DRULAP

Kris Kristofferson, singer-songwriter and actor, dies at 88

Los Angeles — Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.

Kristofferson died at his home in Maui, Hawaii on Saturday, family spokesperson Ebie McFarland said in an email. He was 88.

McFarland said Kristofferson died peacefully, surrounded by his family. No cause was given. He was 88.

Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such classics standards as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning “For the Good Times” or Janis Joplin belting out “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Kristofferson, who could recite William Blake from memory, wove intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music. With his long hair and bell-bottomed slacks and counterculture songs influenced by Bob Dylan, he represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.

“There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,” Nelson said during a November 2009 award ceremony for Kristofferson held by BMI. “Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that.”

As an actor, he played the leading man opposite Barbara Streisand and Ellen Burstyn, but also had a fondness for shoot-out Westerns and cowboy dramas.

He was a Golden Gloves boxer and football player in college, received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England and turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to pursue songwriting in Nashville. Hoping to break into the industry, he worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal “Blonde on Blonde” double album.

At times, the legend of Kristofferson was larger than real life. Johnny Cash liked to tell a mostly exaggerated story of how Kristofferson, a former U.S. Army pilot, landed a helicopter on Cash’s lawn to give him a tape of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” with a beer in one hand. Over the years in interviews, Kristofferson said with all respect to Cash, while he did land a helicopter at Cash’s house, the ‘man in black’ wasn’t even home at the time, the demo tape was a song that no one ever actually cut, and he certainly couldn’t fly a helicopter holding a beer.

In a 2006 interview with The Associated Press, he said he might not have had a career without Cash.

“Shaking his hand when I was still in the Army backstage at the Grand Ole Opry was the moment I’d decided I’d come back,” Kristofferson said. “It was electric. He kind of took me under his wing before he cut any of my songs. He cut my first record that was record of the year. He put me on stage the first time.”

One of his most recorded songs, “Me and Bobby McGee,” was written based on a recommendation from Monument Records founder Fred Foster. Foster had a song title in his head called “Me and Bobby McKee,” named after a female secretary in his building. Kristofferson said in an interview in the magazine, Performing Songwriter, that he was inspired to write the lyrics about a man and woman on the road together after watching the Frederico Fellini film, “La Strada.”

Joplin, who had a close relationship with Kristofferson, changed the lyrics to make Bobby McGee a man and cut her version just days before she died in 1970 from a drug overdose. The recording became a posthumous No. 1 hit for Joplin.

Hits that Kristofferson recorded include “Why Me,” “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do),” “Watch Closely Now,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” “A Song I’d Like to Sing” and “Jesus Was a Capricorn.”

In 1973, he married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge and together they had a successful duet career that earned them two Grammy awards. They divorced in 1980.
…

your ad here

Harris to campaign again in swing-state Nevada

Los Angeles — Vice President Kamala Harris is set to rally in Las Vegas on Sunday night as both she and Republican Donald Trump continue to make frequent trips to Nevada, looking to gain momentum in the swing state as Election Day nears.

The rally is part of Harris’ latest West Coast swing, which included making her first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking over for President Joe Biden atop the Democratic presidential ticket. On Friday, the vice president walked alongside a towering, rust-colored border wall fitted with barbed wire in Douglas, Arizona, and met with federal authorities.

She attended a San Francisco fundraiser Saturday and had plans for a Sunday event in Los Angeles before heading to Nevada, with a return to Washington set for Monday night.

“This race is as close as it could possibly be,” she said Saturday to a raucous crowd of donors. “This is a margin-of-error race.”

Harris said even if there is enthusiasm, she’s running like an underdog. And she invited people to “join our team in battleground states” to help get voters to the polls — even if it’s Californians making calls from home.

On Sunday, former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake became the latest prominent Republican to endorse Harris and Walz. He credited them with a “fine character and love of country” and said he wants a president who does not treat political adversaries as enemies or try to subvert the will of voters.

Flake, a longtime critic of the former president, joins a list of anti-Trump Republicans who have said they will vote for the Democratic ticket, not just refrain from voting for Trump. Among them is Dick Cheney, the deeply conservative former vice president, and his daughter, Liz.

On Sunday, Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan, a former Republican governor and a sharp critic of Trump, said Harris has yet to earn his vote, though Trump won’t get it.

In Nevada, all voters automatically receive ballots by mail unless they opt out — a pandemic-era change that was set in state law. That means most ballots could start going out in a matter of weeks, well before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Harris plans to be back in Las Vegas on Oct. 10 for a town hall with Hispanic voters. Both she and Republican rival Donald Trump have campaigned frequently in the city, highlighting the critical role that Nevada, and its mere six votes in the Electoral College, could play in deciding an election expected to be exceedingly close.

