Sunday, September 06, 2020

Another Marx (his daughter) gets Venice Film Fest spotlight

By NICOLE WINFIELD yesterday

Actress Romola Garai poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Miss Marx' during the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

VENICE (AP) — There’s been a lot of talk about gender parity, feminism and equality at the Venice Film Festival this year, with nearly half the in-competition films directed by women. One of them, “Miss Marx,” certainly backs that trend.

The historical drama profiles Karl Marx’s youngest daughter, Eleanor, an innovative British-born social activist and women’s rights campaigner who wrote the first English translation of Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary.”

But Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli also sought to highlight the less-than-empowered side of Miss Marx, who for years tolerated her louse of a partner as he cheated on her, squandered her money and otherwise humiliated her.

“The focus was on the dichotomy between the public activism and her public beliefs and the inconsistency with her private relationship,” said Romola Garai, who plays Eleanor in the film. “We are left to wonder why and how human beings can be so eloquent on the one hand, and that can so not enter your psyche on the other hand.”

Nicchiarelli said she was drawn to this internal conflict, which she said was both touching and deeply human.

“That says so much about the way we are,” she said.

To hammer home the current-day relevance of that dichotomy, the film’s score includes punk rock music and Nicchiarelli spliced in archival footage of 20th-century labor protests to “whip the audience into this insistence” that the issues Marx fought for still haven’t been resolved, Garai said.

“The wheel of history has turned through the 20th century, but the same conversation about the dynamic around capitalism and who benefits from it is the same,” said Garai, who said she first learned about Eleanor Marx’s contribution to labor and feminist causes working on the 2015 British historical drama “Sufragette.”

The film “Miss Marx” is one of eight directed by women that is competing for the top Golden Lion award in the main competition at Venice, which wraps up Sept. 12. The Venice festival has long been criticized for the lack of female directors in its in-competition films, with only four films made by women in the 62 films that competed for the Golden Lion between 2017 and 2019, and only four women winning the Golden Lion in the festival’s history.

This year, 44% of the in-competition films were directed by women.

“I dream of the day when it will no longer be interesting to talk about how many women there are in a festival, and we will no longer count how many they are,” Nicchiarelli said. “Having said as much, Eleanor Marx really is important. She gave an enormous contribution to history, also, for her feminist ideas.”

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Louise Dixon contributed.

Unrestrained by convention, lion-hearted and free, Eleanor Marx (1855-98) was an exceptional woman. Hers was the first English translation of Flaubert's Mme Bovary. She pioneered the theatre of Henrik Ibsen. She was the first woman to lead the British dock workers' and gas workers' trades unions.

Eleanor Marx: A Life: Rachel Holmes: Bloomsbury Publishing

www.bloomsbury.com › eleanor-marx-9781408843239

WIKIPEDIA

Eleanor Marx: A Life is a 2014 book by the British author Rachel Holmes, published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Synopsis[edit]

The book profiles the life of Eleanor Marx, a feminist and socialist campaigner and daughter of Karl Marx. The book deals with Marx's life as a labour organiser, personal secretary and researcher for her father, activist at the "epicentre of British socialism", and a trailblazing feminist campaigner.

Holmes also dwells at length on the discrepancy between Eleanor Marx being a militant Feminist in the public sphere, standing up for the rights of women in general and of exploited women workers in particular, and assertively confronting any sexist attitude which she encountered in the Socialist and trade union movement - and private life where she was unable to get out of an unhappy 14-years long relationship with con man Edward Aveling, who cheated her, stole her money and finally either drove her to suicide or actually murdered her her (Holmes is inclined to the second possibility).

Reception[edit]

In The Guardian Kathryn Hughes wrote that "Not only is the story of British socialism messy to tell, it is also difficult to make sing. But Holmes throws her ebullient prose at all those committee meetings, managing to make us see why each speech, each pamphlet, and each internecine quarrel actually matters in the long run. The result is a biography that, paradoxically, is most illuminating when it leaves the world of bungled private lives behind and steps out smartly on to the public stage"^[1] Lisa Jardine, reviewing the biography for the Financial Times, praised the author for "giving back to us an unforgettable Eleanor Marx"^[2]

In May 2014, the book was featured as the Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4.

References[edit]

Navajo woman who survived COVID-19 finds joy in simple steps

By FELICIA FONSECA

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In this May 15, 2020 photo provided by Shannon Todecheene her mother Carol Todecheene, left, receives therapy services at her daughter's home in Tucson, Ariz. Carol Todecheene was among those severely hit with the coronavirus. (Shannon Todecheene via AP)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — An ambulance whisked Carol Todecheene from her house in late March as some of her 13 rescue dogs barked and neighbors stood in their yards wondering what was wrong.

Some thought she had died as the number of coronavirus cases rapidly rose on the vast Navajo Nation, which at one point had the highest infection rate in the U.S.

Todecheene received so many calls and messages that her family let people know on social media that she had the virus. After weeks in the hospital, followed by rehabilitation, she’s among the COVID-19 survivors.

Recovery, though, doesn’t mean she’s OK.

