AFP USA

Cuba began releasing people Wednesday who were jailed for protesting against the regime under a deal that saw the United States remove the communist island from a list of terrorism sponsors, causing relatives of detainees to rejoice.About a dozen had been freed as of midday, according to social media posts by family members and friends, a day after Havana said it would free 553 prisoners under the agreement with departing US President Joe Biden.”We received a call yesterday evening to go to the prison today,” Rosabel Loreto — daughter-in-law of prisoner Donaida Perez Paseiro, 53 — told AFP. “We got there at 7:00 am, and by 7:30 am she was freed” from a prison in the central province of Villa Clara.Perez Paseiro had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for participating with thousands of others in rare anti-government protests that broke out on July 11, 2021 as Cubans vented years of frustration over power blackouts, food shortages and soaring prices.One person was killed and dozens injured in the protests, which Havana accused Washington of orchestrating.According to official Cuban figures, some 500 protesters were given sentences of up to 25 years in prison, but rights groups and the US Embassy say the figure is closer to 1,000.”For Cuba to be removed from the terrorist list, we were the bargaining chip,” Perez Paseiro said in a video posted on social media, as she vowed to continue to “fight for Cuba’s freedom.”In Havana, a woman who asked to remain anonymous said her daughter, similarly jailed for demonstrating against the government, had also been freed.- ‘Detained unjustly’ -In his final days in office, Biden has rushed through a series of actions designed to cement his legacy both on the domestic and foreign fronts, before handing power next week to Donald Trump.On Tuesday, he removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism to which it was added by Trump at the end of his first presidential term.Cuba in return announced it would release 553 prisoners, which a senior administration official said included “political prisoners” and others “detained unjustly.”The deal is widely expected to be overturned by Trump’s incoming administration.Some of the people arrested for taking part in the anti-government rallies of 2021 have already been freed after serving their sentences. Cuban authorities have not released a list of the prisoners to be freed under the deal with Biden, or confirmed that they have begun releasing them.- ‘Long night’ -Many families were anxiously awaiting news. “Last night was a long night. It’s been many long nights… much nervousness, waiting for the phone to ring,” Liset Fonseca, mother of 41-year-old Roberto Perez, told AFP at her home in the city of San Jose de las Lajas, southeast of Havana.Perez was sentenced 10 years in prison for taking part in the 2021 demonstrations.”I am still waiting… Concretely, we still have nothing,” said Fonseca.Havana does not recognize the existence of political prisoners on its soil, and accuses opponents of being “mercenaries” of the United States.It welcomed Washington’s announcement Tuesday as a step in the “right direction,” but lamented it was still under a US trade embargo in place since 1962.Cuba blames the blockade for its worst economic crisis in decades, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people emigrate to the United States in the last two years, either legally or illegally, according to US figures.Trump’s first presidential term from 2017 to 2021 saw a tightening of sanctions against Cuba that had been loosened during a period of detente under his predecessor Barack Obama.Before assuming office, Biden had promised changes in US policy towards the island, but postponed these after Havana’s 2021 crackdown.

