DECEMBER 23, 2018

NEWS AND VIEWS

THIS IS SO SAD. THERE IS NO WARNING AND NO PLACE TO GO, TOO OFTEN, TO GET AWAY. I SAW THE NEWS VIDEO OF ANOTHER HUGE TSUNAMI SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND BETWEEN THE OMINOUS SIGNS – THE TIDE RECEDING, THE BLACK AND THREATENING WAVE FORMING IN THE BACKGROUND AND THEN THE RUSH FORWARD OF THE WATER, IT IS OVERWHELMING. IN THAT VIDEO A WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN WERE SHELTERING IN A HOUSE ON HIGHER GROUND AND WATCHING FROM THE WINDOW. WHEN THE WATER CAME ONSHORE IT OVERWHELMED VEHICLES AND THE PEOPLE WERE CLEARLY PANIC-STRICKEN. SOME DID SEE THE SURF FLOWING BACKWARD INTO THE SEA AND IMMEDIATELY BEGIN TO RUN ASHORE.

SPOTTING THAT ONE AND ONLY SIGN IS CRUCIAL. THE DEATH AND INJURY TOLL HERE IN THIS CASE IS SHOCKING. MAYBE THEY DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH WARNING. IN HAWAII AND JAPAN, THE AUTHORITIES BROADCAST IMMEDIATELY THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A LIKELY TSUNAMI. I WONDER IF THAT HAPPENED HERE. WE CITY DWELLERS TEND TO THINK OF HOW PEACEFUL IT WOULD BE TO LIVE ON A TROPICAL ISLAND, UNTIL ONE OF THESE EVENTS OCCURS. WE HUMANS ALWAYS WANT UTOPIA, BUT IT JUST DOESN’T EXIST.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/indonesia-tsunami-volcano-anak-krakatua-sunda-strait-live-updates-today-2018-12-23/
Tsunami triggered by volcanic eruption kills hundreds in Indonesia
UPDATED ON: DECEMBER 23, 2018 / 11:05 AM / CBS/AP

CARITA BEACH, Indonesia -- A tsunami believed to be triggered by a volcanic eruption killed at least 222 people in Indonesia during a busy holiday weekend, sweeping away hotels, hundreds of houses and a group of people attending a beach concert. More than 800 were reported injured and 28 missing after the tsunami hit around the Sunda Strait on Saturday night, the Disaster Management Agency said.

The toll could continue to rise because some areas had not yet been reached.

Scientists, including those from Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics agency, said Sunday that the tsunami could have been caused by undersea landslides or those occurring above sea level on the Anak Krakatau volcano's steep outside slope following the eruption. The volcano's name translates to "Child of Krakatoa," a volcanic island formed over years after one of the largest eruptions in recorded history occurred at the Krakatoa volcano more than a century ago. The scientists also cited tidal waves caused by the full moon.

Dramatic video posted on social media showed an Indonesian pop band named "Seventeen" performing under a tent on a popular beach at a concert for employees of a state-owned electricity company. Dozens of people sat listening at tables covered in white cloths while others bobbed to the music near the stage as bright strobe lights flashed and theatrical smoke was released.

A child could also be seen wandering through the crowd. Seconds later, with the drummer pounding just as the next song was about to begin, the stage suddenly heaved forward and buckled under the force of the water, throwing the band and all their equipment into the audience.

The group released a statement saying their bass player, guitarist and road manager were found dead, while two other band members and the wife of one of the performers remained missing.

"The tide rose to the surface and dragged all the people on site," the statement said. "Unfortunately, when the current receded our members are unable to save themselves while some did not find a place to hold on."

A crew member, Zack, said on Instagram that he survived by grabbing onto part of the stage, and "in the final seconds [underwater] I almost ran out of breath", Reuters reported.

APTOPIX Indonesia Tsunami
A man reacts after identifying his relative among the bodies of tsunami victims in Carita, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018.
FAUZY CHANIAGO / AP

Tourists were also affected during the long holiday weekend ahead of Christmas.

"I had to run, as the wave passed the beach and landed 15-20m (meters, or 50-65 feet) inland," Norwegian Oystein Lund Andersen wrote on Facebook. The self-described photographer and volcano enthusiast said he was taking pictures of the volcano when he suddenly saw a big wave come toward him.

"Next wave entered the hotel area where I was staying and downed cars on the road behind it," he wrote. "Managed to evacuate with my family to higher ground (through) forest paths and villages, where we are taken care of (by) the locals. Were unharmed, thankfully."

The Anak Krakatau volcano lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands, linking the Indian Ocean and Java Sea. It erupted about 24 minutes before the tsunami, the geophysics agency said.

The Anak Krakatoa volcano has seen increased activity in recent months. Indonesia's geologic agency said the volcano erupted for two minutes and 12 seconds on Friday, creating an ash cloud that rose 1,300 feet above the mountain, BBC News reports.

The BBC's Rebecca Henschke reported that the tsunami tossed parked cars on top of collapsed villas in Anyer.


Embedded video

Rebecca Henschke
@rebeccahenschke
Cars that were parked on the other side of the road, thrown on top of now collapsed villas. Electricity is out here in Anyer. People gathering what they can.

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4:54 AM - Dec 23, 2018
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The worst-affected area was the Pandeglang region of Java's Banten province, which encompasses Ujung Kulon National Park and popular beaches, the disaster agency said.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 222 deaths had been confirmed and at least 843 people were injured. Rescue workers were still trying to access other affected areas.

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his sympathy and ordered government agencies to respond quickly to the disaster.

"My deep condolences to the victims in Banten and Lumpung provinces," he said. "Hopefully, those who are left have patience."

In the city of Bandar Lampung on Sumatra, hundreds of residents took refuge at the governor's office. At the popular resort area of Carita Beach, some survivors appeared lost.

Azki Kurniawan, 16, said he was undergoing vocational training with a group of 30 other students at Patra Comfort Hotel when people suddenly burst into the lobby yelling, "Sea water rising!" He said he was confused because he did not feel an earthquake, but ran to the parking lot to try to reach his motorbike. By the time he got there, it was already flooded.

"Suddenly a 1-meter (3.3-foot) wave hit me," he said. "I fell down, the water separated me from my bike. I was thrown into the fence of a building about 30 meters (100 feet) from the beach and held onto the fence as strong as I could, trying to resist the water, which feels like it would drag me back into the sea. I cried in fear. ... 'This is a tsunami?' I was afraid I would die."

