Bits and Bites from Around the World > Culling street dogs in Morocco, by the millions; Pygmy Owl survives hit by car in central B.C.

 

Three MILLION dogs to be killed in Morocco ahead of the FIFA World Cup in a‘brutal clean-up of the streets'

by Taryn Pedlar, Daily Mail, January 14, 2025:

A top conservationist has condemned Morocco and urged FIFA to take action over the slaughter of three million street dogs ahead of the 2030 World Cup.

Campaigners claim that the animals could be killed in a brutal ‘clean-up’ operation to make cities more presentable to visiting football fans.

Reports suggest thousands of stray dogs have already been massacred in venues across the North African nation, with fears the killings are escalating.

Jane Goodall, a prominent animal rights campaigner, has now written to the international football association demanding immediate action, accusing the organisation of turning a blind eye to what she calls ‘a horrific act of barbarity’.

In the letter addressed to FIFA’s Secretary General Mattias Grafström, Goodall said she was left appalled to see that Moroccan authorities were engaging in the large-scale killings – an initiative which allegedly stopped in August 2024.

‘I am equally appalled to learn from the IAWPC – International Animal Coalition that you have been presented with detailed dossiers documenting these horrific acts, most of which are conducted in the most brutal and cruel fashion imaginable, and yet appear to have ignored them,’ she continued.

The animal rights activist then questioned how football fans around the world would react if they knew of the brutality the helpless animals were facing in the run up to the games….

 

'Tiny but tough,' Pygmy Owl survives

being hit by car in Cariboo

A Northern Pygmy Owl survived being hit by a car thanks to a local birder

Patrick Davies
a day ago

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1 / 9 A Northern Pygmy Owl dubbed Tiny But Tough who was hit by a car on Highway 97 peers at the camera. (Murray Zelt photo)Murray Zelt

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A Northern Pygmy Owl proved its toughness earlier this month after getting hit by a car on Highway 97 in early January.

The incident occurred around Jan. 8 near the turnoff to Canim Hendrix Road while local wildlife photographer Murray Zelt was out photographing the diminutive predator. Zelt said he saw the accident happen in real-time and was horrified. Springing into action Zelt dashed onto the highway to retrieve what he thought was the owl's corpse only to be surprised when it started showing signs of life. 

"I ran out and picked it up with my bare hands and took it back to my car. I was literally in tears, I love watching these beautiful creatures," Zelt said. "I was kind of praying, basically, don't let it die but its little feet and talons were still quivering so I knew there was still a pulse and a chance." 

Zelt has been photographing wildlife for several years now since his forced retirement after the Chasm Sawmill closed down in 2019. He said he has always enjoyed being out in nature to camp and fish, so taking photos of wildlife and his adventures was a natural fit. 

One of his favourite subjects to take pictures of includes the 17 different species of owls that make B.C. their home. This winter he said he has been seeing a lot more owls than usual and noticed a Northern Pygmy Owl hunting near Highway 97 on Jan. 7. After photographing it he decided to return the next day to get some more photos. 

"This year has been an incredible year for the owls for whatever reason, because of the mild winter," Zelt remarked. "It's pretty neat to see them 'cause they're not that common, normally." 

When he returned Zelt said it was late in the afternoon and he watched the owl hop from power line to power line peering down into the ditches. Zelt remarked the Northern Pygmy Owl was hunting for voles, one of its primary food sources. Suddenly Zelt said he saw it dart down into the snow and then after a few seconds come up with a vole in its talons. 

"It burst out of the snow and this vole was as big as the owl, almost the exact same size, it was incredible. Instead of flying back up onto the powerline or a nearby branch of a tree or shrub it darted across the highway around shoulder height," Zelt said. "I could see it unfold right in front of my eyes as this car, going about 90 clicks, nails it dead on the and owl bounced on the road. I literally yelled 'oh no!"

Another vehicle passed over the top of the owl before Zelt was able to retrieve it from the road. At first, Zelt thought the owl's claws twitching were its death spasms but after getting into his car, intending to take it home for a burial, he noticed the owl trying to stand up, much to his shock. 

Worried the owl would start trying to fly in his car, Zelt grabbed a cloth grocery bag and picked the owl up to put it inside. When he grabbed it he said it sunk his talons into his finger, another encouraging sign.

