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The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has become a true crime doc

In order to enjoy American reality television, you have to watch with the tacit understanding that the word reality is used ... generously. Like, I still watch House Hunters even though I’ve been informed that <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/06/house-hunters-true-story-of-being-on-the-show.html">the house hunters have already chosen their homes</a> prior to filming. I still enjoy the competition of Top Chef even though <a href="https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/top-chef-judging-the-judging/">producers and the network have input</a> on which contestants get eliminated. And I don’t mind that Bachelor <a href="https://www.vox.com/reset/2020/2/24/21145335/the-bachelor-instagram-social-media-influencers-money">contestants are in it more</a> for growing their Instagram presences than they are at finding true love.
Perhaps that’s why when actual reality intrudes on the world of these shows, it feels so alien.
Over the past two months, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has morphed from a <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Plandid">plandid</a> look at very rich women bickering about petty things — previous tiffs have included being late to a meetup and the adoption and return of a dog named Lucy Lucy Applejuicey — into a show centered more and more on one woman’s too-desperate performance to prove her innocence.
The change in tone is the outcome of legal actions taken against Erika Girardi and her husband Tom — chief among them a lawsuit accusing the Real Housewife of using a phony divorce to hide millions of dollars that her ex-husband allegedly embezzled from his clients.
Instead of avoiding the cameras as she undergoes her divorce and other legal woes, Erika (also known by her stage name, Erika Jayne) filmed multiple episodes this season in which decisions, hearings, and news reports break in real time. Her cast mates — who the show claims are her very best friends — appear to have been repeatedly blindsided on camera by these events.
While no one on the show says it out loud, Bravo experts and Housewives watchers alike posit that Erika has sought legal counsel as to what to say on the show to not do further damage. Her appearances this season have become peculiar, suddenly asking both cast mates and the audience to forget everything she’s shown us about her fabulous life over the past six years. It’s likely why her behavior this season resembles a community theater’s enthusiastic revival of The Glass Menagerie.
It’s reality, bursting through the layers of TV production and legal artifice. And I cannot stop watching.
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<figcaption>Erika Girardi in 2019, also ostensibly in very expensive hair and makeup.</figcaption>
<cite>Arturo Holmes/WireImage</cite></figure>
For practical purposes, Erika Girardi is one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, a show that’s part of the Real Housewives franchise. Girardi has been on the show since 2015. Like all Housewives, however, to get picked up by the Bravo network, Girardi has a larger-than-life story that warrants cameras following her around.
Away from Real Housewives, Erika is a part-time pop star who goes by the name Erika Jayne. Her songs “Pretty Mess,” “How Many F**ks,” “Xxpen$ive,” and their ilk have garnered top spots on <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/erika-jayne/chart-history/DSI">Billboard’s Dance Club and Hot Dance charts</a>. A lot of Erika Jayne’s recent success — <a href="https://www.broadway.com/buzz/198479/watch-chicago-star-erika-jaynes-jazzy-performance-of-roxie/">she appeared on Broadwa</a>y as Roxie Hart in Chicago right before the pandemic shutdown began in 2020 — coincides with her immense popularity as a Housewife. Both her sold-out concerts and her famed $40,000-per-month hair and makeup team were featured on the show.
Her music career, Erika has said in interviews, was spurred by her marriage to the very wealthy and, until recently, very successful attorney Tom Girardi, whom she wed in 2000. The pair met when the future pop star was working as a <a href="https://people.com/tv/erika-jayne-tom-girardi-marriage-timeline-photos/">cocktail waitress</a>; she was 27, he was 60.
“I was living Tom’s life,” <a href="https://people.com/tv/rhobh-erika-girardi-painful-past-wealthy-coma/">Girardi told People in 2018</a>. “There are only so many material things you can have before it becomes boring. There are only so many dinners, so many things you can buy. I was complacent. I was in a wealthy coma and I wasn’t looking inward.”
Tom Girardi was the trial lawyer in the 1993 case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company of California, a case that would go on to inspire the movie Erin Brockovich. (Girardi has said he was depicted in the film by <a href="https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/tom-girardi">actor Peter Coyote</a>.) Girardi also helped families of the victims of the <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/trial-lawyer-who-won-millions-for-737-max-crash-victims-accused-of-mishandling-money/">October 2018 Boeing 737 Lion Air</a> crash reach a settlement with Boeing. He co-founded the law firm Girardi & Keese in 1965.
Part of what made Erika a fan-favorite housewife was how she unapologetically lived the life of a “trophy wife” to a man 33 years her senior. In her six years on the show, Erika never shied away from talking about their age gap, his wealth, the things he’s bought for her, the sex they have, the money she spends on her career, and others’ preconceived notions about her being a “<a href="https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2015/12/rhobh-erika-girardi-denies-gold-digger-older-rich-husband-debut/">gold digger</a>,” or someone who married for money.
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Erika’s unapologetically lavish, intensely photographed life was one of the big reasons her divorce from Tom in November 2020 was a shock to fans. And it’s why the subsequent lawsuit, filed in December 2020, in which Tom’s former clients accuse both Girardis of cheating them out of their settlement money, has become national news.
On December 2, 2020, the class-action firm Edelson PC filed a lawsuit against Tom and Erika for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from the victims of the Lion Air crash. The Los Angeles Times reported <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-17/tom-girardi-erika-jayne-rhobh-divorce">that same month</a> a pattern of Tom’s clients not seeing their settlement money and Tom borrowing against high interest, and then not paying back his creditors. According to the new lawsuit, Tom was using that money to fund their lifestyle and, further, that the divorce was actually a strategic move to hide Tom’s assets.
“While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month, on information and belief, that ‘divorce’ is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom’s and Erika’s money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK,” <a href="https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/292/78143/Edelson-Girardi-complaint.pdf">the lawsuit states</a>, accusing Tom of funneling money into Erika’s company.
“This would not be the first attempt by Tom to hide and divert assets” the lawsuit adds. It explains that Erika’s company, EJ Global (also named in the suit), likely violated the California Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act by allegedly receiving tens of millions in “loans” directly from GK. Tom, it notes, is the sole equity shareholder of his law firm.
That <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-14/judge-freezes-assets-lawyer-tom-girardi-cites-millions-unpaid-to-clients">same month</a>, a judge froze Tom Girardi’s assets, and any assets owned jointly by the couple, and referred Tom to the US attorney’s office for investigation. At that hearing, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-14/judge-freezes-assets-lawyer-tom-girardi-cites-millions-unpaid-to-clients">the LA Times</a> reported, two attorneys representing Tom said that Tom — who until recently had reportedly been spending <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0tr3OQve98">nearly half a million dollars a year</a> on Erika’s hair and makeup — did not have $2 million on hand to pay back his clients. In January 2021, a US bankruptcy judge placed Tom and his law firm into <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/girardi-bankruptcy/girardi-firm-forced-into-chapter-7-liquidation-as-judge-weighs-appointing-guardian-idUSL1N2JP3BL">Chapter 7 bankruptcy</a>. Tom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in February, but the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-12/california-bar-cast-doubts-on-tom-girardis-alzheimers-diagnosis-suggests-charges-coming">California State Bar challenged</a> that diagnosis, stating that it came as Tom was “enmeshed in mounting legal troubles and as he is facing imminent State Bar discipline.” The diagnosis and ensuing conservatorship would, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-12/california-bar-cast-doubts-on-tom-girardis-alzheimers-diagnosis-suggests-charges-coming">the Times reported</a>, “impede [the Bar’s] ability to prosecute him.”
