IN NEED OF #SOLIDARITY
Louisville woman known for giving food to Breonna Taylor protesters loses home in fire
Emma Austin
Louisville Courier Journal

Chaunda Lee walked through her Louisville home Sunday afternoon for the first time since Christmas Day, when a fire destroyed nearly everything inside.

Stepping over broken glass and ashes littered across her porch, Lee carried with her one of her few possessions that hadn’t been ruined by the flames: a poster of Breonna Taylor.

Lee, 41, is known for providing free food to the thousands of protesters who’ve taken to the streets this year calling for justice for Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed by police in her apartment on March 13. On Christmas, Lee had been “house-hopping” to see family before receiving a text that night and learning of the fire at her own home.

“It wasn’t real. I don’t know, I just sat there in silence for a long time,” she recalled as she stood in front of the Shawnee home on Vermont Avenue Sunday.

Lee said she hadn’t been able to make herself go into the house until then, when she walked through slowly alongside friends she’s made at the demonstrations. As she surveyed the damage for the first time, Lee said she felt glad she and her kids hadn’t been home at the time.

Read more:Systemic racism simmered in Louisville for generations. Then Breonna Taylor died

Lee said she doesn't know anything about what caused the fire but remembered being asked by investigators if she had a fight with anyone recently.

Bobby Cooper, spokesman for the Louisville Fire Department, said it took about 20 minutes for 25 firefighters to bring the fire under control.

"No civilians or firefighters were injured during the incident," Cooper said. "LFD Arson Investigators are working to determine the cause."

Tara Bassett, an independent journalist who livestreams footage of the demonstrations over Taylor’s death and a friend of Lee’s, said there was no one less deserving of such a tragedy.

“This woman is one of my sisters, and we’ve been together for what, 215 days,” Bassett said as she held an arm around Lee, referring to the number of days protesters have been demanding justice for Taylor. “We kind of live as a family, you know, we all take care of ourselves.”  

Emanuel Mitchell, a friend of Lee’s who lived in her home for a period of time this year, said he got a call from a family member Friday night about the fire and rushed over to see multiple fire trucks and the entire rear of the house in flames.

“I sat right here watching this house burn to the ground, and I couldn’t throw a cup of water on it to put it out … It’s sad,” Mitchell said.

Lee, who’s staying in a hotel while she looks for a new home, set up a GoFundMe to help recuperate her losses.

“I hate asking for any help, but right now I’m in desperate need,” she wrote on the fundraising website. “I’ve lost everything I owned in this house tonight.”

Lee said she didn't have renters' insurance and would accept any help people could offer. In addition to contributing to the GoFundMe, Bassett suggested donating gift cards and clothes for her kids.

The GoFundMe had raised $7,305 from nearly 100 contributors by early Sunday evening.

"Just two years ago I was homeless," Lee said through tears. "Me and my kids was on the street, and now here I am. ... This is really messed up."

UPDATE

World's largest iceberg continues to break up off the coast of South Georgia

It has now split into 4 distinct pieces.

The expedition ship M/S Explorer inches up to the edge of Iceberg A-68a with a humpback whale breaching the surface in the Weddell Sea.
(Image: © Henry Páll Wulff, CC BY 4.0)

By Harry Baker - Staff Writer 20 hours ago

The world's (former) largest iceberg continues to break apart into smaller pieces on the doorstep of a major marine wildlife haven and home to millions of macaroni and king penguins in Antarctica.

This comes less than a week after the mammoth iceberg, known as A68a, first split in two, Live Science recently reported.

Scientists at the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) spotted the two newest pieces, A68e and A68f, on Dec. 22 using images from the Sentinel-1A satellite, according to a USNIC statement. This means that there are now four separate iceberg fragments, including A68d, which will eventually drift away from one another.

A68a became the world's largest iceberg when it split from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017, Live Science previously reported. The massive chunk of ice has been drifting northward ever since. As recently as April, it measured 2,000 square miles (5,100 square kilometers), or just over the size of the state of Delaware.

Related: In photos: Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf through time

In the spring of 2020, A-68a set its sights on South Georgia Island, a wildlife refuge in the South Atlantic Ocean that's home to millions of penguins, seals and other marine wildlife. Experts feared that if it were to get stuck on the island's shallow sub-continental shelves, it could majorly interfere with the animals' ability to hunt for food.

Images  5

Sentinel-1A satellite image of Iceberg A-68E and A-68F, in Dec. 22, 2020. (Image credit: European Space Agency)



Mapping experts at British Antarctic Survey are tracking the route of the A-68a iceberg from satellite imagery. (Image credit: British Antarctic Survey)



A map shows how A-68a has moved since cracking off of Larsen C. The blue lines show the historical tracks of other icebergs. (Image credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA; Antarctic Iceberg Tracking Database)



A Dec. 17 image shows A-68a after its big split, likely due to a collision with shallow seabed off the shore of South Georgia. (Image credit: ESA)



A series of images taken over the course of more than two weeks show A-68a approaching South Georgia, then cracking and rotating after impacting an area of shallow seabed offshore. (Image credit: ESA)

"The actual distance [the animals] have to travel to find food (fish and krill) really matters," Geraint Tarling, an ecologist with the British Antarctic Society, said in a statement. "If they have to do a big detour, it means they're not going to get back to their young in time to prevent them starving to death in the interim."

However, it appears that those underwater shelves are actually what has caused it to start breaking apart. Before splitting in two, the iceberg began spinning clockwise, suggesting one end had been caught on the shelf. The force of this snag is believed to be behind that split and the more recent fracturing as well.