It came with survivor’s guilt, trouble accessing health care and fear she wouldn’t regain her memory or her job overseeing transportation at the local school district, where limited in-person classes will begin this week.

Her own social media posts provide a glimpse of her journey.

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March 21: “Gots to finish cleaning & sanitizing tomorrow. Remember...I’m not allowing anyone to my house. G’nite everyone #ShelterInPlace #FlattentheCurve”

By then, Todecheene had a stuffy nose, body aches and scratchy throat. One night, she was vomiting and coughing violently.

She tried to get tested for the coronavirus at a health center in the Navajo Nation town of Kayenta but was turned away twice because she didn’t have a fever or respiratory problems. Her daughter Shannon insisted she go off the reservation to get checked.

It meant an hourslong trip, with Todecheene riding in the backseat, and mother and daughter wearing masks.

Todecheene thought about how they hadn’t yet marked the start of the spring season with a blessing to Mother Earth for prosperity, health, protection and survival.

Before she received her test results, she was in the emergency room. She lost 85% of her lung capacity and much of her kidney function. She had to be flown to a Phoenix hospital and put on a ventilator and dialysis March 29.

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April 25: “Water is sooooo good! I’m still working at getting 100% better. They keep telling me to eat & I’m trying but they want me to eat more. I told the nurse they need to put mutton on the menu then I will eat! Lol”

The last thing Todecheene remembered before being hospitalized was canceling meal deliveries to students in the Kayenta Unified School District because she feared for the bus drivers’ safety.

When she woke up in the hospital, she could barely talk after nearly three weeks on a ventilator. Her throat muscles were weak from the feeding tube. She didn’t know where she was and struggled to remember the year.

A friend had been texting her about home — the wind sweeping across mesas and rock formations, the sounds of sirens and a shelter-in-place order. Pictures of her dogs made her miss them even more.

Todecheene couldn’t lift her arms or steady her fingers to read the messages herself, so a nurse helped.

She thought about her kids, who were calling the hospital every day, and her late husband, Harry, wishing he could hold her and tell her things would be OK.

She found joy in finally being able to drink water, but her cravings for mutton — a traditional Navajo dish — would have to wait.

She also prayed she’d be able to walk soon.

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May 2: “Got to sit outside today!! I touched the grass, the sidewalk, the leaves on the trees, the water from the water fountain & little dirt. The magnolia trees will be beautiful once it fully blooms. Things that was meaningless means so much!”

Sitting in a wheelchair outside a rehabilitation center she was transferred to in Tucson, amid the flowers and trees, felt like an awakening, Todecheene said. She hadn’t been outside since leaving her house in the ambulance more than a month earlier.

She got a plaque for Mother’s Day that read, “Carol Todecheene is a survivor of ovarian cancer, breast cancer and COVID-19.”

While she was considered recovered, she didn’t feel anywhere near normal. The headaches were excruciating. She was tired and achy. Her hands were numb and tingly. She lost almost 30 pounds.

Writing things down helped her remember.

Todecheene spent her 60th birthday at the rehab center. She visited her kids on opposite sides of a window that was cracked open. She wasn’t strong enough to sit up for long, so she braced herself against a wall, smiling.

She worried she’d be shunned on the Navajo Nation as the “COVID lady” and that she’d lose her independence or not be able to work.

“I don’t know what the good Lord has planned,” Todecheene said, jokingly. “He should just tell me and not play these death games so I can get to my goal, whatever I’m supposed to be doing.”

She eventually began receiving therapy at her daughter Erin’s house. Short, scenic drives were refreshing, but she didn’t get out of the car much.

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May 21: “Seems like it’s been a long journey in the past two months of recovery. I’m making progress and starting to walk independently with a cane. A little at a time but getting there.”

Most people with COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms. Some, like Todecheene, can become severely ill.

On the Navajo Nation, nearly 10,000 people have tested positive for the virus, and more than 500 have died.

Doctors say fatigue and weakness can linger long after people are cleared of the virus. Todecheene hasn’t seen a neurologist for her memory loss, partly because it requires her to leave the reservation where specialty care is largely unavailable. She also has to navigate the Navajo Nation’s curfews and lockdowns that are meant to prevent the spread of the virus.

Dr. Jonathan Iralu, an infectious disease specialist for the Indian Health Service in Gallup, New Mexico, said it’s important to encourage COVID-19 patients throughout their recovery not to give up hope.

“We are still just over the big surge of the spring, and we’ve seen a bit of a reprieve in the number of new cases over the last month or so,” he said. “But internally, we’re learning about COVID.”

Farther south on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Indian Health Service workers are grappling with the appropriate terminology when it comes to recovery. Dr. Ryan Close is among those tracking patients.

“I don’t think we’re ready to transition to a world where we’re just thinking about COVID follow-up,” he said. “Increasing tracing, good antibody testing, vaccine and how to reopen safely — there’s all these other public health sectors that continue to take up bandwidth.”