The 305-meter (1,000-foot) -high Anak Krakatau volcano, located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, has been erupting since June. In July, authorities widened its no-go areas to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the crater.

However, Anak Krakatau remains much smaller than Krakatoa when it blew in 1883, killing more than 30,000 people. Krakatoa launched far-reaching tsunamis and created so much ash, day was turned to night in the area and a global temperature drop was recorded. The violent explosions sank most of the island into the volcanic crater under the sea, and the area remained calm until the 1920s, when Anak Krakatau began to rise from the site. It continues to grow each year and erupts periodically.

Gegar Prasetya, co-founder of the Tsunami Research Center Indonesia, said Saturday's tsunami was likely caused by a flank collapse - when a big section of a volcano's slope gives way. He said it's possible for an eruption to trigger a landslide above ground or beneath the ocean, both capable of producing waves.

"Actually, the tsunami was not really big, only 1 meter (3.3 feet)," said Prasetya, who has closely studied Krakatoa. "The problem is people always tend to build everything close to the shoreline."

Nine hotels and hundreds of homes were heavily damaged. Broken chunks of concrete and splintered sticks of wood littered hard-hit coastal areas, turning beach getaways popular with Jakarta residents into near ghost towns. Vehicles tossed by the waves remained belly up in the rubble or were lodged in the air under collapsed roofs. Debris from thatch-bamboo shacks was strewn along beaches.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and home to 260 million people, lies along the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In September, more than 2,500 people were killed by a quake and tsunami that hit the city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, which is just east of Borneo.

Saturday's tsunami rekindled memories for some of the massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake that hit on Dec. 26, 2004. It spawned a giant tsunami off Sumatra island in western Indonesia, killing more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries - the majority in Indonesia.

Roads and infrastructure are poor in many areas of disaster-prone Indonesia, making access difficult in the best of conditions.

First published on December 23, 2018

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



A PEEK INSIDE HUMAN RIGHTS AT WORK IN HUNGARY

https://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/46655732/hungary-anti-orban-slave-law-protests-explained



I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT THIS MIDDLE-AGED COUPLE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING AS IRRESPONSIBLE AS FLYING A DRONE AT AN AIRPORT. I WONDER IF WE SHOULD LIMIT THE RIGHT TO PURCHASE A DRONE TO 21 AS WE DO WITH GUNS. THE TROUBLE WITH THEM IS THAT THEY ARE TOO ATTRACTIVE PHYSICALLY AND IN FLIGHT. WHEN I LOOK AT PHOTOS OF THEM I THINK HOW “CUTE” THEY LOOK, LIKE AN INSECT ALMOST. EVEN I WOULD LIKE TO OWN ONE.

I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL A COUPLE OF OLDER TEENS, BOYS OF COURSE, WERE JAILED FOR DROPPING PUMPKINS ON CARS FROM AN OVERPASS. THEY WERE FARM BOYS, SO THEY DID WHATEVER KIND OF DAMAGE WAS AVAILABLE TO THEM. THE GOAL IS TO DO DAMAGE. SOME PEOPLE’S BRAINS JUST DON’T PROCESS INFORMATION CORRECTLY. I NOTICE THE AIRPORT HAS OFFERED A $50,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE REAL PERPETRATOR’S ARREST. WHEN THEY CATCH THEM, THEY SHOULD SPEND SOME TIME IN THE PENITENTIARY, RATHER THAN JAIL.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-46665615
Gatwick drones pair 'no longer suspects'
DECEMBER 23, 2018 1 hour ago

GETTY IMAGES
Image caption -- Flights were suspended for more than 36 hours when a drone was first spotted

A man and woman arrested in connection with drone sightings that grounded flights at Gatwick Airport have been released without charge.

The 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman, from Crawley, West Sussex, were arrested on Friday night on suspicion of "the criminal use of drones".

Sussex Police said the pair were no longer suspects.

Meanwhile, Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley told Sky News officers had found a damaged drone near the airport.

He said they would be working with the "forensic opportunities that the drone presents".

Flights were suspended for more than 36 hours when a device was first spotted close to the runway on Wednesday night.

Det Ch Supt Tingley said the arrested man and woman had "fully co-operated" with inquiries and he was "satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at Gatwick".

Labour calls for inquiry into Gatwick drones

"Our inquiry continues at a pace to locate those responsible for the drone incursions, and we continue to actively follow lines of investigation."

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption -- The airport was forced to shut its runway for spells on Wednesday and Friday and for all of Thursday

Gatwick Airport Limited has now offered a £50,000 reward through Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for disrupting flights.

About 1,000 aircraft were either cancelled or diverted, affecting about 140,000 passengers, during three days of disruption.

On Sunday the airport said it was operating as normal but there had been "some knock on effect". Passengers have been urged to check with their airline for the latest information.

Authorities finally regained control over the airfield early on Friday after the Army deployed unidentified military technology.

It is believed that the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can jam communications between the drone and its operator, was used.

However, experts have said it does not enable the person responsible to be tracked down and captured.

John Murray, professor of robotics and autonomous systems at the University of Hull, said it could only "take the drone out of the sky".

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption -- Passengers have been able to board their flights as scheduled


https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46663898
Gatwick drone: Labour calls for independent inquiry
DECEMBER 23, 2018 5 hours ago

PHOTOGRAPH -- PA -- Image caption -- About 1,000 aircraft were either cancelled or diverted during the disruption

Labour has called for an independent inquiry into the disruption caused by the Gatwick Airport drone sightings.

Flights were grounded and around 140,000 passengers affected during three days of chaos after drones were spotted close to the runway on Wednesday.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald claimed the government missed chances to prevent the incident.

The government said the law already forbids flying drones near airports.

A 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman from Crawley are being questioned by police over the drone sightings.

The pair were arrested on Friday and police searched a house in the West Sussex town the following day.

Local pair quizzed over Gatwick drones
How can a drone cause so much chaos?

'Desperately trying to get back'

Mr McDonald said: "The government was repeatedly warned about the risks posed by drones to aviation but failed to act.

"The delay in bringing forward legislation is indicative of this government's failure to concentrate on the day-to-day business in front of them. They have taken their eye off the ball.

"The scale of disruption is unacceptable and it demands that we find out how this was allowed to happen, which is why Labour are calling for an independent inquiry."