Laura Gerrish, a GIS (geographic information system) mapping specialist at the British Antarctic Survey, estimated the areas of the new fragments, according to her post on Twitter:
A-68a: 1,004 square miles (2,600 square km)
A-68d: 56 square miles (144 square km)
A-68e: 253 square miles (655 square km)
A-68f: 87 square miles (225 square km)

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It is now hoped that the biggest pieces will be carried north of the island on a fast-moving current known as the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front. However, if any of the pieces, or any potential new pieces, were to get caught on the shelves, they could still be big enough to cause disruption to the local wildlife, according to the BBC.

Researchers will now continue to monitor the situation over the holiday season, while the island's inhabitants will hope for a non-white Christmas.

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Taiwan Textile makers turn plastic waste from oceans into clothing

28 December, 2020
John Van Trieste

Taiwanese textile companies working under the direction of the Environmental Protection Administration have successfully created clothing from marine garbage.

The companies started with 84,000 tons of garbage gathered during beach cleanups in seven cities and counties around Taiwan. After sifting through the garbage for plastic PET bottles and shredding the bottles they found, the companies were left with 38,000 tons of shredded plastic to work with.

From this, they made 1,500 pieces of clothing. 96% of the material in the finished product comes from plastic bottles that had been in the ocean.

Oil rises to touch $52 after Trump signs aid bill

By Alex Lawler


BUSINESS NEWS
DECEMBER 28, 2020

FILE PHOTO: A Marathon Oil well site is seen, as oil and gas activity dips in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the drop in demand for oil globally, in Texas, U.S., May 18, 2020. Picture taken May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jennifer Hiller/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose to hit $52 a barrel on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of a coronavirus aid package and the start of a European vaccination campaign outweighed concern about weak near-term demand.

Trump, whose presidency is set to end next month, had earlier threatened to block the $2.3 trillion aid and spending package. Europe, meanwhile, launched a mass vaccination drive on Sunday.

Brent crude was up 68 cents, or 1.3%, at $51.97 a barrel at 1020 GMT, after trading as high as $52.02, reversing an earlier decline. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 69 cents, or 1.4%, to $48.92.

“The signing of the U.S. stimulus bill, with the possibility of an increased size, should put a floor under oil prices in a shortened week,” said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at broker OANDA.

Oil has recovered from historic lows reached earlier this year as the emerging pandemic hammered demand. Brent reached $52.48 on Dec. 18, its highest since March.

But, the emergence of a new variant of the virus, first seen in Britain and now detected in other countries, has led to movement restrictions being reimposed, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices.

Oil remains vulnerable to any further setbacks in efforts to control the virus, said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, in a note.

Also coming into focus will be a Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+. The group is slowly tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market.

OPEC+ is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day in January and so far there is no sign of wavering on going ahead with the supply increase.


Additional reporting by Koustav Samanta and Naveen Thukral; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Susan Fenton

Trump signs coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law after lengthy delay

By Kevin Liptak, Kate Bennett, Tami Luhby, Kaitlan Collins, Jason Hoffman, Phil Mattingly and Jeremy Diamond, CNN

Updated 1102 GMT (1902 HKT) December 28, 2020

However, because Trump did not sign the bill on Saturday, those in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs will likely not receive a payment for the final week of the year. And the $300 federal enhancement may only last 10 weeks instead of 11 weeks for most folks. That's because states can't provide benefits for weeks that start before programs are authorized, but the legislation calls for the extra payments to end on March 14.

Also, because Congress waited until late December to strike a deal, those in the two pandemic unemployment programs will likely experience a break in payments of several weeks while state agencies reprogram their computers. But the benefits are retroactive.
The Covid-19 relief legislation was passed by Congress on Monday and was flown to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to await Trump's signature. But after sitting on the sidelines during the negotiations, Trump emerged with an eleventh-hour complaint that a separate provision in the deal, which the President's own White House helped broker, would only provide up to $600 in direct payments. Trump wanted to send out $2,000 checks. Trump also took umbrage with certain items that were actually from the omnibus spending package and which he had requested in his annual budget to Congress.

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE

Trump signaled in a statement Sunday night that he signed the coronavirus relief bill only after securing a commitment for the Senate to consider legislation to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, did not reference that commitment in his own statement Sunday night praising the President for signing the relief bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had seized on Trump's call for $2,000 checks last week and brought to the floor a standalone bill that would have boosted the amount for relief checks on Thursday. House Republicans, however, objected to the bill over deficit concerns.
The Democratic-led House is set to vote on the expansion of the direct payments on Monday.
Calling the President's signing of the relief bill "welcome news" for Americans whose benefits had lapsed, Pelosi said in a statement Sunday that Trump should "immediately call" on Republicans "to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000."


Here's what's in the second stimulus package
Trump also claimed that the Senate will consider legislation that "repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud," though it is not clear what that legislation would be. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in November's election.
Trump last week vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act -- which passed both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities -- in part because of his frustration over Section 230, a law that shields internet companies from liability for what is posted on their websites by them or third parties. The House is expected to act Monday to override Trump's veto. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has suggested many Republicans won't vote to override Trump's veto, despite having voted for the bill itself, so it's unclear if the override attempt will be successful or if the veto will stand.

Trump also said in his Sunday statement that he would submit a request for Congress to cut specific spending items in the Covid relief and government funding package, a nod to his litany of complaints about foreign aid. But that request, beyond freezing new spending on the specified items for a period of 45 days, will have no meaningful effect. Trump will be out of office before Congress could act on any of his requests.

