# India-US ties could face their biggest test in years after a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh
By **KRUTIKA PATHI**
December 1, 2023. 8:52 AM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - Ties between India and the U.S. had never looked better than they did in June, when President Joe Biden honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a pomp-filled state visit. The relationship was among the most consequential in the world and "more dynamic than at any time in history," Biden declared as he stood next to Modi at a press conference.

Those ties could now face their biggest test in recent years, after U.S. prosecutors this week accused an Indian official of directing a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

As the case unfolds in a New York court, rather than behind closed doors, the two governments may struggle to control the narrative and the fallout, even though it was unlikely to cause more serious long-term damage, experts said.

"They are going to try people (in court). That will pose problems ... Quite obviously, things are not going to be the same," said G Parthasarthy, a retired Indian diplomat.

But more damningly, it's the second such accusation in months, following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that the Indian government may have been linked to the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver in June.

According to an unsealed indictment released Wednesday, U.S. officials became aware in the spring of a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American citizen who advocates for the creation of a sovereign Sikh state. India considers him a terrorist.

The plot, which was foiled by U.S. officials who set up a sting, emerged just days after the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated killings in the United States and Canada, according to the indictment.

Under the indictment, Nikhil Gupta, 52, an Indian national, faces charges including murder for hire. The Indian official was not charged or identified by name in the court filing, which described him as a "senior field officer" with responsibilities in security management and intelligence.

The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contended on Wednesday.

"The US allegations certainly bolster Canada's case from the vantage point that that incident can no longer be viewed as a one-off," said Derek Grossman, an Indo-Pacific analyst at the RAND Corporation.

Both Biden and Trudeau are said to have raised the matter with Modi when they met at the Group of 20 Summit in September in New Delhi.

India's reaction to the two cases has differed sharply. With Canada, it exchanged harsh words as it refuted claims that Trudeau made publicly after returning to Ottawa, with both sides expelling diplomats.

With the U.S., New Delhi's response has been more cooperative.

India's foreign ministry said this week it had set up a high-level committee to investigate the U.S. accusations, adding that the alleged link to an Indian official was "a matter of concern" and "against government policy."

"India's response to Canada was anger, denial, and defiance. Its response to the U.S. was mild and subdued," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia institute at the Wilson Center, a think tank.

This is partly explained by the fact that "for India, the U.S. just matters much more and so the power imbalance is very stark," said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Secondly, this is now a judicial process in the U.S where authorities infiltrated this plot and were able to document it in granular detail", which Trudeau struggled to do when he made the allegation in Canada's Parliament without providing public evidence, Vaishnav added.

U.S. officials have said intelligence sharing among the "Five Eyes" alliance - made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States - contributed to Trudeau's statements. There were no further details.

Trudeau's intentions were also widely questioned by Indian officials at the time, who suggested it was a move to shore up domestic political support among Canada's Sikhs, who comprise 2% of its population. New Delhi has often complained of Western nations giving free rein to Sikh separatists and not quashing threats to India's national security, but those accusations have predominantly been aimed at Ottawa.

Still, the case is particularly sensitive given the high priority that Biden has placed on boosting ties with India, and the recent zeal from Western powers to court India as a major partner in their push to counter China's rising assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said it was an ongoing legal matter and he couldn't comment in detail but it was "something we take very seriously", adding that officials looked forward to seeing the results of the Indian investigation.

A senior administration official, who spoke to the Associated Press this week on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive exchanges with Indian government, said The White House first became aware of the plot in late July. They added that high-level officials had met with Indian counterparts after they found out about the plot to underscore that India needed to investigate, hold those responsible accountable and give assurances that this would not happen again, or it could permanently damage the trust established between our two countries.

Even after the administration found out about the assassination plot, it didn't scale down engagement with India and "high-level meetings went on as scheduled," said Kugelman.

The Biden administration "has gone out of its way to bolster this partnership" by rolling out business and defense deals, including the transfer of highly sensitive defense technology which was approved by Congress recently, Vaishnav said.

Human rights groups and political opponents have raised concerns of democratic backsliding in India, accusing Modi's government of stifling dissent and targeting minorities, but the U.S. has been steadfast in advancing ties.

"From the perspective of Washington, they have made what is now a 25 year-long long bet that India's rise would be good for the world and U.S. interests. The obvious looming factor here is China," Vaishnav said. "Having said that, there are many people in the U.S. system who are shocked - because arranging and executing a targeted assassination of citizen of a partner country is verboten. It doesn't happen often."

Analysts say the two countries will have to navigate difficult diplomatic terrain in the coming months.

"Both will want to work through this in a way that doesn't hurt the relationship. But the US won't simply shrug off such a shocking alleged act, and India won't back down in its effort to pursue what it views as dangerous security threats," Kugelman said.

Clues as to where things stand, and what impact this has made on India-U.S. ties, could come as soon as January, as India has invited Biden to be the chief guest at its Republic Day parade.

If Biden doesn't accept, it could be seen as a possible snub or signal that the U.S. isn't ready to move on just yet - but given a heavy January schedule that includes his State of the Union address, it could also just be for scheduling reasons, Kugelman said.

However, "if he were to accept... then that would deliver a much-needed confidence boost to the relationship," he added.


# US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders were part of a campaign of planned killings
By **LARRY NEUMEISTER**
November 30, 2023. 7:10 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - A foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York, just days after another activist's killing, was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada, according to U.S. prosecutors.

In electronic communications and audio and video calls secretly recorded or obtained by U.S. law enforcement, organizers of the plot talked last spring about plans to kill someone in California and at least three other people in Canada, in addition to the victim in New York, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contend.

After Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who had been exiled from India, was shot and killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, one of the men charged with orchestrating the planned assassinations told a person he had hired as a hitman that he should act urgently to kill another activist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

"We have so many targets," Nikhil Gupta said in a recorded audio call, according to the indictment. "We have so many targets. But the good news is this, the good news is this: Now no need to wait."

He urged the hitman to act quickly because Pannun, a U.S. citizen living in New York, would likely be more cautious after Nijjar's slaying.

"We got the go-ahead to go anytime, even today, tomorrow - as early as possible," he told a go-between as he instructed the hitman to kill Pannun even if there were other people with him. "Put everyone down," he said, according to the indictment.

The attack plans were foiled, prosecutors said, because the hitman was actually an undercover U.S. agent.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan announced charges Wednesday against Gupta, and said in court papers that the plot to kill Pannun was directed by an official in the Indian government. That government official was not charged in the indictment or identified by name, but the court filing described him as a "senior field officer" with responsibilities in security management and intelligence.

Indian officials have denied any complicity in Nijjar's slaying. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Wednesday that the Indian government had set up a high-level inquiry after U.S. authorities raised concerns about the plot to kill Pannun.

Court filings revealed that even before Nijjar's killing in Canada, U.S. law enforcement officials had become aware of a plot against activists who were advocating for the secession from India of the northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are a majority.

U.S. officials said they began investigating when Gupta, in his search for a hitman, contacted a narcotics trafficker who turned out to be a Drug Enforcement Administration informant.

Over the ensuing weeks, the pair communicated by phone, video and text messages, eventually looping in their hired assassin - the undercover agent.

The Indian government official told Gupta that he had a target in New York and a target in California, the indictment said. They ultimately settled on a $100,000 price and by June 3, Gupta was urging his criminal contact in America to "finish him brother, finish him, don't take too much time .... push these guys, push these guys ... finish the job."

During a June 9 call, Gupta told the narcotics trafficker that the murder of Pannun would change the hitman's life because "we will give more bigger job more, more job every month, every month 2-3 job," according to the indictment.

It was unclear from the indictment whether U.S. authorities had learned anything about the specific plan to kill Nijjar before his ambush on June 18.

The indictment portrayed Gupta as boasting that he and his associates in India were behind both the Canadian and New York assassination plots. He allegedly told the Drug Enforcement Administration informant on June 12 that there was a "big target" in Canada and on June 16 told him: "We are doing their job, brother. We are doing their New York (and) Canada (job)," referring to individuals directing the plots from India.

After Nijjar was killed, Gupta told the informant that Nijjar was the target he had mentioned as the potential Canadian "job" and added: "We didn't give to (the undercover agent) this job, so some other guy did this job ... in Canada."

On June 30, Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic at the request of the United States after arriving there on a trip from India. Federal authorities have not said when he might be brought to the United States to face murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges. It was unclear who would provide legal representation if he arrives in the U.S.

Pannun told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he will continue his work.

"They will kill me. But I don't fear the death," he said.

He mocked India's claim that it is conducting its own investigation into the assassination plots.

"The only thing, I think, (the) Indian government is going to investigate (is) why their hitman could not kill one person. That's what they will be investigating," he said.

Pannun said he rejects the Indian government's decision to label him a terrorist.

"We are the one who are fighting India's violence with the words. We are the one who are fighting India's bullets with the ballot," he said. "They are giving money, hundreds of thousands, to kill me. Let the world decide who is terrorist and who is not a terrorist."

Some international affairs experts told the AP that it was unlikely the incidents would seriously damage the relationship between the U.S. and India.