Trump held his own Las Vegas rally on Sept. 13 at the Expo World Market Center, where Harris is speaking Sunday. Her campaign has frequently scheduled events in the same venue where her opponent previously spoke, including in Milwaukee, Atlanta and suburban Phoenix. During his Las Vegas event, the former president singled out people crossing into the U.S. illegally, saying Harris “would be the president of invasion.”

During a campaign stop in the city in June, Trump promised to eliminate taxes on tips received by waiters, hotel workers and thousands of other service industry employees. Harris used her own Las Vegas rally in August to make the same promise.

Fully doing away with federal taxes on tips would probably require an act from Congress. Still, Nevada’s Culinary Union, which represents 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno, has endorsed Harris.

Ted Pappageorge, the culinary union’s secretary-treasurer, said the difference between the dueling no-taxes-on-tips proposals is that Harris has also pledged to tackle what his union calls “sub-minimum wage,” where employers pay service industry workers small salaries and meet minimum wage thresholds by expecting employees to supplement those with tips.

Harris has no public schedule for Tuesday, when her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, squares off against Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance for the first and only vice presidential debate of the campaign. But Harris and Walz will campaign jointly on Wednesday, making a bus tour with various stops through central Pennsylvania.

The campaign says that during that swing, both will emphasize plans to energize U.S. manufacturing, including by using tax credits to encourage steel production and overhaul federal permitting systems to increase American construction.
…

your ad here

09/29/2024 DruchinaChina

China hails ‘Queen Wen,’ the tennis star who fulfilled a dream

Beijing — Zheng Qinwen’s parents sold the family home to fund her tennis dreams and now she is an Olympic champion and China’s biggest current sports star.

The 21-year-old is playing at home for the first time since becoming the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis gold when she triumphed in Paris.

She did not disappoint in her opening match at the China Open, sweeping aside 71st-ranked Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 in front of an adoring Beijing crowd Saturday.

Zheng was taken aback by the atmosphere, calling it “insane” and saying she had hardly ever seen a crowd so full.

“I was a little bit shocked,” said Zheng, who trains in Barcelona and is at a best-ever ranking of seven in the world but tipped to go higher.

Zheng has already earned more than $5 million in prize money and also has numerous endorsements from major global brands including Nike and Rolex.

Off court she has also appeared on the front pages of GQ magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Known as “Queen Wen” in China, Zheng has won three WTA Tour titles, and this year reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.

She was comprehensively beaten 6-3, 6-2 by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who beat the Chinese again in straight sets at the recent U.S. Open.

The world No. 2 from Belarus, who went on to win the U.S. Open, is the top seed in the Chinese capital this week and the two players are on course to meet in the semi-finals.

Zheng says she is a better player now than she was in Melbourne and with the crowd behind her she could take some stopping.

She faces Nadia Podoroska of Argentina in the third round.

Michelle Zhang, a local fan at the China Open whose two children play tennis, said, “We admire her for doing a lot for the country.”

Friend Adele Xue added, “she showed people that Chinese people can play tennis.”

Never gives up

Zheng grew up idolizing Li Na, the Chinese trailblazer who won two Grand Slam titles. Li’s French Open triumph in 2011 made her the first player from Asia to win a major singles crown.

Li is from Wuhan, where Zheng moved as a child to pursue her tennis ambitions.

After the China Open, Wuhan is the next stop on the WTA Tour and Zheng would dearly love to win there.

Known as approachable and friendly off court, Zheng is fiercely determined and competitive on it.

She was talented in multiple sports as a child and her father Zheng Jianping was a track-and-field athlete.

Jianping said Zheng’s interest in tennis was sparked by a trip to Beijing to watch the Olympics when she was six years old.

After returning from the capital, Zheng began learning tennis and her ability was soon noticed by local talent scouts.

Two years later her father took her from their home in Shiyan to the provincial capital Wuhan for professional training.

“One of the best things about this child is that she never gives up,” her Wuhan coach, Yu Liqiao, told local media.

After winning Olympic gold in Paris, Zheng revealed that her father had sold the family house to fund her budding tennis career when she was in her teens.

Her mother Deng Fang sold train tickets at a railway station but gave up the job to make sure her daughter slept and ate properly during training.

Zheng was among the millions of tennis fans glued to their televisions in China to see Li Na win the Australian Open in 2014.

Zheng, then 11, was interviewed on television and confidently stated that she was aiming for the top.

“I want to play in the Grand Slams and fight for championships,” she said.
…

your ad here

09/29/2024 DruchinaChina

Taiwan on alert over ‘multiple waves’ of missile firings in inland China

Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it was on alert after detecting “multiple waves” of missile firing deep in inland China, days after Beijing said it had carried out a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military drills given Beijing’s regular activities around the island, but only rarely releases details of what it sees taking place inside China.

The ministry said that starting from 6:50 a.m. (2250 GMT Saturday) it had detected “multiple waves of firing” by China’s Rocket Force and army in the provinces and regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, which all lie at least 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Taiwan.