Image copyrightPA
Image caption -- Thousands of people were stranded at the airport as police hunted for those flying the drones

His comments come after a report in the Times claimed Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had delayed plans for further legislation regulating drone use.

But a spokesman for the Department for Transport called the claims "a combination of nonsense and gross misrepresentation".

He added: "The drones at Gatwick have been flown illegally. The government changed the law this year to make it illegal to fly drones within 1,000 meters of an airport or above 400 feet. The law couldn't be any more clear."


DOES TRUMP HAVE AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF PEOPLE TO INSULT AND DRIVE AWAY, I WONDER? MCGURK WAS ANOTHER OBAMA APPOINTEE. DOES HE PURPOSELY GO AFTER THEM, OR SIMPLY DOESN'T GET ALONG WITH THEM? THE WORST PROBLEM THOUGH IS OUR INTERNATIONAL STATUS. CAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY TRUST US NOW?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brett-mcgurk-top-u-s-envoy-in-isis-fight-to-quit/
Brett McGurk, top U.S. envoy in ISIS fight, resigns
BY MARGARET BRENNAN
UPDATED ON: DECEMBER 22, 2018 / 1:38 PM / CBS NEWS

Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, had been planning to exit his post in February 2019. But sources tell CBS News that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he will accelerate his departure due to a strong disagreement with President Trump's snap decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, effectively abandoning U.S. allies in the region.

McGurk submitted his resignation on Friday, just one day after Defense Secretary James Mattis quit his post citing fundamental disagreements with the commander-in-chief -- including one over the importance of honoring U.S. alliances.

The special envoy was publicly left in the lurch by the president's sudden declaration on Wednesday that he was pulling U.S. forces out of Syria, against the advice of his top national security advisers and without consulting U.S. allies.

As leader of the counter ISIS mission, McGurk had been in the region to meet with coalition partners including Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani last week when Mr. Trump made his sudden decision to pull U.S. support. According to Barzani's office, he had raised concern about the fate of Kurds in Syria including the Kurdish-led group of fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They have been the ground troops in the fight against ISIS and receive help from U.S. advisers, weapons and air strikes.

It is now unclear what will happen to those fighters after the U.S. troops withdraw, and whether the U.S. will continue to carry out air strikes in support of them.

DOD Secretary Mattis And Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Dunford Brief Press On ISIL

PHOTOGRAPH -- Brett McGurk listens to questions from reporter during a Pentagon briefing May 19, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES

Just days earlier, McGurk had stood at the State Department podium to guarantee an ongoing U.S. commitment to the fight. He told reporters that ISIS inhabited just one percent of the territory they once held thanks to the success of the U.S.-led campaign but still maintained a dangerous level of influence.

"I think it's fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring."

McGurk went on to say, "it would be reckless if we were just to say, well, the physical caliphate is defeated, so we can just leave now. I think anyone who's looked at a conflict like this would agree with that."

At the time he made those remarks, the Trump administration's policy was to remain in Syria to help stabilize areas under the control of U.S. allies and until Iran pulled out its militias. American allies were shocked to learn via tweet that the U.S. was pulling out.

McGurk has led U.S. efforts to counter the influence of ISIS on the battlegrounds of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond since 2015. He was one of the few Obama appointees asked by the Trump team to remain in his post. Prior to that, he served in the Bush administration.

McGurk also led the successful and controversial secret negotiations with Iran that led to the 2016 release of American prisoners, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian.

While President Trump has been harshly critical of his predecessor's decision to authorize that prisoner swap, he has left at least five Americans imprisoned in Tehran including 82-year-old Baquer Namazi.

McGurk's resignation takes effect December 31. He is expected to take a post at Stanford this spring.

First published on December 22, 2018

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Margaret Brennan
Margaret Brennan is moderator of CBS News' "Face The Nation" and CBS News' senior foreign affairs correspondent based in Washington, D.C.


YES, THIS DOES SCARE ME. IT COULD MEAN A DISABILITY RATHER THAN CRIME, AND IT ISN’T THE FIRST TIME, EITHER. HIS FAKED “MEDICAL REPORT” BY A CLEARLY QUACKISH DOCTOR DID NOT GIVE ANY IDEA OF HIS REAL CONDITION, AND IT WAS WRITTEN IN A STRANGELY UNPROFESSIONAL WAY, AS THOUGH HE WERE MERELY BRIBED TO DO IT AND SAY THOSE FLOWERY COMPLIMENTS OF TRUMP. NOBODY IN REAL LIFE TALKS THAT WAY, AND ESPECIALLY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.

I WONDER WHAT THE REPUBLICANS THINK ABOUT THIS. MCGURK IS RIGHT. WE CAN’T BE ALIENATING AND FAILING TO SUPPORT OUR INTERNATIONAL ALLIES. WE ARE NOT INVULNERABLE. RIGHT NOW, UKRAINE IS REQUESTING NATO NAVAL SUPPORT AGAINST RUSSIA’S ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR. READ YESTERDAY’S BLOG ABOUT THE RAMMING INCIDENT. IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT AMERICA WON’T SEND A SHIP. I THINK AN ARMADA MADE UP OF SHIPS FROM EVERY NATO COUNTRY IS WHAT’S NEEDED TO TELL PUTIN TO STOP HARASSING THE UKRAINIANS.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/422628-dem-senator-trump-saying-he-doesnt-know-his-top-isis-envoy-should-scare-the
Dem senator: Trump saying he doesn’t know his top ISIS envoy ‘should scare the hell out of every American’
BY AVERY ANAPOL - 12/23/18 07:34 AM EST

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is expressing concerns after President Trump tweeted that he did “not know” his top envoy in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Brett McGurk.

“Uhhhh...you don’t know your own coordinator of the anti-ISIS campaign?” Murphy tweeted late Saturday. “Over the past 5 years, no one has done more to put ISIS on its heels than Brett. We all know and rely on him.”

“The fact that our President has no clue who Brett is should scare the hell out of every American.”

McGurk abruptly resigned on Friday over disagreements with Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.

Trump criticized McGurk as a “grandstander” over the departure, but said in a tweet that he did not know the official.

“Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015,” the president tweeted. “Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!”

McGurk, who was reportedly planning to leave the administration in February, submitted his resignation soon after Defense Secretary James Mattis announced his own resignation over differences with Trump on his Syria strategy.