"In most cases, if Washington accuses a foreign government of staging an assassination on its soil, U.S. relations with that government would plunge into deep crisis," said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia institute. "But the relationship with India is a special case. Trust and goodwill are baked into the relationship, thanks to rapidly expanding cooperation and increasingly convergent interests."

Derek Grossman, Indo-Pacific analyst at the Rand Corp., said the Biden administration has demonstrated that it is prioritizing the need to leverage India as part of its strategy to counter Chinese power.

"I think publicizing the details of the thwarted plot will have very little, if any, impact on the deepening U.S.-India strategic partnership," he said.


# Paraguay official resigns after signing agreement with fictional country
November 30, 2023. 2:15 PM EST

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**BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)** - A Paraguayan government official was replaced after it was revealed that he signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of a fugitive Indian guru's fictional country, who also appear to have duped several local officials in the South American country.

The revelation sparked a scandal - and lots of social media mockery - in Paraguay but it's hardly the first time self-described representatives of the United States of Kailasa duped international leaders. Earlier this year, they managed to participate in a United Nations committee meeting in Geneva and also signed agreements with local leaders in the United States and Canada.

Arnaldo Chamorro was replaced as chief of staff for Paraguay's Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday shortly after it was revealed that he signed a "proclamation" with representatives of the United States of Kailasa.

Among other things, the Oct. 16 "proclamation" expressed a "sincere wish and recommendation for the government of Paraguay to consider, explore and actively seek the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States of Kailasa and support the admission of the United States of Kailasa as a sovereign and independent state in various international organizations, including, among others, the United Nations," according to a copy of the agreement posted on social media.

Representatives of the fictional country met with Chamorro and Agriculture Minister Carlos Giménez, Chamorro said in a radio interview.

During the interview, Chamorro recognized he didn't know where Kailasa was located and said he signed what he characterized as a "memorandum of understanding" because they offered to help Paraguay with a variety of issues, including irrigation.

Photos posted in Kailasa's social media accounts also showed representatives of the fictional country signing agreements with local leaders of the María Antonia and Karpai municipalities. The social media account celebrated each of these signings.

On Kailasa's website, the fictional country is described as the "revival of the ancient enlightened Hindu civilizational nation which is being revived by displaced Hindus from around the world." It is led by a self-styled guru, Nithyananda, who is wanted in India on several charges, including sexual assault. His whereabouts are unknown.

Representatives of the United States of Kailasa participated in two U.N. committee meetings in Geneva in February, according to media reports.

In March, Newark City Hall in New Jersey acknowledged it had gotten scammed when it signed a sister city agreement with Kailasa.


# What to know about the Sikh independence movement following US accusation that activist was targeted
By **SHEIKH SAALIQ**
November 30, 2023. 5:35 PM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.

The charges announced Wednesday against an Indian national arrested in June in Europe come two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible accusations that India may have been linked to the killing of a Sikh activist near Vancouver, straining relations between the two countries.

The U.S. case is particularly sensitive given the high priority that President Joe Biden placed on improving ties with India and courting it to be a major partner in the push to counter China's increasing assertiveness.

India, which has banned the Sikh independence - or Khalistan - movement, denied having a role in the Canada killing and said it was examining information shared by the U.S. and taking those accusations seriously.

Here are some details about the issue:

## WHAT IS THE KHALISTAN MOVEMENT?
India's Sikh independence movement eventually became a bloody armed insurgency that shook India in the 1970s and 1980s. It was centered in the northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are the majority, though they make up about 1.7% of India's overall population.

The insurgency lasted more than a decade and was suppressed by an Indian government crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.

Hundreds of Sikh youths were also killed during police operations, many in detention or during staged gunfights, according to rights groups.

In 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, in Amritsar to flush out separatists who had taken refuge there. The operation killed around 400 people, according to official figures, but Sikh groups say thousands were killed.

The dead included Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whom the Indian government accused of leading the armed insurgency.

On Oct. 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the raid on the temple, was assassinated by two of her bodyguards, who were Sikh.

Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, particularly in New Delhi, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive.

## IS THE MOVEMENT STILL ACTIVE?
There is no active insurgency in Punjab today, but the Khalistan movement still has some supporters in the state, as well as in the sizable Sikh diaspora beyond India. The Indian government has warned repeatedly over the years that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has also intensified the pursuit of Sikh separatists and arrested dozens of leaders from various outfits that are linked to the movement.

When farmers camped out on the edges of New Delhi to protest controversial agriculture laws in 2020, Modi's government initially tried to discredit Sikh participants by calling them "Khalistanis." Under pressure, the government later withdrew the laws.

Earlier this year, Indian police arrested a separatist leader who had revived calls for Khalistan and stirred fears of violence in Punjab. Amritpal Singh, a 30-year-old preacher, had captured national attention through his fiery speeches. He said he drew inspiration from Bhindranwale.

## HOW STRONG IS THE MOVEMENT OUTSIDE OF INDIA?
India has been asking countries like Canada, Australia and the U.K. to take legal action against Sikh activists, and Modi has personally raised the issue with the nations' prime ministers. India has particularly raised these concerns with Canada, where Sikhs make up nearly 2% of the country's population.

Earlier this year, Sikh protesters pulled down the Indian flag at the country's high commission in London and smashed the building's window in a show of anger against the move to arrest Amritpal Singh. Protesters also smashed windows at the Indian consulate In San Francisco and skirmished with embassy workers.

India's foreign ministry denounced the incidents and summoned the U.K.'s deputy high commissioner in New Delhi to protest what it called the breach of security at the embassy in London.

The Indian government also accused Khalistan supporters in Canada of vandalizing Hindu temples with "anti-India" graffiti and of attacking the offices of the Indian High Commission in Ottawa during a protest in March.

Last year, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a Sikh militant leader and head of the Khalistan Commando Force, was shot dead in Pakistan.


# A Dutch court orders Greenpeace activists to leave deep-sea mining ship in the South Pacific
By **MIKE CORDER**
November 30, 2023. 12:17 PM EST

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**THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)** - A Dutch court ruled Thursday that Greenpeace protesters staging a sit-in must leave a deep-sea mining exploration ship in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii but that they can continue to demonstrate around the vessel.

Canada-based The Metals Company, whose subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. runs the ship, Coco, accused the protesters of endangering the crew and breaking international law.

The case was heard in Amsterdam, where the Greenpeace protest ship Arctic Sunrise, which is involved in the protest, is registered.

Greenpeace began the protest a week ago by paddling kayaks beneath the Coco for up to 10 hours at a time to prevent it deploying equipment in the water. Two activists also boarded the ship and pledged to stay camped on the main crane used to deploy and retrieve equipment from the water until The Metals Company agrees to leave.

The protest comes as international demand for critical minerals found on the seafloor grows, but an increasing number of countries say more research is needed into the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.

A subsidiary of The Metals Company has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition, researching how the seabed recovered from exploration last year, will be used in an application to begin mining in 2025.

In a summary ruling, Amsterdam District Court said that Greenpeace can "continue its actions around a ship in the South Pacific, but must instruct its activists to immediately leave" the vessel.

The court said that while Greenpeace has a profound interest in protesting against the research "its interest in doing so on the ship itself weighs less heavily than the interest of the owner of the ship, who is responsible for the safety of those on board."

The court said Greenpeace would have to pay 50,000 euros ($54,560) per day up to a maximum of 500,000 euros if the activists remain on the ship.

A Greenpeace statement called the ruling "a massive setback for the deep-sea mining industry." It also lashed out at The Metals Company, claiming it "has never been interested in scrutiny and they can't stand that Greenpeace is watching and opposing them at every turn."

"We are determined to keep bringing this dangerous industry to public attention and will continue to disrupt this dangerous industry", said Mads Christensen, head of Greenpeace International.

The Metals Company CEO & Chairman Gerard Barron welcomed the ruling.

"We respect Greenpeace's right to peaceful protest and expression of opinions," Barron said. "However, our foremost responsibility is to ensure the safe continuance of our legally-mandated operations, and the safety of all those involved."

He said the company would "continue to gather the important scientific data" for members of the International Seabed Authority.

Environmental groups reject deep-sea mining and fear the international authority will soon authorize the world's first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor.

Mining companies say that harvesting minerals from the deep sea instead of land is cheaper and has less of an environmental impact. But scientists and environmental groups argue that less than 1% of the world's deep seas have been explored, and they warn that deep-sea mining could unleash noise, light and suffocating dust storms.


# Canada says Google will pay $74 million annually to Canadian news industry under new online law
By **ROB GILLIES**
November 29, 2023. 3:05 PM EST

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**TORONTO (AP)** - Canada's government said Wednesday it reached a deal with Google for the company to contribute $100 million Canadian dollars annually to the country's news industry to comply with a new Canadian law requiring tech companies to pay publishers for their content.

The agreement removes a threat by Google to block the ability to search for Canadian news on Google in Canada. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta already has been blocking Canadian news since earlier this year.

"Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "Unfortunately Meta continues to completely abdicate any responsibility towards democratic institutions."

Pascale St-Onge, the minister of Canadian heritage, said that Google will contribute $100 million Canadian ($74 million) - indexed to inflation - in financial support annually for a wide range of news businesses across the country.