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June 14: “Going home today! ... Mixed emotions...happy to go home to my mutts, my unfinished chores, my bed & stuff but part of me is scared...to be alone to climb the stairs (am I ready?), and to be in a hotspot (PTSD from having Covid-19 & its toll of agony)”

Todecheene wasn’t sure she wanted to leave Tucson, but a visit home reminded her how much she missed her dogs and the house she and her late husband built on the reservation spanning Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Her sister took care of her 13 dogs when she was away, but a sea of weeds needed pulling outside. She had to put up handrails on the stairs, and a grab bar in the shower.

Todecheene does what she can but sometimes feels overwhelmed.

“I’m just hoping I don’t have long-term disability of any sort,” she said. “It just aggravates me that I’m not back to normal. I’m very independent, and needing help really bothers the heck out of me.”

She’s also more emotional now. Instead of seeking counseling, she’s connected with other COVID-19 survivors. They share advice on everything from hair loss to doctors who might be taking new patients.

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Aug. 2: “I go back to work tomorrow and I’m already feeling anxiety attacks starting to hit. Is that norm for post-COVID? Or is it now PTSD?”

Todecheene had to go back to work after exhausting the time she could take off. She couldn’t afford not to. Her medical bills topped $700,000, though insurance covered most of it.

She had a bit of an emotional setback when she didn’t see two co-workers who had died from the coronavirus.

“These two I knew were dedicated, hard workers,” Todecheene said. “It was hard to accept that they passed on. That was the hard part, my staff. And then another hard part is you survive but the others didn’t survive.”

The school has been accommodating, telling her to take breaks as needed. Her throat is still scratchy and worsens when smoke from wildfires wafts through the air, and her vision isn’t clear.

And her memory?

“Oh, that’s bad, what was I saying?” she jokes.

The school buses start running again this week, but the number of children attending class in person will be limited to about 60. No more than two children will ride each bus, and they’ll be required to wear masks and have their temperature taken, Todecheene said.

She feels ready but isn’t sure how resuming the bus routes might affect the drivers emotionally. But she tells them not to let their guard down.

“Wear your mask, wash your hands all the time, don’t be around each other long,” Todecheene said. “That’s in the back of my head — there’s going to be a second wave.”

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This story has been corrected to show that Todecheene recovered at her daughter Erin’s house, not her daughter Shannon’s house.

Hungary’s theater & film college protests a loss of autonomy

By PABLO GORONDI2 hours ago

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Students of the Universityof Thea tre and Film Arts (SZFE) and their sympathizers form a human chain in protest against changes to the way the university is governed in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020. (Marton Monus/MTI via AP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Thousands of students, faculty and supporters of Hungary’s University of Theater and Film Arts formed a human chain Sunday between their institution and parliament to protest government steps seen diminishing its autonomy.

Those at the protest passed from hand to hand a document declaring the school’s principles and goals, which was to be presented to lawmakers. Organizers asked participants to wear masks and gloves because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the past few years, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s nationalist, conservative government has transferred several key universities to private foundations ruled by boards of directors loyal to the government.

While the government says the new structure will increase educational quality and make the institutions financially independent, critics see the reforms as efforts to limit the schools’ autonomy and bring them ideologically closer to the nationalist government.

Students at the University of Theater and Film Arts have barricaded themselves inside the building since Tuesday. A school official said Sunday that the start of classes would be postponed by a week.

Many of the university’s top professors have resigned, as has the school’s leadership, in wake of the designation of the foundation’s board of trustees, led by theater and film director Attila Vidnyanszky. Since 2013, Vidnyanszky has also been the director of Hungary’s National Theater.

The SZFE, the university’s Hungarian acronym, is 155 years old and counts several Oscar winners among its graduates, including Michael Curtiz, the director of “Casablanca,” and Vilmos Zsigmond, the cinematographer for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Numerous actors, musicians, artists and other universities have expressed their support for the university both in Hungary and abroad. On Saturday, film director Kornel Mundruczo wore a “#Free SZFE” T-shirt at the Venice Film Festival, where his new film, “Pieces of A Woman,” starring Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Burstyn, is in the competition.

Cognitive flexibility training manages responses to social conflict

Army-developed intervention mitigates negative responses to perceived provocations

WALTER REED ARMY INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH

Research News

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research and Army Research Laboratory have developed a computer-based training to reduce anger, reactive aggression and hostile attribution bias--the tendency to attribute hostile intent to the actions of others--in ambiguous social conflict situations.

Anger and aggression are common reactions to interpersonal provocations. However, not all provocations lead to these reactions. Past scientific research suggests that the extent to which the victim believes the provocateur acted with malice is key to predicting whether the victim will respond with anger and aggression. The tendency to assume malice in the actions of others is called hostile attribution bias.

Hostile attribution bias and unwarranted anger can jeopardize social bonds, team culture and team performance. It is also linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other behavioral health concerns.

The novel training, named Hostile Bias Modification Training, exposes trainees to three types of word fragments: ambiguous, aggressive and non-aggressive. Ambiguous fragments could form aggressive or non-aggressive words (KI_ _ could become KILL or KIND), aggressive fragments can only form aggressive words (W_ _PON for WEAPON) and non-aggressive fragments can only form non-aggressive words (FR_ END for FRIEND).

