Florida Democratic Congressmember Maxwell Frost joins us to discuss how he observed horrific conditions in Florida’s new immigration detention jail in the Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” when he joined other lawmakers in a visit. “I saw myself in those cages. It was a lot of people my age that looked like me,” says Frost. “The administration is essentially trying to ethnically cleanse the country.” We also speak with a reporter at the Miami Herald, which reports hundreds of detainees at the Everglades immigration prison have no criminal records or charges, contradicting claims by the Trump administration. The newspaper recently published a list of people detained or believed to be detained at the facility, helping families locate their loved ones.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

“What Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s family is going through is just unimaginable,” says Baltimore-based journalist Baynard Woods, “but it is also what we’ve all allowed to happen over generations of letting the drug war and our deference to police departments erode the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which should protect us all from illegal search and seizure, such as these seizures that ICE is committing all around the country right now.” In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa and Woods discuss the US government’s case against Abrego Garcia—whom the Trump administration finally returned to US soil from El Salvador in June—and what the government can do to citizens and non-citizens alike when our right to due process is taken away.

Guest:

• Baynard Woods is a writer and journalist based in Baltimore. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Oxford American Magazine, and many other publications. He is the author of Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness and coauthor, with Brandon Soderberg, of I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.

Additional resources:

• Baynard Woods, Baltimore Beat, “Government’s case against Abrego Garcia is based on PG County Cop who was on the SA’s do not call list”
• Baynard Woods, Baltimore Beat, “A Maryland man’s life is at stake. Trump and Salvadoran president Bukele could not care less”

Credits:

• Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Mansa Musa.

Familia Torres is already installing irrigation at its vineyards in Spain and California and is planting vines on land at higher altitudes as it tries to adapt to more extreme conditions.

“Irrigation is the future. We do not rely on the weather,” said its 83-year-old president, Miguel Torres. “I don’t know how long we can stay here making good wines, maybe 20 or 30 years, I don’t know. Climate change is changing all the circumstances.”

The family business has been making wine in Catalonia since 1870, but Torres said: “In 30 to 50 years’ time, maybe we have to stop viniculture here.

“Tourists are very important for Catalonia and we are very close to Barcelona. This area could be for activity for tourists but viniculture, I don’t think is going to be here.”

The group, which invests 11 percent of its profits every year to combatting and adapting to the climate crisis, may instead have to move at least some of its vineyards “more to the west because it is cooler and we have to have water.”

Read Next

Mango farms where? Climate change is scrambling where the world’s food is grown.

Ayurella Horn-Muller

Familia Torres has more than 1,000 hectares of vineyards in Catalonia, mainly in the Penedès region, as well as sites in other parts of Spain, Chile, and California.

It is now expanding to higher altitudes, producing grapes in Tremp, in the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees, at 950 meters, and acquiring plots in Benabarre, in the Aragonese Pyrenees, at 1,100 meters, where it is still too cold to grow vines. It is also using a variety of techniques to reduce or reuse water in its growing and processing practices.

That came after the family recorded a 1 degree Celsius rise in the average temperature in the Penedès region over the past 40 years. The change is causing the harvest to take place 10 days earlier than it did a few decades ago, while the family employs a variety of techniques to slow the ripening of the grapes to protect the right qualities for winemaking.

Torres’ comments come after a difficult few years for European vineyards. He said production was down as much as 50 percent in some of the winemaker’s regions in 2023 — “the worst year I have ever seen” — and still down on historic averages last year amid extreme heat and drought.

This year so far has been better — amid winter and spring rains and wider use of irrigation — but Torres said he was concerned that damper conditions bring the threat of mildew.

Read Next

Why chocolate is ridiculously expensive right now

Ayurella Horn-Muller

“In the future if we want to have more continuity in the harvest we have to stop the warming,” he said. “The warming is killing the trade.”

The additional costs of irrigation are eating into profits in a highly competitive market with potential threats from U.S. import tariffs on top of additional duties imposed on wine in the U.K. in recent years, as well as a new packaging tax that is particularly high for glass bottles and jars.

Torres said exports to the U.K. have fallen by as much as 10 percent and absorbing some of the cost increases has further knocked profits.

“We have no profit in exports to the U.K., that is the reality. Hundreds of thousands of English people come to Spain on holiday and know the brand. We have to keep it alive in the U.K.”

He said Torres was considering bottling some of its cheaper wines in the U.K. in order to reduce cost — as it is less costly to import in bulk in tankers.

“At least by next year we should be already importing that way in the U.K.,” Torres said. “British consumers are paying more for wine and there is not another possibility [to importing]. Production in the U.K. is very little.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Top winemaker ‘may have to leave its Spanish vineyards due to climate crisis’ on May 24, 2025.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Sarah Butler, The Guardian.

Familia Torres is already installing irrigation at its vineyards in Spain and California and is planting vines on land at higher altitudes as it tries to adapt to more extreme conditions.

“Irrigation is the future. We do not rely on the weather,” said its 83-year-old president, Miguel Torres. “I don’t know how long we can stay here making good wines, maybe 20 or 30 years, I don’t know. Climate change is changing all the circumstances.”

The family business has been making wine in Catalonia since 1870, but Torres said: “In 30 to 50 years’ time, maybe we have to stop viniculture here.

“Tourists are very important for Catalonia and we are very close to Barcelona. This area could be for activity for tourists but viniculture, I don’t think is going to be here.”

The group, which invests 11 percent of its profits every year to combatting and adapting to the climate crisis, may instead have to move at least some of its vineyards “more to the west because it is cooler and we have to have water.”

Read Next

Mango farms where? Climate change is scrambling where the world’s food is grown.

Ayurella Horn-Muller

Familia Torres has more than 1,000 hectares of vineyards in Catalonia, mainly in the Penedès region, as well as sites in other parts of Spain, Chile, and California.

It is now expanding to higher altitudes, producing grapes in Tremp, in the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees, at 950 meters, and acquiring plots in Benabarre, in the Aragonese Pyrenees, at 1,100 meters, where it is still too cold to grow vines. It is also using a variety of techniques to reduce or reuse water in its growing and processing practices.

That came after the family recorded a 1 degree Celsius rise in the average temperature in the Penedès region over the past 40 years. The change is causing the harvest to take place 10 days earlier than it did a few decades ago, while the family employs a variety of techniques to slow the ripening of the grapes to protect the right qualities for winemaking.

Torres’ comments come after a difficult few years for European vineyards. He said production was down as much as 50 percent in some of the winemaker’s regions in 2023 — “the worst year I have ever seen” — and still down on historic averages last year amid extreme heat and drought.

This year so far has been better — amid winter and spring rains and wider use of irrigation — but Torres said he was concerned that damper conditions bring the threat of mildew.

Read Next

Why chocolate is ridiculously expensive right now

Ayurella Horn-Muller

“In the future if we want to have more continuity in the harvest we have to stop the warming,” he said. “The warming is killing the trade.”

The additional costs of irrigation are eating into profits in a highly competitive market with potential threats from U.S. import tariffs on top of additional duties imposed on wine in the U.K. in recent years, as well as a new packaging tax that is particularly high for glass bottles and jars.

Torres said exports to the U.K. have fallen by as much as 10 percent and absorbing some of the cost increases has further knocked profits.

“We have no profit in exports to the U.K., that is the reality. Hundreds of thousands of English people come to Spain on holiday and know the brand. We have to keep it alive in the U.K.”

He said Torres was considering bottling some of its cheaper wines in the U.K. in order to reduce cost — as it is less costly to import in bulk in tankers.

“At least by next year we should be already importing that way in the U.K.,” Torres said. “British consumers are paying more for wine and there is not another possibility [to importing]. Production in the U.K. is very little.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Top winemaker ‘may have to leave its Spanish vineyards due to climate crisis’ on May 24, 2025.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Sarah Butler, The Guardian.

Samoa has dropped in its media and information freedom world ranking from 22 in 2024 to 44 in 2025 in the latest World Press Freedom Index compiled annually by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

For the Pacific region, New Zealand is ranked highest at 16, Australia at 29, Fiji at 40, Samoa ranked 44 and Tonga at 46.

And for some comfort, the United States is ranked 57 in media freedom.

• READ MORE: Indonesian postcard image ‘dangerous’ but Fiji a rising star in RSF press freedom index
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• RSF 2025 World Press Freedom rankings
• RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom

The 2025 World Press Freedom Index released in conjunction with the annual Media Freedom Day on May 3, says despite the vitality of some of its media groups, Samoa’s reputation as a regional model of press freedom has suffered in recent years due to “authoritarian pressure” from the previous prime minister and a political party that held power for four decades until 2021.

Media landscape
The report lists independent media outlets such as the Samoa Observer, “an independent daily founded in 1978, that has symbolised the fight for press freedom.”

It also lists state-owned Savali newspaper “that focuses on providing positive coverage of the government’s activities.”

TV1, is the product of the privatisation of the state-owned Samoa Broadcasting Corporation. The Talamua group operates Samoa FM and other media outlets, while the national radio station 2AP calls itself “the Voice of the Nation.”

Political context
Although Samoa is a parliamentary democracy with free elections, the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) held power for four decades until it was narrowly defeated in the April 2021 general election by Samoa United in Faith (Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi, or FAST).

The report says part of the reason for the HRPP’s defeat was its plan to overhaul Samoa’s constitutional and customary law framework, which would have threatened freedom of the press.

Championing media freedom
The Journalists Association of (Western) Samoa (JAWS) is the national media association and is press freedom’s leading champion. JAWS spearheaded a media journalism studies programme based at the National University of Samoa in the effort to train journalists and promote media freedom but the course is not producing the quality journalism students needed as its focus, time and resources have been given the course.

Meanwhile, the media standards continue to slide and there is fear that the standards will drop further in the face of rapid technological changes and misinformation via social media.

A new deal for journalism
The 2025 World Press Freedom Index by RSF revealed the dire state of the news economy and how it severely threatens newsrooms’ editorial independence and media pluralism.

In light of this alarming situation, RSF has called on public authorities, private actors and regional institutions to commit to a “New Deal for Journalism” by following 11 key recommendations.

Strengthen media literacy and journalism training
Part of this deal is “supporting reliable information means that everyone should be trained from an early age to recognise trustworthy information and be involved in media education initiatives. University and higher education programmes in journalism must also be supported, on the condition that they are independent.”

Finland (5th) is recognised worldwide for its media education, with media literacy programmes starting in primary school, contributing to greater resilience against disinformation.

Republished from Talamua Online News.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

If Trump can disappear them, he can disappear you.

—Robert Reich

The war on due process is here.

No trials. No hearings. No rights. Just indefinite detention and secret deportations.

This is the fate that awaits every one of us, not just immigrants (legal or otherwise), if the government’s war on the Constitution remains unchecked.

More than two decades after the U.S. government in its post-9/11 frenzy transported individuals, some of whom had not been charged let alone convicted of a crime, to CIA black sites (secret detention centers located outside the U.S. authorized to torture detainees) as a means of sidestepping legal protocols, the Trump Administration is using extraordinary rendition to make those on its so-called “enemies list” disappear.

The first round of arrests and deportations to a mega-prison in El Salvador supposedly targeted members of the infamous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Carried out with little evidence and without court hearings or due process, these roundups reportedly may also have swept up individuals with no apparent connection to gang activity apart from common tattoos (firearms, trains, dice, roses, tigers and jaguars) and other circumstantial evidence.

In a particularly Kafkaesque explanation for why some of the Venezuelan migrants who have no criminal records were targeted for arrest and deportation, government lawyers argued in court that their lack of a criminal record is in itself cause for concern.

In other words, the government is prepared to preemptively arrest and make people disappear, without any regard for legal protocols or due process, based solely on the president’s claim that they could at some point in the future pose a threat to national security.

This takes pre-crime and preemptive arrests to a whole new sinister level of potential abuses.

Are you starting to sense how quickly this could go off the rails?

This is how democracies collapse. This is how rights disappear overnight.

As lawyers challenging the government’s overreach warned, “If the President can designate any group as enemy aliens under the Act, and that designation is unreviewable, then there is no limit on who can be sent to a Salvadoran prison, or any limit on how long they will remain there.”

Also among those in danger of being made to disappear without any legal record or due process are individuals who have not been charged with or convicted of any crimes.

The most egregious of these incidents involve college students, scientists and doctors, all of them legal permanent residents of the U.S. who, while never having been charged with a crime, are accused of threatening national security by taking part in anti-war protests over the growing death toll in Gaza as a result of the Israeli-Hamas war, or sympathizing with the Palestinians, or being associated with someone who might sympathize with the Palestinians.

When merely exercising one’s right to criticize the government in word, deed or thought is equated to an act of domestic terrorism, we are all in trouble.

The mass arrests and roundups thus far have been so haphazard that there is a very real likelihood that innocent individuals have also been swept up and deported.

American citizens could very well be next in line for this kind of treatment.

This is the danger of allowing any president to use expansive wartime powers to bypass the Constitution’s prohibitions against government overreach and abuse: suddenly, everything that challenges the government’s authority becomes a national security threat and every dispute a national emergency.

Through his use of executive orders, proclamations and so-called national emergencies, President Trump has essentially declared war on the rule of law.

Make no mistake: while immigrants, illegal and legal alike, have largely been the first victims of the Trump administration’s efforts to circumvent the Constitution in order to make them disappear, it’s our very freedoms that are being made to disappear.

At the heart of these freedoms is the right of habeas corpus.

Translated as “you should have the body,” habeas corpus requires the government to either charge a person or let him go free.

While the Constitution allows the writ of habeas corpus to be suspended in cases of rebellion or invasion when public safety is imperiled, the Trump Administration’s efforts to keep the nation in a permanent state of emergency in order to justify its power grabs leaves “we the people” subject to the kinds of arbitrary mass round-ups, arrests and deportations that have been favored by despots and dictators.

This is usually where the self-righteous defenders of Trump’s blatantly unconstitutional tactics insist that the protections of the Constitution only apply to U.S. citizens.

They are wrong.

At a minimum, as the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed, the rights enshrined in the first ten amendments to the Constitution apply to all people in the United States, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. Those rights include free speech, peaceful protest and criticism of the government, assembly, religious freedom, equal protection under the law, due process, legal representation, privacy, among others.

Then again, what good are rights if the government doesn’t respect them?

What good are rights if the president is empowered to nullify them whenever he wants?

For that matter, what good is a government that betrays its own citizens?

History has shown us that when governments operate without checks and balances, tyranny follows. The question is not whether mass arrests and indefinite detentions could be expanded to American citizens—it’s how long before they are.

If we allow the erosion of due process, if we accept that a president can unilaterally decide who is a threat without oversight, then we have already lost the freedoms that define us as a nation.

We must demand accountability. We must challenge policies that violate constitutional protections. We must support organizations fighting for civil liberties, educate ourselves on our rights, and refuse to be silenced by fear. Because when the government starts making people disappear, the only way to stop it is by making our voices impossible to ignore.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, freedom does not die in a single act of repression—it dies when the people surrender their rights in exchange for false security.

The Constitution can’t protect us if we don’t protect it.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead.

More than 7,000 foreigners rescued from online scam centers in Myanmar are stranded at hotels and the sites from which they were freed, as their respective governments are not ready to accept them, according to a pro-junta militia that controls the region.

They were rescued from the Chinese-run scam hubs along the border with Thailand in Kayin state’s Myawaddy township.

(AFP)

Over half of the foreigners are Chinese nationals, while the remainder are from 26 other countries, said the ethnic Border Guard Force, or BGF.

However, their repatriation via Thailand has been delayed as their respective governments are “reluctant to accept them,” said BGF Information Officer Lt. Col. Naing Maung Zaw.

“If around 500 people could be repatriated each day, we would intensify our rescue and arrest operations,” he said. “Initially, all relevant [governments] pledged to cooperate in this process, but in reality, they are reluctant to accept them. It’s a significant challenge for us.”

According to the junta, the foreign nationals are from countries including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nepal, Thailand, Rwanda, Kenya, Kazakhstan and Cambodia.

The BGF is holding them at KK Park, Myawaddy Sports Complex, BGF Command Office and Ra Htike Company Office in Shwe Kukko town, the militia said.

So far, only officials from the Indonesian Embassy in Thailand have accepted their citizens. The 64 Indonesian victims were handed over at the Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2 on Thursday and will be taken to their embassy in Bangkok, said Lt. Col. Naing Maung Zaw.

Call for cooperation

Meanwhile, Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai urged relevant governments to “immediately” repatriate their more than 7,000 nationals held by the BGF, and called on them to “cooperate” with Thailand, according to a Tuesday report by The Nation.

(Reuters)

He said those who are not guaranteed repatriation by their respective governments “will not be allowed to enter Thailand.”

More than 4,800 of the rescued foreigners are Chinese nationals, but only 600 out of them have been repatriated so far, The Nation reported.

Thailand’s Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said that a trilateral meeting between Myanmar, Thailand, and China “will be held soon,” during which the repatriation of the remaining Chinese nationals will be discussed.

RFA attempted to reach the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar for comment on the delay in repatriating its nationals, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Lt. Col. Naing Maung Zaw said the prolonged detention of several different nationals in one place could lead to “health, mental and physical problems.”

“We aren’t hesitating to repatriate them — we want it to happen immediately,“ he said. ”However, the respective governments are causing delays, which in turn forces us to slow down our operations.”

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Lt. Col. Naing Maung Zaw emphasized that the BGF will continue to work towards eradicating online scam operators in its territory.

‘Pig butchering’

The thousands of people were rescued amid moves by various authorities to shut down scam centers that have flourished in different parts of Southeast Asia for several years.

The scamming, known as “pig butchering” in China, involves making contact with unsuspecting people online, building a relationship with them and then defrauding them. Researchers say billions of dollars have been stolen this way from victims around the world.

(AFP)

Huge fraud operation complexes are often staffed by people lured by false job advertisements and forced to work, sometimes under threat of violence, rescued workers and rights groups say.

China, home to many of the victims of the scams, has in recent weeks worked to spur authorities in its southern neighbors to take action against the criminal enterprises.

Researchers have said governments and businesses across the region have been enabling the operations by failing to take action against the profitable flows they generate.

The rescues came around a month after China’s Public Security Bureau stated on Jan. 26 that it will increase cooperation with relevant countries to crack down on online scam gangs and arrest criminals.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.

A legal expert, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told Radio Free Asia that police are focused on protecting the military junta from rebel forces, rather than enforcing the law.

The junta, which seized control of Myanmar in a February 2021 coup, has imposed martial law in dozens of townships in the country to stamp out resistance in areas where anti-regime forces are active.

“To be honest, the legal system is almost nonexistent,” he said. “The primary reason for this is the country’s loss of peace and stability. The rule of law has completely collapsed.”

Police are unable to perform their fundamental duties because they must focus solely on security issues, the legal expert said.

“In terms of security, they are concentrated only on identifying and arresting members of organizations deemed ‘terrorist groups,’ while neglecting their core police responsibilities.”

A growing trend

Meanwhile, rising crime has become a trend in major cities and towns across Myanmar, sources said.

In 2024, at least five people were reportedly kidnapped in Yangon and Mandalay, as well as Tachileik and Muse — border towns in Myanmar’s Shan state.

(Sai Aung Main/AFP)

In an incident in December 2024, a group kidnapped, extorted and murdered an obstetrician-gynecologist in Mandalay region’s Chanmyathazi township.

On Jan. 3, a group of men abducted Tun Lin Naing Oo, a gas station owner, in Mandalay.

On Jan. 11, a man armed with a gun robbed a Kanbawza Bank branch in Mahanwesin ward, in Mandalay region’s Maha Aungmye township, in broad daylight. But instead of police intervening, bank security guards and residents surrounded and apprehended him.

On Jan. 18, three armed men kidnapped a grocery store owner in Muse.

A resident of Mandalay, who requested anonymity, told RFA that people there live in constant fear because of rampant crime, including robberies.

“Authorities themselves engage in illegal activities, leaving no sense of security or peace,” said the person, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution.

“Life has become exhausting,” the person said. “We struggle every day just to survive. This is the harsh reality, and everyone is suffering.”

Abductors demand ransom

When young women in major cities like Yangon and Mandalay go missing, it is often kidnappers who claim responsibility and demand ransom for their release, said residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest metropolis.

But their relatives typically refrain from filing complaints with authorities out of fear that the abductors may return to target them again, according to a source close to one such family in Yangon.

The source, who declined to be named for safety reasons, pointed to the recent kidnapping of a girl who was on her way to school one morning when she was nabbed off the street.

In the evening, he said, the kidnappers called her mother, demanding 60 million kyats (US$13,500) for her release and threatened to kill or sell her if the ransom wasn’t paid. The mother handed over the cash without contacting the police, and her daughter was released.

(AFP)

“I believe families are too afraid to report these incidents, fearing retaliation from the kidnappers,” said the source. “The main issue is that everyone is living in fear.”

Some of those who have reported such incidents to the police said authorities failed to take action or make arrests.

Curfew workarounds

Curfews in Yangon and Mandalay have done little to curb crime, residents said, despite regular military and police patrols.

A resident of Yangon, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said that criminals simply work around the city’s 1 a.m.-3 a.m. curfew.

“The looters are taking advantage of the situation, taking to the streets at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., violating martial law, and looting,” the resident said.

“There are all kinds of robberies happening,” he said. “As a result, people have been forced to rely on one another, helping each other to protect their streets, homes and neighborhoods.”

RFA could not reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment.

Following the 2021 coup d’état, crime rate statistics were not monitored as local watch groups and activists were prosecuted by the junta for opposing the takeover.

The United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other Western countries have issued travel warnings for Myanmar, advising their citizens not to visit the country due to its high-risk status.

Translated by Kalyar Lwin for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.

The fate of Palestinian Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was “arrested” by Israeli forces last month after defiantly staying with his patients when his hospital was being attacked, featured strongly at yesterday’s medical professionals solidarity rally in Auckland.

The Israeli government bears full responsibility for the life of Dr Abu Safiya’s life amid alarming indications of torture and ill-treatment since his detention.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has received information that Dr Abu Safiya’s health has deteriorated due to the torture he endured during his detention, particularly while being held at the Sde Teyman military base in southern Israel.

• READ MORE: Israel orders patients, staff to ‘evacuate’ last two hospitals in northern Gaza siege – NZ protest
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• Who is Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of key Gaza hospital detained by Israel?

Euro-Med Monitor warns of the grave risk to his life, following patterns of deliberate killings and deaths under torture previously suffered by other doctors and medical staff arrested from Gaza since October 2023.

Euro-Med Monitor has documented testimonies confirming that Israeli soldiers physically assaulted Dr Abu Safiya immediately after he left the hospital on Friday, 27 December 2024. He was then directly targeted with sound bombs while attempting to evacuate the hospital in compliance with orders from the Israeli army.

According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli army subsequently transferred Dr Abu Safiya to a field interrogation site in the Al-Fakhura area of Jabalia Refugee Camp.

There, he was forced to strip off his clothes and was subjected to severe beatings, including being whipped with a thick wire commonly used for street electrical wiring. Soldiers deliberately humiliated him in front of other detainees, including fellow medical staff.

Transferred to Sde Teyman military camp
He was later taken to an undisclosed location before being transferred to the Sde Teyman military camp under Israeli army control.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has also received information from recently released detainees at the Sde Teyman military camp, confirming that Dr Abu Safiya was subjected to severe torture, leading to a significant deterioration in his health.

This occurred despite him already being wounded by Israeli air strikes on the hospital, where he worked tirelessly until the facility was stormed and set ablaze by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has attempted to mislead the public regarding Dr Abu Safiya’s detention and torture.

Pro-Israeli media outlets circulated a misleading promotional video portraying his treatment as humane, even though he was tortured and humiliated immediately after filming.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of the severe implications of Israel’s denial of Dr Abu Safiya’s detention, describing this as a deeply troubling indicator of his fate and detention conditions. This denial also reflects a blatant disregard for binding legal standards.

Physicians for Human Rights — Israel (PHRI) submitted a request on behalf of Dr Abu Safiya’s family to obtain information and facilitate a lawyer’s visit on 2 January 2024. However, the Israeli authorities claimed to have no record of his detention, stating they had no indication of his arrest.