"It's good for the news sector. If there is a better deal struck elsewhere in the world, Canada reserves the right to reopen the regulation," St-Onge said at a news conference.

"This shows that this legislation works. That it is equitable. And now it's on Facebook to explain why they are leaving their platform to disinformation and misinformation instead of sustaining our news system," she said.

Canada in late June passed the Online News Act to require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. Meta responded to the law by blocking news content in Canada on its platforms. Google's owner Alphabet previously had said it planned to do the same when the law takes effect in December.

Meta has said the Online News Act "is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true."

Meta's change means that people in Canada are not able to view or share news on Facebook and Instagram - including news articles, videos and audio posted by outlets inside or outside of Canada. Links posted by Canadian outlets are still visible in other countries.

St-Onge has called Meta's move "irresponsible."

"With newsrooms cutting positions or closing entirely, the health of the Canadian news industry has never been more at risk," she said in Wednesday's statement.

Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, thanked the minister in a statement and said Google would continue sending valuable traffic to Canadian publishers.

Earlier this year, Canada's government said it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's stance.

Meta has taken similar steps in the past. In 2021, it briefly blocked news from its platform in Australia after the country passed legislation that would compel tech companies to pay publishers for using their news stories. It later struck deals with Australian publishers.

Trudeau said the deal is going to resonate around the world as countries deal with the same challenges that Canada's media landscape is facing.


# Young man gets life sentence for Canada massage parlor murder that court declared act of terrorism
November 28, 2023. 12:12 PM EST

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**TORONTO (AP)** - A Canadian man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a Toronto massage parlor employee received a life prison sentence Tuesday for what a judge described as an act of terrorism related to an internet subculture that fuels sexual loneliness into rage and misogyny.

The man, who cannot be named because he was 17 years old at the time of the February 2020 stabbing that killed 24-year-old Ashley Noelle Arzaga and seriously wounded another woman identified only by the initials J.C., also was sentenced to three years for attempted murder, to be served concurrently.

He pleaded guilty last year to both first-degree murder and attempted murder charges. The judge said the life sentence included no chance of parole for 10 years.

In June, Justice Sukhail Akhtar ruled that the massage parlor attack amounted to an act of terrorism due to its links to so-called "incel" ideology, which stands for "involuntary celibate." It is promoted through a fringe online subculture dominated by men who blame women for a lack of they active sex lives they argue they are entitled to have.

The ruling was believed to be the first time a Canadian court declared terrorist activity as incel-motivated.

The court considered evidence that included the defendant's plans to seek out women to violently attack with a 17-inch sword after he was radicalized by misogynistic views online.

The incel movement also was linked to a 2018 rampage in Toronto in which a man used a van to kill 10 people, as well as to attacks in California and Florida.

Prosecutors wanted the man in Tuesday's case sentenced as an adult, noting he was six months shy of turning 18 at the time and meticulously researched, planned and made choices surrounding the attack that reflected adult thoughts and actions. They also argued he has shown no remorse.

Adults found guilty of first-degree murder face an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The defense had sought to have the parole ineligibility limited to 10 years because of his age at the time of the murder.


# Environmental protesters board deep-sea mining ship between Hawaii and Mexico
By **DANIEL SHAILER**
November 27, 2023. 9:50 AM EST

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**MEXICO CITY (AP)** - Greenpeace activists have boarded a deep-sea mining ship in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico and said Sunday they'll stay to protest exploration the ship is conducting to support activity that would destroy marine life.

Canada-based The Metals Company, whose subsidiary runs the ship, accused the protesters of endangering the crew and breaking international law.

The escalating conflict comes as international demand for critical minerals found on the seafloor grows, but an increasing number of countries say more research is needed into the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.

Greenpeace began the protest Thursday by positioning kayaks beneath the ship, Coco, for up to 10 hours at a time to block it from deploying equipment to the water.

In response, the company's CEO Gerard Barron threatened an injunction on Saturday afternoon - according to correspondence shared by Greenpeace and reviewed by The Associated Press - alleging protesters broke international law and jeopardized the safety of crew members.

During the protest one kayak was capsized by propeller wash when Coco accelerated without warning, Greenpeace claims. Legal representatives from The Metals Company's subsidiary NORI said this was an example of how the protest was not safe.

No injunction has been filed yet, according to Greenpeace. The company said it would use all legal measures available to protect stakeholders' rights.

Later that day, two activists boarded Coco. They will remain camped on the main crane used to deploy and retrieve equipment from the water until The Metals Company agrees to leave, according to Louisa Casson, head of Greenpeace's campaign against deep-sea mining.

"We will continue to try and disrupt as much as we can, because we are very concerned that this is a tick-box exercise that is purely designed to gather data so they can put in a mining application next year," Casson said Sunday, from a Greenpeace ship near Coco.

A subsidiary of The Metals Company has been conducting exploratory research in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since 2011. They say data from their latest expedition, researching how the seabed recovered from exploration last year, will be used in an application to begin mining in 2025.

Greenpeace's "actions to stop the science suggest a fear that emerging scientific findings might challenge their misleading narrative about the environmental impacts," Barron told The Associated Press in response to the camping protesters.

He added that if research were to show their mining would be unjustifiably destructive The Metals Company is "100%" prepared to withdraw.

Casson said the company's actions suggest that is not true. "That they are doing this in the interest of science is really very questionable," said Casson. "There is a clear economic motive: they are entirely a deep-sea mining company."

As they suck up nodules from the sea floor, The Metals Company said they expect mostly to find manganese, which President Joe Biden declared a critical mineral last year. Driven by clean energy technologies, demand for other key battery ingredients like lithium has as much as tripled, according to a market review this July.

"It makes sense to be able to extract these raw materials from parts of the planet where there is the least life, not the most life," said Barron. "You can't get away from the fact there's about 10 grams of biomass per square meter in the abyssal plains," much less than at most terrestrial mines.

That, said Casson, is an apples and oranges comparison, when studies also show over 5,000 species inhabit this part of the Pacific, which scientists say would be harmed by light and sound pollution, as well as huge clouds of dust.

On Tuesday this week Mexico joined a coalition of 23 other countries calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. While France alone sought an outright ban, the other signatories are requesting a pause for more research into the effects of deep-sea mining.


# Canada, EU agree to new partnerships as Trudeau welcomes European leaders
November 24, 2023. 4:30 PM EST

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**ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP)** - Canada and the European Union said Friday they are making strides toward new partnerships on green energy, digital transformation and research funding, as a Canada-EU Summit got underway in the Atlantic coast province of Newfoundland.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during opening remarks Thursday evening that Canada is joining Horizon Europe, a $100 billion scientific research program. Afterward, the two parties said in a joint statement on Friday that substantive negotiations are complete and they are working toward its "prompt signature and implementation."

"Canadian companies are already benefiting from Horizon and have for many years, but there is much more that we'll be able to access now that we are full partners," Trudeau said.

"It is an exciting articulation of what have been long-standing partnerships between scientists on both sides of the Atlantic."

Ottawa and Brussels started negotiations on Canada joining it a year ago, with an initial goal of signing the agreement this past spring.

Canada has also worked out a deal to build water bombers and ship them to the EU, after both regions faced devastating forest fires this past summer.

And Canada and the EU have announced what they are calling a new Green Alliance, which is focused on deepening existing partnerships on fighting climate change, halting biodiversity loss and intensifying technological and scientific co-operation.

A new digital partnership was also part of the package of announcements on Friday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Canada "is a perfect match" for Europe's resource needs, and she urged Ottawa to join a global partnership on the issue that the EU will launch within weeks.

Trudeau also said Canada and the EU are committed to helping Ukraine continue in its fight against the Russian invasion, and announced that Canada is donating additional small arms and ammunition to the country.


# A former Canadian RCMP intelligence official is found guilty of breaching secrets law
November 22, 2023. 5:55 PM EST

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**OTTAWA, Ontario (AP)** - A jury found a former senior intelligence official in Canada's national police force guilty on Wednesday of breaching the country's secrets law.

Jurors declared Cameron Jay Ortis guilty of three counts of violating the Security of Information Act and one count of attempting to do so.

They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.

Ortis, 51, had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including violating the secrets law by revealing classified information to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance.

He testified he offered secret material to targets in a bid to get them to use an online encryption service set up by an allied intelligence agency to spy on adversaries.

The prosecution argued Ortis lacked authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a sanctioned undercover operation.

Ortis could face a stiff prison sentence.

Following the verdict, Justice Robert Maranger told the court that Ortis's bail would be revoked prior to sentencing.

The defense contended that the former official did not betray Canada, but was rather acting on a "clear and grave threat."

Ortis led the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Operations Research group, which assembled and developed classified information on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks.

He told the jury that in September 2014, he was contacted by a counterpart at a foreign agency who advised him of a particularly serious threat.

Ortis said the counterpart informed him in strict confidence about an online encryption service called Tutanota that was secretly set up to monitor communications of interest.

Ortis said he then quietly devised a plan, dubbed Nudge, to entice investigative targets to sign on to the encryption service, using promises of secret material as bait.

The company, now known as Tuta, denies having ties to intelligence agencies.

Although Ortis asked one target for thousands of dollars before he would send full versions of sensitive documents, there was no evidence he received money from the individuals he contacted.