\\

Trump chooses chaos with delayed signature of Covid relief bill

The relief package extends two programs that were part of the historic expansion of the nation's unemployment system that Congress enacted as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act in late March.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program allowed independent contractors, the self-employed, freelancers and gig workers to qualify for up to 39 weeks of payments. It also opened up the program to those who can't work because of the pandemic, including if they or family members are ill or quarantining or if their children's schools are closed.

And the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program provided an additional 13 weeks of federally paid benefits to those who run out of state payments, which typically last 26 weeks. The programs technically would have expired on December 31.

The third CARES Act measure -- an extra $600 a week in federal payments -- expired at the end of July.

The new stimulus deal extends the two pandemic programs for up to 11 weeks. Each closes to new applicants on March 14, but continues through April 5 for existing claimants who have not yet reached the maximum number of weeks.

The relief package also extends eviction protection to January 31 and provides $25 billion in rental assistance for those who lost their sources of income during the pandemic.

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order halting some evictions was set to expire at the end of the year. Since the order does not cancel or freeze rent, all of a tenant's back rent would have been due January 1 if the moratorium had been allowed to expire. Without rent relief or an extension of the protection, many struggling renters would again face eviction.

An estimated 9.2 million renters who have lost employment income during the pandemic are behind on rent, or 23% of such renters, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

A lengthy delay

Trump signed the bill almost a week after calling it a "disgrace" and demanding Congress amend the legislation. Trump's complaints came only after Congress passed the bill with a veto-proof majority and after the President stood on the sidelines during weeks of negotiations.

Aides had prepared for the President to sign the bill as early as Christmas Eve, when it arrived at Mar-a-Lago for his signature. But the plan was scrapped at the last minute, two sources with knowledge of the circumstances told CNN.

In anticipation of the signing, the smaller of Mar-a-Lago's two ballrooms was prepped for a 7 p.m. ceremony, complete with a desk and chair for Trump to sit, and his customary pens at the ready, according to the source.

However, as the hour approached, aides were informed the President would not be signing the relief bill that evening. One source told CNN that Trump had "changed his mind."

The country, Congress and many of Trump's closest aides and advisers had remained in the dark as to what he intended to do. He had not offered any clarity since posting the video objecting to the bill on Tuesday night.

When a deal was struck between congressional leaders, Trump's aides had signed off believing the President was on board, though two officials previously told CNN they did not believe he was walked through the package in detail.

In fact, throughout his video message asking Congress to amend it, Trump railed against several provisions that were part of the omnibus spending bill, not the Covid relief bill.
"It is called the Covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid," the President said at one point.

While the omnibus spending bill -- which appropriates money for all the federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year -- was combined with the stimulus deal, funds allocated to the omnibus bill don't mean less is available for the Covid relief bill.

Still, the President had publicly maintained his opposition to the legislation -- leaving small business support, jobless benefits and relief checks for millions of Americans in limbo.
This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN's Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.

Donald Trump signs COVID relief bill, averts government shutdown

THE ART OF THE DEAL; 

HE THROWS TANTRUM, THEN GIVES IN

US President Donald Trump has signed the pandemic relief and government-funding measure, averting government shutdown. He had earlier called the Congress-approved bill a "disgrace."

President Trump did not immediately indicate why he decided to sign the bill now

US President Donald Trump on Sunday signed into law a massive $2.3 trillion (€1.88 trillion) pandemic aid and spending package, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a partial federal government shutdown.

The president announced the signing in a statement Sunday night. "I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more," the president said in a statement from his Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump, who leaves office on January 20 after losing November's election, backed down from his threat to block the bill, which was approved by Congress last week, after he came under intense pressure from lawmakers on both sides.

Trump had earlier called the bill a "disgrace," demanding that various spending provisions, including some foreign aid, be ripped from the budget. He had also insisted that the direct stimulus payments to households be increased from the $600 in the bill to $2,000.

The president did not immediately indicate why he decided to sign now. Hours before he did, he said on Twitter to expect "good news."

Demand for more aid

Democrats are on board with the $2,000 payments but many Republicans have opposed it in the past. Many economists agree the financial aid in the bill should be higher to get the economy moving again but say that immediate support for Americans hit by coronavirus lockdowns is still urgently needed.

Unemployment benefits being paid out to about 14 million people through pandemic programs lapsed on Saturday but will be restarted now that Trump has signed the bill.

The package includes $1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems and an increase in food stamp benefits. The relief bill would also provide funding for US states to distribute vaccines, replenish a loan program for small businesses and provide relief funds for airlines.

If Trump had not signed the legislation, then a partial government shutdown would have begun on Tuesday that would have put millions of government workers' incomes at risk.

Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

sri/shs (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)

PRESIDENT TRUMPFINALLY SIGNS COVID RELIEF PACKAGE ...Promises Big Trade-off

12/27/2020 

BREAKING NEWS
TMZ.com

President Trump's folding ... the guy finally put pen to paper on the latest COVID relief package that he shot down last week, which means some cash is one the way to Americans -- plus, a potential trade-off he insists is on the way too.

Trump signed the $900 billion-plus bill Sunday -- also helping fund the government and avoiding another shutdown -- which will get a second round of stimulus checks to adults who qualify ... namely, in the amount of $600 ... plus other assistance.

In a statement to his supporters, he says he's signing the legislation on the condition that Congress look into alleged voter fraud from the election, take up a new bill guaranteeing higher payments and revisit a provision about big tech (and who can sue them).

For now, though, this will have to do ... or so it seems.

The timing is odd ... if Trump was gonna sign anyway, why didn't he just do it Tuesday, when checks could've possibly gotten to folks before the New Year (and before their unemployment benefits lapsed, which happened this weekend because of his delay. Plus, rent is due)?

