did not provide further details on what was affected by the breach, but said more information would be released in a supplemental report at a later date.

“Treasury takes very seriously all threats against our systems, and the data it holds,” the spokesperson added.

Alarm over hacks


Several countries, notably the United States, have voiced alarm in recent years at what they say is Chinese-government-backed hacking activity targeting their governments, militaries and businesses.

Beijing rejects the allegations, and has previously said that it opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks.

In September, the US Justice Department said it had neutralised a cyber-attack network that affected 200,000 devices worldwide, alleging it was run by hackers backed by the Chinese government.

In February, US authorities also said they had dismantled a network of hackers known as “Volt Typhoon”.

The group was said to be targeting key public sector infrastructure like water treatment plants and transportation systems at the behest of China.

In 2023, tech giant Microsoft said Chinese-based hackers seeking intelligence information breached the email accounts of a number of US government agencies.

The group, Storm-0558, had breached email accounts at approximately 25 organisations and government agencies.

Accounts belonging to the State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were among those hacked in that breach.

(AFP)




Pro-Russian hackers target websites of several French cities
Europe

The websites of several French cities were taken down on Tuesday after being targeted by pro-Russian hackers. The NoName collective claimed the attacks, which they described as retaliation for French support for Ukraine.

 31/12/2024 
FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

File photo: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. © Kacper Pempel, Reuters

The internet sites of several French cities and at least one department were inaccessible Tuesday after a group of hackers claimed attacks they described as retaliation for French support for Ukraine.

At 1600 GMT, the sites of the cities of Marseille and Tarbes were down, as was the site of the department of Haute-Garonne.

The attacks were claimed on X by a hackers group calling themselves NoName, a collective already known for other attacks and for defending Russian points of view.

On their X account, the hackers claimed to have also attacked the sites of cities such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Pau, Nimes, Nice, Angers, Le Havre, and Montpellier, as well as the department of Les Landes, French Polynesia and New Caledonia, but there were all still operating Tuesday.

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, confirmed on X that the city's website had been targeted.

Marseille's town hall told AFP that the servers that host the city's websites had been subject to attacks that required them to enact "protection mechanisms that had the consequence of making them inaccessible".

The cities of Pau and Angers, as well as the Landes department, said they had not noticed any incidents.

DDoS attacks, or "distributed denial of service", are frequently used by NoName in a technique that involves saturating sites with a huge number of automatic requests that render them inoperable.

The attacks generally do not involve stealing data.

Benoit Grunemwald, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, said the goal appears to be propaganda by "creating an impression of a climate of digital insecurity".

(AFP)

'Shame': Sweden to Start New Year With Controversial Wolf Hunt


"The Swedish government since 2010 has been blatantly disregarding the wolf's special protection status, allowing a yearly licensed quota hunt and thereby breaking E.U. law," one campaigner said.


A wolf in Sweden sleeps on the ground in winter time.
(Photo: Daria Trefilova via iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Olivia Rosane
Jan 01, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Sweden is set to start a controversial wolf hunt on Thursday that could see its declining wolf population fall by another 8%.

The country has authorized the killing of 30 of the nation's 375 wolves—or five entire families—in a move that conservationists say is illegal under European Union law. Ultimately, the Swedish government wants to nearly halve the minimum number of wolves for "favorable conservation status" from 300 to 170.

'Imagine... the outcry if this were Sri Lanka killing leopards, or Botswana lions, both much trickier animals to live with," U.K. environmentalist Ben Goldsmith wrote on social media. "Shame, shame on Sweden."

"If Sweden, one of the richest countries in the world with a population of 10.5 million people, can't accept a population of 375 wolves, what hope is there for the planet's biodiversity?"

Under the Council of Europe's Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, or Bern Convention, countries must preserve the populations of protected species so that they remain above a sustainable level. However, Magnus Orrebrant, the chair of the Swedish Carnivore Association, toldThe Guardian that E.U. law has not meant much for Sweden's wolves.

"The Swedish government since 2010 has been blatantly disregarding the wolf's special protection status, allowing a yearly licensed quota hunt and thereby breaking E.U. law," Orrebrant said. "We filed a formal complaint to the E.U. commission, leading to an infringement procedure against Sweden, as yet to no avail."