Deep concern over execution risk
Euro-Med Monitor expresses deep concern that Dr Abu Safiya may face execution during his detention, similar to the fate of Dr Adnan Al-Bursh, head of the orthopaedics department at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, who was killed under torture at Ofer Detention Centre on 19 April 2024.

Dr Al-Bursh had been detained along with colleagues from Al-Awda Hospital in December 2023.

Likewise, Dr Iyad Al-Rantisi, head of the obstetrics department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, was killed due to torture at an Israeli Shin Bet interrogation centre in Ashkelon, one week after his detention in November 2023. Israeli authorities concealed his death for more than seven months.

Dozens of doctors and medical staff remain subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance in Israeli prisons and detention centres, where they face severe torture and solitary confinement, according to testimonies from former detainees.

The detention of Dr Abu Safiya must be understood within the context of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has persisted for nearly 15 months. His arrest, torture, and potential execution form part of a broader strategy aimed at destroying the Palestinian people in Gaza — both physically and psychologically — and breaking their will.

This strategy includes not only the deliberate destruction of the health sector and the disruption of medical staff operations, particularly in northern Gaza, but also an attack on the symbolic and humanitarian role represented by Dr Abu Safiya.

Despite the grave crimes committed against Kamal Adwan Hospital, its staff, and patients, especially in the past two months, Dr Abu Safiya remained unwavering in his dedication to providing essential medical care and fulfilling his medical duties.

Call on states, UN to take immediate steps
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on all concerned states, international entities, and UN bodies to take immediate and effective measures to secure the unconditional release of Dr Abu Safiya. His fundamental rights to life, physical safety, and dignity must be protected, shielding him from torture or any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Euro-Med Monitor also urges international and local human rights organisations to be granted full access to visit Dr Abu Safiya, monitor his health condition, provide necessary medical treatment, and ensure he is free from human rights violations until his release.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor reiterates its call for the United Nations to deploy an international investigative mission to examine the grave crimes and violations faced by Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

It calls for the immediate release of those detained arbitrarily, for international and local organisations to be granted visitation rights, and for detainees to have access to legal representation.

Euro-Med Monitor expresses regret over the continued inaction of Alice Jill Edwards, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, who has failed to address these atrocities. It condemns her bias and deliberate negligence in fulfilling her mandate and calls for her dismissal.

A new Special Rapporteur who is neutral and committed to universal human rights principles must be appointed.

Additionally, Euro-Med Monitor urges the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct immediate and thorough investigations into crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Call for prosecution of Israeli crimes
It calls for direct engagement with victims and families, as well as for reports to be submitted to pave the way for investigative committees, fact-finding missions, and international courts to prosecute Israeli crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, and compensate victims in line with international law.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor renews its call for relevant states and entities to fulfil their legal obligations to halt the genocide in Gaza.

This includes imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, holding it accountable for its crimes, and taking effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians. Immediate steps must also be taken to prevent forced displacement, ensure the return of residents, release arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and facilitate the urgent entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza without obstacles.

Finally, Euro-Med Monitor demands the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the entire Gaza Strip.

Republished from Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Hyperinflation and rumors of currency reform in North Korea are prompting wealthier people to buy up expensive goods that hold value such as electronics and auto parts, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

Poorer people, meanwhile, are struggling with their devalued currency as the price of food and firewood, needed to heat their homes this winter, has soared to unaffordable levels.

The price of key commodities has soared. Rice, considered a luxury, now costs more than 10,000 won (33 U.S. cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) in the eastern province of South Hamgyong, about one-third of the average monthly salary from a government-assigned job. Rice is even more expensive in other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan and the U.S. dollar have more or less quintupled against the won over the past year, sources said. That’s important because most staples in North Korea have been imported from China and merchants prefer to trade in terms of foreign currencies.

Prices can fluctuate due to various factors, but food is supposed to be cheaper at this time of year, with the fall harvest recently completed.

With the value of their money rapidly decreasing, people are trying to use it to buy things that hold value, a resident of South Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“These days, people who have money are buying products in bulk,” he said. “This is because the exchange rate continues to rise along with the product prices. There is even talk of currency reform.”

Past scars

The people still have a sour taste left in their mouths from the last time the country reformed its currency in 2009, making bills issued prior to the reform obsolete, and limiting the amount of “old” won that each person could exchange for “new” won. Personal savings were devastated and small fortunes erased.

“We don’t know if it is real, but the overall atmosphere is chaotic as rumors of currency reform spread,” he said. “Not everyone is that concerned about the rise in rice prices, exchange rates, and currency reform, but people with money are especially on full alert.”

The resident said that those with money are also trying to buy things that they can sell again later once prices stabilize or after a potential reform.

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“A friend who made a lot of money selling sea cucumbers goes around collecting goods such as used color LCD TVs and computers,” he said. “He is spending all the money he has, leaving only enough money to buy food.”

Another friend is buying up car parts, he said. Merchants who usually make a living selling things in the marketplace are now staying home to hold onto their wares.

Merchants in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong are also staying away from the markets out of precaution, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity for personal safety.

“The authorities are placating residents by saying that currency reform is just a rumor,” he said, adding that they learned to hold on to products in 2009, because after that reform it was the people who had a lot of goods that made a fortune off of it.

He said the merchants are going after food products that can be held long-term like soybean oil and sugar. Other products they are shelling out for include lumber, paint, automotive parts and tires.

“Even if currency reform is just a rumor, merchants believe that it is more profitable not to sell products right now, as the dollar exchange rate continues to rise in line with the prices of products,” he said.

Pervasive anxieties

He said that the sharp rise in prices is upsetting for both rich and poor, but for different reasons.

“People with money worry about losing all their money, and ordinary people without money worry about how high the prices will rise and they spend their days filled with anxiety.

A resident in the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA that exchange rates are rising even faster than they did in 2009.

“The consequences of raising workers’ salaries by more than ten times earlier this year are only now beginning to show,” he said, alluding to the higher prices.

Large increases in salaries for everyone’s government-assigned jobs started in December 2023, with workers in certain industries getting 40 times what they had previously. Most workers saw an 10- to 15-fold increase, however.

While it did provide a boost in income, salaries are still not enough to live on, and most families still have to run side businesses, often by trading goods in the marketplaces.

The Ryanggang resident, who believes the inflationary effects of these increases are being felt now, said that the dollar went from 28,000 won on Dec. 1 to 41,000 on Dec. 8.

Rice rose to 12,000 won per kilogram. Potato prices, meanwhile, have more than tripled.

Most people are having trouble with food prices, but even if they have enough money to cover the rapid increases, they don’t have enough left over for charcoal and firewood, which is necessary to keep homes warm in the harsh Siberian winters, he said.

“The merchants don’t even answer when asked about the price of firewood in won,” the Ryanggang resident said. If one is paying in dollars or yuan, though, the price is similar to what it was in those currencies a year ago.

“The value of our money has sharply decreased.”

To make due without charcoal or firewood, poorer people are resorting to making “fake briquettes,” he said. They crush corn straw, bean pods, or sawdust, and mix it with mud, and then stamp it out into the same shape as a briquette.

“They are barely enough to cook a meal, but not enough for heating rooms.”

With their monthly salaries they can only afford to buy six of these fake briquettes.

Firewood and charcoal are more difficult to find than food these days, a university student in the same province said. Temperatures in the province are at minus 7 degrees Celsius (19.4 degrees Fahrenheit), but go as low as minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees F) at night.

“If the firewood problem is not solved immediately, many people will freeze to death this winter,” he said.

The provincial government is aware of the issue and has supplied 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of lignite coal to families of disabled soldiers, the student said.

“But 50 kilograms of lignite would not last even 10 days in winter, and families who do not have a disabled soldier didn’t even get that.”

Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Ahn Chang Gyu and Moon Sung Whui for RFA Korean.

The post #11. One-Third of Children Globally Face Water Scarcity Due to Climate Change appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Kate Horgan.

INVESTIGATION: By Yaakov Aharon

The Israeli war machine is in hyperdrive, and it needs new bodies to throw into the fire. In July, The Department of Home Affairs stated that there were only four Australians who had booked flights to Israel and whom it suspected of intending to join the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

The Australian Border Force intervened with three of the four but clarified that they did not “necessarily prevent them from leaving”.

MWM understands a batch of Australian recruits is due to arrive in Israel in January, and this is not the first batch of recruits to receive assistance as IDF soldiers through this Australian programme.

• READ MORE: Protesters condemn Fiji ‘complicity, silence’ over Israel’s Gaza genocide
• Palestinian musicians, poets and solidarity partners in vibrant NZ cultural celebration
• Other Israel’s war on Gaza reports

Many countries encourage certain categories of immigrants and discourage others. However, Israel doesn’t just want Palestinians out and Jews in — they want Jews of fighting age, who will be conscripted shortly after arrival.

The IDF’s “Lone Soldiers” are soldiers who do not have parents living in Israel. Usually, this means 18-year-old immigrants with basic Hebrew who may never have spent longer than a school camp away from home.

There are a range of Israeli government programmes, charities, and community centres that support the Lone Soldiers’ integration into society prior to basic training.

The most robust of these programs is Garin Tzabar, where there are only 90 days between hugging mum and dad goodbye at Sydney Airport and the drill sergeant belting orders in a foreign language.

Garin Tzabar
In 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asked Minister for Aliyah [Immigration] and Integration, Tzipi Livni, to significantly increase the number of people in the Garin Tzabar programme.

The IDF website states that Garin Tzabar “is a unique project, a collaborative venture of the Meitav Unit in the IDF, the Scout movement, the security-social wing of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, which began in 1991”. (Translated from Hebrew via Google Translate.)

The Meitav Unit is divided into many different branches, most of which are responsible for overseeing new recruits.

Powerful and unique journalism by @yaakov_aharon on a story that receives shamefully little coverage in Australia; the recruitment of Australians to serve in the Israeli military: https://t.co/OdNVzzMEbx

— Antony Loewenstein (@antloewenstein) December 2, 2024

However, the pride of the Meitav Unit is the branch dedicated to recruiting all the unique population groups that are not subject to the draft (eg. Ultra-Orthodox Jews). This branch is then divided into three further Departments.

In a 2020 interview, the Head of Meitav’s Tzabar Department, Lieutenant Noam Delgo, referred to herself as someone who “recruits olim chadishim (new immigrants).” She stated:

“Our main job in the army is to help Garin Tzabar members to recruit . . .  The best thing about Garin Tzabar is the mashakyot (commanders). Every time you wake up in the morning you have two amazing soldiers — really intelligent — with pretty high skills, just managing your whole life, teaching you Hebrew, helping you with all the bureaucratic systems in Israel, getting profiles, seeing doctors and getting those documents, and finishing the whole process.”

The Garin Tzabar programme specifically advertises for Australian recruits.

The contact point for Australian recruits is Shoval Magal, the executive director of Garin Tzabar Australia. The registered address is a building shared by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Zionist Council of NSW, the community’s peak bodies in the state.

A post from April 2020 on the IDF website states:

“Until three months ago, Tali [REDACTED], from Sydney, Australia, and Moises [REDACTED], from Mexico City, were ordinary teenagers. But on December 25, they arrived at their new family here in Israel — the “Garin Tzabar” family, and in a moment, they will become soldiers. In a special project, we accompanied them from the day of admission (to the program) until just before the recruitment.“ (Translated from Hebrew via Google Translate).

Michael Manhaim was the executive director of Garin Tzabar Australia from 2018 to 2023. He wrote an article, “Becoming a Lone Soldier”,’ for the 2021 annual newsletter of Betar Australia, a Zionist youth group for children. In the article, Manhaim writes:

“The programme starts with the unique preparation process in Australia.

. . . It only takes one step; you just need to choose which foot will lead the way. We will be there for the rest.”

A criminal activity
MWM is not alleging that any of the parties mentioned in this article have broken the law. It is not a crime if a person chooses to join a foreign army.

However, S119.7 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 states:

A person commits an offence if the person recruits, in Australia, another person to serve in any capacity in or with an armed force in a foreign country.

It is a further offence to facilitate or promote recruitment for a foreign army and to publish recruitment materials. This includes advertising information relating to how a person may serve in a foreign army.

The maximum penalty for each offence is 10 years.

Rawan Arraf, executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, said:

“Unless there has been a specific declaration stating it is not an offence to recruit for the Israel Defence Force, recruitment to a foreign armed force is a criminal offence under Australian law, and the Australian Federal Police should be investigating anyone allegedly involved in recruitment for a foreign armed force.”

Army needing ‘new flesh’
If the IDF are to keep the war on Gaza going, they need to fill old suits of body armour with new grunts.

Reports indicate the death toll within IDF’s ranks is unprecedented — a suicide epidemic is claiming further lives on the home front, and reservists are refusing in droves to return to active duty.

In October, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Bibi Netanyahu of obscuring the facts of Israel’s casualty rate. Any national security story published in Israel must first be approved by the intelligence unit at the Military Censor.

“11,000 soldiers were injured and 890 others killed,” Lapid said, without warning and live on air. There are limits to how much we accept the alternative facts”.

In November 2023, Shoval Magal shared a photo in which she is posing alongside six young Australians, saying, “The participants are eager to have Aliya (immigrate) to Israel, start the programme and join the army”.

These six recruits are the attendees of just one of several seminars that Magal has organised in Melbourne for the summer 2023 cycle, having also organised separate events across cities in Australia.

Magal’s June 2024 newsletter said she was “in the advanced stages of the preparation phase in Australia for the August 2024 Garin”. Most recently, in October 2024, she was “getting ready for Garin Tzabar’s 2024 December cycle.”

There are five “Aliyah (Immigration) Events” in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The sponsoring organisations are Garin Tzabar, the Israeli Ministry for Aliyah (Immigration) and Integration, and a who’s who of the Jewish-Australian community.

The star speaker at each event is Alon Katz, an Australian who joined Garin Tzabar in 2018 and is today a reserve IDF soldier. The second speaker, Colonel Golan Vach, was the subject of two Electronic Intifada investigations alleging that he had invented the 40 burned babies lie on October 7 to create a motive for Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.

If any Australian signed the papers to become an IDF recruit at these events, is someone liable for the offence of recruiting them to a foreign army?

MWM reached out for comment to Garin Tzabar Australia and the Zionist Federation of Australia to clarify whether the IDF is recruiting in Australia but did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

• Since 2016, the number of disenfranchised people has declined by 31% as more states implement policies to restore voting rights, but significant barriers remain, particularly for individuals unable to pay court-ordered fines and fees.

• One in 22 African Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate more than three times that of non-African Americans. More than 10% of African American citizens are barred from voting in five states—Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, South Dakota and Tennessee.

• Approximately 496,000 Latino Americans are disenfranchised, with over 5% of Latino voters in Arizona and Tennessee affected by felony voting bans. Latino voters are disenfranchised at higher rates than the general population in 28 states.

• Approximately 764,000 women are barred from voting due to felony convictions, making up just under 20% of the disenfranchised population. 56% of women who are disenfranchised have completed their sentences.

• Florida and Tennessee lead the nation in disenfranchisement rates, with more than 6% of their adult populations unable to vote, due to a felony conviction.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

Traces of poison were found in cups in the room where the three men and three women, two of whom were Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals, were found.

“We found cyanide in the teacups. One of them was definitely the culprit,” Police Maj. Gen. Noppasin Punsawat, Bangkok deputy police chief said, adding that CCTV cameras showed no one else had entered the room.

Noppasin said he believed the murders were sparked by a business dispute between U.S. citizens Sherine Chong, 56, and Dang Hung Van, 55, and the other four. He said Chong was given an equivalent of 10 million baht (US$278,000) to invest in the construction of a hospital in Japan but was suspected of cheating her partners after the project made no progress.

“This case is about personal conflict, no trans-border criminals were involved,” he said.

Police identified the four Vietnamese citizens as a couple: Pham Hong Thanh, 49, and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46, who they believe had been cheated by Chong, along with Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47, and Tran Dinh Phu, 37.

A seventh person, thought to have been part of the group, returned to Vietnam on July 10, police said.

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Hotel security staff entered Suite 502 from the back door after the group failed to check out on Tuesday. The front door to the room had been locked from the inside. Police said the bodies had probably been there for around 24 hours, although they are still waiting for the results of an official autopsy.

The FBI and Vietnamese officials are working alongside Thai police to track the group’s movements and interview any witnesses, Noppasin said.

Vietnam’s ambassador to Thailand Pham Viet Hung met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Tuesday to discuss the case, Vietnamese media reported.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the deaths of two of its citizens.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families,” spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing in Washington.

After visiting the scene Tuesday night, Thai prime minister Srettha ordered a swift investigation to avoid any negative impact on tourism.

The 380-room Grand Hyatt Erawan is in the upscale Ratchaprasong district, an area popular with tourists. It is just down the street from the high-end Siam Paragon shopping mall where, last October, a 14-year old Thai boy shot dead two women from China and Myanmar and injured five other people.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Pimukk Rakkanam for RFA.

The post Nonprofit Watchdog Suffers Due to Elon Musk’s SLAPP Suit appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Kate Horgan.

The national congress of New Caledonia’s pro-independence platform, the FLNKS, was postponed at the weekend due to major differences between its hard-line component and its more moderate parties.

The FLNKS is the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front.

It consists of several pro-independence parties, including the Kanak Liberation Party (PALIKA), the Progressist Union in Melanesia (UPM) and the more radical and largest Union Calédonienne (UC).

• READ MORE: Other New Caledonia crisis reports

In recent months, following a perceived widening rift between the moderate and hard-line components of the pro-independence umbrella, UC has revived a so-called “Field Action Coordination Cell” (CCAT).

This has been increasingly active from October 2023 and more recently during the series of actions that erupted into roadblocks, riots, looting and arson.

CCAT mainly consists of radical political parties, trade unions within the pro-independence movement.

The 43rd FLNKS congress, in that context, was regarded as “crucial” over several key points.

Stance over unrest
These include the platform’s stance on the ongoing unrest and which action to take next and a response to a call to lift all remaining roadblocks — but also the pro-independence movement’s fielding of candidates to contest the French snap general election to be held on June 30 and July 7.

There are two seats and constituencies for New Caledonia in the French National Assembly.

Organising the 43rd FLNKS Congress, convened in the small village of Netchaot — near the town of Koné north of the main island — was this year the responsibility of moderate PALIKA.

It started to take place on Saturday, June 15, under heavy security from the organisers, who followed a policy of systematic searches of all participants, including party leaders, local media reported.

However, the UC delegation arrived three hours late, around midday.

A meeting of all component party leaders was held for about one hour, behind closed doors, public broadcaster NC la 1ère reported yesterday.

It was later announced that the congress, including a much-awaited debate on sensitive points, would not go on and had been “postponed”.

CCAT militants waiting
The main bone of contention was the fact that a large group of CCAT militants were being kept waiting in their vehicles on the road to the small village, with the hope of being allowed to take part in the FLNKS congress, with the support of UC.

But hosts and organisers made it clear that this was not acceptable and could be seen as an attempt from the radical movement to take over the whole of FLNKS.

They said they had concerns about the security of the whole event if the CCAT’s numerous militants were allowed in.

On Thursday and Friday last week, ahead of the FLNKS gathering, CCAT had organised its own general assembly in the town of Bourail — on the west coast of the main island — with an estimated 300-plus militants in attendance.

Moderate components of the FLNKS and organisers also made clear on Saturday that if and when the postponed congress resumed at another date, all roadblocks still in place throughout New Caledonia should be lifted.

In a separate media release last week, PALIKA had already called on all blockades in New Caledonia to be removed so that freedom of movement could be restored, especially at a time when voters were being called to the polls later this month as part of the French snap general election.

Candidates deadline
As the deadline for lodging candidates expired on Sunday, it was announced that the FLNKS, as an umbrella group, did not field any.

On its part, UC had separately fielded two candidates, Omaira Naisseline and Emmanuel Tjibaou, one for each of the two constituencies.

Earlier this month, UC president Daniel Goa said he was now aimed at proclaiming New Caledonia’s independence on 24 September 2025.

The date coincides with the anniversary of France’s colonisation of New Caledonia on 24 September 1853.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

More than eight months into Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, the territory’s healthcare system is barely functioning, with the World Health Organization reporting this week that there have been 464 Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system since October 7, affecting 101 health facilities. Gaza’s Health Ministry warns that the few remaining hospitals still partially functioning could completely shut down due to Israel’s near-total blockade of the territory, which is keeping out parts needed to maintain hospital diesel generators, as well as crucial medical supplies. Over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, and nearly 85,000 Palestinians have been wounded. “The situation in Gaza … remains catastrophic,” says Dr. James Smith, an emergency medical doctor just back from Gaza, where he treated patients for nearly two months. “There are no fully functional hospitals any longer in Gaza and no health facilities that are able to absorb the sheer scale of need now.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

We speak with Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of government at Columbia who has spoken with many of the pro-Palestine protesters camping out on school grounds to show solidarity with Gaza and demand the school divest from Israel. He says there is growing outrage from faculty after the school’s leadership called in the police to raid the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and conduct mass arrests, while administrators have started suspending and evicting some students. “There has been no due process on the Columbia campus,” says Mamdani.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

The post Low-income, Minority Families Spend More on Bottled Water Due to Poor Water Infrastructure, Advertising appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Shealeigh.

But the claim is misleading. Google had its servers in China before exiting the country in 2010. The primary reason for the American tech giant’s departure from the Chinese market was its refusal to comply with the Chinese government’s content censorship.

The claim was shared on Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok, on March 10, by a user “Li Sanjin Alex Sees the World” with more than 3 million followers. 

Commenting on the U.S.’s latest decision to ban Tiktok, the user claimed the U.S. specifically “targeted” the Chinese app by creating a new law to push it out although it complied with all American domestic laws.

“Someone might say China [also] banned it [foreign social media platforms] anyway. Facebook, Twitter, Google, it’s all equal [banned in China]. You are dead wrong,” said the user.

“As long as they keep their data at home [in China] … you can develop in the Chinese market at will. Google, they disagreed. [to follow the domestic regulations] So they gave up the Chinese market.”

“Li Sanjin Alex Sees the World” was among many Chinese online users who criticized the U.S.’s move to ban TikTok, while citing Google’s decision to exit China as an example to “compare” how both the American and Chinese government “treat” foreign companies differently. 

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last Wednesday calling for the app’s Chinese developer ByteDance to divest from the company or be booted out of U.S. app stores.

The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, receiving 352 votes in favor, and only 65 against.

Many House legislators have argued that the app could allow Beijing to access user data and influence Americans through the wildly popular social media platform’s addictive algorithm. The White House has backed the bill, with President Joe Biden saying he would sign it if it passes Congress.

But the claim is misleading. 

Google’s China exit

A review of archived documents reveals that before Google announced its exit from the Chinese market in 2010, its servers were located within China.

The American tech giant even had joint ventures or collaborations with various Chinese companies in different businesses. 

Google also cooperated with the Chinese government’s request for self-censorship of content. 

In fact, Google stated that due to sophisticated cyber attacks originating from China and requests from the Chinese government for censorship, the company decided to redirect its “services designed for mainland China users” to servers in Hong Kong.

China has numerous laws regarding content censorship.

The “Administrative Measures for the Security Protection of International Networking of Computer Information Networks” is one example. 

Under the measure, China’s Ministry of Public Security is responsible for protecting the connection between the computer network in China and the international Internet.

“No unit or individual shall use the international networking to endanger state security, divulge state secrets, nor shall it/he/she infringe on national, social and collective interests and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, nor shall it/he/she engage in illegal criminal activities,” the Article 4 of the measure reads. 

AFCL has previously reported on China’s increasing control over the Internet industry. 

TikTok ban?

TikTok, a highly popular app owned by a Chinese firm, faces scrutiny due to the significant control the Chinese government has over its national companies. Critics fear that this influence might allow the Chinese government to collect personal data from American users or manipulate American politics through TikTok.

The U.S.’s latest move is aimed at the ownership structure of the app, while establishing clear legal compliance norms. 

With the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has 180 days after the law takes effect to sell the app business and hold no more than 20% of the shares to continue operating in the U.S. market.

The new bill wouldn’t remove TikTok from people’s phones. But it would prevent Apple and Google from distributing the app from their app stores, and maintaining the app via updates, which would eventually make the app unusable. 

The bill would also ban U.S. websites from hosting TikTok.

Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Rita Cheng for Asia Fact Check Lab.