Participants are instructed to only form non-aggressive words and not respond if they cannot think of a non-aggressive word. Subsequently, study participants reacted to vignettes where they were wronged: in some vignettes the intent of the wrongdoer was clearly hostile while in others it was ambiguous. A second study linked these findings to real-world situations by analyzing participants' driving and online social media behavior.

Publishing their findings in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, the researchers suggest that HBMT results in significantly lower rates of anger, aggression and hostile attribution bias in response to socially frustrating situations compared to control groups in both laboratory and real-world situations. Notably, HBMT did not alter judgements where the intent of the wrongdoer was clearly hostile.

"Though more research is needed, we believe that HBMT could be effective as both a standalone tool for use at home, in field settings, or in concert with other therapeutic options to help mitigate unwarranted anger and aggression," said Capt. Jeffrey Osgood, a research psychologist at WRAIR and lead author of the study. "We are excited about HBMT's potential to both prevent and treat behavioral health concerns."

While researchers followed participants up to 96 hours after HBMT, further research is needed to determine the maximum durability of the training as well as to study it in clinical populations, identify the optimal dosing strategy and test its use alongside other treatments.

###

About the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is the oldest and most mission-diverse biomedical research laboratory in the Department of Defense. WRAIR provides unique research capabilities and innovative solutions to a range of force health and readiness challenges currently facing U.S. Service Members, along with threats anticipated during future operations. With research units in the state of Washington, Africa, Asia and the Caucasus region, WRAIR houses three centers, the Center for Infectious Disease Research, the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the Center for Enabling Capabilities.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!

Unions threaten work stoppages amid calls for racial justice

By AARON MORRISON

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FILE - In this July 20, 2020, file photo, Audrey Reed, 8, holds up a sing through the sunroof of a car during a rally in Los Angeles. Ahead of Labor Day, major U.S. labor unions say they are considering work stoppages in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Ahead of Labor Day, unions representing millions across several working-class sectors are threatening to authorize work stoppages in support of the Black Lives Matter movement amid calls for concrete measures that address racial injustice.

In a statement first shared with The Associated Press, labor leaders who represent teachers, autoworkers, truck drivers and clerical staff, among others, signaled a willingness Friday to escalate protest tactics to force local and federal lawmakers to take action on policing reform and systemic racism. They said the walkouts, if they were to move forward with them, would last for as long as needed

“The status quo — of police killing Black people, of armed white nationalists killing demonstrators, of millions sick and increasingly desperate — is clearly unjust, and it cannot continue,” the statement says. It was signed by several branches of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, and affiliates of the National Education Association.

The broader labor movement has been vocal since the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed Black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes during an arrest over counterfeit money. The death of Floyd in Minneapolis set off an unprecedented surge of protests and unrest from coast to coast this summer. In July, organized labor staged a daylong strike with workers from the service industry, fast-food chains and the gig economy to call out the lack of coronavirus pandemic protections for essential workers, who are disproportionately Black and Hispanic.

Now, in the wake of the August shooting of Jacob Blake, who was critically wounded by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the union leaders say they are following the lead of professional athletes who last week staged walkouts over the shooting. Basketball, baseball and tennis league games had to be postponed. Some athletes resumed game play only after having talks with league officials over ways to support the push for policing reforms and to honor victims of police and vigilante violence.

“They remind us that when we strike to withhold our labor, we have the power to bring an unjust status quo to a grinding halt,” the union leaders said in the statement.

“We echo the call to local and federal government to divest from the police, to redistribute the stolen wealth of the billionaire class, and to invest in what our people need to live in peace, dignity, and abundance: universal health care and housing, public jobs programs and cash assistance, and safe working conditions,” the statement reads.

Among the supportive unions are ones representing Wisconsin public school teachers who, ahead of the mid-September start of the regular school year, urged state legislators to take on policing reforms and systemic racism.

“We stand in solidarity with Jacob Blake and his family, and all communities fighting to defend Black lives from police and vigilante violence,” Milwaukee Teacher’s Association president Amy Mizialko told the AP.

“Are we striking tomorrow? No,” said Racine Educator United president Angelina Cruz, who represents teachers in a community that abuts Kenosha. “Are we in conversation with our members and the national labor movement about how we escalate our tactics to stop fascism and win justice? Yes.”

The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, which represents several hundreds of professionals working at more than 25 civil rights groups and think tank organizations, told the AP it signed onto the union statement because “the fights for workers’ rights, civil rights, and racial justice are inextricably linked.”

TEAMSTERS

At the federal level, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has already passed the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act, which would ban police use of stranglehold maneuvers and end qualified immunity for officers, among other reforms. The measure awaits action in the Senate.

A Republican-authored police reform bill, introduced in June by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, failed a procedural vote in the Senate because Democrats felt the measure didn’t go far enough to address officer accountability.

Meanwhile, officials who serve on governing bodies in more than a dozen major U.S. cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, New York City and Austin, Texas, have voted to defund their police departments and reallocate the money to mental health, homelessness and education services.

Although some unions have a history of excluding workers on the basis of gender and race, the marriage between the racial justice and labor movements goes back decades. That alliance was most prominently on display during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which featured the visions of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rep. John Lewis and was organized by A. Philip Randolph, a Black icon of the labor movement.

