How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven

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Updated 12 November 2024
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How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven

How TIME-featured sisters lead conservation efforts in Philippines’ biodiversity haven
  • Ann and Billie Dumaliang were featured in TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders last month
  • In 2024, Philippines was named deadliest country in Asia for environmental defenders for 11th year in a row

MANILA: On the outskirts of Manila, a 2,600-hectare nature reserve has been lauded by top climate activists and film stars after it gained international recognition for one of the largest collaborative reforestation efforts in the Philippines.

Behind the rescue of over 2,000 hectares of that land is sisters Ann and Billie Dumaliang. They have been at the forefront of conserving the biodiversity-rich Masungi Georeserve and nurturing it as a geotourism site, which is home to lush rainforests, 60-million-year-old limestone formations and over 400 species of flora and fauna.

They have become the faces of conservation in the Philippines, a country named in 2024 as the deadliest in Asia for environmental defenders — for the 11th year in a row — with the killings of 17 activists.

The Dumaliang sisters and the nearly 100 rangers at the reserve are no stranger to the deluge of threats that come with their work, which range from physical to legal, and include disinformation and harassment campaigns.

Over the years, rangers at the reserve have been shot at by intruders and were the targets of booby traps and improvised explosives set across the landscape.

But the dangers that come with their conservation efforts have not deterred them from the mission to protect Masungi.

“We’re a small group and a team of young people. All of these groups that we’re up against have unlimited resources … how do we compete with these very powerful and well-resourced interests?” Billie, 31, told Arab News.

The sisters were among the trailblazers featured in TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders last month, recognized for their work protecting Masungi from illegal loggers, land grabbers and quarrying companies.

Billie says TIME’s “empowering” recognition was a “symbol” that the international community has been paying attention to their team’s work and the challenges they face.

“A lot of times when you don’t have enough support at home, if your organization is repressed or harassed, sometimes it’s really the international community that provides the much-needed support,” Billie said.

The Dumaliang sisters help manage the Masungi Georeserve Foundation, which they founded in 2015 to lead and strengthen conservation efforts that began in the 1990s.

Through a private conservation model and a highly controlled geotourism program, Masungi has shot to fame as a showcase for sustainable reforestation.

Their work has also garnered support from prominent figures, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.

Despite the real dangers they face every day, some of Ann and Billie’s earliest memories were attached to the reserve — experiences that keep them passionate about their work today.

As children, they would visit Masungi with their father, a civil engineer and conservationist, as he worked on development, and later, conservation efforts.

“Instead of taking us to the mall on weekends, our dad would take us to these nature areas where he had projects,” Billie said.

The reserve was a regular destination for the Dumaliangs, back when it was still heavily barren — initially to give way to government housing projects that had eventually fallen through.

“The appreciation that we have for the outdoors, for the natural world came from seeing Masungi evolve from a place that was like that to the lush forest that it is now,” Ann, 33, said.

“The motivation for me and for Billie is really just to make sure that that stays and that it continues to exist past our time.”

Their foundation’s approach to conservation follows assisted natural regeneration, which allows these areas to naturally restore their ecosystems and regenerate through mitigating and preventing disruption.

This means the bulk of their work was focused on preventing encroachments on the area and securing the expansive reserve’s boundaries, with rangers guarding the area from intruders and deterring illegal activities such as logging and quarrying.

“They said in the early nineties, all that you could hear was the sound of chainsaws in the area. Today, it’s birds and different types of animals and the wind and the leaves. So, what it looks like now is a jungle and a thriving ecosystem,” Billie said.

“It took more than 20 years for that whole ecosystem to come back, and it started when we were able to make sure that we could manage disturbances to the landscape,” she added. “So we let nature do its thing, regenerate, reheal, and we assist through mitigating the threats.”

For Ann, the recent TIME feature was an encouragement not only for their team, but for the “frontliners of this work” in the Philippines and around the world, whose safety is often at risk for simply protecting the environment.

