Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Jamaica renews state of emergency due to gang violence in the country

Daniel Stewart
2022-12-29
The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness – GOBIERNO DE JAMAICA

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Wednesday renewed a state of emergency in several regions of the country due to gang violence.

«We will use the State of Public Emergency tool whenever there is a threat to life and property, as well as to communities deprived of the rights and freedoms of citizens, and the situation exceeds the capabilities of our regular law enforcement agents,» Holness explained at a press conference.

The Jamaican head of government asserted that «the duty of any government is to save lives». «I am confident that our measures this season have resulted in many Jamaicans being safer and many more lives have been saved,» he added.

In addition, Holness said that his administration continues to work on a legislative agenda that shows «seriousness as a society in the fight against crime».

In this sense, he indicated that his Executive will renew the Enhanced Security Measures Bill: «We have already declared our intention to increase the penalty for homicide».

The ‘premier’ had announced in mid-November the state of emergency in several regions, a measure that has allowed authorities to search buildings and arrest citizens without a warrant.

«The government, after careful consideration of the advice of the security chiefs, has decided to inform the Governor General that it was necessary and indeed appropriate to declare States of Public Emergency in these areas. We have seen an increase in criminal activity in these areas and indeed a threat to property and in some cases public disorder,» he said at the time, as picked up by the ‘Jamaica Observer’ media.


 Members of security forces guard the streets as Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday declared a state of public emergency in parts of the capital Kingston, and in some parishes in the central and western parts of the country, in a bid to control rising crime linked to gang violence, in Kingston, Jamaica November 15, 2022.

Source: (EUROPA PRESS)

In Haiti, a crisis of violence, chaos, and cholera goes largely ignored by outside world

Charities do what they can to help the impoverished nation, but international action is needed to bring order and restore infrastructure, experts on the ground say.

A mother carries her son as she runs past a burning barricade during a protest against the government in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

(RNS)—  The Rev. Dieufort Fleurissaint, chair of Haitian Americans United, a Boston area non-profit, said he is thankful for God’s presence during this holiday season, even if the crisis in his homeland of Haiti is never far from his mind.

The situation in the Caribbean nation of 11.5 million people has deteriorated drastically in the past year, with the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse exacerbating the effects of a series of natural disasters.

The violence in Haiti made headlines in 2021, after the president’s assassination in July and the kidnapping of 17 American missionaries in October. More recently, the United Nations has made a number of dire pronouncements warning of gang violence and an outbreak of cholera.

Fuel shortages have further paralyzed schools and businesses, leaving many stuck at home, unable to work or obtained needed supplies for daily life.

“The situation in Haiti has been dire for many years,” said Fleurissaint. “In 2022, with widespread kidnappings, killings, fuel shortages and food shortages — the situation has worsened.”

Fleurissaint worries that few people are paying attention, saying that news coverage has been sparse. 

A youth suffering from cholera symptoms is helped upon arrival at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. For the first time in three years, people in Haiti have been dying of cholera, raising concerns about a potentially fast-spreading scenario and reviving memories of an epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 people a decade ago. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A youth suffering from cholera symptoms is helped upon arrival at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. For the first time in three years, people in Haiti have been dying of cholera, raising concerns about a potentially fast-spreading scenario and reviving memories of an epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 people a decade ago. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Haitians in the United States and other countries routinely send money and other support home to relatives and family members unable to make a living. “The brunt of the responsibility falls on the diaspora,” he said. “We have to send money to loved ones, family and friends.”

A number of high-profile charities, such as Catholic Relief Services, Doctors Without Borders and World Vision, are active in the country, but Fleurissaint said that action is needed from outside governments as well.

The Biden administration recently extended Temporary Protected Status for some Haitians currently in the United States, but that status does not apply to Haitians who entered the country after November 6, 2022.

“We are providing much-needed humanitarian relief to Haitian nationals already present in the United States,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced in early December. “The conditions in Haiti, including socioeconomic challenges, political instability, and gang violence and crime — aggravated by environmental disaster — compelled the humanitarian relief we are providing today.”

Fleurissaint said he and other Haitian American leaders have met with members of Congress and other leaders in Washington, pressing them to do more for Haiti. He said he opposes military intervention, saying leaders there should instead be given more resources and training to restore order.