Taiwan’s forces are “continuously monitoring relevant developments, and air defense forces have maintained a high level of vigilance and strengthened their alert,” the ministry added in a statement.

China’s Defense Ministry did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours. The Rocket Force oversees China’s conventional and nuclear missile arsenal.

On Thursday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry raised the alarm over a renewed surge of Chinese military activity around the island and live fire drills, accusing Beijing of policy instability.

China’s military responded by saying its activities around Taiwan were “legitimate” and its drills would continue.

A day earlier, China said it had successfully conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, into the Pacific Ocean.

In August 2022, China fired missiles into the waters around Taiwan during war games to express anger at a visit to Taipei by then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan operates powerful radar stations on some of the peaks of its central mountain range that can look far into China, according to security sources.
…

your ad here

Bangladesh at crossroads as it pursues sweeping constitutional reform

Washington — As Bangladesh pursues constitutional reform, international legal experts say a consensus-based process is vital for creating an enduring charter and ensuring political stability in South Asia’s third most populous nation.

The ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August pushed her Awami League party out of power, raising concerns that a key player could be excluded from a process shaping Bangladesh’s future.

In response, the nine-week interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, recently formed a constitutional reform panel, part of a broader effort to strengthen institutions and avert a return to authoritarian rule.

The panel, one of six reform commissions, faces a dilemma: amend the country’s 52-year-old constitution or begin afresh. A constitutional rewrite could tackle the issues raised by the recent protests that toppled Hasina’s government. Amending the document is quicker but might leave key problems unresolved. Complicating matters, key provisions of the constitution are not amendable.

Regardless of the path Bangladesh takes, the lesson from other countries that have implemented change is unmistakable: Experts say successful reform requires the involvement of all major stakeholders.

“The main task of constitutions is to channel group decisions away from violence into politics,” said Tarun Khaitan, a professor of public law at the London School of Economics. “So, what do you do if you’re a group which has no share in political power and no hope of sharing political power any time in the future? You will take to violence.”

Yet in a country as deeply divided as Bangladesh, building consensus over a new constitution is a tall order. Two parties — the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party, or BNP — have dominated politics since its founding in 1971.

Except for two rare moments of unity in the 1990s, each party has “tried to game the system and lock the other out of power,” making Bangladesh perennially unstable.

“I think that is the issue that any constitutional settlement has to resolve,” Khaitan said.

Three global lessons

Richard Albert, an expert on constitution-making and constitutional design at the University of Texas, noted three lessons that Bangladesh can learn from other parts of the world.

First, the process matters more than the document itself. This means that citizens must be engaged in every step, from providing input to enacting the Charter, Albert said.

“We know that when people are involved in the constitution-making process… that sets the stage for a stronger, more enduring, more legitimate constitution,” Albert, who sits on Jamaica’s constitutional reform committee, said in an interview with VOA.

Second, resist turning the constitution into a wish list. Many countries make the mistake of including too many promises that they cannot deliver.

The rules enshrined in a constitution, Albert said, “must mean something when they’re written in the text of the country’s higher [or highest] law.”

Third, the people are the ultimate source of legitimacy for a constitution, Albert said. The document must embody the values and aspirations of the citizens.

“They don’t have to be involved in the writing, the drafting, the deliberation of the constitution, but the people must feel and believe that the constitution represents them,” Albert said.

There are other lessons too. While public participation is important, the consent of major social and political groups is paramount, Khaitan said. Without a “consensual process,” he said, minority groups can find themselves left out.

Case in point: Nepal, where the minority Madhesis were sidelined despite broad public participation in the making of the 2015 constitution.

Lesson from Chile

Elsewhere, a lack of consensus has led to outright rejection of a constitution. Among legal scholars, Chile is the poster child for how not to do constitutional reform. In recent years, two successive governments — one left-leaning, the other right-wing — tried and failed to replace a Pinochet-era constitution with a new one stacked with ideological priorities.

To some constitutional experts, the South American country’s experience suggests that wholesale constitutional overhauls can fail in deeply polarized countries such as Bangladesh.

“Pursuing constitutional replacement processes in such an environment can become an opportunity to fuel intolerance,” Aldo Valle, a Chilean lawyer and former vice chairman of the country’s constitutional council, wrote in a blog post in 2023.

Bangladesh’s constitution gives parliament the power to enact amendments.

A 2011 amendment, however, bars changes to basic provisions, from citizens’ fundamental rights to Islam’s designation as the state religion.

Such “constitutional unamendability” is increasingly common around the world, with countries like Turkey and France making certain constitutional provisions unchangeable. In Bangladesh, however, the constitution allows “one to become incredibly powerful and it has some paths for creating autocracy,” making a rewrite necessary, Ali Riaz, the country’s constitution panel chief, told The Daily Star newspaper prior to his appointment earlier in September.

