Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 18, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024 B4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I WORLD Preserved centuries-old cherries unearthed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon MOUNT VERNON, Va. — George Washington never did cut down the cherry tree, despite the famous story to the contrary, but he did pack away quite a few bottles of the fruit at his Mount Vernon home. Dozens of bottles of cherries and ber- ries — impossibly preserved in storage pits uncovered from the cellar of his mansion on the banks of the Potomac River — were discovered during an ar- chaeological dig connected to a restor- ation project. Jason Boroughs, Mount Vernon’s principal archaeologist, said the dis- covery of so much perfectly preserved food from more than 250 years ago is essentially unprecedented. “Finding what is essentially fresh fruit, 250 years later, is pretty spec- tacular,” Boroughs said in an interview. “All the stars sort of have to align in the right manner for that to happen.” Whole pieces of fruit, recognizable as cherries, were found in some of the bottles. Other bottles held what appear to be gooseberries or currants, though testing is underway to confirm that. Mount Vernon is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting DNA testing on the fruit. They are also examining more than 50 cherry pits recovered from the bottles to see if any of them can be planted. “It’s kind of a longshot,” said Benja- min Gutierrez, a USDA plant geneticist, of the chances of using a cherry pit to grow a tree. Seeds preserve best when they are dry, and most of the samples found at Mount Vernon were water- logged. A couple of pits tested initially were not viable as seeds. Still, he said the bottles are a remark- able find. In addition to DNA testing, he said chemical testing may be able to show if particular spices were used to preserve the fruits. Records at Mount Vernon show that George and Martha Washington were fond of cherries, at least when mixed with brandy. Martha Washington’s re- cipe for a “cherry bounce” cocktail survives, and Washington wrote that he took a canteen of cherry bounce with him on a trip across the Alleghenies in 1784. These cherries, though, were most likely bottled to be eaten simply as cherries, Boroughs said. The quality of the preservation re- flect a high calibre of work. Slaves ran the plantation’s kitchen. The kitchen was overseen by an enslaved woman named Doll, who came to Mount Ver- non in 1758 with Martha Washington, according to the estate. “The enslaved folks who were tak- ing care of the trees, picking the fruit, working in the kitchen, those would have been the folks that probabl0y would have overseen and done this process,” Boroughs said. “It’s a highly skilled process. Otherwise they just wouldn’t have survived this way.” The bottles were found only because Mount Vernon is doing a US$40 million revitalization project of the mansion that they expect to be completed by the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. “When we do archaeology, it’s de- structive,” Boroughs said. “So unless we have a reason to disturb those re- sources, we tend not to.” “In this case, because of these need- ed structural repairs to the mansion, the ground was going to be disturbed. So we looked there first,” he continued. “We didn’t expect to find all this.” They know the bottles predate 1775 because that’s when an expansion of the mansion led to the area being covered over with a brick floor. Mount Vernon announced back in April, at the start of its archaeologic- al work, that it had found two bottles. As the dig continued, the number in- creased to 35 in six distinct storage pits. Six of the bottles were broken, with the other 29 intact. Twelve held cherries, 16 held the other berries be- lieved to be currants and gooseberries, and one larger bottle held both cherries and other berries. Boroughs believes they have now uncovered all the cherries and berries that survived. “There is a lot of information that we’re excited to get from these bottles,” he said. — The Associated Press MATTHEW BARAKAT NATHAN ELLGREN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 18th-century artifacts found underneath George Washington's residence in Mount Vernon, Va., Monday. Israeli prime minister makes move after key member bolts from government over handling of war Netanyahu dissolves influential war cabinet T EL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the influential war cab- inet that has overseen the fighting in Gaza, a government spokesperson said Monday, days after a key member of the body bolted from the government over frustration with the Israeli lead- er’s handling of the war. The move was widely expected fol- lowing the departure of Benny Gan- tz, a centrist former military chief. Gantz’s absence from the government increases Netanyahu’s dependence on his ultra-nationalist allies, who oppose a ceasefire. That could pose an addi- tional challenge to the already fragile negotiations to end the eight-month war in Gaza. Government officials said Netanyahu would hold smaller forums for sensitive war issues, including with his security cabinet, which includes far-right gov- erning partners who oppose ceasefire deals and have voiced support for re- occupying Gaza. The war cabinet was formed in the early days of the war, when Gantz, then an opposition party leader and Netanyahu rival, joined the coalition in a show of unity following the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas. He demanded that a small decision- making body steer the war, in a bid to sideline far-right members of Netan- yahu’s government. It was made up of three members — Gantz, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The move to scrap the war cabinet comes as Israel faces more pivotal de- cisions. Israel and Hamas are weighing the latest proposal for a ceasefire in ex- change for the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its attack. Is- raeli troops are still bogged down in the Gaza Strip, fighting in the southern city of Rafah and against pockets of Hamas resurgence elsewhere, in addition to a dramatic escalation last week on the northern border with Lebanon. After launching hundreds of rockets and drones toward Israel in some of the most intense barrages in the conflict, Hezbollah sharply reduced the number of projectiles fired toward northern Is- rael on Sunday and Monday. The lull continued even after Israeli military officials said they killed a key operative in Hezbollah’s rocket and mis- sile department, Mohammed Ayoub, in a drone attack on Monday morning. The Israeli military said it tracked just two missiles fired Monday from Lebanon, and they did not enter Israeli territory. In the past 48 hours, there were just six launches, down from more than 200 on Thursday. The