Today, Black workers are more likely to be unionized than any other segment of the workforce as a result of decades of collaboration between labor and civil rights activists, said New York University professor and civil rights historian Thomas Sugrue.

“That connection has only intensified because of the importance of workers of color, particularly African Americans, in the labor movement,” Sugrue said.

Public and private employers are faced with a “Which side are you on?” moment due to growing support for the BLM movement, said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party and a leading organizer in the Movement for Black Lives, a national coalition of 150 Black-led organizations.

“If I was a decision-maker that was considering whether or not to meet the demands of the unions, I would be scared,” Mitchell said. “This movement is spreading. We’ve been on the streets consistently, we’re building on the electoral front, and now we’re seeing this conversation at the highest levels of labor.”

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Morrison is a member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.

French police struggle to solve mystery of violent horse attacks

06/09/2020 -

Horses eat hay in a field in Lattes, near Montpellier, southern France on April 24, 2020. © Pascal Guyot, AFP

Text by:Catherine Bennett

More than 30 horses have been mutilated or killed in violent attacks across France since February, with cases rising in recent weeks. French authorities are no closer to finding a motive behind the attacks, but have warned the public not to take matters into their own hands.

The barbaric attacks have been different in nature, but are usually carried out with a knife. Horses, ponies and donkeys have been slashed, disembowelled or bled, had their genitals mutilated, eyes gouged out or, in the majority of cases, had an ear cut off.

The most recent attack took place at 2am on September 6 in the Côte d’Or department in the east of France. A man saw torches in his field and called the police, who sent 40 officers, a dog unit and a helicopter. One of his horses was discovered with a superficial wound. The police have said that they are searching for two men in relation to the attack.

The spate of attacks have drawn widespread attention in France and are under investigation by the DGSI, part of France’s intelligence and security services.

'Someone has to defend the horses'

Horse owners across the country are terrified. Police have advised them to install cameras on their property, take off horses head collars before setting them loose in the field, patrol the fields at night and ring the police if there is any suspicious activity.

But many owners think it’s not enough, and are frustrated at the lack of support from local police forces.

One woman furiously told French regional TV station France 3 Bretagne: “We’ve had enough! I’m not ashamed to say it, my gun is loaded and I won’t hesitate to shoot if I need to. We can’t be surprised if someone injures or kills one of these individuals. Someone has to defend the horses.”

The authorities are warning against such displays of vigilantism, however.

In Finistère, Brittany, a woman, 51, and her daughter, 23, have been arrested and face up to five years in prison after stopping a car on the road on the night of September 2, suspecting the vehicle’s occupants of involvement in the attacks. The woman and her daughter were both armed with machetes and pellet guns. The two women in the car later filed a complaint.

The head of the police in Finistère, Colonel Nicolas Duvinage, said, “We cannot take justice into our own hands. I remind you that legitimate defence is valid if someone is attacking humans, but not horses. If an owner punches someone, or worse, shoots an individual, they would be liable to a judicial investigation.”

Horse owners share information

Horse owners across France are banding together on social media in an attempt to collate information about the attacks and share resources. Facebook groups titled ‘Protect our horses!’ have sprung up for a number of regional departments in France. Citizens have also created an interactive map in an attempt to track and detail the attacks. The map shows more than 100 cases.

A screenshot of the interactive map created by horse owners in France, taken on 6 September 2020. © France 24

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Animal charities are supporting horse owners as much as possible. La Fondation Brigitte Bardot, a prominent animal rights organisation founded by the actress of the same name, has promised to bring a civil case against the perpetrators, if found.

The investigation so far

Police have managed to create an identikit of one of two attackers who injured two ponies at an animal sanctuary in Burgundy. The president of the animal sanctuary was woken during the night by the sound of animals in pain. He confronted the attackers and was attacked himself, receiving a knife wound, before they ran away.

Other clues, such as a twitch (an instrument used for restraining horses) found at one crime scene, and evidence that horses have been sedated, suggest that at least some of the attacks are carried out by professionals who know horses.

There are a number of hypotheses for why the attacks are happening, and rumours abound on social media. One hypothesis is that the attacks are committed by a large criminal ring that sells horses organs or blood. Some suggest that the attacks are a gruesome online dare, or part of dark Satanic rituals. The police have also not ruled out that the first attack was a random act of barbarism and subsequent attacks were copy-cat crimes.

UPDATED

UK charges 26 over printing works climate protest

Issued on: 06/09/2020 -

The protests were part of 10 days of action by the group Extinction Rebellion and caused delays to deliveries of newspapers including The Times and its tabloid stablemate The Sun Tom OLDHAM Extinction Rebellion/AFP

London (AFP)

Twenty-six people have been charged with aggravated trespass after a climate protest at a printing works in northwest England disrupted the delivery of several newspapers, police said on Sunday.

Merseyside Police said the men and women, aged between 19 and 60, were released on bail and ordered to appear in court in Liverpool and St Helens between January 8 and 13 next year.

Fifty other people were in custody after a similar protest at another print site at Waltham Cross, north of London, Hertfordshire Police said.