Even so, the prosecution portrayed Ortis as self-serving and reckless, flouting rules and protocols on a solo mission that sabotaged national security and even endangered the life of a genuine undercover officer.

The prosecution, which called several current and former RCMP employees to testify, argued that no one other than Ortis had heard of Operation Nudge and that no records of the project could be found.

Ortis was taken into custody in September 2019.

The trail to his arrest began the previous year when the RCMP analyzed the contents of a laptop computer owned by Vincent Ramos, chief executive of Phantom Secure Communications, who had been apprehended in the United States.

An RCMP effort known as Project Saturation revealed that members of criminal organizations were known to use Phantom Secure's encrypted communication devices.

Ramos would later plead guilty to using his Phantom Secure devices to help facilitate the distribution of cocaine and other illicit drugs to countries including Canada.


# India restores e-visa services for Canadians. The move could ease diplomatic tensions
By **KRUTIKA PATHI**
November 22, 2023. 12:14 PM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - India restored electronic visa services for Canadian nationals, an Indian foreign ministry official said Wednesday, two months after Canada alleged the South Asian nation was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.

The electronic visa was back in order on Wednesday, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to reporters.

The move could ease tensions between the two countries that swapped accusations and expelled each other's diplomats, with India introducing a visa ban on Canadian nationals.

A diplomatic spat erupted between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver in western Canada.

Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh activist and plumber, was killed by masked gunmen in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver.

For years, India had said that Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, had links to terrorism, an allegation he denied but dismissed the Canadian allegation of its involvement in his killing as " absurd."

New Delhi's worries about Sikh separatist groups in Canada have long strained the relationship between the two countries, despite maintaining strong defense and trade ties. India had previously accused Canada of harboring separatists and "terrorists."

The allegation brought the discord to the forefront with Canada recalling 41 of its 62 diplomats in India after New Delhi warned it would strip their diplomatic immunity - something Canadian officials characterized as a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Last month, India eased the ban and resumed services for entry, business, medical and conference visas for Canadian nationals.


# Salmonella in cantaloupes sickens dozens in 15 states, U.S. health officials say
By **JONEL ALECCIA**
November 17, 2023. 6:14 PM EST

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U.S. health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain whole and cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit products linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

At least 43 people in 15 states have been infected in the outbreak announced Friday, including 17 people who were hospitalized. Several brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit have been recalled. They include Malichita brand whole cantaloupe, Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe and ALDI whole cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products.

Consumers who have the products in their homes should throw them away.

The products were sold between Oct. 16 and Nov. 10 and recalled earlier this month. Investigators are working to identify any additional cantaloupe products that may be contaminated. Officials in Canada are investigating an outbreak involving the same strain of salmonella, which they detected in a sample of Malichita brand cantaloupe.

The number of people sickened in the outbreak is likely much higher than those reported and the outbreak may not be limited to states with known illnesses. It typically takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sick person is part of an outbreak.

Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six hour to six days after consuming food contaminated with the bacteria. Illnesses typically last four to seven days. Vulnerable people, including children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems may develop severe illnesses that require medical care or hospitalization.


# Canada tops Italy to win Billie Jean King Cup for 1st time one year after men's team won Davis Cup
November 12, 2023. 7:01 PM EST

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**SEVILLE, Spain (AP)** - Canada gave another display of its depth in world tennis by winning the Billie Jean King Cup on Sunday, a year after its men's team won the Davis Cup.

Leylah Fernandez and Marina Stakusic won their singles matches as Canada beat Italy 2-0 to claim its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup.

Canada men's team will try to defend its first Davis Cup title later this month in Malaga, Spain.

Stakusic, ranked 258th in the world, put Canada ahead by defeating No. 43 Martina Trevisan 7-5, 6-3 for the biggest win of her career, then Fernandez sealed the victory by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3 at La Cartuja Stadium.

"I'm extremely happy, ecstatic," Fernandez said. "I can finally say, 'We're world champions,' and we deserve it."

The 20th-ranked Fernandez, runner-up in the 2021 U.S. Open, was perfect for Canada in Seville with four singles victories and one in doubles, while the 18-year-old Stakusic entered the tournament without a win over a top 100 opponent but earned three of them while representing her nation. Her only defeat was against No. 10 Barbora Krejcikova.

"It's definitely not what I imagined would happen coming here," Stakusic said. "It's been an incredible week and I'm super happy I got to spend it with these women."

Canada's Heidi El Tabakh became the first female captain to win the Billie Jean King Cup since American Kathy Rinaldi in 2017.

"I'm so incredibly proud and it's been a pleasure sharing the court with them all week," she said. "Everyone who is here currently has been a huge asset to the Canadian team throughout the years. We wouldn't be here without every single one of them."

Canada had beaten 11-time champion Czech Republic in the semifinals, while four-time champion Italy advanced past Slovenia for its first final appearance since 2013.

"When you fall down, it means you have something to pick yourself up for," Italy captain Tathiana Garbin said. "You have to look around and find what is your treasure. I think we have learned a lot this week."

The 12-team BJK Cup Finals offered a record total of $9.6 million in prize money, including $2.4 million to the champions, the same as the men's Davis Cup.

Canada is the 13th nation to win the Billie Jean King Cup, and the second new champion after Switzerland's triumph in Glasgow a year ago.

The women's teams competed in four round-robin groups, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. The United States was eliminated by the Czech Republic in a group that also included title-holder Switzerland.

The biggest team competition in women's tennis started two days after the end of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which featured the top eight players on the tour - including winner Iga Swiatek.


# Fernandez leads Canada into Billie Jean King Cup final after win over Czechs. Italy beats Slovenia
November 11, 2023. 6:05 PM EST

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**SEVILLE, Spain (AP)** - Leylah Fernandez led Canada into the Billie Jean King Cup final after beating Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and then helping to secure a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in a decisive doubles match on Saturday.

Fernandez beat Vondrousova 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to pull Canada level after Barbora Krejcikova had beaten Marina Stakusic 6-2, 6-1 to give the Czechs the early advantage.

The 20th-ranked Fernandez got right back on the indoor hardcourt in Seville to help Gabriela Dabrowski beat Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 7-6 (3).

In Sunday's final, Canada will face Italy which saw off Slovenia 2-0 after winning both singles matches.

Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, has also paired with Siniakova to win seven major doubles titles including this year's Australian Open.

The Czech Republic, an 11-time champion, had also won all seven previous meetings with Canada.

Italy reached its first final of the competition in a decade.

Martina Trevisan beat Kaja Juvan 7-6, 6-3 in the opening singles match of the semifinal after breaking her opponent three times. Jasmine Paolini gave the Italians an insurmountable lead after seeing off Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

"What they have done, it's something incredible," Italian captain Tathiana Garbin said. "We want always to push ourselves to the limit, and we try to dream again tomorrow."

Juvan double-faulted on set point in the tiebreaker and let Trevisan take the lead.

Trevisan was pushed to tears at one moment from the tension.

"I had to be happy because I won the set, but I was crying," she said. "Too many emotions to manage. But the heart and head were there, so I'm very happy."

Zidansek's serve also betrayed her in the second match when the Slovenian doubled-faulted to cede her service game and fall behind 5-3.

Slovenia was playing its first semifinal at the competition.


# Eritrea withdraws from qualifying for 2026 World Cup days before first game against Morocco
November 10, 2023. 4:05 PM EST

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**ZURICH (AP)** - Eritrea has withdrawn from African qualifying for the 2026 World Cup just days before its opening game against Morocco, FIFA confirmed Friday.

Eritrea last played an international game almost four years ago but was scheduled to open its qualifying program against Morocco next week. Morocco coach Walid Regragui on Thursday acknowledged that the game in Agadir likely would not go ahead.

"All of Eritrea's matches have been canceled, while the rest of the match schedule for Group E remains unchanged," FIFA said Friday.

Morocco, the 2022 World Cup semifinalist, is favored to advance from the group that includes Niger, Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.

Only teams that finish top in the nine African groups will advance directly to the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A 10th African team can qualify for the inaugural 48-team World Cup through inter-continental playoffs in March 2026.


# US and India reaffirm security ties as their top diplomats and defense officials hold talks
By **ASHOK SHARMA**
November 10, 2023. 12:38 PM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - India and the U.S. underlined their commitment to boosting security ties Friday as their top diplomats and defense chiefs met to discuss regional security, China and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi as part of an Asian trip aimed at showing unity over Russia's war in Ukraine and preventing differences on the Israel-Hamas war from deepening.

Blinken said the U.S. and India were continuing to "deepen our collaboration on everything from emerging technologies to defense to people-to-people ties" and align diplomacy for "an Indo-Pacific region that's free, that's open, that's prosperous, that's resilient."

He said the two sides discussed the crisis in the Middle East and "we appreciate the fact that from day one India has strongly condemned the attacks of Oct. 7. And as our joint statement makes clear, India and the United States stand with Israel against terrorists."

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the situation in the Middle East was a big concern. While India has condemned the Hamas attack on Israel, it balances its position by calling for talks on "a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side-by-side at peace with Israel."

Blinken met with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "reaffirmed their shared vision for close partnership in the Indo-Pacific," said U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

"They emphasized working together to address ongoing crises such as Russia's war against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East," Miller said.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's top bureaucrat in the foreign ministry, said India's tense ties with China also were discussed at the official-level talks, but declined to give details.