This past June, Hulu released an ABC News documentary about the Girardis and their lawsuit called <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.hulu.com/series/the-housewife-and-the-hustler-4976b6a6-f055-449e-a260-17a80c5b3c62\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22384895__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.hulu.com/series/the-housewife-and-the-hustler-4976b6a6-f055-449e-a260-17a80c5b3c62","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime","xcust":"___vx__p_22384895__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fseries%2Fthe-housewife-and-the-hustler-4976b6a6-f055-449e-a260-17a80c5b3c62&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2021%2F8%2F12%2F22620854%2Frhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Housewife and The Hustler</a>. It features interviews with the victims involved in the lawsuit and details how extensive these accusations are.
All these legal battles boil down to a few things with regards to Erika: Did she know about the embezzlement? Was she a party to maneuvering money away from victims, as the lawsuit contends? And how much of Erika’s extravagant lifestyle and music career was funded by settlement money?
This is far from the first time a Real Housewife has been embroiled in legal drama. <a href="https://people.com/tv/real-housewives-teresa-giudice-and-joe-giudice-fraud-charges-photos/">Teresa Giudice of New Jersey and her husband Joe were sentenced to jail</a> for fraud during the run of the show in 2015, while Erika’s fellow cast mate <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/real-housewives-legal-troubles-through-the-years/">Dorit Kemsley was accused</a> of owing money to her ex-business partner in 2018. (The lawsuit against Kemsley was eventually dropped.)
Usually, however, these events occur behind closed doors and are, at most, narrated for the audience by cast member talking heads. It’s a combination of Bravo’s lucky timing and Erika’s willingness to be filmed that so much of this scandal, which occurred during production last fall, has played out on the show this season. (It should be noted that New York’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13iKw5gHwB4">Luann de Lesseps’s arrest</a> and threatening of an officer was caught on a police camera and Salt Lake City’s Jen Shah was <a href="https://people.com/tv/real-housewives-star-jen-shah-accused-orchestrating-telemarketing-scheme/">arrested on fraud charges</a> while filming the upcoming season of the show.)
It’s turned this 11th season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills into something that resembles a true crime documentary.
Understanding how people watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or any iteration of Housewives is key: Fans are fully aware of the fiction involved. It’s also why this lawsuit has really turned this season into something different.
Regular viewers know that the women on Bravo’s shows aren’t exactly friends as much as they are contracted players on a television show whose premise is that they are friends. The cast members probably wouldn’t go on lavish vacations with their co-stars under normal circumstances. The phone calls between the women are always on FaceTime or speakerphone so they can be recorded. The lunch dates they go on are predetermined and cleared ahead of time.
“We’ve all accepted these things as part of the deal,” Gibson Johns, host and producer of the pop culture interview podcast <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-should-talk/id1534157035">We Should Talk</a>, told me. Johns frequently hosts Housewives on his podcast.
Johns explained to me that while there are elements of the show that aren’t “real” and that the show creates scenarios (vacations, coffees, parties, dinners, etc.) for these women to interact, how the women act in those contrived situations is what fans want. Fans love melodrama, catchphrases, and fights. And, granted, cast members on the show are aware that it’s in their best interest to calibrate their reactions to deliver the best television.
What makes this season so different is that the very serious lawsuit, Johns says, has affected how Erika, who is presumably under legal guidance not to implicate herself while on television, presents herself on the show. It is in her best interest not just to appear not guilty but to actively come across as innocent as possible.
The ninth episode this season has Erika and cast mate Kyle Richards meeting for a chat, which culminates with Erika talking about her divorce and a rough relationship that the cameras following Erika for six years ostensibly did not capture. Erika also explains that people have turned on her because of the divorce.
With Kyle watching, Erika begins crying, tears of not-waterproof mascara streaming down her face. It’s a moment that’s been <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/lifestyle/3322624/rhobh-erika-jayne-real-emotoion-crying-friends-abandoning-lawsuit/">scrutinized</a> by <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/real-housewives-of-beverly-hills-recap-season-11-episode-9.html">viewers</a> and even <a href="https://allaboutthetea.com/2021/07/19/lisa-rinna-goes-after-camille-grammer-for-shading-erika-jayne-youre-still-an-ahole/">former Housewives</a> for being overtly faked — even more so than what’s usually tolerated on the show.
“The viewing experience now has an extra level of deciphering,” Johns told me, explaining the social commentary that follows every episode. “Like, what elements of this are really real? What elements of this are being put on? What elements of this are a PR person in one ear and a lawyer in the other?”
Essentially, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills now has a true crime element to it. Fans pore over every single moment Erika appears in for any clues about Tom’s lawsuit and how much she did or didn’t know about his alleged embezzling. Every episode feels like a piece in the “did she or didn’t she” puzzle, and each one feels like it’ll bring fans closer to the truth.
This mystery — and the other Housewives’ reactions to its unfolding — makes for great television.
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<aside><q>“When it’s just it’s an unhinged human moment — to me that is what makes a good season”</q></aside>
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“Like when the Housewives don’t know how to react to something that’s happening, and it feels like completely off script from what they’re used to. When it’s just it’s an unhinged human moment — to me that is what makes a good season,” said Carey O’Donnell, a TV writer and co-host of the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sexy-unique-podcast/id1199768588">Sexy Unique Podcast</a>.
O’Donnell pointed out that the show has been good for other reasons this season, too, bolstering its cast with newcomers like Crystal Kung Minkoff, Kathy Hilton, and Sutton Stracke.
But what O’Donnell loves is watching these newbies and established cast members adapt and react in real time to the unpredictability of Erika’s news and her actions. O’Donnell says watching Erika “feels like sci-fi” this season and that in some moments she’s channeling vintage actresses (think: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane) and slipping in and out of accents in peculiar ways.
“You’re watching a group of performers who are in on this ruse that we’re also in on, and we know everything they’re doing is a little fake. But now this other performer that they thought was on the same page is acting in a performance that they didn’t know about,” O’Donnell told me. “You almost feel like they’re looking off camera and are asking, like, what pages of the script is this on?”
I’m not sure if there is a script for how to act when your coworker is accused of being an accomplice to embezzlement, stealing settlement money from her ex-husband’s plane crash victim clients. What we’re seeing, for the first time in a while, is the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills acting in very real, very unrehearsed ways. It just took a very real lawsuit to make it happen.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime">https://www.vox.com/2021/8/12/22620854/rhobh-erika-jayne-lawsuit-true-crime</a>

vox The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has become a true crime doc

In order to enjoy American reality television, you have to watch with the tacit understanding that the word reality is used ... generously. ...