Excessive wolf hunting has been a problem in Sweden for decades, and was part of the reason that the country had no breeding population at all between 1966 and 1983. In addition, increased hunting slashed the population by nearly 20% between 2022 and 2023.

Beyond licensed hunts, Sweden's wolf population also faces pressure from poachers, according to conservation group Revolution Rov, with DNA evidence suggesting that up to 80 wolves are killed illegally each year.

"In many license hunting decisions on wolves in recent years, it has been argued that if legal hunting is allowed, illegal hunting will disappear, but that has not happened at all... Instead, even more wolves have had to die," the group wrote in a petition against 2024's hunt.

The group also wrote that Sweden's wolf population is genetically vulnerable, with many mating pairs being closely related. For the population to remain healthy, it needs an influx of new genes from wolves migrating from Finland or Russia, but these wolves are often killed before they can pair off.

Wildlife advocates outside of Sweden also criticized the 2025 hunt.

"I believe that one of the hallmarks of human progress is learning to coexist with other species that our ancestors once feared," wrote Wildlife Trusts CEO Craig Bennett on social media. "And sadly, it often feels like we still live in the Dark Ages."

Ecologist and conservationist Alan Watson Featherstone wrote: "I really do despair about humanity—we are such a selfish species. If Sweden, one of the richest countries in the world with a population of 10.5 million people, can't accept a population of 375 wolves, what hope is there for the planet's biodiversity?"

However, Sweden is not alone in Europe in its hostility to wolves. The Bern Convention in December accepted an E.U. proposal to lower the wolf's status from "strictly protected" to "protected." The decision followed complaints from farmers that the continent's rebounding wolf population was harming livestock, but conservationists say that allowing the killing of wolves will threaten the species in a vulnerable moment and is not the solution to livestock killings.

"The wolf is still endangered in many parts of Europe, and weakening its protection will only lead to further conflict and threaten its recovery," Ilaria Di Silvestre, regional director of policy at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, toldThe Associated Press in December.

The Bern Convention's decision, which will go into effect on March 7, will clear the way for the European Commission to alter its habitats directive for wolves to reflect their higher numbers in the mountains and forests of Scandinavia and Western Europe, which will then make it easier to approve more wolf killings.

"We are very critical to the path that the E.U. is now taking, downgrading the protection status of the wolf," Orrebrant told The Guardian. "If the E.U. follows up the latest Bern Convention decision by changing the wolf's protection status in the habitat directive, the result will be very negative not only for the wolves, but for all wildlife in Europe."

Humanity's Chance to Reverse Amazon's Slide Toward Tipping Point Is 'Shrinking'


The world's largest rainforest showed "ominous indicators," including wildfires and extreme drought, in 2024.

This aerial view shows Amazon forest degradation in the Menkragnoti Indigenous Territory in Altamira, Pará state, Brazil, on August 28, 2019.
(Photo: Joao Laet/AFP/Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 31, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The Amazon, sometimes called the "lungs of the planet," this year showed signs of further inching toward a much-feared tipping point, threatening the very existence of the world's largest rainforest.

Rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaged large parts of the Amazon in 2024. The fires and dry conditions were fueled by deforestation and the El Niño weather pattern, and also made worse by climate change, according to the World Economic Forum. "The number of fires reached its highest level in 14 years this September," the group reported in October.

Drought has also impacted the Amazon River, causing one of the river's main tributaries to drop to its lowest level ever recorded, according to October reporting from The Associated Press. The drop in the river has negatively impacted local economies and food supplies.

Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, told the AP last week that the fires and droughts experienced across the Amazon in 2024 "could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point."

"Humanity's window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open," he said.

The Amazon plays a vital role in keeping the planet healthy. 150-200 billion tons of carbon are stored in the Amazon, and it also carries 20% of the earth's fresh water to sea.

According to the World Economic Forum, if the Amazon tipping point is reached, "it will release billions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere through fires and plants dying off. This would further exacerbate climate change and make the 1.5°C goal impossible to achieve. It would also alter weather patterns, which would impact agricultural productivity and global food supplies."

