the real world
exposing how greed, corruption, injustice, and imperialism impacts the world
and exposes the leaders who benefit
June 18, 2019
Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men
Mahatma Gandhi
articles
*Hong Kong protests: pressure builds on Carrie Lam as public rejects apology
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Saudi Arabia May Execute Teenager for His Protests — Including When He Was 10
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Israeli court convicts Sara Netanyahu for misusing state funds
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Bhutan gays celebrate after homosexuality decriminalized
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*'No way to stop it': millions of pigs culled across Asia as swine fever spreads
(Excerpt Below)
*Canada 'complicit in race-based genocide' of indigenous women
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*China warns students, academics of risks of studying in U.S.
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*South Korea mulls ending arcane age system to match rest of world
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*RUSSIAN SPACE SECTOR PLAGUED BY ASTRONOMICAL CORRUPTION
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Boris Johnson must go on trial for 'lying and misleading' in Brexit campaign, judge orders
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Jews in Germany advised not to wear kippahs everywhere in public
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Nationalists surge in EU Parliament, but pro-EU parties remain dominant
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS SYSTEMATICALLY USED TORTURE TO CRUSH OPPOSITION IN KASHMIR, NEW REPORT FINDS
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Theresa May announces she will resign on 7 June
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*EU citizens in UK complain of being denied right to vote
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*US PASTOR RUNS NETWORK GIVING 50,000 UGANDANS BLEACH-BASED 'MIRACLE CURE'
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*MIGRANTS TRYING TO REACH EUROPE ARE TRAPPED IN LIBYA — BETWEEN MILITIAS AND THE SEA
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*'Terrifying' Ebola epidemic out of control in DRC, say experts
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Duterte drug war ally and Marcos daughter set for Philippines seats
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Poland cancels Israeli visit over WWII property restitution row
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*US IS HOTBED OF CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL, MAJOR GLOBAL SURVEY FINDS
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Britain sets record of 7 days without coal power as renewables surge
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*How to fix nature and avoid human misery: UN report
(ARTICLE BELOW)
funnies(at the end)
*World Highlights*
6/17/19
Hong Kong protests: pressure builds on Carrie Lam as public rejects apology
Calls for government leader to stand down after an estimated two million march over unpopular extradition bill
Emma Graham-Harrison in Hong Kong
The Guardian
Mon 17 Jun 2019 00.13 EDT
Protesters demonstrate against the now-suspended extradition bill on 16 June in Hong Kong Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
Hong Kong’s political crisis has entered its second week, after protesters who had filled the city’s streets in record numbers on Sunday rejected an apology from leader Carrie Lam, and vowed to continue their fight against a controversial law she championed.
After the sweeping protest – which organisers say attracted 2 million people, the largest in the semi-autonomous city’s history – Lam apologised in a statement for the way the government had handled the draft extradition law.
But she did not meet any of demonstrators’ key demands. They are calling for her to withdraw the extradition bill, end a crackdown on activists and hold police accountable for brutal tactics at previous protests. They also want her to resign.
On Monday Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing would continue to support her.
For most of Monday morning a small group of protesters still blocked a key road outside government headquarters, but by midday they had retreated to a nearby park. Authorities said government offices would be closed for the day.
Strikes of students and workers also had been called by protest organisers for Monday, and although most of the city was working as usual, the opposition movement got fresh impetus with the release of prominent activist Joshua Wong, who had been jailed over his role leading pro-democracy movements in 2014.
He called on Lam to resign, soon after he walked free. “She is no longer qualified to be Hong Kong’s leader,” Wong told reporters. “She must take the blame and resign, be held accountable and step down.”
The crisis was sparked by Lam’s efforts to ram a much-criticised extradition bill through parliament. It would allow both residents and visitors to be sent to China for trial in opaque, communist controlled courts, which many in Hong Kong fear would prove a devastating blow to their economy and society.
The city functions as a regional business and trade hub, protected from China by its judicial “firewall”.
Without that protection everyone from dissidents to business tycoons could be at risk; some of the city’s wealthy have reportedly already started moving assets abroad over fears about the new law’s impact.
Lam championed the bill and led efforts to rush it into law, but her authority has been badly damaged by the fallout.
“Her government cannot be an effective government, and will have much, much, much difficulties to carry on,” veteran Democratic Party legislator James To told government-funded broadcaster RTHK. “I believe the central people’s government [in China] will accept her resignation.”
Hong Kong’s most dramatic political crisis in years was set in motion a week ago, when about a million people turned out to protest against the law. Lam shrugged off the first demonstration, even though it was one of the largest the city has ever seen.
But on Wednesday, demonstrations spiralled into the worst political violence since the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, with police firing teargas and rubber bullets and attacking protesters. Later, there were arrests of activists, including in hospital.
With Sunday’s march already scheduled, and public anger heightened by police brutality and the detentions, Lam was eventually pushed into a dramatic reversal, suspending the controversial bill, reportedly after meeting top Chinese officials.
But the climbdownonly inflamed public anger. Many Hong Kongers said they were infuriated by Lam’s air of confident determination as she insisted the law was fundamentally sound, defended police violence and insisted her only mistakes were in communication.
“Suspending the law but not cancelling it is like holding a knife over someone’s head and saying, ‘I’m not going to kill you now’, but you could do it any time,” said Betty, an 18-year-old protester who just finished school. “We’re fighting for our freedom.”
Police, who historically give far lower estimates for political protests, said 338,000 people turned out at the demonstration’s “peak” on Sunday.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Donald Trump would raise the issue of Hong Kong human rights at a potential meeting with president Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Japan this month.
Chinese censors have been working hard to erase or block news of the latest series of protests – the largest since crowds demonstrated against the bloody suppression of pro-democracy activists in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
There has been little coverage of the demonstration in state owned media, with any reports focused on accusations of “foreign meddling”.
State-run tabloid Global Times tabloid in an editorial warned the United States against using Hong Kong as a “bargaining chip” in trade talks. “The riots in Hong Kong will only consolidate Beijing’s tough stance against Washington,” it said.
After the sweeping protest – which organisers say attracted 2 million people, the largest in the semi-autonomous city’s history – Lam apologised in a statement for the way the government had handled the draft extradition law.
But she did not meet any of demonstrators’ key demands. They are calling for her to withdraw the extradition bill, end a crackdown on activists and hold police accountable for brutal tactics at previous protests. They also want her to resign.
On Monday Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing would continue to support her.
For most of Monday morning a small group of protesters still blocked a key road outside government headquarters, but by midday they had retreated to a nearby park. Authorities said government offices would be closed for the day.
Strikes of students and workers also had been called by protest organisers for Monday, and although most of the city was working as usual, the opposition movement got fresh impetus with the release of prominent activist Joshua Wong, who had been jailed over his role leading pro-democracy movements in 2014.
He called on Lam to resign, soon after he walked free. “She is no longer qualified to be Hong Kong’s leader,” Wong told reporters. “She must take the blame and resign, be held accountable and step down.”
The crisis was sparked by Lam’s efforts to ram a much-criticised extradition bill through parliament. It would allow both residents and visitors to be sent to China for trial in opaque, communist controlled courts, which many in Hong Kong fear would prove a devastating blow to their economy and society.
The city functions as a regional business and trade hub, protected from China by its judicial “firewall”.
Without that protection everyone from dissidents to business tycoons could be at risk; some of the city’s wealthy have reportedly already started moving assets abroad over fears about the new law’s impact.
Lam championed the bill and led efforts to rush it into law, but her authority has been badly damaged by the fallout.
“Her government cannot be an effective government, and will have much, much, much difficulties to carry on,” veteran Democratic Party legislator James To told government-funded broadcaster RTHK. “I believe the central people’s government [in China] will accept her resignation.”
Hong Kong’s most dramatic political crisis in years was set in motion a week ago, when about a million people turned out to protest against the law. Lam shrugged off the first demonstration, even though it was one of the largest the city has ever seen.
But on Wednesday, demonstrations spiralled into the worst political violence since the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, with police firing teargas and rubber bullets and attacking protesters. Later, there were arrests of activists, including in hospital.
With Sunday’s march already scheduled, and public anger heightened by police brutality and the detentions, Lam was eventually pushed into a dramatic reversal, suspending the controversial bill, reportedly after meeting top Chinese officials.
But the climbdownonly inflamed public anger. Many Hong Kongers said they were infuriated by Lam’s air of confident determination as she insisted the law was fundamentally sound, defended police violence and insisted her only mistakes were in communication.
“Suspending the law but not cancelling it is like holding a knife over someone’s head and saying, ‘I’m not going to kill you now’, but you could do it any time,” said Betty, an 18-year-old protester who just finished school. “We’re fighting for our freedom.”
Police, who historically give far lower estimates for political protests, said 338,000 people turned out at the demonstration’s “peak” on Sunday.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Donald Trump would raise the issue of Hong Kong human rights at a potential meeting with president Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Japan this month.
Chinese censors have been working hard to erase or block news of the latest series of protests – the largest since crowds demonstrated against the bloody suppression of pro-democracy activists in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
There has been little coverage of the demonstration in state owned media, with any reports focused on accusations of “foreign meddling”.
State-run tabloid Global Times tabloid in an editorial warned the United States against using Hong Kong as a “bargaining chip” in trade talks. “The riots in Hong Kong will only consolidate Beijing’s tough stance against Washington,” it said.
Saudi Arabia May Execute Teenager for His Protests — Including When He Was 10
Mehdi Hasan - The Intercept
June 16 2019, 10:15 a.m.
IN 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the Middle East, demonstrations also kicked off in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province. Members of the kingdom’s repressed Shiite minority took to the streets, calling for equal rights and a fairer distribution of oil revenues. The protesters included a group of around 30 kids on bicycles. As a videoreleased last week by CNN shows, those children were led by a smiling 10-year-old in flip-flops named Murtaja Qureiris.
“The people demand human rights!” the young boy can be seen shouting through a megaphone.
Here’s the problem: Demanding human rights in Saudi Arabia lands you in prison. Even if you’re a kid.
Three years later, in September 2014, 13-year-old Murtaja was arrested while on his way to neighboring Bahrain with his family.
“At the time,” reports CNN, “he was considered by lawyers and activists to be the youngest known political prisoner in Saudi Arabia.
Over the past four years, say human rights groups, this teenager has been subjected to torture and intimidation, as well as a spell in solitary confinement. He has been denied access to a lawyer while interrogators try to get him to confess to the trumped-up charges against him. These include “participating in anti-government protests, attending the funeral of his brother Ali Qureiris who was killed in a protest in 2011, joining a ‘terrorist organization,’ throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station, and firing at security forces,” according to Amnesty International.
Last week, we learned that Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 18-year-old Murtaja, who is being tried in an anti-terror court. CNN reports that the prosecutors want to “impose the harshest form of the death penalty, which may include crucifixion or dismemberment after execution.”
Got that? The unelected government of a close ally of the United States is planning on brutally executing an 18-year-old member of a minority group, for crimes allegedly committed when he was 10 years old.
Let me repeat: Ten. Years. Old.
We shouldn’t forget the person who is primarily responsible for this outrage: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS. Since his father installed him in power, the violent crushing of political dissent has escalated. According to the CIA, MBS ordered the horrific murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He is also behind the targeting of three Arab activists in Norway, Canada, and the United States.
Much has (rightly) been made of the crown prince’s shocking record on extrajudicial killings. But what of the growing number of judicially sanctioned killings inside of Saudi Arabia on his watch? The planned execution of Murtaja Qureiris may be the most horrendous act yet.
“There should be no doubt that the Saudi Arabian authorities are ready to go to any length to crack down on dissent against their own citizens, including by resorting to the death penalty for men who were merely boys at the time of their arrest,” says Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty International.
The Gulf kingdom is one of the world’s top executioners and, according to Maalouf, Saudi authorities have “a chilling track record of using the death penalty as a weapon to crush political dissent and punish anti-government protesters — including children — from the country’s persecuted Shi’a minority.”
The majority of the country, and the ruling family, are from a strict school of Sunni Islam called Salafism.
In April, 37 people were executed in a single day — the biggest mass execution in the kingdom since 2016 — and the vast majority of them were believed to be Shiites. Three of them, according to human rights group Reprieve, were “minors at the time of their alleged offences.” Such executions, as both Reprieve and Amnesty International have noted, are a brazen violation of international human rights law.
Another three Saudi Shiites — Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, and Abdullah al-Zaher — who were also below the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, are still on death row and could be executed at anytime.
It isn’t just Shiites, either. MBS has also targeted Sunni clerics who have failed to fall into line. There have been reports that the belligerent and thin-skinned crown prince plans on executing three high-profile Saudi religious scholars — Salman al-Odah, Awad al-Qarni, and Ali al-Omari — all of whom have been held on multiple charges of “terrorism.” 62-year-old Odah is famous in the Arab world for his relatively progressive views on Islam and homosexuality and his 2007 denunciation of Osama bin Laden. His actual “crime”? Tweeting a prayer for reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and its Gulf rival, the Emirate of Qatar. (Full disclosure: I host two TV shows for Qatar-funded Al Jazeera English.)
Supporters of MBS often try and argue that these executions are the product of decisions made in court, not in the royal palace. This is a laughable defense. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is no independent judiciary. As CNN reports, “The death penalty can only be enforced by order of King Salman or his authorized representative. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is frequently characterized as the King’s deputy.”
Forget MBS the reformer; meet MBS the executioner. The fact that he has been embraced closely by everyone from Donald Trump to Emmanuel Macron to Theresa May should be a source of shame for those of us living in the West. To quote former Obama-era National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor, MBS is “Kim Jong Un with oil money.”
“The people demand human rights!” the young boy can be seen shouting through a megaphone.
Here’s the problem: Demanding human rights in Saudi Arabia lands you in prison. Even if you’re a kid.
Three years later, in September 2014, 13-year-old Murtaja was arrested while on his way to neighboring Bahrain with his family.
“At the time,” reports CNN, “he was considered by lawyers and activists to be the youngest known political prisoner in Saudi Arabia.
Over the past four years, say human rights groups, this teenager has been subjected to torture and intimidation, as well as a spell in solitary confinement. He has been denied access to a lawyer while interrogators try to get him to confess to the trumped-up charges against him. These include “participating in anti-government protests, attending the funeral of his brother Ali Qureiris who was killed in a protest in 2011, joining a ‘terrorist organization,’ throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station, and firing at security forces,” according to Amnesty International.
Last week, we learned that Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 18-year-old Murtaja, who is being tried in an anti-terror court. CNN reports that the prosecutors want to “impose the harshest form of the death penalty, which may include crucifixion or dismemberment after execution.”
Got that? The unelected government of a close ally of the United States is planning on brutally executing an 18-year-old member of a minority group, for crimes allegedly committed when he was 10 years old.
Let me repeat: Ten. Years. Old.
We shouldn’t forget the person who is primarily responsible for this outrage: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS. Since his father installed him in power, the violent crushing of political dissent has escalated. According to the CIA, MBS ordered the horrific murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He is also behind the targeting of three Arab activists in Norway, Canada, and the United States.
Much has (rightly) been made of the crown prince’s shocking record on extrajudicial killings. But what of the growing number of judicially sanctioned killings inside of Saudi Arabia on his watch? The planned execution of Murtaja Qureiris may be the most horrendous act yet.
“There should be no doubt that the Saudi Arabian authorities are ready to go to any length to crack down on dissent against their own citizens, including by resorting to the death penalty for men who were merely boys at the time of their arrest,” says Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty International.
The Gulf kingdom is one of the world’s top executioners and, according to Maalouf, Saudi authorities have “a chilling track record of using the death penalty as a weapon to crush political dissent and punish anti-government protesters — including children — from the country’s persecuted Shi’a minority.”
The majority of the country, and the ruling family, are from a strict school of Sunni Islam called Salafism.
In April, 37 people were executed in a single day — the biggest mass execution in the kingdom since 2016 — and the vast majority of them were believed to be Shiites. Three of them, according to human rights group Reprieve, were “minors at the time of their alleged offences.” Such executions, as both Reprieve and Amnesty International have noted, are a brazen violation of international human rights law.
Another three Saudi Shiites — Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, and Abdullah al-Zaher — who were also below the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, are still on death row and could be executed at anytime.
It isn’t just Shiites, either. MBS has also targeted Sunni clerics who have failed to fall into line. There have been reports that the belligerent and thin-skinned crown prince plans on executing three high-profile Saudi religious scholars — Salman al-Odah, Awad al-Qarni, and Ali al-Omari — all of whom have been held on multiple charges of “terrorism.” 62-year-old Odah is famous in the Arab world for his relatively progressive views on Islam and homosexuality and his 2007 denunciation of Osama bin Laden. His actual “crime”? Tweeting a prayer for reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and its Gulf rival, the Emirate of Qatar. (Full disclosure: I host two TV shows for Qatar-funded Al Jazeera English.)