Remember, 45 made a big stink at the 11th hour ... indicating he'd veto the bill -- which members of his own administration helped negotiate -- because he felt the stimulus money was too low, not to mention the fact the bill was packed with tons of other spending that had nothing to do with COVID. Again, things his team negotiated.

DT demanded $2,000 for individuals and up to $4,000 for families -- something Dems actually praised and were willing to do STAT. Problem is, Trump was nowhere near on the same page as his Republican colleagues on that front ... and the messaging was all off.

Now, after leaving people wondering if they'd get any assistance before Joe Biden takes office ... he's put down his signature, on the basis of supposed promises which may not even come to pass, despite his assertions that it will.

So, all of that waiting was for ... nothing, really. Not just that, but the funds probably won't see bank accounts for at least another week, and Americans needed help yesterday. Thanks!!!

Trump approves provisions for Taiwan Assurance Act

28 December, 2020
Shirley Lin

US President Donald Trump (Photo courtesy of The White House FB)

US President Donald Trump has approved the Taiwan Assurance Act, a bill included as part of a spending package for fiscal year 2021.

The Taiwan Assurance Act is meant to support Taiwan’s defenses. It calls for normalizing arms sales to Taiwan to help strengthen the country’s self-defense capabilities.

The act also gives US backing to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, such as the UN, the World Health Assembly, and other similar bodies that do not require statehood for participation.

In addition to including the Taiwan Assurance Act, the spending package also allocates US$3 million to supporting the activities of the Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF). The GCTF is a platform designed to promote public health, law enforcement, disaster relief, energy cooperation, women’s empowerment, network security, media literacy, and good governance in both the US and Taiwan.

Trump signs Taiwan act into law, angering rival China
Beijing describes US move as ‘interference in China's internal affairs’

Ovunc Kutlu and Riyaz ul Khaliq |28.12.2020

ANKARA 

US President Donald Trump on Sunday signed the Taiwan Assurance Act into law, which was part of the wider $1.4 trillion federal government spending bill for the fiscal year of 2021.

After days of stalling, the bill was jointly signed with COVID-19 stimulus package that includes $900 billion aid

The US House of Representatives had unanimously passed the Taiwan Assurance Act in May 2019 when it was added to that fiscal year's spending bill for the Senate to consider.

The act aims to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries and encourages Taiwan to increase its defense spending.

Criticizing the law, China termed the US move an “interference in China's internal affairs”.

“China firmly opposes US' Taiwan Assurance Act, and the US should stop interfering in China's internal affairs by using the Taiwan question,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference in Beijing, according to daily Global Times.

Since the act passed the House, the Trump administration has approved eight arms sales to Taiwan, which include anti-ship cruise missiles and drones.

The act also includes Washington's support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN and other organizations, and provides $3 million for activities of US-Taiwan Global Cooperation and Training Framework. 

China considers Taiwan – officially known as the Republic of China – a breakaway province, while Taipei insists on its independence since 1949 and has diplomatic relations with 16 countries and regions. With the US expressing open support to Taiwan and selling high-tech weaponry to Taipei, China has increased its military operations in the region.

TRUMP SIGNS TIBET POLICY TO PREEMPT CHINA'S MOVE ON DALAI LAMA'S SUCCESSION


File photo of Donald Trump speaking at the White House. (AP)

 UPDATED:DECEMBER 28, 2020

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill which calls for establishing a US consulate in Tibet and building an international coalition to ensure that the next Dalai Lama is appointed solely by the Tibetan Buddhist community without China's interference. The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 modifies and re-authorises various programmes and provisions related to Tibet.

Trump signed the act on Sunday as part of the massive USD 2.3 trillion package for the year-end bill to provide long-delayed coronavirus relief and fund the federal government. The US Senate last week unanimously passed the bill despite China's protest.

It authorises assistance to non-governmental organisations in support of Tibetan communities in Tibet; places restrictions on new Chinese consulates in the United States until a US consulate has been established in Lhasa, Tibet. The law now authorises the Office of the US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues and expands the office's duties to include additional tasks, such as pursuing international coalitions to ensure that the next Dalai Lama is appointed solely by the Tibetan Buddhist faith community.

It also directs the Secretary of State not to open a new Chinese consulate in the US unless China allows the opening of an American consulate in Lhasa. It is the policy of the US to take all appropriate measures to hold accountable senior officials of the Chinese Government or the Chinese Communist Party who directly interfere with the identification and installation of the future 15th Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama.

Beijing views the 14th Dalai Lama as a "separatist" working to split Tibet from China. Some of the prominent measures approved by the US Congress include imposing sanctions on Chinese officials, including travel restrictions. Noting that the 14th Dalai Lama advocates the Middle Way Approach, which seeks genuine autonomy for the six million Tibetans in Tibet, the new law says that the Dalai Lama has overseen a process of democratisation within the Tibetan polity and devolved his political responsibilities to the elected 23 representatives of the Tibetan people in exile in 2011.

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 approves USD 1 million per annum for the Special US Coordinator on Tibet, USD 675,000 towards scholarship provisions, USD 575,000 for scholar exchange initiatives, USD8 million for the Tibetan Autonomous Regio and Communities in China, USD 6 million for Tibetans living in India, USD3 million for Tibetan governance. Expressing concern over the exploitation of natural resources of Tibet, in particular water, the new law seeks to pursue collaborative efforts with Chinese and international scientific institutions, to monitor the environment on the Tibetan Plateau, including glacial retreat, temperature rise, and carbon levels, to promote a greater understanding of the effects on permafrost, the river flows, grasslands and desertification and the monsoon cycle.