Rapper Drake on Wednesday filed suit against his own label, saying Universal Music Group’s release and promotion of a Kendrick Lamar track dissing him amounted to defamation and harassment.UMG is behind both Drake and Lamar, two superstar rappers who last year exchanged a litany of increasingly vitriolic diss tracks.Lamar’s chart-topping Grammy-nominated “Not Like Us” was the major blow in the war of words, and Drake said its punchlines accusing him of pedophilia saw Universal betray him in favor of profits.In the suit filed in Manhattan’s federal court and seen by AFP, Drake says Universal “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”In releasing and promoting “Not Like Us,” the Canadian artist born Aubrey Drake Graham, 38, says the record company chose “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”The lawsuit cited the track’s promotion as causing a “physical threat to Drake’s safety” as well as a “bombardment of online harassment.”It cited a pre-dawn shooting last May that saw a gunman shoot and wound a security guard at the superstar rapper’s estate in Toronto, and described subsequent break-in attempts.”These events were not coincidental,” the suit says, before detailing the defamation allegations.A Universal representative did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.- ‘Monetize allegations’ -Drake — the reigning highest-grossing rapper — is not taking legal action against Lamar, and he is not suing over the lyrics themselves.”This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,'” read the court documents. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”The filing says Universal did so by promoting the song, but also the album image — which Drake says features his actual house — and music video associated with the track.The suit alleges that because Drake’s current record deal with UMG — he’s been with the company for over a decade — is nearing expiration, the label is aiming to devalue his music in a bid to lessen his bargaining power to renegotiate his contract.Lamar, meanwhile, was under a short-term deal with the company extended last year.”UMG’s campaign was successful. The recording cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook,” reads the suit. “Capitalizing on those attributes, UMG used every tool at its disposal to ensure that the world would hear that Drake ‘like ’em young.'””Not Like Us” is up for five Grammys early next month, including the prizes for the year’s best record and best song.Lamar, 37, is also due to helm the exceedingly high-profile Super Bowl halftime show later February in New Orleans.Proving defamation requires that a publisher knowingly distributed false information.The suit emphasizes that Universal wouldn’t have maintained the long-standing business relationship with Drake it has if it believed he engaged in pedophilia or sex abuse.Late last year Drake had filed pre-litigation actions against Universal, which also named Spotify, in a New York state court as well as in Texas.His lawyers withdrew the New York filing as they filed the federal case. A statement from Universal released at the time of that filing said that “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.””We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns,” the statement continued. “No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

US businesses across the country are concerned about the economic impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs and sharply curtail immigration, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.”More contacts were optimistic about the outlook for 2025 than were pessimistic about it,” the US central bank said in its “Beige Book” survey of economic conditions. However, “contacts in several Districts expressed concerns that changes in immigration and tariff policy could negatively affect the economy,” it said.On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs of between 10 and 20 percent on all goods entering the United States, and to carry out mass deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants.Whether or not Trump follows through on his plans once he takes office as president on Monday remains to be seen.But manufacturers in a number of districts told the Fed they are already stockpiling inventories “in anticipation of higher tariffs.”In the Philadelphia district, inflation expectations rose on concerns about “deficits, tariffs, and immigration,” the Fed said. And in the Dallas district, contacts “noted concern about disruption from potential retaliatory tariffs on agriculture exports,” and raised concerns that they would have to pass on higher cost to consumers.Concerns in the Atlanta district meanwhile were broad-based, and included “labor shortages, concerns over tariffs, and potential supply chain disruptions at east coast ports that would result from a labor strike,” the Fed said.Despite the worries, businesses across the Fed’s 12 districts reported an overall increase in economic activity in late November and December, the Fed said.Prices increased modestly overall, the Fed continued, adding that contacts had said they expected prices would “continue to rise in 2025, with some noting the potential for higher tariffs to contribute to price increases.”

As Donald Trump prepares to assume power for a second term Monday, avowed admirer Javier Milei of Argentina has his sights set on becoming the US president’s man in Latin America.But while the duo have much in common, analysts do not clearly see what Milei stands to gain politically from a close friendship with his ideological idol.Self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” Milei was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate after the Republican’s November US election victory.The pair share right-wing ideologies, and some personality traits. They are both showmen known to be abrasive towards their detractors, dismissive of “wokeism,” and supportive of cost-cutting and deregulation. Both also have the backing of Tesla, X and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who has taken note of Milei’s chainsaw-wielding approach to budget-slashing ahead of taking on his own new role as the head of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency”.”It is clear that there will be a very strong political affinity: Argentina will be closely aligned with the priorities of the United States, both at a global and regional level,” Ariel Gonzalez Levaggi of the Argentine Council for International Relations told AFP. “Milei has consolidated himself as one of Trump’s most important foreign allies,” added Benjamin Gedan, Latin American head of the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank.The incoming US leader will need an ally in the region as he ramps up pressure on ideological foes Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while also sparring with Mexico over immigration and with Panama over control of the Panama Canal.But even if he can be of use to Trump in a region where the US leader has few rightwing allies, what does Milei stand to benefit?