The Iranian government "bears responsibility" for the physical violence that led to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who died in police custody in 2022, and for the brutal crackdown on largely peaceful street protests that followed, a report by a United Nations fact-finding mission says.

The report, issued on March 8 by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the mission “has established the existence of evidence of trauma to Ms. Amini’s body, inflicted while in the custody of the morality police."

It said the mission found the "physical violence in custody led to Ms. Amini’s unlawful death.... On that basis, the state bears responsibility for her unlawful death.”

Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13, 2022, while visiting the Iranian capital with her family. She was detained by Iran's so-called "morality police" for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, or hair-covering head scarf. Within hours of her detention, she was hospitalized in a coma and died on September 16.

Her family has denied that Amini suffered from a preexisting health condition that may have contributed to her death, as claimed by the Iranian authorities, and her father has cited eyewitnesses as saying she was beaten while en route to a detention facility.

The fact-finding report said the action “emphasizes the arbitrary character of Ms. Amini’s arrest and detention, which were based on laws and policies governing the mandatory hijab, which fundamentally discriminate against women and girls and are not permissible under international human rights law."

"Those laws and policies violate the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and the autonomy of women and girls. Ms. Amini’s arrest and detention, preceding her death in custody, constituted a violation of her right to liberty of person,” it said.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran hailed the findings and said they represented clear signs of "crimes against humanity."

“The Islamic republic’s violent repression of peaceful dissent and severe discrimination against women and girls in Iran has been confirmed as constituting nothing short of crimes against humanity,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the center.

“The government’s brutal crackdown on the Women, Life, Freedom protests has seen a litany of atrocities that include extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape. These violations disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in society, women, children, and minority groups,” he added.

The report also said the Iranian government failed to “comply with its duty” to investigate the woman’s death promptly.

“Most notably, judicial harassment and intimidation were aimed at her family in order to silence them and preempt them from seeking legal redress. Some family members faced arbitrary arrest, while the family’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbaht, and three journalists, Niloofar Hamedi, Elahe Mohammadi, and Nazila Maroufian, who reported on Ms. Amini’s death were arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to imprisonment,” it added.

Amini's death sparked mass protests, beginning in her home town of Saghez, then spreading around the country, and ultimately posed one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979. At least 500 people were reported killed in the government’s crackdown on demonstrators.

The UN report said "violations and crimes" under international law committed in the context of the Women, Life, Freedom protests include "extrajudicial and unlawful killings and murder, unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture, rape, enforced disappearances, and gender persecution.

“The violent repression of peaceful protests and pervasive institutional discrimination against women and girls has led to serious human rights violations by the government of Iran, many amounting to crimes against humanity," the report said.

The UN mission acknowledged that some state security forces were killed and injured during the demonstrations, but said it found that the majority of protests were peaceful.

The mission stems from the UN Human Rights Council's mandate to the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran on November 24, 2022, to investigate alleged human rights violations in Iran related to the protests that followed Amini's death.

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Photograph Source: Steve Snodgrass – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Many Americans haven’t heard of cash bail. But the idea is central to an election year battle over racism, policing, and mass incarceration.

When arrested on suspicion of committing a crime, everyone in the United States has the right to due process and to defend themselves in court. But in a cash bail system, when judges set bail amounts, those who cannot pay the full amount remain jailed indefinitely — a clear violation of their due process rights — while the rich can pay their way out of jail.

A 2022 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights examined the impact of cash bail and found that between 1970 and 2015, the number of people jailed before trial increased by a whopping 433 percent.

There are currently about half a million such people stuck in jails across the nation who haven’t been tried or convicted of any crimes. The report also found “stark disparities with regards to race,” with Black and brown men most often subject to higher bail amounts.

Thankfully, many states and cities are moving to reform this unfair practice.

In 2023, Illinois became the first state to entirely abolish cash bail. Other states, such as New Mexico, New Jersey, and Kentucky, have almost entirely ended cash bail requirements in recent years. In California, Los Angeles County has also similarly eliminated cash bail for all crimes except the most serious ones.

But in this election year, Republicans are rolling back these efforts — most recently in Georgia.

The state recently passed a bill expanding cash bail for 30 new crimes, some of which appear to be aimed at protesters, such as unlawful assembly. Further, it criminalizes charitable bail funds — and even individuals — that bail out people who can’t afford to bail out themselves.

Marlon Kautz, who runs the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, called cash bail “a loophole” in the criminal justice system, allowing courts to indefinitely jail people without charges if they cannot pay exorbitant bail amounts.

“Police, prosecutors, and politicians want a bail system that allows them to punish their political enemies, poor people, and people of color without trial,” said Kautz, whose fund has bailed out people protesting a massive new police training facility opponents call “Cop City.” Kautz was one of three people affiliated with the fund to be arrested on apparently politicized charges last year.

Reversing progress on bail reform is a new flashpoint in the GOP’s culture wars. “It could be a sign that Republicans intend to bash their Democratic opponents as soft on crime,” the Associated Press reported. Alongside Georgia, Republicans in Indiana, Missouri, and Wisconsin have introduced numerous bills expanding the use of cash bail.

Expanding the racist criminal justice system is a cynical GOP election-era ploy, one that has little to do with public safety.

“It is exceedingly rare for someone who’s released pretrial to be arrested and accused of a new offense that involves violence against another person,” said Sharlyn Grace, an official at the Cook County Public Defender’s office in Illinois. “Fears about public safety are in many ways greatly overblown and misplaced.”

“National studies contradict” the claim, the AP adds, that people are any less likely to show up for a court date if they’re released without bail.

Election years are a scary time for people of color in the U.S. They are marked by race-based voter suppression efforts, a rise in racist political rhetoric, and even a surge in racist hate crimes. The expansion of cash bail laws is yet another attack on Black and brown communities — one that must be exposed and confronted.

We shouldn’t let reform efforts fall victim to election year politics.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Sonali Kolhatkar.

If built, the Gangtuo Dam power station on the Drichu River could submerge several monasteries in Dege’s county’s Wangbuding township and force residents of at least two villages near the river to relocate, sources earlier told RFA. 

“Chinese officials have held meetings in the Wonto village area where they ordered local Tibetans to comply with the government’s plans and regulations and called for the leaders of the local monasteries to mobilize the locals to toe the party line,” said one source who hails from Dege and now lives in exile. 

On Feb. 25, Dege County Party Secretary Baima Zhaxi visited Wangbuding and neighboring townships to meet with Buddhist monastic leaders and village administrators, during which he called for “stability” and urged residents to comply with regulations or else be “dealt with in accordance with the law and regulations,” according to a local news report.

“As the stability maintenance period in March and the national Two Sessions approach, we must implement detailed stability maintenance measures to promote continued harmony and stability in the jurisdiction,” Zhaxi was quoted in the report as saying. 

The Two Sessions refers to China's annual meetings of the National People's Congress and of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, being held this week in Beijing.

“We must continue to carry out the investigation and resolution of conflicts, risks and hidden dangers, and effectively resolve conflicts and disputes at the grassroots level, and nip them in the bud,” Zhaxi said.

Zhaxi’s visit comes ahead of Tibetan Uprising Day on March 10, a politically sensitive date that commemorates the thousands of Tibetans who died in a 1959 uprising against China’s invasion and occupation of their homeland, and the flight of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile in northern India.

Keep building

Zhaxi also visited the dam construction site and told the leaders of the coordination team to adhere to their work orders and make arrangements for “the next step of work,” according to a local Chinese government announcement.

Zhaxi told residents about “the great significance and necessity of the construction of hydropower stations” and indicated that the government would “protect the legitimate interests of the masses to the greatest extent.”

“Abide by the law, express your demands in a legal, civilized and rational manner, and do not exceed the bottom line,” Zhaxi told locals during the on-site visit, according to the same news report. “Otherwise, you will be dealt with in accordance with the law and regulations.” 

On Feb. 23, police arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans, including monks and residents in the county in Sichuan’s Kardze Autonomous Tibetan Prefecture, who had been protesting the construction of the dam, meant to generate electricity.

Authorities continue to heighten security restrictions in Dege county on the east bank of the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, and in Jomda county of Qamdo city in the Tibet Autonomous Region on the west bank of the river, said the sources who both live in exile and requested anonymity for safety reasons. 

Strict surveillance

Residents are forbidden from contacting anyone outside the area, the sources said. Chinese officials continue to impose strict digital surveillance and tight restrictions on movement in Wangbuding after rare video footage emerged from inside Tibet on Feb. 22 of Chinese police beating Tibetan monks, before arresting more than 100 of them, most of whom were from Wonto and Yena monasteries. 

Since then, authorities have carried out wide-scale rigorous interrogations of the arrested Tibetans, even as information from inside Tibet has been harder to come by amid a crackdown on the use of mobile phones and social media and messaging platforms to restrict communication with the outside world, sources said.

The protests began on Feb. 14, when at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo Dam, part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex with a total planned capacity of 13,920 megawatts. 

Over the past two weeks, Tibetans in exile have been holding solidarity rallies in cities in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.  

Global leaders and Tibetan advocacy groups have condemned China’s actions, calling for the immediate release of those detained. Last week, Chinese authorities released about 40 of the arrested monks on Feb. 26 and 27, RFA reported. 

Additional reporting and editing by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Pelbar and Kalden Lodoe for RFA Tibetan.

An IRA provision directs the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to charge $900 for every metric ton of methane above a certain threshold released into the atmosphere in 2024. The issue is particularly challenging to tackle in oil and gas fields because methane is the primary component in natural gas, and it leaks from hundreds of thousands of devices scattered across the country. In 2022, oil and gas facilities emitted more than 2.5 million metric tons of methane. 

The methane fee is one of a handful of ways in which the Biden administration is trying to get the industry to clean up its act. Late last year, the EPA finalized a rule requiring drillers to take comprehensive measures to monitor for and fix methane leaks. Separately, the agency is revising a rule that governs how companies count up and report the volume of methane emissions from their operations. That rule in particular will determine the EPA’s ability to assess the success of its methane reduction rule and help it calculate defensible fees to penalize companies for their emissions. 

A new analysis by Geofinancial Analytics, a private data provider, found that some companies may be liable for tens of millions of dollars in fees — a possibility that could bankrupt some operators. The analysis, which relied on satellite data, found that the top 25 oil and gas producers in the country would together have been liable for as much as $1.1 billion if the methane fee was applied to emissions for a one-year period ending in March 2023.

On the one hand, major players like Chevron and Shell, which have publicly welcomed the new methane fee rule, are well below the rule’s threshold for penalizing emissions, according to Geofinancial. (This is likely due to large companies’ relative technological sophistication and economies of scale.) The fee only goes into effect when companies emit methane at volumes equivalent to more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which means that smaller companies, too, are largely exempt from the rule. Still, a 2022 Congressional analysis found that, despite the exemptions, the rule should effectively penalize about a third of all methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas infrastructure.

As a result, industry trade groups like the American Petroleum Institute, which represents a large swath of the oil and gas industry, have pilloried the rule and backed a proposal to repeal the fee.  

Some of the largest potential liabilities stemming from the rule, according to Geofinancial’s analysis, belong to Diversified Energy Company, a seasoned operator with about two decades in the oil and gas industry but an unusual business model. While the Exxons and Chevrons of the world typically rely on drilling new wells and increasing fossil fuel production to generate revenue, Diversified’s growth is heavily dependent on buying old wells at the end of their lives and wringing every last bit of oil or gas out of them. These low-producing wells come with serious environmental liabilities: The older the well, the more expensive it is to complete the required steps to seal it and prevent additional pollution — and the more likely it is to leak copious amounts of methane. 

Diversified, which has become the largest owner of oil and gas wells in the U.S., has some 70,000 such old and potentially leaky wells — making it potentially one of the biggest methane emitters in the industry as well. According to Geofinancial, Diversified would be liable for as much as $184 million if its annual excess methane emissions are equivalent to what it released over the year ending in September 2023. While the satellite results are a snapshot in time and contain some uncertainty, the overall finding that Diversified is probably facing catastrophically steep methane fees likely holds regardless of the potential variation. 

This potential liability is one of the reasons twin brothers Henry and Chris Kinnersley, founders of the activist investing firm Snowcap Research, are betting Diversified will fail. The brothers are shorting Diversified’s stock — making a big bet, essentially, that the company’s stock value will fall. 

“To put the methane fee in context, in the last 12 months Diversified’s free cash flow was $172 million,” said Chris Kinnersley. “We estimate nearly all of this was required to fund new acquisitions to offset the company’s declining production.”

John Sutter, a spokesperson for Diversified, said that the company has taken proactive measures to crack down on methane and that the practices are resulting in significant emissions reductions. “Diversified’s stewardship model shows a viable path forward for mature well operators: that it is possible to cut methane emissions and responsibly manage existing producing assets,” he said.

Part of the reason for the diverging expectations could be that quantifying methane emissions is fundamentally a difficult undertaking. The industry is required to submit its own estimates to the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program, but those numbers are widely understood to be an undercount. One study by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund found that the industry’s figures may be 60 percent lower than actual emissions. (Editor’s note: The Environmental Defense Fund is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers have no role in Grist’s editorial decisions.)

Based on research largely from the 1990s, the EPA has developed emission factors for every type of equipment found in oil fields. That means that, to comply with the EPA’s rules, operators first count up the various methane-emitting devices they own and operate, then multiply the number of devices by the corresponding emission factor to arrive at their total emissions for the year.

This approach falls short for two major reasons. When devices fail or malfunction, they tend to release large volumes of methane well above those accounted for by the emission factor — but the industry currently isn’t required to report these large releases. Additionally, the EPA’s emission factors are outdated, having been developed decades ago, well before the fracking revolution. New drilling and production technology has led to new and increased sources of methane releases, which the agency’s emission factors don’t fully capture.

Since calculating a fee to levy on operators requires an accurate and defensible count of the methane companies are spewing, the EPA proposed updating the reporting requirements last year. The proposed rule contains updated emissions factors based on new research. It also requires companies to report large releases if they become aware of them. Still, these measures aren’t expected to fully eliminate the gap between the emissions companies are reporting on paper and true emissions.  

“It’s likely to help close the gap but not get all the way there,” said Edwin LaMair, an attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund. “A lot of those large releases will not be seen and then won’t be reported.”

To increase the probability that large releases are caught, the EPA’s regulations include a provision for watchdog groups to report methane data independently. Over the last few years, the capabilities of satellite technology and aerial flights have been leveraged to get more accurate information about methane emissions from oil and gas fields. Nonprofit groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, for instance, have conducted aerial flights over the Permian Basin, the largest oil-producing region in the U.S. Earthworks, another environmental group, has long used infrared cameras to observe well sites and report faulty equipment. That empirical evidence can now be independently submitted to the EPA for consideration as it calculates methane fees for companies. 

In particular, satellite data is expected to play an important role in holding companies accountable. The Environmental Defense Fund, for instance, is planning to launch its own satellite in the coming months to monitor methane. The data from the satellite is expected to be posted to a public website. 

There’s also the data from existing satellites, which firms like Geofinancial have utilized. The data provider relied on a satellite launched by the European Space Agency that can provide a resolution of one square kilometer at best. In dense oil fields like the Permian in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota, there are often multiple wells owned by different companies within a square kilometer. Scientists at Geofinancial used statistical methods to attribute emissions to specific operators, but there is some inherent uncertainty in the estimates. While the findings may not be precise, they are still valuable to investors and the public trying to grasp a company’s contribution to the methane problem and its potential financial liability. 

“We’re conveying the empirical data, which has plus or minus error bars on it,” said Mark Kriss, the managing director at Geofinancial. “Even at a given wellhead, a one-kilometer pixel, in many cases, we have pretty good confidence about who’s responsible for that, but not in every case. But when you aggregate things at the company level, we have very high confidence.”

For investors like the Kinnersleys, that data is valuable even with all its uncertainty. Until 2021, Diversified calculated its methane emissions using the EPA’s methodology. But that year, the company switched to a method developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which allows companies to self-measure emissions in the field. The company claimed that the measurement-based work “highlighted the negative implications of using prescribed, theoretical emissions factors in our calculations as compared to using the actual measurements from the true operations of our assets.”

The resulting emissions were 60 percent lower than in previous years. The main difference came from how the company estimated its emissions from pneumatic devices, which are used to move fluids. The EPA’s method requires that the company use an emission factor of 13.5 for pneumatic devices, but the company calculated a lower emission factor of 5.5 through measurements in the field. 

“As a third party, it’s very difficult to verify whether that new, updated emission factor is actually fair,” countered Chris Kinnersley. “There’s lots of ways you can game that. You can go to newer wells at certain times and you can say, ‘Hey, we sat outside this well, and it was only emitting this much.’”

Sutter, the Diversified spokesperson, did not respond directly to questions about the Kinnersleys’ allegations, but the company told Bloomberg that the brothers’ “report contains numerous inaccuracies, ignores specific financial and operational results and sustainability actions, and is designed for the sole purpose of negatively impacting the company’s share price for the short seller’s own benefit.”

As satellite technology matures and the EPA’s rules for reporting are finalized, advocates expect transparency around methane emissions will increase. The EPA is expected to audit the emission numbers that companies turn in more closely. 

“They’re going to be beefing that process up in light of the methane fee, since now there’s a financial incentive to misreport their emissions or omit certain things,” said LaMair. “They’ll be able to find these discrepancies, continue to improve their reporting methodologies, and find the companies that might be underreporting.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Biden’s climate law fines oil companies for methane pollution. The bill is coming due. on Feb 20, 2024.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Naveena Sadasivam.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

The latest round of Russian strikes came as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and the head of the UN's atomic agency, Rafael Grossi, were in Ukraine, with the latter visiting the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant to assess the situation amid concerns about the plant's safety.

In Kyiv, debris from a downed Russian missile fell on an 18-story residential block in the southern Holosiyivskiy district, triggering a fire that killed at least four people, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Sixteen people were injured in Holosiyivskiy and in the eastern district of Dnipro in the capital, Klymenko said. Rescue crews continue to work at the sites, he added.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said at least 38 people were wounded in the capital.

Fragments of a downed Russian missile also damaged electricity lines, leaving part of the Ukrainian capital without power and heating.

"Some consumers on the left bank [of the Dnieper River] are currently without electricity," Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. "The heating supply main on the left bank was damaged."

"Another massive Russian air attack against our country," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as an air-raid alert was declared for all of Ukraine. "Six regions came under enemy fire. All of our services are currently working to eliminate the consequences of this terror," Zelenskiy wrote.

In the southern city of Mykolayiv, one mad died following a Russian strike, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said. Russian missiles also hit the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, wounding two people, regional officials said.

Parts of the Ukrainian capital were left without power and heating following a deadly Russian missile attack that struck in the early morning hours of February 7, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 64 drones and missiles at Ukraine's territory. The Ukrainian air defense shot down 29 missiles and 15 drones, it said.

Borrell, in Kyiv on a two-day visit to highlight the bloc's support for Ukraine, posted a picture on X from a shelter.

"Starting my morning in the shelter as air raid alarms are sounding across Kyiv," Borrell wrote. "This is the daily reality of the brave Ukrainian people, since Russia launched its illegal aggression."

Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meanwhile, arrived at Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhya -- Europe's largest nuclear power plant -- accompanied by IAEA mission staff and Russian soldiers, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Grossi on February 6 held talks in Kyiv with Zelenskiy, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and other Ukrainian officials.

Russia occupied the plant shortly after it launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and its six nuclear reactors are now idled.

The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced concern many times over the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe at the plant amid fighting in the area.

Zelenskiy said he told Grossi during their meeting that the Russian occupation of the plant must end.

"This is the main prerequisite for the restoration of radiation safety for our entire region," Zelenskiy said in his evening video address.

Grossi said the IAEA has had a monitoring team at the plant since September 2022, but its experts have not been able to inspect every part of the power station.

At times "we weren't granted the access that we were requesting for certain areas of the facility," Grossi said at a press conference in Kyiv.

One of the problems is the situation with the nuclear fuel, which has been inside the reactors for years and is reaching the end of its useful life.

Grossi also said he was worried about the operational safety of the plant amid personnel cuts after Moscow denied access to employees of Ukraine’s Enerhoatom.

Halushchenko said the Russian occupants were preventing hundreds of qualified workers from entering the plant.

"We're talking about 400 people who are highly skilled and, most importantly, licensed. You can't just take them away," Halushchenko told a joint news conference with Grossi.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the decision to dismiss Education Minister Aseri Radrodro from cabinet was taken after due process had been followed.

Rabuka had issued a public statement to announce Radrodro’s dismissal on January 19 with effect from tomorrow (January 22), citing “insubordination and disobedience” to his directive.

He said he had written three letters to Radrodro since September last year, and had also held discussions with SODELPA leader and Deputy PM Viliame Gavoka last October, which was followed up by another letter in early November.

• READ MORE: Rabuka: Walking a ‘tight rope’ to keep coalition government in place

The Prime Minister said he was also advised that during his absence, then then-acting PM, Deputy PM and Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica, had also advised Radrodro to comply with the legal advice from the Solicitor-General regarding the reinstatement of members of the Fiji National University (FNU) Council whom he had terminated.

“I wish to clarify that my public statement on the dismissal was published only after confirmation of the dispatch of letters to Hon. Radrodro and His Excellency the President and Honourable Speaker on Friday 19/1/24.”

Background:

• Radrodro had terminated the appointment of the chairperson and three members of the Fiji National University (FNU) Council in May 2023;
• Thereafter, he was advised by the Solicitor-General’s Office that the decision was unlawful and must be withdrawn;
• Members of the FNU Council can only be terminated in limited circumstances and with a two-thirds majority vote of the Council during their meeting and only after the members have been provided an opportunity to be heard;
• The Solicitor-General also met with Radrodro to urge him to comply with the legal advice given;
• Despite the PM’s “very clear” written directive and discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica, Radrodro failed to comply with the PM’s directive.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Speaking on January 11 in Riga on the last stop of a tour of the Baltic states, he added that the situation on the front line is "very complicated" and again said that Ukrainian forces lack weapons.

Zelenskiy told reporters that after the election in which President Vladimir Putin is expected to win another term in office Russia will undertake military action on a larger scale.

He said later on X, formerly Twitter, that he met with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina in Riga and discussed "further military aid to Ukraine and tangible actions to advance Ukraine’s path to EU and NATO membership."

Speaking earlier in Estonia, Zelenskiy rejected the possibility of a cease-fire with Russia, saying it would not lead to substantive progress in the war and only favor Moscow by giving it time to boost supplies to its military as the conflict nears its two-year anniversary.

“A pause on the Ukrainian battlefield will not mean a pause in the war,” the Ukrainian leader said in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, on January 11 during a tour of the three Baltic nations.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

"Give Russia two to three years and it will simply run us over. We wouldn't take that risk.... There will be no pauses in favor of Russia," he said. "A pause would play into [Russia’s] hands.... It might crush us afterward.”

Zelenskiy has pleaded with Ukraine's allies to keep supplying it with weapons amid signs of donor fatigue in some countries and as Russia turns to countries such as Iran and North Korea for munitions.

NATO allies meeting in Brussels on January 10 tried to allay Kyiv's concerns over supplies, saying they will continue to provide Ukraine with major military, economic, and humanitarian aid. NATO allies have outlined plans to provide "billions of euros of further capabilities" in 2024 to Ukraine, the alliance said in a statement.

But in Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said U.S. assistance for Ukraine has "ground to a halt," though lawmakers continue negotiating a deal that would tie the release of the aid to U.S. border security.

Meanwhile, Latvia and Estonia announced aid packages during Zelenskiy's visits to their capitals.

Latvia will provide Ukraine with a new package of military aid, President Edgars Rinkevics said after meeting with Zelenskiy in Riga.

"Today I informed the president of Ukraine about the next package of aid, which includes howitzers, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, antiaircraft missiles, mortars, all-terrain vehicles, hand grenades, helicopters, drones, generators, means of communication, equipment," Rinkevics said, speaking at a joint press conference with Zelenskiy.

Estonian President Alar Karis said earlier after his meeting with Zelenskiy that his country will provide 1.2 billion euros ($1.31 billion) in aid to Ukraine until 2027.

"Ukraine needs more and better weapons," Karis said at a joint news conference with Zelenskiy.