Trump’s plan to withdraw the 2,000 troops currently in Syria has rattled Pentagon officials and lawmakers. McGurk had criticized the hypothetical move as “reckless.”

TAGS JAMES MATTIS DONALD TRUMP CHRIS MURPHY


I HOPE BERNIE CONTINUES TO GO AFTER COMPANIES LIKE THIS BECAUSE THEY RARELY ARE FACED DOWN IN SUCH A WAY. THEY USUALLY GO ABOUT THEIR MERRY WAY VIOLATING THE LAWS OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES. MOST BUSINESSES, OF COURSE, DON’T THINK THEY HAVE SUCH THINGS, SO THEY DON’T FEEL ANY GUILT. THEY’RE JOB IS TO MAXIMIZE THEIR PROFITS. THAT KEEPS “THE MARKET” HAPPY AND HEALTHY. IN ADDITION, I AM INTERESTED IN THIS UNION ACTIVITY. IT’S GOOD TO SEE THEM SUING FOR THEIR RIGHTS. ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING COURSES I TOOK IN COLLEGE LONG YEARS AGO WAS A HISTORY OF LABOR RELATIONS. THAT’S ONE REASON I’M ON THE LIBERAL SIDE OF ISSUES. THE HISTORY OF ABUSES BY BUSINESS IS LONG, AND APPARENTLY ALIVE AND WELL TODAY.

https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2018/12/22/bernie-sanders-calls-out-boeing-for-firing-pro-union-north-charleston-workers
Bernie Sanders calls out Boeing for firing pro-union North Charleston workers
Flight-line workers in North Charleston voted to unionize back in May
Posted by Adam Manno on Sat, Dec 22, 2018 at 1:06 PM

PHOTOGRAPH -- Bernie Sanders campaigns in New Hampshire - FLICKR USER GAGE SKIDMORE

Boeing is feeling the burn after the plane manufacturer fired six employees who supported a union effort back in May.

In a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sherrod Brown of Ohio accused the company of mounting a "campaign of intimidation" against flight readiness technicians at the company's North Charleston campus.

In May, technicians voted 104-65 in favor of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). In the days leading up to the vote, Boeing mounted an aggressive "vote no" campaign that included a voter guide for workers to to oppose efforts to organize. Boeing is currently appealing its employees' vote with the National Labor Relations Board.

RELATED 104 Boeing workers in North Charleston voted to unionize on Thursday: Boeing says it considers the effort to be illegal

Now, Sens. Sanders and Brown are saying the company retaliated against workers who sought representation.

"It is alarming that instead of negotiating with the IAMAW, Boeing has instead pursued a campaign of intimidation against the flight readiness technicians," the senators wrote.

"We understand that six of the technicians have been terminated at the plant. We understand further that all were involved in the successful effort of the flight readiness technicians to form a union and elect the IAMAW* as their representative in collective bargaining."

The union already represents more than 35,000 Boeing employees at 24 different locations, but the May vote was the first time the union's efforts were successful at Boeing South Carolina in North Charleston.

"The facts will show that these dedicated and experienced Flight Line workers were unjustly terminated," said Machinists Union International President Robert Martinez Jr. in a statement. "Now, six South Carolina families are in chaos just days before the holidays."

The Machinists union has set up a GoFundMe page for the fired workers. So far, the campaign has raised over $31,000.

In a statement provided to CP on Friday, Boeing said there was no retaliation against anyone based on the union vote.

"Boeing follows a robust process to ensure termination decisions are fully evaluated and consistent with long-standing, visible and objective safety, compliance and conduct policies," the company said. "In each of the cases that the IAM highlights, the individual was terminated for violating well-established, consistently applied policies without regard to union sentiment."

The company also disputes the senators' claims that only one other flight readiness technician has been fired since the plant opened.

South Carolina, a "right-to-work" state, has the lowest percentage of employees represented by unions in the entire country, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only 3.9 percent of workers are represented by unions, and only 2.6 percent of workers have direct membership to a union or employee association.

Tags: Boeing, union, IAM, Machinists, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Image


https://www.gofundme.com/iam-brothers-need-your-help
Thank you! We raised more than $30,000 in just 5 days

Thank you to all who have helped support these six South Carolina flightline workers who were unjustly terminated by Boeing for their vocal support during their union election process. Your generosity has shown them what being part of a Union family is about and ensured they can provide for their families this holiday season.

We have closed this GoFundMe account so we can distribute the money to the individuals before the holidays. Contributions totaled over $30,000 in just five days. Union Power is alive and well – an injury to one is an injury to all!

Six IAM Brothers Need Your Help!

Just a few weeks before Christmas, six IAM brothers working the flightline for Boeing South Carolina were UNJUSTLY terminated simply for supporting our Union. Unfair labor practice charges have been filed at the NLRB and our legal team feels we have a very strong case. In the interim, these fellow members – some of whom have small children – are left without any incomes.

We set up this GoFund Me page to ensure these IAM members can have Christmas with their families and a roof over their heads during their fight to regain their positions. Let’s show these brothers what being part of our union family is all about.

These individuals have shown tremendous courage. Give a little and help a lot during these members’ time of need so they see what Union solidarity is all about and ensure they are able to provide for their families during this holiday season.

Thank you in advanced for contribution.

In Solidarity,
Brothers and Sisters of the IAM



THIS ARTICLE DOESN’T TELL WHAT THE REASON FOR THE KILLINGS WAS, BUT POLICE ARE LOOKING AT FOUR MEN WITH ISIS CONNECTIONS, SO MAYBE THE TWO NORWEGIANS DIDN’T BEHAVE “LIKE A WOMAN SHOULD.” THAT MISTAKE WOULD BE ALL TOO EASY FOR AN AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN WOMAN TO MAKE.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-morocco-crime/morocco-vigils-honour-scandinavian-women-killed-in-atlas-mountains-idUKKCN1OL0NS
WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 22, 2018 / 3:49 PM / UPDATED A DAY AGO
Morocco vigils honour Scandinavian women killed in Atlas Mountains

PHOTOGRAPH -- A girl holds a sign in front of Denmark's embassy in Rabat to honour Maren Ueland from Norway and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen from Denmark, who were killed in Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco December 22, 2018. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

RABAT (Reuters) - Vigils were held on Saturday evening in Rabat to mark the deaths of two women from Norway and Denmark who were killed in the Atlas Mountains earlier this week.