lull could be due to the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha that began Sunday morning, as well as a visit from Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden. Hochstein is in Israel to discuss the volatile situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. He is scheduled to be in Beirut today. The U.S. has been trying to ease tensions along the frontier, and Hoch- stein made several trips to the region in recent months. Hezbollah began at- tacking Israel almost immediately af- ter the Israel-Hamas war erupted, and daily exchanges of fire have been com- monplace since then. In recent weeks, the exchanges have intensified, with fires breaking out on both sides of the border. Netanyahu has played a balancing act throughout the war, weighing pres- sure from Israel’s top ally, the U.S., and growing global opposition to the fight- ing, as well as from his government partners, chief among them Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Both have threatened to topple the government should Israel move ahead on a ceasefire deal. The latest propos- al is part of the Biden administration’s most concentrated push to help wind down the war. For now, progress on a deal appears to be stalled. Critics say Netanyahu’s wartime de- cision-making has been influenced by the ultra-nationalists in his government and by his desire to remain in power. Netanyahu denies the accusations and says he has the country’s best interests in mind. Gantz’s departure, while not posing a direct threat to Netanyahu’s rule, rocked Israeli politics at a sensitive time. The popular former military chief was seen as a statesman who boosted Israel’s credibility with its international partners at a time when Israel finds itself at its most isolated. Gantz is now an opposition party leader in parliament. Gantz’s decision also prompted an- other resignation. Former army chief and fellow party member Gadi Eisen- kot left the war cabinet, where he had observer status. Netanyahu’s government is Israel’s most religious and nationalist ever. In Israel’s fractious parliamentary sys- tem, Netanyahu relies on a group of small parties to help keep his govern- ment afloat. Without the support of Gantz’s party, Netanyahu is expected to be more beholden to far-right allies. — The Associated Press TIA GOLDENBERG Seven people die in events related to heavy rains in El Salvador SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Sev- en people were killed early Monday in separate events that authorities in El Salvador attributed to heavy rains that have persisted since the weekend. In Tacuba, near the country’s border with Guatemala, five people died after they were buried in landslides provoked by heavy rains. Juan Carlos Bidegaín, chief of the country’s civil defence, said that two of those victims were minors. Two others were killed early Monday when they lost control of their vehicle in western El Salvador. That followed a person who died in a landslide Saturday and a man who died Sunday after a tree fell on his vehicle. Low pressure areas on Guatemala’s Pacific coast and in the Gulf of Mexico are fuelling heavy rains in the region. El Salvador’s government declared an emergency Sunday and opened some 100 shelters across the country as the risk of flooding increased. Schools will be closed today and Wednesday ahead of forecast rains. In Guatemala, authorities closed schools until Thursday due to the heavy rain that started over the weekend. — The Associated Press Putin to visit Vietnam and North Korea RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea and Vietnam in rare trips to long-time partners as he faces renewed challenges in his war on Ukraine. Putin will travel to North Korea from June 18-19 and go on to Vietnam from June 19-20, according to Kremlin state- ments published Monday. The trip to North Korea will be Pu- tin’s first since 2000. It comes as Kim Jong Un’s regime is suspected of send- ing missiles and millions of rounds of munitions to help Putin in his grind- ing assault on Ukraine. With Kyiv now taking delivery of billions of dollars in fresh arms from its U.S. and European allies, the window for a Russian break- through is narrowing. North Korea possesses some of the largest stores of artillery and weapons that are interoperable with Soviet-era systems deployed on the front-lines in Ukraine. Satellite imagery indicates the arms transfers picked up momen- tum after Kim visited Putin in Sep- tember, when the North Korean leader toured Russian weapons plants. Mos- cow and Pyongyang have denied the arms transfers despite ample evidence showing them taking place. “I believe Kim and Putin will pick up from where they left off when Kim was in Russia in September 2023 and seek to further upgrade the bilateral relation- ship across many, if not all, realms,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center. She added this may mean the leaders upgrading a treaty adopted in 2000 to include stronger language about military and security co-operation. “For as long as the war in Ukraine continues, North Korea-Russia rela- tions will remain solid. What the rela- tionship will look like after the war in Ukraine is over, that is harder to pre- dict,” said Lee, who worked as an ana- lyst for the CIA’s Open Source Enter- prise for almost two decades. For months, Russia’s army has made only limited gains on the battlefield against Ukrainian troops that were running low on weapons. Kim, meanwhile, has presided over tests of some of his newest artillery rockets and ballistic missile systems. South Korean Defence Minister Shin Wonsik has said the weapons displays may have been intended to impress Putin by showing him what North Korea could provide for his assault on Ukraine. In return for the munitions from Kim’s regime that could reach as high as nearly 5 million artillery shells, Rus- sia has sent to North Korea technology to help in its plans to deploy an array of spy satellites as well as conventional arms such as tanks and aircraft, Shin said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Russia will likely send military technology to Kim, increasing Pyong- yang’s threat to the region, Shin added. Russia and North Korea plan to sign an agreement on strategic partnership, including on security and economic co-operation during Putin’s visit that will replace existing accords dating back as far as 1961, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told repor- ters, according to the state-run Tass news agency. The stakes for Putin’s visit to Viet- nam are likely lower. He last went there in 2017, when the nation hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Summit in the coastal city of Danang. Vietnam and Russia have ties going back decades to the Soviet Union. Mos- cow was a major supplier of military aid to Vietnam during its war with the U.S. — Bloomberg JON HERSKOVITZ ;