"The capabilities of the EU military industry must be increased so that Ukraine gets what it needs, not tomorrow, but today. We should not place any restrictions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine," he added.

Ukraine has been subjected to several massive waves of Russian missile and drone strikes since the start of the year that have caused civilian deaths and material damage.

In the latest such attack, a hotel in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, was struck by Russian missiles overnight on January 11. The strike injured 13 people, including Turkish journalists staying at the hotel, Kharkiv regional police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko said.

A Russian missile attack struck a hotel in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, late on January 10, wounding 11 people, according to local authorities.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said on January 11 that 56 combat clashes took place at the front during the day. The operational situation in the northern directions did not change significantly, and the formation of Russian offensive groups was not detected.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy met with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda on January 10 to discuss military aid, training, and joint demining efforts during the previously unannounced trip, which will also take him to Estonia and Latvia.

“We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,” he said after talks with Nauseda on what is the Ukrainian leader's first foreign trip of 2024.

"Today, Gitanas Nauseda and I focused on frontline developments. Weapons, equipment, personnel training, and Lithuania's leadership in the demining coalition are all sources of strength for us," Zelenskiy later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since the start of Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion, which will reach the two-year mark in February.

Nauseda said EU and NATO member Lithuania will continue to provide military, political, and economic support to Ukraine, and pointed to the Baltic country's approval last month of a 200-million-euro ($219 million) long-term military aid package for Ukraine.

Russia's invasion has turned Ukraine into one of the most mined countries in the world, generating one of the largest demining challenges since the end of World War II.

"Lithuania is forming a demining coalition to mobilize military support for Ukraine as efficiently and quickly as possible," Nauseda said.

"The Western world must understand that this is not just the struggle of Ukraine, it is the struggle of the whole of Europe and the democratic world for peace and freedom," Nauseda said.

Ukraine has pleaded with its allies to keep supplying it with weapons amid signs of donor fatigue in some countries.

There is continued disagreement between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress on continuing military aid for Kyiv, while a 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) aid package from the European Union remains blocked due to a Hungarian veto.

But a NATO allies meeting in Brussels on January 10 made it clear that they will continue to provide Ukraine with major military, economic, and humanitarian aid. NATO allies have outlined plans to provide "billions of euros of further capabilities" in 2024 to Ukraine, the alliance said in a statement.

Zelensky warned during the news conference with Nauseda that delays in Western aid to Kyiv would only embolden Moscow.

"He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely," Zelenskiy said.

"And sometimes, the insecurity of partners regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increases Russia's courage and strength."

Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been subjected to several massive waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have caused civilian deaths and material damage.

Zelenskiy said on January 10 that Ukraine badly needs advanced air defense systems.

"In recent days, Russia hit Ukraine with a total of 500 devices: we destroyed 70 percent of them," Zelenskiy said. "Air defense systems are the number one item that we lack."

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, an all-out air raid alert was declared on the morning of January 10, with authorities instructing citizens to take shelter due to an elevated danger of Russian missile strikes.

"Missile-strike danger throughout the territory of Ukraine! [Russian] MiG-31Ks taking off from Savasleika airfield [in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region].

Don't ignore the air raid alert!' the Ukrainian Air Force said in its warning message on Telegram.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

The post #11 – Tribal Towns Forced to Relocate Due to Climate Crisis appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Shealeigh.

The post #11 – Tribal Towns Forced to Relocate Due to Climate Crisis appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Shealeigh.

Over that time period, the number of people without enough food increased from 19.7 million to 27.8 million nationwide.

Hunger Free America attributes the surge in food insecurity to the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit and universal school meals. Many federal benefit increases have either gone away entirely, or are being ramped down, even as prices for food, rent, healthcare, and fuel continue to soar. Said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, “This report should be a jarring wake up call for our federal, state, and local leaders."

According to the USDA food insecurity data - a different way of measuring food hardship analyzed by Hunger Free America - 11.9% of Americans, or 38.8 million people, were found to live in food insecure households over the course of a whole year, as averaged for the years between 2020 and 2022. The states with the highest rates of food insecure individuals from 2020-2022 were Texas (19.0%), Arkansas (16.3%), Louisiana (16.1%), Mississippi (15.4%), Oklahoma (15.3%), and South Carolina (15.3%). Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas were consistently on the lists of the top ten states with the highest rates of food insecurity for individuals overall, children, employed adults, and older Americans.

This year, Hunger Free America also compiled the most recent nonparticipation rates for SNAP, WIC, and school breakfast programs by state. Nationally, 18% of individuals eligible for SNAP were not receiving SNAP in 2018. WIC had the highest rate of nonparticipation, with 49% of eligible individuals not receiving WIC in 2021. School breakfast had a similar nonparticipation rate, with 48% of children who receive school lunch not receiving school breakfast during the 2021-2022 school year.

Continued Berg, “Effective federal public policies over the previous few years were spectacularly successful in stemming U.S. hunger, but as many of those policies have been reversed, hunger has again soared. At exactly the moment when so many Americans are in desperate need of relief, many of the federally funded benefits increases, such as the Child Tax Credit and universal school meals, have expired, due mostly to opposition from conservatives in Congress. Just as no one should be surprised if drought increases when water is taken away, no one should be shocked that when the government takes away food, as well as money to buy food, hunger rises. Our political leaders must act to raise wages and provide a strong safety net, so we can finally end U.S. hunger and ensure that all Americans have access to adequate, healthy food.”

Other findings from the report:

● 15.8% of children in the U.S. lived in food insecure households in the 2020-2022 time period. The states with the highest rates of food insecure children were Delaware (21.4%), Nebraska (21.0%), Texas (20.7%), Georgia (20.0%), Kentucky (19.7%), and Louisiana (19.7%).

● Nationally, 9.1% of employed adults in the U.S. lived in food insecure households during the three-year time period. The states with the highest rates of food insecurity among employed adults were Arkansas (13.7%), Texas (13.4%), Louisiana (12.5%), South Carolina (12.5%), and Oklahoma (12.4%).

● In the U.S., 7.6% of older Americans, defined as people 60 years and older, lived in food insecure households. Louisiana had the highest rate of food insecurity among older Americans at 13.9%, followed by Mississippi (12.7%), District of Columbia (12.6%), West Virginia (11.0%), and Oklahoma (10.4%).

● The states with the lowest rates of food insecurity were New Hampshire (6.1%), Minnesota (7.3%), Vermont (7.7%), Colorado (8.4%), and North Dakota (8.6%).

The report includes detailed public policy recommendations at the federal level, including passage of the HOPE Act of 2021, reauthorization of the Child Tax Credit, which raised millions of families out of poverty, and immediately fully funding the WIC program for pregnant women, infants, and children under five, including maintaining increased allotments for fruit and vegetable purchases.

The full report, “Hunger is Political Choice”, is available on Hunger Free America’s website: https://www.hungerfreeamerica.org/en-us/research/2023-annual-survey-report

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

Tonga has named their strongest match-day 23 to face world No 1 Ireland in the French city of Nantes in their first Rugby World Cup pool match on Sunday morning (New Zealand time).

French-based prop forward Ben Tameifuna will lead the side against the Irish in a tactical move that sees captain Sonatane Takulua starting off the bench.

Manu Samoa, who arrived in Bordeaux yesterday afternoon, have also announced a strong team that will battle World Cup debutants Chile at the Stade de Bordeaux, also early on Sunday morning.

• READ MORE: ‘It was a tough battle’, says Radradra after Flying Fijians’ defeat to France
• Other Rugby World Cup reports

Head coach Seilala Mapusua has named his experienced flyhalves Christian Leali’ifano and Lima Sopoaga in the match-day 23.

Meanwhile, Fiji is expected to make changes for the crucial game against Australia at Saint-Etienne on Monday morning (NZ time).

Tonga focused
‘Ikale Tahi head coach Toutai Kefu said they are focused on Ireland, which began the World Cup with an 82-8 thrashing of Romania last weekend.

“This is a very exciting Tonga team who I think will prove to be very competitive against the best in the world,” he told media in Paris before the team left for Nantes.

“The players are looking forward to playing the best and testing themselves against a confident, capable Ireland team. We’ve been watching them for 12 months now and they definitely deserve the number one team in the world tag.

“The boys are excited to get out there and play. There will be no lack of motivation to do their country and their families proud.”

Kefu has retained the front-row trio of Tameifuna, Siegfried Fisi’ihoi and hooker Paula Ngauamo.

He has also gone for height and speed in the loosies and locks selections.

Vice-captain Halaleva Fifita and Samiuela Lousi start at locks while Tanginoa Halaifonua, Sione Havili and Vaea Fifita complete the loose trio.

In a major move, Kefu has opted to give Augustine Pulu the nod ahead of Takulua.

Takulua, Tonga’s most capped player, has been the first-choice halfback for the last six years.

Kefu’s backline choice sees William Havili at fly half while Pita Akhi pairs former All Blacks Malakai Fekitoa in midfield.

Former Mate Ma’a Tonga and Auckland Warriors winger Solomone Kata pairs Afusipa Taumoepeau on the wings, with former All Black Salesi Piutau manning the fullback berth.

Tonga lineup:1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 3 Ben Tameifuna (c), 4, Samiuela Lousi, 5 Halaleva Fifita, 6 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 7 Sione Havili, 8 Vaea Fifita, 9 Augustine Pulu, 10 William Havili, 11 Solomone Kata, 12 Pita Ahki, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 14 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 15 Salesi Piutau; Reserves – 16 Samiuela Moli,17 Sosefo ‘Apikotoa,18 Tau Kolomatangi, 19 Semisi Paea, 20 Solomone Funaki, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Sonatane Takulua, 23 Fini Inisi.

Respect for Chile
Manu Samoa coach Seilala Mapusua said they respected the South Americans and have named a strong team to face them.

“The whole lead-up to the Rugby World Cup has been about Chile, our first game.

“And we are giving them the respect they deserve and making sure we not only do our own people proud but also make sure we are taking steps towards our own goal as Manu Samoa,” Mapusua told media in Bordeaux yesterday.

Mapusua said they do not underestimate Chile and believed their opponents had played well against Japan in their opening pool game last weekend.

“We need to start well. This is our first game at the Rugby World Cup,” he said.

“We have to nail the opportunities we get.”

He has named both his co-captains Michael Ala’alatoa and Chris Vui in the starting team.

With two experienced flyhalves in former Wallaby Christian Leali’ifano and former All Black Lima Sopoaga both available to him, Mapusua has gone for Leali’ifano to start.

He said he was lucky to have such talented flyhalves and both could play as well as the other.

“They are very similar in their roles with us. I expect them to control the game and really manage the team over the full 80 minutes.

“We are blessed to have them.”

Former All Black Steven Luatua gets to run in at No 8.

Manu Samoa lineup: 1. James Lay, 2. Seilala Lam, 3. Michael Alalatoa, 4. Chris Vui, 5. Theo MacFarland, 6. Taleni Seu, 7. Fritz Lee, 8. Steven Luatua, 9. Johnathan Taumateine, 10, Christian Leialiifano, 11. Nigel Ah-Wong, 12. Tumua Manu, 13. Ulupani Junior Seuteni, 14. Danny Toala, 15. Duncan Paia’aua; Reserves – 16. Sama Malolo, 17. Jordan Lay, 18. Paul Alo-Emile, 19. Sam Slade, 20. Sa Jordan Taufua, 21. Ereatara Enari, 22. Lima Sopoaga, 23. Ed Fidow.

Fiji to ring the changes
Meanwhile, the Flying Fijians are expected to make some changes to their team that lost 32-26 to Wales last Sunday in Bordeaux.

The Fijians meet the Wallabies on Monday morning (Fiji time) in a must-win game for them.

Josua Tuisova is expected to start at No 12, pushing Semi Radradra out to the wing, with Levani Botia also expected to start at No 7.

Coach Simon Raiwalui will name his team on Friday local time.

Raiwalui said their focus this week had been on the Wallabies.

“We have very good spirit, the boys were laughing again and they were training well,” Raiwalui said.

Fiji sits on two points behind both Australia and Wales and needs to win against the Wallabies to keep their hopes of a quarter-final spot alive.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

"Despite trade finance's vast and still-growing share of the IFC’s budget, over 70% of it is given out in secrecy," Urgewald noted. "The types of goods and businesses it is funding are not even reported to the World Bank's shareholders, i.e., our governments. The public has a right to know where all this money is going."

Citing the IFC's "severe lack of transparency," Urgewald stressed that it was only able to "formulate an estimate" for oil and gas transactions. The group calculated that the World Bank spent roughly $3.7 billion on oil and gas trade finance in 2022.

"This would more than triple the current annual level of fossil fuel finance attributed to the World Bank and cast serious doubts on Bank claims of alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement," Urgewald's Heike Meinhardt said in a statement.

"The easiest way for a big oil company or coal operation to escape attention surrounding public assistance is to cloak it in trade finance."

The World Bank has long been accused of reneging on its climate commitments. A report released last year by Big Shift Global estimated that the World Bank has spent nearly $15 billion supporting fossil fuels since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.

Late last year, former World Bank President David Malpass sparked global outrage by saying he's not sure whether he accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, further validating climate activists' longstanding calls for systemic reforms at the bank.

"I don't know," Malpass said in response to a reporter's question about his views on climate change. "I'm not a scientist."

The comments prompted widespread calls for Malpass to step down, which he did in June. Current World Bank President Ajay Banga, who U.S. President Joe Biden nominated to replace Malpass, is a former private equity executive who has worked for Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Citibank.

Urgewald warned in its report Tuesday that the World Bank will remain a major source of funding for the fossil fuel industry until it enacts reforms that prevent the IFC from bolstering oil and gas under the guise of "trade finance."

"The easiest way for a big oil company or coal operation to escape attention surrounding public assistance is to cloak it in trade finance," the group said. "It is a huge loophole that must be closed and evaluated through public disclosure."

Urgewald added that "there is no doubt" the World Bank and IFC "are going to deny" its findings and "claim the figures are inaccurate."

That's exactly what an IFC spokesperson did on Tuesday, tellingThe Guardian that "Urgewald's report contains serious factual inaccuracies and grossly overstates IFC's support for fossil fuels."

"IFC regularly reports accurate and timely project information through various channels," the spokesperson added.

Urgewald disputed that narrative in its report, asserting that the "continued secrecy surrounding trade finance makes it impossible to determine how much fossil fuel business the IFC is ultimately facilitating and whether the World Bank is actually aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement."

"An exorbitant amount of IFC money, i.e., more than half its budget, is streaming through banks without any oversight by the [World Bank Board of Directors], without any opportunity for public scrutiny, without any accountability," the group said.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

Photograph Source: shizhao – CC BY-SA 2.0

The United States suffered from a massive loss of manufacturing jobs in the 00s. This has come to be known as the “China Shock,” since it was associated with a flood of imports, especially from China, and a rapid rise in the U.S. trade deficit.

In the decade from December of 1999 to December of 2009, the economy lost more than 5.8 million manufacturing jobs, or more than one in three of the manufacturing jobs at the start of the decade. The vast majority of this job loss took place before the start of the Great Recession in December of 2007.

This sort of job loss was not typical for the manufacturing sector. While it lost jobs in the 1990s also, the drop was just 601,000, a bit more than one tenth as much as in the next decade. Since 2009, the manufacturing sector has actually been adding jobs, so the plunge in jobs in the manufacturing sector in the first decade of this century really was an anomaly.

The loss of manufacturing jobs, which had been more highly unionized and better paying than most jobs in the private sector, also had a devastating impact on many cities and towns across the industrial Midwest. When the manufacturing jobs left town, so did much of the tax revenue and purchasing power.

A recent piece in the Guardian implied that the job loss associated with a green transition could provide a comparable hit to the labor market. This is not true.

The number of jobs plausibly at stake in a green transition is almost certainly less than one-tenth as large as was the case with the China shock. The basis for the Guardian piece is a recent NBER paper by Mark Curtis, Layla Kane, and Jisung Park, that looked at what happened to workers who transitioned out of jobs in fossil fuels or related industries. The paper found that a relatively small share of these workers found jobs in green sectors of the economy. It also found that a large share of these workers ending up taking jobs in occupations that paid considerably less than the jobs they lost.

While this is not a good picture, it is important to get a sense of the number of workers involved. The paper analyzed just over 1.7 million transitions from jobs in fossil fuels and related industries, over the 21 years from 2002-2022.[1] By comparison, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey indicate that there were more than 44 million instances where workers left or were fired from manufacturing jobs, in the nine years from 2001 through 2009. (The Survey starts in December of 2000.)[2]

These figures are not entirely comparable, since presumably people who retired or dropped out of the labor force were not counted as making transitions in the Curtis, Kane, and Park piece.  Also, some of the people in the JOLTS data likely appear multiple times from the same job. For example, if a worker was laid off more than once from a job, they could count two or more times in the JOLTS data, whereas they would not be counted as making a transition unless they found a new job with another employer.

While recognizing these inconsistences, it still likely the case that the number of people leaving manufacturing jobs in the nine years from 2001 to 2009 was close to 20 times as large as the number of people transitioning out of fossil fuels and related industries in the 21 years from 2002 to 2022. Adjusting for the differences in the number of years, the job loss in manufacturing is close to forty times as much on an annual basis as the transitions associated with the shift to a green economy.

The job loss associated with the conversion to a green economy should not be trivialized. For many workers and their families, the loss of a good-paying job in the oil or gas industry can be traumatic. In many cases they will never find a job that pays a comparable wage. But it is a mistake to imply that the number of jobs at risk is comparable to the number of manufacturing jobs lost to trade in the first decade of the century.

It would be great if government support can facilitate the transitions for the affected workers, but the downside risk here is nowhere near as large as what we saw due to the opening of trade in manufacturing goods in the 00s. It would be unfortunate if the fossil fuel industry used this risk as an excuse to slow the transition to a green economy.

Notes.

[1] This number was obtained by using the percentage of transitions from each sector in tables 2a and 2b.

[2] Job turnover is much less than net job loss because new workers typically fill jobs that other workers left, and job creation in factories that are growing offsets job loss in factories with declining employment.

This first appeared on Dean Baker’s Beat the Press blog.  

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Dean Baker.

The post Haiti Roundup: Thousands Displaced Due to Violence appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Jake Johnston – Chris François.

Between 2017 and 2022, the energy sector was the main factor behind a tripling in overall demand for lithium, with a 70% jump in demand for cobalt, and a 40% rise in demand for nickel, the International Energy Agency said in its first annual Critical Minerals Market Review.

The market for energy transition minerals reached U.S.$320 billion in 2022 and is set for continued rapid growth, moving it increasingly to center stage for the global mining industry, the report said.

Clean energy tech is propelling record deployments for critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earth elements. They help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies key to the clean energy transition. 

The report said that investment in critical minerals development recorded a sharp uptick of 30% in 2022 – following a 20% increase in 2021 – with companies based in China nearly doubling their investment spending in 2022.

The global shift towards clean energy technologies is driving a rapid increase in demand for such minerals, with global consumption of these transition minerals projected to grow six-fold by 2040.

China has emerged as a significant player in recent years due to its dominance over the processing and refining of key minerals necessary for renewable energy. 

Due to a blend of incentives and regulatory policies, China is also ahead in manufacturing clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. It hosts about 50% of the world’s operational wind and solar capacity.

Chinese companies have been acquiring overseas mines and investing in mineral-rich countries to secure the sourcing of transition minerals to meet their rising demand. 

The report said Chinese companies invested $4.3 billion between 2018 and the first half of 2021 to acquire lithium assets, twice the amount invested by American, Australian and Canadian companies combined.

Despite growth, major issues remain

Though the critical or transition minerals industry is witnessing a rapid surge in demand, opening up new avenues for growth, the Paris-based energy agency said that more work is needed to ensure diversified and sustainable supplies to support the transition.

“At a pivotal moment for clean energy transitions worldwide, we are encouraged by the rapid growth in the market for critical minerals, which are crucial for the world to achieve its energy and climate goals,” said International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. 

“Even so, major challenges remain. Much more needs to be done to ensure supply chains for critical minerals are secure and sustainable.”

The agency’s analysis found that if all planned critical mineral projects worldwide are realized, supply could be sufficient to support the national climate action pledges announced by the governments.

However, a combination of challenges, including volatile price fluctuations, supply chain constraints, and geopolitical uncertainties, have created a complex set of obstacles to overcome, posing significant risks to secure and swift energy transitions, the group said.

Lack of industry-wide progress, especially in environmental sustainability, means greenhouse gas emissions remain at high levels, with roughly the same amount being emitted per metric ton of mineral output every year, the report said.

Similarly, water withdrawals almost doubled from 2018 to 2021, while waste generation oscillated around 5 gigatons, with 2021 intensities slightly above 2018 levels. 

Diversity of raw supply also remains a concern, with many new project announcements coming from already dominant players.

The report said the share of the top three producers in 2022 either remains unchanged or has increased further, especially for nickel and cobalt, with China and Indonesia leading the way.

While the projects in the pipeline indicate “a somewhat improved picture for mining,” the geographical concentration for refining operations is greater, with China holding half of planned lithium chemical plants and Indonesia representing nearly 90% of planned nickel refining facilities, the report said.

China has established itself as the world’s largest metal refining hub in the past few decades. However, it heavily relies on imports for large volumes of raw materials, often from a few sources; for example, China depends almost entirely on the Democratic Republic of the Congo for mined cobalt. 

Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA.

The update, which is dated Friday, removes concerns about COVID lockdowns but warns of “exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law,” and says there is also a risk of “wrongful detention” of foreign citizens. 

“U.S. citizens traveling or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime,” it says, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

The advisory says businesspeople, journalists, academics, relatives of Chinese nationals and “former foreign-government personnel” have all recently been detained and interrogated on national security grounds, with “exit bans” also being used as a tool to leverage cooperation.

“U.S. citizens might only become aware of an exit ban when they attempt to depart the PRC, and there may be no available legal process to contest an exit ban,” it says, adding that “relatives, including minor children” may also be prevented from leaving China.

The previous State Department advisory also recommended Americans reconsider travel to China, but it instead focused on the surge in COVID-19 cases and pandemic-related restrictions.

China’s foreign ministry has yet to respond to the update.

The new advisory follows the passage of China’s foreign relations law that takes a broad view of what constitutes “espionage,” and which critics suggest could be used to target foreign businesspeople, journalists and any other foreigners who displease authorities.

It also follows the life sentence given in May to dual U.S.-Chinese citizen Leung Shing-wan, who also went by John Leung and headed a Beijing-backed overseas Chinese group, on “espionage” charges. 

In the decade since China’s paramount leader Xi Jinping took power, China has increased its use of exit bans, applying them to human rights defenders, businesspeople, foreign journalists and ethnic minorities, according to a recent report by an NGO. 

The bans are applied on national security grounds, involvement in criminal or civil cases, and other justifications and many subjects are unaware of their exit ban until they attempt to leave China, it said.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alex Willemyns for RFA.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline was originally built in 1953, and continues to operate nearly 20 years past its engineered lifespan, transporting crude oil through northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and under the Straits of Mackinac. The letter to President Biden and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency follows the advocacy of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa who submitted a court filing in May calling for the shutdown of Line 5 after showing evidence that record snowfalls, and heavy rains and winds have further compromised the integrity of the pipeline.

Due to recent flooding, erosion of a local riverbank has led to Line 5’s centerline to be within 11 feet or less of the river waters, creating an immediate threat. The letter notes that erosion from receding waters or the next rainfall could cause a “guillotine rupture” – a vertical break causing oil to gush from both sides, poisoning the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior, impacting the Great Lakes region which holds one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, and provides drinking water for 40 million people in North America.

The letter points to the significant harms an oil spill would have on waterways, ecosystems, wild rice beds, and clarifies how it directly undermines Indigenous rights and Indigenous Sovereignty:

“Imminent pipeline ruptures at the Bad River in Wisconsin and into the Straits of Mackinac threaten our drinking water, fisheries, manoomin and cultural survival…Our sovereignty and treaty-protected rights to hunt, fish, and gather food and medicine are all at risk.”

Already, Line 5 has spilled over 30 times, dumping more than a million gallons of oil. Independent consultants have estimated clean-up costs for a crude oil spill in the Great Lakes at $1.878 billion.