Climate change worsens extreme weather. A revolution in attribution science proved it.

There’s a cliché that has popped up for years in discussions of climate and weather disasters: You can’t blame any individual event on climate change. Climate is all about trends and statistics, the reasoning goes, so you can’t necessarily draw meaningful conclusions from a single data point, be it a heat wave, a hurricane, or a drought.
But in recent years, climate scientists have been pushing back against this notion: Bolstered with better data and even clearer trends, they’re no longer reluctant to point the finger back at humanity for worsening these calamities. In the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_66ae3f9aaaa1393f96315c237952afdfa963ee5f-1628498475-0-gqNtZGzNAeKjcnBszQoi">latest report</a> from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a team of leading researchers convened by the United Nations presented some of the most robust research that connects the dots. It shows how some greater weather extremes can be traced back to rising average temperatures, which in turn stem from emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from countries and corporations burning fossil fuels.
“On a case-by-case basis, scientists can now quantify the contribution of human influences to the magnitude and probability of many extreme events,” according to the report.
Scientists are not just confident that humans are warming the climate — that much is “unequivocal.” Now they’ve concluded it’s “an established fact” that signals of this warming shine bright in events like the severe heat and torrential rainfall that we’re seeing now, increasing their frequency, severity, or both. That’s why scientists only needed a few days to implicate climate change in recent <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/preliminary-analysis-concludes-pacific-northwest-heat-wave-was-1000-year">Pacific Northwest heat waves</a>, for example.
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<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1628780110_814_13234" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22777254,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gDeYzYKHzNnRqluaM7DUf7SPrQg=/0x0:5421x3614/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ae3eWTQZ8vS_JI0tNNyvqHY0-WU=/0x0:5421x3614/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XMVtTG3B3uWxYE22WjfP3pfwZKA=/0x0:5421x3614/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Rb76W6HrPfO72z1D1fqnNez5Xxo=/0x0:5421x3614/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AsEYTYIfkhC3fKiwCnL_l53zUGs=/0x0:5421x3614/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2sN5XkbKkaeH-WyG2f_HL13xycs=/0x0:5421x3614/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2Z5eGsPz5eN5hERBgMsCiuqi9M8=/0x0:5421x3614/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EVdXqvhXe4O5ucGKJJDLjMtjsqE=/0x0:5421x3614/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c7P2GyGg76KuGWJsXpR7_7hZaE8=/0x0:5421x3614/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5421" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g_gEOVAAtSUMgbxddPWKY7rO8sw=/0x0:5421x3614/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6iglWz-GaVDKXFlq2At7X9-kyIw=/0x0:5421x3614/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GRY9OKH3eaHnT0rgPFTiOJi6Dzo=/0x0:5421x3614/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DACgdXtP8K60EHNAO9y5-SwjElE=/0x0:5421x3614/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PqTkENW822rxlzGoNzl50iwGrY4=/0x0:5421x3614/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K2qse82TikAUzdoDSCZN75ZejuY=/0x0:5421x3614/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IyuDBzkp5BywuojibS_3HqU45pg=/0x0:5421x3614/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jxhz78iGZ7wBk0NeWqjD4vLMeis=/0x0:5421x3614/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8v9VMUk2dJBfndDnScZrhX_sOiQ=/0x0:5421x3614/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bDVjxn5xr1LOqcUrZZ56jPSnI4c=/0x0:5421x3614/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5421x3614):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777254/GettyImages_1233691541_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A man cools off in the Salmon Springs Fountain as record temperatures are recorded in Portland, Oregon, in June.</figcaption>
<cite>Nathan Howard/Getty Images</cite></figure>
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1628780110_3218_13235" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22777255,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ucrqEs3Oi0JT0hexyNzts0omfw8=/0x0:3000x2001/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fgCCjKRfBiipzbnoGvg_cFrVOvM=/0x0:3000x2001/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Yc5mOsyWrTlzG0wP8PnQ8vxzIhc=/0x0:3000x2001/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vAxgzb5xm8bESN3rP32qoh0KW9Q=/0x0:3000x2001/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nCEB8bj9SJSQXW-5azqfG2rEnWo=/0x0:3000x2001/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3a5v3aQyMG7PT63qbOJ9w8clJ-Y=/0x0:3000x2001/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_FFocLfVkbo16JIbaq1luZKMIds=/0x0:3000x2001/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mh4A9cN5WpmuOByopjCJ95fV_D4=/0x0:3000x2001/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/S5XymzuUtD3H3oBITFW0mg9PNmg=/0x0:3000x2001/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_HJ0eFaE6K3QRrbnu4pBFbW8MLY=/0x0:3000x2001/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TFWc6CKKQI-cYQLG9LdCIXZIzmA=/0x0:3000x2001/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HXP76OVFc60u78UY1BlE88WBgcw=/0x0:3000x2001/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XQs9HtsP6OEQVUyDA8KgRM1DbjU=/0x0:3000x2001/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8Lr_J9sF2AlEjyTyrpCx1V4SeAw=/0x0:3000x2001/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4IAjkqF7x6Ol1gOVOFTsJYP-u90=/0x0:3000x2001/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mwcsKlUhbW-arm0NAefngZzVPpQ=/0x0:3000x2001/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hSRV71arolAwJHt0HwQ3Jxf9Iug=/0x0:3000x2001/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7OICjQS6Hdu7r0Ez8MROTl0kIyY=/0x0:3000x2001/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2i-uGc1qP9YRKrQ5IbrE-xu3r7M=/0x0:3000x2001/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2001):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777255/GettyImages_1233691768_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Portland residents fill a cooling center with a capacity of 300 people during the Pacific Northwest heat wave in June.</figcaption>
<cite>Nathan Howard/Getty Images</cite></figure>
</div>
The field of extreme weather attribution has made enormous strides since the last major IPCC assessment in 2013, and it’s one of the most significant components of the new report. “What’s new in this report is that we can now attribute many more changes at the global and regional level to human influence — and better project future changes we will see from different amounts of emissions,” said <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/people/ko-barrett/">Ko Barrett</a>, vice chair of the IPCC and senior adviser for climate at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, during a press conference.