“These are constant harassments faced by the people who learn to love their land the most. And more often than not, they’re poorly heard, yet they’re the ones who are threatened the most.”


Swedish police apprehend three men near Israeli embassy

Updated 8 sec ago
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Swedish police apprehend three men near Israeli embassy

Swedish police apprehend three men near Israeli embassy
The three men were suspected of planning to attack the embassy
The arrests were made near the embassy, but not inside the compound itself

OSLO: Swedish police said on Friday they have apprehended three men near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on suspicion of preparing to commit violent crime, but said it was too early to say whether the diplomatic mission had been a target.
Swedish broadcaster TV4, citing unnamed sources, reported that the three men were suspected of planning to attack the embassy.
“We are unable to comment on the potential motive,” police spokesperson Susanna Rinaldo told Reuters.
The arrests were made near the embassy, but not inside the compound itself, she said without elaborating.
The suspects will now be interrogated, Rinaldo said.
Swedish police last year stepped up security around Israeli and Jewish interests in the country following a shooting near Israel’s embassy.

Man seriously injured in attack at Berlin Holocaust memorial

Man seriously injured in attack at Berlin Holocaust memorial
Updated 25 min 51 sec ago
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Man seriously injured in attack at Berlin Holocaust memorial

Man seriously injured in attack at Berlin Holocaust memorial
  • Reports say police were carrying out a manhunt for the perpetrator

BERLIN: An assailant seriously injured a man in an attack at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial on Friday evening, police said. German media reported that the man was stabbed.
Police said they were investigating the attack at the memorial, a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin. It is also located near the US Embassy.
There was no indication yet of motive for the attack.
Berlin police said the victim was seriously injured around 6 p.m. and taken to a hospital. The German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported that the man was injured in a stabbing, citing police sources.
Another newspaper, Berliner Zeitung reported the same.
Police said they were attending to the witnesses who saw the attack, while the newspapers reported that police were carrying out a manhunt for the perpetrator.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial in Berlin to the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.


The man accused of trying to kill author Salman Rushdie is found guilty of attempted murder

The man accused of trying to kill author Salman Rushdie is found guilty of attempted murder
Updated 39 min 44 sec ago
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The man accused of trying to kill author Salman Rushdie is found guilty of attempted murder

The man accused of trying to kill author Salman Rushdie is found guilty of attempted murder
  • Rushdie was the key witness during seven days of testimony, describing in graphic detail his life-threatening injuries and long and painful recovery
  • Matar, sitting at the defense table, looked down but had no obvious reaction when the jury delivered the verdict

