World
A River Choking on Fish Corpses, and a Community Full of Anger
“Welcome to lifeless fish central,” mentioned Graeme McCrabb, a neighborhood resident, as he navigated his speedboat by means of fields of rotting fish carcasses bobbing within the acid-green water of the river that runs by means of his city.
Tens of millions of fish have died within the Darling River close to his city, Menindee, in outback New South Wales, their our bodies packing the floor of the water from financial institution to financial institution for miles. After days beneath the solar, their our bodies had began to “break up and switch into fish soup,” as Mr. McCrabb put it, remodeling the river that locals depend on for consuming and showering into an ecological wasteland.
Authorities have mentioned the mass loss of life was brought on by a scarcity of oxygen within the water, known as hypoxia, a results of latest floods and a warmth wave. However livid locals say the true root of the issue is the overuse of Australia’s largest and most significant river system.
The catastrophe is the newest episode in a long-running battle over the Murray Darling Basin, an enormous community of lakes and rivers stretching throughout 4 states in jap Australia, which sustains a lot of the nation’s agriculture and dozens of communities alongside its banks. In an arid nation the place social, financial and environmental pursuits conflict every time water runs scarce, the problem has pitted states towards one another, and riverside communities towards farms upstream.
In Menindee — inhabitants: 551 — residents have endured the stink of decaying fish for a number of days. At its worst, one resident, Barry Stone, described it as “eye-watering. It stung the within of your nostril and made you wish to throw up.”
And so they concern for his or her consuming water, which is handled river water.
Extra frustratingly, they mentioned, is how they’ve been elevating considerations concerning the declining well being of the river for years, to little avail. Even after a earlier mass fish loss of life in 2019, little was completed to handle the issue, they mentioned.
Out on the river on Wednesday, Mr. McCrabb identified numerous species of lifeless fish: bony herring, gold perch, endangered silver perch, some invasive species. 5 days into the die-off, fish corpses had began drifting downstream with the present and sinking to the underside. Decaying pores and skin and flesh had disintegrated into flakes, creating movies of grey sludge on the water’s floor.
Crayfish lined on this movie tried to flee up the edges of the steep riverbank, whereas the occasional dwell fish jumped out of the water or flailed close to its floor, gasping. The preliminary die-off had additional depleted oxygen within the water, inflicting extra fish to die. Carp, which endure low-oxygen environments higher than different fish, swarmed across the carcasses, 1000’s of tiny mouths opening and shutting incessantly on the water’s floor.
Mr. McCrabb, a grape grower, has grow to be an unofficial face of the catastrophe. Throughout each the 2019 fish loss of life and the present one, he has frequently taken his boat onto the water, documenting the carnage to lift consciousness — and “rub salt within the wounds of the federal government,” as he places it.
He’s not the one one within the space to grow to be an unintended activist. In Menindee, as in different cities alongside the river, small-business homeowners, retirees and Indigenous folks historically related to the world have mobilized within the face of what they see as an existential menace to their communities and livelihoods.
“You may put a time restrict on the river,” mentioned Ross Leddra, a Menindee resident and the president of the Darling River Motion Group, a coalition combating for better-quality water. “They’re saying in 5 to 10 years the river will probably be lifeless.”
Despite the fact that locals knew one other fish loss of life occasion was doable, “nobody thought this may ever occur to this extent,” he mentioned. “How are they going to restore the river when there’s thousands and thousands of lifeless fish on the underside decomposing into the soil?”
Authorities have known as the cleanup a “logistical nightmare,” acknowledging that it is going to be inconceivable to fully take away the carcasses due to the dimensions of the catastrophe.
“I should be very upfront with the group in saying: Will each fish be eliminated? I don’t assume so,” mentioned Brett Greentree, the state police assistant commissioner overseeing the trouble.
Standing outdoors his dwelling on the riverbank, Ross Recordsdata, a retiree, watched fish floating in the identical water he used for bathing and laundry, and contemplated how lengthy he may be capable to proceed residing by the river.
“I feel it’s the end of me,” he mentioned.
Mr. Recordsdata, 85, mentioned that in his youth the river water was clear sufficient to drink from with out therapy. He’s considered one of many residents who say the river’s well being began to say no when agriculture intensified upstream a number of a long time in the past, leaving much less water accessible to circulate downstream.
“This drawback didn’t begin yesterday or final week or final 12 months,” he mentioned. “I’ve been right here for 85 years, and for the final 25 I’ve had nothing however issues with the river.”
Some scientists share this view. The 2019 fish deaths occurred throughout a drought and the present ones after a flood, mentioned Richard Kingsford, the director of the Middle for Ecosystem Science on the College of New South Wales. However, he mentioned, the long-term causes have been the identical each instances: “There’s not sufficient water within the river, and the entire system is engineered so these escape routes are closed.”
Over-extraction means components of the river run dry extra usually, he mentioned, and the small and medium-sized floods that used to periodically clear away natural particles have all however disappeared. Meaning when an enormous flood hits, that particles is all swept into the river, the place it breaks down and deoxygenates the water.
That, mixed with the development of weirs which have prevented the fish from swimming to better-oxygenated water, has made this catastrophe worse, he mentioned. He provides that whereas fish organically breed and die en masse, pure processes alone can’t clarify the extraordinary scope of the latest fish deaths.
The New South Wales fisheries and water administration our bodies, against this, each attribute the catastrophe to weather-related causes. “For a pure occasion equivalent to this, there are only a few operational steps that may be taken to forestall them from occurring,” WaterNSW, which manages the state’s rivers, mentioned in an announcement.
Issac Jeffrey, chief government of the Nationwide Irrigators’ Council, echoed this sentiment. “It’s terrible to see, however it’s a part of the cycle,” he mentioned by way of electronic mail.
On Thursday, after lots of the fish had already sunk to the underside of the river, the cleanup began with staff in small boats eradicating floating carcasses with hand-held nets.
Authorities mentioned this will probably be adopted by equipment that can drag nets by means of the river to scoop up sunken fish.
However to Mr. McCrabb, it appeared like a futile effort, contemplating what number of days the fish carcasses had already been decaying and sinking within the water.
It was inconceivable to scrub up a catastrophe this huge, he mentioned. “The one option to take care of it’s to forestall it.”
World
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia said it shot down some 60 drones and several missiles over its territory while Ukraine in turn said it destroyed over 30 Russian drones. At least four people were reported killed in an attack on the outskirts of Kharkiv on Sunday as Russia pushed ahead with its renewed offensive in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast.
Russian air defenses shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no fire or damage. News outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.
Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, following Friday morning’s massive Ukrainian drone attack that cut off power in the city of Sevastopol.
A further three drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. According to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, a church roof was set on fire by falling drone debris, but there were no casualties.
The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that one person died and 16 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus on Sunday morning.
In Ukraine, air force officials said air defenses shot down all 37 Russian drones launched against the country overnight.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Moscow recently launched a new offensive, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday morning that one person died and 11 were wounded as a result of shelling over the previous day.
Later on Sunday, Syniehubov said four people were killed and eight wounded in a Russian strike on the outskirts of the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.
Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city.
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Morton reported from London.
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Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
World
Argentina's Milei shuts up critics with miracle turnaround of economy, strong security policies
President Javier Milei of Argentina continues to stun his critics with an economy that has outperformed expectations and continues along an ambitious path for national security, including pursuit of a NATO global partnership.
“The fact that you have a president, head of state, who is defending the free market, who is defending the role of entrepreneurs and businessmen as creators of value and just defending deregulation when the tendency in Latin America and much of the West has been to regulate the economy . . . I think that’s very positive, not only for Argentina, but for the region as a whole and maybe beyond,” Daniel Raisbeck, a policy analyst at the CATO Institute, told Fox News Digital.
Milei won the presidency in November last year and prompted concern from some in the West that he would lead his country down a road to ruin with libertarian policies that would make an already troubled economy even weaker. Voters wanted economic relief from a market hit with some of the highest inflation in the world.
Those attitudes have shifted just months later as Milei has enacted a raft of policy changes: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to release a tranche of loans due to Argentina under a bailout program thanks to Milei’s government managing to create a fiscal surplus in the previous fiscal quarter and bring inflation down.
ARGENTINA REPORTS ITS FIRST SINGLE-DIGIT INFLATION IN SIX MONTHS AS MARKETS SWOON AND COSTS HIT HOME
Argentina’s inflation in March alone hit 287%, causing poverty to deepen, and citizens to take to the streets with strikes and protests against his policies. The monthly inflation rate was 25% in December when Milei first took office.
Milei then went on to significantly reduce spending with major cuts to public-sector wages as he suspended public works projects and cut subsidies. He also devalued the country’s currency by over 50%, which helped it stabilize in value even as the price of basic goods jumped.
The monthly inflation dropped to 8.8% by April, marking the first single-digit inflation rate in over six months.
Argentina recorded a $589 million budget surplus in January and continued to post a surplus for each of the first four months of 2024, even as the surplus shrank to $299 million in April, Reuters reported. This marks the country’s first quarterly surplus since 2008.