At the same time, the stunning, record-breaking disasters of recent memory have again forced a public discussion about the role of climate change. This year alone, the world has seen extreme fires in <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-wildfires-outpacing-last-fire-season-record/">California</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/11/siberia-fires-russia-climate/">Siberia</a>, <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148682/fire-consumes-large-swaths-of-greece">Greece</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/drone-footage-shows-devastation-after-wildfires-ravage-turkeys-pine-forests-2021-08-09/">Turkey</a>; devastating flooding in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/heavy-rain-sichuan-causes-economic-losses-houses-collapse-state-media-2021-08-09/">China</a> and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-floods-up-to-30-billion-needed-for-recovery-fund/a-58807147">Germany</a>; and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01869-0">heat waves</a> and <a href="https://www.sbsun.com/2021/07/20/record-drought-in-western-u-s-means-elevated-fire-risk-in-southern-california/">record drought</a> across the US West, to name just a few.
The question is not whether these individual events were “caused” by climate change — such disasters arise from a confluence of factors and could still happen even if humans weren’t spewing heat-trapping gases into the sky. The question is: How has human-caused climate change altered their likelihood and their severity?
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a shift in the ways scientists answer that question,” said <a href="https://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/people/faculty/kevin-reed/">Kevin Reed</a>, an associate professor at Stony Brook University who studies climate attribution but was not involved in the IPCC report. Rather than invoking general trends, scientists are now keen to quantify climate change’s role in specific events, and increasingly coming up with estimates while a given disaster is still fresh in people’s minds.
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“Every storm is different because of climate change”</q></aside>
</div>
The revolution in attribution research highlights that climate change is not just a problem for the future; it’s being felt right now. As humanity’s role becomes increasingly clear, it could have far-reaching consequences for how we prepare for the future and for the countries and corporations that will shoulder the blame for climate disasters.
The planet has warmed by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius on average, the first installment of the new IPCC report concludes, and the effects are visible now. The report <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter_11.pdf">dedicates a whole chapter</a> just to attributing elements of extreme weather to humanity’s actions.
Here are some of the findings in how human influence is playing out now:
<ul>
<li>It is “virtually certain” that the frequency and intensity of heat waves has shot up globally since the 1950s due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.</li>
<li>The report says there is “high confidence” that tropical cyclones like hurricanes are dishing out more rainfall due to climate change.</li>
<li>There is “medium confidence” that warming is leading to less water availability over most land areas as it increases evaporation.</li>
<li>Fire weather conditions — hot, dry, windy — have become more probable in some regions, scientists can say with “medium confidence.”</li>
</ul>
“Evidence of observed changes and attribution to human influence has strengthened for several types of extremes ... in particular for extreme precipitation, droughts, tropical cyclones and compound extremes,” including fires, the IPCC report says. Much of this is due to emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil, and gas, but changes in land use and aerosol pollutants play a role as well. And as average global temperatures continue to rise, the magnitude of these impacts will grow.
There are also aspects of extreme weather that don’t exhibit human influence, or haven’t been studied enough to yield conclusions. For example, there does not appear to be a distinct global or regional trend in the number of tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes and typhoons. However, scientists do expect a trend toward higher wind speeds in these storms over the coming century.
Drought is another complicated phenomenon with different mechanisms at play, so it’s hard to make general conclusions about how climate change is influencing them. But scientists have found droughts that overlap with heat waves have become more frequent, and looking ahead, they have “high confidence” that drought will get more frequent and more severe in many parts of the world.
Some scientists have taken this research further by calculating the degree of human influence in specific events, often soon after they occur. The <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/about/">World Weather Attribution</a> initiative, an international research consortium founded in 2014, examined the June 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Within a week, they concluded that the searing heat in the region “<a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/western-north-american-extreme-heat-virtually-impossible-without-human-caused-climate-change/">was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change</a>.”
There are other examples of how scientists have traced the influence of climate change in extreme weather in the past few years:
<ul>
<li>The WWA team looked at <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/30/21039298/40-celsius-australia-fires-2019-heatwave-climate-change">Australia’s massive bushfires</a> in 2020 and found the likelihood of the severe heat, dryness, and winds that fueled the blazes has increased by at least 30 percent.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/siberian-heatwave-of-2020-almost-impossible-without-climate-change/">June 2020 heat wave in Siberia</a>, in which temperatures north of the Arctic Circle topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38°C), was “almost impossible” without climate change.</li>
<li>Since 1900, a storm like 2019’s <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/rapid-attribution-of-the-extreme-rainfall-in-texas-from-tropical-storm-imelda/">Tropical Storm Imelda</a>, which struck Texas with heavy floods, is now 1.6 to 2.6 times more likely and between 9 and 17 percent more intense.</li>
<li>Another research team examined the 2017 record-breaking <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018EF001050">fire season in British Columbia</a>. They determined that climate change increased the likelihood of fire conditions two- to fourfold and expanded the burned area between seven- and 11-fold.</li>
<li>Warming since 1980 increased the record rainfall of <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aabb85">2017’s Hurricane Harvey</a> by about 20 percent.</li>
</ul>
With more disasters looming on the horizon, scientists are preparing to conduct even more assessments and aim to come up with more precise attributions at a faster pace.
When a storm, heat wave, or flood strikes, scientists ask counterfactual questions: What would this event have looked like if humans didn’t change the climate? Or how often would you see an event like this in a world that hadn’t warmed?