"It didn't feel good, let me tell you. There were three of them all embedding into my finger so I had to pry them one at a time with my other hand. Didn't draw blood but I thought 'gee, it's got some life, it's got some strength'."

After driving to his home in Lac La Hache, Zelt put the owl in a shoe box and called up the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL). A few years ago Zelt said he took care of a Great Horned Owl who had also been hit by his nephew, so he has contacts with OWL. They told him to keep the owl for observation overnight and if it was able to fly in his home with no discernable injuries he should be alright to release it back into the wild. 

"He said you would be surprised by how tough these little guys are. Sometimes they can really take a licking and keep on ticking," Zelt remarked. "That evening I went to check on it and it was looking, turning its head around and seemed very alert. I'm thinking this is a miracle and when I went to close the box it flew right over the top of my shoulder and landed on top of my tennis racket." 

Zelt said he nicknamed the owl TBT after that, short for Tiny But Tough, and made plans to release it the next day. Calling up a wildlife photographer friend from Canim Lake, named Mernie Senchuk, to help in the release the two headed out to the general area where he found the owl, though they made sure to stay well away from the highway. 

"I opened the box and pulled it out and it literally sat on my hand for about five seconds. It was almost like a thank you or farewell and then it just flew off really strong and far off into the bushes," Zelt remarked. "We were unbelievably impressed it was back where it belonged. It really seems like a miracle, I have no idea how it survived that impact. It was a beautiful ending, for sure." 

Over the last few days since releasing TBT, Zelt said he's seen a Northern Pygmy Owl near the same area and he believes it is now back to its usual "risky business." While he's happy with the outcome, Zelt said this story illustrates the importance of keeping an eye out for owls around dawn and dusk near roads. Senchuk herself told him driving back from the release she had to slam on the brakes when another pygmy owl flew out in front of her. 

"(People) should be aware when they're driving near dawn and dusk there are a lot of owls this year. Quite a few people I connect with on social media or birding sites are all saying the same thing. I think it's the low snow load we have combined with the low weather. They truly are everywhere this year and we need to be a little extra cautious and give them their space."

Migration Not a 'Human Right': Austria Refuses to Join Global UN-Backed Migration Pact

FILE PHOTO © Reuters / Alkis Konstantinidis

Austria has announced that it would back out of a UN pact on international cooperation on migration, arguing that the document is inadequate for managing global migration flows and could undermine Austria's sovereignty.

"Austria will not join the UN migration pact," Austria's conservative Chancellor Sebstian Kurz announced, following a government meeting. "We view some points of the migration pact very critically, such as the mixing up of seeking protection with labor migration."

Officially known as the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the document has been negotiated over two years and the draft was tentatively approved by all the UN member states –except for the US– in July. Washington withdrew from the talks on the agreement last year.

The pact aims at "enhancing cooperation on international migration in all its dimensions." The non-binding agreement is expected to create principles for dealing with refugees and migrants. The document is scheduled to be adopted at a UN conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakech in December.

It's funny. Very few Muslim countries accepted Muslim migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Gulf states did not accept any! While Qatar had housing for 70,000 people and needed that many labourers for their World Cup in 2022, they allowed none of the desperate migrants to enter their country. 

Europe should insist on seeing some balance rectified before entering into an agreement with Islam.

However, Vienna said it will not send its representative to Morocco and will abstain during the UN vote on the pact at the UN General Assembly next September, issuing a clarification statement instead. The pact, although non-binding, might still create "new rights and entitlements for migrants," the Austrian government said, adding that it might "water down" the distinction between legal and illegal migrants.

Vienna warned in particular that the adoption of the pact might threaten the nation's sovereignty and provoke a "massive resettlement of people." The Austrian government previously called the text of the document "too vague," adding that "it leaves important questions unanswered."

"The [Austrian] republic takes a sovereign decision on the admission of migrants to Austria. A human right for migration is not envisaged in the Austrian legal system. Creation of a non-existent category of 'migrants' in the international law should be rejected," a statement issued by the Cabinet says, as cited by the Austrian Kurier daily.

The 34-page document indeed calls migration "a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development in our globalized world" while repeatedly stressing "an overarching obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration status."

It also says that "no country can address the challenges and opportunities of this global phenomenon on its own." However, it also "reaffirms the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy and their prerogative to govern migration within their jurisdiction, in conformity with international law."