- In search of funds -The Argentine leader is seeking funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to which his country is already repaying a record $44 billion loan issued with Trump’s support during his first term in office.However, Trump has appointed a Milei critic — former Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) head Mauricio Claver-Carone — as his special envoy to Latin America.Claver-Carone has already said that any talk of a new loan for Argentina was nothing but “an illusion,” a “waste of time.””Perhaps some additional disbursements could be released” from the existing loan, said Gonzalez Levaggi. “But a new deal, a new loan? Unlikely,” even as Argentina’s sky-high inflation has nosedived during Milei’s first year in office.Another difference between the two leaders is on trade.Trump seeks to protect US domestic industry through import tariffs, while Milei is an ardent free market advocate.”In this context, Milei could be left disappointed if Trump imposes new tariffs on the whole world, including on Argentine exports,” said Claudio Loser, a former IMF Western Hemisphere chief. Argentina is a major exporter of beef, wine, dairy and grains.- China’s regional role -Jorge Arguello, who was Argentina’s ambassador to Washington under US presidents Barack Obama, Trump and Joe Biden, says he “never saw a particular interest in Argentina, nor Latin America” in that office.It is only when there is a presence “of external actors like China or Russia that alarms go off” in Washington, he added.China is Argentina’s second-biggest trading partner after Brazil, and Beijing last year extended a currency swap worth billions of dollars that brought much-needed relief for Argentina’s depleted foreign reserves.Despite once vowing he would never make deals with communists, the usually incendiary Milei showed his pragmatic side when he cordially met with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last November.The reality is that China has a capacity for investment in Latin American infrastructure “that the US cannot offer,” said Alejandro Frenkel, an international relations expert at San Martin University in Buenos Aires.And Milei’s hopes for a free trade agreement with the United States may have to wait for the departure of Trump and his “America First” agenda, the analysts say.

US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday a “full and complete” ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the first part of their peace accord, and said he had acted as “one team” with incoming leader Donald Trump.Speaking at the White House just days before he leaves office, a visibly relieved Biden said the negotiations to halt the Gaza conflict had been some of the “toughest” of his career.”I’m deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come,” Biden said in a televised statement.A number of Americans would be among the hostages who would be released by Palestinian militants in Gaza, he added.The first phase of the deal would last six weeks and include a “full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas,” Biden said.The as yet unfinalized second phase would bring a “permanent end to the war,” the 82-year-old Democrat said, adding he was “confident” the deal would hold.Biden’s administration has been criticized for its channeling of military aid to Israel during its offensive in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.But he said pressure on Hamas and its Iranian backers had helped push through a truce, adding that the deal now agreed was the “exact” same as one he had proposed in May.Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile said his administration had been working as “one team” with Trump’s ahead of the Republican starting his second term as president on January 20.”In these past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team,” said Biden, noting that most of the implementation of the deal would be under a Trump White House.”I told my team to coordinate close with the incoming team to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice — because that’s what American presidents do.”Trump earlier claimed credit for the “epic” deal, in posts on social media. His Mideast envoy was involved in the talks and consulted with the White House.Asked by a reporter whether he or Trump was mainly responsible for the deal, Biden replied: “Is that a joke?”

The US Supreme Court grappled with a challenge on Wednesday to a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify visitors’ ages, part of a growing effort to limit access by minors to online sexual content.Texas is one of nearly 20 US states to institute such a requirement, which critics argue violates First Amendment free speech rights.The Texas law was passed in 2023 by the state’s Republican-majority legislature but initially blocked after a challenge by an adult entertainment industry trade association.A federal district court sided with the trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, saying it restricted access by adults to constitutionally protected content.But a conservative-dominated appeals court upheld the age verification requirement, prompting the pornography trade group to take its case to the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority.Justice Clarence Thomas opened two hours of oral arguments by asking Derek Shaffer, a lawyer representing the Free Speech Coalition, whether age verification systems can “ever be found constitutional.””We’re talking about hundreds of millions of members to certain sites. Billions of visits,” Thomas said. “How much of a burden is permissible on adults’ First Amendment rights?”Shaffer said “properly tailored” age verification could be permissible but the Texas law, which relies on government-issued ID, lacks privacy protections and is “overly burdensome.”Its goal could be accomplished using content filtering programs, he said.Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the mother of seven children, took issue with Shaffer’s advocacy of content filtering.”Kids can get online porn through gaming systems, tablets, phones, computers,” Barrett said. “Let me just say that content filtering for all those different devices — I can say from personal experience — is difficult to keep up with.””And I think that the explosion of addiction to online porn has shown that content filtering isn’t working,” she said.Barrett also asked Shaffer to explain why requesting age verification online is different than doing so in a “brick and mortar setting.””If you go to a movie theater that displays pornographic movies you have to show age verification,” Barrett said. “So explain to me why this is so uniquely burdensome here when it’s not been in the real world context.”Shaffer said it’s different because the internet leaves a “permanent record.”Data “is being collected. It is a target for hackers. It is something that is different than just flashing an ID in physical space,” he said.- ‘Chilling’ -The lawyer for the Free Speech Coalition — which includes the popular website PornHub that has blocked all access in some states with age verification — also said he believed the intent behind the Texas law went beyond just restricting the access of minors to online pornography.”I think that their interest is a broader, anti-porn interest in preventing willing adults from accessing this content,” Shaffer said.”They want to make it more difficult. They want to make it costlier. They want to make it chilling.”He said the law would not accomplish its aims.”Smartphones can access foreign websites. You can use VPNs… to make it seem like you’re not in Texas,” he said.”You can go through search engines. You can go through social media. You can access the same content in the ways that kids are likeliest to do.”Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson said the case was the “digital version” of laws restricting minors from purchasing age-restricted products in brick and mortar stores.”A store can only avoid liability by making a quote ‘reasonable bona fide attempt’ to ascertain the true age of customers,” Nielson said.”We’ve tried content filtering for decades and the problem has only gotten worse,” he said, while age verification has become “simple, safe and common.””Biometric scanning is okay,” Nielson said. “There’s no ID or anything like that. It’s just a face scan. There’s all sorts of things you can do that have no identifying information.”France recently mandated age verification on some porn sites, but with a requirement that platforms offer at least one “double blind” option for users to prove their age without revealing their identity.The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case before the end its term this summer.

Fire-wrecked Los Angeles waited nervously on Wednesday for dangerous winds to drop and give a much-needed break to weary firefighters still struggling to snuff out deadly blazes.More than a week after fires fanned by hurricane-force gusts began a destructive march that has left two dozen people dead and large areas of the city in ruins, forecasters said the end may be in sight.There will be “a big improvement for tonight and tomorrow, though there’ll still be some lingering areas of concern,” Ryan Kittell of the National Weather Service told AFP.Part of Los Angeles County and much of neighboring Ventura County remained in a “Particularly Dangerous Situation,” a designation that was in effect before last week’s deadly blazes.The Eaton Fire and the Palisades fire, which together have scorched more than 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) were still smoldering Wednesday.Battalions of firefighters from across the United States, as well as from Mexico, were working to tamp down hotspots that could still flare, Los Angeles City fire chief Kristin Crowley told reporters.”Infrared flights last night indicated there are still numerous hot spots burning within the fire footprint, and very close attention was paid to address any flare ups swiftly as to prevent any fire spread outside of the perimeter,” she said.With tens of thousands of people still displaced by the fires, life was far from normal in America’s second biggest city.But children whose schools were damaged or still affected by evacuation orders were welcomed into other institutions.Stay-at-home mom Caroline Nick took Emery, 11, and Andrew, 7, to Nora Stery Elementary on Wednesday after their own school was lost to the blaze.Nick, whose home was destroyed in the Palisades fire, said the children needed whatever semblance of normality they could get.”They don’t need to be listening to the adult conversations that my husband and I are having to have. It’s not good for them,” she told AFP.”They need to be here doing this: drawing and coloring, playing and running and laughing.”The confirmed death toll from the fires stood at 24, down from 25 after the Los Angeles County Coroner said one apparent body was not human.But the number of fatalities could still rise, with hundreds of buildings still to be searched.More than 12,000 structures have been razed, including multi-million dollar homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.Estimates of the eventual cost of the tragedy have now risen to as high as $275 billion, a figure that would make it one of the most expensive in US history.Federal authorities have launched a probe into the causes of the fires, as theories swirl over who was responsible.”We know everyone wants answers, and the community deserves answers,” said Jose Medina of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is taking the lead.”ATF will give you those answers, but it will be once we complete a thorough investigation.”California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered debris removal teams to be on standby, as emergency managers look ahead to possible winter rainstorms that could provoke mudslides.But some Palisades locals are not waiting, working to remove scorched debris from roads and sidewalks themselves.Contractor Chuck Hart and his crew were at a construction site in the neighborhood when the fire broke out.After they saved his mother’s house from encroaching flames, Hart said they began making rounds to clean debris from the streets.”We just rock-and-rolled,” he said. “We’ve just been doing that non-stop ever since.””We’re going to do everything we can to get this place back up and running as quickly as possible.”