The signatories urge President Biden to revoke the Presidential Permit and force Enbridge to cease Line 5’s operations, pointing to the Administration's climate directives and goals.

The letter comes from Indigenous women who are advocating to stop Line 5, and is endorsed by local and national groups representing Indigenous groups, environmental organizations, faith groups, and more. Please see quotes from the initiating signatories of the letter below:

Aurora Conley, Bad River Ojibwe, Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance: “As a Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe member, I am calling on the Biden Administration to shut down Line 5 immediately. Our territories and water are in imminent danger, and we do not want to see irreversible damage to our land, water, and wild rice. We do not want our lifeways destroyed. The Ojibwe people are here in Bad River because of the wild rice. A rupture from this oil spill will irreversibly harm the Great Lakes and wild rice beds. This is unacceptable. We will not stand for this. Shut down Line 5 now.”

Jannan J. Cornstalk, Citizen of Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and Director of the Water is Life Festival: “Our very lifeways and cultures hang in the balance as Line 5 continues to operate illegally in Indigenous territories and water. These are our lifeways– when that water is healthy enough that rice is growing– that not only benefits our communities, but that benefits everybody up and down stream. Allowing Line 5 to continue to operate is cultural genocide, and the Biden Administration must listen and shut down Line 5. That water is our relative, and we will do whatever it takes to protect our water, our sacred relative.”

Jaime Arsenault, White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, : “We are urging the Biden Administration to revoke its Presidential Permit and shut down Line 5. We saw a multitude of preventable environmental tragedies occur in Minnesota with the destruction brought by Line 3. As a result – wild rice, watersheds, traditional lifeways and the wellbeing of Indigenous communities are still under constant threat. Right now, the Biden Administration has the opportunity to protect waterways, rice watersheds and lands threatened by a rupture of Line 5. Honor the treaties and the leadership of Tribes, and shut down Line 5.”

Rene Ann Goodrich, Bad River Tribal Elder, Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice MMIW Task Force Member: “Line 5 crosses over tribal treaty territory and one of those ceded territories is my own reservation of Bad River. So the age of the pipeline, the danger that it brings to the environment is our biggest concern here. We have that need, we have that responsibility, we have that duty to protect our life givers. Our life givers are the earth, the aquifers underneath the earth, the women that are sacred water carriers, and water itself that brings life. As sacred water carriers we stand with the water, and urge the Biden Administration to take action and shut down Line 5 immediately.”

Carrie Chesnik, Oneida Nation Wisconsin, Founder of the Treaty Land Trust: “We have an opportunity here to shut down the Line 5 pipeline, and protect what we all hold dear. We all have the responsibility and agency to act in a good way, to care for the land and waters. What our communities have known for a long time is that the water is hurting, Mother Earth is hurting, and pretty soon we won't have clean water for our kids, for future generations. As a Haudenosunee woman, an auntie, daughter, and sister, I have an inherent responsibility to the water and our children. Every single one of us has agency and a responsibility to take action, honor the treaties, and protect Mother Earth. It is the time to be brave and courageous.”

Gaagigeyaashiik - Dawn Goodwin, Gaawaabaabiganigaag, White Earth-Ojibwe, Co-founder of R.I.S.E. Coalition, Representative of Indigenous Environmental Network: “As a member of the Wolf Clan I have an inherent responsibility to protect the environment and the people. I want us to imagine a world where we are working as one team as we should be working together. The government has failed to protect the water in the past, yet there is an opportunity now to protect the water before irreparable damage occurs. Our treaties are being ignored and yet, treaties are the SUPREME LAW of the land. It is time to honor and respect the treaties as the supreme law of the land, as they were written and intended, and to listen to Tribes and Indigenous leaders calling for an immediate shut down to the Line 5 pipeline. We are the women of the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance calling upon you to rise and to protect all that is sacred – shut down Line 5!”

Nookomis Debra Topping, Nagajiiwanong, 1854 Treaty Fond du Lac, Co-founder of R.I.S.E. Coalition: “Nibi (water) is sacred, Manoomin is sacred, that is our life blood, that is us, that is why we are here. We will not allow any further destruction to our sacred ecosystems and water. Everyday the threat increases, allowing Canadian Corporation Enbridge’s Line 5 to continue operating is genocide! We’ve followed every process, Tribes and the Governor of Michigan have called for a shut down of Line 5. The science is there, the evidence is there. Deny Enbridge any further allowance to destroy Mama Aki (Earth), and shut down Line 5.”

Since 2022, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) has been honored to facilitate the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance. In response to the call for action, Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) stated: "The Bad River Band continues to sound the alarm, and the Biden administration must listen and immediately shut down Line 5. The imminent danger of a rupture to Line 5 due to increased erosion on the Bad River threatens Indigenous Peoples existence and rights, biodiverse ecosystems, and the Great Lakes, which holds one-fifth of the world's freshwater. The Administration has the necessary tools to cease operations, and must take action before it's too late. The Great Lakes and local communities cannot be the next sacrifice zone."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

The basins of the 10 rivers originating from the Hindu Kush-Himalayan water towers are inhabited by 1.9 billion people and contribute U.S.$4.3 trillion to annual gross domestic product, said the report “No River, No Power” by China Water Risk (CWR), a non-profit think tank based in Hong Kong.

The climate change risk means up to one in two Asians could be affected by increasing water scarcity due to accelerated glacial melt, reduced snowfall, changing monsoon patterns and overexploitation of groundwater resources, the report released Wednesday said.

Asia gets most of its water from the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Karakorum mountains, and the Tibetan Plateau. Collectively, they are often called the “Third Pole” or “Asia’s Water Towers,” making up 10 major river basins. 

These include the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Ayeyarwady, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze and Yellow rivers. They flow through 16 countries, including China and most of Central, South, and Southeast Asia before reaching the seas or ending in a desert. 

Known as the continent’s cradles of civilization, they are also responsible for almost three quarters of global rice production. 

The report said that most of the countries are developing, which means more people will flock to more than 280 large cities along the rivers, adding pressure to already stressed systems.

According to the report’s projection, all rivers face escalating and compounding water risks due to climate change, with four of the 10 rivers seeing an overall decrease in river flows by 2050 if the earth heats by the 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius threshold set by Paris climate agreement.

Such impacts will affect the 10 river systems’ power generation, currently responsible for 865 gigawatts (GW), or 46% of the total electricity capacity in the 16 countries, the report said. It is more than the combined capacity of Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan and Russia.

Over 94% of this installed capacity (865GW) needs water to generate electricity, with coal and hydropower making up most of the share, while more than a third already lie in river basin areas that face “High” to “Extremely High” water stress or are in arid regions.

“Uncertain future flows of the 10 rivers and extreme weather mean we must curate mountains-to-oceans waternomic roadmaps and energy systems that are resilient to climate change,” said Debra Tan, head of the think tank and lead author of the report.

“National energy and water security plans must thus dovetail. The need to do all this is ever more urgent as doing so will help us manage escalating and compounding water risks as well as meet rising demand for water.”

Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar highest-risk countries

According to the report, landlocked Laos is the most exposed among the risk groups, along with Myanmar and Cambodia in the overall high-risk group, while China is considered a mid-high risk and Vietnam low risk. 

In Laos, the Mekong accounts for two-thirds of its surface water and houses over 90% of its population and gross domestic product, according to the report, with almost 100% of Laos’s national installed capacity on the Mekong. 

Similarly, Cambodia receives 26% of its surface water from the Mekong, home to 79% of its population and 85% of its GDP. Around two-thirds of Cambodia’s national installed capacity as hydropower sits in the Mekong river basin.

In Myanmar, the Ayeyarwady, Salween, and Mekong provide 35% of the country’s surface water and house 58% of its population and contribute 46% to its GDP. Almost two-thirds of its installed power capacity is on the Ayeyarwady and one-third on the Salween.

The report also noted that a surge in “just-in-case” coal-fired power additions in China after the severe droughts along the Yangtze in 2022 is just one of many cascading effects of climate change impacts. 

Out of the 10 rivers, only Amu Darya does not flow through China. The other nine rivers provide half of China’s surface water, support about 44% of its population, and contribute about 30% to its GDP.

China has around half of its national power dispersed among seven rivers, with the lion’s share in the Yangtze and Yellow river basins.

The Asia-Pacific is home to 80% of global coal generation, while power sector emissions in the region make up 62% of the total worldwide. 

Asia’s heavy reliance on still expanding coal-fired power fleet only accelerates climate change and exacerbates water scarcity, the report said, warning that such power generation requires water for cooling and driving steam turbines, making energy security even more vulnerable during a water crisis. 

The transboundary nature of the river systems also adds to the risk, it said, giving an example of the Mekong that flows through five countries. 

“This means that the transboundary management of eight out of the 10 rivers should not just be about water sharing but also energy policies and development as well,” said CT Low, CWR’s geospatial risk lead and coauthor of the report.

Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA.

Parts of South and Southeast Asia saw record temperatures, over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) last month. The temperatures were at least 2 degrees Celsius hotter due to climate change, which has seen average global temperatures rise 1.2 degrees since 1900, a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) said Wednesday evening.

Temperatures reached 45.4 C (113.7 F) in Thailand’s western Tak province, the highest ever reported anywhere in the country, while Sainyabuli province in Laos hit 42.9 C (109.2 F), an all-time national high that was broken a few weeks later in May in Luang Prabang province.

In Bangladesh, Dhaka observed the highest maximum temperature recorded in five decades at 40.6 C (105 F), while several northern and eastern Indian cities recorded temperatures above 44 C (111.2 F). 

The heat wave in Southeast Asia would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, the scientists said. While they used to take place in South Asia once a century the scientists expect them to occur every five years now. 

“The heatwaves were not natural … Unless we take drastic measures to reduce carbon emissions, heatwave events like this will continue to become more common,” said Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, a member of the WWA team and a geography lecturer at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University.

Several casualties were reported during the April heat wave, especially in India, but the full effect will only be known months later, WWA said. 

Heat is more dangerous in humid conditions because the body cannot properly regulate its temperature through various activities, like sweating. 

The heat index – “feels like” temperatures that factor in humidity – exceeded “dangerous” (41 C) over large parts of South and Southeast Asia, according to WWA.

In some areas of Laos, the heat index was close to the hazardous level of 54 C, under which the body temperature is difficult to maintain, the report said.

The scientists warned that these heat waves “will continue with further warming,” with such events in Thailand and Laos” about ten times more likely” to occur if the earth warms by 2 C and expected every one to two years in India and Bangladesh.

“Until overall greenhouse gas emissions are halted, global temperatures will continue to increase, and events like this will become more frequent and severe,” they added.

WMO: 98% chance of hottest five years 

WWA’s report coincided with another study from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), saying that there is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record.

The next five-year period would also almost certainly be the warmest on record, WMO said, with a 66% likelihood that the annual average global temperature will be more than 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

The record surge is primarily due to climate change and naturally occurring El Niño events, said WMO, a specialized United Nations agency that looks into weather and atmospheric science.

El Niño is a climate pattern characterized by hot ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which can significantly affect weather patterns worldwide. 

In Southeast Asia, that would mean warmer, drier weather conditions. The last two years have seen the cooling influence of La Niña conditions, which ended in March.

Earlier this month, WMO had said there is an 80% chance El Niño will appear by October. It typically increases global temperatures by the following year.

“A warming El Niño is expected to develop in the coming months, and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

“This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management, and the environment. We need to be prepared.”

According to scientists, the past eight years have been the eight warmest on record globally, with 2016 being the hottest on record. WMO says that is primarily due to the “double whammy” of “an exceptionally strong El Niño” event and human-induced warming from greenhouse gasses.

A climate expert said the report proves once again that climate change is changing global temperatures “to levels never experienced previously by humanity.”

“We are moving further into uncharted territory, in which previous adaptation and coping strategies may not apply,” said Professor Janette Lindesay from the Australian National University. 

“Global heating is accelerating. The chance of exceeding 1.5 C was nearly zero in 2015, and 10% up to 2021. It is now 66%.”

 The average global temperature, which has not crossed the 1.5 C threshold set by Paris climate agreement, was about 1.15 C above the 1850-1900 average.

Kimberley Reid, an atmospheric scientist from the Monash University in Melbourne, said her “biggest fear is that we become desensitized to the ever-falling records and forget what these numbers actually mean.”

“1.5 degrees warming means the Great Barrier Reef probably won't survive this century. That's tragic,” she said.

Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA.

Seven parties, including Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, or CCP, already have registered and submitted their candidate lists for the July 23 election to elect members to the National Assembly, which is currently dominated by the CCP.

Political parties can submit candidate lists to the National Election Committee from April 24 to May 8. 

The main opposition Candlelight Party is having difficulty recruiting candidates because of intimidation and physical assaults against its activists. Some supporters are afraid of publicly campaigning for candidates. 

"Activists, especially those in Phnom Penh, were physically attacked,” said Candlelight Party spokesman Kim Sour Phirith. “They are being threatened emotionally. It is not good for our country that one party is discriminating against its opponent.”

He said the party is reviewing candidates and will try to register them with the NEC before the May 8 deadline.

Other parties also are experiencing difficulties recruiting and registering candidates due to political discrimination, said Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for free and fair Elections in Cambodia, an organization that monitors elections.

Attacks on activists have tarnished Cambodia’s election environment, he said.

“I don’t want to see any violence against political activists because at this stage, the parties are preparing to participate in the election,” said Sam Kuntheamy. “Political violence should be avoided.”

Recent attacks

Over the weekend, four assailants on motorbikes assaulted a Candlelight Party activist as he was traveling to the capital of Phnom Penh, striking him several times with a metal baton. Another party activist said her car was intentionally rammed by an unknown assailant. Six other opposition party members have reported attacks in the past months. 

Hang Puthea, spokesman for the NEC, which oversees voting in the country, told Radio Free Asia that the body is reviewing the applications submitted by the seven political parties and will notify them of their status after May 8. 

The NEC has created an app for all parties to register their candidates to avoid duplication and to prevent fraud, he said. 

So far, more than 40 political parties have been officially recognized by the country’s Ministry of Interior, which regulates the formation of parties. 

Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Khmer.

United Nations humanitarian officials on Tuesday renewed warnings that as many as 48 million people across West and Central Africa will likely go hungry in the coming months due to severe food insecurity driven by armed conflict, Covid-19, inflation, and the worsening climate emergency.

Officials from four U.N. agencies—the World Food Progam (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)—this week amplified calls for help, underscoring a December 2022 analysis warning that the number of hungry people in West and Central Africa would reach a "record high" in 2023 "if urgent and long-lasting solutions to address this crisis" aren't implemented soon.

"The spiraling food security and nutrition situation in Western Africa is just heartbreaking," WFP regional director Chris Nikoi said in a statement. "There is a crucial need for massive investmentin strengthening the capacities of communities and individuals to withstand shocks whileprioritizing local and long-term solutions to food production, transformation, and access for vulnerable groups."

For the first time in the Sahel—a semi-arid strip running from Senegal and southern Mauritania on the Atlantic coast to Sudan and Eritrea on the Red Sea—45,000 people are at risk of experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger, or one step away from famine.

Most of the affected people are in Mali and Burkina Faso, which has replaced Mali as the epicenter of the ongoing fight against militant Islamist groups including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin. French, U.S., and mostly private Russian forces, as well as the militaries of some African nations, have intervened in the war to support regional government forces.

In the wider region, lengthy droughts, heatwaves, floods, and other extreme weather have negatively impacted water supplies, crops, livestock, and agricultural production in a region whose people overwhelmingly live off the land.

Nikoi toldAxios that "if you go deeper, climate is a large contributor to why these things have now reached the level they have reached."

As in much of the world, food prices have soared in Africa following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The war has driven up the cost of fertilizer and fuel, while trade restrictions have exacerbated shortages across the continent.

"The situation is worrying," Ann Defraye, a regional nutrition specialist for UNICEF in West and Central Africa, toldThe Associated Press. "Last year, we saw a large increase—31%—in the number of children admitted to health facilities with severe wasting across the Sahel."

"In many areas, it is getting much more difficult for families to find nutritious food to eat, especially where we have communities under blockade," she added.

According to Bloomberg:

Burkina Faso has halted grain exports to Niger, Nigeria has stopped rice shipments to Benin, and Ivory Coast has halted exports of plantains to Burkina Faso, according to data collected by the WFP...

The town of Menaka in eastern Mali and Djibo in northern Burkina Faso are among 30 localities identified by the WFP as areas where food transport has been blocked because of insecurity.

"We see areas that are completely blocked," Alexandre Lecuziat, the WFP's senior emergency preparedness and response adviser, said at a press conference in Dakar.

Robert Guei, FAO's sub-regional coordinator for West Africa, called the food security situation in the region "unacceptable."

"This trend will probably continue to worsen the food and nutrition situation and therefore we mustaddress the root causes of this crisisin a concerted manner and immediately," he said. "It is time for action to boost agricultural production to achieve food sovereignty in our region."

Much of Africa beyond the Sahel is also facing a historic food crisis. According to the Red Cross, 146 million Africans are going hungry.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

The April 15th holiday marks the birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung, and festivities have never been canceled due to inclement weather since it was designated a holiday in 1997, sources in the country said.

Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the country’s current leader Kim Jong Un, is revered in North Korea for leading the country in its infancy, instilling the “juche” principle of self-reliance and for his exploits as a guerilla leader who fought against Japanese colonial rule before he came to power in 1948.

“They say it was all canceled on account of rain, but I’ve never experienced a cancellation of a national event like this before,” said a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong to RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “It’s even been held in the middle of the night in heavy snowfall in the middle of blizzards.”

Citizens thought the cancellation was unusual and suspected that rain might not be the true cause, a source in the northern province of Ryanggang said.

“Some welcomed the opportunity to get some rest, but others think that maybe the foundations of the three-generation dynasty that started with Kim Il Sung could be crumbling,” he said. 

Even with the cancellation, citizens still flocked to patriotic monuments to lay flowers in tribute, according to the first source.

The canceled events included the “songs of loyalty” contest, held in each province, public mass dances in town squares, sports competitions and street singing parades.

Residents were shocked by the decision, which erased a month’s work of preparation.

“The paper flags of our republic that had been raised on every street were lowered,” said the first source. “The square which was to be the center of the celebrations was eerily quiet.”

Empty streets

In northern Ryanggang, the Day of the Sun celebrations amounted to a single song performance at the entrance of a local university, the source there said.

“The streets were deserted,” he said. “The circle-shaped dance line marked on the town square by the Women’s League was clearly visible in such an empty space.”

Kim Jong Un usually makes a public appearance on the Day of the Sun at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, his grandfather’s final resting place as well as that of his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il.

But on the 16th, the state-run Korea Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that he was not there and senior officials presented a floral basket in his name. Instead Kim attended a ceremony on the night of the 16th, celebrating the completion of the latest batch of 10,000 new homes in the capital Pyongyang, part of a widely publicized national project to build 50,000 new homes by the end of 2025.

The leader’s absence from Kumsusan was unusual but was not intended to emphasize his independence, so that he could escape the shadow of his forebears, said David Maxwell of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“Secretary Kim is [always] trying to show the image of a strong leader who works hard for the people,” he said. “I think he's trying to show that he is a strong leader doing good things for the Korean people in the north. So I think that that’s real, and the focus is to generate his positive image and I think that's why we’re seeing these types of events highly publicized.”

The leader’s emphasis on promoting housing construction projects instead of worshiping his ancestors on the Day of the Sun indicates that North Korea is facing economic difficulties,” said former CIA analyst Soo Kim.

She said that Kim Jong Un was trying to convey to North Koreans that he understands their economic difficulties and is taking action. 

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jieun Kim and Soyoung Kim for RFA Korean.

Photo by BAILEY MAHON

There are very few topics with an ability to draw in the attention of individuals with wildly divergent politics, differing ages, or any number of self identifying qualifiers that separate us from one another. There is something out there that seems to have the ability to, if nothing else, garner the curiosity of the majority, and that is storytelling about the most flagrantly bizarre of those who have walked the earth. Everyone may derive a differing end analysis of what that individual’s life meant and what it signified on a grander scale, but the fact is undeniable that we love a tale about a weirdo.

Join me as we take a quick look at perhaps one of the most tantalizingly strange characters of the last century, that of the Goat Gland Doctor of Kansas (yes, I did use promiscuous capitalization for that title and I’d do it again).

John Romulus Brinkley was not a medical doctor in the sense that he had a degree from a well established institution of learning, that he was board certified by some level of talented and wise peers—no, his degree came from an institution called “The Eclectic Medical University”. I suspect he didn’t cut the muster for the Manic Pixie Girlfriend School of Engineering so what was he to do? This was his lot so he did with it what one motivated and energetic capitalist man in early 1900’s America does with that degree. He becomes a millionaire by placing goat testicles in impotent men, starts a radio station across the Mexican border with…..hand at my chin, stroking…..one million watts, and basically won an election for governor of the state of Kansas.

Brinkley and his 2nd wife Minnie (because of course there’s an abandoned first family in his CV) head to tiny Milford, Kansas in 1918 (the place now unceremoniously resides at the bottom of created Milford Lake). The town misrepresented itself as something larger and more cosmopolitan in their recruitment campaign for a physician. Minnie is said to have cried in despair when they arrived in the dusty hamlet. This did not deter young J.R.—he recalled that goats were easy to raise and men were easy to fool. It was kismet to bring the two together.

Brinkley started inserting goat testicles into men suffering from impotence  Brinkley guaranteed the return of virility through this procedure, even claiming he was innervating and connecting blood supply to the imported glands. In fact he was just dumping the foreign tissue into the men’s scrotal sac and stitching it back together. Of course there were infections and deaths, but this didn’t stop Brinkley from making a small fortune, even into the depression years. In the very worthwhile book Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, The Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock, the author indicates that the depression had an emasculating effect on the men of the time and even worked in Brinkley’s favor. Men with a diminishing sense of control in their lives due to the depression still found an ability to find funds to give Brinkley for the outrageous procedure.

But alas, Brinkley flew too close to the sun with his goat testicles when he took a trip to Southern California and fell in love with the place. He tried to obtain a medical license there so he could set up shop in the decidedly more fashionable locale, but the medical officials were warned about him and he was not able to obtain that California license. Too bad, you just know Ronald Reagan would’ve signed up and perhaps he’s have gone septic and died. Anyway, the California scrutiny led to Brinkley eventually losing his license in Kansas, but not before becoming one of the most famous “doctors” of the time and possibly putting a goat testicle in your grandpa.

As if this isn’t enough sheer freakery, Brinkley dabbled, and then plunged into radio station ownership.  At one time he had the most powerful station on earth. He used the station to (of course) sell his wares and his persona, but was also instrumental in introducing acts like the Carter family who did a bit of an internship at his station. Many country legends you’ve probably heard of got their start with Brinkley’s mass communicating.

Before we close this out, it must also be mentioned that Brinkley won an election to be the Kansas governor. Of course he did, right? This guy is like an evil Forest Gump. But he didn’t get to be governor though. In a case of, the guy really was robbed, they changed the rules immediately prior to the vote count making write-ins that didn’t say exactly “J.R. Brinkley” not count. The voters who wrote in Dr. Brinkley etc. had their votes tossed out. It is clear from the numbers that he would have won without these last minute changes.

So there you have it; this has been a quick dip into the world of the amazing quack that was J.R. Brinkley. I would say it is a cautionary tale that illustrates the rewards of sociopathy and charm in the experiment that has been the United States, but more than that, it’s a fun tale about a fantastic weirdo.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Kathleen Wallace.

Relocating entire communities at once is the most extreme way to adapt to climate change. Relocations are likely to become more common as conditions worsen, with dozens, if not hundreds, of mostly Indigenous communities forced to relocate. Managed retreats are disruptive, uprooting entire communities and cultures, adding complicated layers to each community’s exodus, from choosing new locations to allocating the funds provided by the Interior Department.

The first communities to receive $25 million were Newtok, in southwest Alaska; Napakiak, on the shore of the Kuskokwim River; and the Quinault Indian Nation, on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula. The selection was based on applying five criteria including the community’s degree of planning, the risk level of its current situation, readiness to move, and having a new site selected.

The town of Newtok has chosen Mertavik as its new location. To cover the basics, at least 54 houses, an airport, a power grid, and a road system need to be built. The project cost has been estimated between $120-300 million. Other top-priority projects, including a sewage system and  health clinic, would add an estimated $105 million to relocation costs.