Beijing blasts US for Taiwan, Tibet support

2020-12-28 

'The determination of the Chinese government to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests is unwavering, says the Foreign Ministry's Zhao Lijian. File photo: AFP

Beijing expressed anger on Monday after US President Donald Trump signed into law measures to further bolster support for Taiwan and Tibet, which had been included in a US$2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package.

China has watched with growing alarm as the United States has stepped up its backing for Taiwan and its criticism of Beijing's rule in remote Tibet, further straining a relationship under intense pressure over trade, human rights and other issues.

The Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 and Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 both contain language objectionable to China, including US support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in United Nations bodies and regular arms sales.

On Tibet, which China has ruled with an iron fist since 1950, the act says sanctions should be put on Chinese officials who interfere in the selection of the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's successor.

Speaking in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was "resolutely opposed" to both acts.

"The determination of the Chinese government to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests is unwavering," he told reporters.

The US should not put the parts of the acts which "target China" into effect in order to avoid harming Sino-US relations, he said, adding they were an interference in China's internal affairs.

In Taiwan, the government welcomed the US move.

"The United States is an important ally of Taiwan's internationally, and a solid partner for sharing the values ​​of freedom and democracy," Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said.

Trump, who is due to leave office on January 20 after losing November's election to President-elect Joe Biden, backed down from his earlier threat to block the spending bill, which was approved by Congress last week, after he came under intense pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

He signed it on Sunday evening. (Reuters)

A Sudan in transition presents first-ever film for Oscars

CAIRO — Nearly two years after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is taking steps to rejoin the international community from which it was long shunned. That includes its film industry.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

For the first time in its history, Sudan has a submission for the Academy Awards. Produced by a consortium of European and Egyptian companies but with a Sudanese director and cast, "You Will Die at Twenty" will compete in the Best International Feature Film category.

The story follows a young man whose death at the age of 20 is prophesied not long after his birth, casting a shadow over his formative years, and parallels the burdens placed on a generation of Sudan’s young people.

Based on a short story by Sudanese novelist Hammour Ziyada, critics say it demonstrates that the country’s cultural scene is reawakening after decades of oppression.

The film was produced amid mass demonstrations against al-Bashir, who was toppled by the military in April 2019 after ruling the country for nearly 30 years.

“It was an adventure,” filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala told The Associated Press. “There were protests in the streets that had grown to a revolution by the beginning of filming.”

Sudan’s uprising erupted in late 2018, and as the number of people in the streets swelled, many of them young, the military stepped in and toppled the Islamist president. Since then, the country has embarked on a fragile transition to democracy, ending years of theocratic rule that limited artists’ freedoms.

The film’s submission was announced in November by the country’s ministry of culture, a month before the second anniversary of the start of the uprising.

It follows a narrative written by Ziyada in the early 2000s that chronicles the life of a child in 1960s in a remote village, located between the Blue and White Nile rivers. The inhabitants are largely guided by ancient Sufi beliefs and traditions, a mystical strain of Islam.

The film starts when a mother, Sakina, takes her newborn boy to a Sufi ceremony at a nearby shrine as a blessing. As a sheikh gives his blessing, a man in traditional clothing performs a meditative dance, suddenly stopping after 20 turns, falling to the ground — a bad omen.

The frightened mother appeals to the Sheikh to give an explanation. But he says, “God’s command is inevitable.” At this point, the crowd understands this is a prophecy predicting the child will die at 20.

Stunned and frustrated, the father leaves his wife and son, named Muzamil, to face their fate alone.

Muzamil grows up under the watchful eye of his overprotective mother, who wears black in anticipation of his early demise. He is haunted by the prophecy — even other children name him “the son of death.”

Despite that, Muzamil proves to be an inquisitive boy full of life. His mother allows him to go to study the Qur’an. He receives praise for his memorization and recitation of verses. Then comes a turning point.

A cinematographer, Suliman, returns to the village after years working abroad. Muzamil, who is by now working as an assistant to the village shopkeeper, gets to know him through delivering him alcohol, a social taboo.

Suliman, who lives with a prostitute, opens Muzamil’s eyes to the outside world. Through their discussions, he starts to doubt the prophecy that has governed his life so far and torn his family apart.

As he turns 19, Muzamil takes it upon himself to decide what it means to be alive, even as death beckons.

The film has received positive reviews from international critics. It premiered at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival’s parallel section, Venice Days. It won the Lion of the Future for Best First Feature — the first Sudanese film to do so. Since then, it has won at least two dozen awards at film festivals worldwide.

Abu Alala says his team tackled obstacles in making the film, thrown up by the same conservative milieu that it depicts. He blames the environment created by al-Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989. Under his rule, limited personal freedoms meant art was viewed with suspicion by many.

One major challenge, he said, was that local residents at the initial filming location objected to their presence. The crew was forced to move, but they persevered.

“We believed that it should be done under any circumstances,” Abu Alala said. He says that it was lucky that the film’s production period coincided with the cultural watershed moment of the uprising. The previous government wouldn't have been a proponent of his work.

The movie has also been met with commendations from inside the region.

“It is a very real and local film that makes the audience feel all of its details whenever and whoever they are," wrote Egyptian film critic Tarik el-Shenawy.

The film is only the eighth to be made inside Sudan. Abu Alala says that its selection shows Sudan has countless stories that remain untold.

“There wasn’t a film industry existing in Sudan — only individual attempts ... Sudan’s rulers — communists or Islamists — were not interested in cinema. They just were interested in having artists on their sides,” he said.

Now, he hopes that he and other filmmakers will have the freedom to share Sudan’s stories with the world.

Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

Gingerbread monolith delights 

San Francisco on Christmas Day

SAN FRANCISCO — In true pop-up art fashion, a nearly 7-foot-tall monolith made of gingerbread mysteriously appeared on a San Francisco hilltop on Christmas Day and collapsed the next day.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The three-sided tower, held together by icing and decorated with a few gumdrops, delighted the city on Friday when word spread about its existence.

During his morning run, Ananda Sharma told KQED-FM he climbed to Corona Heights Park to see the sunrise when he spotted what he thought was a big post. He said he smelled the scent of gingerbread before realizing what it was.

“It made me smile. I wonder who did it, and when they put it there,” he said.

People trekked to the park throughout the day, even as light rain fell on the ephemeral, edible art object. In one video posted online, someone took a bite of the gingerbread.

Phil Ginsburg, head of city's Recreation and Parks Department, told KQED the site “looks like a great spot to get baked” and confirmed his staff will not remove the monument “until the cookie crumbles.”

It did by Saturday morning, a fitting end to what was surely an homage to the discovery and swift disappearance of a shining metal monolith in Utah's red-rock desert last month. It became a subject of fascination around the world as it evoked the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” and drew speculation about its otherworldly origins.

The still-anonymous creator of the Utah monument did not secure permission to plant the hollow, stainless steel object on public land.

A similar metal structure was found and quickly disappeared on a hill in northern Romania. Days later, another monolith was discovered at the pinnacle of a trail in Atascadero, California, but it was later dismantled by a group of young men, city officials said.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

Mountain of construction debris at Laval recycling plant has been on fire since Saturday

Laval firefighters are still fighting a blaze on Sunday afternoon at a recycling plant in Vimont, after a mountain of construction debris caught fire Saturday morning.

© Laval Firefighters Association / Twitter Debris at a Laval recycling plant catches fire on Saturday Dec. 26, 2020.

At Multi-Recyclage, an outdoor dumping ground for material waste, fire started after wood meant to be composted overheated, according to the Laval fire department.

Smoke from the centre, located on Saulnier Street, could be seen from highways 440, 19 and 335.

The debris that caught fire contains dry materials such as wood. Firefighters managed to contain the blaze from spreading to other parts of the dump where plastics are stored.

According to the fire department, it'll be several days before the blaze will be fully extinguished.

Read more: 6 families displaced after 4-alarm fire in Laval

"In 10 days everything will be done. The fire will be extinguished in about five days (about)," said Laval Fire Department Division Chief Daniel Beaupré. "Five to 10 days."

The time estimate includes the time needed to remove the burnt material. Beaupré said the fire doesn't pose any danger to the public.

According to the Laval Firefighters Association, the fire gained intensity overnight on Saturday.

Firefighters spent the night from Saturday to Sunday trying to extinguish the fire from the mountain of debris and continued all day Sunday.

— With files from Global's Phil Carpenter

Howling into the void? 

US wolf recovery endangered by Trump

Issued on: 28/12/2020 - 

A wolf howls at a Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York 

Kena Betancur AFP


South Salem (United States) (AFP)

They thrive at teamwork, fight for their homes, and cherish their families above all else.

It is sometimes said there is no animal on Earth more like humans in their social behavior than wolves.

But the iconic species -- long a symbol of the free spirit of the American wilderness -- could soon be imperiled because of a decision by President Donald Trump's government to end protections that brought them back from the brink of extinction.

"Wolves right now have only recovered in about 10 percent of their historic range," Maggie Howell, executive director of the Wolf Conservation Center in upstate New York told AFP.

Historically, when states have fought to loosen safeguards, hunting and trapping has quickly followed, she says.

Now conservationists fear for the roughly 6,000 gray wolves in the lower-48 states when the new rule takes effect in January.

A quarter of a million wolves once roamed from coast to coast before European settlers embarked on campaigns of eradication that endured into the 20th Century.

Howell cups her hands around her mouth and lets out an "Ahwooo!"

Three adult wolves -- Alawa, Zephyr and Nikai -- answer in unison, their spine-tingling howls seeming to multiply in the air, creating the impression of a much larger pack.

The trio are the center's "ambassadors," vital to educating visitors.

Brown and gray Alawa, meaning "sweetpea" in the native Algonquin language, has a temperament that matches her name and seeks out human attention like a family dog.

Their goings-on can be followed 24/7 on webcams and on social media, where they have hundreds of thousands of fans.

The 32-acre (13-hectare) center also houses around 40 of their critically endangered cousin species: the Mexican gray wolf, which numbers just shy of 200 in the wild, and the smaller red wolf, of which only eight tagged animals remain outside captivity.

- Elimination campaigns -

In October, the US removed gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, where they were first listed in the 1970s when their numbers fell to around 1,000.

Normally, a delisting decision is a welcome sign of a robust recovery.

But in this case, government commissioned independent experts questioned the scientific rationale and conservationists slammed the move as a devastating giveaway to hunters and ranchers.

Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin could all quickly resume hunting, which they were blocked from doing by a 2014 court order -- and wildlife groups estimate hundreds of wolves could be killed a year.

Rick McIntyre, a veteran national park ranger and author of "The Rise of Wolf 8," told AFP that vilification of the apex predator started with the arrival of Europeans in the 1600s.

By contrast, Native Americans lived alongside wolves in harmony for thousands of years, revering them in their mythology.

They also recognized their wider ecological importance, as shown in the Keewatin proverb: "The caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong."

Research has confirmed the wolf's importance in thinning over-browsing herds of elk, which in turn prevents destruction of habitat.

Wolves even manage wetland creation by keeping beavers in check, a study showed last month.

McIntyre has spent decades documenting wolf behavior, particularly at the Yellowstone National Park, where they were eliminated in the 1920s before being reintroduced in 1995.