Children sleep on the floor of a school turned into a shelter after they were forced to leave their homes in Cite Soleil due to clashes between armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Children sleep on the floor of a school turned into a shelter after they were forced to leave their homes in Cite Soleil due to clashes between armed gangs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

He urged his fellow Christians and other Americans to call their elected officials, citing direct pressure as the only way to put the crisis on their radar, he said.

Fleurissaint said that faith sustains many Haitians during this crisis.

“No matter what, we know where our strength comes from,” he said.



Lesly Michaud, senior operations director in Haiti for World Vision, the evangelical Christian charity, said the cholera outbreak, which has sickened more than 1,400 people and killed more than 300 since October, has aggravated the already desperate situation.

People collect clean water at a station sponsored by World Vision. Photo courtesy of World Vision

People collect clean water at a station sponsored by World Vision. Photo courtesy of World Vision

But Michaud also pointed to inflation as an increasing worry. With prices rising at a 47% annual rate, inflation threatens to expand food insecurity, which affects nearly half the population, according to data from the World Food program.

“The majority of Haitians live from day to day,” Michaud told Religion News Service in an email. “This multidimensional crisis has only aggravated the precariousness and even the vulnerability of many families in particular who had difficulty in obtaining food supplies or simply water.”

The country’s struggles have left aid groups themselves struggling to operate during the current crisis. “The highly volatile security situation is putting at risk critical humanitarian operations that many vulnerable Haitians rely on, Michaud said.  

Americans can help by donating to charities on the ground in Haiti, said Michaud, who also suggested calling elected officials to ask for “diplomatic, economic and security-related support” and a transition plan to address the country’s future, he said.

Despite the current chaos, World Vision is still providing emergency aid while working on long-term projects to supply water and sanitary infrastructure and to support families with aid, along with agricultural training and support to improve their situations.

A young student washes his hands at a water station provided by World Vision in Haiti. Photo courtesy of World Vision

A young student washes his hands at a water station provided by World Vision in Haiti. Photo courtesy of World Vision

But the crisis has put such pressure on families, according to Frédérique Jean-Baptiste, a program manager for Catholic Relief Services, that her work has been to help them get the resources they need simply to stay together. She works with the Changing the Way We Care program, which tries to keep children with their families rather than removing them to orphanages after disasters have separated parents from their homes.

Most of the children living in Haitian orphanages have at least one living parent, said Jean-Baptiste. The number of orphanages, she said, increased dramatically following the 2010 earthquake, which killed 300,000 people and left 1.5 million people homeless, according to the United Nations.

Orphanages have often been seen as the best way to care for children with missing parents, while other families have been led to think about adoption. But most vulnerable children, said Jean-Baptiste, have parents who only need support in order to provide a healthy and safe home for their children.

Jean-Baptiste and her colleagues are helping connect children with their parents and provide tuition assistance, micro-loans, case management and other services to reintegrate families.

She called on Catholics and another fellow Christians to support these efforts. “In order to have a lasting impact on children’s lives, it is critical for Christians to direct their giving to support caring for their children rather than in residential centers,” she said.

A girl takes an oral cholera vaccine during a vaccination campaign in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A girl takes an oral cholera vaccine during a vaccination campaign in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Jean-Baptiste, born in New York to Haitian parents, moved to Haiti in 2016 to work with medical missionaries on community health initiatives. She decided to stay to work with Catholic Relief Services, first working with orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS, then moving to the child protection program.

Jean-Baptiste asked people to give — and to pray for children and their families this holiday season.

“One thing that we can do actually is to pray and include vulnerable children and families as well as to commit to serving them in our prayers.”

Work has been stopped at the fields in Karabakh: what does this mean? Opinion from Baku

 28.12.2022

Work stopped at the fields in Karabakh

HEGEMONITES NOT SURE OF HEGEMON 

Pew Poll: Americans Say US Global Influence Getting Weaker

Poll (Dreamstime)

By    |   Wednesday, 28 December 2022 

The United States has lost influence on the world stage according to almost half of Americans in a new poll from Pew Research Center.

Americans are more likely to say that the United States’ global influence has been getting weaker in recent years than stronger or staying the same:

  • 19% say U.S. influence in the world has been getting stronger.
  • 32% say U.S. influence is staying about the same.
  • 47% say the U.S. is getting weaker.