Tens of participants from different political parties and civil society organisations laid flowers and lit candles in front of the Norwegian embassy and later at the Danish embassy.

They also raised placards denouncing the killing of the two Scandinavian tourists and expressing condolences and solidarity with their families.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway were found dead on Monday with cuts to their necks near the village of Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak and a popular hiking destination.

Four suspects, aged between 25 and 33 years from areas near Marrakech, have been arrested in connection with their deaths.

The four suspects pledged allegiance to IS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a video made last week, Moroccan authorities said.

Nine other individuals were arrested by the Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations on Friday in various Moroccan cities over suspected connections to the killers.

Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Richard Balmforth

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


HERE ARE SOME DETAILS ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE TRUMP FOUNDATION. THE MONEY WILL BE GIVEN TO “REPUTABLE CHARITIES” ONLY. THANK YOU! ILLEGALITIES INCLUDING POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ISSUES – A FELONY, MAYBE? NAAAHHH! HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-foundation-agrees-dissolve-judge-oversee-dispersal-other-charities-n949386?fbclid=IwAR1PKMjJJDep2w9wwEZmJuX8mSpwgTxqRwMUvIU0CUsZZ1kp-OJPxiNvME4
Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve with judge to oversee dispersal to other charities
"Reputable" charities will receive money from the Trump family’s charitable organization, which was formed in 1987.
Dec. 18, 2018 / 11:16 AM EST / Updated Dec. 19, 2018 / 12:47 AM EST
By Tom Winter, Hallie Jackson and Kristen Welker

The Trump Foundation — the charitable foundation started by President Donald Trump years before he became a presidential candidate, which New York's top prosecutor said exhibited a "shocking pattern of illegality" — will dissolve under pressure from the state's attorney general, according to a court filing.

The foundation will give away its assets to other non-profit organizations in the next 30 days, according to an agreement between state prosecutors and the Trump Foundation, according to an agreement reached between New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood and the Trump Foundation.

It does not stop the lawsuit the AG’s office has filed against the foundation, which was formed in 1987, and that action will continue.

“Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more," Underwood said in a statement.

VIDEO CAPTION -- NY AG: Trump charity showed a 'shocking pattern of illegality'
DEC. 19, 201807:03

"This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests."

Only "reputable" charities, approved by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla and the attorney general's office, will be able to receive funds from the soon-to-be-defunct charity, according to Underwood.

"Today’s stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year. Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision — and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office," Underwood said in a statement.

“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone. We’ll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law.”

Trump Organization attorney Alan Futerfas told NBC News on Tuesday that his clients are “happy we could get it resolved” with Underwood's office.

Futerfas also said his clients were the ones who sought a dissolution in the first place.

In a prepared statement, Futerfas claimed the foundation has been a successful charity that's "distributed approximately $19 million, including $8.25 million of the President’s personal money, to over 700 different charitable organizations with virtually zero expenses."

Futerfas accused the state prosecutors of grandstanding.

"The NYAG’s inaccurate statement of this morning is a further attempt to politicize this matter," he said.

The White House declined to immediately comment.

Tom Winter
Tom Winter is a producer and reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit based in New York, covering crime, courts, terrorism, and financial fraud on the East Coast.

Hallie Jackson
Hallie Jackson is the chief White House correspondent for NBC News.

MSNBC Anchors - Season 15
Kristen Welker
Kristen Welker is a White House correspondent for NBC News.

David K. Li contributed.


ALL HATE SPEECH NEEDS TO BE BANNED. SOME AMERICANS DISAGREE WITH THIS, BUT THE “FREE SPEECH” THAT SOME WANT THESE DAYS IS SIMPLY TOO HURTFUL AND SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED. I KNOW PALESTINIANS BEHAVE IN A HOSTILE WAY TO ISRAELIS, TOO, BUT STOP IT ON ALL SIDES. IT HAS PAINED ME TO WATCH HOPEFULLY TIME AFTER TIME FOR PEACE TALKS BETWEEN THOSE GROUPS TO SUCCEED, BUT NEVER DO BOTH PARTIES AGREE TO BARGAIN FAIRLY MUCH LESS FOLLOW THROUGH.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/17/netanyahus-son-banned-from-facebook-over-hate-speech
Netanyahu’s son banned from Facebook over hate speech
Yair Netanyahu, 27, barred for 24 hours for anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian comments
Miriam Berger in Jerusalem
Mon 17 Dec 2018 11.59 EST

PHOTOGRAPH -- Yair Netanyahu (right) with his father in Jerusalem in 2015. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

The son of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been temporarily banned from Facebook after a series of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian posts the social network said broke its rules on hate speech.

The company confirmed the ban after Yair Netanyahu, 27, claimed in a tweet on Sunday that Facebook had blocked him for 24 hours for posting criticism after it removed a post last week in which he called for revenge against “those monsters” following the fatal shooting of two Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian at a bus station in the West Bank.

The prime minister’s son also called in his Facebook posts last week for the expulsion of Palestinians, writing that he would prefer all Muslims to leave Israel.

In his tweet on Sunday, Netanyahu included a screenshot of one of the removed posts in which he wrote: “The thought police of the radical progressives at Facebook have reached me as well!”

A Facebook spokesperson said: “Yair Netanyahu posted several posts which included hate speech – this clearly violates our community standards. Due to that, this content was removed from our platform, as we would do for anyone posting similar content about any protected characteristic. Following this, Yair Netanyahu decided to share a screen shot of a removed post and called people to share it – which is the same as writing the hate speech all over again.”

The company said it never removes posts for criticising the company and Netanyahu’s claim “that we are censoring criticism of the company on the platform is plainly untrue”.

Yair Netanyahu, the eldest of the prime minister’s children, has previously stoked controversy on his social media platforms, echoing his father’s message that Israel’s media and left are against him.

He posted a meme last year mocking some of his father’s critics, including the liberal Jewish financier George Soros, which many Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation league, said was antisemitic.

Over the last week there has been an escalation of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which five Palestinians and three Israelis, including a prematurely born baby, have been killed in attacks, clashes and arrest operations.

After two Israeli soldiers were killed, Netanyahu called for revenge. When Facebook removed that post, he wrote in another post, since removed, that Facebook was “trying to shut our mouths in the only place where we have the right to express our opinions”.

He continued: “Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime have official pages on Facebook. There are also endless pages calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. Thousands of violent and extreme left-wing posts against me and my family, including threats of physical violence and immoral murder threats.”