A paper published in the journal Nature in February indicates that up to half of the rainforest could hit a tipping point by the middle of the century. "We estimate that by 2050, 10% to 47% of Amazonian forests will be exposed to compounding disturbances that may trigger unexpected ecosystem transitions and potentially exacerbate regional climate change," explained the researchers behind the paper.

However, it wasn't all bad news out of the Amazon in 2024. According to the AP, the amount of deforestation in Brazil and Colombia declined in this year. In Brazil, which houses the largest chunk of the Amazon, forest loss dropped 30.6% compared to the year prior, bringing it to the lowest level of destruction in nearly a decade.

The improvement is an about-face from a couple of years ago, when the country registered 15-year high of deforestation during the leadership of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil is now led by the left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who—despite presiding over this drop in deforestation—has also come under scrutiny, as APnoted, by environmentalist for backing projects that they argue could harm the environment.

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE 

Fury at Private Power Giant as Puerto Rico Suffers New Year's Eve Blackout

"People have been angry for a while now," said one San Juan resident. "This is just what we needed to end the year."

"LUMA needs to fix the grid or get the hell out of Puerto Rico."


People cross a dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a major power outage hit the island on December 31, 2024.
(Photo: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 31, 2024

COMMON DREAMS

The latest failure of Puerto Rico's privatized power grid on Tuesday plunged much of the island into darkness on New Year's Eve, sparking fresh anger toward the system's for-profit operators and political leaders who sold off the U.S. territory's public utility company.

Tuesday's outage left over a million people without power, according to local officials. LUMA Energy, the Canadian American firm in charge of power transmission and distribution on the island, said in an update posted to social media on Tuesday afternoon that it is "working closely with Genera PR and other generators to restore power as quickly and safely as possible."

Genera PR, a subsidiary of the New York-based gas company New Fortress, received a multimillion-dollar, decade-long contract last year to operate Puerto Rico's power generators. In 2021, Puerto Rico's government—under the leadership of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi—chose LUMA to take over the island's power transmission and distribution operations in the wake of Hurricane Maria. The 15-year contract agreement, when it was announced, was loudly decried by advocacy groups as "terrible."

"In its singular pursuit of American investors, the local government has ignored political protests and demonstrations, disregarded the concerns raised by opposition political parties, and ignored studies that caution against privatizing the public power utility," Pedro Cabán, a professor in the Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Department at the University at Albany, wrote for The American Prospect last year. "For many Puerto Ricans, the Pierluisi government seems intent on converting the archipelago into a dystopia for its people."

"LUMA has Puerto Rico in an energy stranglehold, and Puerto Ricans shouldn't have to put up with continued subpar service."

The Associated Pressquoted Puerto Ricans expressing their frustration over the New Year's Eve blackout, which came months after an outage left 350,000 people without power.

"It had to be on the 31st of December!" exclaimed a man identified as Manuel, who said Tuesday was his birthday. "There is no happiness."

AP noted that the latest blackout "fanned simmering anger against Luma and Genera PR... as a growing number of people call for their ouster."

Camille Rivera, founder of La Brega Y Fuerza—a New York-based advocacy group that works to organize Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland—said in a statement Tuesday that "LUMA needs to fix the grid or get the hell out of Puerto Rico."

“Almost 25 years into the 21st century, it is ridiculous that Puerto Rico's power grid has failed its people again," said Rivera. "Puerto Ricans deserve answers and accountability from LUMA for this latest fiasco."

"LUMA has Puerto Rico in an energy stranglehold, and Puerto Ricans shouldn't have to put up with continued subpar service," Rivera added. "In 2025, it should be out with the old and in with the new—we have to fundamentally address the energy crisis facing Puerto Rico, reevaluate Luma's role as an energy provider, and build more sustainable solutions."

Conservative Gov.-elect Jenniffer González Colón, who is set to take office on Thursday, wrote on social media that "we can't keep relying on an energy system that fails our people."

AP reported that the incoming governor has "called for the creation of an 'energy czar' to review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found."

Jeanette Ortiz, a resident of San Juan, toldThe Guardian on Tuesday that "the blackouts have been worse" since the privatization of the island's power grid.