Pew notes, “The United States is the lone country out of 19 surveyed where a plurality of adults say their country’s influence has been getting weaker recently.”

Most residents of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia said that their countries have remained the same in terms of global influence, while most Israelis say that their country has grown in global influence.

In the U.S., respondents were split mainly down partisan lines, with most Republicans and those who lean Republican saying that American influence is declining. In contrast, only about 1-in-3 Democrats or those who lean Democrat would say the same.

According to Pew this is a worldwide trend: “In almost every country surveyed, those who do not support the political party in power are more likely than supporters to believe that their country’s influence in the world is getting weaker.”

Pew conducted the poll, released on Dec. 22, 2022, in 19 countries last spring with a sample size and margin of error varying for each nation.

Mirror test of wild penguins suggests they may possess self-awareness

An Adélie penguin gazing intently at their image during a modified mirror test. Credit: bioRxiv (2022). DOI: 10.1101/2022.11.04.515260

A trio of researchers—one with the Indian government's Ministry of Earth Sciences, another with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the third with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, also in India—has found that some species of wild penguins may have some degree of self-awareness.

Prabir Ghosh Dastidar, Azizuddin Khan and Anindya Sinha have written a paper describing their study of the behavior of Adélie  in Antarctica and what they learned in their effort. The full paper is available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

Prior research has shown that self-awareness is rare in the —up to now, only a few mammals, some birds and some fish have been found to have it. In humans it is an easy thing to test, but in animals it takes some doing. Most studies looking for it have used what is known as the mirror test, where as its name suggests, test animals are allowed to see themselves in a mirror while researchers study their reactions.

Self-awareness generally involves subjects noting something about themselves that is also in their reflection, such as touching a red mark on their own face that they can only see in the mirror. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if penguins might have self-awareness. To find out they ventured to Svenner Island in a part of eastern Antarctica to observe the behavior of Adélie penguins responding to images of themselves in mirrors.

The researchers conducted four experiments, The first involved simply placing some mirrors on the ground in the vicinity of the penguins and watching as random penguins looked down at them. The second involved building a cardboard corral around some of the penguins that directed them toward mirrors at the ends of an enclosure. The third involved placing little stickers on the mirrors that when viewed, appeared as if it was on the penguin looking at it. The final experiment involved placing a bib on random penguins placed in front of a mirror.

The researchers found no response in the first experiment, which was actually a finding—many animals fail such a test when they believe the creature they are seeing in the mirror is another of their kind and respond accordingly. In the second experiment, the penguins moved in ways that suggested they might be examining themselves. The penguins also become agitated when looking at the mirrors with stickers on them and actively tried to remove them. But they did not respond at all to seeing themselves wearing a small bib.

The researchers suggest their results are a bit ambiguous, but note that taken together, their findings suggest that the penguins did exhibit some degree of self-awareness.

More information: Prabir Ghosh Dastidar et al, Possible Self-awareness in Wild Adélie PenguinsPygoscelis adeliae, bioRxiv (2022). DOI: 10.1101/2022.11.04.515260


© 2022 Science X NetworkThis robot lives with an Antarctica penguin colony, monitoring their every move

Despite ban, small turtle online pet trade in the US found to be flourishing

hatchling turtles
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A team of researchers at the University of Rhode Island, working with a colleague at the University of Richmond, has found that despite laws banning the sale of hatchling turtles, there is a thriving online market for them in the U.S. In their paper published in the open-access journal PLOS One, the group describes their survey of online sites selling turtles and whether such sites were adhering to federal regulations.

Back in the 1960s and early '70s, turtles became popular as pets in the United States. Prior research has shown that as many as 4% of all homes had at least one turtle, and that most of the turtles being sold back then were hatchlings. This arrangement meant that sellers did not have to feed the turtles for very long and buyers had them for as long as possible.

But as turtles became more popular, the  began to see many cases of disease transfer from turtles to their hosts—chief among them was salmonellosis, which sickened children. That led officials in the U.S. to ban the sale of small turtles. In this new effort, the researchers wondered whether the ban on such sales is preventing the sale of hatchlings, the chief carriers of disease, in the U.S. To find out, they began searching the internet for places to buy turtles.

They found 16 websites that were actively engaged in selling turtles that were less than four inches in size. They also note that half of those sites failed to warn buyers of the  risk posed by the purchase of such turtles or failed to mention the laws that pertained to their sale.