Waris Husain, an adjunct professor of law at Howard University, said drafting a new constitution is the easier part of constitution-making, and there are many successful models that Bangladesh can draw on. The real challenge, Husain said, is securing the buy-in of all stakeholders.

“One of the things that you wouldn’t want to happen is if you quickly pass a constitution and then subsequently there are so many issues that are raised about it and people haven’t bought into that constitution,” Husain said in an interview with VOA.

If Bangladesh were to draft a new constitution and put it to a referendum, it would likely have a higher success rate than pushing through an amendment. According to a 2019 study, 94% of referendums to approve a constitution succeed, while 40% of referendums to amend an existing document fail.

“If the plan in Bangladesh is to have recourse to a referendum, the data will be important to consider,” Albert said.

As it nears its second month in office, the interim government faces growing pressure to deliver results. But experts say constitutional reform cannot be rushed through — it took Nepal seven years to enact a new charter.

Yet Bangladesh’s “constitutional moment,” a period marked by political turmoil and calls for significant change, can prove fleeting, experts say.

“Public appetite for grand, substantial changes typically remains short-lived,” said Khaitan. “Bread and butter issues tend to come to dominate very quickly.”
…

your ad here

US boosts air support and hikes troops’ readiness to deploy for Middle East

Washington — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has authorized the military to reinforce its presence in the Middle East with “defensive” air-support capabilities and put other forces on a heightened readiness status, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

“(Austin) increased the readiness of additional U.S. forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

The statement did not detail what new aircraft would be deploying to the region.

“Secretary Austin made clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every necessary measure to defend our people,” Ryder added.
…

your ad here

Charges against ex-officers for 2004 Thai ‘massacre’ facing dismissal

…

your ad here

US airstrikes on Syria kill 37 militants affiliated with extremist groups

BEIRUT — In Syria, 37 militants affiliated to the extremist Islamic State group and an al-Qaida-linked group were killed in two strikes, the United States military said Sunday.

Two of the dead were senior militants, it said.

U.S. Central Command said it struck northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior militant from the al-Qaida-linked Hurras al-Deen group and eight others. They say he was responsible for overseeing military operations.

They also announced a strike from earlier this month on Sept. 16, where they conducted a “large-scale airstrike” on an IS training camp in a remote undisclosed location in central Syria. That attack killed 28 militants, including “at least four Syrian leaders.”

“The airstrike will disrupt ISIS’ capability to conduct operations against U.S. interests, as well as our allies and partners,” the statement read.

There are some 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist IS group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.

U.S. forces advise and assist their key allies in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, located not far from strategic areas where Iran-backed militant groups are present, including a key border crossing with Iraq.
…

your ad here

Militants kill 7 workers, kidnap 20 in southwestern Pakistan

Islamabad — Pakistani authorities said Sunday suspected insurgents killed at least seven workers and abducted 20 others at gunpoint in two attacks overnight in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.

The violence occurred in the Panjgur and Musakhail districts of the sparsely populated insurgency-hit province, which is rich in natural resources.

Police said that gunmen attacked a home in Panjgur at around midnight Saturday, spraying its occupants with bullets before fleeing on motorcycles. They added that the gunfire wounded one person and that the victims were laborers from the eastern Punjab province.

The second attack took place early Sunday when a group of armed men stormed a gas and oil exploration company’s site in Musakhail.

Dheeraj Kalra, the local assistant police commissioner, told VOA by phone that the assailants opened fire, vandalized equipment, took 20 workers as hostages, and then escaped.

“A search operation is currently underway in the area to locate the abducted individuals,” he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for either attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the violence and instructed provincial authorities to make all possible efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, his office in Islamabad said.

Late last month, insurgents in Musakhail killed 23 passengers from Punjab who were visiting or working in Balochistan after pulling them off trucks and passenger vehicles.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack and a series of other raids across the province on the same day, resulting in the deaths of more than 50 people.

The violence marked the most widespread insurgent attacks in impoverished Balochistan in years, targeting security posts, railway lines, and passenger vehicles.

Several ethnic Baloch groups, including the BLA, accuse the central government of exploiting the province’s natural resources, and claim their violent campaign is seeking an independent Balochistan.

Pakistani officials reject the allegations, saying insurgent activities are aimed at halting economic development in the region. The province shares the country’s border with Afghanistan and Iran and is the site of major China-funded infrastructure projects.

The BLA, designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, has recently intensified its attacks. It is known as the largest and most lethal group active in the region, repeatedly demanding that China withdraw from Balochistan and even targeting Chinese nationals working there.
…

your ad here

Japan’s Ishiba opts for continuity in early Cabinet picks

TOKYO — Japan’s incoming prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, signaled continuity this weekend in his early decisions on key posts for his government, suggesting a desire for stability after an unpredictable leadership race.