He found that wolf packs begin when a male disperses from his birth-family to strike out on his own.

Litters are typically four or five pups, and when these grow to be "yearlings," they begin an apprenticeship, honing their hunting skills by watching their elders while learning how to take care of the pups -- much like human teenagers babysitting.

Wolves start their days with warm displays of affection with their pack members, bond through extended bouts of play, and have highly-individualized personality types.

Some are merciful towards rival packs while others are ruthless; some have wandering spirits while others are homebodies; some are serious and others never lose the goofiness of their puphood.

Cooperation is key to survival as their prey, from pronghorns to bison, are often many times larger than wolves, who typically weigh around 80-90 pounds in adulthood.

During their studies at Yellowstone, McIntyre and colleagues found that, contrary to previous beliefs about male leadership, it's the alpha female who decides where the pack dens, where it travels and what it hunts.

"I jokingly sometimes say that's a pretty good indication of their intelligence," he said.

- Breeding programs -

While the gray wolves have regained some ground, the Mexican grays and reds, which both went extinct outside captivity before being reintroduced, are in a far more tenuous position.

The Wolf Conservation Center participates in a federal program which aims to recover lost genetic diversity through managed breeding, and eventually allow some to resume their rightful place in the wild.

The staff have ways to feed these wolves their roadkill diet without allowing them to know humans were involved -- because habituating to people could prove deadly in the real world.

"It's always sad for us to say goodbye to them," she said.

"But knowing that they're going to breed, that's got to be exciting for them. Growing up, leaving mom and dad, they can be the boss. So we wish them well."

© 2020 AFP

Poles losing faith in once mighty Catholic Church

Some Poles are even beginning to question the legacy of the late Polish pope John Paul II JANEK SKARZYNSKI AFP/File


Warsaw (AFP)

Once all powerful in Poland, the Catholic Church has been under severe pressure this year -- from a series of abuse scandals and a perceived association with the country's right-wing government.

Negative media reports and documentaries have hurt its image, as has criticism from the Vatican itself.

Some Poles are even beginning to question the legacy of the late Polish pope John Paul II.

A poll published earlier this month found that only 41 percent of Poles have a positive view of the Church, a decline of 16 percentage points since March.

The opinion poll found that nearly half of Poles (47 percent) have a negative view of the Church.

The change "is considerable in such a short space of time," Katarzyna Zalewska, a sociologist at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, told AFP.

The trend of growing secularisation seen in Poland in recent years "has visibly accelerated", she said.

- Losing faith -

A Constitutional Court ruling in October aimed at imposing a near-total ban on abortions was particularly damaging for the Church, prompting a public outcry and unprecedented demonstrations across the country.

Some of the criticism was aimed at the religious hierarchy and the reaction has been so strong that the government has held off on enacting the ruling.

Official figures show Poles are also taking their children out of religion classes in schools in ever greater numbers, and some are even formally renouncing their Catholic faith -- a process known as apostasy.

Two out of three Poles now want religious education to be the responsibility of parishes, not schools, according to an opinion poll published last week.

A website for people applying to give up their faith -- licznikapostazji.pl -- tallied up more than 1,000 application in the space of just two weeks.

Another site, apostazja.eu, said more than 30,000 people had filled out apostasy forms online -- ready to be printed and submitted to their parishes.

"It has pretty much exploded" since the abortion court ruling, said the site's creator, Krzysztof Gwizdala.

While the numbers are small in what is still a predominantly Catholic country of 38 million, there are signs the Church is beginning to take notice.

After a 10-year break, the Church's statistics office has decided to once again keep track of the number of apostasy declarations it receives.

In 2010, there were just 459 cases.

- 'Operating in a different system' -

Marcin Kaczmarek, a sociologist at the University of Poznan, said the decline in influence of the Church in Poland was not so much the result of sexual abuse scandals, but "above all its reaction to them".

"It seems torn between its corporate interest... and respect of its own teachings," he said.

Zalewska said the Church appears to "not hear the signals" and is acting "as if it was operating in a different system" in which it feels it does not have to react and is convinced of its unshakeable position.

Zalewska said the abuse scandals could accelerate secularisation -- as happened in Ireland in the 1990s.

But she said it was also possible that the difficult times brought on by the coronavirus pandemic could help restore Poles' faith in the Catholic Church.

© 2020 AFP

China jails journalist over Wuhan COVID outbreak reporting

Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan has received a prison sentence for her reporting from Wuhan during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, according to her lawyer.


Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan began a hunger strike in June

China sentenced citizen journalist Zhang Zhan to four years in prison after a brief hearing in Shanghai on Monday, her lawyer told reporters. Zhang, 37, covered the coronavirus outbreak from its initial epicenter in Wuhan in February.

Her widely shared video livestreams and essays detailed overcrowded crematoriums and hospitals as Chinese authorities struggled to contain the virus.

Zhang, a former lawyer based in Shanghai, was convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," a common charge used against government critics in China.

"Zhang Zhan looked devastated when the sentence was announced," her lawyer Ren Quanniu told reporters outside the Shanghai Pudong New District People's Court.
Reframing the pandemic

Zhang is the first journalist put on trial for her coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. However, three other citizen journalists who reported from Wuhan — Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua — have all been missing since February. Eight whistleblowers have already been punished for criticizing the government's response to the pandemic.

Zhang was critical of the Chinese government's initial handling of the outbreak in Wuhan, writing that authorities "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city."