The researchers conclude that there is a thriving online pet trade involving  turtles in the U.S. due to a variety of factors. The first is the continued popularity of  as pets, despite the hazards involved. The second is the ad hoc enforcement of the sale of hatchlings. They also note enforcement of such rules is likely a low priority among officials due to much more pressing wildlife issues, such as sales of endangered or dangerous animals.

More information: Lauren E. Montague et al, Online sale of small turtles circumvents public health regulations in the United States, PLOS ONE (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278443

Journal information: PLoS ONE 

© 2022 Science X Network

 

Indian astronomers detect dozens of variable stars in the NGC 381 region


The finding chart for 57 periodic variables detected in NGC 381 region. The variable stars 
are marked by the circle and labeled with star IDs. The right ascension and declination 
are given in degrees. Credit: Maurya et al., 2022.

Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES (ARIES) and from the Physical Research Laboratory in India report the detection of 57 variable stars in the field of the open cluster NGC 381. The discovery was detailed in a paper published December 19 on the arXiv preprint server.

Open clusters (OCs), formed from the same giant molecular cloud, are groups of stars loosely gravitationally bound to each other. So far, more than 1,000 of them have been discovered in the Milky Way, and scientists are still looking for more, hoping to find a variety of these stellar groupings. Expanding the list of known galactic OCs and studying them in detail could be crucial for improving our understanding of the formation and evolution of our galaxy.

Detecting and studying variable stars, especially in OC environments, could offer important hints into aspects of stellar structure and evolution. It could be also helpful in order to advance our knowledge about the distance scale of the universe.

Located some 3,700  away in the constellation of Cassiopeia, NGC 381 (also known as Collinder 10) is an intermediate-age (about 447 million years old) sparse open  with a radius of some 15 light years and a mass of about 32.4 solar masses. Although several studies of NGC 381 have been conducted, still very little is known about its variable stars content.

That is why a team of  led by Jayanand Maurya of ARIES performed the first variability study of NGC 381 and its surroundings. For this purpose they employed the 1.3-m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) in India.

"We extensively observed the open cluster region NGC 381 in V and I bands for the variability study. The region was observed using the 1.3-m DFOT telescope equipped with 2k×2k CCD having a large field of view of ∼ 18' × 18' suitable for variability search. The data were collected on 27 nights over a span of more than one year from October 1, 2017 to January 14, 2019," the researchers explained.

As a result, the team identified a total of 57 periodic variable stars in the field of NGC 381 and five of them turned out to be cluster members. The astronomers classified these variables based on the shape of their light curves, period, amplitude, and location on the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagrams.

According to the study, 10 out of the 57 identified variables are eclipsing binaries—eight of the W UMa type (EW) and two of the Algol type (EA). In the sample there are also 15 rotational  and two pulsating variables—one of the Delta Scuti type and one of the Gamma Doradus type.

The remaining 30 variables could not be classified in any particular type; therefore, the researchers dubbed them "miscellaneous type variables." The authors of the paper added that more time-series data complemented with a spectroscopic study are necessary in order to characterize these variables.

More information: Jayanand Maurya et al, Investigating stellar variability in the open cluster region NGC 381, arXiv (2022). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.09386

Journal information: arXiv 

© 2022 Science X Network

Why aren't children allowed to vote? An expert debunks the arguments against

Why aren't children allowed to vote? An expert debunks the arguments against
Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock

Most people think democracy is something that adults do and regard the prospect of children voting as too silly to even contemplate. In the early 20th century, many democracies began (ostensibly) operating with universal suffrage, ensuring voting rights were no longer withheld from adults on the basis of wealth or sex or race. But age thresholds have endured, and children continue to be excluded from democracy—an exclusion based on what they are (young), and adults' assumptions about what it means to be young.

However, in a 2020 report to the UN, the UK's children's commissioner concluded that the UK government "does not prioritize children's rights or voices in policy or legislative processes." Consequently, the report argued, children's economic status is often worse than 's, and during crises such as the COVID pandemic, their insights and needs are ignored.

 They didn't have a say in Brexit and their concerns about the environment are routinely marginalized, despite children being set to bear the brunt of both.