His picks for finance, defense and foreign minister, as well as the pivotal post of chief cabinet secretary, appear to draw on seasoned veterans from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as he prepares to form a government on Tuesday.

Ishiba, 67, won the LDP leadership race on Friday, clinching a run-off win after a contest among an unprecedentedly large field of nine candidates.

He is set to name former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and keep Yoshimasa Hayashi as chief Cabinet secretary, a pivotal post that includes the role of top government spokesperson, sources told Reuters.

Ishiba will name former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato as finance minister and bring Gen Nakatani back as defense minister, Japanese media reported.

Ryosei Nakasawa, the deputy minister of finance, will be minister of economic revitalization, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday.

Ishiba will tap former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as vice president of the LDP, sources said, while Japanese media said he would name Shinjiro Koizumi, a rival in the LDP race, as LDP election chief.

Ishiba did not detail his Cabinet plans in a televised interview on Sunday but suggested he was willing to consider a snap election in the near future, perhaps as early as October. An election must be called within the next 13 months.

He said Japan’s monetary policy must remain accommodative as a trend, signaling the need to keep borrowing costs low to underpin a fragile economic recovery.

It was not immediately clear whether Ishiba, who had been a vocal critic of the Bank of Japan’s past aggressive monetary easing, was taking a more dovish line with his remarks.

Iwaya, defense chief from 2018 to 2019, helped Ishiba on strategy in his winning run to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Former soldier Nakatani, would return to the defense post he held from 2014 to 2016.
…

your ad here

Ethiopia’s Mengesha, Ketema win Berlin Marathons

…

your ad here

US suicides in 2023 still at highest level in nation’s history, says data

new york — U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests.

A little more than 49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number that could grow a little as some death investigations are wrapped up and reported.

Just under 49,500 were reported in 2022, according to final data released Thursday. The numbers are close enough that the suicide rate for the two years are the same, CDC officials said.

U.S. suicide rates have been rising for nearly 20 years, aside from a two-year drop around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. So “a leveling off of any increase in suicide is cautiously promising news,” said Katherine Keyes, a Columbia University public health professor who studies suicide.

Indeed, there’s reason for optimism. A 2-year-old national crisis line allows anyone in the U.S. to dial 988 to reach mental health specialists. That and other efforts may be starting to pay off, Keyes said, but it “really remains to be seen.”

Experts caution that suicide — the nation’s 11th-leading cause of death in 2022 — is complicated and that attempts can be driven by a range of factors. Contributors include higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services, and the availability of guns. About 55% of all suicide deaths in 2022 involved firearms, according to CDC data.

The CDC’s Thursday report said:

—Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for people ages 10–14 and 20–34, and the third-leading cause for people ages 15–19.

—Deaths continue to be more common among boys and men than girls and women. The highest suicide rate for any group — by far — was in men ages 75 and older, at about 44 suicides per 100,000 men that age.

—Among women, the highest rate was in those who were middle-aged, about 9 per 100,000. But more dramatic increases have been seen in teens and young women, with the rate for that group doubling in the last two decades.

—The overall suicide rate in 2022 and 2023 was 14.2 per 100,000. It also was that high in 2018. Before then, it hadn’t been that high since 1941.
…

your ad here

Brick by brick, Morocco rebuilds 12th-century mosque destroyed by 2023 quake

TINMEL, Morocco — The hand-carved domes and brick-laid arches had almost all been put back together when an earthquake shook Morocco so violently that they caved in on themselves and crashed to the earth.

After nearly 900 years, the Great Mosque of Tinmel lay in pieces — its minaret toppled, its prayer hall full of rubble, its outer walls knocked over.

But even in ruins, it remained holy ground for the residents of Tinmel. Villagers carried the sheet-laden bodies of the 15 community members killed in the quake down the hillside and placed them in front of the decimated mosque.

Among the mourners was Mohamed Hartatouch, who helped carry the remains of his son Abdelkrim, 33. A substitute teacher, he died under bricks and collapsed walls while the village waited a day and a half for rescue crews to arrive.

“It looked like a storm. I wasn’t able to feel anything,” the grieving father said, remembering the day after the quake.

One year later, the rubble near Hartatouch’s half-standing home has been swept aside and Tinmel residents are eager to rebuild their homes and the mosque. They say the sacred site is a point of pride and source of income in a region where infrastructure and jobs were lacking long before the earthquake hit.

“It’s our past,” Redwan Aitsalah, 32, a construction worker, said the week before the earthquake’s anniversary as he reconstructed his home overlooking the mosque.

The September 2023 quake left a path of destruction that will take Morocco years to recover from. It killed nearly 3,000 people, knocked down almost 60,000 homes and leveled at least 585 schools. Rebuilding will cost about $12.3 billion, according to government estimates.