The protests were part of 10 days of action by the group Extinction Rebellion and caused delays to deliveries of newspapers including The Times and its tabloid stablemate The Sun.

Activists blocked roads outside the sites using vehicles and attached themselves to obstacles to expose what they said was the "failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency".

The Times and The Sun are owned by News Corp, which is controlled by media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who has been accused of denying climate change.

Extinction Rebellion accused News Corp and right-wing publications such as the Daily Mail and the London Evening Standard of pushing "personal and political agendas".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is a former newspaper reporter and columnist, led condemnation of the action, calling it an attempt to stifle freedom of speech.

"A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change," he said.

Britain's domestic Press Association news agency quoted unnamed government sources as saying interior minister Priti Patel wanted to review how Extinction Rebellion was classified.

The review could see it treated as an organised crime group given the disruption caused by its activities.

© 2020 AFP

Extinction Rebellion climate protesters arrested after blocking printing of Murdoch-owned British newspapers

A FREE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE THAT OWN ONE

A J LIEBLING

By Mia Alberti, CNN Business

Updated 1556 GMT (2356 HKT) September 5, 2020

Members of Extinction Rebellion blocked printworks responsible for printing papers such as The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mail.

London (CNN)UK police have arrested 13 members of the Extinction Rebellion group after climate change protesters blocked the printing presses of several Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp newspapers on Friday and Saturday, disrupting their distribution.
"The protest is causing major disruption to local businesses. At this time, 13 people have been arrested in connection with the incident, and we anticipate more arrests will be made," Hertfordshire police said in a statement.
Member of Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, blocked printworks responsible for printing papers such as News Corp's The Sun and The Times, along with The Daily Mail, published by Associated Newspapers in Broxbourne, greater London and in Liverpool.

Protesters used bamboo lock-ons to block the road outside printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

"The groups are using disruption to expose the failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency, and their consistent manipulation of the truth to suit their own personal and political agendas," XR said in a statement.
XR said its activists targeted the newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch because "the right-wing media is a barrier to the truth, failing to reflect the scale and urgency" of the climate crisis.

James Murdoch resigns from News Corp, citing 'disagreements over certain editorial content'

"They distract us with hate and maintain their own power and wealth, profiting from our division. We can't move forward until this barrier falls," the group added.
The Times newspapers said on Twitter: "We apologize to readers who may be unable to buy their usual newspaper this morning. Overnight printing of The Times was disrupted by Extinction Rebellion alongside other newspapers. We are working to get newspapers delivered to retailers as soon as possible."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also criticized the protests, writing on Twitter: "A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change.
"It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public's access to news in this way," he said.
Murdoch's son, James, this year lashed out against his father's sprawling media empire for how it covers the climate crisis. In comments made to The Daily Beast, a spokesperson for James Murdoch and his wife spoke of the couple's "frustration" with News Corp coverage of climate.
James Murdoch later broke from the family business in July and said he was exiting the company over "disagreements over certain editorial content published" by its news outlets and "certain other strategic decisions."
Murdoch's News Corp owns a large chunk of Australia's media and has been criticized for coverage that suggested recent wildfires were no worse than they'd been in the past or that they are caused by arsonists, not climate change.
The News Corp umbrella includes papers such as The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, a raft of newspapers in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the book publisher HarperCollins

Extinction Rebellion protests at printing presses stop millions of newspapers being delivered

Demonstrators blocked access to two print works in Hertfordshire and Merseyside, causing delays to newspaper deliveries.

Saturday 5 September 2020

Extinction Rebellion protests outside news printers

More than 70 people have been arrested following protests by climate activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) outside two printing presses - which prevented the distribution of millions of national newspapers.

Demonstrators blocked access to two print works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, using vehicles and bamboo structures overnight into Saturday morning.

Seventy-two people were arrested across the two locations, police said, and delivery lorries were delayed from leaving.

Image:The move left newspaper stands devoid of some papers on Saturday morning

Image:Police and firefighters dealt with the protest outside the Newsprinters works in Hertfordshire

The Newsprinters presses targeted print the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp's titles including The Sun, The Times, The Sun On Sunday and The Sunday Times.

The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail On Sunday, London Evening Standard and some Guardian supplements are also printed or processed at the sites. Both demonstrations ended around 11am.

The protests were condemned by the prime minister as "completely unacceptable".

Boris Johnson tweeted: "A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change.

"It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public's access to news in this way."

A statement from News UK, which publishes the Murdoch titles, said: "Total print run last night for the impacted print plants was due to be just under three million.

"No newspapers left those sites and other printers around the country printed and distributed as much as they could take. This happened late, hence the late deliveries to retailers."

XR claim the "mainstream media" is controlled by a small number of people, and that news corporations are guilty of "consistent manipulation of the truth to suit their own personal and political agendas".

Image:The Newsprinters presses print titles including The Sun, The Times, The Sun On Sunday and The Sunday Times. Pic: Extinction Rebellion

Image:Vans were blocked from accessing the site

In central London, other members of the group completed a protest walk from Brighton to the capital with their boat "Lightship Greta", named after teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

After days of demonstrations to highlight global warming, the Metropolitan Police seized the boat in Kennington, south London, and said they had arrested "more than 600 people" in connection with the protests.