While Netanyahu’s political posts and attacks on Facebook resonate among some Israelis, less popular are scandals over his public access. Last year, Israeli media released a recording from a few years ago of Netanyahu on a night out with friends at a strip club, during which he makes misogynistic statements and asks to borrow money from the son of one of his father’s friends.

The prime minister’s critics have attacked Yair for living in his father’s residence and having a driver, bodyguard and other perks despite not having any official government role.


HOW BAD WILL IT GET, AND WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN? I WOULD LIKE MORE DETAILS, IF ANY ARE AVAILABLE. MEANWHILE, LOOK AT THIS TOTAL OF SPECIFIC PROBLEMS THAT THE CONFERENCE AT KATOWICE NOTED: “2,800 AREAS OF DISAGREEMENT.” THAT DOESN’T SOUND PROMISING, DOES IT?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/17/un-climate-talks-set-stage-for-humanitys-two-most-crucial-years
UN climate talks set stage for humanity’s two most crucial years
Decisions made from now to 2020 will determine to what extent Earth remains habitable
Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
Mon 17 Dec 2018 13.00 EST

PHOTOGRAPH -- COP24 in Poland highlighted the growing threat of fossil fuel interests and the nationalist politicians they fund. Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP

The mood was more one of relief than triumph on Sunday when the world’s governments eventually found common ground at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland.

This was not just because exhausted delegates were glad to go home after negotiations that dragged on 30 hours beyond the deadline. It also reflected the harder miles and tougher battles to come over the next two years if the planet is to remain habitable.

Scientist after scientist told the conference that the decisions made by 2020 will determine whether global heating can be kept to less than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, after which the already apparent dangers of climate instability become far worse.

The toughest decisions, however, were pushed into the future, to a special climate summit next September called by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the next two COP conferences – in Chile in December 2019, and then to the country chosen to host in 2020.


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COP24 delegates applaud the agreement reached in Katowice. Photograph: Marek Zimny/EPA

Katowice showed that the multilateral system of global decision-making is still alive, but under growing threat from fossil fuel interests and the nationalist politicians they fund.

Decision-making at the UN is painstakingly difficult at the best of times, because it requires a consensus among 195 nations. In Poland, 14,000 delegates took two weeks to debate the latest science and proposed policy instruments as they whittled down more than 2,800 areas of disagreement.

The result was a new global rulebook on emissions that requires nations to report every two years on their progress towardParis agreement commitments to keep temperature rises to between 1.5C and 2C.

Several past obstacles were overcome. China accepted standards on transparency, and richer nations – particularly Germany and Norway – put their hands deeper into their pockets to provide more than $100bn (£80bn) to help poorer nations adapt. A renewed division between the developed and developing world did not materialise as feared.

But more fundamental obstructions also came more sharply into focus. The malign role of fossil fuel interests has often been hidden in bureaucratic language or lost in the distractions of diplomatic spats, but in Katowice there were several moments of blinding clarity. Chief among them was the alignment of the world’s top three oil-producing nations – the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia – to downplay scientific warnings about temperature rises beyond 1.5C. Soon after, an ambassador from Australia – a major coal exporter – joined Trump administration officials in a panel that promoted carbon fuels. Brazil was also accused of holding up talks with a highly contested carbon-accounting proposal that could have reshaped how emissions from the Amazon are calculated. The country’s diplomats denied this but the issue has been kicked forward and it is unlikely the incoming nationalist president Jair Bolsonaro will make life easier for the negotiations.

There was also more clarity as a result of the recent protests in France, which prompted policymakers to think twice about the social implications of higher fuel prices. The leading energy economists Nicholas Stern and Ottmar Edenhofer said carbon taxes were still an important instrument to nudge economies away from fossil fuels, but that the transition has to be fair as well as fast, which means using the extra tax revenue for green infrastructure or redistributing it among poorer members of society who are often hardest hit by fuel tax rises.

Tensions will grow along with the stakes, as will frustration at the widening gap between the science and politics. More protests and lawsuits can be expected from climate litigation groups, financial divestment activists and a growing number of direct action campaigners, including 350.org, Extinction Rebellion and striking students such as Greta Thunberg. They, along with many scientists, say it is not enough to agree on rulebooks. After delaying action for so long, they argue the world now needs leaps rather than steps.

All of which suggests the next two years will be among the most fraught and crucial in the history of humanity. Investment decisions on power stations and infrastructure taken during this period will determine whether carbon emissions can be cut by the 45% needed by 2030 to give the 1.5C target a chance.

It would be fitting if the UK won the right to host the crucial climate summit in 2020. Done well, it would showcase how the world’s first industrialised nation is shifting away from carbon faster than almost any other. Done badly, the UK – by then probably outside the EU – will highlight the folly of shifting away away from multilateralism just when when the world needs to pull together.

Topics
Climate change
United Nations
Greenhouse gas emissions
analysis


THIS ARTICLE IS A LITTLE OLD, BUT IT GIVES INFORMATION ON WHAT SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO REACH OUR BORDERS MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED, AND HOW THEY CAN REACT TO IT.

https://www.theguardian.com/responding-to-worlds-urgent-health-crises/2018/nov/14/refugee-crisis-mental-health-doctors-without-borders
The refugee crisis and mental health: what you need to know
NOVEMBER 14, 2018 Photograph: Christopher Rogel Blanquet/MSF

The traumas that refugees and internally displaced people experience leave more than just physical scars. Here’s how Doctors Without Borders is intervening

Paid for by
Doctors Without Borders
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For many refugees and internally displaced people, “home” is a concept that has lost all concrete meaning. What was once home is no longer safe to inhabit or has been reduced to rubble. In some refugee camps, entire families live in spaces no larger than a two-person tent. This imagery offers only a cursory glimpse into what it’s like to live in a state of displacement.

In 2017, a record number of people — around 68.5 million — were driven from their homes because of conflict or persecution. Organizations like Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are working to provide mental health resources to people in need, offering critical services to patients in some of the most conflict-torn parts of the world.

Addressing mental health in Mexico
Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF
Photograph: Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF

Migration routes throughout Mexico have seen a steady flow of people — an estimated 500,000 per year – escaping violence and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. But the journey itself is equally dangerous. In a 2017 report by Doctors Without Borders, 68% of surveyed patients reported being victims of violence while in transit through Mexico, and 31% of women said they had been sexually assaulted.