WUHAN: A YEAR AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Shoulder to shoulder in crowded markets
Wuhan was locked down for about 11 weeks after becoming the first global coronavirus hot spot. Until mid-May, 50,000 of the 80,000 official cases in China were in Wuhan. But now life is almost back to normal on the city's crowded street markets.
PHOTOS 1234567

China has come under fire for its secretive approach to combating the COVID-19. Beijing has of late sought to present its handling of the pandemic as an "extraordinary" success. After the virus first emerged in Wuhan late last year, and the city of 11 million went into lockdown in February, China's society and economy are rebounding while much of the rest of the world struggles through painful winter surges in infections.

Zhang's trial comes weeks before a team of experts from the World Health Organization is due to arrive in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus outbreak.
Worries over Zhang's health

Concerns have been growing over Zhang's health after she began a hunger strike in June.

"She said when I visited her [last week]: 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.' ... She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial. "It's an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment."

Another lawyer, Zhang Keke, who visited her on Christmas Day, wrote in a note circulated on social media that she was "restrained 24 hours a day" and her health was in decline: "She feels psychologically tormented, like every day is a torment."

dr/rt (AFP, dpa)

PAKISTAN
Benazir Bhutto: Supporters remember 1st Muslim woman PM
Thousands gather in her home town Larkana on 13th death anniversary

News Service09:14 December 28, 2020

13th death anniversary of the Benazir Bhutto
Photograph: Muhammad Reza

Thousands gathered in southern Pakistan on Sunday to remember Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of the Muslim world, on her 13th death anniversary.

She was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007, weeks after she arrived from years-long self-exile in Dubai and London.

Ignoring a government ban on public gatherings due to the coronavirus, supporters of the center-left Pakistan People's Party (PPP) gathered in Larkana, home town of the Bhutto political dynasty.

Carrying tri-color party flags, and portraits of their slain leader, who served as premier from 1988-1990, and from 1993-1996, charged PPP supporters were also joined by other opposition leaders.

The key figure among those was Maryam Nawaz, the daughter and political heir of the three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, once the main political rival to Benazir.

An 11-party opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, of which the PPP is a part, used the gathering to accelerate its ongoing campaign to oust the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. They accuse him of coming into power through a rigged election two years ago.

Leaders including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the PPP chairman and the son of Benazir, and Maryam lambasted Khan's government and his policies, which they accuse have led to inflation and energy shortages in the country of 220 million people.

The joint platform has announced resignations en masse, and to hold a long march toward the capital Islamabad if the prime minister does not step down before Jan. 31, 2021. The next general elections, held once in five years, are scheduled for 2023

THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL  PARTY BUT A FEUDALISTIC FAMILY BUSINESS BASED ON THEIR LAND HOLDINGS AND THEIR IDEOLOGICAL HOLD OVER THE PEASANTS AND WORKERS WHOM THEY OWN

Class Consciousness by Georg Lukacs 1920

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/history/lukacs3.htm

Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat by ...

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/history/hcc05.htm

The divorce of the phenomena of reification from their economic bases and from the vantage point from which alone they can be understood, is facilitated by the fact that the [capitalist] process of transformation must embrace every manifestation of the life of society if the preconditions for the complete self-realisation of capitalist production are to be fulfilled

SEE 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Pakistan: Feudalism Not Democracy (plawiuk.blogspot.com)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for Benazir Bhutto (plawiuk.blogspot.com)

'Extreme weather threatens displaced Iraqi children'

People in camps lack access to heating, says Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights member

News Service December 28, 2020

File photo
Photograph: Yunus Keleş


The Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) said on Sunday that extreme weather is threatening the lives of displaced children in camps.

"The lives of thousands of displaced people, especially women and children, are under threat," Fadel al-Gharrawi, a member of the IHCHR, said.

He added that most of the displaced Iraqis are living in camps with no access to heating, which is causing illnesses.

The Middle East country is experiencing below zero degree temapartures, mainly during the nights.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are unable to return to their homes, which were destroyed during the war against Daesh/ISIS that began in 2014.

The terror group captured large swathes of territories including Mosul, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces, and parts of Diyala and Kirkuk provinces. Government forces took back control of the areas in 2017

Was This Arctic Expedition the Last Great One of Its Kind?

The harrowing journey of Børge Ousland and Mike Horn

SCIENCE | DECEMBER 27, 2020 1:46 PM

The Arctic can be an imposing landscape.
Arctichistorian01/Creative Commons

BY TOBIAS CARROLL

When a pair of experienced explorers, both of whom have made previous treks through the Arctic, joined forces in 2019 on an ambitious voyage across the ice, it had the potential to be another thrilling expedition for both men. Instead, the journey that unfolded proved unpredictable due to the effects of climate change — and very nearly had a tragic ending.

A new article by Aaron Teasdale in National Geographic chronicles the voyage made by Børge Ousland and Mike Horn. As is the case with David Grann’s The White Darkness, this article gives a sense of the extraordinary physical toll crossing polar regions can have, and the omnipresent dangers — from hungry polar bears to ice that can give way without warning.

Further complicating matters? For as well as both Ousland and Horn prepared for their journey — again, both are experienced explorers who were familiar with the risk of the terrain — there were certain things they hadn’t planned for. For one thing, thinner ice than in years past, due to climate change. For another, a change in the ocean’s currents — also due to climate change — which impeded their forward motion at a crucial time.

The article is both a gripping adventure narrative in its own right and a testament to the changing environment at the top of the world. One of the running questions is whether or not such a journey will even be possible in the future, giving the shifts in the landscape.

It also offers a glimpse of how two incredibly resourceful people contend with life-threatening emergencies in a hostile environment. One tip? If you’re crossing the Arctic, you might want to bring a nail. (Yes, just one.) As it turns out, it might save your life.

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