Supporters of MBS often try and argue that these executions are the product of decisions made in court, not in the royal palace. This is a laughable defense. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is no independent judiciary. As CNN reports, “The death penalty can only be enforced by order of King Salman or his authorized representative. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is frequently characterized as the King’s deputy.”
Forget MBS the reformer; meet MBS the executioner. The fact that he has been embraced closely by everyone from Donald Trump to Emmanuel Macron to Theresa May should be a source of shame for those of us living in the West. To quote former Obama-era National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor, MBS is “Kim Jong Un with oil money.”
the cover-up continues!!!
Israeli court convicts Sara Netanyahu for misusing state funds
Prime minister’s wife admits to lesser charge in plea bargain and pays £12,000 fine
Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem
The Guardian
Sun 16 Jun 2019 08.45 EDT
Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israel’s prime minister, has been convicted of illegally misusing thousands of pounds of public funds on lavish meals.
A Jerusalem court on Sunday accepted a plea bargain in which Netanyahu agreed to admit to a lesser charge than the original fraud accusations. She will pay about $15,000 (£12,000) in fines and reimbursements to the state.
The sentencing ended one of the long-running cases against the family. However, Benjamin Netanyahu still faces the prospect of three corruption indictments later this year that may end his decade as leader and even result in a prison sentence. He denies all charges.
According to the original indictment against Sara Netanyahu, of fraud and breach of trust, she and a government employee were accused of spending roughly $100,000 (£79,000) on catering from expensive restaurants between 2010 and 2013, despite having a in-house cook provided by the state.
In Sunday’s settlement, she admitted to taking unfair advantage of another person’s mishandling of state money and reduced the overspending charge to $50,000. Former caretaker Ezra Saidoff also reached an agreement with the prosecution and was fined $3,000.
“As in every plea bargain, each side makes concessions, sometimes hard concessions,” said the prosecutor, Erez Padan, at the Jerusalem magistrates court. “It is right and proper for the public interest to bring this case to an end.”
Netanyahu’s lawyer, Yossi Cohen, told the court his client had already been punished by public humiliation in the closely watched investigation. “Four years of ugly leaks and denigrations” constituted “inhuman punishment”, he said.
“No other person could have withstood this. This lady is made of steel,” he added.
The 60-year-old child psychologist has been a controversial presence at her husband’s side throughout his political career. In addition to the fraud case, she has faced mistreatment accusations from employees and was described in a newspaper as “Israel’s Marie Antoinette”.
In 2017, Netanyahu was ordered to pay tens of thousands of pounds in damages in a dispute with two former domestic staff who accused her of bullying. She faces a third lawsuit from an employee who alleged staff were treated like “slaves”.
Last year, an audio recording emerged of Netanyahu furiously scolding a family publicist over a gossip column. She was angry with him for not highlighting her professional qualifications in the press.
“BA, MA,” she was heard shouting, exclaiming each syllable in reference to her bachelor and master’s degrees. Her husband responded to public shock over the tirade, saying on Facebook that everyone “gets angry and says a few words that [they] didn’t mean”.
Benjamin Netanyahu is entangled in a series of more severe corruption investigations and is due to appear at a pre-trial hearing in October after Israel’s attorney general announced his intention to indict in all three cases.
He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust.
One case, called Case 1,000, involves allegations of receiving gifts, including cigars, champagne and jewellery, from billionaires, among them the Australian casino operator James Packer, allegedly in exchange for favours. In Case 2,000, Netanyahu is accused of colluding with the country’s top-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, to hurt its competition in exchange for favourable coverage.
The third and most damning, Case 4,000, involves allegations that Netanyahu offered incentives to the Israeli telecoms provider Bezeq in exchange for positive stories on an online news website it owns.
Netanyahu has denied all accusations, dismissing them as part of a witch-hunt orchestrated by the press. He will fight for re-election in September, weeks before the pre-trial hearing is due to start.
A win for Netanyahu has been portrayed domestically as a lifeline to block the graft cases as some of his parliamentary allies have suggested they might back laws to grant him immunity.
A Jerusalem court on Sunday accepted a plea bargain in which Netanyahu agreed to admit to a lesser charge than the original fraud accusations. She will pay about $15,000 (£12,000) in fines and reimbursements to the state.
The sentencing ended one of the long-running cases against the family. However, Benjamin Netanyahu still faces the prospect of three corruption indictments later this year that may end his decade as leader and even result in a prison sentence. He denies all charges.
According to the original indictment against Sara Netanyahu, of fraud and breach of trust, she and a government employee were accused of spending roughly $100,000 (£79,000) on catering from expensive restaurants between 2010 and 2013, despite having a in-house cook provided by the state.
In Sunday’s settlement, she admitted to taking unfair advantage of another person’s mishandling of state money and reduced the overspending charge to $50,000. Former caretaker Ezra Saidoff also reached an agreement with the prosecution and was fined $3,000.
“As in every plea bargain, each side makes concessions, sometimes hard concessions,” said the prosecutor, Erez Padan, at the Jerusalem magistrates court. “It is right and proper for the public interest to bring this case to an end.”
Netanyahu’s lawyer, Yossi Cohen, told the court his client had already been punished by public humiliation in the closely watched investigation. “Four years of ugly leaks and denigrations” constituted “inhuman punishment”, he said.
“No other person could have withstood this. This lady is made of steel,” he added.
The 60-year-old child psychologist has been a controversial presence at her husband’s side throughout his political career. In addition to the fraud case, she has faced mistreatment accusations from employees and was described in a newspaper as “Israel’s Marie Antoinette”.
In 2017, Netanyahu was ordered to pay tens of thousands of pounds in damages in a dispute with two former domestic staff who accused her of bullying. She faces a third lawsuit from an employee who alleged staff were treated like “slaves”.
Last year, an audio recording emerged of Netanyahu furiously scolding a family publicist over a gossip column. She was angry with him for not highlighting her professional qualifications in the press.
“BA, MA,” she was heard shouting, exclaiming each syllable in reference to her bachelor and master’s degrees. Her husband responded to public shock over the tirade, saying on Facebook that everyone “gets angry and says a few words that [they] didn’t mean”.
Benjamin Netanyahu is entangled in a series of more severe corruption investigations and is due to appear at a pre-trial hearing in October after Israel’s attorney general announced his intention to indict in all three cases.
He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust.
One case, called Case 1,000, involves allegations of receiving gifts, including cigars, champagne and jewellery, from billionaires, among them the Australian casino operator James Packer, allegedly in exchange for favours. In Case 2,000, Netanyahu is accused of colluding with the country’s top-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, to hurt its competition in exchange for favourable coverage.
The third and most damning, Case 4,000, involves allegations that Netanyahu offered incentives to the Israeli telecoms provider Bezeq in exchange for positive stories on an online news website it owns.
Netanyahu has denied all accusations, dismissing them as part of a witch-hunt orchestrated by the press. He will fight for re-election in September, weeks before the pre-trial hearing is due to start.
A win for Netanyahu has been portrayed domestically as a lifeline to block the graft cases as some of his parliamentary allies have suggested they might back laws to grant him immunity.
Bhutan gays celebrate after homosexuality decriminalized
June 8, 2019
By Agence France-Presse - Raw Story
Bhutan’s LGBT community celebrated Saturday after the tiny Himalayan kingdom’s parliament became the world’s latest to decriminalize homosexuality.
The lower house overwhelmingly voted late Friday to repeal two sections of the 2004 criminal code which made “unnatural sex” illegal.
“A lot of us cried,” said Tashi Tsheten of Rainbow Bhutan that represents the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“We are a small and marginalized community and when our rights are discussed in parliament, it makes us extremely happy,” Tashi said.
The law had never been used, but Finance Minister Namgay Tshering, who submitted the recommendation to repeal sections 213 and 214 of the penal code, said they had become “a stain” on the country’s reputation.
Namgay Tshering said the sections had become redundant since Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008. “There is a high degree of acceptability of the LGBT community in our society,” he said.
The minister added that he was optimistic that the code sections would be definitively scrapped when the upper house in the country of 750,000 people votes on Monday.
Tashi said some ministers had been social workers with contacts in the LGBT community and Prime Minister Lotay Tshering is a surgeon. “So we had lot of hopes in this government.”
There is no annual Gay Pride rally or other public display in Bhutan.
And while Tashi said there was a general acceptance of transgenders, especially in rural areas, they still face much discrimination, especially in schools.
“There are lots of barriers and our education system does not understand LGBT,” Tashi said, adding that most LGBT youths drop out of school.
Once the bill is passed by the National Council, the upper chamber, it will be sent for royal assent.
The lower house overwhelmingly voted late Friday to repeal two sections of the 2004 criminal code which made “unnatural sex” illegal.
“A lot of us cried,” said Tashi Tsheten of Rainbow Bhutan that represents the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“We are a small and marginalized community and when our rights are discussed in parliament, it makes us extremely happy,” Tashi said.
The law had never been used, but Finance Minister Namgay Tshering, who submitted the recommendation to repeal sections 213 and 214 of the penal code, said they had become “a stain” on the country’s reputation.
Namgay Tshering said the sections had become redundant since Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008. “There is a high degree of acceptability of the LGBT community in our society,” he said.
The minister added that he was optimistic that the code sections would be definitively scrapped when the upper house in the country of 750,000 people votes on Monday.
Tashi said some ministers had been social workers with contacts in the LGBT community and Prime Minister Lotay Tshering is a surgeon. “So we had lot of hopes in this government.”
There is no annual Gay Pride rally or other public display in Bhutan.
And while Tashi said there was a general acceptance of transgenders, especially in rural areas, they still face much discrimination, especially in schools.
“There are lots of barriers and our education system does not understand LGBT,” Tashi said, adding that most LGBT youths drop out of school.
Once the bill is passed by the National Council, the upper chamber, it will be sent for royal assent.
'No way to stop it': millions of pigs culled across Asia as swine fever spreads
Experts say region is losing the battle to stop the biggest animal disease outbreak the planet has ever faced
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Bangkok
The Guardian
Wed 5 Jun 2019 20.59 EDT
South-east Asia is battling to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, known as “pig Ebola”, which has already led to the culling of millions of pigs in China and Vietnam.
African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but fatal to pigs, was discovered in China in August, where it has caused havoc, leading to more than 1.2m pigs being culled. China is home to almost half of the world’s pigs and the news sent the global price of pork soaring.
There is no vaccination for African swine fever, which causes pigs to internally haemorrhage until they die, so the only option to contain the disease is to kill any contaminated animals. Some estimates say that in Chinaup to 200m animals may eventually be slaughtered. The virus can last for several weeks on anything from clothes to vehicles, allowing for it to easily travel long distances.
It has spread like wildfire across Asia, causing growing devastation to the pig farmers of Vietnam and Cambodia and putting Thailand, Asia’s second-biggest pork producer, on “red alert”. Cases have increased in Mongolia, North Korea and Hong Kong in recent weeks, while South Korea is blood testing pigs at the border.
The UN Food and Agriculture organisation (UNFAO) and regional experts fear that Myanmar, Philippines and Laos will be next because they are all highly susceptible to an outbreak, due to the struggle to control the movement of pigs and pig products across porous borders.
“This is the biggest animal disease outbreak we’ve ever had on the planet,” said Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at City University of Hong Kong and expert on African swine fever. “It makes the foot and mouth disease and BSE outbreaks pale in comparison to the damage that is being done. And we have no way to stop it from spreading.”
Currently the battle to contain the disease is being lost. “There are concerns that the disease will continue to spread across the countries in south-east Asia,” said Dr Wantanee Kalpravidh, regional manager for UNFAO, who said they believed the swine fever cases being reported by governments in the region were “underestimates”.
Wantanee said problems included the lack of compensation for pig farmers in south-east Asia whose herds were culled, giving them little reason to report a disease outbreak, and fears that banning movement of pigs and pork across borders would only create a “black market which would be impossible to control”.
The implications of the outbreak are already being felt beyond Asia. Global pork prices have risen by almost 40%, and long term it is likely to lead to more pork imports from Europe and America to meet demand, which will also push up global meat prices. Market analyst Rabobank said global pork supplies could fall by 8%.[...]
African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but fatal to pigs, was discovered in China in August, where it has caused havoc, leading to more than 1.2m pigs being culled. China is home to almost half of the world’s pigs and the news sent the global price of pork soaring.
There is no vaccination for African swine fever, which causes pigs to internally haemorrhage until they die, so the only option to contain the disease is to kill any contaminated animals. Some estimates say that in Chinaup to 200m animals may eventually be slaughtered. The virus can last for several weeks on anything from clothes to vehicles, allowing for it to easily travel long distances.
It has spread like wildfire across Asia, causing growing devastation to the pig farmers of Vietnam and Cambodia and putting Thailand, Asia’s second-biggest pork producer, on “red alert”. Cases have increased in Mongolia, North Korea and Hong Kong in recent weeks, while South Korea is blood testing pigs at the border.
The UN Food and Agriculture organisation (UNFAO) and regional experts fear that Myanmar, Philippines and Laos will be next because they are all highly susceptible to an outbreak, due to the struggle to control the movement of pigs and pig products across porous borders.
“This is the biggest animal disease outbreak we’ve ever had on the planet,” said Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at City University of Hong Kong and expert on African swine fever. “It makes the foot and mouth disease and BSE outbreaks pale in comparison to the damage that is being done. And we have no way to stop it from spreading.”
Currently the battle to contain the disease is being lost. “There are concerns that the disease will continue to spread across the countries in south-east Asia,” said Dr Wantanee Kalpravidh, regional manager for UNFAO, who said they believed the swine fever cases being reported by governments in the region were “underestimates”.
Wantanee said problems included the lack of compensation for pig farmers in south-east Asia whose herds were culled, giving them little reason to report a disease outbreak, and fears that banning movement of pigs and pork across borders would only create a “black market which would be impossible to control”.
The implications of the outbreak are already being felt beyond Asia. Global pork prices have risen by almost 40%, and long term it is likely to lead to more pork imports from Europe and America to meet demand, which will also push up global meat prices. Market analyst Rabobank said global pork supplies could fall by 8%.[...]
Canada 'complicit in race-based genocide' of indigenous women
BBC News
6/3/19
The report cited research finding indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than other women in Canada.
Released Monday, the report was many years in the making.
Among more than 200 recommendations is a call for all Canadians to help end violence, including by learning indigenous history.
The 1,200-page document is the culmination of almost three years of hearings and research by the inquiry into disproportionate violence faced by indigenous women and girls in Canada.
It blames the crisis on deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction.
"Despite their different circumstances and backgrounds, all of the missing and murdered are connected by economic, social, and political marginalisation, racism and misogyny woven into the fabric of Canadian society," said the inquiry's chief commissioner, Marion Buller, in a statement.
The inquiry, which cost C$92m ($67m; £53m), focused on the systemic causes of violence against indigenous, Inuit and Metis women as well as on prevention.
It has heard from more than 2,000 witnesses since 2017 - including survivors of violence and family members.
What else did the report find?
Among the findings cited by the inquiry was that indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than any other woman in Canada.
The report acknowledged disagreements over what constituted genocide, but concluded: "The National Inquiry is of the opinion that the definition of genocide in international law, as it stands, encompasses the past and current actions and omissions of Canada towards Indigenous Peoples."
While the focus of the inquiry was on women and girls, the commissioners also included many references to 2SLGBTQQIA [two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual] people.
The report noted that they, too, have been frequent targets of violence.
The inquiry's commissioners were critical of the federal government for refusing a request for a full two-year extension - it was granted an extra six months - saying it left " many truths unspoken and unknown".
How was Canada found to be complicit?
The report found that "persistent and deliberate human and indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada's staggering rates of violence".
Past inquiries and investigations in Canada - from the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to the more recent Truth and Reconciliation report - have put forward about 900 wide-ranging recommendations to deal with many of the underlying issues.
Many have never been applied.
This lack of action was cited by the final report on missing and murdered indigenous women:
It said: "One of the family members' and survivors' biggest fears in opening themselves up to this process as intense as this one is that in the end, nothing is done - the report gathers dust on a shelf and the recommendations are left unanswered".[...]
Released Monday, the report was many years in the making.
Among more than 200 recommendations is a call for all Canadians to help end violence, including by learning indigenous history.
The 1,200-page document is the culmination of almost three years of hearings and research by the inquiry into disproportionate violence faced by indigenous women and girls in Canada.
It blames the crisis on deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction.
"Despite their different circumstances and backgrounds, all of the missing and murdered are connected by economic, social, and political marginalisation, racism and misogyny woven into the fabric of Canadian society," said the inquiry's chief commissioner, Marion Buller, in a statement.
The inquiry, which cost C$92m ($67m; £53m), focused on the systemic causes of violence against indigenous, Inuit and Metis women as well as on prevention.
It has heard from more than 2,000 witnesses since 2017 - including survivors of violence and family members.
What else did the report find?
