International
Who is JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee?
James David Vance (Ohio, 1984), who was chosen today by Donald Trump as his vice presidential nominee for the race for the White House, was recently described by the Republican leader as a “young Abraham Lincoln” who even “looks good in a beard.”
The detail, though it may seem insignificant, says a lot in this case about the respect that Trump, who is widely known to detest facial hair, now professes for this emerging figure within the party, who went from experiencing a real personal drama and serving as a marine in the Iraq war to becoming a best-selling author.
Long before becoming a senator for Ohio, JD, as he is popularly known, suffered a childhood exposed to violence, guns and drug use in Middletown, his hometown in that state neighboring Pennsylvania, where former President Trump was shot in his right ear this Saturday.
Their grim reality was that of many white families in declining US manufacturing cities in the 1990s.
His parents’ constant bickering led to a divorce, after which JD would begin to use his mother’s surname Vance instead of his father’s Bowman; and his upbringing would fall under the care of his fierce grandmother, whom he called “Mamaw,” whose teachings shaped the person and politician he is today.
In his small town in the Appalachians, little JD Vance learned that you don’t choose your family, but you have to love it anyway, that Christianity was his salvation, and that if he ever failed, there would always be the 19 pistols that “Mamaw” kept at home.
This heritage of traditional values, and the desire for a change of scenery, motivated him to enlist in the US Marine Corps and serve in the Iraq War (2003).
In 2005, his grandmother passed away and JD understood that his military career was over and he had to focus on his studies in Political Science and Philosophy at Ohio State University, which he graduated cum laude, before moving on to Yale Law School.
Echoes of that “white trash” childhood – a derogatory term used in the country to refer to lower-class and dysfunctional families – resonated once again in JD’s head a decade later, choosing to put aside his buoyant jobs among California law firms and technology companies to write his memoirs.
Titled ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, they were published in 2016 by HarperCollins and were a hit in the publishing industry from the start.
Media such as The New York Times and CNN, where he would soon become a political commentator, enshrined the virtues of a work with such an impact that it made its way into the presidential battle between Trump himself and Democrat Hillary Clinton, and in 2020 it would arrive as a film on Netflix.
“I can’t stand Trump. I’m afraid he’s taking the white working class into a very dark place,” Vance said in an interview with NPR in 2016.
Until then, JD had shown a more moderate and socially-minded profile, even founding an NGO to protect children who are victims of difficult environments like his own, but in recent years he has been shifting towards a conservatism more in line with the MAGA (‘Make America Great Again’) core.
“My uncle just asked me if I was glad I won. If I hadn’t, it would have been another terrible homecoming. In the Vance family , we always pay attention to the important things,” said JD, laughing, upon winning the seat of senator for Ohio in 2022.
Once in office, he publicly apologized to Trump for his 2016 statements, calling them “a mistake.”
He has recently strongly defended Israeli attacks on Gaza and harshly criticized the Biden administration for its economic management.
Father of three children and married to a woman of Appalachian Indian origins, Vance now faces another major life challenge subject to the unpredictable Trump and his way of working in teams, which has made the figure of the vice president a somewhat irrelevant position; see the case of Mike Pence.
“JD is kissing my ass because he needs my support,” said the former president when the vice president – if there is a Republican victory – joined the race for the Senate.
Months later, at a joint event in East Palestine, Ohio, they closed ranks, criticizing Biden for the derailment of a chemical train, and Trump defined JD as “a young star, a great senator and a true fighter” whose bushy beard doesn’t bother him.
International
At least ten dead in Iran in a bus accident in the west of the country
At least ten people lost their lives this Saturday when a passenger bus fell down a ravine on a highway in the province of Lorestan, in western Iran.
“The bus that left Andimeshk (Juzestan province) to Poldokhtar (Lorestan), went off the road and fell into a ravine so unfortunately at least 10 people have died,” announced the executive director of the Red Crescent of the province of Lorestan, Mohammad Ghadami, reported the Tasnim agency.
The official did not give details about the number of injured in the accident and their state of health.
Ghadami said that four rescue teams were sent to the scene of the incident immediately after it was reported at 12:39 local time (9:10 GMT) this Saturday.
Mortality on roads, one of the highest in the world
Traffic accidents are very common in Iran, where the road mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, with an average of 20,000 deaths per year.
Many of the accidents are due to the poor condition of the vehicles and the poor compliance with traffic rules by drivers.
