Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest have long trained men and women to identify a variety of threats to their mineral-rich and verdant lands and to keep outsiders from invading their communities

International News via Reuters:

About 200 members of Indigenous groups from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru gathered early this month in Ecuador’s Amazonian community of Sinangoe, wedged along the border with neighboring Colombia, to collectively strategize how to defend their ancestral lands. To mark the occasion, they drank sap from the ancestral yoco plant, and cleansed their energies with tobacco and nettle leaves. 

Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest have long trained men and women to identify a variety of threats to their mineral-rich and verdant lands and to keep outsiders from invading their communities.

In recent years, emerging threats to their ancestral Indigenous territories have fueled a greater need for the self-defense forces known as the Indigenous Guard, its members say, as they confront illegal mining and logging, drug trafficking, armed groups, forced gang recruitment and extortion.

In Sinangoe, the Indigenous Guard in the A’i Cofan community has been fighting large-scale mining since 2017 in an effort to preserve the Aguarico River, the primary source of food for the families living on its riverbanks.

The pacifist group focuses on monitoring and patrolling, avoiding conflict and occasionally requesting support from armed forces when they encounter situations they cannot manage themselves, said Holger Quenama, coordinator of the A’i Cofan community’s Indigenous Guard.

Their work has paid off but needs daily effort, Quenama said.

“The Sinangoe guard always carries our staff, which is our strength,” Quenama said. “We are working with the entire community, but there are Indigenous groups that are more vigilant and active in patrolling the entire territory.”

In Peru, the Regional Organization of Indigenous Guards of Shipibo-Konibo has been successful in tackling illegal fishing and territory invasions, said Kelly Valera Silva, president of the group.

“Indigenous peoples are not against concession agreements, but they must recognize that they are within our territory,” she said.

Peru alone is home to about 300 Indigenous Guards spread across 24 Amazonian communities of the Shipibo Konibo people.

Reporting by Karen Toro in Sinangoe; Writing by Alexandra Valencia; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

In the hours leading up to the ban’s midnight start (1300 GMT on Tuesday), a flurry of goodbye messages came from teenagers – as well as adults – on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Reddit

International News via Reuters:

Australian teenagers have taken to social media for the last time to farewell their followers and mourn the loss of the platforms that shaped much of their lives before a world-first ban took effect on Wednesday.

In the hours leading up to the ban’s midnight start (1300 GMT on Tuesday), a flurry of goodbye messages came from teenagers – as well as adults – on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Reddit.

“I’ll miss you guys,” posted 29-year-old Melbourne creator Josh Partington, who makes comedy sketches about Australian life for more than 75,000 TikTok followers.

Australia has ordered 10 major platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook to block around one million users under the age of 16 or face massive fines.

Some 200,000 accounts have already been deactivated on TikTok alone, the government said, with “hundreds of thousands” to be blocked in the coming days.

Young Australians, who have grown up using social media, faced the prospect of losing access to their favourite apps with a mix of sadness, humour and disbelief. 

“I’m going to miss you soo much and especially the funny content,” one TikTok user wrote to their followers. “See you in a few years, but I don’t know if my account will still be standing.”

“Goodbye, see you on the other side,” another said.

There were edits posted of users’ favourite memes, while many urged their followers to join alternative platforms such as Yope, Lemon8 and Coverstar, which are not yet covered by the law.

On Reddit, users posted their goodbye notes to subreddits such as r/teenagers.

“As an autistic 13-year-old I am devastated,” one popular post said.

“My playlist of 1,400+ songs on YouTube will be deleted and Reddit too, I have zero friends … I will be completely alone for the next three years until I am 16.”

Some stayed online until midnight on Tuesday, posting clips of clocks counting down set to Adele’s “Skyfall” and its lyrics, “this is the end.” 

Others took their frustration out on centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has lost 6,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram since Tuesday. 

“Just wait until we’re able to vote,” one person commented on Albanese’s TikTok account.

Not all teenagers were against the ban. “Ngl (not going to lie), social media ban is probably for the best of us,” a TikTok user said. “All we do is sit behind a screen for hours.”

Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Praveen Menon and Lincoln Feast.

The European Commission on Wednesday published legal proposals to slash deadlines for authorities across the EU to approve permits for energy projects

International News via Reuters:

The European Union is set to slash permit wait-times and introduce top-down planning of electricity grid infrastructure across Europe, as it scrambles to curb high energy prices that industry executives have warned make Europe uncompetitive.

Industrial energy prices in Europe are more than double those in the United States and China. Domestic energy-intensive manufacturers say they deter investments in the continent.

The European Commission on Wednesday published legal proposals to slash deadlines for authorities across the EU to approve permits for energy projects, in a bid to speed up the modernisation of power networks, confirming draft plans previously reported by Reuters.

For grid projects, the deadline would be two years, down from current wait times of up to a decade. If authorities fail to respond within the new timeframes, permits would be automatically approved.

EU countries and lawmakers will negotiate and approve the proposals, before they pass into law.

A severe blackout in Iberia this year highlighted a lack of interconnectors between countries to allow power to flow to areas of greatest need. 

Brussels will also develop centralised EU plans for cross-border electricity infrastructure and trigger a “gap filling” process to request project proposals if none exist. The EU has earmarked 30 billion euros from its 2028-2034 budget for cross-border energy projects.

Years of lagging investments have resulted in ageing grids that cannot absorb Europe’s growing supplies of fluctuating renewable power. Wind and solar generators are often switched off to avoid overloading networks, wasting low-cost renewable electricity and boosting costs.

Wind power projects with more than 500 gigawatts of potential capacity are in queues for permits to connect to Europe’s grid, industry data show.

Brussels also plans to drop requirements for grid projects to undergo environmental assessments, hoping to expedite construction. Campaigners have criticised this plan.

SECURITY CONCERNS

Recent instances of Russian-linked ships damaging European energy cables and pipelines have heightened concerns among governments about the security of their energy networks.

The proposals require EU-funded cross-border energy projects to be assessed for physical and cybersecurity risks.

They would also be screened by regional groups of EU governments, regulators and companies for ownership or involvement by foreign companies, to flag potential security concerns.

Foreign investments can “increase the Union’s exposure to energy-security related risks such as disruptions or reduced reliability of cross-border flows, in particular where such foreign investments originate from third countries with diverging geopolitical interests from the Union,” the Commission said.

Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by David Gregorio, Kirsten Donovan