A number of countries allow teenagers aged 16 and 17 to , but I think we should be thinking harder about our reasons for disenfranchising even very young children. If we're excluding them unfairly, the credibility of democracy is at risk. Here are three common arguments against children voting. In each case, I believe the grounds for exclusion are a lot less secure than we might think.

1. Children are too ill-informed to vote

The most common response to the question "why can't children vote?" is that children are too ill-informed or irrational to do it properly. While adults are capable of understanding what they are voting on, it's too much to expect of children, whose cognitive abilities are much less developed. Children are unlikely to think for themselves, but rather copy the views of authority figures like parents and teachers.

This may be true. But at what point does knowledge or rationality become relevant to voting, and what it is that voters need in order to vote "well" or "responsibly"? Is it the capacity to identify candidates or political parties? Or the ability to analyze politicians' past performances and future promises? Must voters understand the legislative process and the roles of the various branches of government?

Though these insights are probably useful, there's no agreement on what's essential. And because we're not sure what's required, it's impossible to say adults have it—whatever it is—and children don't.

In fact, the differences between children and adults are likely narrower than we commonly suppose: 35% of UK adult voters can't identify their local MP while, at different times, 59% of Americans haven't been sure which party their state governor belongs to, and only 44% have been able to name a branch of government. We let these adults vote, and rightly so, yet disqualify all children for apparently exhibiting the same characteristics.

The fact that adults don't need to show franchise credentials or an independence of mind shows that voting is not a privilege of competency, but rather a right of citizenship. The franchise should therefore be enjoyed by all citizens, including children and even babies.

If this seems frivolous, consider that very young children who can't walk or hold a pen are extremely unlikely, in practice, to exercise their right to vote—much as many adults, for any number of reasons, decline to exercise theirs. What's important is that whenever citizens acquire an inclination to vote—a motivation that presupposes an understanding of what elections do and how they work—the option should be available. Whether they're four or 94.

2. Children voting would lead to policy chaos

Another argument against children voting is that it would lead to policy chaos. If children are irrational and incoherent but nevertheless allowed to vote, the outcome of elections, and the policy decisions they give rise to, would surely reflect or be distorted by their ill-conceived and incoherent votes.

However, this misunderstands the role of elections. Voting is not the same as making law. To vote isn't to decide what happens or get one's way, or even necessarily to set the political agenda. Distilling  is a messy and complicated process. And because the link between what the public wants and what it gets isn't always direct or obvious, wacky voter beliefs aren't necessarily echoed in policy.

This is why representative democracies can function with vast numbers of uninformed and irrational citizens. In fact, overcoming voter ignorance is precisely what representative politics—in which the people elect representatives to take decisions on their behalf—is all about.

Voting, therefore, is a statement of equality, a recognition of equal moral standing. More concretely, it's a (loose) guarantee that one's concerns and perspectives will not be systematically overlooked by politicians. The fact that children can't vote means they're denied this respect and protection. As the historic experiences of excluded women and ethnic minorities show us, this is not a good position to be in.

3. Voting rights shouldn't come before other rights

The third objection to giving children the vote relates to the order in which particular rights and responsibilities are acquired. Voting is a serious business, the argument goes, and thus the right to vote should coincide with, or follow, the right to perform other activities of similar weight and consequence, such as smoking and drinking, getting married or joining the army.

However, it's worth asking why any of these rights are postponed in the first place. The basic answer is that exercising these rights is potentially harmful, so they're only conferred on individuals who understand, and are likely to be mindful of, the risks.

We withhold such rights from children because (we assume) they often fail to think through the consequences of their actions. However, we don't stop heedless  exercising their liberty in a self-destructive way. So why aren't children granted the same latitude?

The answer has something to do with protecting children's potential. We deny children harmful freedoms so as not to jeopardize their future freedoms, to ensure they reach adulthood with as many life opportunities as possible.

This rationale holds vis-à-vis the right to drink or the age of consent. But it works less well with , which aren't obviously dangerous and pose no direct threat to children's future well-being.

It seems, therefore, that children are suffering an injustice: they're being denied the vote without adequate justification. At the same time, young people are acutely dissatisfied with democracy, in part because they're overlooked in democratic decision-making.

Enfranchisement is not a silver bullet. But unless the place of  in democracy is improved and deepened, political division and democratic distrust will surely worsen.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation