The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is the first law of its kind in the United States. In February of 2019, the residents of Toledo, Ohio voted to give Lake Erie's entire ecosystem legal rights. That means any citizen of Toledo, if they have credible evidence that a corporation or government is harming the lake, can file a lawsuit on behalf of Lake Erie in court. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is part of a larger movement to give legal rights to mountains, rivers, forests, and other natural objects. The citizens of these communities -- from Pennsylvania, to Ecuador, to New Zealand -- argue that because their long-term survival is dependent on the health of their natural surroundings, anything that harms the lakes, rivers, or forests they depend on should be considered a legal harm
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
This lake now has legal rights, just like you
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is the first law of its kind in the United States. In February of 2019, the residents of Toledo, Ohio voted to give Lake Erie's entire ecosystem legal rights. That means any citizen of Toledo, if they have credible evidence that a corporation or government is harming the lake, can file a lawsuit on behalf of Lake Erie in court. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is part of a larger movement to give legal rights to mountains, rivers, forests, and other natural objects. The citizens of these communities -- from Pennsylvania, to Ecuador, to New Zealand -- argue that because their long-term survival is dependent on the health of their natural surroundings, anything that harms the lakes, rivers, or forests they depend on should be considered a legal harm
Disaster Tourism: Holidays in Chernobyl
Tour operators in Chernobyl are expecting more than 100,000 visitors in 2019. Tourists from all over the world come to take a tour of the ghost towns and learn more about the consequences of a nuclear accident. The organizers insist the area has been extensively cleaned up in the last few decades, so a brief stay shouldn’t pose any risk, but some areas are still heavily contaminated. Chemistry graduate Serhij Myrnyj was responsible for radiation monitoring after the accident. Today he is the biggest provider of tours to Chernobyl, trying to improve the region's reputation and boost the economy through tourism. He now wants Chernobyl to receive UNESCO World Heritage Site status and so open up new prospects for the region. For the tourists, the trip to the restricted area is a unique experience, but for others it’s a tough existence. Former resident who returned home illegally after the evacuation live on the contaminated land here like recluses.
Six In The Morning Tuesday 30 April 2019
After audience with the sun goddess, Japan's emperor Akihito prepares to abdicate
Akihito will become the country’s first monarch to give up the chrysanthemum throne in two centuries
Japan’s emperor Akihito is preparing to become the country’s first monarch to abdicate in two centuries, a day before his eldest son takes his place as the new occupant of the chrysanthemum throne.
Akihito, who expressed a desire to abdicate in 2016, fearing his age would make it difficult for him to carry out public duties, will enter the Matsu no Ma (Hall of Pine) at the imperial palace early on Tuesday evening and relinquish his title in a short ceremony that will be broadcast live on TV.
Earlier the same day, the 85-year-old emperor, the first Japanese monarch to spend his entire reign stripped of political influence under the country’s postwar constitution, was due to report his abdication to his ancestors and the Shinto gods at sacred spots inside the imperial palace grounds in Tokyo.
Though Isis leader al-Baghdadi is alive, this poor strategist may not be a huge threat
His only response to any challenge was extreme violence, thus ensuring that Isis faced a vast array of enemies too numerous to defeatPatrick Cockburn
The reappearance of the Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has the same shock effect as that of Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of 9/11. It has all the greater impact because of claims that, with the elimination of the last territory held by Isis in March this year, that group was close to being out of business as a serious threat.
The slaughter of some 250 civilians in Sri Lanka had already showed that Isisretains its ability to take control of the international news agenda with suicide bombing attacks directed at civilians. “As for our brothers in Sri Lanka, I was overjoyed when I heard about the suicide attack, which overthrew the cradles of the Crusaders, and avenged them for our brethren in Baghouz,” al-Baghdadi said.
Just before the bombings in and around Colombo, the leader of the Isis cell had pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi.
Man arrested after suspected explosive device found in Christchurch
New Zealand police said on Tuesday a man was arrested and bomb disposal officers found a package with a suspected explosive device at a vacant property in Christchurch, where 50 people were killed in attacks by a lone gunman on two mosques in March.
Police cordoned off streets in the Phillipstown area of the city on New Zealand’s South Island, with a bomb disposal team, ambulance and fire and emergency crews sent to the scene.
“Police have located a package containing a suspected explosive device and ammunition at a vacant address ... in Christchurch,” district police commander Superintendent John Price said in a statement.
Sudan protesters say army trying to break up sit-in
The protesters who want the military to hand over power to a civilian administration have been camped out since April 6.
Sudan's main protest group said on Monday the army was trying to disperse a sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum by removing barricades, but witnesses said troops had not moved in.
Thousands of protesters remain camped outside the army headquarters, almost three weeks after the military and security forces removed former president Omar al-Bashir from power on April 11.