US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that the “soul of America” is still at stake, as he prepared to deliver his farewell address to the nation before the return to power of Donald Trump.The 82-year-old Democrat will make a primetime speech from the Oval Office of the White House in which he is expected to tout the legacy of his single four-year term.In a letter previewing his remarks — due to be made at 8:00 pm US Eastern time (0100 GMT Thursday) — Biden took an implicit swipe at Republican Trump.”I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case,” Biden said in the letter.”History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are,” he said.Biden said the United States was stronger than four years ago, when it “stood in a winter of peril” after Trump’s chaotic first term, the Covid pandemic and what he called “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”Biden was sworn in just days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters trying to overturn his election loss.He did not mention Trump by name — but his words clearly echoed previous speeches in which he said that he decided to run in the 2020 election because America’s “soul” was at risk from Trump and his supporters, and that Trump was a threat to democracy.- ‘Privilege of my life’ -The US president said he had asked the White House to also release a long list of what he termed his administration’s achievements, covering issues ranging from the economy to healthcare and climate change.He said the United States had the “strongest economy in the world” and was bringing down inflation — even if public anger over the cost of living was a major factor in the Democrats’ election loss.”I have given my heart and my soul to our nation,” said Biden, adding that it had been the “privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years.”The outgoing president has spent much of his final days in power trying to burnish his legacy.Those efforts got a boost on Wednesday when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal, for which Biden says he has been pushing for nearly a year and a half.Trump, whose Middle East advisor was involved in the talks, also claimed credit for the “epic” accord.Biden’s legacy was, however, damaged by his decision to run for a second term despite his age.The Democrat was forced to drop out of the race last June after a disastrous debate against Trump, 78, who went on to win a commanding victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris.In a farewell interview in the Washington Post published Wednesday, outgoing First Lady Jill Biden took a dig at the Democratic Party for pressing Biden to drop out.”Let’s just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded,” she said.

Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, said Wednesday that a “dangerous” China cheated its way to superpower status as he vowed to ramp up support to deter an invasion of Taiwan.Rubio laid out his worldview to fellow senators at a confirmation hearing that took place just as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in their 15-month war, a long-sought goal of President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration.Rubio, who is expected to secure confirmation easily, described China as “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever faced” and warned of drastic impacts if the United States does not act.”If we stay on the road we’re on right now, in less than 10 years virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not — everything from the blood pressure medicine we take to what movies we get to watch,” Rubio said.He vowed to ramp up defenses of Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island claimed by Beijing, to prevent a “cataclysmic military intervention.””We need to wrap our head around the fact that unless something dramatic changes, like an equilibrium (between China and Taiwan), where they conclude that the costs of intervening in Taiwan are too high, we’re going to have to deal with this before the end of this decade,” Rubio said.- No ‘primary’ role in NATO? -Trump had raised questions during his campaign over Taiwan by insisting it does not pay enough for its own defense — similar criticism he has made of NATO allies.Rubio distanced himself from talk of exiting NATO but said the United States needed to ask whether to retain “the primary defense role” in the alliance or be a “backstop to aggression,” with Europeans taking more responsibility.A staunch backer of Ukraine after its invasion by Russia nearly three years ago, Rubio has allied with Trump in promising “bold diplomacy” that would require concessions on both sides.”This war has to end, and I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end,” Rubio said, a shift from Biden’s approach of supporting Ukraine through victory.Rubio also backed the diplomacy that reached the Gaza ceasefire but made clear that he will staunchly back Israel, after Biden’s occasional criticism of the toll to civilians.”How can any nation-state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages like Hamas?” Rubio said. – Denouncing ‘liberal world order’ -Rubio rejected a key tenet of Biden’s foreign policy — prioritizing a rules-based, US-led “liberal world order” — in favor of Trump’s belief in “America First.””The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us,” Rubio said.”We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this global order. And they took advantage of all its benefits. But they ignored all its obligations and responsibilities,” Rubio said.”Instead, they have lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.”Rubio, the son of working-class Cuban immigrants, would become the first Hispanic and first fluent Spanish speaker to be the top US diplomat.Well-liked by his colleagues, Rubio is one of the least contentious of Trump’s array of nominees. Democratic Senator Cory Booker addressed him as “Marco” and called him a “thought leader” before complimenting his sports knowledge.A traditional Republican hawk, Rubio clashed bitterly with Trump — who mocked him as “Little Marco” — in the 2016 presidential nomination race, but Rubio since come into the fold.Other nominees in Senate hearings Wednesday included Pam Bondi, tapped for the top law enforcement job of attorney general.Trump named her after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew following allegations that he paid for sex, including with an underage girl, at drug-fueled parties.Bondi received a polite reception from senators.She said she was open to supporting pardons on a “case-by-case basis” for some convicted over the 2021 riot at the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob but said she would “condemn any violence” against law enforcement.