There are several reasons scientists are better able to answer these questions now. For one thing, scientists have been able to observe climate change in real time. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have risen from <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2013-state-climate-carbon-dioxide-tops-400-ppmb">400 parts per million in 2013</a> to almost <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/climate-change-emissions.html">420 ppm this year</a>. Computer models of the global climate system have been refined, and the computers themselves have gotten faster.
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“On a case-by-case basis, scientists can now quantify the contribution of human influences to the magnitude and probability of many extreme events”</q></aside>
</div>
“The level of simulation and analysis we can do has improved,” said Reed. “Related to that, we have, in some cases, 10 years more of observations, which means we can build better models.”
The tricky thing is that climate change doesn’t just alter extreme weather — it changes everything. Every sunny day and rainstorm that’s occurring now is happening in a world that’s been warmed up. “Climate change is changing the characteristics of the weather we experience on a day-to-day basis,” Reed said. “Every storm is different because of climate change, because the underlying states are different.”
So to figure out how climate change has influenced a given disaster, scientists have to compare it to a baseline without climate change. One way to do this is to look at historical climate records prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, before humans started spewing gargantuan amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. Another way is to construct computer models that show what would have happened if people didn’t emit greenhouse gases.
The difference in the likelihood or severity of the disaster between what’s observed and what’s calculated without human influence tells scientists just how much climate change influenced the event.
The more researchers know about the impacts of climate change, the more prepared people can be — not only to survive heat waves and hurricanes, but also to implement new climate policies and hold the worst contributors accountable for their actions.
For example, when a hurricane sends a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/27/21403161/hurricane-laura-storm-surge-flooding-unsurvivable">storm surge</a> inland, researchers can compare the flooding to the expected flood levels in a world where warming had not occurred. The First Street Foundation, a nonprofit that studies climate risks, did such an <a href="https://assets.floodiq.com/2018/09/356e013656a6572f9ef3e7deb4868a03-First-Street-Foundation-Research-Methodology.pdf">analysis of the flooding following Hurricane Florence’s landfall</a> in the Carolinas in 2018. They found that sea level rise since the 1980s flooded over 11,000 additional homes than would have been inundated if water levels held steady. Findings like this could help planners identify new climate risks and prepare for them.
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1628780110_2787_13236" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22777243,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VDZrz42XXsYcDsrLJfexBTs526g=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-If5b3a7a9UZxKqS60Mln0z0dCI=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uAafhGXaKcctcrFT-KSGsPx6iaU=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NwqGy2Yl2wRbYp8WZkbehs_5nWY=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MlWzhBE5rH27YD7U2JSui5DLCTw=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MnNIxClFNjIQn5nkJkO-mSXvF9E=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PIhF6Oyg0k2xX0bHE-y98792e14=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rhJq8QMzKbEYz550-yJTg-NHP18=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WfeA7rVzhpoA5LfRv6mJAIkAgU4=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xdw4qplgTwHR6FWQe2jXmBTdVTk=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-USsXLaWOdoND1s9lmcDo8rmxs8=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KlCA-7wfw0FkRCYP-x4gxU9nsk4=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZAN1LTwTU6mAxQfkdf4bXAy7yew=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZuctyZlmLIrfPbLrWjbrKbMmauk=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zEvIm81r50vvVyc2yvhInVXhXfw=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/52GFLndIB_ibR-In7zAJhvpuXns=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DDWzXO4vF-xKDK4H8l7uLNJXvRc=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/62E3zQ2SWs4eFSOvs92G0-tK0-k=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gLNS1pDki8N8Vg2E2HLRzmoYM8c=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22777243/GettyImages_1038052248_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Floodwater are surveyed after Hurricane Florence hit Bergaw, North Carolina, in September 2018.</figcaption>
<cite>Callaghan O’Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite></figure>
</div>
Extreme weather attribution could also play a role in lawsuits. “As confidence levels grow in the findings that scientists are making, it’s quite possible that it will have legal implications in the courtroom and elsewhere,” said <a href="https://climate.law.columbia.edu/directory/michael-burger">Michael Burger</a>, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. “That’s the sort of scientific conclusion that can have direct impacts on the outcome of litigation.”
There’s already a wave of <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/2/22/17140166/climate-change-lawsuit-exxon-juliana-liability-kids">climate change litigation</a> in the US and in several other countries. Some cities have filed suit against oil companies for selling products that contribute to climate change while misleading the public about their harms. Several groups of youth activists are making the case that governments are not doing an adequate job of protecting against worsening climate change, thereby depriving them of a safe climate.
Will the improvements in extreme weather attribution help plaintiffs win these lawsuits? It’s not clear yet. “We haven’t really seen a battle of the experts in the courtroom as to whether an individual event can be attributed to climate change, and if so, what the legal repercussions of that would be,” Burger said.
On the other hand, the limiting factor in these lawsuits may not be the science but the law itself. For the most part, courts in the US have largely <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/6/26/17505800/san-francisco-oakland-climate-change-lawsuit">accepted the fundamentals of climate change</a> and the conclusions of the IPCC in particular. The main hang-ups in many cases are whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue, and whether courts are actually the proper venue for directing climate policy. Some courts that have agreed <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/1/17/21070810/climate-change-lawsuit-juliana-vs-us-our-childrens-trust-9th-circuit">climate change is an urgent threat</a> say entirely new laws are needed to properly limit emissions.
But it doesn’t take a judge to rule on what the science now clearly shows. When it comes to climate change and the ensuing turmoil, humanity is guilty as hell.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22616968/ipcc-climate-change-report-attribution-extreme-weather-heat-fire">https://www.vox.com/22616968/ipcc-climate-change-report-attribution-extreme-weather-heat-fire</a>