Stretches of road were left unnavigable, including Tizi N’Test, the steep mountain pass that weaves from Marrakech to Tinmel and some of the hardest-hit villages near the earthquake’s epicenter.

Workers are now sifting through the rubble, searching for the mosque’s puzzle pieces. They are stacking usable bricks and sorting the fragments of remaining decorative elements arch by arch and dome by dome, preparing to rebuild the mosque using as much of the remains as possible.

Though incomparable to the human loss and suffering, the restoration effort is among Morocco’s priorities as it attempts to rebuild.

The country’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Ministry of Culture have recruited Moroccan architects, archaeologists and engineers to oversee the project. To assist, the Italian government has sent Moroccan-born architect Aldo Giorgio Pezzi, who had also consulted on Casablanca’s Hassan II Mosque, one of Africa’s largest.

“We will rebuild it based on the evidence and remains that we have so it returns to how it was,” Morocco’s Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq told The Associated Press.

The Great Mosque was a marvel of North African architecture with lobed arches, hand-carved moldings and the adobe-style bricks used to construct most the area’s structures.

It was undergoing an 18-month restoration project when the quake struck, causing its ornate domes and pillars to cave in. Its clay-colored remnants lay in pieces beneath scaffolding erected by restoration workers from villages throughout the region, five of whom also died.

“The mosque withstood centuries. It’s the will of God,” Nadia El Bourakkadi, the site’s conservationist, told local media. The temblor leveled it months before repairs and renovations were to be completed.

Like in many of the area’s villages, residents of Tinmel today live in plastic tents brought in as temporary shelter post-earthquake. Some are there because it feels safer than their half-ruined homes, others because they have nowhere else to go.

Officials have issued more than 55,000 reconstruction permits for villagers to build new homes, including for most of the homes in Tinmel. The government has distributed financial aid in phases. Most households with destroyed homes have received an initial $2,000 installment of rebuilding aid, but not more.

Many have complained that isn’t enough to underwrite the initial costs of rebuilding. Fewer than 1,000 have completed rebuilding, according to the government’s own figures.

Despite the extent of their personal losses, Moroccans are also mourning the loss of revered cultural heritage. Centuries-old mosques, shrines, fortresses and lodges are scattered throughout the mountains. Unlike Tinmel, many have long been neglected as Morocco focuses its development efforts elsewhere.

The country sees Tinmel as the cradle of one of its most storied civilizations. The mosque served as a source of inspiration for widely visited sacred sites in Marrakech and Seville. Pilgrims once trekked through the High Atlas to pay their respects and visit. Yet centuries ago it fell into disrepair as political power shifted to Morocco’s larger cities and coastline.

“It was abandoned by the state, but materials were never taken from it,” said Mouhcine El Idrissi, an archaeologist working with Morocco’s Ministry of Culture. “People here have long respected it as a witness to their glorious and spiritual past.”

Some of the historic sites of the High Atlas have long been a lure to tourists. But the earthquake shone a spotlight on the vast disparities plaguing the primarily agricultural region. Poverty and illiteracy rates are higher than the nationwide average, according to census data and an October 2023 government report on the five earthquake-hit provinces.

“The mountainous areas most affected were those already suffering from geographical isolation,” Civil Coalition for the Mountain, a group of Moroccan NGOs, said in a statement on the earthquake’s anniversary. “The tragedy revealed structural differences, and a situation caused by development policies that have always kept the mountains outside the scope of their objectives.”

“There’s a Morocco that exists in Rabat and Marrakech, but we’re talking about another Morocco that’s in the mountains,” added Najia Ait Mohannad, the group’s regional coordinator. “Right now, the most urgent need is rebuilding houses.”

The government has promised “a well-thought-out, integrated and ambitious program” for the reconstruction and general upgrading of the affected regions, both in terms of infrastructure reinforcement and improving public services. It has also pledged to rebuild “in harmony with the region’s heritage and respecting its unique architectural features” and “to respect the dignity and customs” of the population.

For the village’s residents, the landmark could stand as a symbol of reinvestment in one of Morocco’s poorest regions, as well as a tribute to a glorious past.

For now, it stands in disrepair, its enchanting ruins upheld by wooden scaffolding, while down the hill, villagers hang laundry and grow vegetables amid the remnants of their former homes and the plastic tents where they now live.
…

your ad here

Attacks by Islamic extremists are rampant in Africa’s Sahel

DAKAR, Senegal — Extremist attacks in Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara in Africa, have proliferated in recent months: Last week, Islamic militants attacked Bamako, the capital of Mali, for the first time in almost a decade, demonstrating their capacity to carry out large scale assaults. And last month, at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis, as they were forcibly helping security forces dig trenches to protect security outposts and villages.

Here’s what we know about the security situation in Sahel:

A region characterized by uprisings and coups

Over the last decade, the region has been shaken by extremist uprisings and military coups. Three Sahelian nations, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, are now ruled by military leaders who have taken power by force, on the pledge of providing more security to citizens.

