Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 16, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba B4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I WORLD TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2024 Three hikers die in Utah parks as summer temperatures soar SALT LAKE CITY — Three hikers died over the weekend in suspected heat-related cases at state and national parks in Utah, including a father and daughter who got lost on a strenuous hike in Canyonlands National Park in scorching temperatures. The daughter, 23, and her father, 52, sent a 911 text alerting dispatchers they were lost and had run out of water while hiking 13-kilometre Syncline Loop, de- scribed by the National Park Service as the most challenging trail in the Is- land in the Sky district of the southeast Utah park. The pair set out Friday to navigate steep switchbacks and scram- ble through boulder fields with limited trail markers as the air temperature surpassed 38 C. Park rangers and a helicopter crew with the Bureau of Land Management began their search for the lost hikers in the early evening Friday, but found them dead. The San Juan County Sher- iff’s Office identified them on Monday as Albino Herrera Espinoza and his daughter, Beatriz Herrera, of Green Bay, Wis. Due to the jagged terrain, safety offi- cials used a helicopter to airlift the bod- ies out of the park and to the state med- ical examiner on Saturday morning, the sheriff’s office said. Their deaths are being investigated as heat-related by the local sheriff and the U.S. Nation- al Park Service. Later Saturday, first responders in southwest Utah responded to a call about two hikers “suffering from a heat-related incident” at Snow Canyon State Park, which is known for its lava tubes, sand dunes and a canyon carved from red and white Navajo sandstone. A multi-agency search team found and treated two hikers who were suffering from heat exhaustion. While they were treating those individuals, a passing hiker informed them of an unconscious person nearby. First re- sponders found the 30-year-old woman dead, public safety officials said. Her death is being investigated by the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety De- partment. She has not been identified publicly. Tourists continue to flock to parks in Utah and other southwestern states during the hottest months of the year, even as officials caution hiking in ex- treme heat poses serious health risks. A motorcyclist died earlier this month in Death Valley National Park in eastern California, and another motor- cyclist was taken to a hospital for se- vere heat illness. Both were part of a group that rode through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather. The air temperature in Death Valley reached at least 52 C for nine consecu- tive days July 4-12 — the park’s longest streak at or above that temperature since the early 1900s, the National Park Service announced Monday. Now, parts of the park are experiencing a multi-day power outage triggered by a thunderstorm as temperatures con- tinue to linger just above 49 C. Last month, a Texas man died while hiking in Grand Canyon National Park, where summer temperatures on exposed parts of the trails can reach over 48 C. — The Associated Press HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Ukrainians in favour of peace talks but not on Putin’s terms: survey K YIV — Only around one-third of Ukrainians are strongly opposed to peace talks with the Kremlin, a new survey suggested Monday, more than two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. An estimated 43 per cent of Ukrain- ians are in favour of negotiations with Russia, with 35 per cent opposed and 21 per cent undecided, according to a representative survey conducted by the renowned Razumkov Centre research institute on behalf of news site Dzerka- lo Tyzhnia. Residents of central and southern Ukrainian regions were particularly in favour of starting official negotiations with Moscow, at 49 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. Opinion in the east of the country, where heavy fighting continues, is evenly divided between those in favour of negotiations, those against them, and those undecided. However, the overwhelming majority of respondents rejected the conditions for peace put forward by Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin. Moscow is demanding Ukraine cede almost 20 per cent of its territory, in- cluding the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, and the eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, which Russia only partially controls. In addition, Putin says Kyiv must re- nounce its aspiration to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union. More than 80 per cent of Ukrainians surveyed are against making territor- ial concessions, while 76 per cent reject the lifting of sanctions against Russia and just under 60 per cent oppose a neu- tral status for Ukraine. The survey was conducted by the Ky- iv-based Razumkov Centre at the end of June, with 2,027 Ukrainians over the age of 18 polled in all parts of the coun- try still controlled by Ukraine. The margin of error was estimated at 2.3 per cent, although no details were given as to whether the survey was car- ried out in person or by telephone. Meanwhile Monday, the governor of the Russian border region of Byransk said air defences intercepted and de- stroyed six Ukrainian drones over Bryansk. The attack did not result in any dam- ages or casualties, Alexander Bogomaz wrote on the messaging service Tele- gram. Another drone attack was reported in Russia’s Lipetsk region, further east. A drone crashed on the site of an elec- trical substation, but there were no in- juries, the governor of the region, Igor Artamanov, wrote on Telegram early Monday. Operations at the station were not disrupted, he added. It was not possible to independently verify the claims. In Ukraine, heavy explosions were reported near the port city of Odessa overnight, according to local media. Regional military governor Oleh Kiper urged residents in a post on Tele- gram to remain in shelters until fires were extinguished. The Ukrainian air force had earlier warned of potential ballistic missile attacks from the south. There was in- itially no information available about damage or possible casualties. The port of Odessa has been repeat- edly attacked since it is an important hub for Ukrainian grain exports and other goods via the Black Sea. Moscow has said it suspects Ukrainian naval drones are being produced there. — The Associated Press ANDREAS STEIN AND GABY MAHLBERG ALEX BABENKO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Conductor German Makarenko leads orchestra members during a performance Friday at the site of a recent Russian