Greta being dismantled😶, we are still just north of Kennington Park.#extinctionrebellion #wewanttolive #LightshipGreta pic.twitter.com/FKxZhtQKhh— Lightship Greta (@LightshipGreta) September 5, 2020

Twenty people have also been reported for breaking coronavirus regulations, which now incurs a fine of £10,000, a force spokesman said.

The protests targeting the printing presses meant thousands of people who would normally get The Sun were unable to read an interview with Sir David Attenborough in which he explains why he supports Extinction Rebellion and what Sun readers can do to help reduce climate change.

The Telegraph says it has made its website free this weekend after the protests.

A statement said: "Production of The Telegraph titles was severely affected.

"Following the assault on the free press, we have made the decision that all the Telegraph journalism published this weekend is now free to read on our website until Monday morning and removed the paywall until then."

XR protester defends blocking print sites

The Times apologised to readers in a tweet, saying this morning that it was "working to get newspapers delivered to retailers as soon as possible".

Newsprinters said it moved the work elsewhere but apologised to newspaper readers affected by the delay.

A spokesperson said: "Overnight printing at two Newsprinters plants was disrupted by activity by Extinction Rebellion. Thanks to other industry partners, printing was transferred to other sites.

"This attack on all of the free press impacted many workers going about their jobs. Overnight print workers, delivery drivers, wholesale workers and retail newsagents have faced delays and financial penalty."

Meanwhile, Labour MP and former shadow cabinet member Dawn Butler initially tweeted in support of the protesters, but later deleted the post.

Her comment - "Bravo #Extinction Rebellion. Excellent work" - was criticised by other Twitter users, with Labour ex-cabinet minister Andrew Adonis saying: "I utterly disagree with this."

The group in Hertfordshire put up bamboo structures around the entrance, preventing access to the printing site.

I utterly disagree with this pic.twitter.com/GUdFDNlOmm— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) September 5, 2020

A Sky News producer at the scene said there were lines of vans queued up along the road to the site, waiting to collect newspapers.

Hertfordshire Police said: "Our officers are engaging with the group, which consists of around 100 people, and we are working to facilitate the rights of both the protesters and those affected by their presence."

In a tweet, the force said it had made 42 arrests.

Merseyside Police said 30 arrests had been made there. "Two vans and a boat used to cause obstruction" were removed, a spokesman added.

Extinction Rebellion activist Gully Bujak, 27, said: "You cannot have a functioning democracy with a mainstream media that is ruled by a small, unrepresentative sect of society, who are in bed with politicians and the fossil fuel industry.

"The climate emergency is an existential threat to humanity. Instead of publishing this on the front page every day as it deserves, much of our media ignores the issue and some actively sow seeds of climate denial.

"They thrive off of polarisation and division. They sow hatred in order to distract us, actively profiting from this division.

"To these papers we say this: you will not come between us anymore. For a night we're going to filter out the lies and take the power back. For a night we're going to show the world that you are vulnerable, just like us."

VIDEOS

https://news.sky.com/story/extinction-rebellion-protests-at-printing-presses-stop-millions-of-papers-being-delivered-12064057

Trump, Who Definitely Called John McCain A Loser, Is Denying Calling John McCain A Loser

The president is lashing out at reports he called US soldiers who died in war "suckers" and that he didn't want to visit their graves because rain would mess up his hair.

David MackBuzzFeed News Reporter

Last updated on September 4, 2020, at 4:21 p.m. ET

Posted on September 4, 2020,

President Donald Trump is lashing out at a report he disparaged US soldiers who died in wars, suggested wounded veterans not participate in military parades because of their amputations, and angrily resented that flags were lowered to half-staff after the death of Sen. John McCain.

The claims were made in a bombshell report in the Atlantic by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg on Thursday, citing multiple unnamed sources described as being firsthand witnesses to Trump's comments. Two military sources later confirmed some of the president's comments to the Associated Press. On Friday afternoon, a Fox News reporter also confirmed much of the reporting, citing two former senior Trump officials.

According to the Atlantic, Trump declined to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of World War I because he didn't want to get his hair wet in the rain and because the graves were full of "losers" who had been "suckers" for getting killed in battle.

At the time, and again on Thursday night after the story was published, Trump said poor weather prevented him from flying via helicopter and that Secret Service officials were not prepared to drive him there. (Both the leaders of France and Germany did attend the event, as did then–White House chief of staff John Kelly.)

"Now all of a sudden somebody makes up this horrible story that I didn't want to go, and then they make up an even worse story, an even worse story, calling certain names to our fallen heroes," he told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, as he traveled back from a Pennsylvania rally. "It's a disgrace that a magazine is able to write it."

"I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes," he insisted.

Other Trump White House staffers also denied hearing the president make any such comments.

But at least part of the president's denials about the Atlantic story was a lie.

In a Twitter thread late Thursday night, he denied that he had ever called McCain a loser, despite the Atlantic reporting he did not want to support the Arizona senator's funeral when he died in 2018. "What the fuck are we doing that for?" the Atlantic quoted him as telling senior staff, citing three sources. "Guy was a fucking loser."