India's relationship with China has deteriorated since 2020, when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along their disputed border in the Himalayan Ladakh region, leaving 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. A standoff involving thousands of soldiers in the eastern Ladakh region continues, despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks.

Blinken said he also discussed with the Indian side a diplomatic dispute that erupted when Canada alleged that India was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.

Blinken said that the U.S. wants the two sides to resolve their differences in a cooperative way and urged India to "work with Canada on its investigation."

The dispute started when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in suburban Vancouver in western Canada. India rejected the accusation.

India and the U.S. have held so-called two-plus-two talks between India's external affairs and defense ministers and the U.S. secretaries of state and defense since 2018 to discuss issues of concern and strengthen bilateral ties.

Austin and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, discussed a roadmap for defense industrial cooperation that will fast-track technology cooperation and co-production of defense systems, India's defense ministry said.

"We're integrating our industrial bases, strengthening our inter-operability, and sharing cutting-edge technology," Austin said in his opening remarks.

Washington expects India to be a leading security provider in the Indo-Pacific region.

During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States in June, the two sides adopted a policy guide for defense industries to enable them to produce advanced defense systems together and collaborate on research and testing of prototypes.

The two sides reached an agreement that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones.

A joint statement at the conclusion of Blinken and Austin's visit to New Delhi on Friday said the two sides reaffirmed their roadmap for defense industrial cooperation to strengthen India's capabilities, enhance its defense production, facilitate technology-sharing, and promote supply chain resilience.


# Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning
By **SUMAN NAISHADHAM** and **VICTOR CAIVANO**
November 9, 2023. 9:32 AM EST

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**FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AP)** - During a May wildfire that scorched a vast swath of spruce and pine forest in northwestern Canada, Julia Cardinal lost a riverside cabin that was many things to her: retirement project, gift from from her husband, and somewhere to live by nature, as her family had done for generations.

"That was our dream home," said Cardinal, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, as she scanned the cabin's flattened, charred remains in September. "It's like a displacement."

Thousands of wildfires in Canada this year have incinerated an area larger than Florida, releasing into the atmosphere more than three times the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced by Canada in a year. And some are still burning.

Home to dense forests, sweeping prairies and nearly a quarter of the planet's wetlands, Canadian leaders, including liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have long insisted the country can exploit its natural resources while protecting biodiversity and leading the global fight against climate change. But the seemingly endless fire season, which created hazardous air in many U.S. states thousands of miles away, is putting a spotlight on two aspects of Canada that increasingly feel at odds: the country's commitment to fighting climate change and its status as the world's fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest gas producer - fuels that when used release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and intensifies the dry conditions for wildfires to swallow millions of acres.

"They're portraying Canada as environmental," said Jean L'Hommecourt, an environmental advocate belonging to the Fort McKay First Nation. "But the biggest source of the carbon is here."

## OIL FOCUS AND ADVOCACY
Canada is among roughly 100 nations that have pledged by midcentury to reach "zero emissions," or take as much greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere as it contributes. At last year's U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, it also joined other rich nations to promise more money for developing countries to fight climate change.

Yet to the same conference, Canada brought the second-largest delegation of fossil fuel executives of any country in the world, an analysis by The Associated Press found. Eleven executives from major Canadian oil, gas, and steel companies, including Enbridge and Parkland Corporation attended COP27 - where countries set climate priorities and timelines for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The only country to send a larger delegation of fossil fuel executives was Russia, AP found.

"We're not there to drive an agenda, but we do have a perspective to offer," said Pete Sheffield, chief sustainability officer at pipeline and natural gas giant Enbridge Inc., echoing what other Canadian energy executives told The AP about their attendance at COP27.

One such perspective is that Canadian oil producers can keep extracting oil at current rates, and with the help of technology, clean up their own operations so the country can still hit its climate targets. But even if Canada's oil producers manage to do so, their plans don't consider the greenhouse gas emissions that result from when customers use their products to power cars, heat homes, take flights, and so forth.

## OIL, FIRES AND SMOKE
In the western province of Alberta, where many ferocious wildfires burned, huge deposits of thick crude oil, mixed with tarry sand, sit beneath the forest and near the snaking Athabasca River. Extraction from this area, referred to as the "oil sands," uses huge amounts of energy, making Canada's oil - most of which is extracted here - some of the world's dirtiest.

In Alberta, the industry's mark on the landscape is profound: over an area larger than New York City, oil companies have carved chunks of earth into open-pit mines plunging hundreds of feet deep, created lake-sized chemical runoff pools and left otherworldly stacks of neon yellow sulfur byproduct. On the sides of roads in the oil sands, air cannons boom periodically to keep birds away from the vast toxic ponds and scarecrows dressed as oil workers float above them.

On a recent morning, dozens of oil workers boarded a charter plane in Calgary that would take them deep into Alberta's wilderness where black bears, caribou, and moose roam. There, operators boarded buses to oil sands projects, where they would work 7-, 14- or 21-day shifts.

During other weeks, the fires in Alberta burned so close that oil companies had to temporarily shut down oil and gas production, and average Canadians couldn't safely breathe the air. In September, smoke from wildfires in the neighboring provinces of British Columbia and the Northern Territories blanketed Fort McMurray, an Albertan city of 68,000 where community centers bear the names of oil companies. The skies were a hazy, rust color.

"This is to the point where you don't even want to be outside," said Brittnee McIsaac, a school teacher who often had to keep her students inside for recess because it was too dangerous to breathe the smoke-filled air.

McIsaac, whose husband works in the oil industry, said that the smoke this year, combined with a major wildfire in 2016, have made more people in town concerned about climate change, even if many residents get their paychecks from the nearby oil patch.

"It really takes a toll on the mental health; just how dreary it is every day," she said of the smoke.

Still, Canadian producers have no plans to slow down. Since 2009, oil sands extraction has grown. Today, Canada produces about 4.9 million barrels of oil a day, with oil and gas contributing almost a third of the country's emissions in 2021. Oil and gas make up about 5% of Canada's GDP, while in Alberta, the heart of Canadian oil country, the sector accounts for about 21%.

Carmen Lee-Essington, vice president of Cenovus' oil sands operations, said the company plans to extract all the oil below ground at their Sunrise plant. Cenovus estimates that could last until 2070. That is decades after when scientists warn that the world needs to have moved beyond fossil fuels and rely almost entirely on renewable forms of energy.

"When that time comes, we will abandon the facility here. We will decommission it, the metal and all the infrastructure that you see will be shipped off-site," said Lee-Essington.

## SUSTAINABLE FUTURE?
Part of Canada's reasoning to produce so much oil and gas in the 21st century is that it's a stable democracy with stricter environmental and human rights laws than other oil giants that the West has historically relied upon. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the U.S., exporting an amount equal to 22% of U.S. consumption.

But climate scientists warn that current levels of oil and gas production will mean Canada won't reach net zero emissions, never mind the additional contributions to climate change from wildfires along the way.

Scientists at Climate Action Tracker, a group that scrutinizes nations' pledges to reduce emissions, label the country's progress as "highly insufficient," stressing that Canada needs to implement its climate policies much faster to reach its own targets. For the high-carbon energy sector, much of the plan rests on the build-out of carbon capture, a technology that pulls in carbon dioxide, either at the source of emissions or from the air. But carbon capture is energy intensive, expensive and years away from operating at scale.

"There's no way Canada can reach our 2050 target if oil and gas doesn't do its fair share," said Steven Guilbeault, Canada's minister of environment and climate change.

The wildfires, which scientists say will burn more and longer as the planet warms, will add to the challenge of cutting emissions. They also pose significant health risks to Canadians and anyone who comes in contact with the smoke.

In June, a fire got close to the subarctic, mostly indigenous hamlet of Fort Chipewyan, in northern Alberta. A former fur trading settlement, it abuts one of the world's largest inland deltas. In warmer months, the village can only be reached by boat or plane, since the main road into town is made of ice that melts in the spring. When the wildfires approached, residents first tried fleeing by boat, only to realize that water levels at the massive Athabasca Lake had gotten so low, they couldn't leave. Soon after, the Canadian military sent its aircraft to evacuate people to Fort McMurray, where hundreds of people stayed for weeks.

In the blaze, Julia Cardinal and her husband Happy Cardinal would lose their cabin, which was about a 45-minute boat ride from Fort Chipewyan. Several months later, the trauma of the fire is still vivid.

"That was our home," said Julia Cardinal, as she walked over the burned cabin, identifying the pots, pans and nails that survived the blaze. "There are some things we will never, ever replace."

Still, the couple's feelings are complicated. While they understand the role of climate change in the fires, and the impact of oil on the climate and lakes and rivers surrounding them, they are not quick to blame the industry. Happy Cardinal was an oil sands worker until retiring three years ago.

"That's where my money comes from," he said.


# Finkel stops 31 shots, United States beats Canada 3-1 in opener of Rivalry Series
By **JOHN MARSHALL**
November 9, 2023. 12:51 AM EST

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**TEMPE, Ariz. (AP)** - Hilary Knight has played in four Olympics, 13 world championships and been a part of the U.S. women's national team since 2007.