A further challenge is navigating the rules that dictate what funding can and cannot be spent on. In a January 2023 article for High Country News, Patrick LeMay, the Newtok relocation project manager, explained: “According to the Interior Department, it is supposed to support core infrastructure. But the Bureau of Indian Affairs—which is part of the Interior Department—does not consider housing infrastructure.” The rest of the money must be scrapped together from different agencies with their own requirements. With the current retreats being the first of their kind, many questions remain about funding for dozens of additional communities that are likely to need to relocate in the near future.

As of February 2023, Emily Schwing has been the journalist covering the story in the most detail, for Alaska Public Radio and High Country News. There has been some corporate news coverage of aspects of the story. Christopher Flavelle filed two articles for the New York Times, and the Washington Post ran an article of its own. While the New York Times’ reporting provided a more generic overview of the story, and the Post report did not mention relocation funding from the Biden administration, local and independent news outlets, including the Anchorage Daily News and the sources cited here, have emphasized the full scope of the relocations’ impacts and included the perspectives of community leaders. The government’s allocation of funding for relocation has been reported by a number of other outlets, including CNBC, USA Today, and The Hill.

Sources:

Emily Schwing, “Interior Department Puts $40m Toward Community Relocation Efforts for Newtok and Napakiak,” Alaska Public Media, December 3, 2022.

Emily Schwing, “Newtok Residents are Desperate to Relocate After September Storm,” Alaska Public Media, October 7, 2022.

Emily Schwing, “How Far Can $25 Million Go to Relocate a Community that is Disappearing into Alaska’s Melting Permafrost?” High Country News, January 18, 2023.

Student Researcher: Jette-Mari Stammer (North Central College)
Faculty Evaluator: Steve Macek (North Central College)

The post Entire Tribal Towns Forced to Relocate Due to Climate Crisis appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Vins.

The move comes as more Western governments are clamping down on companies whose products and supply chains involve forced labor by the mostly Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the far western part of China.

At the Forced Labor Technical Expo at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, acting CBP commissioner Troy Miller launched a new website that tracks shipments blocked due to forced labor and said that 3,605 shipments worth $816 million had been blocked due to suspected forced labor across all of last year.

But he noted that the value of blocked shipments this year had already reached nearly two-thirds of last year’s figure, with some $496 million worth of imports across 1,910 shipments blocked before Feb. 26 thanks to the December 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

“That being said, shipments identified for further examination under UFLPA represent 0.01% of all shipments entering the U.S. since the implementation of the act,” he said. “Overall, this obviously a very small number of shipments subject to CBP’s enforcement actions.”

The agency’s job is a balance of stopping shipments linked to forced labor while also “swiftly” processing legitimate cargo, Miller said, adding that he wished to see the number of intercepted shipments go down as U.S. businesses learn they risk losing their shipments.

“As required by law, we continue to take enforcement action to inspect and detain goods when we receive credible allegations that goods are connected to Xinjiang,” he said, but “importers must take responsibility to know their supply chains and address the risk of forced labor.”

‘Orders come from the top’

The event also heard from victims of forced labor.

Nury Turkel, a Uyghur-American and chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, told the event that he grew up alongside his parents in forced labor camps in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and that forced labor had been used by Chinese authorities “for as long as I remember.”

He emphasized that it was official government policy, and said he was dismayed by American companies that say it is hard to police supply chains.

“Papering over forced labor in your supply chains is no longer an option,” Turkel said. “Chinese companies’ use of Uyghur forced labor is not a matter of lax enforcement or government collusion with corrupt businesses. The fact is that the Xinjiang officials fill hundreds of camps with millions of people, and the orders come from the top.”

Such forced labor was enforced through the use of “torture, rape, forced sterilization, abortion and injection with unknown drugs,” he said, with authorities in Xinjiang openly promoting forced labor. 

Their ads, he said, promised that “workers have been trained with a semi-military style,” were “disciplined” and, in case a business was still not convinced, “come with a police minder to prevent any trouble.”

“The ads offer a guarantee that the workers will not be job-hopping,” Turkel said. “They will not be allowed to leave the job.”

Technological help

A number of companies at the event promoted technology they said would help businesses better identify forced labor in their supply chains, including SourceMap, which helps businesses track production sources from “end-to-end,” and Verité, which screens suppliers for signs of forced labor by focusing on the recruiters they use.

CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith said forced labor in merchandise flowing into the United States impacts 28 million people worldwide, and that while technology might help identify it, companies still had to be proactive about trying to eliminate it.

“It is incumbent upon us as leaders in our international trade space and in our global supply chains to take affirmative actions,” Highsmith said, in order “to better trace merchandise through the supply chains.”

She said she was encouraged that blockages of shipments under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act since 2021 had caused some U.S. companies to move “operations out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and into other areas of China, and other areas of other countries, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.”

“We can safely say that we’ve done a lot of good. But we can do better, and we can do more,” she said, explaining CBP’s ultimate aim was to stop such shipments arriving in the United States at all. “Our goal is to normalize due diligence with regard to forced labor in supply chains.”

“I’m really sorry to tell you,” Highsmith added, “there’s no magic wand that will tell us instantly there’s forced labor in the merchandise; there’s no technology that’s going to replace due diligence.”

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alex Willemyns for RFA.

“Who is an Anti-vaxxer?“

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Allen Forrest.

The United States' contributions to the climate crisis and its perpetuation of violence, particularly abroad, resulted in a score on a newly launched "Atlas of Impunity" that placed the country well below other wealthy nations in terms of the government's willingness to be accountable for its impact both on U.S. residents and the global community.

Spearheaded by former U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the inaugural Atlas of Impunity was released Friday, the result of a collaboration between the Eurasia Group and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

The groups ranked 163 countries from across the globe, scoring their level of impunity based on five factors: conflict and violence, both within the countries and perpetrated against other nations; environmental degradation; unaccountable governance; economic exploitation; and abuse of human rights.

Miliband, now the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, called the ranking of the U.S. at 118 "one of the major takeaways" of the index.

The countries were ranked on a scale of 0-5, with Afghanistan given the highest score for impunity at 5.00. Finland was ranked the most accountable nation, with a score of 0.29.

With a score of 1.91, the U.S. was ranked five places higher than Hungary, where President Viktor Orbán's far-right government has been denounced as autocratic.

The U.S. was found to act with the most impunity in the area of environmental degradation, scoring a 3.02 in that category. The U.S. is biggest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, but President Joe Biden's administration continues to approve fossil fuel extraction projects that are contributing to planetary heating and polluting communities.

"Impunity is the growing instinct of choice in the global order. It represents a dangerous world view that laws and norms are for suckers."

The country's "conflict and violence" score of 2.62 also contributed to its high cumulative score.

"The country's arms exports are an even bigger negative factor" than the economic inequality, racial injustice, and restrictions that Republican policymakers use to cut off democratic access, the report stated.

The U.S. is the world's largest arms exporter and has helped fuel the ongoing humanitarian crises in Yemen and the occupied Palestinian territories by supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia and Israel, respectively.

The country's impunity score was also driven up by "a small number of ratified human rights treaties" and "its history of racial discrimination, particularly against Black Americans." The authors noted that it performed well below other wealthy countries in terms of its efforts to ensure Americans are given equal economic opportunities:

While the U.S. performs well on most measures of economic exploitation, there is a higher degree of class inequality compared to similarly ranked countries. This likely stems from a long history of strike-breaking and union-busting that has undermined the power of organized labor. Individuals and corporate entities—both companies and labor unions—have a constitutionally protected right to petition the government, creating a robust lobbying landscape that allows the two major political parties to be very responsive to narrow interest group needs. This has contributed to low levels of taxation of capital income, a tax system with high levels of compliance but inconsistent enforcement, and a national minimum wage that has not risen with inflation.

"Impunity is the growing instinct of choice in the global order," said Miliband in a statement. "It represents a dangerous world view that laws and norms are for suckers."

Miliband noted in a New York Times op-ed on Friday that the Atlas illustrates how countries that are recognized as democracies are not immune from acting without accountability.

"While the fight for democracy is real, dividing the world into democracies and autocracies does not capture key aspects of the global power balance," he wrote. "While accountability is critical to democracy, a democratic system of government alone is insufficient to fend off impunity. Several democratic countries, including the United States, underperform against the highest standards to which they are committed on measures of human rights and conflict and violence."

"The most powerful countries in the international system are part of the problem," he added. "China and Russia both score among the 50 worst ranking countries on impunity. The United States performs much better, but still scores worse than economic and Global North peers. There is a quantitative evidence in our project for the adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Julia Conley.

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On Jan. 23, 2023, the IRS began accepting and processing returns for the 2022 tax year. That means that the window for filing your individual tax return is nearly three months long.

There’s hope that the process will be less of a headache this year: The IRS promises improved service and has added 5,000 new phone workers and more in-person staff to support taxpayers, thanks to an influx of funding from the August passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. With the new funding and electronic filing options, tax time might just be smoother this year.

2022 federal income tax returns for individuals are now due April 18, 2023. The IRS announced in January that its tax deadline would be pushed back from the usual date, April 15, due to the 2023 calendar.

A note for victims of severe storms: In January, after torrential rainstorms, mudslides and tornadoes hit California, Georgia and Alabama, the IRS announced that victims of severe storms in these states have until May 15, 2023, to file their taxes.

Members of the military serving in a combat zone also get an extension. This extension is typically 180 days after leaving a combat zone.

Whether you’re eligible for the May 15 deadline largely depends on the county you live in and is based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster declaration. A list of counties eligible for the May 15 deadline is available on the IRS website. The new deadline applies to various individual and business tax returns as well as payments.

The IRS automatically identifies individuals living in those counties as eligible for the new deadline. If you’re a taxpayer affected by these severe storms who’s living outside the disaster area, you can call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request this tax relief.

Yes. This applies to all individual tax filers as well as trusts, corporations and other noncorporate tax filers. Quarterly estimated taxes for individuals are due April 18, 2023, too.

There’s a good chance the April 18 deadline applies to your state taxes, too. Most states have followed the IRS’ lead and made their tax deadlines April 18. Some have imposed slightly later deadlines. Your state’s tax office website will have the most accurate information about your state income tax deadline.

Yes. Individual taxpayers can ask for an extension to Oct. 16, 2023, by filing form 4868 by April 18. The IRS encourages taxpayers to file for an extension electronically, filling out form 4868 with IRS’s Free File program. You can also file for an extension when you pay your estimated income tax electronically with IRS’s free Direct Pay, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or a credit or debit card and indicate that the payment is for an extension.

An extension provides you with more time to prepare and file your tax return. It does not, however, grant you more time to pay your taxes. Taxpayers who need an extension to file but still owe tax payments can avoid penalties by making an estimated payment by the deadline.

A note for victims of severe storms: Victims in FEMA-designated disaster areas can request an extension from the IRS after April 18, but they must do so by mail instead of electronically. Electronic extension requests are only available prior to April 18. Details are provided on the IRS website.

The IRS says that most tax refunds are being paid within 21 days of filing. The IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically with direct deposit as it’s the quickest way to receive your refund.

While the IRS continues to accept paper forms, it has a severe paperwork backlog and warns that it may take six months or more to process your tax return if you file on paper.

There are two credits that may delay your refund. If you filed for the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, by law, the IRS cannot begin issuing your refund until mid-February.

About this guide: ProPublica has reported on the IRS, the Free File program and other tax topics for years. ProPublica’s tax guide is not personalized tax advice. Speak to a tax professional about your specific tax situation.

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Kristen Doerer is a reporter in Washington, D.C. Her writing has appeared in PBS NewsHour, The Guardian and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among other outlets. Follow her on Twitter at @k2doe.

This content originally appeared on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica and was authored by by Kristen Doerer.

Veteran Fijian journalist Netani Rika and his wife were resting in their living room when he was suddenly woken, startled by the sound of smashed glass. “I got up, I slipped on the wet surface,” he recalls.

He turned on the lights and a bottle and wick were spread across the floor. It was one of the many acts of violence and intimidation he endured after the 2006 military coup.

Back then, Rika was the manager of news and current affairs at Fiji Television.

• LISTEN TO ABC PACIFIC BEAT: Media freedom under the new Fiji government
• READ MORE: Former Fiji Times editor has no regrets about resisting censorship
• Fiji’s media veterans recount intimidation under FijiFirst government – eye on reforms

No news at 6pm, no news at 10pm
Back then, Rika was the manager of news and current affairs at Fiji Television.

He vividly remembers the time his car was smashed with golf clubs by two unknown men — one he would later identify as a member of the military — and the day he was locked up at a military camp.

“We were monitoring the situation . . .  once the takeover happened, there was a knock at the door and we had some soldiers present themselves,” he said.

“We were told they were there for our protection but our CEO at the time, Ken Clark, said ‘well if you’re here to protect us, then you can stand at the gate’.

“They said, ‘no, we are here to be in the newsroom, and we want to see what goes to air. We also have a list of people you cannot speak to … ministers, detectives’.”

Rika remembered denying their request and publishing a notice on behalf of Fiji TV News that said it would “not broadcast tonight due to censorship”, promising to return to air when they were able to “broadcast the news in a manner which is free and fair”.

“There was no news at six, there was no news at 10, it was a decision made by the newsroom.”

Organisations like Human Rights Watch have repeatedly criticised Voreqe Bainimarama, who installed himself as prime minister during the 2006 coup, for his attacks on government critics, the press and the freedom of its citizens.

Fear and intimidation
Rika reported incidents of violence to Fiji police, but he said detectives told him his complaints would not go far.

“There was a series of letters to the editor which I suppose you could say were anti-government. Shortly after … the now-honourable leader of the opposition (Voreqe Bainimarama) called, he swore at me in the Fijian iTaukei language … a short time later I saw a vehicle come into our street,” he said.

“The next time (the attackers) came over the fence, broke a wooden louvre and threw one (explosive) inside the house.”

The ABC contacted Bainimarama’s Fiji First party and Fiji police for comment, but has not received a response.

The following year, Rika left his job to become the editor-in-chief at The Fiji Times, the country’s leading independent newspaper. With the publication relying on the government’s advertising to remain viable, Rika said the government put pressure on the paper’s owners.

“The government took away Fiji Times’ advertising, did all sorts of things in order to bring it into line with its propaganda that Fiji was OK, there was no more corruption.”

Rika said the government also sought to remove the employment rights of News Limited, which owned The Fiji Times.

“The media laws were changed so that you could not have more than 5 percent overseas ownership,” Rika said.

Rika, and his deputy Sophie Foster — now an Australian national — lost their jobs after the Media Act 2011 was passed, banning foreign ownership of Fijian media organisations.

‘A chilling law’
The new law put in place several regulations over journalists’ work, including restrictions on reporting of government activities.

In May last year, Fijian Media Association secretary Stanley Simpson called for a review of the “harsh penalties” that can be imposed by the authority that enforces the act.

Penalties include up to F$100,000 (NZ$75,00) in fines or two years’ imprisonment for news organisations for publishing content that is considered a breach of public or national interest. Simpson said some sections were “too excessive and designed to be vindictive and punish the media rather that encourage better reporting standards and be corrective”.

Media veterans hope the controversial act will be changed, or removed entirely, to protect press freedom.

Retired journalism professor Dr David Robie, now editor of Asia Pacific Report, taught many of the Pacific journalists who head up Fijian newsrooms today, but some of his earlier research focused on the impact of the Media Act.

Dr Robie said from the outset, the legislation was widely condemned by media freedom organisations around the world for being “very punitive and draconian”.

“It is a chilling law, making restrictions to media and making it extremely difficult for journalists to act because … the journalists in Fiji constantly have that shadow hanging over them.”

In the years after Fijian independence in 1970, Dr Robie said Fiji’s “vigorous” media sector “was a shining light in the whole of the Pacific and in developing countries”.

“That was lost … under that particular law and many of the younger journalists have never known what it is to be in a country with a truly free media.”

‘We’re so rich in stories’
Last month, the newly-elected government said work was underway to change media laws.

“We’re going to ensure (journalists) have freedom to broadcast and to impart knowledge and information to members of the public,” Fiji’s new Attorney-General Siromi Turaga said.

“The coalition government is going to provide a different approach, a truly democratic way of dealing with media freedom.” But Dr Robie said he believed the only way forward was to remove the Media Act altogether.

“I’m a bit sceptical about this notion that we can replace it with friendly legislation. That’s sounds like a slippery slope to me,” he said.

“I’d have to say that self-regulation is pretty much the best way to go.”

Reporters Without Borders ranked Fiji at 102 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, falling by 47 places compared to its 2021 rankings.

Samantha Magick was the news director at Fiji radio station FM96, but left after the 2000 coup and returned three years ago to edit Islands Business International, a regional news magazine.

“When I came back, there wasn’t the same robustness of discussion and debate, we (previously) had powerful panel programs and talkback and there wasn’t a lot of that happening,” she said.

“Part of that was a reflection of the legislation and its impact on the way people worked but it was often very difficult to get both sides of a story because of the way newsmakers tried to control their messaging … which I thought was really unfortunate.”

Magick said less restrictive media laws might encourage journalists to push the boundaries, while mid-career reporters would be more creative and more courageous.

“I also hope it will mean more people stay in the profession because we have this enormous problem with people coming, doing a couple of years and then going … for mainly financial reasons.”

She lamented the fact that “resource intensive” investigative journalism had fallen by the wayside but hoped to see “a sort of reinvigoration of the profession in general.”

“We’re so rich in stories … I’d love to see more collaboration across news organisations or among journalists and freelancers,” she said.

Lice Movono is a Fijian reporter for the ABC based in Suva. An earlier audio report from her on the Fiji media is here. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

State media reported that a Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jet piloted by Capt. Tran Ngoc Duy crashed Jan. 31 while trying to land at Yen Bai, an airbase in the country’s north, following a training mission.

The crash was the third deadly warplane accident since 2016, and all three point to an over reliance on flight simulators, as pilots spend very little time in planes, Carl Thayer, a professor at the Australian Defence Academy, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

Vietnam’s air force has a fleet of 71 Soviet-era planes, many of which were acquired in the 1980s, he said.

“In 2019, U.S. defense officials serving in Hanoi reported that Vietnamese military officers had expressed their unhappiness with Russian equipment and services,” Thayer said.

The cause of the January crash is likely due to either faulty landing gear or pilot error, he said.

“According to one study, Vietnamese air force pilots use virtual flight rules or radar vector in perfect weather only and have no experience with adverse weather conditions,” he said.

Accident captured on video

State media reported that the Su-22 encountered a problem while landing and Duy was ordered to eject. He then tried to correct the problem manually but failed, and the plane crashed.

In a video about the accident filmed by a cell phone and posted on Facebook by one of the pilot’s relatives, when the Su-22 was about to land on the airstrip, it suddenly tilted and wobbled and a small flame started in the cockpit. Then, the pilot seat ejected but a parachute was not seen. 

Shortly after that, the plane crashed onto the runway, causing an explosion with a big column of smoke and fire.

Video vụ Su-22 rơi: Phi công đã phóng ghế bay và nhảy dù? #RFAVietnamese #SU22YenBai #Su22Vietnam #Vietnam #Vietnamairforce #Yenbai #PhicongTranNgocDuy pic.twitter.com/tSITeoW8Ne

— Đài Á Châu Tự Do (@DaiAChauTuDo) February 1, 2023

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence launched an investigation after the accident, but so far has not announced any findings. 

Capt. Tran Ngoc Duy was posthumously promoted to major. He had served 13 years in the air force and piloted many types of aircraft, logging 725 flight hours

Old aircraft

Prof. Zachary Abuza from the U.S. National War College said that Vietnam’s aging fleet was definitely a problem.

“The People’s Army Air Force has a lot of very old airframes, including the Su-22, and many are at the end of their lifecycle,” he said. “Another problem is that since the airframes, especially the newer ones like the Su-27, are very expensive, there is a reluctance to use them and train on them.”

Abuza said both factors work to create a vicious cycle. The lack of training on the expensive models results in more accidents when they are flown.

Pilot training these days is a rarity due to a lack of budget and fuel, said Nguyen Dinh Am, a journalist who once worked for the Vietnam Heritage tourist magazine.

“I live near Gia Lam Military Airport [in Hanoi] and I can easily hear an aircraft taking off, but these days I rarely hear airplane sounds,” he said. “Ancient aircraft, improper maintenance, and pilots with poor flying reflexes due to lack of practice could lead to mistakes and accidents.”

At the National Party Congress in early 2021, the government approved a major military modernization program that prioritized air force upgrades. 

Nguyen The Phoung,  a lecturer from the Faculty of International Relations, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, told RFA that upgrades were badly needed to protect Vietnam’s sovereignty.  

“The entire fleet of Vietnam’s fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft are of Soviet-Russian origin,” he said. “The procurement of fighter aircraft is a big investment. Besides purchasing equipment, training, maintenance, and suitability for combat requirements are also needed,” he said.

But because Russia is the supplier of Vietnam’s combat aircraft, rapid modernization is not feasible immediately because Moscow is fighting a war in Ukraine, he said. “Obviously, Vietnam cannot buy Russian weapons freely like it did in the past. It needs to take the international community’s reactions into account.”

Thayer said Vietnam was in “critical need” to modernize.

“In late-2020, Vietnam moved to restructure its logistics support services to improve maintenance, repair and overhaul of its legacy combat air fleet,” he said. “Special priority has been accorded to maintaining, repairing and overhauling Vietnam’s Su-30MK2 multi-role jet fighters.”

Both Thayer and Abuza said Vietnam was looking to purchase a fifth-generation fighter from Russia like the Su-30, -35, or -57, but Moscow has been capped on weapons exports after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The invasion of the country in 2022 further decreases the likelihood of such a transaction.

American shift?

In December, Reuters reported that U.S. defense companies had discussed supplying military gear, including helicopters and drones, to Vietnam in talks with top government officials, a new sign that Vietnam may reduce its reliance on Russian arms.

Thayer said that in late 2021, Vietnam placed an order for twelve T-6 jet trainers and Vietnamese pilots commenced participation in the U.S. Air Force Aviation Leadership Program in the United States, moves that may lay the foundation for the sale of the U.S.-made F-15E Strike Eagle to Vietnam by the end of this decade.

Hanoi also ordered six Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles for its Coast Guard under the U.S. Maritime Security Initiative in 2019, he said, and suggested that the war in Ukraine has raised the salience of drones and other UAVs in armed combat, meaning Vietnam would be a great market for U.S.-made weapons.

“There are two constraints on Vietnam’s purchases of non-Russian weaponry. The first is the legacy of dependency on Russia for spare parts, servicing, maintenance support and language. The second constraint is cost and time,” he said. “U.S. and European weapons are expensive and Vietnam would need to develop an appropriate logistics support network that would take considerable time to develop.”

But Abuza said there was no chance that Vietnam would buy American jets.

“I am paying close attention to the recently upgraded ties with South Korea, now a comprehensive strategic partner,” Abuza said.  “South Korea has been trying to sell its latest fighter overseas. It’s a lot more expensive than the Russian fighters, but still cheaper than American or European [ones].”

According to former military intelligence officer Vu Minh Tri, it is very difficult for Vietnam to import Western countries’ weapons due to its limited budget.

He said that Vietnam spends most of its defense budget on wages, food, and supplies, while the funding for weapons makes up only a small part.

Corruption and the lack of transparency are the biggest challenges the military faces, he said. 

“In general, Vietnam’s procurement of weapons and military equipment is not transparent,” Tri said. Vietnam’s “partners have told me that those assigned to purchase weapons always increase the purchasing prices to keep the difference. Western countries don’t accept this practice.”

In addition, Western countries do not trust Hanoi because Vietnam considers China a close ally, and Vietnam does not trust the United States and other Western countries, thinking they intend to topple the current regime, Tri said.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Vietnamese.

A prominent Papuan journalist has said a recent bombing near his home is the latest in a string of attacks against him, reports ABC Pacific Beat.

Victor Mambor said he heard motorbikes ride past his home before a bomb exploded about 3 metres from his house on Monday.

He suspects his attackers wished to scare him.

• LISTEN TO ABC PACIFIC BEAT: Papuan journalist Victor Mambor says bomb attack likely a result of his reporting
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“It’s not the first time, I have had more threats before,” Mambor said.