The pro-democracy protesters want the ruling military council to hand over power to a civilian administration.
'Yeti footprints': Indian army mocked over claim
The Indian army has claimed to have found footprints of the yeti, sparking jokes and disbelief on social media.
The army tweeted to its nearly six million followers on Monday that it had discovered "mysterious footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' at the Makalu Base Camp [in the Himalayas]".
The yeti - a giant ape-like creature - often figures in South Asian folklore.
There is no evidence proving yeti exist but the myth retains a strong appeal in the region.
'They don't get it': South Africa's scarred ANC faces voter anger
Divided party faces ‘deep moral crisis’ despite anticipated victory in election in May
Major Mgxaji, a retired union official in the poor township of Khayelitsha near Cape Town, was repeatedly jailed and tortured by apartheid authorities for his political activism with the ANC in the 1970s and 80s.
“It is not the same party as back then,” the 67-year-old said in an interview in Khayelitsha, where rolling power cuts in recent months have been widely blamed on corruption at the national electricity provider. “The ANC people have developed the struggle of the belly instead of the struggle to better the lives of our people. That is very dangerous.”
Twenty-five years after its victory in South Africa’s first free elections ushered in a new democratic era for the “rainbow nation”, the African National Congress has called on voters to rescue it from a “moral crisis”.
Monday, April 29, 2019
China: Secrets of a Long Life
China's Bama region is home to an astonishing number of people aged over 100. But are they really as old as they claim?
Several million tourists flock to China's Bama region every year, but it's not the spectacular scenery they come to see, it's the large number of residents aged over 100.
A thriving tourism business showcasing the elderly has sprung up as local residents realise that longevity can be profitable.
Hoping to learn the secret to a long life, visitors come to stare, prod and poke at centennials like Huang Makun, whose family says she is 100 years old.
Six In The Morning Monday 29 April 2019
Sri Lanka attacks: Face coverings banned after Easter bloodshed
Sri Lanka has banned face coverings in public, following a spate of suicide attacks on Easter Sunday that killed at least 250 people and injured hundreds.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he was using an emergency law to impose the restriction from Monday.
Any face garment which "hinders identification" will be banned to ensure national security, his office said.
The niqab and burka - worn by Muslim women - were not specifically named.
The move is perceived as targeting the garments, however.
Sri Lanka remains on high alert eight days after Islamist attacks that hit churches and hotels.
Dozens of suspects have been arrested, but local officials warned that more militants remained at large.
US builds migrant tent city in Texas as Trump likens treatment to 'Disneyland'
US border agency, which previously forced migrants to sleep under a bridge, says an influx of arrivals demands more shelter space
The US government has begun erecting tents close to the border with Mexico to house detained migrants – even as Donald Trump likened the treatment of undocumented families entering the US to “Disneyland” on Sunday.
Life at the foothills of the Franklin mountains in El Paso, Texas, has been rudely disrupted in the last few days by construction crews coming and going near the adjacent border patrol station.
The main frames of two large tents popped up last week. They are expected to hold up to 500 migrants amid a level of chaos at the border that has unfolded under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
New technologies drive military spending: SIPRI
Military spending has surged across the globe, according to a new report published by SIPRI. With new advances in defense technologies, countries are spending more to gain an edge.
Global military spending reached $1.822 trillion (€1.632 trillion) in 2018, according to an annual report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday, marking a 2.6% increase.
The US is at the top of the list of biggest defense spenders, recording an increase of 4.6% compared to 2017. SIPRI researcher Nan Tian told DW that it represented the first increase of its kind "in the last seven years," and it's expected to grow substantially in the coming decades.
Man accused of being UAE spy ‘commits suicide’ in Turkish jail
A suspected United Arab Emirates spy who was detained by Turkish authorities 10 days ago has committed suicide in prison, a Turkish government source and state media said on Monday.
The suspect was found dead in Silivri prison, on the outskirts of Istanbul, state news agency Anadolu reported. A Turkish justice ministry source confirmed the report to AFP.
The man was taken into custody with another alleged spy as authorities probed whether they were tied to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October in Istanbul.
The suspect was later formally charged with "military and political" and "international espionage", according to Anadolu.
As churches are demolished at home, Chinese Christians find religious freedom in Kenya
But migrants embracing God in highly Christian Nairobi are often unaware of the atheist Communist Party’s war on religion
Updated 0116 GMT (0916 HKT) April 29, 2019
Every Sunday morning in an affluent suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, the soaring song of Chinese hymns fills the empty corridors of a Monday-to-Friday office block.