Now the Americans' captain at 34, she may be getting better instead of slowing down.

Knight had a goal and an assist, Aerin Frankel stopped 31 shots and the United States beat Canada 3-1 in the opener of the Rivalry Series on Wednesday night.

"It seems like she comes out of nowhere and scores goals," Canada's Sara Nurse said. "But obviously she's a super talented player around the net and doesn't miss many."

The Americans won the last time these rivals met, scoring four unanswered goals to beat Canada 6-3 in the gold medal game of the IIHF World Championships in April.

Canada had the early jump in the first of seven games in the 2023-24 version of the Rivalry Series, but Frankel made some tough saves to keep the Canadians from scoring.

Team USA scored first on Knight's goal in the closing seconds of the first period, and Canada tied it on Brianne Jenner's goal in the second at Mullett Arena, home of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes.

Taylor Heise, the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft, scored early in the third period to put the U.S. up 2-1, and Alex Carpenter sealed it by scoring off a turnover with 1:20 left in regulation.

Emerance Maschmeyer had 23 saves for Canada.

Game 2 of the series is Saturday in Los Angeles before most of the players report to training camps for the newly former Professional Women's Hockey League next week.

"I was actually expecting us to have a better start than we did or a little more electricity from our young players," U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. "But sometimes that nervousness can get you into a spot where you're wound up. It took us a while to settle in."

Frankel was sharp in the first period, stopping Jessie Eldridge from point-blank range and Ella Shelton on a power play late.

Maschmeyer also made some tough stops, including against Abbey Murphy on a short breakaway. Maschmeyer couldn't get back into position after the rebound and Knight flipped in a backhander with eight seconds left.

"Our team really stacked together a lot of good play tonight," Knight said.

Jenner tied it midway through the second, punching in a rebound of her own shot past Frankel after the Americans allowed her to skate freely through the slot.

Canada's Kristin O'Neill had a goal waved off early in the third period for using a high stick. Heise scored a few minutes after that on a rebound that caromed out to the right circle, then Carpenter slipped a backhander between Mashmeyer's pads.

"Just puck management, let too many plays get away from us," Jenner said. "You can't really do that and not expect the other team to capitalize."


# Teenager Stakusic leads Canada to win over host Spain in BJK Cup Finals. Italy tops France
November 8, 2023. 7:15 PM EST

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**SEVILLE, Spain (AP)** - Teenager Marina Stakusic got the biggest win of her career to help Canada defeat host Spain 3-0 in Group C of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Stakusic, ranked No. 258 in the world, defeated No. 65 Rebeka Masarova 6-3, 6-1 to give Canada the first point of the day at La Cartuja Stadium.

Stakusic's previous career-best victory had been against No. 152 Jaimee Fourlis in 2022. She had never beaten a top 100 opponent.

"This is such a special feeling and makes me believe that I belong here," Stakusic said. "It is also super special to win in front of all the Canadians who I have worked with for a long time. What a feeling - it is the most meaningful win for me so far - and it will give me so much confidence going forward."

Leylah Fernandez gave Canada the second point by edging Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (8), 7-6 (7).

In the doubles, Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski beat Sorribes Tormo and Masarova 6-2, 7-5.

In Group D, Italy defeated France 2-1 with early victories in the singles matches. Martina Trevisan rallied to defeat Alize Cornet 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Jasmine Paolini beat Caroline Garcia 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4.

France came from behind to win the doubles match with Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic defeating Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Trevisan 5-7, 6-2, 10-6.

The 12 teams in the BJK Cup Finals compete in four round-robin groups and the winners will advance to the semifinals this weekend.


# Biden pledges at Americas summit an alternative to Chinese-led infrastructure and development loans
By **JOSH BOAK** and **FATIMA HUSSEIN**
November 3, 2023. 12:03 PM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - President Joe Biden on Friday welcomed government leaders from countries across the Americas to an economic summit by pledging to increase U.S. investment in the region in part to counter China's influence.

The U.S. president did not specifically mention China in his opening remarks at the first Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders' Summit. But Biden openly alluded to the country that has emerged as a chief geopolitical competitor to the United States that has offered development loans to countries in the Western Hemisphere.

"We want to make sure that our closest neighbors know they have a real choice between debt trap diplomacy and high quality, transparent approaches to infrastructure and to development," Biden said. "By combining the commitment of the United States government to mitigate investment risk with the agility of private sector financing, we believe we can deliver gains for workers and families throughout the region."

Among the other topics being discussed at the summit are migration, supply chains and efforts geared toward environmental sustainability.

Along with Biden, officials from Barbados Canada, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Panama attended summit events.

Friday's event was announced last year at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The focus on trade comes as competition has intensified between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies. Biden, a Democrat, has provided government incentives to build U.S. infrastructure and for companies to construct new factories. But after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted manufacturing and global shipping, there has has also been an effort to diversify trade and reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing.

In 2022, the U.S. exported $1.2 trillion worth of goods and services to other countries in the Western Hemisphere, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. It also imported $1.2 trillion in goods and services from those countries. But the majority of that trade was with Canada and Mexico.

By contrast, the U.S. imported $562.9 billion worth of goods and services from China last year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined the Biden administration's goals in a Thursday speech at the Inter-American Development Bank. The U.S. wants to diversify supply chains with "trusted partners and allies," a strategy that she said had "tremendous potential benefits for fueling growth in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Yellen, who regularly talks about her friendshoring strategy for increasing supply chain resilience by working primarily with friendly nations as opposed to geopolitical rivals like China, laid out her vision of new U.S. investment in South America at the development bank.

The Inter-American Development Bank, which is the biggest multilateral lender to Latin America, would support new projects through grants, lending and new programs. The U.S. is the bank's largest shareholder, with 30% of voting rights.

Increasingly, policymakers in the U.S. have expressed concern about China's influence at the bank. While the Asian superpower holds less than 0.1% voting rights, it holds large economic stakes in some of the 48 member countries of the bank.


# Birds in North America will be renamed to avoid any 'harmful' historical associations with people
By **CHRISTINA LARSON**
November 1, 2023. 7:10 PM EST

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Birds in North America will no longer be named after people, the American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday.

Next year, the organization will begin to rename around 80 species found in the U.S. and Canada.

"There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today," the organization's president, Colleen Handel, said in a statement. "Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely."

Rather than review each bird named after a person individually, all such birds will be renamed, the organization announced.

Birds that will be renamed include those currently called Wilson's warbler and Wilson's snipe, both named after the 19th century naturalist Alexander Wilson. Audubon's shearwater, a seabird named for John James Audubon, also will get a new name.

In 2020, the organization renamed a bird once referring to a Confederate Army general, John P. McCown, as the thick-billed longspur.

"I'm really happy and excited about the announcement," said Emily Williams, an ornithologist at Georgetown University who was not involved in the decision.

She said heated discussions over bird names have been happening within birdwatching communities for the past several years.

"Naming birds based on habitat or appearance is one of the least problematic approaches," she said.

Earlier this year, the National Audubon Society announced that it would retain its name, even as critics and some voices within the organization have argued that it should dump the association with a man, John James Audubon, whose family owned slaves.

"The name has come to represent so much more than the work of one person," Susan Bell, chair of the National Audubon Society's Board of Directors, told Audubon magazine in March, adding, "We must reckon with the racist legacy of John James Audubon."

A 2020 encounter in New York's Central Park served as a public wake-up call about the discrimination that Black people sometimes face when trying to enjoy the outdoors.

Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher, was looking for birds when he asked a white woman, Amy Cooper, to follow local rules and leash her dog. Cooper called 911 and was later charged with filing a false police report, though the charges were later dropped.

Soon after, a collective of birdwatchers organized the first Black Birders Week to increase the visibility of Black nature lovers and scientists.

And a group called Bird Names for Birds sent a petition to the ornithological society urging it to "outline a plan to change harmful common names" of birds.


# Opponents of military rule in Myanmar applaud new sanctions targeting gas revenues
November 1, 2023. 1:36 AM EST

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**BANGKOK (AP)** - A U.N.-appointed human rights expert and opponents of Myanmar's military government have welcomed the latest sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada on companies providing financial resources to the army-installed regime and high-ranking officials. The move is linked to rising violence and human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian nation.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it was imposing sanctions on Myanmar's state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a joint venture partner in all offshore gas projects and a vital source of hard cash for the military government. The sanctions block access to money and resources under U.S. control, and prohibit U.S. citizens from providing financial services to - or for the benefit of - MOGE starting from Dec. 15.

Five officials are on the sanctions list: the ministers of industry and investment and foreign economic relations; the director generals of the prosecution and prisons departments; and the chief of general staff for the combined military forces. Three organizations were also designated for sanctions, according to the Treasury Department.

The U.K. also sanctioned five people and one entity that it said are involved either in providing financial services to the regime or the supply of restricted goods, including aircraft parts.

Canada also imposed sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities in coordination with the U.K. and the U.S.

Tom Andrews, a special rapporteur working with the U.N. human rights office, said in a statement that the fresh sanctions were important steps forward and that the ban on financial services that benefit MOGE would hit the junta's largest source of revenue.