"People have been angry for a while now," said Ortiz. "This is just what we needed to end the year."

Puerto Rico hit by New Year’s Eve blackout after power grid fails

A massive power outage hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early Tuesday as the US territory was preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve. The local energy distribution company blamed the blackout on the failure of an underground power line, with officials saying that it could take up to two days to restore power.


Issued on: 31/12/2024 
FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

Car headlights light up a dark street in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a major power outage hit the island on December 31, 2024. 

© Ricardo Arduengo, AFP


A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power.

The outage hit at dawn, plunging the island into an eerie silence as electrical appliances and air conditioners shut down before those who could afford generators turned them on.

“It had to be on the 31st of December!” exclaimed one man, who only gave his name as Manuel, as he stood outside a grocery store in the capital of San Juan, grumbling about the outage that coincided with his birthday. “There is no happiness.”

Nearly 90% of 1.47 million clients across Puerto Rico were left in the dark, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution.

Luma said in a statement that it appears the outage was caused by a failure of an underground power line, saying it is restoring power “in the quickest and safest way possible.” A Luma spokesman told The Associated Press that the incident was under investigation.

The blackout fanned simmering anger against Luma and Genera PR, which oversees the generation of power in Puerto Rico, as a growing number of people call for their ouster.

Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 2, has called for the creation of an “energy czar” to review potential Luma contractual breaches while another operator is found.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said he was in touch with Luma and Genera PR, adding on X that “we are demanding answers and solutions.”

Puerto Ricans began to plan ahead.

“I'll go to my balcony. That's where I'll sleep,” Raúl Pacheco said with a shrug, as the 63-year-old diabetic sat on a walker nursing an injured foot.

Lack of maintenance

Julio Córdova, a municipal worker, said he got dressed by the light of his cellphone and planned to buy candles.

“This affects me because I had plans. It couldn't have been yesterday or tomorrow?" he said, shaking his head as he raked leaves.

While blackouts are rare in Puerto Rico, the island struggles with chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017.

The system, however, was already in decline after years of lack of maintenance and investment.

Only recently did crews start making permanent repairs to Puerto Rico’s power grid following Hurricane Maria. The island continues to depend on generators provided by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to help stabilize the grid.

In November, Puerto Rico’s government asked U.S. officials for permission to keep using more than a dozen portable generators for two additional years.

Some Puerto Ricans took the latest outage in stride.

“They're part of my everyday life,” said Enid Núñez, 49, who said she ate breakfast before work thanks to a small gas stove she bought for such events.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority struggles to restructure more than $9 billion in debt, the largest of the island's government agencies.

(AP)

PRISON NATION U$A

Family of Robert Brooks Says Killing by Prison Guards Must Be 'Catalyst for Change'

"We are demanding that every single person, every single thug, that had anything to do with the death of Robert Brooks be fired and arrested," said one advocate.


Robert Brooks was pronounced dead on December 10, 2024, the day after he was beaten by several correctional officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, New York.
(Photo: screenshot)

Julia Conley
Dec 31, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

As family members and supporters held a vigil at Monroe County Jail in Rochester, New York, on Monday night, inmates in the prison cells above them flashed their lights on and off in solidarity with Robert Brooks, who suffered an apparently fatal beating at a facility more than 100 miles away earlier this month.

Body camera footage of Brooks being savagely beaten by 14 correctional officers and prison staffers at Marcy Correctional Facility was made public on Friday by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The video, which was taken on December 9 from body cameras worn by four of the staffers, showed officers choking Brooks, one person kicking him and forcing him onto an exam table, one punching his upper body, and two officers dragging his limp body over across the room and trying to hoist him up against a window.

 

Brooks, who was 43, was pronounced dead the following day at a hospital. An autopsy report has not yet been released. A preliminary report from the medical examiner's office showed "concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another."

At the rally on Monday, his son, Robert Brooks Jr., said Brooks "had a loving, generous heart and a special concern for young people" and said the family's "deepest wishes are that my father's death will not be in vain."

"His killing must be a catalyst for change," he said.