NEW YORK: A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022.
Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was on stage with Rushdie at the time.
Matar ran onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution where Rushdie was about to speak on Aug. 12, 2022, and stabbed him more than a dozen times before a live audience. The attack left the 77-year-old prizewinning novelist blind in one eye.
Rushdie was the key witness during seven days of testimony, describing in graphic detail his life-threatening injuries and long and painful recovery.
Matar, sitting at the defense table, looked down but had no obvious reaction when the jury delivered the verdict. As he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he quietly uttered, “Free Palestine,” echoing comments he has frequently made while entering and leaving the trial.
The judge set sentencing for April 23. Matar could receive up to 25 years in prison.
His public defender, Nathaniel Barone, said Matar was disappointed but also well-prepared for the verdict.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt played a slow-motion video of the attack for the jury Friday during his closing argument, pointing out the assailant as he emerged from the audience, walked up a staircase to the stage and broke into a run toward Rushdie.
“I want you to look at the unprovoked nature of this attack,” Schmidt said. “I want you to look at the targeted nature of the attack. There were a lot of people around that day but there was only one person who was targeted.”
Assistant public defender Andrew Brautigan told the jury that prosecutors have not proved that Matar intended to kill Rushdie. The distinction is important for an attempted-murder conviction.
“You will agree something bad happened to Mr. Rushdie, but you don’t know what Mr. Matar’s conscious objective was,” Brautigan said. “The testimony you have heard doesn’t establish anything more than a chaotic noisy outburst that occurred that injured Mr. Rushdie.”
Matar had with him knives, not a gun or bomb, his attorneys have said previously. And in response to testimony that the injuries were life-threatening, they have noted that Rushdie’s heart and lungs were uninjured.
Schmidt said while it’s not possible to read Matar’s mind, “it’s foreseeable that if you’re going to stab someone 10 or 15 times about the face and neck, it’s going to result in a fatality.”
Rushdie, 77, was the key witness during testimony that began last week. The Booker Prize-winning author told jurors he thought he was dying when a masked stranger ran onto the stage and stabbed and slashed at him until being tackled by bystanders. Rushdie showed jurors his now-blinded right eye, usually hidden behind a darkened eyeglass lens.
Schmidt reminded jurors about the testimony of a trauma surgeon, who said Rushdie’s injuries would have been fatal without quick treatment.
He also slowed down video showing Matar approaching the seated Rushdie from behind and reaching around him to stab at his torso with a knife. Rushdie raises his arms and rises from his seat, walking and stumbling for a few steps with Matar hanging on, swinging and stabbing until they both fall and are surrounded by onlookers who rush in to separate them.
Rushdie is seen flailing on the ground, waving a hand covered in bright red blood. Schmidt freezes on a frame showing Rushdie, his face also bloodied, as he’s surrounded by people.
“We’ve shown you intent,” Schmidt said.
The recordings also picked up the gasps and screams from audience members who had been seated to hear Rushdie speak with City of Asylum Pittsburgh founder Henry Reese about keeping writers safe. Reese suffered a gash to his forehead, leading to the assault charge against Matar.
From the witness stand, institution staff and others who were present on the day of the attack pointed to Matar as the assailant.
Stabbed and slashed more than a dozen times in the head, throat, torso, thigh and hand, Rushdie spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center. He detailed his long and painful recovery in his 2024 memoir, “Knife.”
Throughout the trial, Matar often took notes with a pen and sometimes laughed or smiled with his defense team during breaks in testimony. His lawyers declined to call any witnesses of their own and Matar did not testify in his defense.
Public Defender Nathaniel Barone said Matar likely would have faced a lesser charge of assault were it not for Rushdie’s celebrity.
“We think that it became an attempted murder because of the notoriety of the alleged victim in the case,” Barone told reporters after testimony concluded Thursday. “That’s been it from the very beginning. It’s been nothing more, nothing less. And it’s for publicity purposes. It’s for self-interest purposes.”
A separate federal indictment alleges that Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was motivated to attack Rushdie by a 2006 speech in which the leader of the militant group Hezbollah endorsed a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 after publication of the novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
Rushdie spent years in hiding. But after Iran announced that it would not enforce the decree, he had traveled freely over the past quarter century.
A trial on the federal terrorism-related charges will be scheduled in US District Court in Buffalo.


Sweden is investigating a damaged cable in the Baltic Sea

Sweden is investigating a damaged cable in the Baltic Sea
Updated 21 February 2025
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Sweden is investigating a damaged cable in the Baltic Sea

Sweden is investigating a damaged cable in the Baltic Sea
  • The breakage was found on a cable that runs between Germany and Finland
  • A “preliminary investigation into sabotage was opened,” Swedish police said