But the security situation in Sahel has worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and a record number of civilians killed both by Islamic fighters and government forces. Over the first six months of this year, 3,064 civilians were killed by the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a 25% increase compared to the previous 6 months.

Extremist groups operating in Sahel, and what they want

The main two groups operating in the region are the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), and the Islamic State in the Sahel. Over the last year, the JNIM has strengthened its presence in Mali and Burkina Faso, by becoming a more coherent political grouping.

“The local populations support (JNIM) more than IS-affiliated groups,” said analyst Shaantanu Shankar of the Economist Intelligence Unit. “They have integrated local rebel groups, which have close community ties.”

Unlike JNIM, Islamic State in the Sahel is a loose coalition of anti-government forces that is much less entrenched politically, he said. They are much more dominant in the Lake Chad region.

These groups attack, terrorize and kill local populations and their actions likely amount to war crimes, according to rights organizations.

In addition, there are also a number of local militia groups on the ground, which are not affiliated with IS or al-Qaida, as violence has exploded between rival ethnicities and local self-defense groups resulting in a self-perpetuating spiral of violence.

Why the extremists in Sahel are getting stronger

The military juntas in three countries have capitalized on popular discontent with the former democratically elected governments, which they saw as corrupt and propped up by France.

After coming into power, all three juntas left the Economic Community of West African States, the nearly 50-year-old regional bloc known as ECOWAS, and created their own security partnership, the Alliance of Sahel States, in September. They have cut ties with the traditional Western allies, ousting French and American military forces, and instead sought new security ties with Russia.

“There is a huge security vacuum after the withdrawal of the French and American military” from the region, said Shankar, which cannot be filled by Russia. Troops from the Wagner Group, the Russian private military company, present in the region are being financed by the junta governments, Shankar added, with fewer financial resources.

But experts say the other factor fueling instability is the worsening economic situation, as well as the lack of job opportunities, which contribute to the rising popularity of extremist groups. In all three countries, Islamic extremists have been recruiting among groups marginalized and neglected by the central governments.

“There are very few opportunities for people in rural Sahel, especially the youth,” said Heni Nsabia, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project analysis coordinator for West Africa. “But the other aspect is that people whose families and communities were targeted by state forces seek security, status and vengeance.”

How the groups finance themselves

Despite being affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, extremist groups in the Sahel mostly get financial resources within their own strongholds, analysts said. They impose taxes on the local population, take control of the management of natural resources, especially of gold, and steal cattle.

They also impose sieges on towns and use kidnappings, improvised explosive devices and landmines as they seek to control supply routs and resources.

The extremists are also involved in trafficking, especially of drugs, said Aaryaman Shah, a security analyst who specializes in the financing of extremist groups. And they profit from people smuggling — which might bring them even more money in the future.

“We are concerned about the recent turmoil in Libya, and how that could actually affect the migrant flow,” said Shah. “We are also looking at Niger, where the junta disbanded the law stopping people from crossing into Libya.”

The business model that these groups developed is very diversified, analysts said. “This is why it is difficult to destroy them economically,” said Nsabia from ACLED. “If you target one aspect, they have other sources of revenues.”

The outlook for the future

Analysts predict that the situation in the Sahel is going to worsen in the coming months, with the military governments becoming increasingly desperate as they focus on preserving their political existence, and no way of holding them accountable.

“It’s a very volatile phase, security is projected to get worse in the next two years,” said Shankar of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

And the violence has been spilling outside the Sahel borders: Extremists believed to be linked to al-Qaida have crossed into Benin and the north of Nigeria, the latest trend in the militants’ movements to wealthier West African coastal nations.

“It’s undeniable that things are getting worse, and the scope of the threat has been expanding,” said Nsabia. “Today, we should not be talking only about Sahel, but also about Benin and Togo, where the JNIM have done excursions as far as 200 kilometers inland.”

Europe and United States are seeking to support the governments of these coastal nations in their counter-terrorism efforts. Michael Langley, the top U.S. commander for Africa, told reporters last week the U.S. was in talks with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Benin as the country starts “to reset and recalibrate some of our assets.”

A major challenge has been, and will continue to be, access to information, experts said. All juntas significantly restricted journalism, so now they are in complete control of the narrative, including of who is defined as a jihadi. In Mali, the government branded all Touaregs an ethnic group which staged a rebellion against the government, as jihadis, although only some of them allied with JNIM.
…

your ad here

Nepal closes schools after heavy rains kill 100

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 100, with 67 missing, officials said Sunday.

Flooding brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital.

Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair.

“We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days,” Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters.

Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 32.2. centimeters, pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 meters past the danger mark, experts said.

But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital.

“There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely,” he said.

Kathmandu weather officials blamed the heavy downpours on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighboring India close to Nepal.

Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

“I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the center.

In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to “urgently” step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the “grey,” or engineered kind, and “green,” or nature-based type.

The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanization efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati river, it added.

The level in the Koshi river in Nepal’s southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.

The river, which brings deadly floods to India’s eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.
…

your ad here

In US, it’s time to roll up sleeves for new COVID, flu shots

WASHINGTON — Fall means it’s time for just about everybody to get up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines – and a lot of older adults also need protection against another risky winter virus, RSV.

Yes, you can get your flu and COVID-19 shots at the same time. Don’t call them boosters — they’re not just another dose of last year’s protection. The coronavirus and influenza are escape artists that constantly mutate to evade your body’s immune defenses, so both vaccines are reformulated annually to target newer strains.

“Right now is the best time” to get all the recommended fall vaccinations, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as she got her flu shot Wednesday. She has an appointment for her COVID-19 shot, too. It’s “the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself, your family, your community.”

While they’re not perfect, vaccinations offer strong protection against a bad case of flu or COVID-19 — or dying from it.

“It may not prevent every infection but those infections are going to be less severe,” said CDC’s Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. “I would rather have my grandmother or my great-grandmother have a sniffle than have to go to the emergency room on Thanksgiving.”

The challenge: Getting more Americans to roll up their sleeves. Last year, just 45% of adults got a flu vaccination and even fewer, 23%, got a COVID-19 shot. A survey released Wednesday by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases shows an equally low number intend to this fall.

And the coronavirus still killed more Americans than flu last year.

“Maybe we believe that it’s not going to be me but let’s not take a chance,” said Dr. Michael Knight of George Washington University. “Why not get a vaccine that’s going to help you reduce that risk?”

Who needs a fall COVID-19 or flu vaccination?

The CDC urges both an updated COVID-19 shot and yearly flu vaccine for everyone ages 6 months and older. If you recently had COVID-19, you can wait two or three months but still should get an updated vaccination because of the expected winter surge.

Both viruses can be especially dangerous to certain groups including older people and those with weak immune systems and lung or heart disease. Young children also are more vulnerable. The CDC counted 199 child deaths from flu last year.

Pregnancy also increases the chances of serious COVID-19 or flu – and vaccination guards mom plus ensures the newborn has some protection, too.

What’s new about the COVID-19 shots?

Last fall’s shots targeted a coronavirus strain that’s no longer spreading while this year’s are tailored to a new section of the coronavirus family tree. The Pfizer and Moderna shots are formulated against a virus subtype called KP.2 while the Novavax vaccine targets its parent strain, JN.1. Daskalakis said all should offer good cross protection to other subtypes now spreading.

The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines can be used by adults and children as young as 6 months. The Novavax shot is a more traditional protein vaccine combined with an immune booster, and open to anyone 12 and older.

Which flu vaccine to choose?

High-dose shots and one with a special immune booster are designed for people 65 and older, but if they can’t find one easily they can choose a regular all-ages flu shot.

For the shot-averse, the nasal spray FluMist is available for ages 2 to 49 at pharmacies and clinics — although next year it’s set to be available for use at home.

All flu vaccinations this year will guard against two Type A flu strains and one Type B strain. Another once-common form of Type B flu quit spreading a few years ago and was removed from the vaccine.

What about that other virus, RSV?

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a coldlike nuisance for most people but it, too, packs hospitals every winter and can be deadly for children under 5, the elderly and people with certain high-risk health problems.

The CDC recommends an RSV vaccination for everyone 75 and older, and for people 60 to 74 who are at increased risk. This is a one-time shot, not a yearly vaccination – but only 24% of seniors got it last year. It’s also recommended late in pregnancy to protect babies born during the fall and winter.

And while “your arm may hurt and you may feel crummy for a day,” it’s also fine to get the RSV, flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time, Daskalakis said.

What will it cost?

The vaccines are supposed to be free under Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans if people use an in-network provider.

About 1.5 million uninsured adults got free COVID-19 vaccinations through a federal program last year but that has ended. Instead, the CDC is providing $62 million to health departments to help improve access — and states and large cities are starting to roll out their plans.

Call your local health department to ask about options because in many areas, “availability of vaccine at lower or no cost is expected to trickle in over the next couple of weeks,” advised Dr. Raynard Washington, who heads the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, health department.

Check the government website, vaccines.gov, for availability at local pharmacies.
…

your ad here

Trump lists his grievances in a Wisconsin speech intended to link Harris to illegal immigration

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wisconsin — Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.

A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”

“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”

Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.

Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris’ father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden’s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.

“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”

Trump repeatedly brought up Harris’ Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden’s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump’s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

“I had to sit there and listen” to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”

The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”

Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.

Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trail.”

“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”

She said Trump was “a very unserious man.” “However, the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious.”

At Trump’s event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.

Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate’s arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on September 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment.
…

your ad here