missile attack on Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital. California first state to ban school rules requiring parents be notified of pronoun change SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California became the first U.S. state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents about their child’s gender iden- tification change under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules that re- quire teachers and other staff to dis- close a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child’s permission. Proponents of the legislation say it will help protect LGBTTQ+ stu- dents who live in unwelcoming house- holds. But opponents say it will hinder schools’ ability to be more transparent with parents. The law comes amid a broader debate over local school districts and the rights of parents and LGBTTQ+ students. “Politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, non-binary, and other LGBTTQ+ youth are on the rise na- tionwide, including in California,” Democratic assembly member Chris Ward, who authored the law, said in a statement. “While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly out students, the SAFETY Act ensures that discus- sions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family.” The new law comes after several school districts in California passed policies requiring that parents be noti- fied if a child requests to change their gender identification. That led to pushback by Democratic state officials, who say students have a right to privacy. But Jonathan Zachreson, an advo- cate in California who supports the so-called parental notification policies, opposes the law and said telling par- ents about a student’s request to change their gender identification is “critical to the well-being of children and for main- taining that trust between schools and parents.” States across the U.S. have sought to impose bans on gender-affirming care, bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, and require schools to out trans and non-binary stu- dents to their parents. Some lawmakers in other states have introduced bills with broad language requiring that parents are told of any changes to their child’s emotional health or well-being. The California law led to heated de- bate in the state legislature. LGBTTQ+ lawmakers have shared stories about how it was difficult for them to decide when to come out to their families, arguing transgender stu- dents should be able to share that part of their identity on their own terms. State assembly member Bill Essay- li, a Republican representing part of Riverside County, is an outspoken op- ponent of the law. He has criticized Democratic leaders for preventing a bill he introduced last year — that would have required par- ents to be told of their child’s gender identification change — from receiving a hearing. In northern California, the Ander- son Union High School District board approved a parental notification policy last year. But the teachers union recommended teachers not enforce the rule while the union is involved in a labour dispute with the district over the policy, said Shaye Stephens, an English teacher and president of the teachers association at the district. The notification policies put teachers in an unfair position, Stephens said. “It’s kind of a lose-lose situation for teachers and administrators or any- body that’s being asked to do this. I don’t think it’s safe for students,” she said. “I do not think that we are the right people to be having those conversations with a parent or a guardian.” — The Associated Press SOPHIE AUSTIN Moon cave shows potential for future shelter CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and suspect there are hundreds more that could house future astronauts. An Italian-led team reported Mon- day there’s evidence for a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon. It’s located at the Sea of Tranquility, just 400 kilometres from Apollo 11’s landing site. The pit, like the more than 200 others discovered up there, was created by the collapse of a lava tube. Researchers analyzed radar meas- urements by NASA’s Lunar Recon- naissance Orbiter, and compared the results with lava tubes on Earth. Their findings appeared in the journal Na- ture Astronomy. The radar data reveals only the in- itial part of the underground cavity, ac- cording to the scientists. They estimate it’s at least 40 metres wide and tens of metres long, probably more. “Lunar caves have remained a mys- tery for over 50 years. So it was ex- citing to be able to finally prove the existence” of one, Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento, wrote in an email. Most of the pits seem to be located in the moon’s ancient lava plains, accord- ing to the scientists. There also could be some at the moon’s south pole, the planned location of NASA’s astronaut landings later this decade. Permanent- ly shadowed craters there are believed to hold frozen water that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel. During NASA’s Apollo program, 12 astronauts landed on the moon, begin- ning with Armstrong and Aldrin on July 20, 1969. The findings suggest there could be hundreds of pits on the moon and thou- sands of lava tubes. Such places could serve as a natural shelter for astro- nauts, protecting them from cosmic rays and solar radiation as well as from micrometeorite strikes. Building habitats from scratch would be more time-consuming and challen- ging, even when factoring in the poten- tial need of reinforcing the cave walls to prevent a collapse, the team said. — The Associated Press MARCIA DUNN KIICHIRO SATO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES A plane passes in front of the moon near Chicago. Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon and suspect there are hundreds more that could house future astronauts. Syrians vote for next parliament DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrians voted for members of a new par- liament in an election Monday that was expected to hold few surprises but could pave the way for a constitutional amendment to extend the term of President Bashar Assad. The vote is the fourth in Syria since mass anti-government pro- tests in 2011 and a brutal crack- down by security forces spiralled into the ongoing civil war. Syria’s 2024 parliamentary election excludes rebel-held northwest Syria and the country’s northeast under U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The number of eligible voters hasn’t been announced. Western countries and Assad’s critics say the polling in govern- ment-held areas in Syria is nei- ther free nor fair. This year, 1,516 government-ap- proved candidates are running for the 250-seat People’s Assembly. — The Associated Press ;