STOCKHOLM: Swedish authorities said on Friday they were investigating a damaged cable that was discovered in the Baltic Sea, the latest in a string of recent incidents of ruptured undersea cables that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the region.
The breakage was found on a cable that runs between Germany and Finland off the island of Gotland, south of Stockholm, in the Swedish economic zone, the news agency TT reported Friday. The Coast Guard was responding to the site.
A “preliminary investigation into sabotage was opened,” Swedish police said in a statement, adding they had “no further information to share at this time.”
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on the social media platform X that the government takes all reports of damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea very seriously.
Late last month, authorities discovered damage to the undersea fiber-optic cable running between the Latvian city of Ventspils and Sweden’s Gotland. A vessel belonging to a Bulgarian shipping company was seized but later released after Swedish prosecutors ruled out initial suspicions that sabotage caused the damage.
The European Commission, the 27-member EU executive branch, presented key measures on Friday for better protection of underwater cables in its region, including stepping up security requirements and risk assessments while prioritizing funding for new and smart cables.
It said threat-monitoring capabilities will be enhanced in the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas for a quicker and more effective response and repair capabilities.
Sanctions and diplomatic measures will also be taken “against hostile actors,” the Commission document said. These actions are to be rolled out progressively in 2025 and 2026 to strengthen measures taken by NATO and EU members.
The Commission said the undersea communication cables connect EU member states “to one another, link islands to the EU mainland, and connect the EU to the rest of the world,” carrying 99 percent of inter-continental Internet traffic.
The underwater electricity cables facilitate the integration of EU members’ power supply and strengthen their security, it said, adding that incidents in recent months “have risked causing severe disruptions in essential functions and services in the EU, impacting the daily lives of EU citizens.”


Rubio defends Russia talks and criticism of Zelensky

Rubio defends Russia talks and criticism of Zelensky
Updated 21 February 2025
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Rubio defends Russia talks and criticism of Zelensky

Rubio defends Russia talks and criticism of Zelensky
  • Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed in Riyadh to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,” the State Department said

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against accusations that the Trump administration has given in to Russia even before talks on ending the Ukraine war begin, saying Washington first wants to see whether Moscow was “serious.”
Russia and the US agreed to establish teams to negotiate ending the war at talks in Riyadh earlier this week. Neither Ukraine nor its European allies were invited.
US President Donald Trump “wants this war with Ukraine to end. And he wants to know: Are the Russians serious about ending the war, or not serious about ending the war?” Rubio said in an interview on Thursday posted on social network X.
“The only way is to test them, to basically engage them and say, okay, are you serious about ending the war, and if so, what are your demands,” Rubio told journalist Catherine Herridge.
He also said that he was “not a fan of most of what (Russian President) Vladimir Putin has done.”
But he added: “We ultimately have to be able to talk to a nation that has, in some cases, the largest tactical nuclear weapons stockpile in the world, and the second largest, if not the largest, strategic nuclear weapons stockpile in the world.”
Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed in Riyadh to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,” the State Department said.
Washington added that the sides had also agreed to “establish a consultation mechanism” to address “irritants” to the US-Russia relationship, noting the sides would lay the groundwork for future cooperation.
Trump said after the talks in Riyadh that he was “much more confident” of a deal to end the three-year-old war.
The US has provided essential funding and arms to Ukraine.
But Trump has rattled Kyiv and its European backers by opening talks with Moscow they fear could end the conflict on terms unacceptable to them.
Rubio denied that the US had kept Ukraine and its European allies out of the loop, saying “It’s unfair to say that we didn’t consult anybody on it.”
“And I also think it’s silly to say, well, the Ukrainians are going be cut out or the Europeans are going to be cut out. You can’t... find a stop to a war unless both sides and their views are represented,” Rubio said.
Tensions between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exploded this week in a series of barbs traded at press conferences and on social media.
“I think President Trump is very upset at President Zelensky and in some cases, rightfully so” Rubio said, saying that Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden also had “frustrations” with the Ukrainian leader.
He said that Ukraine was on another continent and that it did not impact the “daily lives of Americans.”
But he added: “We care about it because it has implications for our allies and ultimately for the world.
“There should be some level of gratitude here about this, and when you don’t see it and you see (Zelensky) out there accusing the president of living in a world of disinformation, that’s highly, very counterproductive,” he said.