"These actions signal to the people of Myanmar that they have not been forgotten, but there is much more that the international community can and must do." said Andrews, urging U.N. member states to take stronger, coordinated action "to support the heroic efforts of the people of Myanmar to defend their nation and save their children's future."

Justice for Myanmar, an underground group of researchers and activists from Myanmar, also said the U.S. move against MOGE was a welcome step "to disrupt the junta's single biggest source of foreign revenue." The group operates covertly because the military government does not tolerate critics of its rule.

"The U.S. should continue to target the junta's access to funds, including through full sanctions on MOGE in coordination with its allies," the group said in a statement.

The sanctions are the latest the Western governments have imposed on Myanmar's military regime, after the army seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021.

Widespread nonviolent protests following the military takeover were suppressed by deadly force and triggered armed resistance in much of the country that some experts characterize as a civil war.

"Today's action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom ... denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts," Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

"Collectively, we remain committed to degrading the regime's evasion tactics and continuing to hold the regime accountable for its violence," he said.

The Myanmar public and human rights groups had called for sanctions targeting gas revenues shortly after the army takeover. About 50% of Myanmar's foreign income derives from natural gas revenues. Several offshore gas fields operate in Myanmar's maritime territory, run by companies from Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, India and South Korea in partnership with MOGE. China is an investor in the pipeline that delivers the gas to the country.

The European Union imposed sanctions against MOGE in February last year.


# Book Review: Ralph Nader profiles corporate leaders he sees as role models in 'The Rebellious CEO'
By **ANDREW DeMILLO**
December 26, 2023. 2:52 PM EST

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Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has built his life's reputation on his fights with corporate America. But it turns out there are some CEOs he actually likes.

At least that's the premise of "The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right," Nader's look at executives who he says "stood against the gray crowd" by putting a premium on social responsibility as much as they did on profits. The dozen leaders he profiles are presented as models for businesses on how to balance both those needs.

The brief biographies of the CEOs give Nader a chance to highlight what he sees as the shortcomings of today's corporations. But, surprisingly, he commends the CEOs profiled for not forgetting the bottom line and notes that all of them insisted "nothing would be possible if they didn't pay attention to profits."

The chapters are sprinkled with Nader's anecdotes from his interactions with the CEOs profiled, and leans on their own writings as well. The CEOs highlighted include Ray Anderson, the carpet-tile manufacturing executive who was spurred to set sustainability goals for his company, and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard's support for conservation efforts.

Nader also praises CEOs for their work at the consumer level, including Southwest Airlines - though also noting its cancellation of more than 16,000 flights last year over the holidays that eventually led to a multi-million settlement.

Nader strays into adulation at times, but the book offers an interesting perspective on business leadership from one of the most well known antagonists of corporations.


# Book Review: The Velvet Underground's story and afterlife told in the oral history 'Loaded'
By **MICHAEL HILL**
December 18, 2023. 9:45 AM EST

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Before they became synonymous with downtown cool, the Velvet Underground played a multi-band bill at a suburban New Jersey high school in 1965. Parents and kids in the crowd were repelled by the "screeching urge of sound" from Lou Reed and his bandmates, a local reviewer wrote, and retreated in horror after their second song, "Heroin."

The Velvet Underground soon found a more appreciative audience when artist Andy Warhol spotted them and set them up at the Factory, his Manhattan studio-and-happening space. But wide success and fame eluded the Velvet Underground during their fractious run. They became lionized as edgy musical groundbreakers later on - reversing the stereotypical rock band success story by breaking up and then conquering the world.

Veteran journalist and author Dylan Jones tells that unusual story in "Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground." Or more precisely, Jones weaves together an oral history that relies on the voices of friends, Warhol "superstars," fellow musicians and members of the band. Jones interviewed a bunch of people who were in the orbit of Reed, John Cale and the other band members. The author also relies on past interviews from Reed and others who have died.

The staying power of the Velvet Underground stems from their songs, which could be beautiful, dissonant or hypnotic. But it also revolves around their style, which has been widely copied by rockers ever since. They wore sunglasses inside. They didn't care what you thought. They could barely stand each other. "We hated everybody and everything," said Cale.

This is largely a story about Reed, who was a restless artist, a canny songwriter and - quite often - a surly jerk. But some of the book's most compelling passages describe Reed's difficult and all-too-brief partnership with the equally intense Cale, a classically trained musician from Wales.

The book also tracks the post-Velvet work of Reed, Cale and the singer/songwriter Nico, who was featured on the band's debut album. Reed finally began getting his due in 1972 with the release of the "Transformer" album, which included the signature song "Walk On the Wild Side."

Good oral histories hit the right mix of insight, opinion and dish. And Jones mostly delivers. The off-the-wall stuff is in there too, like tales of Cale chopping the head off a chicken on stage and Reed slapping around David Bowie at a restaurant.

Jones falls a bit short in his mission of softening the image of Reed, who was notorious for being difficult, especially with journalists. But he convincingly makes the case for the band's historical importance.

"Unpack the last 50 years of pop," Jones writes, "and the broken fragments of the Velvet Underground are everywhere."


# Book Review: 'Soldier of Destiny' traces Ulysses S. Grant's complicated route before the White House
By **ANDREW DeMILLO**
December 11, 2023. 2:05 PM EST

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Ulysses S. Grant's standing among the presidents has improved in recent years, with critically acclaimed biographies by Ron Chernow and others offering a new perspective on his time in the White House.

But the 18th president who led the Union armies to victory in the Civil War still leaves a complicated legacy, especially when it comes to his relationship to slavery. That relationship is the centerpiece of John Reeves' enlightening "Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant."

Reeves' book isn't a comprehensive biography, and it doesn't cover Grant's time in the White House. But it gives readers an enlightening look at how he benefited from slavery years before he helped end the institution.

Reeves traces the evolution of Grant from someone who "actively participated in the slave culture of St. Louis" before the Civil War. Reeves is fair and blunt in depicting the role slavery played in Grant's life as he tried to provide a "respectable middle-class lifestyle" for his family before the war.

"And this lifestyle, it must be remembered, was dependent on the ownership of human property," Reeves writes. He also points out the ambivalence Grant displayed about slavery before the Civil War.

But he also examines the characteristics and skills that it took for Grant to go from an officer who was forced to resign from the Army to one of the most revered military heroes in history. This includes a detailed look at the key battles he faced during the Civil War.

Reeves doesn't shy from highlighting the stains upon Grant's military legacy including the reports of drinking that dogged Grant throughout the years. He also devotes a chapter to the order Grant issued expelling Jewish people from a military district he oversaw, an effort that was intended to halt illegal cotton speculation and remains a "black mark on his character," Reeves writes.

Reeves manages to stitch Grant's flaws and virtues into a thought-provoking portrait of a key historical figure who never lost faith in himself or his country.


# Book Review: David Mamet screams at clouds in new collection of grievances about Hollywood
By **MARK KENNEDY**
December 4, 2023. 11:30 AM EST

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Just in time for Christmas, when you need a gift for that weird old uncle who is upset that everyone gets a trophy in youth soccer, comes a new David Mamet book.

"Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood" is a collection of observations, stories and aphorisms about Hollywood from one of America's foremost writers and, these days, provocateurs. It is virtually unreadable.

This is a book that resembles the idled rantings from a feverish, unsolicited email stuck in your spam folder. There are weird capitalizations, uneasy conclusions and the rat-a-tat of non-sequiturs all held together by bad faith. It's illustrated by Mamet's own cartoons, which echo a middle schooler's sense of humor and maturity.

He clearly hates film producers - "Village Idiots" is the nicest of adjectives - but he hates PC culture more. He lambasts "Diversity Porn," arguing that the logical extension of color-conscious casting is an Asian woman playing Harry Truman. He thinks modern culture has made frightened sheeps of men.

"Today in Los Angeles the teenage girls walk about virtually naked, and the males, rather than getting a pass for ogling the good clean fun, are terrified of even inadvertent gawking." He won a Pulitzer Prize once. Now he's basically endorsing wet T-shirt contests.

Throughout is the stringent waft of misogyny. In one cartoon, Mamet asks "Who was the most fetching female in film history" over a drawing of Lassie. He includes jokes like this: "Ann-Margret is the only girl in Hollywood who still has her hyphen." Again, this is a man who name-checks Herodotus and Kipling.

In one section, he tries to belittle entire topics of critical thought like a proto-incel. "Inequity, Gender Politics, Feminism, and like doctrines are like modern art: a first glance is sufficient. There's no information to be gained from an in-depth study."

Mamet is the acclaimed author of theater classics such as "Glengarry Glen Ross," "American Buffalo" and "Race," all works struggling to find relevance in the modern age. His Hollywood input includes scripts for "The Untouchables," "Heist," "Wag the Dog" and "The Edge," glorious all.

Sections in the book unusually begin with a tart statement, like "Trivia is gossip without malice" or "People flourish in hierarchy," and then meander to some backstage trivia about Hollywood's Golden Age before ending with something outrageous and unconnected, often with Nazis. Hitler appears on Page 8 and never really leaves.

To be fair, there are intriguing parts, like when he discusses the nuts and bolts of screenwriting: "The dialogue is of as little concern to a skilled screenwriter as the paint is to the mechanic." And run-ins with Billy Wilder, Don Ameche, Sue Mengers and Bob Evans are fun.