Raisbeck stressed that Milei’s primary measure of cutting spending has proven highly effective, while arguing that the significant deregulation in other parts of the economy has helped it revive over those first months of the new administration.
“Argentina was one of the most regulated economies in the world,” Raisbeck said. “So when you have a very well-thought-out package like the one that they introduced . . . and you get rid of as many of those regulations as you can, then it’s very positive.”
AT LEAST 90 INJURED AFTER PASSENGER TRAIN HITS BOXCAR, DERAILS IN ARGTENTINE CAPITAL
He noted that Milei has not adhered to some of his more aggressive campaign promises, which included a promise to dollarize the economy and shut down the Central Bank, saying that it was a “non-negotiable matter.”
Even days after he won the election, Milei appeared to favor more moderate Cabinet members than many would have expected of a man who jolted the international community with his outsider attitude and plans.
The Wall Street Journal, in December 2023, argued that Milei’s tenure “may turn out to be pretty conventional,” with pro-market Economy Minister Luis Caputo leading away from Milei’s more radical plans.
The promised dollarization has been delayed, and Raisbeck explained that Milei’s approach has relied heavily on using the Central Bank to help regulate the economy, though he argued that Milei’s policies remain libertarian due to the deregulation he has pursued in other areas.
“Everything related to deregulation is very libertarian, and we’ve seen great success already in the housing market, for instance,” Raisbeck said. “So that obviously brought a huge amount of supply that was suppressed because of price controls.”
Milei also brought Argentina back to the international foreground, with a stronger focus on national security and changing up the country’s goals from the previous administration – most notably, he rejected the invitation to join the China and Russia-led economic bloc BRICS.
PERUVIAN LAWMAKERS BEGIN YET ANOTHER EFFORT TO REMOVE PRESIDENT DINA BULARTE FROM OFFICE
Milei argued that it was not “opportune” for Argentina to join the bloc as a full member, according to German outlet DW. However, he will continue to develop ties with its members in the meantime.
“They have a good security minister, Patricia Bullrich, who has experience because she was a security minister in the previous government,” Joseph M. Humire, the executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, told Fox News Digital. “She has been able to get the ball rolling very quickly, and I think that was the benefit of having her in that position.”
Humire explained that Milei’s government has largely focused on clearing out external agitators, particularly those connected to Russian disinformation networks, which remain a paramount concern in most parts of the world as Moscow seeks to expand its influence.
“The external forces are usually the key,” Humire said. “Usually, it’s the Russians. The Russians have probably the biggest disinformation networks to be able to amplify local grievances and turn them into this macro instability, and they did that in Colombia, in Chile.”
“A lot of the specifics of the nation’s security has been in mitigating these agitation networks that create chaos throughout the country, and they have been neutralizing some of these threats while they’re studying others,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 815
Here is the situation on Sunday, May 19, 2024.
Fighting
- Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region halted operations following a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, Interfax news agency reported. The refinery is a private plant with a capacity of 4 million metric tonnes of oil per year, about one million barrels per day.
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Ukraine’s air force claimed it destroyed all 37 Shahed attack drones launched by Russia overnight. The regions targeted by the drones include Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kherson.
- The governor of Kharkiv said nearly 10,000 people had been forced to leave their homes since Russian forces launched a surprise ground attack on May 10. Russia claimed its military took control of another village, Staritsya, in the Kharkiv region near the Russian border.
- Ukrainian prosecutors said Russian shelling killed a 60-year-old woman and injured three other civilians in the northeast city of Vovchansk, 5km (3 miles) from the Russian border. A 59-year-old man was also injured in the village of Ukrainske.
- Russia said its forces shot down nine US ATACMS missiles over Crimea and at least 60 drones over Russian sovereign territory. Its forces also shot down a Tochka-U missile fired by Ukraine in Russia’s Belgorod region.
- Belgorod regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone attack injured a woman and a man in the village of Petrovka. The two were treated for shrapnel injuries.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged issues with staffing and “morale” within the country’s troops as he signed a mobilisation law that came into force on Saturday. Kyiv has lowered the age at which men can be drafted from 27 to 25 and tightened punishments for those who avoid the call-up.
- Ukrainian prosecutors said they were investigating as a potential war crime a Russian air attack on a residential area of the regional capital, Kharkiv, in which six civilians were wounded, including a 13-year-old girl, 16-year-old male and an eight-year-old.
- Ukrainian officials accuse Russian soldiers in Vovchansk of using dozens of captured civilians as “human shields” to defend their command headquarters.
- Moscow denied deliberately targeting civilians even as thousands have been killed and injured since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
- Poland announced it would spend $2.5bn to fortify its eastern border, which includes Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
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