vox Climate change worsens extreme weather. A revolution in attribution science proved it.

There’s a cliché that has popped up for years in discussions of climate and weather disasters: You can’t blame any individual event on clima...

American motherhood vs. the American work ethic

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4kGNKtqAZQOARULcjcJVO6qlBRY=/0x83:3000x1654/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22776888/Supporting_Mothers_Final_Kondrich__1_.jpg" /></div>
Melissa Danowski, an appellate attorney in New York state, is a feminist. She and her husband have two young sons and have usually divided household and child care responsibilities equally. But when the pandemic came and shuttered schools and child care services, Danowski’s feminist ideals smashed into reality. Like women across industries and regardless of experience and position, she makes less money than her husband. So as many Americans did at the time, her family made a simple economic calculation: She had to take care of the kids.
The only way Danowski could meet the strict court deadlines for her job was by regularly working on weekends and through the night after her kids went to sleep.
“It meant my own self-care and basic needs — sleep, exercise, downtime — came dead last,” she said. “I usually thrive under pressure, but this translated to frequent meltdowns, panic attacks, and a whole new level of stress I never before experienced.”
She added, “I would rather retake the bar exam for two weeks straight than have to repeat the balancing act I miraculously achieved for months on end last year.”
Danowski is one of millions of working American mothers who had a <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/hgnfs/">similarly hellish experience</a> over the past 17 months. And, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/us/coronavirus-women-essential-workers.html">unlike many,</a> she was fortunate enough to be able to keep her income and to work in the relative safety of her home.
Still, nearly two dozen white-collar women Recode interviewed in recent weeks said working from home during the pandemic stretched them beyond their limits.
Mothers working from home during the pandemic have reported <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/tdf8c/">higher rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness</a> than fathers. Last year, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-crisis-3-million-women-labor-force/">3 million women dropped out of the workforce</a> — and 1.6 million of them still have not returned. That means companies have lost employees with valuable perspectives that have been proven to <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-workplace/">make companies more innovative and profitable</a>. It also shrinks the talent pool for companies who are <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/tech-talent-gap-survey-0816\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22369653__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/tech-talent-gap-survey-0816","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote","xcust":"___vx__p_22369653__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.monster.com%2Fcareer-advice%2Farticle%2Ftech-talent-gap-survey-0816&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F22605612%2Fworking-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">desperately seeking workers</a>.
That all creates an unfolding crisis, not only for women and their families, but for society and the economy as a whole. And the root cause of this crisis long preceded the pandemic: The expectations for the American worker and the American parent are inherently contradictory — and something’s got to give. What happens next may significantly shape what the future of work is like for millions of Americans.
“It’s so in everyone’s face right now, because you’re on Zoom calls and you see kids in the background because your coworker has caregiving responsibilities,” Jasmine Tucker, director of research at the women’s advocacy group National Women’s Law Center, said. “If this pandemic hasn’t laid bare that this is a real problem that needs to be addressed, then when is it going to be more clear?”
The paradigm of the ideal worker who’s completely available for work is predicated on the notion that someone else (typically a female spouse) will take care of child care and domestic labor.
“The ideal worker norm tells you that you have to be dedicated to your job 24-7, you have to have your cell phone with you at all times, you have to be constantly available for email, you have to be ready to drop everything to finish that report. Essentially, you’re supposed to be dedicating your whole life to your work,” <a href="http://www.jessicacalarco.com/">Jessica Calarco</a>, an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University, told Recode. “Simultaneously, the ideal motherhood norm tells mothers that they are supposed to be dedicating their entire lives to their children, that they’re supposed to be willing to drop everything to meet their kids’ needs and to make sure that their kids’ well-being is put before all other things.”
These expectations have only intensified over time. In the past several decades, highly educated and highly paid workers have been <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w11895/w11895.pdf">putting in even more hours</a>. That’s especially insidious in America, where <a href="https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm">people already work more hours</a> than in most other industrialized nations. The pandemic, again, made an already untenable situation even worse. Americans working from home put in somewhere between <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/remote-work-longer-days/">an extra hour</a> to an <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-pandemic-has-exposed-the-fallacy-of-the-ideal-worker">extra three hours</a> of work per day last spring.
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“I would rather retake the bar exam for two weeks straight than have to repeat the balancing act I miraculously achieved for months on end last year”</q></aside>
</div>
“I always need to be available for my team, clients, and also reporters, in addition to the day-to-day work that needs to be done,” Lauren Perry, a vice president at a PR agency who’s based in Massachusetts and who has a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old, said. To keep up, she multitasks and misses sleep.
Her mother’s generation had it different, she says.
“I see a really stark difference in how we work from simply looking at the number of hours,” Perry said. “While she limited her work to fit only within the hours her kids didn’t need her, I am constantly working and even looking for more time to give to my career.”
Overwork, which can be defined as working 50 or more hours per week, has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0003122414528936">contributed to maintaining the pay gap between men and women</a>, despite women having achieved higher levels of education.
“When you zoom out to think about who can actually do that, who’s best poised to live up to that ideal in a way that would reward them in the workplace, it’s men,” Caitlyn Collins, an assistant professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13324.html">Making Motherhood Work</a>, told Recode. They’re more likely to be able to devote their time to work rather than child care, and are compensated by their jobs accordingly.
And because many women in heterosexual partnerships are making less money, that often pushed them to <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/hgnfs/">take on an even larger portion of child care and housework</a> than they already disproportionately shouldered.
“I felt like I had to be in a million different places at once: preschool on Zoom, my own Zoom meetings, and taking care of household duties,” Michelle Pietsch, a vice president of revenue at a software company and a mother of two toddlers in Boston, said. “There was no escape.”
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“There is a whole term for what happens to women as they become mothers, and ‘the mommy track’ isn’t a compliment”</q></aside>
</div>
That hasn’t stopped many working women from trying even harder.
“There is a whole term for what happens to women as they become mothers, and ‘the mommy track’ isn’t a compliment,” Martha Shaughnessy, a founder of a PR agency and a mother with two young children based in San Francisco, said. “Knowing there’s a pejorative term for what a male-dominated workforce thinks of working moms leads to pressure to be better and do more than male or non-mother peers.”
Working from home and work-from-home technology have been a <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22568635/women-remote-work-home">double-edged sword</a> for working mothers: It gives women the opportunity to actually do their outsized share of labor.
“While there’s no expectation for me to be responding to emails at all hours, I often feel the need personally to ‘get ahead’ or respond to colleagues in other geographies through email response in the evening after my kids are asleep,” Brenna Fitzgerald, a vice president of corporate communications in Boston and a mother to a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, said. “It was a constant struggle to navigate trying to excel at work, take the best care of my children, be a partner to my husband, and clean up the hundreds of toys (and Legos, so many Legos) that were used each day.”
Parenting has also become <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/parents-time-with-kids">more intense</a> in recent decades, with mothers <a href="https://qz.com/1143092/study-modern-parents-spend-more-time-with-their-kids-than-their-parents-spent-with-them/">spending an extra hour each day</a> with their kids than mothers did back in the 1960s.
Indiana University’s Calarco said mothers’ increasing attentiveness to their children stems from a cultural backlash to women’s growing prominence in the workforce, beginning in the 1990s.