Migrant families often find themselves trapped in limbo – unable to gain refugee status and enter the United States, and also unable to return home. One case is 32-year-old Piedad and her husband, who used to own a bakery in Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras. The couple and their four children were forced to leave Honduras due to the threat of gang-related violence.

“We were told that if we couldn’t pay [the ‘maras’ – gangs] we would be killed,” Piedad says.

But the family’s journey has been fraught with its own violence. They were assaulted and robbed of their identification documents in Tenosique, Mexico, which has created great difficulties as they try to apply for refugee status. Earlier this year, the family was turned away from the US border after days of being separated and held in detention centers.

Several times throughout their journey, Piedad’s family has sought help from Doctors Without Borders in places like migrant shelters in Tenosique and Coatzacoalcos. The organization has provided them with counseling and medical care.

To help patients like Piedad and other refugees, many of whom experience symptoms of PTSD and severe anxiety or depression, the Doctors Without Borders team has provided more than 33,000 consultations to migrants and refugees from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador at mobile health clinics, migrant centers and local albergues (hostels) across Mexico.

Calling for intervention in Moria
Migrants walk in a field outside the camp of Moria, Lesbos, Greece on February 10, 2016.
Photograph: Konstantinos Tsakalidis/MSF


Moria*, on the Greek island of Lesbos, is one of Europe’s largest refugee camps. It is home to more than 9,000 refugees – about triple the number the camp is equipped to support – who have fled war-ravaged nations like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Reports about conditions within the overcrowded camp detail multi-hour waits for food, squalid living spaces, rampant disease and physical and sexual violence. Many refugees at Moria describe its conditions as worse than whatever they escaped at home.

Giovanna Bonvini, a mental health activities manager at Doctors Without Borders’s Mytilene clinic, relays the story of one man at Moria suffering from severe PTSD. The man, who has experienced sexual violence, has terrible hallucinations and flashbacks.

“He is scared of the dark and is constantly terrified of being attacked in Moria,” Bonvini says. “The team started him on medication, and he is having intensive psychological sessions, so he is now stable. But he will never make much progress, for as long as he is living in Moria, he will be locked in a cycle of despair and distress.”

In September, Doctors Without Borders published an open letter urging the political powers-that-be to address the mental health emergency in Moria. In the correspondence, Dr. Alessandro Barberio details the atrocious living conditions of the camp, calling the situation the most dire he’s witnessed in his career. Doctors Without Borders teams on the ground have observed distressing mental health trends among children between the ages of six and 18 in particular, nearly a quarter of whom showed signs of self-harm, attempted suicide or reported thoughts of suicide between February and June of 2018.

Doctors Without Borders has been on the ground in the Moria camp since late 2017, and offers services such as pediatric care, mental health care for minors and sexual and reproductive health care. Though the team is continuously working to improve the health of the people at Moria, the organization is limited by the state of the camp and a lack of basic supplies. Doctors Without Borders has called for an immediate evacuation of the “most vulnerable” refugees at Moria, including the camp’s nearly 3,000 children, as soon as possible.

Caring for internally displaced people in Africa
Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF
Photograph: Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF

In Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, Doctors Without Borders works with internally displaced people. Many of these patients are living in the midst of or fleeing from violence; around 17 million people in the Lake Chad region live in areas where violent conflict is part of everyday life.

Many of the displaced people in Diffa, an area near the border of Niger and Nigeria that has become a temporary home for people escaping conflict, were formerly fishermen, herdsmen or other community leaders. Accustomed to having economic, social and political influence, these people often struggle to cope with displacement – and with the inability to be self-sufficient. Often, they have to ask their children to work in order to put enough food on the table for their families.

Among displaced people, the loss of loved ones and a home coupled with a constant sense of isolation can cause lasting psychological damage. “Being forced to leave and settle in a new environment … is very destabilizing,” says Yacouba Harouna, a Nigerian Doctors Without Borders psychologist working in Diffa. “Individuals facing exile lose every physical, social and material landmark. They need to rebuild their lives from scratch.”

To provide care and treatment for these patients, Doctors Without Borders runs a series of psycho-stimulation classes, family consultations and group therapy sessions. Community outreach workers for the organization also provide education to parents and community leaders about mental health, enabling them to more easily identify children who are suffering from treatable psychological conditions.

These crises and communities in need aren’t relegated to just one region — today, there are no fewer than 25 million refugees and another 40 million forcibly displaced people around the world. In 2017, Doctors Without Borders operated a total of 462 projects in 72 countries. The organization relies upon donor gifts to fund its impactful and life-saving work.

Find out how you can support Doctors Without Borders today – and help ensure that refugees and displaced people worldwide get the care they need.


MORIA*

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/sep/13/greece-refugees-lesbos-moria-camp-funding-will
Greece has the means to help refugees on Lesbos – but does it have the will?

Overcrowded, violent and awash with human sewage, Moria camp may be the world’s worst refugee facility – yet Greece has failed to make the available funding count

Global development is supported by
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation About this content
Sebastian Leape, policy adviser for the office of Gordon and Sarah Brown
Thu 13 Sep 2018 02.00 EDT

PHOTOGRAPH -- A refugee stands next to a pool of mud at Moria refugee camp on the eastern Greek island of Lesbos. Photograph: Petros Tsakmakis/AP

A 10-year-old child tried to commit suicide in a Greek refugee camp. Perhaps the most shocking thing about this story is that it is not new.

Routine police beatings and squalor in Moria, the largest camp on the island of Lesbos and home to about 8,000 people, have pushed the situation to breaking point.

Moria fails to meet just about every standard set by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). New arrivals are crammed into inadequate sports tents, or on to farmland where lighting has not been installed, and up to 190 refugees share one filthy toilet.

Last year, the mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, warned that the facility was starting to resemble “concentration camps, where all human dignity is denied”.

Yet Moria resides in plain sight, on a tourist island in the EU. It is full of people with the most extraordinary of life stories.

Refugees and migrants from Moria march towards Mytilene during a protest over the camp’s conditions

Photograph: Elias Marcou/Reuters

Francis was arrested and imprisoned in Burundi for allegedly supporting opposition protests. On his release he embarked on a 7,000km overland odyssey to Greece. He has not seen his wife for three years and has never met his youngest son.