The government's decision was met with mixed reaction at home. The ruling coalition supported the move, while the opposition sharply criticized it.

"Mixing asylum seekers with migrants is unacceptable," Karl Nehammer, the Secretary General of Kurz's People's Party of Austria said, commenting on the developments. "We must clearly distinguish between legal and illegal migration," he said, adding that Austria must protect its social welfare and healthcare systems as the pressure on them is already "extremely high" and "unlimited inflow of migrants" could "destroy" them.

The opposition accused the government of populism and "irresponsibility," arguing that the move might damage Vienna's image as a mediator on the international arena. "Such a move does not resolve any problems," Andreas Schieder, a foreign policy spokesman of the Austrian Social Democrats said, adding that the government just "closes its eyes" to the issue of migration.

"Migration and asylum are global issues and global cooperation within the framework of the UN is … needed," he added. The EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also expressed his regret over Austria's decision, as Vienna currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Juncker called a situation, in which the union is unable to form a unified position on such an important issue as the future of migration, an "absurdity."

Austria is not, however, the first country to back out of the pact. Hungary also said in July that it will withdraw from the agreement before its approval and called it a "threat to the world." Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at that time that the premise of the UN migration pact was that migration is "a good and inevitable phenomenon" but that Hungary considers migration "a bad process, which has extremely serious security implications."

He also complained that Hungary's proposals had been ignored during discussions about the document, which he claimed favored nations in Africa and Latin America, where migrants often travel from. The list of the opponents of the pact might grow even further as Poland, Australia and the UK are also skeptical about the document.

If the Novichok was Planted by Russia, Where’s the Evidence?

This is a good sign in our continual search for what's true - The Guardian is questioning the government's near-hysterical ranting against Russia and Putin. It's about time!

Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

No one has a clue about the Wiltshire poisonings – though the most obvious motive is someone out to embarrass Vladimir Putin

Emergency services on the scene of the latest novichok scare in Amesbury. In this still from a video, a man found unconscious is taken out on a stretcher. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

I seem to be the only person alive with no clue as to who has poisoned four people in Wiltshire. 

I am told that only Russians have access to the poison, known as novichok – though the British research station of Porton Down, located ominously nearby, clearly knows a lot about it. Otherwise, I repeat, I have no clue. 

It is very curious to me that both Novichok events occurred within a few kilometers of Porton Down, UK's very large chemical research community. Check out this map. Porton Down is even closer to Amesbury than it is to Salisbury. If I were investigating these poisonings, I would start right there.

I suppose I can see why the Kremlin might want to kill an ex-spy such as Sergei Skripal and his daughter, so as to deter others from defecting. But why wait so long after he has fled, and why during the build-up to so highly politicised an event as a World Cup in Russia?

Four months on from the crime, the Skripals have been incommunicado in a “secure location”. Barely a word has been heard from them. Theresa May has persistently blamed Russia. She has called the incident “brazen and despicable”, and MI5 condemned “flagrant breaches of international rules”. But I cannot see the diplomatic or other purchase in prejudging the case, when no one can offer a clue.

As to why the same person or persons should want to kill a couple, unconnected to the Skripals, on an Amesbury housing development, the questions are even more baffling. It seems a funny sort of carelessness. Did the couple pick up the infecting agent nearer the original site, eight miles away? Might the new poisoning be an attempt to divert attention from the earlier one? Could it be a devious plot, to make it seem that novichok is available on every street corner, from your friendly neighbourhood drug dealer? Or perhaps one of the victims, Charlie Rowley, has mates in Porton Down? Perhaps someone is showing off, or panicking, or behaving like a complete idiot. Who knows?

 The most obvious motive would surely be from someone out to

embarrass Vladimir Putin - one of his enemies

Now, I wonder who that might include? Gosh, hmmmm, UK? NATO? Deep State? USA? Ukraine? Oligarchs? Political Opposition in Russia? George Soros? No! It was clearly Putin determined to embarrass himself and ensure more sanctions on his country. That's the only thing that makes any sense, at least, to Theresa.

Since I have not a smidgen of an answer to any of these questions, I feel no need to capitulate to the politics of terror and fear. I can open my front door without cleaning my hand. I can visit Wiltshire in peace and safety and marvel at the spire of Salisbury Cathedral. I can revel in the remains of the bronze age Amesbury archer – whose death from bone disease has finally been resolved by the scientists. Where knowledge is nonexistent, ignorance is bliss.