Among the findings cited by the inquiry was that indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than any other woman in Canada.
The report acknowledged disagreements over what constituted genocide, but concluded: "The National Inquiry is of the opinion that the definition of genocide in international law, as it stands, encompasses the past and current actions and omissions of Canada towards Indigenous Peoples."
While the focus of the inquiry was on women and girls, the commissioners also included many references to 2SLGBTQQIA [two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual] people.
The report noted that they, too, have been frequent targets of violence.
The inquiry's commissioners were critical of the federal government for refusing a request for a full two-year extension - it was granted an extra six months - saying it left " many truths unspoken and unknown".
How was Canada found to be complicit?
The report found that "persistent and deliberate human and indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada's staggering rates of violence".
Past inquiries and investigations in Canada - from the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to the more recent Truth and Reconciliation report - have put forward about 900 wide-ranging recommendations to deal with many of the underlying issues.
Many have never been applied.
This lack of action was cited by the final report on missing and murdered indigenous women:
It said: "One of the family members' and survivors' biggest fears in opening themselves up to this process as intense as this one is that in the end, nothing is done - the report gathers dust on a shelf and the recommendations are left unanswered".[...]
China warns students, academics of risks of studying in U.S.
REUTERS
JUNE 3, 2019 / 12:22 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - China warned students and academics on Monday about risks involved in studying in the United States, pointing to limits on the duration of visas and visa refusals, amid a bitter trade war and other tension between the two countries.
Relations between China and the United States have nosedived because of their trade conflict, U.S. sanctions on Chinese tech firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and tension over the disputed South China Sea and U.S. support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
The Ministry of Education, in a short statement, said that recently some students seeking to study in the United States had encountered problems with the duration of their visas being limited and an increase in visa refusals.
“This has affected Chinese students going to study in the United States or smoothly completing their studies,” it added.
“The education ministry reminds students and academics of the need to strengthen risk assessment before studying abroad, enhance prevention awareness, and make corresponding preparations.”
However, state television cited ministry spokeswoman Xu Mei as saying despite the trade tensions, the “general situation” for Chinese students going to the United States remained stable, and U.S. institutes of higher education welcomed Chinese students and cooperation with China.
The ministry declined to offer any other details when contacted by Reuters.
At stake is about $14 billion of economic activity, most of it tuition and other fees generated annually from the 360,000 Chinese nationals who study in the United States.
Hu Xijin, editor of the widely read Chinese newspaper the Global Times, linked the warning to recent discrimination against students faced and the trade dispute.
“This warning is a response to recent series of discriminatory measures the U.S. took against Chinese students and can also be seen as a response to the U.S.-initiated trade war,” Hu wrote on his Twitter account in English.
‘REALLY SCARY’
The warning quickly became a top trending topic on China’s Weibo microblogging site, with some people expressing concern about going to the United States and others saying they would just go to other countries.
“This is really scary,” wrote one user.
“The world is so big, why do you have to go to the United States?” wrote another.
Last year, China’s embassy in Washington issued a security advisory to Chinese nationals traveling to the United States, warning tourists to be aware of issues including expensive medical bills, the threat of public shootings and robberies, and searches and seizures by customs agents.
A group of U.S. President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress introduced legislation last month intended to prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by the Chinese military from receiving student or research visas to the United States.
The bill would require the U.S. government to create a list of scientific and engineering institutions affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army, and prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by those institutions from receiving the visas.
The bill comes as some U.S. officials have expressed concern about the possibility of the theft of intellectual property or even espionage by Chinese nationals at U.S. universities and other institutions.
Many U.S. and university officials also warn about over-reacting, however, arguing it is important to acknowledge the important role Chinese scholars and students play at U.S. institutions while being aware of security risks.
Relations between China and the United States have nosedived because of their trade conflict, U.S. sanctions on Chinese tech firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and tension over the disputed South China Sea and U.S. support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
The Ministry of Education, in a short statement, said that recently some students seeking to study in the United States had encountered problems with the duration of their visas being limited and an increase in visa refusals.
“This has affected Chinese students going to study in the United States or smoothly completing their studies,” it added.
“The education ministry reminds students and academics of the need to strengthen risk assessment before studying abroad, enhance prevention awareness, and make corresponding preparations.”
However, state television cited ministry spokeswoman Xu Mei as saying despite the trade tensions, the “general situation” for Chinese students going to the United States remained stable, and U.S. institutes of higher education welcomed Chinese students and cooperation with China.
The ministry declined to offer any other details when contacted by Reuters.
At stake is about $14 billion of economic activity, most of it tuition and other fees generated annually from the 360,000 Chinese nationals who study in the United States.
Hu Xijin, editor of the widely read Chinese newspaper the Global Times, linked the warning to recent discrimination against students faced and the trade dispute.
“This warning is a response to recent series of discriminatory measures the U.S. took against Chinese students and can also be seen as a response to the U.S.-initiated trade war,” Hu wrote on his Twitter account in English.
‘REALLY SCARY’
The warning quickly became a top trending topic on China’s Weibo microblogging site, with some people expressing concern about going to the United States and others saying they would just go to other countries.
“This is really scary,” wrote one user.
“The world is so big, why do you have to go to the United States?” wrote another.
Last year, China’s embassy in Washington issued a security advisory to Chinese nationals traveling to the United States, warning tourists to be aware of issues including expensive medical bills, the threat of public shootings and robberies, and searches and seizures by customs agents.
A group of U.S. President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress introduced legislation last month intended to prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by the Chinese military from receiving student or research visas to the United States.
The bill would require the U.S. government to create a list of scientific and engineering institutions affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army, and prohibit anyone employed or sponsored by those institutions from receiving the visas.
The bill comes as some U.S. officials have expressed concern about the possibility of the theft of intellectual property or even espionage by Chinese nationals at U.S. universities and other institutions.
Many U.S. and university officials also warn about over-reacting, however, arguing it is important to acknowledge the important role Chinese scholars and students play at U.S. institutions while being aware of security risks.
A country that cares about its citizens!!!
'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness
Finland is the only EU country where homelessness is falling. Its secret? Giving people homes as soon as they need them – unconditionally
Jon Henley in Helsinki
The Guardian
Mon 3 Jun 2019 03.00 EDT
Tatu Ainesmaa turns 32 this summer, and for the first time in more than a decade he has a home he can truly say is his: an airy two-room apartment in a small, recently renovated block in a leafy suburb of Helsinki, with a view over birch trees.
“It’s a big miracle,” he says. “I’ve been in communes, but everyone was doing drugs and I’ve had to get out. I’ve been in bad relationships; same thing. I’ve been on my brother’s sofa. I’ve slept rough. I’ve never had my own place. This is huge for me.”
Downstairs in the two-storey block is a bright communal living and dining area, a spotless kitchen, a gym room and a sauna (in Finland, saunas are basically obligatory). Upstairs is where the 21 tenants, men and women, most under 30, live.
It is important that they are tenants: each has a contract, pays rent and (if they need to) applies for housing benefit. That, after all, is all part of having a home – and part of a housing policy that has now made Finland the only EU country where homelessness is falling.
When the policy was being devised just over a decade ago, the four people who came up with what is now widely known as the Housing First principle – a social scientist, a doctor, a politician and a bishop – called their report Nimi Ovessa (Your Name on the Door).
“It was clear to everyone the old system wasn’t working; we needed radical change,” says Juha Kaakinen, the working group’s secretary and first programme leader, who now runs the Y-Foundation developing supported and affordable housing.
“We had to get rid of the night shelters and short-term hostels we still had back then. They had a very long history in Finland, and everyone could see they were not getting people out of homelessness. We decided to reverse the assumptions.”
As in many countries, homelessness in Finland had long been tackled using a staircase model: you were supposed to move through different stages of temporary accommodation as you got your life back on track, with an apartment as the ultimate reward.
“We decided to make the housing unconditional,” says Kaakinen. “To say, look, you don’t need to solve your problems before you get a home. Instead, a home should be the secure foundation that makes it easier to solve your problems.”
With state, municipal and NGO backing, flats were bought, new blocks built and old shelters converted into permanent, comfortable homes – among them the Rukkila homeless hostel in the Helsinki suburb of Malminkartano where Ainesmaa now lives.
“A lot of it is really about talking,” says Henna Ahonen, a trainee social worker. And that is “easier when you are actually doing something together, rather than in a formal interview”, Haapa says. “The connection is just … easier. You can spot problems more readily.”
Hardly any of the tenants come straight from the street, Haapa says, and those who do can take time to adjust to living indoors. But after a three-month trial, tenants’ contracts are permanent – they can’t be moved unless they break the rules (Rukkila does not allow drug or alcohol use; some other Housing First units do) or fail to pay the rent.
Some stay seven years or more; others leave after one or two. In 2018, six tenants moved out to lead fully independent lives, Haapa says. One is now a cleaner, living in her own flat; another studied for a cookery qualification during his five years at Rukkila and now works as a chef.
Ainesmaa is on a two-year work experience programme designed to lead to a job. He says the opportunity to sort himself out was priceless: “Look, I own nothing. I’m on the autism spectrum. I think people are my friends, and then they rip me me off. I’ve been ripped off … a lot. But now I have my place. It’s mine. I can build.”
Housing First costs money, of course: Finland has spent €250m creating new homes and hiring 300 extra support workers. But a recent study showed the savings in emergency healthcare, social services and the justice system totalled as much as €15,000 a year for every homeless person in properly supported housing.
Interest in the policy beyond the country’s borders has been exceptional, from France to Australia, says Vesikansa. The British government is funding pilot schemes in Merseyside, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, whose Labour mayor, Andy Burnham, is due in Helsinki in July to see the policy in action.
But if Housing First is working in Helsinki, where half the country’s homeless people live, it is also because it is part of a much broader housing policy. More pilot schemes serve little real purpose, says Kaakinen: “We know what works. You can have all sorts of projects, but if you don’t have the actual homes … A sufficient supply of social housing is just crucial.”
And there, the Finnish capital is fortunate. Helsinki owns 60,000 social housing units; one in seven residents live in city-owned housing. It also owns 70% of the land within the city limits, runs its own construction company, and has a current target of building 7,000 more new homes – of all categories – a year.
In each new district, the city maintains a strict housing mix to limit social segregation: 25% social housing, 30% subsidised purchase, and 45% private sector. Helsinki also insists on no visible external differences between private and public housing stock, and sets no maximum income ceiling on its social housing tenants.
It has invested heavily, too, in homelessness prevention, setting up special teams to advise and help tenants in danger of losing their homes and halving the number of evictions from city-owned and social housing from 2008 to 2016.
“We own much of the land, we have a zoning monopoly, we run our own construction company,” says Riikka Karjalainen, senior planning officer. “That helped a lot with Housing First because simply, there is no way you will eradicate homelessness without a serious, big-picture housing policy.”
Finland has not entirely solved homelessness. Nationwide, about 5,500 people are still officially classified as homeless. The overwhelming majority – more than 70% – are living temporarily with friends or relatives.
But public-sector planning and collective effort have helped ensure that as a way to reduce long-term homelessness, Housing First is a proven success. “We’re not there yet, of course,” says Vesikansa. “No model is perfect; we still have failures. But I’m proud we had the courage to try it.”
The mayor agrees. “We have reduced long-term homelessness by a remarkable amount,” he says. “We must do more – better support, better prevention, better dialogue with residents: people really support this policy, but not everyone wants a unit in their neighbourhood … But yes, we can be very proud.”
“It’s a big miracle,” he says. “I’ve been in communes, but everyone was doing drugs and I’ve had to get out. I’ve been in bad relationships; same thing. I’ve been on my brother’s sofa. I’ve slept rough. I’ve never had my own place. This is huge for me.”
Downstairs in the two-storey block is a bright communal living and dining area, a spotless kitchen, a gym room and a sauna (in Finland, saunas are basically obligatory). Upstairs is where the 21 tenants, men and women, most under 30, live.
It is important that they are tenants: each has a contract, pays rent and (if they need to) applies for housing benefit. That, after all, is all part of having a home – and part of a housing policy that has now made Finland the only EU country where homelessness is falling.
When the policy was being devised just over a decade ago, the four people who came up with what is now widely known as the Housing First principle – a social scientist, a doctor, a politician and a bishop – called their report Nimi Ovessa (Your Name on the Door).
“It was clear to everyone the old system wasn’t working; we needed radical change,” says Juha Kaakinen, the working group’s secretary and first programme leader, who now runs the Y-Foundation developing supported and affordable housing.
“We had to get rid of the night shelters and short-term hostels we still had back then. They had a very long history in Finland, and everyone could see they were not getting people out of homelessness. We decided to reverse the assumptions.”
As in many countries, homelessness in Finland had long been tackled using a staircase model: you were supposed to move through different stages of temporary accommodation as you got your life back on track, with an apartment as the ultimate reward.
“We decided to make the housing unconditional,” says Kaakinen. “To say, look, you don’t need to solve your problems before you get a home. Instead, a home should be the secure foundation that makes it easier to solve your problems.”
With state, municipal and NGO backing, flats were bought, new blocks built and old shelters converted into permanent, comfortable homes – among them the Rukkila homeless hostel in the Helsinki suburb of Malminkartano where Ainesmaa now lives.
“A lot of it is really about talking,” says Henna Ahonen, a trainee social worker. And that is “easier when you are actually doing something together, rather than in a formal interview”, Haapa says. “The connection is just … easier. You can spot problems more readily.”
Hardly any of the tenants come straight from the street, Haapa says, and those who do can take time to adjust to living indoors. But after a three-month trial, tenants’ contracts are permanent – they can’t be moved unless they break the rules (Rukkila does not allow drug or alcohol use; some other Housing First units do) or fail to pay the rent.
Some stay seven years or more; others leave after one or two. In 2018, six tenants moved out to lead fully independent lives, Haapa says. One is now a cleaner, living in her own flat; another studied for a cookery qualification during his five years at Rukkila and now works as a chef.
Ainesmaa is on a two-year work experience programme designed to lead to a job. He says the opportunity to sort himself out was priceless: “Look, I own nothing. I’m on the autism spectrum. I think people are my friends, and then they rip me me off. I’ve been ripped off … a lot. But now I have my place. It’s mine. I can build.”
Housing First costs money, of course: Finland has spent €250m creating new homes and hiring 300 extra support workers. But a recent study showed the savings in emergency healthcare, social services and the justice system totalled as much as €15,000 a year for every homeless person in properly supported housing.
Interest in the policy beyond the country’s borders has been exceptional, from France to Australia, says Vesikansa. The British government is funding pilot schemes in Merseyside, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, whose Labour mayor, Andy Burnham, is due in Helsinki in July to see the policy in action.
But if Housing First is working in Helsinki, where half the country’s homeless people live, it is also because it is part of a much broader housing policy. More pilot schemes serve little real purpose, says Kaakinen: “We know what works. You can have all sorts of projects, but if you don’t have the actual homes … A sufficient supply of social housing is just crucial.”
And there, the Finnish capital is fortunate. Helsinki owns 60,000 social housing units; one in seven residents live in city-owned housing. It also owns 70% of the land within the city limits, runs its own construction company, and has a current target of building 7,000 more new homes – of all categories – a year.
In each new district, the city maintains a strict housing mix to limit social segregation: 25% social housing, 30% subsidised purchase, and 45% private sector. Helsinki also insists on no visible external differences between private and public housing stock, and sets no maximum income ceiling on its social housing tenants.
It has invested heavily, too, in homelessness prevention, setting up special teams to advise and help tenants in danger of losing their homes and halving the number of evictions from city-owned and social housing from 2008 to 2016.
“We own much of the land, we have a zoning monopoly, we run our own construction company,” says Riikka Karjalainen, senior planning officer. “That helped a lot with Housing First because simply, there is no way you will eradicate homelessness without a serious, big-picture housing policy.”
Finland has not entirely solved homelessness. Nationwide, about 5,500 people are still officially classified as homeless. The overwhelming majority – more than 70% – are living temporarily with friends or relatives.
But public-sector planning and collective effort have helped ensure that as a way to reduce long-term homelessness, Housing First is a proven success. “We’re not there yet, of course,” says Vesikansa. “No model is perfect; we still have failures. But I’m proud we had the courage to try it.”
The mayor agrees. “We have reduced long-term homelessness by a remarkable amount,” he says. “We must do more – better support, better prevention, better dialogue with residents: people really support this policy, but not everyone wants a unit in their neighbourhood … But yes, we can be very proud.”
South Korea mulls ending arcane age system to match rest of world
In South Korea a baby is one on the day it is born, and turns two on New Year’s Day, even if it is the very next day
Justin McCurry
The Guardian
Sun 2 Jun 2019 08.00 EDT
A South Korean MP is attempting to overturn a centuries-old tradition in which every newborn baby turns one on the day they are born and two on the next New Year’s Day.
The unusual custom means a baby born on New Year’s Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.