“They broke my my car, they threatened me through SMS texts and WhatsApp messenger.”

Mambor, editor of the Papuan news website Jubi, suspects the work he has done reporting on Indonesian-ruled West Papua has led to these threats.

“I think they think I’m a journalist who supports the West Papua freedom movement,” he said.

Presenter: Prianka Srinivasan

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

RNZ Pacific

The autonomous government in the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville is finally organising byelections next month in two seats that have been without representation for many months.

The elections, in Nissan and Haku constituencies, will be held on February 22, with nominations set to close tomorrow.

The Nissan seat has been vacant since July 2021, after then-Health Minister Charry Napto and his wife and child were among seven people lost at sea when a banana boat carrying them disappeared.

The Haku seat became vacant after the death of Xavier Kareku in March last year.

The writs were issued by the Speaker of the Bougainville House of Representatives, Simon Pentanu, in Buka on Tuesday.

Pentanu said he was happy to issue the writs so that the people can exercise their democratic rights and he called on candidates to campaign peacefully and let the people decide the leaders of their choice.

Acting Electoral Commissioner George Manu said the delay was due to a lack of funding.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Hun Sen arrived on the Indonesian island on Monday evening local time to attend the meeting of the world’s 20 largest economies and “woke up confirmed positive” for the virus despite having no symptoms, the 70-year-old prime minister announced in a Facebook post addressed to “dear fellow countrymen.”

“It was lucky as I arrived late and didn’t join the dinner with other heads of states hosted by the French President,” he wrote.

“For the safety of other delegates at the meeting, I decided that the Cambodian delegation will all go back to Cambodia.”

The Cambodian leader and his entourage will leave Bali in the evening. Plans to meet with the Chinese and French presidents on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Bangkok later this week will be scrapped.

The world’s longest-serving prime minister is committed to doing “business as usual” but won’t be receiving guests for the time being, he said.

Hun Sen hosted a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders last week as Cambodia completed its rotating chair of the ASEAN bloc and transferred the baton to Indonesia.

The ASEAN summit and the following East Asian Summit were attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, who praised Cambodia for a successful chairmanship amid “a challenging year” and Hun Sen for the organization efforts. 

The two leaders were seen close together shaking hands at the gala dinner on Nov. 12, wearing similar Khmer silk shirts and smiling.

Responding to Hun Sen’s announcement, the White House said Biden had tested negative for the virus but suffered a cold on Monday evening.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also met with Hun Sen in Phnom Penh and subsequently with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali.

Lavrov visits hospital

In another development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited a hospital upon arrival in Bali on Monday for a check-up but left soon afterwards.

Bali Governor I Wayan Koster told BenarNews, a sister news outlet of RFA, that Lavrov had his health examined at the island's main Sanglah hospital, but did not stay there.

The Russian foreign ministry went to great lengths to reject media reports that Lavrov, who is attending the G-20 Summit instead of President Vladimir Putin, was hospitalized.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova published a video showing the minister sitting at a table wearing shorts in the Nusa Dua resort area in which a healthy-looking Lavrov urged Western journalists to report “more honestly.”

The Russian foreign minister was to host a press conference later Tuesday as news emerged that the final statement of the G-20 Summit may state that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine.”

A U.S. spokesman said “most members of G-20 come together around the consensus that the Russian war is seen as the core root cause of so much of instability.”

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA and BenarNews Staff.

New research unveiled Monday estimates that around 1.3 million U.S. adults with diabetes either skipped entire insulin doses, took less than needed, or put off purchases of the medicine over the past year due to its high cost, a striking indictment of a healthcare system that allows profit-seeking pharmaceutical companies to drive up prices at will.

"We have allowed pharmaceutical companies to set the agenda, and that is coming at the cost to our patients."

The authors of the new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey, examining a sample representative of 1.4 million U.S. adults with type 1 diabetes and 5.8 million with type 2 diabetes.

The results indicate that 16.5% of all adult insulin users across the U.S. rationed insulin in some way in the past year, with rationing more common among those with type 1 diabetes than type 2.

"Universal access to insulin, without cost barriers, is urgently needed," Adam Gaffney, an ICU doctor at the Cambridge Health Alliance and the lead author of the study, told NBC News. "We have allowed pharmaceutical companies to set the agenda, and that is coming at the cost to our patients."

Gaffney, an outspoken advocate of Medicare for All, said he has personally "cared for patients who have life-threatening complications of diabetes because they couldn’t afford this life-saving drug."

The high price of insulin has long been a scandal in the U.S., where the list costs of the cheap-to-produce medicine are often up to 10 times higher than in other countries.

"People who need insulin shouldn't have to break the bank just to survive, but in the U.S. they often do."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has famously led caravans of people with diabetes into neighboring Canada to spotlight the shocking price of insulin in the U.S., which does little to regulate the pharmaceutical industry's price-setting power.

One recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) described insulin access in the U.S. as "a privilege that many cannot afford," noting that "soaring medicine prices and inadequate health insurance coverage can result in unaffordable out-of-pocket costs that undermine the right to health, drive people into financial distress and debt, and disproportionately impact people who are socially and economically marginalized, reinforcing existing forms of structural discrimination."

The new study, co-authored by David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, echoed those findings, pointing out that people without health insurance "had the highest rate of rationing... followed by those with private insurance." People on Medicaid and Medicare reported the lowest rate of insulin rationing.

"Several factors likely underlie our findings," the authors note. "Insulin prices in the United States are far higher than in other nations. Moreover, pharmaceutical firms have increased insulin prices year upon year, even for products that remain unchanged."

According to public data spotlighted by HRW, Eli Lilly has hiked the list price of the commonly used insulin product Humalog by an inflation-adjusted 680% since it started selling the drug in 1996.

Gaffney, Himmelstein, and Woolhandler note that the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act includes a provision limiting insulin copays to $35 per month for those on Medicare, a change that "may improve insulin access for seniors, who experienced substantial rationing in our study."

But they lament that Senate Republicans stripped out an insulin copay cap for those with private insurance.

"Further reform," the trio writes, "could improve access to insulin for all Americans."

In July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state would soon move to produce its own insulin in an effort to provide a lower-cost alternative to Big Pharma's products.

At the national level, HRW has called on Congress to "consider legislation to provide insulin to all insulin-dependent individuals in the country free-of-cost."

"People who need insulin shouldn't have to break the bank just to survive," said Matt McConnell, economic justice and rights researcher at HRW, "but in the U.S. they often do."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

The Myanmar Institute for Strategic and Policy Studies (ISP-Myanmar) said 2,930,201 internally displaced persons (IDPs), or slightly more than 5% of Myanmar’s population of 54.4 million, have fled violence in the country. It said 1,413,811 of them, or 48%, fled Myanmar amid the conflict that followed the Feb. 1, 2021, putsch.

According to ISP-Myanmar, the number of people in Myanmar who were classified as IDPs due to civil war more than doubled to 1,019,190 after the coup from 497,200 prior to the takeover.

The research group said its list was compiled from data obtained by organizations that assist refugees in conflict zones, international aid groups, ethnic armed groups, and reporting by independent media. It said the data had been checked and confirmed by its researchers.

ISP-Myanmar senior research officer Kyaw Htet Aung told RFA Burmese that all combatants in Myanmar must adopt measures to reduce civilian suffering.

“IDPs do not have full access to humanitarian aid at present and their number is rising month by month,” he said.

“How are we going to solve the problem? All the adversaries must pay more attention to military codes of conduct to minimize harm to civilians. If they can do that, I think civilian suffering would be substantially reduced. Additionally, IDPs must have better access to international aid.”

According to ISP-Myanmar, 533,833 people displaced by violence since the coup are from Sagaing region, where the military has encountered some of the fiercest resistance to its rule over the past 19 months.

Aid workers told RFA that fighting between the military and the armed opposition is intensifying and spreading rapidly throughout Myanmar, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of IDPs and civilian casualties.

A villager who recently fled fighting in Sagaing’s Kanbalu township said that IDPs have had to rely on assistance from people in the region because they have not received any international aid.

“We have been on the run since the moment the military entered our villages, and we’ve faced a lot of difficulties moving through the jungle with the elderly, pregnant women and children,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“People are exhausted from running and hiding for so long without food. These days, it's difficult to get even one or two baskets of rice. We have never received any international aid. We all are struggling to stay alive.”

In addition to the challenges of obtaining food and medicine, the villager said his group also faces dangers such as snake bites while sheltering in the jungle.

Similar problems have been reported in Chin state, where transportation is difficult due to the region’s terrain and lack of infrastructure.

An official with the Mindat Township Refugee Camps Management Committee, who declined to be named, told RFA that basic food items and fuel are getting expensive, leaving IDPs in dire straits.

“The price of rice has risen and with the increase in fuel prices, buying rice has become even more difficult,” he said.

“In the meantime, we are also facing the danger of landslides because it is the rainy season. There are a lot of landslides here as it has been raining non-stop for more than two weeks.”

Banya, the director of the ethnic Karenni Human Rights Group, said IDPs also endure psychological suffering when they lack food, shelter and healthcare.

“The loss of their family members and homes, and being in the jungle for a long time, leaves them stressed,” he said.

“When they go from expecting a month or two of displacement, to six months, and finally more than a year, it’s very difficult to comfort them. Their losses are heavy and it is a difficult situation to bear. Currently, everything — including health conditions — have been quite bad.”

At present, he said, only emergency measures for obtaining food and medicine can be offered to the displaced, while long-term planning has been out of the question.

Aid program status unclear

Win Myat Aye, minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management for the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said efforts are underway to provide aid to the country’s IDPs, but he acknowledged the limitations he faces.

“With more than a year and a half of experience, our connection with aid groups has gradually become stronger and we can now provide more effective support,” he said.

“Access to funding and cash flow is a challenge, but now that the NUG has its own sources of income, it can supplement public donations. We are making special efforts in cooperation with ethnic armed groups to provide international support.”

He said he believes humanitarian assistance will soon be able to reach the displaced.

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Meeting held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 6, a decision was reached that the ASEAN Humanitarian Coordination Center (AHA) would act under the supervision of Myanmar military authorities to provide aid to the country’s IDPs.

On Sept. 20 pro-junta media reported that the AHA task force held an interim meeting on the aid situation in Myanmar, but more than four months since the ASEAN decision, RFA has been unable to independently confirm the status of the program.

Attempts by RFA to contact the AHA Center went unanswered on Friday.

According to Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), authorities in Myanmar have killed at least 2,316 civilians and arrested more than 15,600 since the coup, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

New U.S. Census Bureau figures published Tuesday show the boosted Child Tax Credit enacted by congressional Democrats last year helped fuel a major plunge in child poverty—historic progress that is now under threat thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to keeping the program running in 2022 and beyond.

According to the federal data, child poverty fell from 9.7% in 2020 to a record low 5.2% last year, a decline that the Census Bureau attributed largely to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion approved under the American Rescue Plan. Stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits also played a role in cutting poverty among children and the U.S. population overall in 2021.

If the CTC payments weren't increased, made fully refundable, and distributed to more broadly last year, the Census Bureau estimated that the 2021 child poverty rate would have been 8.1% and 2.1 million more kids would have been impoverished.

"The Child Tax Credit is our most effective tax tool for reducing childhood poverty," the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) said in response to the Census Bureau report. "Congress should make the 2021 CTC expansion permanent and protect America's children."

At the end of last year, the CTC program reverted to its previous, more exclusionary, and less generous form after Manchin—who represents one of the poorest states in the U.S.—and congressional Republicans refused to support proposals to extend the boosted payments.

Many vulnerable families that benefited from the enhanced credits immediately felt the impact of the cut-off: In January, according to one measure, the child poverty rate increased by 41%—rising from 12.1% to 17% among the population—and nearly 4 million kids were hurled into poverty, an indication that last year's gains could be wiped out in 2022.

"If the Child Tax Credit expansion had not expired at the end of 2021, it would have continued to push down poverty among children this year and beyond, even as other relief measures phase out," noted Danilo Leandro Trisi, director of poverty and inequality research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Policymakers should pursue opportunities this year to stave off a sharp rise in child poverty by expanding the Child Tax Credit."

With Manchin and the GOP opposed to expanding the poverty-slashing credit, it's unclear whether there's a viable legislative path for even a short-term extension of the program ahead of the November midterms.

Axios reported last week that "the White House is engaging with Senate Democrats about making one last push for an enhanced child tax credit this year—and in return for GOP votes, may dangle support for corporate tax credits for research and development that expired last year."

"A Hail Mary tax package would face not only a ticking congressional clock but also potential opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)," the outlet added. "After some discussions about lowering the income caps and including it in a slimmed-down version of Build Back Better, the tax credit ultimately didn't make it into the Inflation Reduction Act that Biden signed into law in August."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

A fledgling international effort to protect the world's oceans from further damage is "on the brink of failure," and the governments of wealthy countries are primarily to blame, Greenpeace International warned Thursday.

"Failure at these talks will jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of billions."

Diplomats gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York City are nearing the end of the fifth and final round of negotiations on a much-needed pact to protect biodiversity in the "high seas"—a global commons comprising the two-thirds of the ocean that lie outside the jurisdiction of any single country and where legally binding regulations are virtually nonexistent.

Conservationists have long hoped that the ongoing summit—described by some as the "last chance" to forge a robust global ocean treaty—would lead to the establishment of "Marine Protected Areas" and rules mandating environmental assessments prior to deep-sea mining and other industrial activities.

But a handful of mostly rich countries—including the United States, Canada, and members of the so-called High Ambition Coalition on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction—have derailed progress made on the text by prioritizing "hypothetical future profits" that could be derived from extracting marine genetic resources over protecting aquatic species, according to Greenpeace.

"The oceans sustain all life on Earth, but the greed of a few countries means this round of talks for a U.N. ocean treaty are now set to fail," Laura Meller of Greenpeace's Protect the Oceans campaign said Thursday in a statement. "The High Ambition Coalition has utterly failed. They should be the No Ambition Coalition."

Members of the coalition have "obsessed over their hypothetical future profits, undermining all the other progress made at these talks," said Meller. "Unless ministers urgently pick up the phone today to their counterparts and hammer out a deal, this treaty process will fail."

The health of the world's oceans, which cover roughly 70% of the Earth and are indispensible to life on the planet, has been rapidly deteriorating as a result of unmitigated greenhouse gas emissions, surging plastic pollution, and overexploitation.

The high ambition coalition pledged earlier this year to finalize a treaty in 2022 that would protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030, but the proposed text is "lowering its ambition by the minute," said Greenpeace.

"Less than two months ago I was in Lisbon, at the U.N. Ocean Conference, listening to these leaders promise they would deliver a strong global ocean treaty this year," said Meller. "Now we are in New York and the leaders are nowhere to be found. They've broken their promises."

"We are sad and angry," Meller continued. "Billions of people rely on healthy oceans, and world leaders have failed all of them."

"It now looks like protecting 30% of the world's oceans [by 2030] will be impossible," she added. "Scientists say this is the absolute minimum necessary to protect the oceans, and failure at these talks will jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of billions. We're beyond disappointed."

Greenpeace also accused rich nations of taking "an unfair and neocolonial approach by refusing to commit any finance for the benefit of all countries."

The refusal of the U.S., Canada, and others to provide funding "will stop a treaty from being agreed here," the group added. "With talks set to fail, countries must now take urgent action, show flexibility, and find compromise to deliver a strong treaty text" by Friday.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Kenny Stancil.

“The joint exercise will be held in Nam Pong air base, Khon Khaen province, for the next two years,” an air force official, who wished to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to foreign media, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

The government in Udon Thani, where the drills started on Sunday and last until next Wednesday, have received numerous complaints from local residents about noise pollution, the official said, adding that the exercise was also “paused for one day” on Thursday and will resume on Friday.

‘Falcon Strike’ joint exercises have been held regularly since 2015 but were suspended in 2020 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, China sent six J-10C/S fighter jets, two JH-7A bombers and one Shaanxi KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, said the source.

This is the first time that China’s air force has sent its JH-7A fighter-bombers to take part in a ‘Falcon Strike’.

For its part, Thailand deployed five Saab JAS 39 Gripen multi-role fighters, three Alpha Jet attack aircraft, and a Saab 340 AEW&C.

In total, 18 aircraft are taking part in the twice daily drills, and they’re “making a lot of noise,” said the unnamed air force official.

Analysts said the Royal Thai Air Force did not send U.S. made F-16 fighters to the drills as it seeks to buy advanced F-35 aircraft from the U.S.

The exercise includes “training courses such as air support, strikes on ground targets, and small and large-scale troop deployment,” according to China’s defense ministry.

Former U.S. air base

The Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, where the drills are being held, was a U.S. Air Force frontline facility from 1964 to 1976 at the peak of the U.S.-Thailand military alliance.

During the Vietnam War, up to 80% of all USAF air strikes over North Vietnam and Laos reportedly originated from air bases in Thailand, according to a U.S. Congressional Record from Nov. 1, 1967.

Since around 2001 Thailand “has tended to follow a foreign policy of hedging or creating balance between the U.S. and China,” said Paul Chambers, a Thailand-based military analyst.

“Especially since the 2006 coup, Thai governments have sought to offset military procurement, joint military exercises, and military training with the two countries,” Chambers told RFA.

“The U.S. will be watching the exercises but will view them understanding Thailand’s hedging policy,” he added.

Since the Thai military increased its power after coups in 2006 and 2014, Bangkok bought tanks, armored personnel carriers and entered into a controversial multi-billion-dollar contract to procure submarines from China. 

China’s arms exports to Thailand increased five-fold between 2014 and 2018 compared with the preceding five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden.

The Thai air force expressed a strong interest in buying some F-35 stealth fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of F-16A/B Fighting Falcons, but Washington so far seems reluctant to consider the purchase, fearing the fighter’s sensitive technologies could be compromised by China, its biggest military and strategic rival.

Interest in U.S.-made F-35

The drills in Thailand follow the ending of a Chinese military week-long air-naval exercise around Taiwan in response to a visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Responding to criticism that the ‘Falcon Strike’ exercise could make it harder for Thailand to get access to U.S. advanced military technology, AVM Prapas Sonjaidee, spokesman for the Royal Thai Air Force, said on Tuesday the drills are a regular practice, which is held publicly and not a secret mission.

“It is common for soldiers around the world to train together, to share experiences and learning from each other,” said Prapas, dismissing concerns about the possible F-35 procurement.

“The Air Force exercises actually will likely strengthen the arguments of those U.S. officials arguing that Washington should sell F-35s to Thailand,” said analyst Paul Chambers.

It was during the Trump administration that Washington “resurrected arms sales to Thailand,” said Chambers. 

He added that in his opinion, since the Biden administration has continued to prioritize geopolitical interests over other factors, such as human rights values, in its decision to continue sending arms to Thailand, “that sale will likely happen.”

Pimuk Rakkanam contributed to the story from Bangkok

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA and BenarNews Staff.

In a short dispatch on Monday, the military’s website said “naval, air and conventional missile forces of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command held drills in seas and airspace to the east and southwest of Taiwan Island from May 6 to 8, in a bid to test and improve the joint operations capability of multiple services and arms.” PLA stands for People’s Liberation Army.

It didn’t provide further details.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s (JMOD’s) Joint Staff also confirmed via its social media that from May 6 to 8, Japanese air force’s fighters “scrambled to cope with a suspected intrusion into Japan’s airspace over the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.”

Before that on Sunday, the JMOD issued a press release saying that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and four other warships were spotted on May 7 in the waters about 150 kilometers (95 miles) south of Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture.

On May 6, the number of ships in the flotilla was six, the ministry said.

‘Future operations against Taiwan’

The Chinese vessels were conducting live-fire drills with carrier-based fighters and helicopters, the JMOD said, adding that Japan’s Izumo light aircraft carrier was dispatched to monitor the situation.

RFA has approached the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MOND) for comment on the latest Chinese drills.

Taiwan’s local media reported that he ministry has deployed Sky Bow III missiles, which have a maximum range of 200 kilometers (125 miles), to deal with threats to eastern Taiwan. F-16V fighter jets will be deployed at Taitung’s Chihang Base and a number of Hsiung Feng III and Harpoon missiles will also be moved to the east.

Taiwanese people consider themselves citizens of a sovereign country but China claims the self-ruling, democratic island is a breakaway province of China and vows to unite it with the mainland, by force if necessary.  

Experts said that the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and aircraft near eastern Taiwan was a direct challenge to the island. Qi Leyi, a Taipei-based military analyst and commentator for RFA Mandarin, said that the PLA joint combat drills will escalate further in the future.

“The sea and the airspace east and southwest of Taiwan will remain the focus of future operations against Taiwan,” Qi said.

“Besides naval and air forces, the conventional missile force will be utilized, too, to attack Taiwan's important political and military targets,” he said.

Shen Ming-ShiI, acting deputy chief executive officer at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a government think-tank, said that in addition to demonstrating the capabilities of the aircraft carrier battle group, the Chinese drills around Taiwan also aim “to demonstrate the PLA blue water combat capabilities.”

“It’s likely that one or two Chinese submarines have also conducted coordinated exercises underwater,” Shen said.

The Taiwanese MOND said on May 6, 18 Chinese military planes entered the southwestern and southeastern parts of Taiwan's air defense identification zone, the largest intrusion by Chinese military aircraft so far in May.

Put on alert

A week ago on May 2, the Japanese and Taiwanese militaries were put on alert after spotting a flotilla led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailing from the East China Sea towards the Pacific Ocean.

On that day, the aircraft carrier was accompanied by seven destroyers and supply vessels, forming the largest Liaoning carrier group in recent voyages, according to the Chinese mouthpiece Global Times.

Among seven warships in the Liaoning carrier group were the Type 055 large guided missile destroyer Nanchang, the Type 052D guided missile destroyer Chengdu, and the Type 901 comprehensive supply ship Hulunhu.

The Liaoning - China’s first aircraft carrier - was seen carrying a number of J-15 fighter jets as well as Z-8 and Z-9 helicopters.

The carrier group is on a “routine, realistic combat training mission,” said the hawkish newspaper.

Last December, the aircraft carrier and five other vessels conducted drills in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the West Pacific for 21 days in order to boost its combat capability.

The Global Times quoted Shi Hong, the editor of a Chinese military magazine, as saying that the waters where the Liaoning carrier group is holding drills is “a vital sea region should a reunification-by-force operation take place.”

“By moving in tandem with aerial and maritime forces from the Chinese mainland, the carrier group could completely cut off the routes foreign forces may take if they militarily interfere with the Taiwan question,” Shi was quoted as saying.

Taiwanese military analyst Shen Ming-Shih however pointed out that the fact that China uses the Liaoning aircraft carrier as the flagship to command and the other active carrier Shandong is in port for maintenance, shows that “the PLA still has the problem of dual aircraft carrier maritime confrontation, and its navigation scope is also limited.”

“It can try bullying Taiwan, but in the face of the U.S. naval and air superiority, China still has great concerns,” he said.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

 Vietnam’s communist government has stepped up widespread crackdowns of those it considers its opponents, including independent journalists, bloggers and writers. The country was ranked 174th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

Nguyen Thi Thinh Thy’s book “Dare to Look Back” won for the category of research-criticism at the 7th Van Viet Literature Awards. Van Viet is a forum created by authors who support free literature and the Vietnam Independent Writers’ Association (VIWA).

Van Viet published a letter from Thy, in which she declined to accept the prize.

“How much longer will we suffer?” Thy wrote. “Is there anyone on earth, throughout the ancient and modern eras, in both eastern and western literature who has had to write a letter like this? One that asks for the award organizer to PLEASE KEEP THE AWARD FOR ME?”

She wrote that she was honored to have won but could not accept the honor due to harassment from security officers. She said they told her, “You should not go and receive the award to avoid undermining public security."

“If you want to receive the prize, there should be no award presentation ceremony, no filming, and no posts on social media so that you can avoid getting into unnecessary trouble,” she said the authorities told her.

RFA’s Vietnamese Service requested an interview with Thy but she said she had written all what she wanted to say in the letter posted on Van Viet.

It was not the first time that authorities have threatened or assaulted writers over literature awards, Hoang Dung, a member of Van Viet’s judging panel told RFA. 