“If you have women in the workforce in large numbers, they begin to be able to compete with men for positions and top jobs,” Calarco explained. “So if men want to maintain power and status in society, they have an interest in telling women to go back home.”
What ensued was societal messaging that glorified motherhood — the more involved, the better. During the pandemic, research showed <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23780231211013128">Americans have shifted toward a more conservative view on women</a>: They are increasingly likely to say mothers should parent young children and stay at home. The same study also found, confusingly, that people increasingly think mothers should make money.
“Amongst middle-class families there’s this assumption that parenting should be very intensive — time-intensive, as well as emotionally intense and financially intense,” Washington University’s Collins told Recode. (She added that unrealistic portrayals of motherhood on social media are also partly to blame.)
Whatever the reason, women are expected to schedule almost every minute of their children’s lives.
“When I was younger it was okay, and even expected, to just send your kids outside to roam the neighborhoods with friends and come home for dinner,” Whitney Hoffman-Bennett, a vice president of talent at a marketing platform in Atlanta and a mother of three, said. “Now parents are judged for this type of behavior.”
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“It’s no wonder parents are burnt out, when some parents feel an expectation to work like they don’t have children and parent like they don’t have a job”</q></aside>
</div>
She added, “It’s no wonder parents are burnt out, when some parents feel an expectation to work like they don’t have children, and parent like they don’t have a job.”
Several of the mothers Recode interviewed described guilt when their need to work interfered with their need to parent.
“When I felt okay about my workload, I felt guilty that I wasn’t having meaningful face time with my daughter,” Amanda Reed, an account supervisor in Austin, Texas, and a mother of a 4-year-old and a 9-month-old, said. “When she and I would have a good day, I was hyperaware of the work that I was procrastinating on, or worried that I wasn’t meeting expectations at work.”
Despite all the extra labor, most of the women we spoke to said the best part of working from home during the pandemic was the extra time they got to spend with their children.
But Calarco sees that viewpoint as a salve for a situation that’s not quite fair.
“When you’re in a tough position, when you’re forced to make a choice that isn’t ideal, oftentimes, you’ll find a silver lining and you’ll find a thing to look to that allows you to feel good about that choice,” Calarco said.
“Because we have these cultural norms that tell women that they should be at home with their kids, it’s easy for them to turn to those norms and say, ‘Hey, look, I got to fulfill the norm, I got to do this thing that society has told me I’m supposed to be doing, to be there for my kid.’”
Most of the women Recode spoke with said the pressure to be good workers and good parents was self-enforced. However, it’s also true that most insidious power structures can be difficult to isolate from personal preference.
“Americans don’t want to think that anyone is influencing them to do anything. That’s deeply problematic, because first of all, it’s not true,” Collins said. “Second of all, when women think that they are only putting pressure on themselves, and then they can’t live up to those expectations, they blame themselves.”
She added, “In fact, the cards are stacked against them. They’re operating within a system that is not set up to support them.”
Cultural norms don’t exist in a vacuum. And you can’t just wish them away.
Changing the unfair situation for working mothers in American requires structural change that’s so far happened very slowly. It means paying women the same as men, so that their careers don’t come second practically by default. It also requires valuing child care more in the first place. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/21432940/child-care-bailout-covid-economy-work-parents-great-rebuild">future of the economy hinges on child care</a>, and yet we pay child care workers — who are mostly women — less than $11 an hour.
The child care system in America is also overextended and can be prohibitively expensive, so it also needs to become more available and affordable. Millions of Americans live in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/25/22345214/child-care-covid-19-daycare-american-rescue-plan">child care “deserts”</a> where the number of kids exceeds the number of slots available to care for them.
”It really isn’t possible to have a full-time, busy career and also take care of your children full-time,” Fitzgerald said. “Child care was really the only thing that made my situation better.”
Experts told Recode one of the core solutions to the crisis the US is facing would be to offer universal, high-quality child care starting for kids at a very young age.
The Biden administration is working on it.
Its <a href="https://www.vox.com/22310269/third-stimulus-update-2021-package">American Rescue Plan</a>, which was signed into law in March, set aside $40 billion to help bail out the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/25/22345214/child-care-covid-19-daycare-american-rescue-plan">struggling child care industry</a>. The plan also gives parents a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22543868/biden-child-tax-credit-july-15-monthly-payment">child tax credit</a> of up to $300 a month per child — not enough to pay for full-time child care, but certainly helpful — and advocacy groups are hoping <a href="https://www.careforallchildren.org/">that benefit will continue indefinitely</a>.
Biden’s American Families Plan could extend that benefit and go further, but the plan still needs to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22577374/reconciliation-bill-biden-medicare-climate">make it through Congress</a>. It would create universal free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds and make child care more affordable for people with low incomes. The plan would also create a national paid family leave, which would give mothers and fathers more time off to care for their babies. Collins says it’s important that paid leave cover a high portion of people’s pay so that they’re more likely to take it.
<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“If we want women to come back to the labor force, then we’re going to have to make it so that they can afford to do so”</q></aside>
</div>
As National Women’s Law Center’s Tucker put it, “If we want women to come back to the labor force, then we’re going to have to make it so that they can afford to do so.”
As for making work more hospitable for working mothers, many are advocating for remote work and flexible schedules to continue being an option when the pandemic is eventually over.
Flexible work schedules, where women can duck out in the middle of the day to pick up a sick kid or get some chores done, aren’t a panacea, but they are a way to help women balance their conflicting demands. Women have long clamored for the ability to work from home and are more likely than men to <a data-cdata="{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/men-women-experience-remote-work-survey/?utm_source=cj\u0026utm_medium=Skimlinks\u0026utm_campaign=affiliates\u0026cjevent=2c011939eedd11eb825c69610a82b832\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22369653__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/men-women-experience-remote-work-survey/?utm_source=cj\u0026utm_medium=Skimlinks\u0026utm_campaign=affiliates\u0026cjevent=2c011939eedd11eb825c69610a82b832","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote","xcust":"___vx__p_22369653__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}" has-subtag="true" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexjobs.com%2Fblog%2Fpost%2Fmen-women-experience-remote-work-survey%2F%3Futm_source%3Dcj%26utm_medium%3DSkimlinks%26utm_campaign%3Daffiliates%26cjevent%3D2c011939eedd11eb825c69610a82b832&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F22605612%2Fworking-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">want the privilege</a>. More flexibility, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22568452/work-workweek-five-day-four-jobs-pandemic">reduced working hours</a>, and more paid time off are the <a href="https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/new-world-of-work-flexibility/">top benefits</a> that people who voluntarily left the workforce said would make them return, according to a <a href="https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/new-world-of-work-flexibility/">new study</a> by Qualtrics, a company that surveys employees.
And there are hopeful signs that at least some companies are taking these issues seriously.
Elise Freedman, workforce transformation leader at management consulting firm Korn Ferry, says the “vast majority” of Fortune 1000 companies have put programs in place to help them retain and attract their female employees.
“There’s been a lot of research that talks about diversity in general, but even specifically women in leadership roles, and how that can [positively] impact culture and financial results,” she said. “So organizations are very focused on that.”
For now, mothers are dependent on a fraught child care system and work culture and policies that are often stacked against them.
“I really hoped that the silver lining was coming, that there would be some more structural change,” Danowski said. “I’m not really seeing that.” She does, however, take solace in the next generation.
“Their values are just different: they are the ones that leave the office a little after five, they don’t stay late, they are better at setting boundaries. I see the men taking paternity leave,” she said. “So I’m hopeful there’s some attitude changes, that people have just had enough.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote">https://www.vox.com/recode/22605612/working-mothers-pandemic-childcare-ideal-parent-worker-remote</a>