When asked their age by a foreigner, many South Koreans give both their “Korean age” and “international age”, followed by an explanation that invariably leaves the questioner confused.
The system’s origins are unclear. One theory is that turning one year old at birth takes into account time spent in the womb – with nine months rounded up to 12. Others link it to an ancient Asian numerical system that did not have the concept of zero.
Explanations for the extra year added on 1 January are more complicated.
Some experts point to the theory that ancient Koreans placed their year of birth within the Chinese 60-year calendar cycle, but, at a time when there were no regular calendars, tended to ignore the day of their birth and simply added on a whole year on the first day of the lunar calendar. The extra year on 1 January became commonplace as more South Koreans began observing the western calendar.
Now, though, an MP is attempting to end the tradition, claiming that many of his compatriots fear it makes South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy and a global technology giant, appear out of step with the rest of the world.
“The biggest problem is that the legal age and the age used in everyday lives are different,” says Hwang Ju-hong, who recently introduced a bill that would require the government to use international ages in official documents and to encourage people to use them in everyday life.
“The international age is used in courts, hospitals and public offices, while the Korean age is used in people’s daily lives. The different calculation method causes a lot of confusion and inconvenience.”
Hwang, who claims to have widespread support among MPs and the public, said parents with babies born in December worry that their offspring will encounter problems when they mix with children who are physically older and bigger but, in Korean terms, are the same age.
“They worry about the possibility that their babies may be at a disadvantage at daycare centres because of their relatively small size,” he says, noting that China abolished its traditional age system during the Cultural Revolution, while Japan adopted international ages in the early 1900s. North Korea started using international ages in 1985.
The South Korean age system can be particularly disconcerting for the parents of children born late in the year. Kim Sun-mi, whose daughter was born on 30 December last year, said she preferred to give her child’s age in months while she was still very young.
“I think I’ll start using her Korean age when she grows up a bit,” Kim said. But she believes it is “absurd” that her daughter celebrated her second birthday only two days after she was born. “The Korean age system poses many disadvantages for babies that are born later in the year,” she said.
“I even saw some online posts about how some people plan their pregnancies so their babies won’t be born later in the year. Some people even ‘cheat’ by waiting to register their babies’ birth in January. I really hope the bill will pass.”
Not all South Koreans agree that the traditional calculation is anachronistic, arguing that it reflects the importance east Asian societies place on the lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar calendar observed in the west.
“Unifying the age calculation so it falls in line with the international age system would mean breaking with traditional ideas of time based on the lunar calendar,” said Jang Yoo-seung, a senior researcher at Dankook University’s Oriental Studies Research Centre.
“Some people say that it’s weird for babies born in December to turn two after just a few days, but it’s the same for international ages. A baby born today, and another who was born last year and is due to celebrate his or her birthday tomorrow, have birth dates that are almost 12 months apart, but they’re both ‘zero’ years old.
“Why can’t the Korean age and the international age system coexist, in the same way that the traditional lunar new year holiday and Christmas coexist?”
Seoul resident Kim Yun-soo, whose Korean age is 32, agrees that the change should not be enforced in a misguided attempt to imitate the west. “The Korean age system originates from recognising the time babies spend in their mother’s womb, which is part of Korea’s traditional culture,” he said.
“I’m not completely opposed to using the international age system, but I wonder if it’s necessary to impose it on people.”
The unusual custom means a baby born on New Year’s Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.
When asked their age by a foreigner, many South Koreans give both their “Korean age” and “international age”, followed by an explanation that invariably leaves the questioner confused.
The system’s origins are unclear. One theory is that turning one year old at birth takes into account time spent in the womb – with nine months rounded up to 12. Others link it to an ancient Asian numerical system that did not have the concept of zero.
Explanations for the extra year added on 1 January are more complicated.
Some experts point to the theory that ancient Koreans placed their year of birth within the Chinese 60-year calendar cycle, but, at a time when there were no regular calendars, tended to ignore the day of their birth and simply added on a whole year on the first day of the lunar calendar. The extra year on 1 January became commonplace as more South Koreans began observing the western calendar.
Now, though, an MP is attempting to end the tradition, claiming that many of his compatriots fear it makes South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy and a global technology giant, appear out of step with the rest of the world.
“The biggest problem is that the legal age and the age used in everyday lives are different,” says Hwang Ju-hong, who recently introduced a bill that would require the government to use international ages in official documents and to encourage people to use them in everyday life.
“The international age is used in courts, hospitals and public offices, while the Korean age is used in people’s daily lives. The different calculation method causes a lot of confusion and inconvenience.”
Hwang, who claims to have widespread support among MPs and the public, said parents with babies born in December worry that their offspring will encounter problems when they mix with children who are physically older and bigger but, in Korean terms, are the same age.
“They worry about the possibility that their babies may be at a disadvantage at daycare centres because of their relatively small size,” he says, noting that China abolished its traditional age system during the Cultural Revolution, while Japan adopted international ages in the early 1900s. North Korea started using international ages in 1985.
The South Korean age system can be particularly disconcerting for the parents of children born late in the year. Kim Sun-mi, whose daughter was born on 30 December last year, said she preferred to give her child’s age in months while she was still very young.
“I think I’ll start using her Korean age when she grows up a bit,” Kim said. But she believes it is “absurd” that her daughter celebrated her second birthday only two days after she was born. “The Korean age system poses many disadvantages for babies that are born later in the year,” she said.
“I even saw some online posts about how some people plan their pregnancies so their babies won’t be born later in the year. Some people even ‘cheat’ by waiting to register their babies’ birth in January. I really hope the bill will pass.”
Not all South Koreans agree that the traditional calculation is anachronistic, arguing that it reflects the importance east Asian societies place on the lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar calendar observed in the west.
“Unifying the age calculation so it falls in line with the international age system would mean breaking with traditional ideas of time based on the lunar calendar,” said Jang Yoo-seung, a senior researcher at Dankook University’s Oriental Studies Research Centre.
“Some people say that it’s weird for babies born in December to turn two after just a few days, but it’s the same for international ages. A baby born today, and another who was born last year and is due to celebrate his or her birthday tomorrow, have birth dates that are almost 12 months apart, but they’re both ‘zero’ years old.
“Why can’t the Korean age and the international age system coexist, in the same way that the traditional lunar new year holiday and Christmas coexist?”
Seoul resident Kim Yun-soo, whose Korean age is 32, agrees that the change should not be enforced in a misguided attempt to imitate the west. “The Korean age system originates from recognising the time babies spend in their mother’s womb, which is part of Korea’s traditional culture,” he said.
“I’m not completely opposed to using the international age system, but I wonder if it’s necessary to impose it on people.”
Russian space sector plagued by astronomical corruption
By Agence France-Presse - raw story
May 28, 2019
With millions of dollars missing and officials in prison or fleeing the country, Russia’s space sector is at the heart of a staggering embezzlement scheme that has dampened ambitions of recovering its Soviet-era greatness.
For years, Moscow has tried to fix the industry that was a source of immense pride in the USSR. While it has bounced back from its post-Soviet collapse and once again become a major world player, the Russian space sector has recently suffered a series of humiliating failures.
And now, massive corruption scandals at state space agency Roscosmos have eclipsed its plans to launch new rockets and lunar stations.
“Billions (of rubles) are being stolen there, billions,” Alexander Bastrykin, the powerful head of Russia’s Investigative Committee — Russia’s equivalent of the FBI — said in mid-May.
Investigations into corruption at Roscosmos have been ongoing “for around five years and there is no end in sight,” he added.
In the latest controversy, a senior space official appears to have fled Russia during an audit of the research centre he headed.
Yury Yaskin, the director of the Research Institute of Space Instrumentation, left Russia for a European country in April where he announced his resignation, the Kommersant paper reported.
He feared the discovery of malpractice during an inspection of the institute, according to the newspaper’s sources.
Roscosmos confirmed to AFP that Yaskin had resigned but did not clarify why. His Moscow institute is involved in developing the Russian satellite navigation system GLONASS designed to compete with the American GPS system.
– Stopping corruption ‘primary goal’ –
Corruption has particularly affected Russia’s two most important space projects of the decade: GLONASS and the construction of the country’s showpiece cosmodrome Vostochny, built to relieve Moscow’s dependence on Baikonur in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan.
Almost all major companies in the sector, including rocket builders Khrunichev and Progress, have been hit by financial scandals that have sometimes led to prison sentences for large-scale fraud.
Russia’s Audit Chamber, a parliamentary body of financial control, said financial violations at Roscosmos in 2017 stood at 760 billion rubles (around $11.7 billion), accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total irregularities in the entire economy that year.
Roscosmos told AFP that “eradicating corruption” is one of its “primary goals”, adding that it regularly cooperates with investigations by the authorities.
In mid-April, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to “progressively resolve the obvious problems that slow down the development of the rocket-space sector.”
“The time and financial frameworks to realise space projects are often unjustified,” the Russian leader said.
– More money, more corruption –
Rebooting the space sector is a matter of prestige for the Kremlin. It symbolises its renewed pride and ability to be a major global power, especially in the context of increased tensions with the United States.
Almost destroyed in the 1990s, the sector stayed afloat thanks to foreign commercial contracts.
But independent space expert Vitaly Yegorov told AFP there were still “executives of a very high professional level” at that time and fewer accidents during launches.
The first module of the International Space Station (ISS), Zarya, was manufactured in Russia and launched in 1998 despite a major financial crisis at the time.
Paradoxically, the situation deteriorated in the early 2000s, when the Russian economy was growing. The influx of public funds fuelled fraud, and space research stopped advancing, experts say.
“Today, the space sector works like this: give us money and we will launch something — one day,” Yegorov said.
Only the ISS continues to be “an unshakeable ivory tower”, he said, since it plays a “political role” aimed at maintaining international cooperation.
Analysts say Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister known for his anti-Western statements, is struggling to deal with the industry’s problems.
Russia’s scientific community has criticised Rogozin, who is a journalism graduate, for his lack of knowledge of the space sector.
“He probably would have made an excellent spokesman for Roscosmos,” joked Yegorov, adding: “Even Superman could not handle this avalanche of problems.”
For years, Moscow has tried to fix the industry that was a source of immense pride in the USSR. While it has bounced back from its post-Soviet collapse and once again become a major world player, the Russian space sector has recently suffered a series of humiliating failures.
And now, massive corruption scandals at state space agency Roscosmos have eclipsed its plans to launch new rockets and lunar stations.
“Billions (of rubles) are being stolen there, billions,” Alexander Bastrykin, the powerful head of Russia’s Investigative Committee — Russia’s equivalent of the FBI — said in mid-May.
Investigations into corruption at Roscosmos have been ongoing “for around five years and there is no end in sight,” he added.
In the latest controversy, a senior space official appears to have fled Russia during an audit of the research centre he headed.
Yury Yaskin, the director of the Research Institute of Space Instrumentation, left Russia for a European country in April where he announced his resignation, the Kommersant paper reported.
He feared the discovery of malpractice during an inspection of the institute, according to the newspaper’s sources.
Roscosmos confirmed to AFP that Yaskin had resigned but did not clarify why. His Moscow institute is involved in developing the Russian satellite navigation system GLONASS designed to compete with the American GPS system.
– Stopping corruption ‘primary goal’ –
Corruption has particularly affected Russia’s two most important space projects of the decade: GLONASS and the construction of the country’s showpiece cosmodrome Vostochny, built to relieve Moscow’s dependence on Baikonur in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan.
Almost all major companies in the sector, including rocket builders Khrunichev and Progress, have been hit by financial scandals that have sometimes led to prison sentences for large-scale fraud.
Russia’s Audit Chamber, a parliamentary body of financial control, said financial violations at Roscosmos in 2017 stood at 760 billion rubles (around $11.7 billion), accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total irregularities in the entire economy that year.
Roscosmos told AFP that “eradicating corruption” is one of its “primary goals”, adding that it regularly cooperates with investigations by the authorities.
In mid-April, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to “progressively resolve the obvious problems that slow down the development of the rocket-space sector.”
“The time and financial frameworks to realise space projects are often unjustified,” the Russian leader said.
– More money, more corruption –
Rebooting the space sector is a matter of prestige for the Kremlin. It symbolises its renewed pride and ability to be a major global power, especially in the context of increased tensions with the United States.
Almost destroyed in the 1990s, the sector stayed afloat thanks to foreign commercial contracts.
But independent space expert Vitaly Yegorov told AFP there were still “executives of a very high professional level” at that time and fewer accidents during launches.
The first module of the International Space Station (ISS), Zarya, was manufactured in Russia and launched in 1998 despite a major financial crisis at the time.
Paradoxically, the situation deteriorated in the early 2000s, when the Russian economy was growing. The influx of public funds fuelled fraud, and space research stopped advancing, experts say.
“Today, the space sector works like this: give us money and we will launch something — one day,” Yegorov said.
Only the ISS continues to be “an unshakeable ivory tower”, he said, since it plays a “political role” aimed at maintaining international cooperation.
Analysts say Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister known for his anti-Western statements, is struggling to deal with the industry’s problems.
Russia’s scientific community has criticised Rogozin, who is a journalism graduate, for his lack of knowledge of the space sector.
“He probably would have made an excellent spokesman for Roscosmos,” joked Yegorov, adding: “Even Superman could not handle this avalanche of problems.”
this happens in a real government!!!
Boris Johnson must go on trial for 'lying and misleading' in Brexit campaign, judge orders
Judge summonses MP to court after throwing out arguments that allegations are 'vexatious' attempt to undermine Brexit
Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent - the independent(uk)
5/29/19
Boris Johnson is to go on trial for allegedly “lying and misleading the British public” about the consequences of Brexit.
A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a member of the public launched a private prosecution over claims EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.
District Judge Margot Coleman threw out arguments by Mr Johnson’s lawyers that the case was a “vexatious” attempt to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.
A written judgment handed down on Wednesday said: “Having considered all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences [of misconduct in a public office].
“The charges are indictable only. This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the crown court for trial.”
Mr Johnson denies misconduct in a public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Marcus Ball, 29, raised more than £200,000 through crowdfunding campaigns in order to lodge a private prosecution against Mr Johnson.
A Westminster Magistrates' Court hearing earlier this month heard that the former foreign secretary “used the platforms and opportunities offered to him by virtue of his public office” to endorse claims that EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.
Lewis Power QC, a lawyer representing Mr Ball, told the court Mr Johnson had deliberately misled the public during the EU referendum campaign, and then repeated the statement during the 2017 general election.
At the time of the alleged offences, Mr Johnson held public office as the mayor of London and MP for Uxbridge for South Ruislip.
Mr Power said: “Democracy demands responsible and honest leadership from those in public office.
"The conduct of the proposed defendant Boris Johnson was both irresponsible and dishonest. It was, we say, criminal."
Mr Power said the prosecution's application was not brought to undermine the result of the Brexit referendum, and was not about what could have been done with the saved money.
He told the court: "The UK has never sent, given or provided £350m a week to Europe - that statement is simply not ambiguous.
"The prosecution is not about Brexit. The only relevance to Brexit is that it was during the Brexit referendum Mr Johnson chose to mislead the public.”
The ruling detailed evidence that Mr Johnson's chief of staff at City Hall informed workers it was “official mayoral policy” to support the case for the leaving the EU in 2016.
“The applicant's case is there is ample evidence that the proposed defendant knew that the statements were false,” it continued.
“One example is given that in a televised interview in May 2016 the proposed defendant [Mr Johnson] stated, 'we send the EU £10bn per year' and that therefore he knew that the £350m per week figure (£20bn per year) was incorrect.”
Mr Johnson did not attend the hearing earlier this month but his lawyer, Adrian Darbishire QC, said his client denied acting dishonestly.
“It is absolutely denied by Mr Johnson that he acted in an improper or dishonest manner at any time,” he added.
A summary of Mr Darbishire’s arguments claimed Vote Leave's £350m-a-week claim – which was displayed on the side of a bus – was based on information that was “freely available to all”.
“No allegation is made, nor could any be made, that Mr Johnson adopted or commended that figure for any purpose other than in the course of a contested political campaign,” he added.
“As with very many claims made in political campaigns, it was challenged, contradicted and criticised.”
Mr Darbishire claimed the private prosecution was "brought for political purposes ... it is a (political) stunt” seeking to "undermine the referendum result".
Judge Coleman ruled that the application was not vexatious, finding that although there may have been a “political purpose to these proceedings” when they were first considered in 2016, “that argument, in my view, is no longer pertinent”.
She found that there was “prima facie” evidence of potential misconduct in a public office but added: “The allegations which have been made are unproven accusations and I do not make any findings of fact.”
The ruling stated that although there is no obligation on the court to give written reasons why an application for a summons is granted, "this is an unusual and exceptional application with a considerable public interest and it is right that full reasons are provided".
Mr Johnson is currently bookies' favourite to become leader of the Conservative Party and succeed Theresa May as prime minister.