“Creating pressure to force this person or that person to withdraw their article or refuse to accept an award, or even physical attacks, is nothing new,” Dung said.

Another Van Viet Literature Awards recipient, Thai Hao, was beaten by plainclothes security officers in March while he was on the way to a different award presentation ceremony held by VIWA’s Campaign Committee.

Dung said that the government efforts to ban independent literature shows the weakness within the political system. 

“Please note that Ms. Tinh Thy’s incident is among a series of government reactions to Van Viet in particular and non-mainstream literature in general. They are always afraid,” Hoang Dung said. “They see enemies everywhere.”

The Communist Party has long sought to control what gets written, but intellectuals and writers would persevere despite those efforts, he said.

“I want to let our fellow compatriots know that there are still intellectuals with a conscience who have the courage to deal with government crackdowns. And I wish one day our country would be more open in terms of ideological issues,” Hoang Dung said.

“The most important thing right now is to make people see how things really are and raise their voices and join hands toghether to make our country a better place.”

 The Vietnamese International Writers’ Association was established in 2014 by more than 60 prominent Vietnamese writers who support freedom of literature.

Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Truong Son.

The first batch of U.S.-made M109A6 “Paladin” self-propelled howitzers will not be delivered in 2023 as planned as the production capacity of the U.S. arms industry has been affected by the ongoing Ukrainian war, Taiwan has been notified.

Instead, the U.S. has offered some alternative long-range precision strike weapon systems such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), the Taiwanese Ministry said, adding that officials are currently evaluating the proposal before making a final decision.

Last August, Washington approved the sale of 40 M109A6 "Paladin" self-propelled howitzers and related equipment at an estimated cost of U.S. $750 million to Taiwan.

It was part of the first arms sale to Taiwan approved by President Joe Biden since taking office that also included 20 M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles, 1,698 multi-option Precision Guidance Kits, and other related equipment and logistical support.

The first eight units were due to be delivered next year, with another 16 each in 2024 and 2025, but U.S. manufacturers have now said it would be 2026 at the earliest.

Eight weeks into the war, Washington decided to ramp up the delivery of artillery guns including a large number of howitzers to Ukraine as part of an additional U.S.$800-million military assistance package, the Associated Press reported.

The Taiwanese military has been using two older howitzer variants – the M109A2 and M109A5. The “Paladin” is believed to be far superior with increased armor and an improved M284 155mm howitzer cannon.

The proposed alternative – HIMAR – is a multiple-launch rocket system made by Lockheed Martin Corp. It can be mounted on a military truck, is mobile and has a strike distance of 300 kilometers (185 miles) when carrying M57 Army Tactical Missile Systems.

Local media reported that besides the howitzers, a Taiwanese Navy’s plan to purchase 12 MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters from the U.S. may also run into difficulties as the U.S. deemed that the helicopter is not suitable for asymmetric warfare.

Although Washington and Taipei do not have formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. is committed by law to help provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Those arms sales have long been an irritant in relations between Washington and Beijing which regards the island as part of China, although Taiwan governs itself.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

Facebook page The Right Voice shared a broadcast by regional Kannada news outlet Kasthuri News 24 that reported the same.

Twitter users @HMSKTK, @SpeaksKshatriya, @uma6mahi6, @Kuberappaph, and @Mohan_HJS also shared Kasthuri News 24’s broadcast.

OpIndia reported [sic], “A 22-year-old youth Chandru was brutally stabbed to death by three youths, reportedly for not speaking Urdu. The incident took place on Monday in Bengaluru’s JJ Nagar police station limits.” The tweet gained over 2,000 retweets.

Karnataka: Pasha, Shahid and a juvenile stab Chandru to death for ‘not speaking Urdu’https://t.co/zuCbiZc1W3

— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) April 6, 2022

BJP National general secretary CT Ravi also claimed that a Hindu youth was murdered because he was speaking in Kannada. TV9 aired his claim during a broadcast.

Several ‘nationalist’ and pro-BJP groups shared Kasthuri News 24’s broadcast.

False communal spin

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant posted a clarification on Twitter regarding the incident. He wrote, “JJ Nagar PS murder case: In the midnight of 05.04.2022, Simon Raj and Chandru [22 years, r/o Cottonpete, Christian by community] had gone to an eatery on Mysore Road. While returning back on their bike, they collided with another bike, being ridden by one Shahid. It led to a quarrel, which was joined by others. During the fight, Shahid stabbed Chandru on his right thigh and [the] assailants fled from the spot. Chandru was shifted to Victoria hospital, where he succumbed to [his] injury. All the 3 accused persons are arrested.[sic]”

JJ Nagar PS murder case
In the midnight of 05.04.2022, Simon Raj and Chandru [ 22 years, r/o Cottonpete, Christian by community] had gone to an eatery on Mysore Road. While returning back on their bike, they collided with another bike, being ridden by one Shahid. 1/2

— Kamal Pant, IPS. ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಆಯುಕ್ತರು, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಗರ. (@CPBlr) April 5, 2022

The Hindu reported, “The police arrested Shahid Pasha, 21, Shahid Goli, 22, and booked a juvenile for allegedly stabbing Chandru to death. The trio have been arrested based on the CCTV footage and local intelligence gathered from the scene of crime. They have been booked under murder and taken into custody for further investigation.”

Karnataka police published a fact-check report debunking the reportage by Kasthuri News 24.

Alt News spoke with a local crime reporter from Bengaluru who told us on the condition of anonymity, “I have spoken with all concerned police officials. None of them states that this was a communal incident. Some regional TV news channels have grossly misreported this incident. To my surprise, even state home minister Araga Dnyanendra made the same claim. Most media outlets carried his statement without verification.”

The reporter also shared the FIR copy with us [view PDF]. The FIR only mentions Shahid as the accused. The reporter informed, “Initially, only one was arrested. After his confession, they nabbed two others.”

The FIR was filed by complainant Simon Raj who also hails from the Christian community. It states that both Simon Raj and Chandru were out for Simon’s birthday. They had gone to Goripalya in search of chicken rolls when Shahid’s bike hit their vehicle. There was a war of words, and two of Shahid’s friends joined him. In a fit of road rage, Shahid stabbed Chandru causing extreme bleeding and Chandru succumbed to his injuries on his way to the hospital.

The claim that the victim was Hindu is false as both Simon and Chandru belonged to the Christian community. Furthermore, the FIR filed by Simon doesn’t allege any communal motivations or that they were forced to speak in Urdu.

The post Youth’s death due to road rage in Bengaluru given false communal spin appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Archit Mehta.

District Attorney Harrington said: “Prosecutors have a legal, ethical and moral obligation to ensure that jury verdicts are rendered free from bias. The credible evidence of antisemitic juror statements undermine the fairness of this verdict and denied Mr. Jacobson his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury trial. Prosecutors have the responsibility to implement policies to ensure fair convictions and to rectify past injustice. I am proud to stand with the Anti-Defamation League and the Innocence Project because a conviction that is tainted by bias erodes the integrity of our system of justice.”

“Nearly 40 years ago, I was wrongfully convicted for a crime I didn’t commit. Antisemitism infected the prosecution and the jury deliberations. I am grateful that District Attorney Andrea Harrington recognized this injustice and helped my lawyer Bob Cordy, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Innocence Project finally clear my name,” said Barry Jacobson. “This wrongful conviction has cast a painful shadow over my life. I am thankful to God, family, and friends. The evils of antisemitism and racism in our legal system must be fought relentlessly.”

Mr. Jacobson was convicted of arson in 1983 and sentenced to six months in prison and a $10,000 fine, after a deck on his family’s vacation home in Richmond, Mass. was set on fire. He spent more than a month in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, based on unreliable arson evidence and a baseless claim that he was looking to make insurance money on the home — although no claim was ever filed. 

Following the jury verdict, evidence of antisemitic bias on the jury began to surface. Sworn statements from a sitting juror and an alternate juror were filed with the court. In her sworn statement, the sitting juror advised the court that, “From the beginning of our deliberations, the forelady of the jury …. repeatedly made references to Mr. Jacobson as being ‘one of those New York Jews who think they can come up here and get away with anything.’”

The alternate juror also observed: “[W]hen the jury first went out to deliberate they had only been in there, I would say less than five minutes, when I overheard one of the ladies say to the other, ‘Well, this is not going to take very long. We should finish this real quick because you know he’s guilty.’ And says, ‘All those rich, New York Jews come up here and think they can do anything and get away with it.’”

Additionally, renowned fire science expert John Lentini, a leading expert in the field of arson investigation, provided an affidavit that the chain of custody procedures used by the state police officers in the case rendered the key evidence of arson unreliable. The investigating state police officers testified at trial that they squeezed liquid into a vial from one of the carpet samples they had cut out and believed to be the point of origin of the fire. However, the carpet samples that were obtained by the troopers at the scene on Jan. 29, 1982, from the alleged point of origin, were promptly brought to the state laboratory and tested. No flammable residue, gasoline or otherwise, was detected on any of the samples. It wasn’t until a year after the fire, days before the grand jury heard the case on Feb. 10, 1983, that this “unsealed” vial was “found” in one of the trooper’s lockers and brought to the state laboratory for testing, where it tested positive for gasoline residue. In his affidavit, Dr. Lentini said, “In my 47 years of practicing in the forensic sciences, I have seen many errors, but none so egregious as this with respect to the mishandling of the evidence and the failure to properly document the chain of custody.”

“As reports of antisemitism increase around the country, Mr. Jacobson’s case reminds us that the criminal legal system has never been immune from its pernicious and insidious effects,” said Barry Scheck, Mr. Jacobson’s counsel and Innocence Project co-founder. “We applaud D.A. Harrington for recognizing that the antisemitism Mr. Jacobson faced 40 years ago was a factor that led to his wrongful conviction.”

Rising Cases of Antisemitism

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), antisemitic incidents are at historic highs across the country. ADL’s most recent Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in the United States recorded more than 2,000 antisemitic acts of assault, vandalism, and harassment in 2020. This was the third-highest year on record since ADL began tracking in 1979.

“The antisemitic bias that was brazenly displayed in this case defies a basic principle of our legal system that the ‘law punishes people for what they do, not who they are.’ While this injustice occurred in the 1980s, antisemitism continues to this day, both hidden and in plain view. Every day we witness antisemitism impacting daily life, in the public square, workplace, college campuses, youth sports, and our criminal justice system is no exception,” said Robert Trestan, regional director of ADL New England, which filed an amicus brief regarding antisemitic juror bias. “In the 40 years since his wrongful conviction, Barry Jacobson worked tirelessly to clear his name and expose the antisemitism that contributed to this miscarriage of justice. This case is a vivid reminder of the danger posed by antisemitism and the need for greater education efforts at all levels.” 

Fighting for Justice

From 1987 to 2002, Mr. Jacobson filed four petitions for pardon relief. At the hearings on each one of these petitions, Mr. Jacobson maintained his innocence even though he was repeatedly advised by members of the Board of Pardons that although he qualified for pardon relief, his failure to admit guilt disqualified him for relief.

In January 2022, District Attorney Harrington determined that the overwhelming evidence of antisemitism in jury deliberations so severely undermined the trial that justice required that the Commonwealth assent to Jacobson’s motion for a new trial and subsequently dismiss the indictment, ending any further prosecution of the case.

“This ends a decades-long fight for Mr. Jacobson, who has always maintained his innocence,” said Robert Cordy, of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, co-counsel for Mr. Jacobson, whom he began representing in the 1990s. “It is unacceptable for racial and ethnic bias to taint jury selection, and juries should be educated about both explicit and implicit bias.”

The Innocence Project (Susan Friedman and Barry Scheck) with co-counsel McDermott Will & Emery LLP (Robert Cordy) represent Mr. Jacobson. 

The post The Conviction of Barry Jacobson Is Vacated Due to Antisemitism in Trial appeared first on Innocence Project.

This content originally appeared on Innocence Project and was authored by jlucivero.

In Myanmar’s eastern border town of Muse, exports to China of seven types of goods — including rice, chilies and eels — have been suspended since March 15, resulting in a backup of more than 70 trucks, border traders there told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

"From the very beginning, it has been very difficult to trade with the Chinese side because of the high cost and the frequent changes in the system,” Than Bo Oo, general secretary of the Muse Rice Commodity Exchange, told RFA. “Lately, most of the goods being moved are those left over from recent months. No new shipments have come from the mainland.”

“We are still adjusting to the system changes. The cost of shipping from the border now seems higher than the cost of shipping on the seas," he said.

Some of the trucks have opted to unload their cargo into warehouses along the Muse border rather than wait around for China to ease the restrictions, he said.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, border traders were able to export 40,000 to 60,000 bags of rice a day. Prior to last week’s restrictions, only two or three 12-wheelers with 50 tons of rice could get into China each day, the traders told RFA. Now none are crossing.

Fisheries products are now being sent to China through the air because the land route is inaccessible, Tai Kyaw said.

Khun Min Thant blamed China’s policy of delegating responsibility for local COVID-19 policies for the back-up at the border. He said that local Chinese officials in areas near the Myanmar are quick to stop imports to show they are trying to respond to outbreaks. They worry that doing nothing would put their jobs in jeopardy.

“Two mayors already lost their positions in Ruili in connection with COVID surges. So if only one or two people are found infected, they order a complete lockdown,” Khun Min Thant said “Under these circumstances, our losses will continue.

More than 200 trucks have been stopped at the border by Chinese authorities in Kachin State, just north of Muse.

The recurring opening and closing of the border since trade officially resumed in November last year has been a headache for Myanmar traders. RFA reported in January that after an abrupt closing, trucks carrying watermelons decided to dump their cargo near the border rather than wait around for the fruit to spoil.

China is fighting its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the Wuhan mass infections at the start of the pandemic, with authorities struggling to contain the highly contagious omicron variant under the Chinese Communist Party's controversial "dynamic zero-COVID" policy.

An estimated 50 million people had been placed under lockdown in various cities and districts across the country as of last week.

Figures for lockdowns in Yunnan, the Chinese province bordering Laos and Myanmar, were not immediately available. But local media said Chinese authorities closed a fruit market in the border town of Ruili after a cluster of transmissions was reported on March 8.

Thaung Naing, an assistant secretary at the Ministry of Commerce, told RFA that officials with the ruling military junta are working to get China to lift the various restrictions on Myanmar goods.

RFA attempted to contact the Chinese embassy in Yangon but received no response.

According to figures from the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, cross-border trade between Myanmar and China totaled $5.47 billion for 2020. But it slumped to only $3.13 billion last year.

Laos’ logjam

The backup of trucks at the Chinese border in Laos remains agonizingly long for drivers trying to get their goods into China, with disputes over access spilling into fistfights between Lao and Chinese truckers. Even as trade between the countries resumed, China imposed a number of precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including reducing the number of trucks that can cross over the border gate at Boten.

“It’s been a parking lot from Nampheng Village all the way to the Boten border gate for almost six months now,” a Lao truck driver told RFA’s Lao Service, describing a backup of about 25 miles.

“It takes us more than 14 days to get to our destination in China,” he said.

Another trucker told RFA that the authorities must solve the congestion at the border soon, because most of the trucks are carrying produce.

“Some products have an expiration date, and they won’t be accepted by the Chinese. For example, vegetables, watermelons, bananas and chilies are quickly perishable. The dry produce like corn and cassava is OK though,” he said.

But a Lao customs official at the Boten gate told RFA that traffic at the border has improved, due to the reopening of another gate in a different province.

The recently opened $6 billion Lao-China Railway should help alleviate the border backup by reducing demand for truck freight. But most Lao goods cannot be shipped to China along the high-speed rail connecting the Lao capital Vientiane to China’s rail network, a Lao import-export expert who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA.

“Only the Chinese goods are coming to Laos [via train]. We have to wait until the Lao goods are allowed,” he said.

Lao minerals, cassava and cassava powder are allowed in the cargo bays on the train, he said.

For those whose goods are in the clear, the railway has been great for business, a mineral exports worker told RFA.

“We ship our on the train to China every day,” he said. “We ship the freight in containers it takes no more than 30 hours to reach the destination. We’ve all switched to the railway to ship our products because it’s faster and cheaper.”

An official of the Lao Ministry of Industry and Trade explained that Laos was negotiating with China to open train freight to more types of Lao products.

“Of course, we want to ship more goods, especially agricultural products such as vegetables, bananas, watermelons and rubber by train to China. We don’t know how long the negotiation will last or when it will end,” the official said.

The Vientiane Times reported this week that the Lao government has promised to get more investment from China in an effort to boost exports.

Key to their strategy will be making the train available to Lao goods headed for China. The report said in the railway’s first 100 days, more than 360 cross-border trains transported 280,000 tons of freight to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA’s Myanmar and Lao Services.

Alt News has received requests on its official WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160) to verify the claim.

It is also massively viral on Facebook.

Fact-check

We had a close look at the video and noticed the name of the channel. Taking that as a clue, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and came across the original video posted by Nation Tv.

The video features a phone conversation between two individuals during which it is alleged that EVMs were tampered with. It is also alleged that the official on duty tried to raise the issue but the SHO asked him to not.

We played the entire video and noticed that at no point the news anchor featured in the viral thumbnail appears in the original video. In fact, the entire video has a voiceover by a woman. Furthermore, the description has hashtags that are irrelevant to the content of the video.

We also checked the video section of the YouTube channel and noticed that it has the same thumbnail for all its videos and has published the same news of re-elections but with different numbers in the past two days. Some video thumbnails also feature photos of journalist Ravish Kumar but the content of the video have nothing to do with him.

Nation Tv has another channel linked to its YouTube channel that has multiple videos with the same thumbnail design but with Ravish Kumar in it.

We also ran the image of the news anchor through Yandex reverse image search, which identified the man as Sandeep Chaudhry of News24.

We checked for news about re-elections in 142 seats and came across a fact-check by PIB which debunked the claim.

एक फर्जी तस्वीर के माध्यम से यह दावा किया जा रहा है कि #EVM बदले जाने के कारण 142 सीटों पर फिर से चुनाव होंगे #PIBFactCheck

ईवीएम बदले जाने का दावा फर्जी है

@ECISVEEP द्वारा 142 सीटों पर फिर से मतदान कराने की घोषणा नहीं की गई है

कृपया ऐसे भ्रामक विडियो शेयर न करें pic.twitter.com/WZ4q1vUFb5

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 14, 2022

Based on all the evidence, it is safe to conclude that none of the anchors seen in the thumbnails of the videos is actually associated with Nation Tv. Their images are being used to generate clicks for views and to present the channel as an authentic source.

More importantly, the “news” had not been reported by any credible media outlet.

Hence, a YouTube channel used the photos of established news anchors to spread the misinformation of re-elections in UP.

The post No, ECI has not declared re-election in 142 seats in UP due to EVM tampering appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Kalim Ahmed.

A centerpiece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative of state-led lending for infrastructure projects to tie countries across Asia to China, the railway began transporting passengers in December, running between Kunming in Yunnan province and Vientiane.

The Lao section of the railway handles an average of two trains each way daily, covering 254 miles and 10 passenger rail stations from Boten on the Chinese border to the Lao capital.

The two trains on Monday were slow and experienced several delays, stopping for one to two hours at different spots during a journey that normally takes one hour and 40 minutes, passengers said.

The one train departed Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at 1:30 p.m. and arrived at its destination at 9:30 p.m. with angry passengers complaining about a lack of food and water onboard.

A train attendant said the delay was due to heavy rain amid a storm, an unusual occurrence in March during the country’s dry season.

“The cause was the storm and the heavy rain that technically overwhelmed the capacity of the train,” he said. “We have to stop to see if there is any danger or risk when it’s raining hard.”

One passenger, who did not provide a name, said that a train attendant had informed travelers that a powerful storm was coming, and that the train could not proceed.

Another passenger said the train stopped and restarted at lengthy intervals lasting more than an hour.

“We arrived at the capital at 9:30 p.m.,” he said. “There was no food, and passengers were not allowed to get off. Nothing was available, no food, no water. The train got stuck for too long, and we were hungry.”

The traveler said he did not want compensation from the railway operator for the delay, but rather an explanation and an improvement in service.

“The train should have water or snacks for sale,” he said.

A woman who was concerned about her son who was the train told RFA that she also wanted information about the lengthy delay.

“I want to see a press release or a statement issued by the company,” she said. “This is a serious matter because it’s about the confidence of the public.”

“For the elderly or for those who have some medical condition, the lack of food and water might cause loss of life or worsen their illness,” she said, but added that it appeared as though the railway company was not responsible for the incident.

“I don’t blame the company because when the train took off in Luang Prabang city, light rain had already begun,” said another Lao passenger.

A Laotian who traveled the same day in the opposite direction told RFA that his train also experienced delays due to the storm, departing Vientiane at 4 p.m. and arrived in Luang Prabang at 9 p.m.

On Facebook, a previous train passenger said that travel delays within Laos were nothing new.

“This is not the first time that the train has been stuck; it’s happened several times before without any reason [given],” he wrote.

RFA could not verify whether earlier passenger trains had experienced unaccounted-for delays.

The China-Laos Railway Company Ltd. did not provide online information about the delays.

On Tuesday, the company posted on Facebook a notice to passengers that train C84 from Vientiane to Luang Prabang would be temporarily suspended between March 9 and 10 due to the necessity to exchange railway staff.

Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has raised its travel advisory warning on travel to New Zealand.

The CDC updated its travel warning to “level four: very high” for travel to New Zealand due to covid-19 cases, of which today alone there was 23,894 new cases recorded.

According to the Reuters’ Covid-19 tracker, covid-19 infections are decreasing in United States, with 49,611 new infections reported on average each day.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: 23,894 new cases today, 756 people in hospital — Ministry of Health
• Other NZ covid outbreak reports

The CDC states if people must travel to New Zealand they should ensure they are up-to-date with their covid-19 vaccinations.

The health warnings are determined by the “level of covid-19 in the country or other special considerations”.

Many countries have been rated with a level four risk warning by the CDC, including Australia. Hong Kong and Thailand were also added to the list today.

Travel restrictions were eased in New Zealand from last week, with returnees now not required to self-isolate upon arrival.

Record 23,894 new cases
The Ministry of Health reported a record 23,894 new cases of covid-19 today, with 9881 in Auckland.

In addition there are 756 people in hospital with covid-19 and 16 of those are in ICU. The seven-day rolling average of community cases is 18,669, up from yesterday.

Of the new cases, 596 were confirmed via PCR testing and 23,298 via rapid antigen tests (RATs).

At the covid-19 update today, Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said the actual number of cases in the community was expected to be considerably higher, but that was hard to gauge when using RAT as the primary test.

That was why the ministry was focusing on hospitalisations, McElnay said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Samantha Asumadu.

Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

• Senate prosecutors end oral arguments in former President Donald Trump’s impeachment case.
• President Joe Biden announces the U.S. will have enough COVID-19 vaccines for 300 million people.
• California lawmakers discuss challenges to state’s vaccine rollout.
• Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, to close mass vaccine sites due to shortage.
• Efforts underway to ensure Bay Area Latinx communities hit hardest by COVID-19 receive vaccines.
• California police record requests cause backlogs, as new bill would fine agencies for failing to comply.
• San Francisco Assemblyman, David Chiu, introduces off shore wind energy bill.

Image from video by @charlieWork91, used in senate impeachment trial.

The post Prosecutors end arguments in Donald Trump’s impeachment; L.A. mayor closes mass vaccine site due to shortage appeared first on KPFA.

This content originally appeared on KPFA - The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.

The post #9. Rising Risks of Nuclear Power Due to Climate Change appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Project Censored.

• Pelosi unveils legislation to establish bipartisan commission on presidential capacity
• UK workers set to be paid 2/3 of wages by government if workplace shuts due to corona virus
• Moscow hospitals receiving influx of covid patients, reopens two makeshift treatment facilities
• Essential workers site dangerous working conditions and coersion before SF Board of Supervisors
• UN Secretary-General congratulates the World Food Program on Nobel Peace Prize win
• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tell Navajo Nation they’ll have a seat at the table if elected

The post Pelosi unveils legislation to establish bipartisan commission on presidential capacity; UK workers set to be paid 2/3 of wages by government if workplace shuts due to corona virus; Moscow hospitals receiving influx of covid patients, reopens two makeshift treatment facilities appeared first on KPFA.

This content originally appeared on KPFA - The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.