Above the roaring fires devastating parts of Los Angeles is an incongruous sight: air tankers dropping gallons of bright red and Barbie-pink slurry over forest, homes, cars, and anything else that might lie in the blazes’ path.The substance, vivid against the grey smoke and charred landscape, is fire retardant — much of it a product called Phos-Chek that has been used by the US Forest Service since the 1960s.”You can see it so easily … it’s amazing stuff,” says Jason Colquhoun, a 53-year-old pilot with HeliQwest, a charter helicopter company specializing in putting out fires.But over the past week it’s been dropped on residential neighborhoods at an “unprecedented” scale, says Daniel McCurry, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.That’s led to one overwhelming question: how safe is it?- Fertilizer and rust -Sold by fire protection equipment supplier Perimeter Solutions, Phos-Chek is a mixture of primarily ammonium phosphate or ammonium polyphosphate — fertilizer — with additives such as iron oxide — rust — to give it color.Its bright hue — which, Perimeter told AFP, is actually all the same color, but can look different depending on time of day, lighting, smoke and so on — helps pilots as they try to ensure overlapping, unbroken lines around the fires, Colquhoun explains.When pilots drop water from the air, he says, they must search for “the shine and the darkness” to know where to make the next drop. The vivid retardant, however? “So much easier to spot.”The other advantage compared to water: it keeps working, even after the water it is mixed with evaporates, McCurry says.Thickeners add viscosity and help ensure it doesn’t drift off target, adds McCurry, who led recent research into heavy metal content in such retardants.It comes in a powder and is mixed in — essentially — giant paddling pools, before being loaded onto airplanes and helicopters for coordinated drops, Colquhoun says.He gave an enthusiastic “Oh yeah” when asked by AFP if it works.It does so by forming a non-flammable carbon coating, Perimeter explained in a statement to AFP. The water in the slurry boils off, helping to quench the flames; and the retardant works until it is diluted by rain — when it fertilizes the ground. McCurry said he has seen photos “where a brush fire burned right up to a Phos-Chek line and then stopped,” but expressed some caution.He cited a former firefighter as telling him that in a high-intensity fire it’s “not much use,” and said that the high winds which have fanned the fires in Los Angeles may have limited its effectiveness.- ‘Practically non-toxic’ -The Forest Service said it only uses retardants that “meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s criteria for being ‘practically non-toxic’ to mammals, including humans, and aquatic species.” It prohibits drops in waterways and areas home to vulnerable species — unless the fire is threatening human life or public safety, and the retardant could be “reasonably expected” to stave off that threat, spokesman Wade Muehlhof told AFP.But accidents do happen, he said, “whether through wind drift or an inadvertent drop.”The service says it phased out Phos-Chek’s older formulation, LC95 — which McCurry’s study showed had high levels of heavy metals that can contaminate drinking water — nationwide as of December 31.Now it uses a new, less toxic formulation called MVP-Fx, it says. Phos-Chek contains no so-called forever chemicals and no substances “that are known to cause cancer or other harms” under California law, Perimeter added.McCurry says the Forest Service has been successfully sued in the past on environmental grounds, and that Phos-Chek is “likely not harmless to the environment” now.”On the other hand, the human health impact is still a little unclear,” he says.He says it would take “a lot” of retardant to poison, say, a reservoir.”However in the last week we’ve seen it dropped on neighborhoods at an unprecedented scale,” he continues, adding that it’s more often used further from populated areas, or in lower amounts.”So, who knows.”