A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a member of the public launched a private prosecution over claims EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.
District Judge Margot Coleman threw out arguments by Mr Johnson’s lawyers that the case was a “vexatious” attempt to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.
A written judgment handed down on Wednesday said: “Having considered all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences [of misconduct in a public office].
“The charges are indictable only. This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the crown court for trial.”
Mr Johnson denies misconduct in a public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Marcus Ball, 29, raised more than £200,000 through crowdfunding campaigns in order to lodge a private prosecution against Mr Johnson.
A Westminster Magistrates' Court hearing earlier this month heard that the former foreign secretary “used the platforms and opportunities offered to him by virtue of his public office” to endorse claims that EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.
Lewis Power QC, a lawyer representing Mr Ball, told the court Mr Johnson had deliberately misled the public during the EU referendum campaign, and then repeated the statement during the 2017 general election.
At the time of the alleged offences, Mr Johnson held public office as the mayor of London and MP for Uxbridge for South Ruislip.
Mr Power said: “Democracy demands responsible and honest leadership from those in public office.
"The conduct of the proposed defendant Boris Johnson was both irresponsible and dishonest. It was, we say, criminal."
Mr Power said the prosecution's application was not brought to undermine the result of the Brexit referendum, and was not about what could have been done with the saved money.
He told the court: "The UK has never sent, given or provided £350m a week to Europe - that statement is simply not ambiguous.
"The prosecution is not about Brexit. The only relevance to Brexit is that it was during the Brexit referendum Mr Johnson chose to mislead the public.”
The ruling detailed evidence that Mr Johnson's chief of staff at City Hall informed workers it was “official mayoral policy” to support the case for the leaving the EU in 2016.
“The applicant's case is there is ample evidence that the proposed defendant knew that the statements were false,” it continued.
“One example is given that in a televised interview in May 2016 the proposed defendant [Mr Johnson] stated, 'we send the EU £10bn per year' and that therefore he knew that the £350m per week figure (£20bn per year) was incorrect.”
Mr Johnson did not attend the hearing earlier this month but his lawyer, Adrian Darbishire QC, said his client denied acting dishonestly.
“It is absolutely denied by Mr Johnson that he acted in an improper or dishonest manner at any time,” he added.
A summary of Mr Darbishire’s arguments claimed Vote Leave's £350m-a-week claim – which was displayed on the side of a bus – was based on information that was “freely available to all”.
“No allegation is made, nor could any be made, that Mr Johnson adopted or commended that figure for any purpose other than in the course of a contested political campaign,” he added.
“As with very many claims made in political campaigns, it was challenged, contradicted and criticised.”
Mr Darbishire claimed the private prosecution was "brought for political purposes ... it is a (political) stunt” seeking to "undermine the referendum result".
Judge Coleman ruled that the application was not vexatious, finding that although there may have been a “political purpose to these proceedings” when they were first considered in 2016, “that argument, in my view, is no longer pertinent”.
She found that there was “prima facie” evidence of potential misconduct in a public office but added: “The allegations which have been made are unproven accusations and I do not make any findings of fact.”
The ruling stated that although there is no obligation on the court to give written reasons why an application for a summons is granted, "this is an unusual and exceptional application with a considerable public interest and it is right that full reasons are provided".
Mr Johnson is currently bookies' favourite to become leader of the Conservative Party and succeed Theresa May as prime minister.
Jews in Germany advised not to wear kippahs everywhere in public
Trump blamed immigrants for German crime, but the far right is still responsible.
RYAN KORONOWSKI - thinkprogress
MAY 26, 2019, 5:19 PM
A PROTESTER DURING A DEMONSTRATION AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM IN BONN, GERMANY ON JULY 19, 2018. (FEDERICO GAMBARINI/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES)
“I cannot advise Jews to wear the Kippah everywhere all the time in Germany.”
That’s what Felix Klein, Germany’s commissioner on anti-Semitism, said in an interview with the Funke regional press group published on Saturday. He blamed “the lifting of inhibitions and the uncouthness which is on the rise in society” for the rise in anti-Semitism.
Klein’s comments were made in response to new crime data that showed continued growth in anti-Semitic criminal acts, with the vast majority of perpetrators being members of the German far-right, and not new immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries — a common scapegoat.
Germany’s national crime rate has actually fallen, dropping last year to the lowest level since 1992. The number of crimes committed by non-German individuals fell 23 percent. The one area of crime that saw a 2.5 percent increase was anti-Semitic attacks — with 94 percent of them committed by far-right German nationals in 2017. According to figures for 2018 released last week, far right individuals committed a similar percentage of anti-Semitic crimes.
President Donald Trump argued on Twitter last year that Germany’s crime rate was “way up” and blamed the immigration stance adopted by the Germans and other European countries that he viewed as too welcoming to refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. His criticism was wrong — the broader crime rate was lower than it had been in the past, and the share of crimes perpetrated by non-Germans actually fell. And that especially held true for people committing anti-Semitic crimes.
“Anti-Semitism has always been here,” Claudia Vanioni, a German legal expert on anti-Semitism, told AFP. “But I think that recently, it has again become louder, more aggressive and flagrant.”
The final results for the recent European Union Parliament election began to come in on Sunday evening, with pro-EU blocs vying with anti-EU, nativist blocs. In Germany, the early returns appeared to show a strong showing for the pro-immigration Greens, and losses for the traditionally successful centrist bloc. The populist, euroskeptic AfD party did not perform as well as it did in the previous election. AfD’s reputation has been marred by accusations of anti-Semitism after members made anti-Semitic comments and trivialized the Holocaust.
That’s what Felix Klein, Germany’s commissioner on anti-Semitism, said in an interview with the Funke regional press group published on Saturday. He blamed “the lifting of inhibitions and the uncouthness which is on the rise in society” for the rise in anti-Semitism.
Klein’s comments were made in response to new crime data that showed continued growth in anti-Semitic criminal acts, with the vast majority of perpetrators being members of the German far-right, and not new immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries — a common scapegoat.
Germany’s national crime rate has actually fallen, dropping last year to the lowest level since 1992. The number of crimes committed by non-German individuals fell 23 percent. The one area of crime that saw a 2.5 percent increase was anti-Semitic attacks — with 94 percent of them committed by far-right German nationals in 2017. According to figures for 2018 released last week, far right individuals committed a similar percentage of anti-Semitic crimes.
President Donald Trump argued on Twitter last year that Germany’s crime rate was “way up” and blamed the immigration stance adopted by the Germans and other European countries that he viewed as too welcoming to refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. His criticism was wrong — the broader crime rate was lower than it had been in the past, and the share of crimes perpetrated by non-Germans actually fell. And that especially held true for people committing anti-Semitic crimes.
“Anti-Semitism has always been here,” Claudia Vanioni, a German legal expert on anti-Semitism, told AFP. “But I think that recently, it has again become louder, more aggressive and flagrant.”
The final results for the recent European Union Parliament election began to come in on Sunday evening, with pro-EU blocs vying with anti-EU, nativist blocs. In Germany, the early returns appeared to show a strong showing for the pro-immigration Greens, and losses for the traditionally successful centrist bloc. The populist, euroskeptic AfD party did not perform as well as it did in the previous election. AfD’s reputation has been marred by accusations of anti-Semitism after members made anti-Semitic comments and trivialized the Holocaust.
when ignorant people vote, ignorant people get elected!!!
Nationalists surge in EU Parliament, but pro-EU parties remain dominant
Robin Emmott, Gabriela Baczynska - reuters
MAY 27, 2019 / 1:27 AM
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Pro-European parties kept a firm grip on the EU parliament on Monday as liberal and green parties matched a surge by eurosceptic parties, who won control of a quarter of seats in European elections for the first time.
The far-right and nationalists in Italy, Britain, France and Poland came out on top in their national votes on Sunday, shaking up politics at home but failing to dramatically alter the balance of pro-European power in EU assembly.
Facing a more hostile Russia, China’s growing economic might and an unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump, many Europeans appeared to heed a message that the EU needed to stick together to protect workers’ rights, free speech and democracy.
“We are going to build a social Europe, a Europe that protects,” Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose revival among Spanish voters offset a fall in center-left support in Germany, told a news conference late on Sunday night.
Investor sentiment was bolstered by the smaller than expected gains by populist parties. However, the drop in support for the main center-right and center-left blocs could complicate policymaking and require broader cross-party agreements and discipline, market analysts said.
Provisional results published at 08:18 GMT on Monday showed the Socialists, Greens, liberals and conservatives with 507 of the 751 seats in the EU Parliament, which helps pass laws for more than 500 million Europeans.
The search for a majority, as well as securing the top EU jobs, will now dominate as pro-EU groups seek to shield the EU from anti-establishment forces, who want to break up the world’s largest trading bloc but who are split over its future.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance platform added to gains for liberals at the EU level while support for the Greens surged, giving four groups the pro-EU middle ground and holding on to two-thirds of seats.
Macron and Sanchez were to meet later on Monday, the first in a series of meetings between EU leaders before they gather for a summit on Tuesday evening in Brussels to discuss the outcome of the parliament vote.
BREXIT, FAR-RIGHT PROTEST
A stronger voice for the liberals and Greens could see the next EU executive seek a tougher line on regulating polluting industries, taxing multinational companies or demanding trading partners help contain climate change.
They could also press EU member states, notably in the east, not to damage civil rights.
Cries of “Europe is back” among voters waving blue and gold EU flags outside European Parliament in Brussels on Sunday night also showed the ebullient mood among Europeans delighted with a sharply higher turnout across the bloc.
Turnout in the world’s second-biggest election rose to 51% from 43% in 2014, its highest in 20 years and the first reverse of falling participation since the first direct EU vote in 1979.
Disenchantment with the European project, which has struggled through economic and migration crises over the past five years, has made the bloc seem distant to voters and anger with the traditional parties was palpable across the bloc.
Riding a wave of anger at the British government’s failure to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party won a resounding victory.
The result showed Britain even more polarized over its Brexit divorce, nearly three years since a 2016 referendum in which it voted 52% to 48% to leave.
While Britain’s departure from the bloc will require its EU lawmakers to give up their seats, Farage’s party and its allies won 29 seats, the same number as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right European People’s Party in Germany.
In Italy, the far-right League became Italy’s largest party, giving greater authority to its leader Matteo Salvini who is pushing for swinging tax cuts in defiance of EU budget rules.
Poland’s eurosceptic ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) also came out ahead. In France, Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-Brussels National Rally edged Macron’s pro-European centrist movement. Far-right separatists also saw support surge in Belgium.
FIGHT FOR EU POSTS
Provisional results for the EU Parliament put the EPP on 182 seats, ahead of the S&D on 147, with the liberals on 109, up 41 seats, and Greens on 69, up 17. On the far-right, two groups in the parliament had well over a 100 seats, a 40% jump from 2014.
Three existing eurosceptic groups, including those of Le Pen and Salvini’s League, will make up about 25% of the chamber, up from around 20 percent in the current parliament.
With four, rather than two, centrist alliances in the assembly, it is less clear who will be the next head of the Commission,” Guntram Wolff, the director of think-tank Bruegel, told Reuters. “First the parliament needs a coalition agreement on substance and personalities,” he said.
That agreement should include more humane immigration policies and tackling climate change, said Maria Nyman, secretary general of charity Caritas Europa.
Leaders for the four pro-EU center parties were set to hold their first talks on Monday and there will be weeks and possibly months of hard bargaining over who will run EU institutions.
Parliament says one of its members should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the executive European Commission but many national leaders, who will meet for dinner in Brussels on Tuesday, have said they will not be bound by that demand.
The far-right and nationalists in Italy, Britain, France and Poland came out on top in their national votes on Sunday, shaking up politics at home but failing to dramatically alter the balance of pro-European power in EU assembly.
Facing a more hostile Russia, China’s growing economic might and an unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump, many Europeans appeared to heed a message that the EU needed to stick together to protect workers’ rights, free speech and democracy.
“We are going to build a social Europe, a Europe that protects,” Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose revival among Spanish voters offset a fall in center-left support in Germany, told a news conference late on Sunday night.
Investor sentiment was bolstered by the smaller than expected gains by populist parties. However, the drop in support for the main center-right and center-left blocs could complicate policymaking and require broader cross-party agreements and discipline, market analysts said.
Provisional results published at 08:18 GMT on Monday showed the Socialists, Greens, liberals and conservatives with 507 of the 751 seats in the EU Parliament, which helps pass laws for more than 500 million Europeans.
The search for a majority, as well as securing the top EU jobs, will now dominate as pro-EU groups seek to shield the EU from anti-establishment forces, who want to break up the world’s largest trading bloc but who are split over its future.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance platform added to gains for liberals at the EU level while support for the Greens surged, giving four groups the pro-EU middle ground and holding on to two-thirds of seats.
Macron and Sanchez were to meet later on Monday, the first in a series of meetings between EU leaders before they gather for a summit on Tuesday evening in Brussels to discuss the outcome of the parliament vote.
BREXIT, FAR-RIGHT PROTEST
A stronger voice for the liberals and Greens could see the next EU executive seek a tougher line on regulating polluting industries, taxing multinational companies or demanding trading partners help contain climate change.
They could also press EU member states, notably in the east, not to damage civil rights.
Cries of “Europe is back” among voters waving blue and gold EU flags outside European Parliament in Brussels on Sunday night also showed the ebullient mood among Europeans delighted with a sharply higher turnout across the bloc.
Turnout in the world’s second-biggest election rose to 51% from 43% in 2014, its highest in 20 years and the first reverse of falling participation since the first direct EU vote in 1979.
Disenchantment with the European project, which has struggled through economic and migration crises over the past five years, has made the bloc seem distant to voters and anger with the traditional parties was palpable across the bloc.
Riding a wave of anger at the British government’s failure to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party won a resounding victory.
The result showed Britain even more polarized over its Brexit divorce, nearly three years since a 2016 referendum in which it voted 52% to 48% to leave.
While Britain’s departure from the bloc will require its EU lawmakers to give up their seats, Farage’s party and its allies won 29 seats, the same number as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right European People’s Party in Germany.
In Italy, the far-right League became Italy’s largest party, giving greater authority to its leader Matteo Salvini who is pushing for swinging tax cuts in defiance of EU budget rules.
Poland’s eurosceptic ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) also came out ahead. In France, Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-Brussels National Rally edged Macron’s pro-European centrist movement. Far-right separatists also saw support surge in Belgium.
FIGHT FOR EU POSTS
Provisional results for the EU Parliament put the EPP on 182 seats, ahead of the S&D on 147, with the liberals on 109, up 41 seats, and Greens on 69, up 17. On the far-right, two groups in the parliament had well over a 100 seats, a 40% jump from 2014.
Three existing eurosceptic groups, including those of Le Pen and Salvini’s League, will make up about 25% of the chamber, up from around 20 percent in the current parliament.
With four, rather than two, centrist alliances in the assembly, it is less clear who will be the next head of the Commission,” Guntram Wolff, the director of think-tank Bruegel, told Reuters. “First the parliament needs a coalition agreement on substance and personalities,” he said.
That agreement should include more humane immigration policies and tackling climate change, said Maria Nyman, secretary general of charity Caritas Europa.
Leaders for the four pro-EU center parties were set to hold their first talks on Monday and there will be weeks and possibly months of hard bargaining over who will run EU institutions.
Parliament says one of its members should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the executive European Commission but many national leaders, who will meet for dinner in Brussels on Tuesday, have said they will not be bound by that demand.
THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS SYSTEMATICALLY USED TORTURE TO CRUSH OPPOSITION IN KASHMIR, NEW REPORT FINDS
Murtaza Hussain - the intercept
May 26 2019, 5:00 a.m.
A LANDMARK REPORT has accused the Indian government of “systematically and indiscriminately” using torture as a tool to crush an independence movement in the northern state of Kashmir.
The roughly 550-page report, issued last week, documents hundreds of individual cases of torture perpetrated by the Indian military over the last four decades — and not a single prosecution to hold the perpetrators accountable. The conflict in Kashmir dates back to the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent into the separate nations of India and Pakistan, but it escalated following a rigged state election in 1987, giving rise to an armed uprising that continues to this day. As many as 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The report comes the same week as the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. Modi has taken a hard line on Kashmir since coming to power, presiding over an increase of violence and instability in the troubled region.
Authored by the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, the report alleges that torture has been systematically used as a tool of military rule, describing it as “a tactic employed to break people’s will.” The report collected over 430 individual testimonies of people who have been subjected to torture in Indian military custody, including beatings, electrocution, rape, cutting with sharp implements, burning with metal rods, and the use of prolonged solitary confinement.
“Torture is an ongoing issue in Kashmir, but the reality is that most cases are not even reported,” said Shazia Ahad, a Kashmiri human rights activist and co-author of the report. “Our report looks at cases of torture going back several decades. It was more difficult, however, to talk to people who had been tortured recently, because these people are under constant surveillance. They fear reprisals for speaking out, particularly that they will be arrested and tortured again.”