Last August, at least 28 Pakistani pilgrims died when the bus in which they were traveling overturned in central Iran, in an accident that occurred due to a brake failure.
International
Helene, the violent hurricane that destroyed the southeastern United States
Hurricane Helene is one of the extreme climatic events that have starred this 2024 after leaving more than 150 direct deaths and billions of dollars in losses in six states of the southeastern United States, according to preliminary figures.
The deadly Helene, which in the continental United States has only been surpassed by Katrina (2005), ended with more than 150 deaths, at least a hundred in North Carolina, in addition to leaving a path of destruction that reached the mountainous area of that state with special virulence.
After impacting Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula, Helene made landfall on September 26 with winds of 225 kilometers per hour in the Big Bend region of Florida, in the northwest of that state, as the most powerful cyclone in that region since records have been available.
From Florida, where it arrived as a major hurricane, and while it weakened progressively to become a tropical depression, Helene continued on land through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
North Carolina was the one that took the worst part, not only for the number of deaths but for the economic losses, which amount to more than 59.6 billion dollars, according to an update from the state government released this month.
The historic rainfall of up to 76 centimeters caused floods and landslides in this state, which caused serious damage, and long-term, both in homes and in public infrastructure and the agricultural industry.
Million-dollar economic losses
Quantifying at this time the economic losses in all the states impacted by Helene, which generated strong winds and tornadoes, is difficult because there are discrepancies in the damage assessment since it produced “a large-scale disaster,” as Mónica Escaleras, professor of the Department of Economics at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), told EFE.
“The widespread nature of the damage, the diversity of affected sectors and ongoing recovery efforts” are factors that prevent an accurate estimate at present, he added.
Escaleras believes, however, that Helene is a reflection of how in recent years “extreme weather events have become increasingly frequent and intense, altering infrastructure and supply chains.”
A preliminary report from the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Florida (UF/IFAS) estimates that agricultural losses in this southern state due to Helene can range between 40.3 and 162.2 million dollars, after destroying 6.1 million acres (2.4 million hectares) of arable land.
More hurricanes like Helene in the future
A key factor in Helene’s intensity were the high temperatures in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, whose surfaces were at about 29.4 degrees Celsius when the system began to form.
A preliminary study by the World Weather Attribution network of scientists reflected that this temperature is the result of climate change, which made Helene’s effects worse, responsible for example for 10% more rain.
“It is expected that the growing occurrence of these events will generate higher insurance premiums and may lead to the withdrawal of coverage in high-risk areas, which will affect both the real estate and business sectors,” Escaleras said.
This possible future scenario can, on the other hand, affect unprotected communities more, such as the Hispanic one in the United States. The Climate Power organization revealed last week a report that shows that Latino communities have been the great victims of the extreme weather events that occurred in 2024.
The report in question found that many Latino families in western North Carolina live in trailers flooded or destroyed by the storm, and that not mastering English they had obstacles when it came to receiving information about recovery tasks.
Antonieta Cádiz, executive director of the Climate Power In Action campaign, reminded EFE of the case of the workers of a plastics factory in Erwin (Tennessee) who died after a negligence in their evacuation, which was not carried out due to the imminent effects of Helene, employees who were mostly Hispanic.
The above, he said, is a sample of the disproportionate and “deep inequalities” that affect the Hispanic community when it comes to extreme weather events.
International
The piangua, the mangrove mollusk that empowers women in the Colombian Pacific
When the low tide in the Colombian Pacific, a group of women put on rubber boots, take a raft and enter a mangrove forest to collect the piangua, a mollusk that, in addition to providing food to their families, empowers them and gives them a voice in their territory.
They are in the community of La Plata, in the heart of the Uramba-Bahía Málaga National Natural Park, and they have just six hours to work before the sea rises again. Stuck in the mud they sing to liven up their days and regardless of the sun or rain they fill their containers with this mollusk similar to the mussel with which they prepare delicious recipes.
“It is a very important ancestral activity because it allows us to have economic sustainability as women, to be a symbol of resistance to cultural traditions and to take care of our gastronomic traditions,” Matilde Mosquera Murillo, legal representative of the Raíces Piangüeras Association.
Mosquera, 27 years old and a sociologist by profession, took on the challenge of leading that organization created in 2019 and has managed to bring together more than 70 women who are dedicated to this profession in the Community Council of La Plata-Bahía Málaga, where they play a fundamental role in conservation.