But "Everywhere an Oink Oink" is a vanity project: He loves re-settling scores, boasts about being fired from jobs or thrown out of places - he got tossed from a Williams Sonoma for going in the wrong door and, when confronted, replied "It's alright, I'm an Illegal Immigrant."

At one point, Mamet's editor is compelled to dismiss in a footnote one of the writer's so-called facts: "A complete fabrication." But the wrong thing remains there. All over, Mamet repeats himself, another gripe for a book that feels unedited. One may loath his individual conclusions, but to get them twice makes the author even smaller, petty and unhinged.

"Either they or I are marching to the beat of a Different Drummer. In which event either one or many of us must be out of step," he writes.

Yes, indeed.


# Book Review: 'Eyeliner' examines the staple makeup product's revolutionary role in global society
By **LESLIE AMBRIZ**
November 30, 2023. 8:37 PM EST

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Zahra Hankir opens "Eyeliner: A Cultural History" by marveling over her mother's elegant beauty process as she delicately sweeps black kohl on her waterline, dreaming of displaying that same confidence one day.

For Hankir, eyeliner is more than just a cosmetic product. It provides protection and empowerment. It provides cultural connection. It exists beyond borders, gender roles and Western beauty standards. Lining one's waterline or drawing a delicate black line across an eyelid is more than aesthetics. For many of the underrepresented groups and communities of color highlighted in Hankir's book, applying the product is a ritual deeply rooted in spirituality, culture, identity and more. To loosely quote Audre Lorde, if self-care is an act of resistance, then an eyeliner is a tool in the rebellion throughout Hankir's novel.

The Lebanese-British journalist seamlessly takes her readers on a global investigation of how the cosmetic product is used worldwide. Through intimate narratives with varied characters from different cultures and communities, we learn more about the product's rise in prominence while having a fly-on-the-wall inside look at the ways it serves medicinal purposes, fuels spiritual practices, uplifts self-expression and how its mere existence on someone's eyelid can be viewed as a form of defiance.

Hankir begins this thoroughly researched journey by educating her readers on Egypt's Queen Nefertiti and her rise as a symbol of "ideal feminine beauty." The Egyptian queen posthumously influenced mainstream culture, leading eventually to the beauty item's spot in shopping mall stores and in makeup ads across Western society. But while detailing Nefertiti's legacy, Hankir does not shy away from reflecting on how the queen's thick-lined trademark became twisted and co-opted by white Western culture. She addresses it head-on and shares the complete history of its popularity. All of the good and the bad that follows popularity.

The book is a little over 300 pages long and packs enough information for readers to walk away with more in-depth knowledge of the staple product sitting idly inside their makeup bag. As readers twist open their liner applicator, they'll be reminded of the Wodaabe men who wear kohl to enhance their appearance and attract a partner in a ritual ceremony. They'll think of artists like Shirin Neshat, who wear the item as a form of solidarity for the women back home who cannot publicly line their eyes. They'll remember the drag queens who drew on their bold, exaggerated liner as they prepared to perform and the stories of the Cholas in Mexican-American culture who wore the product, expressing their dual femininity and strength.

"Eyeliner" comes full circle, highlighting today's beauty influencers and allowing viewers to see the ripple effects of popularity and cultural exchange as this one beauty product carries the constant line of simultaneously emphasizing the beauty and power each person possesses as they line their eyes and prepare to embark on their personal journeys.


# Book Review: 'Welcome to The O.C.' serves as a definitive look-back at the 20-year-old Fox drama
By **MIKE HOUSEHOLDER**
November 27, 2023. 3:20 PM EST

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"California, here we come."

The refrain from the Phantom Planet tune "California" that served as the theme song for "The O.C." welcomed viewers to Fox's short-lived but much-loved prime-time soap that focused on a group of teenagers and parents navigating the emotional ups and downs of life in affluent Newport Beach.

Now, 20 years after the show's debut, Rolling Stone TV critic Alan Sepinwall is taking readers "right back where we started from" in a splendid retrospective that relies on the memories of those who brought the show's 96 episodes to life.

"Welcome to The O.C." - the title references a memorable line from the pilot (minus a not-so-friendly word that punctuates the sentiment) - features recollections from creator Josh Schwartz, executive producer Stephanie Savage, the show's stars, Fox executives and many more.

The oral history serves as a definitive look-back at the four-season series that introduced "Chrismukkah" (a celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah in the blended Cohen household) and a host of indie-rock bands whose songs played over some of "The O.C."'s biggest moments.

None was more monumental than the controversial decision to kill off Mischa Barton's Marissa Cooper, one of the show's central characters, in season three's finale in 2006.

The book devotes a chapter to the behind-the-scenes intrigue that led to Barton's exit as well as the fallout. Spoiler alert: Those close to the show didn't like it very much, starting with Barton herself, who called it "a little bit of a bummer."

Others used stronger - and strikingly similar - language.

Kelly Rowan, who played Cooper's neighbor, Kirsten Cohen, said the storyline was "a big mistake," breaking up the characters who came to be known as "The Core Four" - Kirsten Cohen's comic-book- and indie-music-loving son Seth, played by Adam Brody; Ben McKenzie's Ryan Atwood, a troubled outsider who is taken in by the Cohens; Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), Seth Cohen's dream girl and classmate; and Cooper, the beautiful girl-next-door who is Ryan's soulmate.

Savage acknowledged it was a "terrible, terrible mistake."

And Schwartz, who at the time was one of the youngest EPs in the television industry, agreed.

"I very quickly realized, 'Oh my God, what have we done? I think we made a terrible mistake,'" he said.

"The O.C." lasted one more season. Schwartz and Savage went on to helm a multitude of other small-screen gems, including "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl." The Core Four had become stars, and the show gave screen time to future headliners such as Chris Pratt,Olivia Wilde and Shailene Woodley.

"Welcome to The O.C." is a must-read for viewers of the show's original run, but it works, too, for those meeting the Cohens and their fellow Orange County residents for the first time via streaming services.


# Book Review: 'Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars' argues history repeats itself
By **KRYSTA FAURIA**
November 27, 2023. 12:10 PM EST

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"There is nothing new under the sun." So goes the adage which conveys the tendency for history to repeat itself.

It's this unstated premise that drives Kliph Nesteroff's latest book, "Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars." In it, Nesteroff artfully seeks to demonstrate how current catchphrases like "cancel culture" and "political correctness" are just variations of the same generational and ideological divides which have undergirded American society throughout Hollywood's history.

Nesteroff turns his attention to comedians in particular, citing the ways in which they have historically been unique targets of the culture wars.

His arguments are cogent and his histories entertaining - how is it possible that "vaguely defined spirit of the times" is not a quote about wokeness, but instead a denunciation of critiques levied on comedians more than half a century ago?

Still, it's worth noting that Nesteroff began his career as a comedian, which perhaps betrays an inherent sympathy for the prophetic martyrs who have frequently been subjected to unjust censorship and criticism throughout the history of showbiz.


# Book Review: Lauren Grodstein's masterpiece of historical fiction set in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII
By **ANN LEVIN**
November 27, 2023. 11:18 AM EST

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The Oneg Shabbat archive was a secret project of Jewish prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto to record their histories as they awaited deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II. Lauren Grodstein has used this historical fact as the basis for her mesmerizing new novel, "We Must Not Think of Ourselves."

It is narrated by a fictional schoolteacher, Adam Paskow, who conducts interviews for the real-life archives as he falls in love with a married woman, Sala Wiskoff, with whom he shares overcrowded quarters.

Grodstein, who was inspired to write the book after a Jewish family heritage trip to Warsaw, where she first encountered the diary entries, propaganda posters and other materials that comprise the archives, excels at character development and naturalistic dialogue. In Adam, she has created an immensely appealing protagonist, notwithstanding his adulterous affair with Sala, who is equally charismatic.

Before the war, Adam was living a quiet, bookish life in a prosperous neighborhood of Warsaw with his wealthy Polish Catholic wife. They were very much in love. But after she dies and the Nazis invade Poland, he is forced out of their cozy flat ("filled with books and Oriental rugs") and into the gated and locked ghetto, patrolled by armed guards, where he teaches English to some of the displaced children.

Adam and Sala are flirtatious almost from the beginning as Adam, who is a bit of a dreamer, struggles to comprehend the reality of their situation. "They can't kill all of us," he says to Sala. "Can't they?" she replies. "It's illogical," he reasons. "And the Nazis pride themselves on being logical." Later, he thinks to himself, "How on earth could they pull such a thing off? And would the world really... let them?"

Of course, it does. As the war drags on and conditions in the ghetto worsen, Adam finally has a moment of reckoning. Reflecting on the purpose of the project launched by historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who named it Oneg Shabbat, or "joy of the sabbath," after the day of the week when the archivists met, Adam thinks: "Now I realize that we are creating a portrait of Polish Jews at the end of our history."

But that was not to be. In a twist on "Sophie's Choice," Adam, who never identified strongly as a Jew before the war, obtains documents that will let him and two others escape to freedom - he just has to decide which two. It is a deeply moving conclusion to an extraordinary work of historical fiction.