Ahad emphasized the degree to which torture has become an integral part of the Indian military establishment’s method of controlling Kashmir, where there are currently about 750,000 soldiers present amid a population of roughly 12 million. This March, a 28-year-old schoolteacher, Rizwan Asad Pandit, died in government custody after allegedly suffering torture in detention.
“These are not cases of individual soldiers who went berserk and tortured detainees; torture is systematically used in Kashmir,” said Ahad. “We have seen army officers and even paramilitaries accused of gross human rights violations be given medals and promotions. The government is condoning their acts. That must stop and there must be accountability for the ongoing use of torture against Kashmiris.”
The report gives a harrowing account of the human impact of Indian military policies in Kashmir. Across hundreds of testimonials, individual Kashmiris describe the treatment that they suffered at the hands of Indian military, police, and paramilitary forces. Rather than interrogation for the purpose of intelligence-gathering, treatment of detainees in Indian custody often appears to be motivated by something closer to sadism.
One particular case stands out as emblematic. In 1992, a shepherd named Qalandar Khatana was detained by Indian authorities and accused of acting as a guide for militants crossing the border from Pakistan. The report states that he was tortured continuously over an extended period, before being transferred to the notorious Papa II detention facility in Srinagar, where during interrogation “flesh was cut from his buttocks and other soft tissues and he was forced to eat it.” Indian interrogators broke Khatana’s legs and denied him medical treatment, causing his legs to become infected with maggots. They were later amputated. Khatana’s wife was also severely tortured in detention, leading to her death a few years later. Khatana has since devoted his life to advocating for the human rights of Kashmiris.
The Indian government has consistently ignored allegations of human rights abuses in Kashmir. The government also recently ceased cooperating with a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, inquiry into mass killings in Kashmir, stating that “India rejects any reference whether implicit or explicit or any quote by any human rights mechanisms or bodies from the remote report published by the OHCHR on the situation of human rights in Kashmir.” Local civil society activists in Kashmir say that this refusal to investigate — let alone punish — the perpetrators of human rights abuses is part of a systematic effort by the Indian government to deflect international attention from developments in Kashmir.
“For the Indian government, the best response to allegations of human rights abuses is no response, because they have nothing to say. Their hope is that if they simply ignore the allegations and refuse to cooperate over time, they will go away,” said Parvez Imroz, a Kashmiri human rights lawyer and co-author of the report. “We have tens of thousands of torture survivors living today in Kashmir. This report is just the tip of the iceberg. Kashmir is an underreported issue internationally; we need the international community to take note of what is going on here and pressure the Indian government to stop these abuses.”
The roughly 550-page report, issued last week, documents hundreds of individual cases of torture perpetrated by the Indian military over the last four decades — and not a single prosecution to hold the perpetrators accountable. The conflict in Kashmir dates back to the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent into the separate nations of India and Pakistan, but it escalated following a rigged state election in 1987, giving rise to an armed uprising that continues to this day. As many as 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The report comes the same week as the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. Modi has taken a hard line on Kashmir since coming to power, presiding over an increase of violence and instability in the troubled region.
Authored by the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, the report alleges that torture has been systematically used as a tool of military rule, describing it as “a tactic employed to break people’s will.” The report collected over 430 individual testimonies of people who have been subjected to torture in Indian military custody, including beatings, electrocution, rape, cutting with sharp implements, burning with metal rods, and the use of prolonged solitary confinement.
“Torture is an ongoing issue in Kashmir, but the reality is that most cases are not even reported,” said Shazia Ahad, a Kashmiri human rights activist and co-author of the report. “Our report looks at cases of torture going back several decades. It was more difficult, however, to talk to people who had been tortured recently, because these people are under constant surveillance. They fear reprisals for speaking out, particularly that they will be arrested and tortured again.”
Ahad emphasized the degree to which torture has become an integral part of the Indian military establishment’s method of controlling Kashmir, where there are currently about 750,000 soldiers present amid a population of roughly 12 million. This March, a 28-year-old schoolteacher, Rizwan Asad Pandit, died in government custody after allegedly suffering torture in detention.
“These are not cases of individual soldiers who went berserk and tortured detainees; torture is systematically used in Kashmir,” said Ahad. “We have seen army officers and even paramilitaries accused of gross human rights violations be given medals and promotions. The government is condoning their acts. That must stop and there must be accountability for the ongoing use of torture against Kashmiris.”
The report gives a harrowing account of the human impact of Indian military policies in Kashmir. Across hundreds of testimonials, individual Kashmiris describe the treatment that they suffered at the hands of Indian military, police, and paramilitary forces. Rather than interrogation for the purpose of intelligence-gathering, treatment of detainees in Indian custody often appears to be motivated by something closer to sadism.
One particular case stands out as emblematic. In 1992, a shepherd named Qalandar Khatana was detained by Indian authorities and accused of acting as a guide for militants crossing the border from Pakistan. The report states that he was tortured continuously over an extended period, before being transferred to the notorious Papa II detention facility in Srinagar, where during interrogation “flesh was cut from his buttocks and other soft tissues and he was forced to eat it.” Indian interrogators broke Khatana’s legs and denied him medical treatment, causing his legs to become infected with maggots. They were later amputated. Khatana’s wife was also severely tortured in detention, leading to her death a few years later. Khatana has since devoted his life to advocating for the human rights of Kashmiris.
The Indian government has consistently ignored allegations of human rights abuses in Kashmir. The government also recently ceased cooperating with a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, inquiry into mass killings in Kashmir, stating that “India rejects any reference whether implicit or explicit or any quote by any human rights mechanisms or bodies from the remote report published by the OHCHR on the situation of human rights in Kashmir.” Local civil society activists in Kashmir say that this refusal to investigate — let alone punish — the perpetrators of human rights abuses is part of a systematic effort by the Indian government to deflect international attention from developments in Kashmir.
“For the Indian government, the best response to allegations of human rights abuses is no response, because they have nothing to say. Their hope is that if they simply ignore the allegations and refuse to cooperate over time, they will go away,” said Parvez Imroz, a Kashmiri human rights lawyer and co-author of the report. “We have tens of thousands of torture survivors living today in Kashmir. This report is just the tip of the iceberg. Kashmir is an underreported issue internationally; we need the international community to take note of what is going on here and pressure the Indian government to stop these abuses.”
Theresa May announces she will resign on 7 June
Prime minister to leave Downing Street, drawing three-year tenure to a close
Heather Stewart Political editor
the guardian
Fri 24 May 2019 06.27 EDT
Theresa May has bowed to intense pressure from her own party and named 7 June as the day she will step aside as Conservative leader, drawing her turbulent three-year premiership to a close.
Speaking in Downing Street, May said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve as Britain’s second female prime minister. Her voice breaking, she said she would leave “with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love”.
The prime minister listed a series of what she said were her government’s achievements, including tackling the deficit, reducing unemployment and boosting funding for mental health.
But she admitted: “It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit.”
May’s announcement came after a meeting with Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench Tory 1922 Committee, which was prepared to trigger a second vote of no confidence in her leadership if she refused to resign.
Her fate was sealed after a 10-point “new Brexit deal”, announced in a speech on Tuesday, infuriated Tory backbenchers and many of her own cabinet – while falling flat with the Labour MPs it was meant to persuade.
The leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, resigned on Wednesday, rather than present the Brexit bill to parliament.
A string of other cabinet ministers had also expressed concerns, including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Chris Grayling and David Mundell.
In particular, they rejected May’s promise to give MPs a vote on a second referendum as the Brexit bill passed through parliament, and implement the result – which they felt came too close to endorsing the idea.
The prime minister will remain in Downing Street, to shoulder the blame for what are expected to be dire results for her party from Thursday’s European elections – and to host Donald Trump when he visits.
The 1922 Committee will set out the terms of a leadership contest, to kick off on 10 June, which is expected to last perhaps six weeks.
Speaking in Downing Street, May said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve as Britain’s second female prime minister. Her voice breaking, she said she would leave “with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love”.
The prime minister listed a series of what she said were her government’s achievements, including tackling the deficit, reducing unemployment and boosting funding for mental health.
But she admitted: “It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit.”
May’s announcement came after a meeting with Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench Tory 1922 Committee, which was prepared to trigger a second vote of no confidence in her leadership if she refused to resign.
Her fate was sealed after a 10-point “new Brexit deal”, announced in a speech on Tuesday, infuriated Tory backbenchers and many of her own cabinet – while falling flat with the Labour MPs it was meant to persuade.
The leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, resigned on Wednesday, rather than present the Brexit bill to parliament.
A string of other cabinet ministers had also expressed concerns, including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Chris Grayling and David Mundell.
In particular, they rejected May’s promise to give MPs a vote on a second referendum as the Brexit bill passed through parliament, and implement the result – which they felt came too close to endorsing the idea.
The prime minister will remain in Downing Street, to shoulder the blame for what are expected to be dire results for her party from Thursday’s European elections – and to host Donald Trump when he visits.
The 1922 Committee will set out the terms of a leadership contest, to kick off on 10 June, which is expected to last perhaps six weeks.
voter suppression euro-style!!!
EU citizens in UK complain of being denied right to vote
People are reportedly being turned away from European election polling booths due to admin errors
Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent
the guardian
Thu 23 May 2019 09.06 EDT
A nationwide picture is emerging of EU citizens in the UK being denied their democratic right to vote in the European parliament elections because of administrative errors by local councils.
Reports are coming in from across the country of EU nationals turning up at polling booths and finding their names crossed out and being told by officials they are not eligible to vote.
Dozens have contacted the Guardian to say that the forms they had to sign to declare they were choosing to vote in this country had either turned up too late or not turned up at all.
German nationals Kat Sellner and Moritz Valero said they were “shocked” to find they could not vote despite returning the forms on 2 May.
“It is unacceptable that this government and the election officers have discriminated against EU citizens.
“I will not be silenced and EU citizens will not be silenced,” said Valero.
After emerging from the polling station on the Isle of Dogs in east London, Valero said the officials were “very nice” but told her there was nothing they could do. They gave her a number to phone, which was the same number they had complained to last week when their ballot paper did not show up.
They received a letter at the end of April informing them they had to fill in a form to tell Tower Hamlets council they would vote in the UK and not Germany.
“I went there in person with the forms on 2 May in the rain because we didn’t trust the post would get there by the 7 May deadline. We didn’t receive a receipt, they didn’t stamp the letters, the woman said she was going to put them in a box with the other letters,” said Sellner.
Three days ago an increasingly anxious Valero phoned and was told they were not registered “because they only received the forms on the 16th”.
Sellner protested again to Tower Hamlets and was told the forms were only “stamped” on 16 May, two weeks after they handed them to the council and one week after the deadline for registering.
Similar stories are being told up and down the country. The Guardian received more than 100 emails in the space of a few hours from EU citizens, including one Irish family in Liverpool who said they were denied the right to vote even though Irish citizens are treated like British citizens and can vote in all elections without any special forms.
Others have complained they were not told they had to fill in a separate form, even after registering for the local elections, the only other election in which EU citizens are eligible to vote in the UK.
“I went to the polling station today and was turned away and informed about some mysterious form that no one was able to tell me more about,” said Polish national Kinga Burger.
“I’m really angry and disappointed I didn’t get to vote today.
“I actually spent a lot of time thinking which elections I should vote in and in the end I decided to vote in the UK now as I’ve lived here for over a decade and it is home,” said Burger.
Another Polish national, Piotr Klaskala, said: “What I find particularly surprising is that I could see my name and current address on the list in the polling station (which suggests that I have registered successfully) but it was crossed out.”
Another German national complained that she had registered to vote but was not told by her electoral office in Ceredigion that she needed to fill in another form.
“I’m German and registered to vote online at the same time as my British husband weeks in advance. He received a polling card but I didn’t. I found out through the media two days ago that an extra form was needed. I contacted the office, they emailed the form yesterday asking for it to be returned signed the same day which was impossible. Not even the hint of an apology or explanation from them,” said Cyrine Amor.
Andreas Jensen told the Guardian that had returned the so-called EC6 or UC1 forms, but like Sellner and Valero, turned up at his polling booth and was told he could not vote.
“I received a form, filled it out and returned it well in advance of the deadline, but never received a ballot paper … Showed up at the ballot station with passport and proof of address but was not allowed to vote,” said Jensen.
MEPs who could have benefited from EU citizens’ votes in this election have expressed alarm.
Seb Dance, a Labour MEP for London, said he was dismayed at people being denied their vote.
Two days ago the 3million campaign group made a formal complaint to the electoral commission that EU citizens were being disenfranchised.
The commission said it had no legal authority to tell councils when to send out the EC6/UC1 forms or how to deal with them but that it has made recommendations to the government to overhaul and simply the system.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry has also raised concerned with Theresa May after being contacted by a number of “distressed voters” in parliament on Thursday asking her to urgently make the EC6 and UC1 forms available in polling booths. May did not respond to her specific request.
Cherry raised the issue in an early-day motion with Change UK MP Mike Gapes and MP Catherine West in parliament and has vowed to return to it after recess.
“I suspected it was going to be an issue and I was right. That is why I asked for the forms to be put in polling stations [for Thursday]. Theresa May’s responses was completely dismissive and typical of the tenor of her responses when it comes to matters of EU citizens,” she said.
Hungarian national Doniya Soni was shocked to find she couldn’t vote after enquiring at her local council, Tower Hamlets, about the process.
“I was sent a letter via email saying I am already registered and nothing further needs to be done. However today I was turned away from the polling station – apparently European citizens had to fill out another form but I never received such a form. Furthermore, as I received a letter saying nothing further needed to be done, I was not looking out for one or chasing the council for one either.
“The council said that letter was meant only for British citizens but I explicitly stated on my online form that I’m a Hungarian citizen. Therefore, they erroneously sent me that letter leading me to falsely believe that I am eligible to vote today.
“I’m sure you can understand my frustration as European elections are one of the few that European citizens are eligible to vote for in the UK, so this outcome is disappointing at the least, enraging and suppression at the most,” she said.
Social media was awash with complaints and protest by EU citizens responding to the hashtag #deniedmyvote.
Agata Patyna was disgusted to be told she should vote in her own country.
Reports are coming in from across the country of EU nationals turning up at polling booths and finding their names crossed out and being told by officials they are not eligible to vote.
Dozens have contacted the Guardian to say that the forms they had to sign to declare they were choosing to vote in this country had either turned up too late or not turned up at all.
German nationals Kat Sellner and Moritz Valero said they were “shocked” to find they could not vote despite returning the forms on 2 May.
“It is unacceptable that this government and the election officers have discriminated against EU citizens.
“I will not be silenced and EU citizens will not be silenced,” said Valero.
After emerging from the polling station on the Isle of Dogs in east London, Valero said the officials were “very nice” but told her there was nothing they could do. They gave her a number to phone, which was the same number they had complained to last week when their ballot paper did not show up.
They received a letter at the end of April informing them they had to fill in a form to tell Tower Hamlets council they would vote in the UK and not Germany.
“I went there in person with the forms on 2 May in the rain because we didn’t trust the post would get there by the 7 May deadline. We didn’t receive a receipt, they didn’t stamp the letters, the woman said she was going to put them in a box with the other letters,” said Sellner.
Three days ago an increasingly anxious Valero phoned and was told they were not registered “because they only received the forms on the 16th”.
Sellner protested again to Tower Hamlets and was told the forms were only “stamped” on 16 May, two weeks after they handed them to the council and one week after the deadline for registering.
Similar stories are being told up and down the country. The Guardian received more than 100 emails in the space of a few hours from EU citizens, including one Irish family in Liverpool who said they were denied the right to vote even though Irish citizens are treated like British citizens and can vote in all elections without any special forms.
Others have complained they were not told they had to fill in a separate form, even after registering for the local elections, the only other election in which EU citizens are eligible to vote in the UK.
“I went to the polling station today and was turned away and informed about some mysterious form that no one was able to tell me more about,” said Polish national Kinga Burger.
“I’m really angry and disappointed I didn’t get to vote today.
“I actually spent a lot of time thinking which elections I should vote in and in the end I decided to vote in the UK now as I’ve lived here for over a decade and it is home,” said Burger.
Another Polish national, Piotr Klaskala, said: “What I find particularly surprising is that I could see my name and current address on the list in the polling station (which suggests that I have registered successfully) but it was crossed out.”
Another German national complained that she had registered to vote but was not told by her electoral office in Ceredigion that she needed to fill in another form.
“I’m German and registered to vote online at the same time as my British husband weeks in advance. He received a polling card but I didn’t. I found out through the media two days ago that an extra form was needed. I contacted the office, they emailed the form yesterday asking for it to be returned signed the same day which was impossible. Not even the hint of an apology or explanation from them,” said Cyrine Amor.