Brooks' father also spoke at the vigil, decrying the actions of both the people who beat his son and of a nurse at the facility who, according to the video, stood by and watched while the beating took place.

"When you have taken the law officers' oath of honor, the Hippocratic oath, or the Florence Nightingale Pledge for nurses, but you participate or sit idly by smiling and chatting as if this was just another day at the office, while a man is being beaten to death, that's evil," he said. "Between 2016 and 2019, approximately 15,679 fathers, daughters, mothers, and sons died in state prisons. They say 47% died from illnesses—I don't believe it. After watching that video, there is nothing they can tell me that I will believe."

Brooks was more than halfway through serving a 12-year sentence for assault, which he had been serving at nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility. He was moved to Marcy on the day of the attack, The New York Timesreported.

The Correctional Association of New York, the state's independent prison watchdog, completed a report on Marcy in 2022, finding that 70% of inmates reported racial bias among staff members. Brooks was Black and the officers in the video—like 91% of the prison's staff members, according to the 2022 report—were white.

Four out of five inmates reported having experienced or witness abuse my correctional officers or other staffers, with one saying physical abuse was "rampant" and reporting that an officer had told him Marcy was "a hands-on facility."

The Timesreported on Saturday that at least three of the guards implicated in Brooks' beating had previously been named in federal lawsuits filed by inmates who they attacked; one plaintiff was left using a wheelchair after the beating and another was disfigured.

Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney who is representing Brooks' family, told Rochester-based CBS affiliate that the reports about the officers raise "questions about you know whether there's a real cultural problem that's been allowed to fester at Marcy or sort of within the prison system in general."


"The way that Mr. Brooks was killed is just horrifying," she said. "It's terrible enough to lose a loved one, especially an incarcerated loved one when the family knows that they weren't with them during their final moments, but I think it's especially hard to know that you've lost a loved one this way—to this kind of senseless act of violence."

The family is planning to file a civil lawsuit in the future, Mazur said.

Rallies were also held to demand justice for Brooks in New York City, with supporters gathering outside Gov. Kathy Hochul's office.



"We are not going to sit down and just pray, and just hope," said Rev. Kevin McCall, a community activist. "We are demanding that every single person, every single thug, that had anything to do with the death of Robert Brooks be fired and arrested."

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Monday that 13 people involved in the attack have been suspended without pay, while one person has resigned.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

'Historic': NC Gov. Cooper Commutes 15 Death Sentences

Calling Cooper "courageous," executive director of the state's ACLU noted that with this decision, the Democrat "has commuted more death sentences than any governor in North Carolina's history."

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at a campaign rally in Raleigh on June 28, 2024.
(Photo: Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Jan 01, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Death penalty abolitionists are praising former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper for one of his final actions in office: The Democrat on Tuesday commuted the sentences of 15 men on death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Term-limited Cooper—who passed the torch to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein on Wednesday after eight years in office—announced the decision following a campaign by racial justice advocates and outgoing President Joe Biden's decision last week to commute the sentences of 37 people on federal death row to counter an expected killing spree under President-elect Donald Trump.

Although no executions have occurred in North Carolina in nearly two decades due to ongoing litigation, Cooper received clemency petitions from 89 of the 136 people on death row in the state, according to his office. After reviewing each case, the governor—who previously served as the state's attorney general for 16 years—granted 15.

"These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a governor can make, and the death penalty is the most severe sentence that the state can impose," Cooper said in a statement. "After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison."

Welcoming the announcement, Chantal Stevens, executive director of ACLU of North Carolina, said that "with this action, Gov. Cooper has commuted more death sentences than any governor in North Carolina's history and joins the ranks of a group of courageous leaders who used their executive authority to address the failed death penalty."

"We have long known that the death penalty in North Carolina is racially biased, unjust, and immoral, and the governor's actions today pave the way for our state to move towards a new era of justice," Stevens continued. "This historic decision, following President Biden's decision to commute the sentences of 37 people on federal death row, reflects growing recognition that the death penalty belongs in our past, not our future."

"With 121 people still on death row in our state, we know there is much more work to be done to realize that vision, and the ACLU of North Carolina will continue to advocate for the end of the death penalty once and for all," she added.