Inside a small makeshift chapel, a kaleidoscopic congregation of Chinese migrants gather to pray. Among them are underwear importers, health workers and operators of the controversial new $3.8 billion Chinese-built railway that slices through Kenya, the country's biggest infrastructure project since independence -- and a sign of China's growing investment and footprint on the continent.
Some have married Kenyans, others have Chinese children who speak Swahili as well as they do Mandarin.
White identity politics is about more than racism
A political scientist on the rise of white identity politics in America.
By
When people talk about “identity politics,” it’s often assumed they’re referring to the politics of marginalized groups like African Americans, LGBTQ people, or any group that is organizing on the basis of a shared experience of injustice — and that’s a perfectly reasonable assumption.
Traditionally, identity has only really been a question for non-dominant groups in society. If you’re a member of the dominant group, your identity is taken for granted precisely because it’s not threatened. But the combination of demographic shifts and demagogic politicians has transformed the landscape of American politics. Now, white identity has been fully activated.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Sri Lanka Easter bombings: Debating the social media clampdown
Was the social media ban after the Easter bombings necessary? Plus, yellow vest protesters tussle with French media.
To block or not? Debating Sri Lanka's social media clampdown
The multiple church and hotel bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, which killed an estimated 253 people, represented the worst violence the country has seen since the end of the civil war a decade ago.
In the immediate aftermath, the government shut off access to social media - Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Viber. The rationale? To stem the spread of hate speech and misinformation.
There's a complex debate to be had, however, on the benefits of a social media shutdown versus the costs.
Six In The Morning Sunday 28 April 2019
Sri Lanka attacks: Children of the Easter Sunday carnage
One week ago many dozens of children were killed in Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday attacks. Dressed in their finest clothes for one of the most important church services of the year, this was the first generation in decades to grow up free of violence. Their stories - and the struggle for the surviving children to comprehend the carnage - take the island down a devastatingly familiar path.
When bubbly Sneha Savindri Fernando went along for the Easter Sunday service at St Sebastian's church in Negombo, her mind was on something else entirely. She had spent weeks excitedly making plans for her 13th birthday - a day she would never get the chance to celebrate.
"She was like a little bird. She loved to dance. She danced to anything. If you asked her to dance, she would immediately jump into a sari or a long skirt and oblige," her mother, Nirasha Fernando says. Sneha, Ms Fernando and their neighbours Gayani and Tyronne all left together in Tyronne's auto-rickshaw.Sri Lanka: churches shut as worshippers mourn one week after bombings
Cardinal Ranjith delivers televised sermon as bells ring out across the country
It was the first Sunday anyone could remember without a mass at St Sebastian’s.
A week since the bombings that killed at least 250 people, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Sri Lanka’s most senior Catholic, had ordered the country’s churches not to hold services until police could be sure they would not be attacked.
In a televised mass, Ranjith delivered a homily before members of the clergy and the country’s leaders in a small chapel at his Colombo residence – an extraordinary measure underlining the fear still gripping this nation of 21 million people.
'This Is Our Jungle'Abysmal Conditions for Refugees in the Greek Islands
The European Union claims that the refugee pact with Turkey has been a success. Yet asylum-seeker camps on Greek islands in the Aegean have transformed into prisons. Thousands of migrants live there in horrific conditions.
By Steffen Lüdke, Giorgos Christides and Socrates Baltagiannis (Photos)
Annick Toudji has found a bit of shelter in between some cardboard boxes, tarps and plastic bottles. It stinks of urine that has trickled in from the hillside above, past rickety tents and past the rocks where Toudji is about to build a fire. The acrid stench is a constant presence.
A tall and gaunt 33-year-old, Toudji is perched on a stump and cutting tomatoes with short, decisive blows into a pot. "This is our jungle," she says. It is a jungle without electricity or toilets. Instead, it has rats, cockroaches and scabies.
Sudan's protest leaders, army rulers agree on joint council
Sudan's protest leaders and army rulers agreed Saturday to establish a joint civilian-military ruling council, a major breakthrough in talks between the two sides over demonstrators' demands for a handover to civilian rule.
The agreement on the highly disputed issue came as thousands of protesters remain encamped outside the military headquarters since the army ousted longtime leader Omar al-Bashir on April 11, demanding that the army rulers step down.
"We agreed on a joint council between the civilian and the military," one of the leaders of the protest campaign, Ahmed al-Rabia, who was involved in the talks, told AFP.
China is watching Western democracy eat itself
By Nic Robertson
Over the next few months, the world's current and previous superpowers are set to undergo enormous self-harm.
The biggest victim could be democracy itself, and the biggest losers the approximately 4 billion people who live in its imperfect embrace.
As London and Washington convulse, China belches along, gobbling up cultures in a way that should alarm us all.