Andreas Jensen told the Guardian that had returned the so-called EC6 or UC1 forms, but like Sellner and Valero, turned up at his polling booth and was told he could not vote.
“I received a form, filled it out and returned it well in advance of the deadline, but never received a ballot paper … Showed up at the ballot station with passport and proof of address but was not allowed to vote,” said Jensen.
MEPs who could have benefited from EU citizens’ votes in this election have expressed alarm.
Seb Dance, a Labour MEP for London, said he was dismayed at people being denied their vote.
Two days ago the 3million campaign group made a formal complaint to the electoral commission that EU citizens were being disenfranchised.
The commission said it had no legal authority to tell councils when to send out the EC6/UC1 forms or how to deal with them but that it has made recommendations to the government to overhaul and simply the system.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry has also raised concerned with Theresa May after being contacted by a number of “distressed voters” in parliament on Thursday asking her to urgently make the EC6 and UC1 forms available in polling booths. May did not respond to her specific request.
Cherry raised the issue in an early-day motion with Change UK MP Mike Gapes and MP Catherine West in parliament and has vowed to return to it after recess.
“I suspected it was going to be an issue and I was right. That is why I asked for the forms to be put in polling stations [for Thursday]. Theresa May’s responses was completely dismissive and typical of the tenor of her responses when it comes to matters of EU citizens,” she said.
Hungarian national Doniya Soni was shocked to find she couldn’t vote after enquiring at her local council, Tower Hamlets, about the process.
“I was sent a letter via email saying I am already registered and nothing further needs to be done. However today I was turned away from the polling station – apparently European citizens had to fill out another form but I never received such a form. Furthermore, as I received a letter saying nothing further needed to be done, I was not looking out for one or chasing the council for one either.
“The council said that letter was meant only for British citizens but I explicitly stated on my online form that I’m a Hungarian citizen. Therefore, they erroneously sent me that letter leading me to falsely believe that I am eligible to vote today.
“I’m sure you can understand my frustration as European elections are one of the few that European citizens are eligible to vote for in the UK, so this outcome is disappointing at the least, enraging and suppression at the most,” she said.
Social media was awash with complaints and protest by EU citizens responding to the hashtag #deniedmyvote.
Agata Patyna was disgusted to be told she should vote in her own country.
a fraudulent cure backed by a fraudulent religion!!!
US pastor runs network giving 50,000 Ugandans bleach-based 'miracle cure'
Revealed: group led by Robert Baldwin and part-funded by Sam Little claims toxic fluid will eradicate HIV/Aids and other diseases
Ed Pilkington in New York and Alon Mwesigwa in Kampala
the guardian
Sat 18 May 2019 01.00 EDT
An American pastor from New Jersey backed by a British former clairvoyant is running a network that gives up to 50,000 Ugandans a “miracle cure” made from industrial bleach, claiming drinking the toxic fluid eradicates cancer, HIV/Aids, malaria and most other diseases.
The network, led by pastor Robert Baldwin and part-funded by Sam Little from Arlesey in Bedfordshire, is one of the most extensive efforts yet to distribute the “miracle cure” known as MMS, or “miracle mineral solution”. The Guardian has learned that poor Ugandans, including infants as young as 14 months old, are being given chlorine dioxide, a product that has no known health benefit and can be extremely dangerous.
Baldwin, 52, is importing bulk shipments of the components of MMS, sodium chlorite and citric acid, into Uganda from China. The two chemicals are mixed to produce chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach used in the textile industry.
The American pastor has “trained” about 1,200 clerics in Uganda on administering the “miracle cure” and each in turn uses it to treat about 50 congregants, usually after Sunday service. As an inducement, Baldwin is offering smartphones to those clerics who are especially “committed” to spreading the bleach cure.
Baldwin operates under a ministry he founded called Global Healing. The “church” advertises itself as “using the power of Almighty God … to greatly reduce the loss of life” in Africa.
Yet in a phone conversation with Fiona O’Leary, a campaigner against quack medicine who spoke to him while posing as a freelance journalist, Baldwin said he distributed the bleach through churches to “stay under the radar”.
“We don’t want to draw any attention,” he said during the call, a recording of which has been heard by the Guardian. “When you draw attention to MMS you run the risk of getting in trouble with the government or drug companies. You have to do it low key. That’s why I set it up through the church.”
He added that as a further precaution he uses euphemisms on Facebook, where he raises money through online donations. “I don’t call it MMS, I call it ‘healing water’, to protect myself. They are very sophisticated. Facebook has algorithms that can recognize ‘MMS’.”
Baldwin, who trained as a student nurse and is understood to have no other medical expertise, said he chose Uganda because it was a poor country with weak regulation. Speaking from New Jersey, where he is based, he told O’Leary: “America and Europe have much stricter laws so you are not as free to treat people because it is so controlled by the FDA. That’s why I work in developing countries.”
He added: “Those people in poor countries they don’t have the options that we have in the richer countries – they are much more open to receiving the blessings that God has given them.”
Asked how babies and children were treated with MMS, he said the dose was reduced by half. “Little tiny infants can take a small amount, they will spit it out. It causes no harm – they just get diarrhea.”
The Guardian contacted Baldwin by phone in New Jersey and asked the pastor to explain his work in Uganda. He said: “We use natural healing therapies to help people – that’s something Christians do.”
Then he said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to be talking to the media right now.”
Asked what doses of bleach he was using in Africa, he abruptly ended the call.
‘Sam’s orphanage’
MMS is banned in several countries, including Canada and Ireland. In the UK and US it is strictly controlled and has led to fraud prosecutions.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public warning that advises anyone with MMS to “stop using it immediately and throw it away”. Several people have been sickened by the chemical, the FDA says, suffering nausea, diarrhea and potentially “life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration”.
Baldwin’s growing MMS network in Uganda appears to involve the distribution of the bleach free of charge. It is not clear how the money is raised to pay for it. There are fundraising pages on Facebook, though the sums of money donated seem small.
The MMS push has been partly bankrolled by Sam Little. Aged 25, the Briton is currently based in Fort Portal, in the west of Uganda, where the Guardian spoke to him via cellphone.
According to his Facebook page, Little attended Staffordshire University before setting up as a clairvoyant with a business that is now defunct called Psychic Sam. Facebook posts from 2015 show him offering Tarot card readings, “healings” and “regression therapy” for £6.99 ($8.90).
He told the Guardian he also made money through “investments” and was using his savings to help fund MMS distribution in Uganda with a donation of $10,000. Separately, he has also put $30,000 into building a home for about 20 homeless Ugandan children.
He calls the home “Sam’s orphanage” on Facebook, where he is attempting to raise money through donations to complete the building. He said that project was a separate venture from his work with the bleach treatment and he insisted he had no intention of treating the children in his orphanage with MMS.
Little was first introduced to the “miracle cure” in England by a friend.
“Somebody in my family was cured of cancer with MMS,” he said. “I started researching online and saw more and more videos of people being cured. That’s when I decided to test it myself on malaria and travelled to Africa.”
Little has posted a video online of a trip he made on 11 March to a village hospital in Kyenjojo district, in western Uganda, where he conducted a trial that he said would prove malaria could be cured with chlorine dioxide within two hours. Though he has no medical training, the Briton is seen on the video instructing workers in a tiny local hospital to administer the bleach according to the formula: 18 drops for adults, 12 drops for children aged five to 12 and eight drops for children aged one to four.
The video shows nine people being given two doses of the fluid, including a baby aged about 14 months who screams in his mother’s arms as he imbibes it. Little claims blood tests conducted by a lab technician showed microscopic signs of malaria disappearing within two hours.
The Briton told the Guardian a lab technician had looked at blood samples from the nine local people being tested and said they had been cured. Little himself has not been back to the hospital to verify the results.
He told the Guardian he was repeating the study on HIV/Aids patients in several locations in Uganda, to prove that MMS was also a cure for that disease. He admitted he would not be allowed to conduct such “field studies” in the UK or US, but when asked whether he was using poor Ugandans as guinea pigs he replied he was not doing any of this for money but purely out of altruistic motives.
“It’s not using people as guinea pigs for trials,” he said, “it’s helping them. We’ve cured loads of people not just for malaria, cancer, HIV, all sorts of things.”
Asked to cite any scientific evidence that MMS cured diseases, he pointed to a 2018 study in which chlorine dioxide was tested on 500 malarial patients in Cameroon. The lead author of the study was Enno Freye of the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The Guardian contacted the university and was told its medical faculty had reviewed the study and found it “scientifically worthless, contradictory and in part ethically problematic”. In February, Freye was stripped of his title of Apl-Professor of the faculty on grounds that he had “severely damaged the respectability and trust this title requires”. He no longer works at any institution of the university.
The Guardian attempted to contact Freye for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The Uganda ministry of health was alarmed to hear about the MMS trials, saying it had no information about chlorine dioxide being tested in Ugandan hospitals. Emmanuel Ainebyoona, a spokesman for the ministry, said a government investigation had been initiated.
“We are investigating these people’s activities. In the medical profession, you don’t do advertising when you heal people,” he said, referring to Little’s video in which he claims to have cured malaria in two hours.
The Ugandan ministry of gender and social development, which vets and approves all new orphanages, said it was also launching an inquiry into Little’s plans for a home for 20 children.
“We have never received documents from Fort Portal showing the need for an orphanage,” a senior official said. “That is new information to us.”
The network, led by pastor Robert Baldwin and part-funded by Sam Little from Arlesey in Bedfordshire, is one of the most extensive efforts yet to distribute the “miracle cure” known as MMS, or “miracle mineral solution”. The Guardian has learned that poor Ugandans, including infants as young as 14 months old, are being given chlorine dioxide, a product that has no known health benefit and can be extremely dangerous.
Baldwin, 52, is importing bulk shipments of the components of MMS, sodium chlorite and citric acid, into Uganda from China. The two chemicals are mixed to produce chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach used in the textile industry.
The American pastor has “trained” about 1,200 clerics in Uganda on administering the “miracle cure” and each in turn uses it to treat about 50 congregants, usually after Sunday service. As an inducement, Baldwin is offering smartphones to those clerics who are especially “committed” to spreading the bleach cure.
Baldwin operates under a ministry he founded called Global Healing. The “church” advertises itself as “using the power of Almighty God … to greatly reduce the loss of life” in Africa.
Yet in a phone conversation with Fiona O’Leary, a campaigner against quack medicine who spoke to him while posing as a freelance journalist, Baldwin said he distributed the bleach through churches to “stay under the radar”.
“We don’t want to draw any attention,” he said during the call, a recording of which has been heard by the Guardian. “When you draw attention to MMS you run the risk of getting in trouble with the government or drug companies. You have to do it low key. That’s why I set it up through the church.”
He added that as a further precaution he uses euphemisms on Facebook, where he raises money through online donations. “I don’t call it MMS, I call it ‘healing water’, to protect myself. They are very sophisticated. Facebook has algorithms that can recognize ‘MMS’.”
Baldwin, who trained as a student nurse and is understood to have no other medical expertise, said he chose Uganda because it was a poor country with weak regulation. Speaking from New Jersey, where he is based, he told O’Leary: “America and Europe have much stricter laws so you are not as free to treat people because it is so controlled by the FDA. That’s why I work in developing countries.”
He added: “Those people in poor countries they don’t have the options that we have in the richer countries – they are much more open to receiving the blessings that God has given them.”
Asked how babies and children were treated with MMS, he said the dose was reduced by half. “Little tiny infants can take a small amount, they will spit it out. It causes no harm – they just get diarrhea.”
The Guardian contacted Baldwin by phone in New Jersey and asked the pastor to explain his work in Uganda. He said: “We use natural healing therapies to help people – that’s something Christians do.”
Then he said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to be talking to the media right now.”
Asked what doses of bleach he was using in Africa, he abruptly ended the call.
‘Sam’s orphanage’
MMS is banned in several countries, including Canada and Ireland. In the UK and US it is strictly controlled and has led to fraud prosecutions.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public warning that advises anyone with MMS to “stop using it immediately and throw it away”. Several people have been sickened by the chemical, the FDA says, suffering nausea, diarrhea and potentially “life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration”.
Baldwin’s growing MMS network in Uganda appears to involve the distribution of the bleach free of charge. It is not clear how the money is raised to pay for it. There are fundraising pages on Facebook, though the sums of money donated seem small.
The MMS push has been partly bankrolled by Sam Little. Aged 25, the Briton is currently based in Fort Portal, in the west of Uganda, where the Guardian spoke to him via cellphone.
According to his Facebook page, Little attended Staffordshire University before setting up as a clairvoyant with a business that is now defunct called Psychic Sam. Facebook posts from 2015 show him offering Tarot card readings, “healings” and “regression therapy” for £6.99 ($8.90).
He told the Guardian he also made money through “investments” and was using his savings to help fund MMS distribution in Uganda with a donation of $10,000. Separately, he has also put $30,000 into building a home for about 20 homeless Ugandan children.
He calls the home “Sam’s orphanage” on Facebook, where he is attempting to raise money through donations to complete the building. He said that project was a separate venture from his work with the bleach treatment and he insisted he had no intention of treating the children in his orphanage with MMS.
Little was first introduced to the “miracle cure” in England by a friend.
“Somebody in my family was cured of cancer with MMS,” he said. “I started researching online and saw more and more videos of people being cured. That’s when I decided to test it myself on malaria and travelled to Africa.”
Little has posted a video online of a trip he made on 11 March to a village hospital in Kyenjojo district, in western Uganda, where he conducted a trial that he said would prove malaria could be cured with chlorine dioxide within two hours. Though he has no medical training, the Briton is seen on the video instructing workers in a tiny local hospital to administer the bleach according to the formula: 18 drops for adults, 12 drops for children aged five to 12 and eight drops for children aged one to four.
The video shows nine people being given two doses of the fluid, including a baby aged about 14 months who screams in his mother’s arms as he imbibes it. Little claims blood tests conducted by a lab technician showed microscopic signs of malaria disappearing within two hours.
The Briton told the Guardian a lab technician had looked at blood samples from the nine local people being tested and said they had been cured. Little himself has not been back to the hospital to verify the results.
He told the Guardian he was repeating the study on HIV/Aids patients in several locations in Uganda, to prove that MMS was also a cure for that disease. He admitted he would not be allowed to conduct such “field studies” in the UK or US, but when asked whether he was using poor Ugandans as guinea pigs he replied he was not doing any of this for money but purely out of altruistic motives.
“It’s not using people as guinea pigs for trials,” he said, “it’s helping them. We’ve cured loads of people not just for malaria, cancer, HIV, all sorts of things.”
Asked to cite any scientific evidence that MMS cured diseases, he pointed to a 2018 study in which chlorine dioxide was tested on 500 malarial patients in Cameroon. The lead author of the study was Enno Freye of the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The Guardian contacted the university and was told its medical faculty had reviewed the study and found it “scientifically worthless, contradictory and in part ethically problematic”. In February, Freye was stripped of his title of Apl-Professor of the faculty on grounds that he had “severely damaged the respectability and trust this title requires”. He no longer works at any institution of the university.
The Guardian attempted to contact Freye for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The Uganda ministry of health was alarmed to hear about the MMS trials, saying it had no information about chlorine dioxide being tested in Ugandan hospitals. Emmanuel Ainebyoona, a spokesman for the ministry, said a government investigation had been initiated.
“We are investigating these people’s activities. In the medical profession, you don’t do advertising when you heal people,” he said, referring to Little’s video in which he claims to have cured malaria in two hours.
The Ugandan ministry of gender and social development, which vets and approves all new orphanages, said it was also launching an inquiry into Little’s plans for a home for 20 children.
“We have never received documents from Fort Portal showing the need for an orphanage,” a senior official said. “That is new information to us.”
MIGRANTS TRYING TO REACH EUROPE ARE TRAPPED IN LIBYA — BETWEEN MILITIAS AND THE SEA
Camille Baker - the intercept
May 16 2019, 9:27 a.m.
THE LIVES OF hundreds of migrants and refugees are under threat in Libya as the conflict there nears detention centers, according to a release yesterday from Amnesty International.
Two people were injured last week when an airstrike hit about 100 meters away from the Tajoura migrant detention center, where some 500 migrants and refugees are being held, said Amnesty. Three days later, another airstrike hit near the facility, which is east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Weapons are being stored in a warehouse in the same compound as the detention center, suggesting that some fighters are using the compound as a military complex, according to Amnesty’s sources.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson Charlie Yaxley said Wednesday at a press briefing that the agency is very concerned for the approximately 3,300 refugees and migrants held in detention centers close to the fighting. “UNHCR is in a race against time to urgently move refugees and migrants out of detention centers to safety, and we urge the international community to come forward with offers of evacuation, humanitarian corridors, whatever it takes to get people out of harm’s way,” he said.
In the past week, he added, 944 people have left the Libyan coast in boats, and 65 have drowned. Of those who survived, the majority were returned to Libya, leaving hundreds of migrants wedged between life-threatening danger on both sides.