“We monitor mangroves, because we know the importance they have in the ecosystem, they are the cradle of thousands of species. We also make every process sustainable so that all the initiatives we lead allow us to take care of nature,” Mosquera insists.
International recognition
Their work already has international recognition and since 2023 they have held the ‘Meeting of Women of the Colombian Pacific’. In the first edition they asked the National Government to advocate before UNESCO to declare the piangüeo as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
“We believe in the need for a political strengthening of women, that our voice is heard and that we are part of the decisions that are made in the country so that we have votes in public policies and that they recognize our ancestral work in the world,” she adds.
The environmental richness of the La Plata archipelago is enormous and its 32 islands and islets are the habitat of 1,396 species of birds, reptiles, mammals and felines, as well as 60 classes of frogs, 25 of lizards and 52 of snakes.
There are also eight species of sharks, 22 rays and 348 of fish that have six types of mangroves as their home: red mangrove, born mangrove, ped mangrove, button or button mangrove, bobo mangle and feeder mangle.
Unity and awareness
According to Santiago Valencia, leader of the Community Council of La Plata-Bahía Málaga, women use a ‘piangüímetro’, a tool that works as a rule that allows them to measure the mollusk when it has already passed its reproductive stage.
“Their organization is as strong as the roots of the mangrove and they even come together to reforest when they see it necessary. This unity has made them look for other alternatives because they see that everything is possible and today they see themselves as what they are: powerful women, businesswomen and nature lovers,” says Valencia.
Currently, women piangüeras work in the search for resources that allow them to access studies to improve and strengthen their processes.
Some of them have already created other ventures for the manufacture of ointments based on medicinal plants from the jungle, ancestral drinks and even think about packing the piangua in a vacuum to export it to other countries.
“When we go to the mangrove we sing as a symbol of power, to express our feelings, it also serves to harmonize our activity and understand that we are important; we will leave this inheritance to our children and it will continue for generations,” concludes Mosquera.
At least ten dead in Iran in a bus accident in the west of the country
Helene, the violent hurricane that destroyed the southeastern United States
The piangua, the mangrove mollusk that empowers women in the Colombian Pacific
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America4 days agoAmnesty International condemns Nicaragua’s unprecedented repression of dissent
-
Sports4 days agoReal Madrid clinches fourth Intercontinental Cup with 3-0 victory over Pachuca
-
Central America4 days agoEl Salvador’s MARN monitors ongoing seismic activity in La Unión department
-
International4 days agoMexico requests extradition of ‘Mini Lic’ for murder of journalist Javier Valdez
-
International3 days agoThe Court of the IADH rules out measures in favor of Gustavo Petro amid investigations into his campaign
-
International4 days agoMexican government to use church atriums for gun surrender program to combat violence
-
International3 days agoTrump links Mike Johnson’s re-election to meeting his budget requirements
-
International3 days agoThe Constitutional Court of Peru annuls the sentence against the leader of Dina Boluarte’s former party
-
International4 days agoCuba’s government stresses openness to serious, respectful U.S. relations
-
International4 days agoBegoña Gómez defends her actions as investigations into her role at Complutense University continue
-
International3 days agoGuterres calls for “avoiding at all costs” the integration of AI into nuclear weapons
-
International4 days agoNASA delays return of two astronauts stranded on ISS until at least March
-
International5 days agoAustrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
-
International5 days agoHomemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
-
International5 days agoColombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
-
International19 hours agoAt least ten dead in Iran in a bus accident in the west of the country
-
International19 hours agoHelene, the violent hurricane that destroyed the southeastern United States
-
International4 days agoUkraine’s security a priority as NATO discusses future of conflict with Russia
-
International4 days agoPatient hospitalized with severe avian flu case in Louisiana, CDC reports
-
International19 hours agoAt least 21 dead and 61 injured after Israel’s last attacks in Gaza
-
International3 days agoAn appeals court disqualifies the prosecutor in the election case against Trump in Georgia
-
International19 hours agoMilei closed about 200 areas of the Public Administration in its first year of Government
-
International19 hours agoThe piangua, the mangrove mollusk that empowers women in the Colombian Pacific
-
International3 days agoThe new French prime minister launches an ultimatum to the moderate parties and the left rejects his offer
-
International19 hours agoNew Syrian leader addresses with the United States the lifting of sanctions for reconstruction
-
International5 days agoEcuador announces debt swap of $1.527 billion to protect Amazon rainforest