vox American motherhood vs. the American work ethic

Melissa Danowski, an appellate attorney in New York state, is a feminist. She and her husband have two young sons and have usually divided ...

UK Police To Review Sex Abuse Allegations Against Prince Andrew

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="UK Police To Review Sex Abuse Allegations Against Prince Andrew" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2020-07/adrrqvc_prince-andrew-afp_625x300_03_July_20.jpg" title="UK Police To Review Sex Abuse Allegations Against Prince Andrew" /></div>
Police said they had decided not to open an investigation into allegations involving Epstein (File)
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London:
Britain's most senior police officer on Thursday said detectives will re-examine allegations against Prince Andrew due to the US civil suit against him for alleged sexual abuse.
Cressida Dick, the head of London's Metropolitan Police, said the force would review the claims, after previously opting not to open an investigation.
Virginia Giuffre on Monday filed a claim in New York, alleging the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein regularly abused her and lent her out to "powerful men" for sex.
She alleged the Duke of York sexually abused her at the London home of the convicted sex offender's associate Ghislaine Maxwell when she was under 18 over 20 years ago.
Dick told LBC radio: "As a result of what is going on, I've asked my team to have another look at the material. No one is above the law."
"We will of course again review our position."
Andrew -- Queen Elizabeth II's second son -- has yet to publicly comment on the lawsuit but has previously strongly denied having sex with Giuffre or even meeting her.
Dick explained that the police had decided not to open an investigation into the allegations involving Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019.
"We have had more than one allegation that is connected with Mr Epstein and we have reviewed those, assessed those and we have not opened an investigation.
"I am clear that that was -- and it's been reviewed twice -- the right decision," she added.
British police were "of course open to working with authorities from overseas, we will give them every assistance if they ask us for anything," she added.
The longstanding allegations threaten to damage the British royal family, the country's most famous institution headed by the Queen, who is now aged 95.
The Times on Thursday quoted an unnamed source close to Andrew's brother, Prince Charles, as saying the heir to the throne views it as impossible for Andrew ever to return to public life because the accusation "raises its head with hideous regularity".
Andrew, 61, a divorced father of two and a former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who fought in the 1982 Falklands War, was forced to step back from frontline royal duties in late 2019 after defending his friendship with Epstein on TV.
The prince travelled this week to the Queen's Balmoral residence in northeast Scotland shortly after the US claim was filed, accompanied by his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-police-to-review-sex-abuse-allegations-against-prince-andrew-2508880">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uk-police-to-review-sex-abuse-allegations-against-prince-andrew-2508880</a>

news world UK Police To Review Sex Abuse Allegations Against Prince Andrew

Police said they had decided not to open an investigation into allegations involving Epstein (File) London: Britain's most senior p...

Israel Requires COVID-19 Tests For Children 3 And Above From Next Week

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Israel Requires COVID-19 Tests For Children 3 And Above From Next Week" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-04/df4f0644_israel-covid_625x300_20_April_21.jpg" title="Israel Requires COVID-19 Tests For Children 3 And Above From Next Week" /></div>
Coronavirus: Israel has already started offering booster vaccination shots amid global criticism.(File)
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Jerusalem:
Israel is to require Covid tests from next week for children as young as three to enter schools, swimming pools, hotels or gyms as infections surge despite extensive adult vaccinations.
Israel already required children aged 12 and over to show a Green Pass re-introduced late last month showing a person's vaccination and testing status and whether they had recovered from Covid.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said from next Wednesday the state would fund unlimited tests for children aged three to 11.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said it had opened 120 rapid antigen testing centres nationwide.
Screening at these stations costs 52 shekels (around 17 euros) and allows those tested to obtain a Green Pass valid for 24 hours.
On Thursday, Bennett announced that Israel was also considering lowering the age limit for its campaign of booster vaccinations, currently offered only to those aged 60 and over.
"I estimate that this evening we will receive approval from the team on dealing with pandemics to vaccinate a lower age bracket with the booster, the third inoculation," the 49-year-old said.
"Therefore, you must prepare to expand the range of ages for the third inoculation next week."
The booster vaccinations offered by Israel and some other countries have drawn criticism from the World Health Organization, which has said the global priority should be providing the standard inoculation to all.
Israel has also announced mandatory quarantine for travellers, vaccinated or not, arriving from most countries of the world beginning Monday.
A country of nine million inhabitants, Israel was one of the first to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign in December, thanks to an agreement with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
The deal gave Israel quick access to millions of shots in exchange for medical data on the vaccine's effects.
The campaign saw infection rates plummet, which allowed Israel to resume an almost normal routine, with schools, bars and concert venues open.
However, the more contagious Delta variant of the virus has driven a rise in cases to levels not seen since February.
The health ministry said Thursday it had recorded 5,946 new cases the previous day.
In total, it has counted 921,083 cases and 6,593 deaths since the pandemic started early last year.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-israel-requires-covid-19-tests-for-children-three-and-above-from-next-week-2508874">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-israel-requires-covid-19-tests-for-children-three-and-above-from-next-week-2508874</a>

news world Israel Requires COVID-19 Tests For Children 3 And Above From Next Week

Coronavirus: Israel has already started offering booster vaccination shots amid global criticism.(File) Jerusalem: Israel is to require...

Pak Pashtuns Rally Against Imran Khan Government, Support Afghanistan: Report

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Pak Pashtuns Rally Against Imran Khan Government, Support Afghanistan: Report" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-03/hpe5co4g_pakistan-pm-imran-khan-brain-fade-moment-viral-video_625x300_05_March_21.jpg" title="Pak Pashtuns Rally Against Imran Khan Government, Support Afghanistan: Report" /></div>
Pashtun leader called on the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government to denounce its support to Afghanistan
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Islamabad:
Pakistan's liberal Pashtuns are raising their voices against the government's attempts to fuel unrest in neighbouring Afghanistan by assisting the Taliban.
The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), an anti-war group, has held massive rallies in several parts of the province in the past few weeks. The PTM has condemned the Taliban and expressed its support for the Afghan government, Thailand's Haiger media reported.
The PTM has also gained ground in the country's northwest areas in recent years. And it had been raising its voices against the government-sponsored terror in the country and nearby.
Pashtuns in the country's northwestern region believe that Pakistan is responsible for Afghanistan's deteriorating condition day by day as Islamabad has been behind the terror group for a long time and now it provides all kinds of assistance to the Taliban.
Most of these ethnic Pashtuns are wary of a never-ending war in their region and blame both the Taliban and Islamabad for the devastation in their areas, Haiger said.
Progressive Pashtuns in the country's northwestern areas are not inclined toward the terror group as they believe that violence can never bring peace.
They recently held a convention in Charsadda, a town in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, Haiger said.
Pashtuns have denounced the Taliban's assaults on Afghan forces and also condemned the US' Doha deal with the Taliban, saying it practically legitimised the terrorist group.
They are also afraid that a terror group's control in the nearby region may impact Pakistan's northwestern region too.
The party has gained ground in the country's northwest areas in recent years. And it had been raising its voices against the government-sponsored terror in the country and nearby.
There have been multiple attempts of targeting Pashtun activists by the government as they speak against Islamabad.
Last week, Awami National Party's (ANP) leader Malik Ubedullah's handcuffed body was found from Balochistan's Pishin district. The body was recovered from the district's Muhajir camp Saranan.
Enforced disappearances of political activists, students and other intellectuals are now common in Balochistan as Pakistani security forces have launched a campaign to silence the dissidents.
Earlier this month, Pashtun leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai had called on the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government to denounce its support to the war in Afghanistan stating that peace in this country is important for regional stability. Achakzai, leader of Pakistan's Awami National Party leader recently said that the world should respect Afghanistan's independence.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pak-pashtuns-raise-voice-against-imran-khan-govt-support-afghanistan-2508833">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pak-pashtuns-raise-voice-against-imran-khan-govt-support-afghanistan-2508833</a>

news world Pak Pashtuns Rally Against Imran Khan Government, Support Afghanistan: Report

Pashtun leader called on the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government to denounce its support to Afghanistan Islamabad: Pakistan's libera...