Stevens' group as well as the national ACLU's Capital Punishment Project, the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL), the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), and Durham attorney Jay H. Ferguson have represented Hasson Bacote, who brought the lead case challenging the death penalty under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act (RJA).

Bacote, a 38-year-old Black man convicted of first-degree murder in Johnston County in 2009, was among those who had their sentences commuted on Wednesday. According to Cooper's office, the other 14 men are:Iziah Barden, 67, convicted in Sampson County in 1999;
Nathan Bowie, 53, convicted in Catawba County in 1993;
Rayford Burke, 66, convicted in Iredell County in 1993;
Elrico Fowler, 49, convicted in Mecklenburg County in 1997;
Cerron Hooks, 46, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000;
Guy LeGrande, 65, convicted in Stanly County in 1996;
James Little, 38, convicted in Forsyth County in 2008;
Robbie Locklear, 52, convicted in Robeson County in 1996;
Lawrence Peterson, 55, convicted in Richmond County in 1996;
William Robinson, 41, convicted in Stanly County in 2011;
Christopher Roseboro, 60, convicted in Gaston County in 1997;
Darrell Strickland, 66, convicted in Union County in 1995;
Timothy White, 47, convicted in Forsyth County in 2000; and
Vincent Wooten, 52, convicted in Pitt County in 1994.

"We are thrilled for Mr. Bacote and the other... people on death row who had their sentences commuted by Gov. Cooper today," said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project. "This decision is a historic step towards ending the death penalty in North Carolina, but the fight for justice does not end here. We remain hopeful that the court will issue a ruling under the state's Racial Justice Act in Mr. Bacote's case that we can leverage for relief for the many others that still remain on death row."

The North Carolina General Assembly passed the RJA, which barred seeking or imposing the death penalty based on race, in 2009. Although state legislators then repealed the law in 2013, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that those who had already filed claims under it should still receive hearings.

Bacote's evidentiary hearing began last February, and the court heard closing arguments in August. LDF senior counsel Ashley Burrell noted Tuesday that "the RJA hearing demonstrated that racial bias infiltrates all death penalty cases in North Carolina, not just Mr. Bacote's and those in Johnston County."

Shelagh Kenney, deputy director of the Durham-based CDPL, similarly said that "Mr. Bacote brought forth unequivocal evidence, unlike any that’s ever been presented in a North Carolina courtroom, that the death penalty is racist."

"Through years of investigation and the examination of thousands of pages of documents, his case revealed a deep entanglement between the death penalty and North Carolina's history of segregation and racial terror," Kenney added. "We are happy Mr. Bacote got the relief he deserves, and we hope Gov. Cooper's action will be a step toward ending North Carolina's racist and error-prone death penalty for good."



NC Newslinereported that "the commutations came as inmates in North Carolina face a ticking clock on the death penalty, which has been on hold for nearly 20 years amid challenges to the punishment's legality. Should the courts in North Carolina rule against those challenges, executions could resume with haste, as dozens of the state's death row inmates have exhausted all other avenues for appeal."

Separately on Tuesday, Cooper announced commutations for 54-year-old Brian Fuller, who has served 27 years after being convicted of second-degree murder in Rockingham County, and 63-year-old Joseph Bromfield, 63, who has served 34 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in Cumberland County. They will both become parole eligible immediately.

Cooper also pardoned 43-year-old Brandon Wallace, who was convicted of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and marijuana in Lee County in 2007, and 53-year-old John "Jack" Campbell, who was convicted of selling cocaine in Wake County in 1984


The decisions capped off Cooper's two terms as governor, during which he often had to contend with Republicans' veto-proof legislative majorities. Due to that experience, the Democrat frequently faces speculation that he may pursue federal office.

"If you're going to run for public office again, you must have your heart and soul in it, you must have the fire in the belly," Cooper toldThe Associated Press in December, explaining that he plans to spend the next few months considering his future. "I'm going to think about how I can best contribute to the things that I care about."

Medicare for All Tops Sanders' Prescription to 'Make America Healthy Again'

"Our real problem is not so much a healthcare crisis as it is a political and economic one," he wrote in an op-ed.