Joseph’s journey was shorter – a direct flight from Kinshasa to Istanbul, followed by the notoriously risky crossing to Lesbos on an inflatable boat – but no less remarkable. A musician, he is famous in his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Greek authorities admit these people deserve better but claim a lack of money keeps their hands tied. As of July, the camp organisers had run out of tents and sleeping bags. Human sewage flowed freely across the main entrance. Yet the EU has allocated more than €1.6bn (£1.43bn) since 2015 to address the crisis, with extensive additional funds provided by national governments and private donors. European funding alone in 2017 worked out at €7,000 for every refugee living in Greece. That should cover the cost of a shared apartment and food, with change to spare.

The crucial question is: where has the money gone?

Some has never reached Greece. Of the €561m of long-term funding allocated by the European commission, only €153m has so far been disbursed.

This is partly because not all spending has yet been reported, but it is rumoured that Greece was unable to complete the strategic planning required for the release of funds. Of the money that did reach the country, much has been wasted. One official suggested up to 70% of the funds were misspent. While the EU commission has received no reports of mismanagement of funds, stories of waste are common. In Moria, it is said that the camp has received multiple temporary housing units that remain unused because funds to cover installation costs are lacking.

Money that was not wasted has been spent unevenly. More than €150m of emergency funding has been given to the UNHCR since 2017 to pay for some refugees to have apartments – while some in Moria don’t even have tents. On the ground in Moria, camp leaders seem overwhelmed by the crisis. The admissions process is chaotic, supply chains are broken and long-term planning is inadequate. The UNHCR and other major organisations left in 2016, leaving the operations to a group of 10 small organisations that lack the resources and capacity to do the job.

Women and children at the Moria camp.
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Women and children at the Moria camp. Photograph: Elias Marcou/Reuters

The blame cannot end there. Just 10 minutes down the road from Moria is Kara Tepe, another camp where conditions are better – partly because they cap numbers, closing their doors when full. Moria, by contrast, has been set up to fail. One theory is that the perceived lack of a plan is in itself a strategy. By keeping conditions bad in Moria, migrants and refugees warn friends and family at home not to come. Surely such a strategy cannot be worth the human cost.

But new arrivals show no signs of stopping. The situation is now evolving from the Syrian refugee crisis into a chronic clash between Europe and its unstable periphery.

UNHCR data suggests that 41% of the arrivals in 2018 were Syrian, while 20% were Afghan, 15% Iraqi, 6% from DRC and 18% from other countries.

These are countries suffering from long-term instability and insecurity.

So long as the border remains contested, we can expect camps like Moria to stay. While refugees and migrants continue to arrive on Lesbos, fixing reception facilities remains an urgent priority. At the very least, those who wish to return home should be able to do so easily.

Many people arrive at camp to find out that their asylum claim has no chance of success and the promise of a better, less harsh life will never materialise. Keeping them trapped in Moria is cruel and wasteful.

More importantly, the conditions must improve. Unusually for a humanitarian crisis, there is no shortage of money to fix Moria. What is missing is the capacity and political will to make it happen. The EU commission must analyse why it has so little to show for its huge investment in Greece and should shift its focus to improving capacity.

But Greece is leading the operation and so it is on Greece to lead us out of it. Some Greek institutions are indeed acting. This week, the governor of the north Aegean issued the ministry of migration with a 30-day warning to clean up the camp or face closure.

This is the wake-up call the ministry needs. Given there is little hope of imminent improvement, why not transfer the people currently stuck in Moria to the mainland while work is undertaken to improve reception accommodation there and across the Aegean islands?

To do this, the Greeks must be humble. They must recognise – and fix – their management shortcomings, and be far more open to outside help. For their part, the European commission and other international organisations must be ready to provide it.

UNHCR standards are met by camps in Asia and Africa. It’s time they were met in Europe too.

• Sebastian Leape spent this summer volunteering in Moria refugee camp. The names of refugees referenced in this article have been changed to protect their identity


WHAT, ME WORRY?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/18/blind-amphibian-named-after-trumps-climate-change-stance
Blind creature that buries head in sand named after Donald Trump
Amphibian’s behaviour compared to US president’s approach to global warming
Damian Carrington Environment editor
@dpcarrington
Tue 18 Dec 2018 13.16 EST

PHOTOGRAPH -- EnviroBuild image puts Donald Trump’s hair on the amphibian.

A newly discovered blind and burrowing amphibian is to be officially named Dermophis donaldtrumpi, in recognition of the US president’s climate change denial.

The name was chosen by the boss of EnviroBuild, a sustainable building materials company, who paid $25,000 (£19,800) at an auction for the right. The small legless creature was found in Panama and EnviroBuild’s Aidan Bell said its ability to bury its head in the ground matched Donald Trump’s approach to global warming.

Trump’s distinctive hair has already led to comparisons to a poisonous furry caterpillar and a golden-plumed pheasant, while a yellow-crowned moth was called Neopalpa donaldtrumpi in 2017.

Climate change is already harming Americans’ lives, from wildfires to floods, and will get worse, according to a US government report published in November. Trump’s response to the report was: “I don’t believe it.”

0:39
‘Yeah, I don't believe it’: Trump on his administration’s own climate report – video
The only event his administration put on at the recent UN climate summit in Poland extolled the virtues of fossil fuels, to cries of “shame on you” from protesters.

The newly discovered creature is a caecilian and its naming rights were auctioned to raise money for the Rainforest Trust. The scientists who found the 10cm amphibian have agreed to use the name Dermophis donaldtrumpi when they officially publish the discovery in scientific literature.

The 10cm-long amphibian Dermophis donaldtrumpi
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The 10cm-long amphibian Dermophis donaldtrumpi. Photograph: Abel Batista/Rainforest Trust UK
Bell said: “It is the perfect name. Caecilian is taken from the Latin caecus, meaning ‘blind’, perfectly mirroring the strategic vision President Trump has consistently shown towards climate change.”

As an amphibian, the shiny animal is particularly susceptible to the impacts of global warming and is therefore in danger of becoming extinct as a result of its namesake’s climate policies, the Rainforest Trust said.

Chris Redston, the executive director of Rainforest Trust UK, said: “Protecting the world’s remaining rainforests is acknowledged as one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change, yet every day nearly 70,000 acres of rainforest are destroyed forever.

“This destruction is not only one of the main causes of climate change, but it is also having a devastating impact on endangered wildlife, indigenous communities and the planet’s weather patterns.”