That clearly does not apply to government ministers, for whom ignorance is not a sufficient condition for silence. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, said it was time “the Russian state comes forward and explains exactly what has gone on”. His security minister, Ben Wallace, had earlier reached the same conclusion, given that the Russians “had developed novichok, they had explored assassination programmes in the past, they had motive, form and stated policy”.

Like Javid, he asserted “to a very high assurance” that Russia was to blame, and spoke of “the anger I feel at the Russian state. They chose to use a very, very toxic, highly dangerous weapon,” and should “come and tell us what happened”. Since Moscow vigorously denies any involvement, it is hard to see how the Russians would now “explain”.

Specialist officers in protective suits investigate the first novichok incident – the poisoning of the Skripals, in Salisbury. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Surely, three months after the poison attack on the Skripals, ministers could have produced some evidence for all these accusations? I am at a loss to see what motive the Kremlin might have to commit murders on foreign soil during the buildup, let alone the enactment, of a sporting event that is of mammoth chauvinist significance to Russia.

Clearly it is possible that freelancers, wildcats or private contract killers could have operated at many removes from the Kremlin. But who knows? The most obvious motive for these attacks would surely be from someone out to embarrass the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – someone from his enemies, rather than from his friends or employees. But once again we have no clue.

That the Skripal attack was not long before Russian elections might lend credence to this theory.

As it is, all we can see are the devious tools of the new international politics. We see the rush to judgment at the bidding of the news agenda. We see murders and terrorist incidents hijacked for political gain or military advantage. Ministers plunge into Cobra bunkers. Social media and false news are weaponised. So too are sporting events.

Sport is the most flagrant. The plea that “politics should be kept out of sport” is as hopeless as demanding the exclusion of corruption and fraud. The very phrase, “international” sport, drips with politics. Why else do politicians shower sports festivals with taxpayers’ cash? As the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz would say, such events are the continuation of war by other means. Witness the obscene glee with which the British tabloids greeted Germany’s ejection from the World Cup last week.

Any politicians or heads of state who grace an international sporting fixture – not least one as self-congratulatory as an event hosted by Russia – cannot pretend their presence is apolitical. Hence the pressure on Theresa May to boycott the World Cup because of the Wiltshire poisoning – assuming that she ever intended to go, that is.

To all this there is an easy way out. As we flounder through the novichok morass without a jot of evidence, these crimes should be treated as they remain, local cases of attempted murder. They should be detached from global power plays, political grandstanding and penalty shootouts. They belong to the Wiltshire police and their advisers.

If nothing eventually emerges to implicate Moscow in the poisonings, more fool the politicians. If they were indeed a Russian plot, then the time to get justifiably angry is when this has been proved. Until then, I recommend the tennis.

• Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

General Strike Brings Argentina to a Halt

The theory is that Argentina is on strike because of the economy, but that's the excuse, not the reason. I predicted a national revolt in Argentina more than a week ago after their World Cup tie with Iceland. I told a friend that if they lost to Croatia, which they did - 3 nil, there would be a national revolt in Argentina. Messi, it's all your fault!

By Danielle Haynes

Dozens of militants from left parties and social organizations demonstrate at the Obelisk Square during the general strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Monday. Photo by David Fernandez/EPA-EFE

UPI -- A general strike in Argentina brought transportation, schools and other services to a halt Monday as major workers' unions protested a $50 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

Trains, buses and the underground rail system stopped and there was no air or maritime transportation nationwide, affecting at least 15 million in the capital of Buenos Aires alone.

President Mauricio Macri said he made the decision to take the IMF loan in order to avoid an economic crisis.

In addition to rejecting the IMF agreement, the General Confederation of Workers protested Macri's general economic policies and called for a 30 percent pay increase. It was the third general strike against the president.

The General Confederation of Workers had warned the government it would hold a general strike if Macri didn't veto a law to roll back water, electricity and gas tariffs to November prices.

"The strike does not contribute to anything," Macri said. "Our economy will start growing again, but for that we need to sit round the table and decide what each one of us has to do," he added.

Union representatives said they'd be willing to negotiate with the government.

"There is a new opportunity and I hope the government has understood what today's strike means," said Carlos Acuña, a leader of the General Confederation of Workers.