"I never called John a loser," Trump wrote on Twitter, saying he had approved of the state funeral arrangements despite not being "a big fan" of McCain.

But Trump, of course, famously did call McCain a loser.

"He lost [the 2008 election], so I never liked him as much after that because I don't like losers," Trump said in 2015 as he ran for president in Iowa. "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

At the time, Trump even reshared his comments on Twitter.

Via @fitsnews: “Donald Trump: John McCain Is ‘A Loser’” http://t.co/sgiETvdUqi

Miles Taylor — the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration, who has since been speaking out against the president, describing him as "dangerous" — also hit back publicly against Trump's denials about McCain.

"Mr. President, this is not true," Taylor, who helped sell Trump's family separations policy at the border, tweeted on Friday morning. "You were angry that DHS notified federal buildings to lower the flags for Sen. McCain. I would know because your staff called and told me."

David Mack is a deputy director of breaking news for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York

Mississippi judge dismisses charges against man tried 6 times for slayings

Curtis Flowers spend 23 years in prison for the slayings of four people, charges for which have been dropped. File Photo courtesy Mississippi Department of Corrections

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A Mississippi judge on Friday dropped charges against a man tried six times for the deaths of four people nearly a quarter century ago.

Curtis Flowers, 50, spent nearly 23 years in prison for the slayings at a furniture store in Winona, Miss. He was released on bail in December ahead of what was expected to be his seventh trial.

"Today, I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for nearly 23 years," Flowers said in a statement. "I've been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would."

District Attorney Doug Evans, lead prosecutor in his first six cases -- two of which resulted in hung juries and the rest overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct -- recused himself from the case in January. The case was transferred to the Mississippi attorney general's office
.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed a motion to dismiss the charges after reviewing the case, saying there was no one alive who could testify today without previous conflicting statements on the record.

"As the court noted at the bail review hearing, the only witness who offered direct evidence of guilt recanted his prior testimony, admitting that he was lying when he said Mr. Flowers made a jailhouse confession to the murders," the motion read.

She said there were also multiple alternative suspects who had violent criminal histories as well as other evidence not considered.

"The case against Curtis Flowers never made sense," said Flowers' attorney, Rob McDuff of the Mississippi Center for Justice. "He was 26 years old with no criminal record and nothing in his history to suggest he would commit a crime like this.

"As time went by, even more evidence emerged to corroborate his innocence. This prosecution was flawed from the beginning and was tainted throughout by racial discrimination. It should never have occurred and lasted far too long, but we are glad it is finally over."

Bertha Tardy, the owner of Tardy Furniture, and three employees, Robert Golden, Carmen Rigby and Derrick "Bobo" Stewart, were found dead at the store July 16, 1996. Flowers became a suspect after police learned he had been fired from the store two weeks earlier

The Case Against Curtis Flowers, Who Spent 23 Years In Prison For Murder And Had 4 Convictions Overturned, Has Been Dropped

"I've been asked if I ever thought this day would come," Flowers said in a statement. "I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would."

Salvador HernandezBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on September 4, 2020

Rogelio V. Solis / AP

Prosecutors have dropped their case against Curtis Flowers, a Black man who has been tried six times for the shooting and killing of four people in a furniture store in 1996 and spent 23 years in prison — most of it on death row — for the crime.

Flowers was released from prison on bail last year after the US Supreme Court reversed his latest conviction. His case drew media attention after the popular podcast In the Dark featured Flowers' case and his six trials for the same crime.

"This is a monumental victory," Vangela M. Wade, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice, said in a statement. The center helped litigate Flowers' case, free him on bail, and dismiss the charges. "Today the burden of further injustice has been lifted from Mr. Flowers, but fair treatment in our criminal justice system should never require extraordinary resources behind this long-delayed outcome."

Flowers maintained he was innocent during six trials, which included four convictions that were overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. The two other cases resulted in hung juries.

The Clarion Ledger reported his most recent conviction in 2010 was overturned in June 2019 after a court found that District Attorney Doug Evans had deliberately worked to keep Black jurors from serving on the jury.

In the Dark @InTheDarkAPM

Curtis Flowers was allowed to remove his ankle monitor Friday afternoon after the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office dropped all charges against him. Read the story: https://t.co/qAMqu5ER3a11:10 PM - 04 Sep 2020
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Flowers was freed from prison in December after his attorneys filed a motion for bail and asked for his charges to be dismissed and the prosecutor to recuse himself from the case.

The judge at the time of the bail hearing noted reporting that was featured in the podcast In the Dark, including two state witnesses who said they lied during the Flowers' trial. The judge also noted the possibility of evidence that pointed to another possible suspect in the killings.

Evans withdrew in January from the case and the Mississippi Attorney General's office was appointed to prosecute the case instead.

The Mississippi Center of Justice said in a statement that the Attorney General's office conducted a monthslong review of the case, then filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Flowers.

"Today I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for nearly 23 years," Flowers told the Clarion-Ledger in a statement. "I've been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would."

Salvador Hernandez is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.

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