All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

North Dakota pipeline protest turns violent after cultural sites destroyed | US news | The Guardian

Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured.There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said. The crowd dispersed when officers arrived and no one was arrested, she said.The incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest of the oil pipeline that is slated to cross the Missouri River nearby.The tribe is challenging the army corps of engineers’ decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois, including near the reservation in southern North Dakota. A federal judge will rule before 9 September whether construction can be halted on the Dakota Access pipeline.Energy Transfer Partners did not return phone calls and emails seeking comment.The tribe fears the project will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and millions farther downstream.

Source: North Dakota pipeline protest turns violent after cultural sites destroyed | US news | The Guardian

Palestinian who filmed Hebron shooting faces threats to his life | +972 Magazine

Last week B’Tselem filed a complaint with Israeli police, claiming that Hebron police prevented Abu Shamsiya from submitting his own request following threats he received on the internet.Abu Shamsiya describes how last Sunday he arrived at the police station in Hebron to file a complaint about the threats, which included comments such as “I will kill you, you disabled asshole,” “your time will come,” and threatening videos. After a lengthy wait he was told that the station was too busy and that he should return the following day. The next day, after another long wait, he was told that he could not file a complaint, since the only officer who could deal with issue was not present. Abu Shamsiya returned for a third day, waiting a number of hours to be helped. When he approached one of there investigators, he was told to go home and threatened with arrest should he refuse to do so.

Source: Palestinian who filmed Hebron shooting faces threats to his life | +972 Magazine

Zika virus: Singapore reports new strain originating in Asia; Malaysia detects first local case – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Singapore has reported 215 cases of Zika infections, as scientists in the city-state said the virus strain came from within Asia and was not imported from Brazil.Key points:Scientists say the virus evolved from South-East Asia strain and was not importedMalaysia says it expects the number of local transmissions to growIt is urging residents to adopt preventative measuresThe Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency said in a joint statement on Saturday evening that of the 26 new cases reported on Saturday, 24 were linked to a cluster in the Aljunied district where the country’s first locally-transmitted cases were reported.The statement did not say where the other two cases were from.A week after Singapore reported its first case of locally transmitted Zika infection, local scientists say they have completed genetic sequencing of the virus.”The analysis found that the virus belongs to the Asian lineage and likely evolved from the strain that was already circulating in South-East Asia. The virus from these two patients was not imported from South America,” the statement said.

Source: Zika virus: Singapore reports new strain originating in Asia; Malaysia detects first local case – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun – The New York Times

For decades, as the global warming created by human emissions caused land ice to melt and ocean water to expand, scientists warned that the accelerating rise of the sea would eventually imperil the United States’ coastline.Now, those warnings are no longer theoretical: The inundation of the coast has begun. The sea has crept up to the point that a high tide and a brisk wind are all it takes to send water pouring into streets and homes.Federal scientists have documented a sharp jump in this nuisance flooding — often called “sunny-day flooding” — along both the East Coast and the Gulf Coast in recent years. The sea is now so near the brim in many places that they believe the problem is likely to worsen quickly. Shifts in the Pacific Ocean mean that the West Coast, partly spared over the past two decades, may be hit hard, too.These tidal floods are often just a foot or two deep, but they can stop traffic, swamp basements, damage cars, kill lawns and forests, and poison wells with salt. Moreover, the high seas interfere with the drainage of storm water.

Source: Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun – The New York Times