Pine room and a secret jewel: Japan's abdication rituals
By Miwa Suzuki
Japan has waited more than two centuries for an emperor to abdicate, but the main ceremony to perform the ritual will take a mere 10 minutes.
The solemn rite will take place at precisely 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the 370-square-meter Matsu-no-Ma (Room of Pine), considered the most elegant hall in the sumptuous imperial palace.
It is the only room with wooden floors -- made from Japanese zelkova trees -- rather than carpet, and the walls are covered with fabric featuring raised pine-leaf motifs.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Living in Traditional Japanese Townhouses: Kyo-machiya
The Mueller report: Can Trump be impeached?
We ask a Trump campaign adviser about the Mueller report and discuss regime change in Iran with dissident Shirin Ebadi.
Debating Mueller, Trump and the lies told
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's long-awaited report into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election has been released, and as far as US President Donald Trump is concerned, it's case closed.
Trump tweeted a Game of Thrones-style meme to insist, once again, that the report fully exonerates him. "No Collusion, no obstruction. For the haters and the radical left democrats - Game Over" he crowed on his official Twitter page.
Six In The Morning Saturday 27 April 2019
Sri Lanka bombings: 15 die in blast during raid on suspected hideout
The bodies of 15 people including six children were found after an explosion at a suspected Islamist militant hideout in east Sri Lanka, police said.
Police said the dead also included three women, believed to be family members of the suspected militants.
Residents said they heard an explosion followed by gunfire over several hours.
The clashes took place in Sainthamaruthu, not far from the home town of the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday suicide attacks.
Around the same time, security forces raided another building in a nearby town where they said they found explosives and a drone.
Romans revolt as tourists turn their noses up at city’s decay
Rubbish, potholes and metro closures contribute to anger among visitors and citizens alike
As the day draws to a close in Rome, tourists are enjoying a nightcap at a bar on Piazza della Rotonda. In front of them stands the majestic Pantheon, the imposing domed temple built by Emperor Hadrian.
To their right, however, is a scene less befitting the piazza, famed for its elegance and history. A photomural of the temple covers boarding that surrounds a building under renovation and as the night gets later it is used to prop up a pile of rubbish bags and boxes discarded by nearby restaurants.
The rubbish will be cleared by the time the tourists have breakfast, but not before they have taken note. “Rome is beautiful but they can’t seem to manage the rubbish situation, can they?” remarked a visitor from Austria.
Pakistan suspends polio vaccine drive after health worker attacks
At least three polio workers have been killed in April, while thousands of parents have refused to allow their children to be inoculated. Pakistan is one of the three countries in the world where polio is endemic.
Pakistan authorities have suspended the anti-polio campaign "for an indefinite period" across the country amid increasing violent attacks on polio workers.
A nationwide anti-polio drive was launched in all districts of the country on April 22.
The South Asian country's National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio directed all provinces on Friday to halt the drive, in an effort to protect some 270,000 polio field staff from attacks, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.
People are becoming angrier and more stressed, Gallup report says
People around the world are becoming angrier and more stressed – especially in Armenia and Greece, the annual Gallup Global Emotions Report has found.
A total of 150,000 people in more than 140 countries were polled in the 10-question survey, in which participants were asked about the positive and negative emotions they had experienced the day before. Questions ranged from “Did you smile or laugh yesterday?” to “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?” to “Did you experience physical pain?”
On a global average, 71 percent of respondents said they had experienced a lot of enjoyment the previous day, 72 percent said they had felt well rested, 74 percent reported having smiled or laughed, and 87 percent said they had been treated with respect.
Putin seems to pop up wherever there is a political vacuum in the world
Russian President Vladimir Putin capped a week of high-profile diplomacy on Friday, when he appeared at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing -- and received an especially warm welcome from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"President Putin is a good friend and an old friend to Chinese people," Xi said. "And he is my closest friend."
Friendship was also on the agenda in Putin's summit meeting Thursday in the Russian city of Vladivostok with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In Vladivostok, Putin positioned himself as an essential broker for resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, and as a prominent player on the world stage.
Hatred and dangerous nostalgia in Spain's far-right farming town
Ahead of Sunday's election, nostalgia for the Franco regime and xenophobia are palpable in El Ejido.
"I've never really been into politics," says 43-year-old construction worker Francisco Maldonado, as he lights a cigarette in his apartment in Santa Maria Del Aguila, a town on the outskirts of El Ejido, a working-class suburb in the Spanish province of Almeria.
A short stroll away, at the base of low rocky hills, a rolling expanse of plastic-roofed greenhouses dominates the landscape, glaring under the midday sun.
Covering 31,000 hectares and extending along the region's 50-kilometre stretch of coastline, it is the single largest concentration of greenhouses in the world and one of Spain's major economic hubs, exporting its crop of fruit and vegetables across Europe.
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