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) attends the event "Bernie Sanders: It's OK To Be Angry About Capitalism" at Royal Geographical Society on February 22, 2024 in London, England.
(Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

Olivia Rosane
Jan 01, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has an ambitious New Year's resolution: a nine-point policy proposal to "Make American Healthy Again" by reforming the United States' "broken and dysfunctional healthcare system."

In an op-ed published in The Guardian on Tuesday, Sanders said his ideas were informed by his time serving as the chair of the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which will end in 2025.

"We are the wealthiest nation on Earth," Sanders wrote. "There is no rational reason as to why we are not the healthiest nation on Earth. We should be leading the world in terms of life expectancy, disease prevention, low infant and maternal mortality, quality of life, and human happiness. Sadly, study after study shows just the opposite. Despite spending almost twice as much per capita on healthcare, we trail most wealthy nations in all these areas."

"Working-class Americans live far shorter lives than the rich because of the stress of trying to survive on a paycheck-to-paycheck existence."

Sanders first prescription for a healthier nation? Medicare for All.

"Healthcare is a human right," Sanders argued. "The function of a rational healthcare system is to guarantee quality healthcare to all, not huge profits for the insurance industry. The United States cannot continue to be the only wealthy nation that does not provide universal healthcare."

The other eight reccomendations on Sanders' list are:Lower the cost of prescription drugs;
Paid family and medical leave;
Reform the food industry;
Raise the minimum wage to a living wage;
Lower the workweek to 32 hours with no loss of pay;
Combat the epidemic of loneliness, isolation, and mental illness;
Address the climate and environmental crisis; and
Create a high-quality public education system.

Sanders also sent the list in an email to supporters on December 27 with the introduction, "Here's a New Year's resolution" and tweeted out the first six proposals in a statement on December 24.



The Vermont senator's renewed call for Medicare for All comes as the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month—and the explosion of anti-insurance industry dark humor it sparked—has highlighted persistent flaws in the country's private health-insurance system.

In the aftermath of the killing and the online response, Sanders called for a political movement to reform the nation's healthcare system.

"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," he said at the time. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together and understanding that it is the right of every American to be able to walk into a doctor's office when they need to and not have to take out their wallet."

Sanders' agenda is also a clear rejoinder to Trump supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign. Kennedy, who President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has a record of pushing dangerous health-related conspiracy theories, in particular by questioning the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. While Kennedy has voiced criticisms of the food, agriculture, and chemical industries shared by many environmentalists, he has also advocated for harmful practices such as drinking raw milk and downplayed the climate emergency.

Trump has signaled that any environmental policies Kennedy might implement during his administration would take a backseat to his commitment to Big Oil.

"Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold," he said in his election night victory speech. "Other than that, go have a good time, Bobby."

Sanders, in contrast, made tackling the climate emergency one of his priorities and called out the fossil fuel industry specifically.

"The fossil fuel industry cannot be allowed to continue making us sick, shortening our lives, and destroying the planet," he wrote Tuesday.

He also emphasized working conditions as a public health issue.

"Working-class Americans live far shorter lives than the rich because of the stress of trying to survive on a paycheck-to-paycheck existence," he wrote in his call for a higher minimum wage.

In general, Sanders argued that it was not possible to tackle health without tackling corporate power.

"Our real problem is not so much a healthcare crisis as it is a political and economic one," he wrote in The Guardian. "We need to end the unprecedented level of corporate greed we are experiencing. We need to create a government and economy that works for all and not just the wealthy and powerful few."

In his email to supporters, Sanders spoke even more directly about the need to "take on powerful special interests who make billions in profits by making us sick and shortening our lifespans."

He portrayed wealthy individuals and corporations as the force ultimately standing in the way of a healthier nation.

"The truth is that their ideology of greed requires them to want more, and more, and more. And if that greed makes us sicker or shortens our lives, that's the price they require us to pay," he wrote. "But we say NO. We are fighting back. We can and will create a government and economy that works for all, and not just the few. We can and will create a society which enhances human health and well-being, and not the wealth and power of the billionaire class."