“All these refugees from all over Africa are stuck in this really dangerous situation where they have nowhere to go,” Philippe Nassif, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty USA told The Intercept.
Libya has been in a state of conflict since 2011, when the U.S. and other NATO countries intervened in a popular uprising to topple dictator Moammar Gaddafi. A collection of tribes grappled for control in the wake of Gaddafi’s death, establishing rival fiefdoms across the country. Eventually, those groups formed armed militias.
Cmdr. Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Libyan National Army, a political faction loyal to the Tobruk government in Libya’s east, announced a sudden attack on Tripoli on April 4. The military advance came in spite of a U.N.-mediated peace effort between the internationally recognized government of Libya, known as the Government of National Accord, and Haftar’s own group in the eastern half of the country. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres was in Libya when Haftar’s advance was announced, and he expressed concern at the military action, saying that he was leaving the country “with a deep concern and a heavy heart.”
The LNA said that it was attempting to restore security and fight gangs and terrorists, but Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj of the Government of National Accord described the attack as a coup.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement on April 7 condemning Haftar’s advance; however, in an apparent policy reversal, President Donald Trump spoke with Haftar on the phone April 15 and praised him for his “significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources,” according to a White House statement. According to the statement, the two also “discussed a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system.”
At a Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing yesterday, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., asked a panel of independent experts whether they could characterize the State Department’s position on who the U.S. is supporting in Libya. They answered with silence.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE have fled violence and poverty in the Middle East and Africa in the last decade, and for many, Libya has represented a significant waypoint on the journey to Europe. As European countries have tightened their borders in response to the influx of migrants, EU institutions and member states have also poured millions of euros, according to Human Rights Watch, into the Tripoli-based government’s effort to intercept boats leaving the country and detain people who are fleeing. Human Rights Watch describes conditions in these detention centers as “nightmarish,” and says people there “face inhuman and degrading conditions and the risk of torture, sexual violence, extortion, and forced labor.”
Libya’s internal conflict has made the situation worse. Last month, for example, the Guardian published video footage of an incident in which militias believed to be part of Haftar’s forces opened fire at the Qasr Ben Ghashir detention center south of Tripoli. The Guardian reported that at least two people were killed.
Amnesty International said in yesterday’s statement that the attempt to take over Tripoli has also resulted in “unlawful attacks that could amount to war crimes,” and called for international prosecutors to investigate. Since the beginning of Haftar’s offensive, more than 454 people in the country have been killed, and 2,154 have been injured, according to the World Health Organization.
According to Amnesty, an eyewitness said civilians were killed last month in attacks in residential areas of the Abu Salim district of Tripoli. Amnesty could not determine the perpetrator of these attacks, but stated that Abu Salim residents believed that LNA forces were responsible. “As the battle for Tripoli unfolds, the warring parties have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian safety and international humanitarian law by carrying out indiscriminate attacks on residential neighborhoods,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, in the statement.
Although the Obama administration led the intervention against Gaddafi, Amnesty USA’s Nassif told The Intercept that the U.S. has largely been disengaged from the conflict since 2012. (The hundreds of U.S. drone strikes in Libya in recent years have been aimed at Islamic State militants and in some cases Al Qaeda.)
“There is a real demand among the Libyans for the United States to reinsert itself here … and push these sides to stop the fighting, at the very least.” He added, “The United States government has a unique ability to be able to do that right now, and we’re hoping Congress will lead the effort.”
Two people were injured last week when an airstrike hit about 100 meters away from the Tajoura migrant detention center, where some 500 migrants and refugees are being held, said Amnesty. Three days later, another airstrike hit near the facility, which is east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Weapons are being stored in a warehouse in the same compound as the detention center, suggesting that some fighters are using the compound as a military complex, according to Amnesty’s sources.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson Charlie Yaxley said Wednesday at a press briefing that the agency is very concerned for the approximately 3,300 refugees and migrants held in detention centers close to the fighting. “UNHCR is in a race against time to urgently move refugees and migrants out of detention centers to safety, and we urge the international community to come forward with offers of evacuation, humanitarian corridors, whatever it takes to get people out of harm’s way,” he said.
In the past week, he added, 944 people have left the Libyan coast in boats, and 65 have drowned. Of those who survived, the majority were returned to Libya, leaving hundreds of migrants wedged between life-threatening danger on both sides.
“All these refugees from all over Africa are stuck in this really dangerous situation where they have nowhere to go,” Philippe Nassif, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty USA told The Intercept.
Libya has been in a state of conflict since 2011, when the U.S. and other NATO countries intervened in a popular uprising to topple dictator Moammar Gaddafi. A collection of tribes grappled for control in the wake of Gaddafi’s death, establishing rival fiefdoms across the country. Eventually, those groups formed armed militias.
Cmdr. Khalifa Haftar, who heads the Libyan National Army, a political faction loyal to the Tobruk government in Libya’s east, announced a sudden attack on Tripoli on April 4. The military advance came in spite of a U.N.-mediated peace effort between the internationally recognized government of Libya, known as the Government of National Accord, and Haftar’s own group in the eastern half of the country. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres was in Libya when Haftar’s advance was announced, and he expressed concern at the military action, saying that he was leaving the country “with a deep concern and a heavy heart.”
The LNA said that it was attempting to restore security and fight gangs and terrorists, but Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj of the Government of National Accord described the attack as a coup.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement on April 7 condemning Haftar’s advance; however, in an apparent policy reversal, President Donald Trump spoke with Haftar on the phone April 15 and praised him for his “significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources,” according to a White House statement. According to the statement, the two also “discussed a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system.”
At a Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing yesterday, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., asked a panel of independent experts whether they could characterize the State Department’s position on who the U.S. is supporting in Libya. They answered with silence.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE have fled violence and poverty in the Middle East and Africa in the last decade, and for many, Libya has represented a significant waypoint on the journey to Europe. As European countries have tightened their borders in response to the influx of migrants, EU institutions and member states have also poured millions of euros, according to Human Rights Watch, into the Tripoli-based government’s effort to intercept boats leaving the country and detain people who are fleeing. Human Rights Watch describes conditions in these detention centers as “nightmarish,” and says people there “face inhuman and degrading conditions and the risk of torture, sexual violence, extortion, and forced labor.”
Libya’s internal conflict has made the situation worse. Last month, for example, the Guardian published video footage of an incident in which militias believed to be part of Haftar’s forces opened fire at the Qasr Ben Ghashir detention center south of Tripoli. The Guardian reported that at least two people were killed.
Amnesty International said in yesterday’s statement that the attempt to take over Tripoli has also resulted in “unlawful attacks that could amount to war crimes,” and called for international prosecutors to investigate. Since the beginning of Haftar’s offensive, more than 454 people in the country have been killed, and 2,154 have been injured, according to the World Health Organization.
According to Amnesty, an eyewitness said civilians were killed last month in attacks in residential areas of the Abu Salim district of Tripoli. Amnesty could not determine the perpetrator of these attacks, but stated that Abu Salim residents believed that LNA forces were responsible. “As the battle for Tripoli unfolds, the warring parties have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian safety and international humanitarian law by carrying out indiscriminate attacks on residential neighborhoods,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, in the statement.
Although the Obama administration led the intervention against Gaddafi, Amnesty USA’s Nassif told The Intercept that the U.S. has largely been disengaged from the conflict since 2012. (The hundreds of U.S. drone strikes in Libya in recent years have been aimed at Islamic State militants and in some cases Al Qaeda.)
“There is a real demand among the Libyans for the United States to reinsert itself here … and push these sides to stop the fighting, at the very least.” He added, “The United States government has a unique ability to be able to do that right now, and we’re hoping Congress will lead the effort.”
'Terrifying' Ebola epidemic out of control in DRC, say experts
Sarah Boseley Health editor
the guardian
Wed 15 May 2019 00.00 EDT
An Ebola epidemic in a conflict-riven region of Democratic Republic of Congo is out of control and could become as serious as the outbreak that devastated three countries in west Africa between 2013 and 2016, experts and aid chiefs have warned.
New cases over the past month have increased at the fastest rate since the outbreak began last year, as aid agencies struggle to enact a public health response in areas that have suffered decades of neglect and conflict, with incredibly fragile health systems and regular outbreaks of deadly violence involving armed groups.
“I’m very concerned – as concerned as one can be,” said Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust, who called for a ceasefire to allow health teams to reach the sick and protect others in the community.
“Whether it gets to the absolute scale of west Africa or not, none of us know, but this is massive in comparison with any other outbreak in the history of Ebola and it is still expanding. It’s remarkable it hasn’t spread more geographically but the numbers are frightening and the fact that they are going up is terrifying.”
A six- to nine-month ceasefire, brokered by the UN, the Red Cross or similar bodies, is vital to stopping the spread, he said. “There was violence in west Africa, in Freetown and Monrovia, but this is on a different scale and it is coming from multiple sources.”
More than 1,600 people have been infected with the Ebola virus in the North Kivu region of DRC and more than 1,000 have died so far – the great majority women and children. At least 10 months since the outbreak began, the numbers are rising steadily and the fatality rate is higher than in previous outbreaks, at about 67%.
Returning from a visit to his teams in the region, David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, called for a “reset” in the response. “The situation is far more dangerous than the statistic of 1,000 deaths, itself the second largest in history, suggests and the suspension of key services threatens to create a lethal inflection point in the trajectory of the disease,” he said. “The danger is that the number of cases spirals out of control, despite a proven vaccine and treatment.”
IRC teams, who have had three triage units in health centres burned down, have warned that the situation in North Kivu is increasingly volatile and is making progress against the disease impossible. Last week, fighters from the armed Mai-Mai rebel group attacked a treatment centre in Butembo, one of the towns at the centre of the crisis. This week, two patients were killed during an assault on a treatment centre in Katwa, the second such incident in the town this month.
The WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also voiced profound disquiet. In March, Dr Tedros said the Ebola outbreak was contracting and would be over in six months. After a visit at the end of April with the regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, he said he was deeply worried about the situation. “Cases are increasing because of violent acts that set us back each time,” he said.
The pair went to Butembo, where a WHO epidemiologist, Dr Richard Mouzoko, was killed by armed men while he and colleagues were working on the Ebola response.
“We are entering a phase where we will need major shifts in the response,” said Dr Tedros. “WHO and partners cannot tackle these challenges without the international community stepping in to fill the sizeable funding gap.” Only half of the currently requested funds have been received, which could lead to WHO and partners rolling back some activities when they are most needed.
Those on the frontline in North Kivu fear no end is in sight. Whitney Elmer, a country director for Mercy Corps, one of the humanitarian NGOs working on preventing the spread, said there had been “a drastic change in the security situation”, which was causing a big rise in the number of cases.
Elmer said there had been about 400 cases over the past month – the highest figure for that time period since the outbreak began – and the number of new cases was increasing at a much higher rate than seen previously.
“We are very concerned,” she said, adding that there was real potential for the outbreak to spread to neighbouring Rwanda or Uganda.
Frontline workers say there has not been enough community involvement and that bringing in armed police and especially cancelling elections in the region have provoked hostility and suspicion. “The overall strategy has been to go full force to do things as quickly as possible,” said Elmer. She added that it was vital that local people and organisations were included in decision-making.
Médecins Sans Frontières, whose volunteer doctors have been at the forefront of every Ebola outbreak, agreed that the failure to engage communities had been a disaster.
“We are very concerned and the signs around the outbreak response are not good right now,” said Kate White, one of its emergency managers.
New cases should be picked up by routine surveillance and testing the contacts of people who fall ill. “But what we see right now is that the majority of confirmed cases are coming through community deaths. It’s a very worrying sign,” she said. “It means communities are not aware or not active participants in the response. People die in their communities and they have the ability to transmit the virus to as many people as possible.”
She said agencies needed to have the local people actively working against Ebola. “Anything else is a band-aid solution.”
WHO recently announced an expansion of the vaccination guidelines and the introduction of a second vaccine to try to protect people. Experimental drugs have also been given to 700 people, although nobody yet knows how successful they have been. But unless it is possible to reach affected communities with vaccines and drugs, the new technologies are useless.
“The tragedy is that we have the technical means to stop Ebola, but until all parties halt attacks on the response, it will be very difficult to end this outbreak,” Dr Tedros tweeted on Friday.
New cases over the past month have increased at the fastest rate since the outbreak began last year, as aid agencies struggle to enact a public health response in areas that have suffered decades of neglect and conflict, with incredibly fragile health systems and regular outbreaks of deadly violence involving armed groups.
“I’m very concerned – as concerned as one can be,” said Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust, who called for a ceasefire to allow health teams to reach the sick and protect others in the community.
“Whether it gets to the absolute scale of west Africa or not, none of us know, but this is massive in comparison with any other outbreak in the history of Ebola and it is still expanding. It’s remarkable it hasn’t spread more geographically but the numbers are frightening and the fact that they are going up is terrifying.”
A six- to nine-month ceasefire, brokered by the UN, the Red Cross or similar bodies, is vital to stopping the spread, he said. “There was violence in west Africa, in Freetown and Monrovia, but this is on a different scale and it is coming from multiple sources.”
More than 1,600 people have been infected with the Ebola virus in the North Kivu region of DRC and more than 1,000 have died so far – the great majority women and children. At least 10 months since the outbreak began, the numbers are rising steadily and the fatality rate is higher than in previous outbreaks, at about 67%.
Returning from a visit to his teams in the region, David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, called for a “reset” in the response. “The situation is far more dangerous than the statistic of 1,000 deaths, itself the second largest in history, suggests and the suspension of key services threatens to create a lethal inflection point in the trajectory of the disease,” he said. “The danger is that the number of cases spirals out of control, despite a proven vaccine and treatment.”
IRC teams, who have had three triage units in health centres burned down, have warned that the situation in North Kivu is increasingly volatile and is making progress against the disease impossible. Last week, fighters from the armed Mai-Mai rebel group attacked a treatment centre in Butembo, one of the towns at the centre of the crisis. This week, two patients were killed during an assault on a treatment centre in Katwa, the second such incident in the town this month.
The WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also voiced profound disquiet. In March, Dr Tedros said the Ebola outbreak was contracting and would be over in six months. After a visit at the end of April with the regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, he said he was deeply worried about the situation. “Cases are increasing because of violent acts that set us back each time,” he said.
The pair went to Butembo, where a WHO epidemiologist, Dr Richard Mouzoko, was killed by armed men while he and colleagues were working on the Ebola response.
“We are entering a phase where we will need major shifts in the response,” said Dr Tedros. “WHO and partners cannot tackle these challenges without the international community stepping in to fill the sizeable funding gap.” Only half of the currently requested funds have been received, which could lead to WHO and partners rolling back some activities when they are most needed.
Those on the frontline in North Kivu fear no end is in sight. Whitney Elmer, a country director for Mercy Corps, one of the humanitarian NGOs working on preventing the spread, said there had been “a drastic change in the security situation”, which was causing a big rise in the number of cases.
Elmer said there had been about 400 cases over the past month – the highest figure for that time period since the outbreak began – and the number of new cases was increasing at a much higher rate than seen previously.
“We are very concerned,” she said, adding that there was real potential for the outbreak to spread to neighbouring Rwanda or Uganda.
Frontline workers say there has not been enough community involvement and that bringing in armed police and especially cancelling elections in the region have provoked hostility and suspicion. “The overall strategy has been to go full force to do things as quickly as possible,” said Elmer. She added that it was vital that local people and organisations were included in decision-making.
Médecins Sans Frontières, whose volunteer doctors have been at the forefront of every Ebola outbreak, agreed that the failure to engage communities had been a disaster.
“We are very concerned and the signs around the outbreak response are not good right now,” said Kate White, one of its emergency managers.
New cases should be picked up by routine surveillance and testing the contacts of people who fall ill. “But what we see right now is that the majority of confirmed cases are coming through community deaths. It’s a very worrying sign,” she said. “It means communities are not aware or not active participants in the response. People die in their communities and they have the ability to transmit the virus to as many people as possible.”
She said agencies needed to have the local people actively working against Ebola. “Anything else is a band-aid solution.”
WHO recently announced an expansion of the vaccination guidelines and the introduction of a second vaccine to try to protect people. Experimental drugs have also been given to 700 people, although nobody yet knows how successful they have been. But unless it is possible to reach affected communities with vaccines and drugs, the new technologies are useless.
“The tragedy is that we have the technical means to stop Ebola, but until all parties halt attacks on the response, it will be very difficult to end this outbreak,” Dr Tedros tweeted on Friday.
how stupid are these voters???
Duterte drug war ally and Marcos daughter set for Philippines seats
Loyalists’ victories in midterm elections will hand populist president more power
Carmela Fonbuena in Manila
the guardian
Tue 14 May 2019 03.45 EDT
The architect of Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines has almost certainly won a senate seat in the country’s midterm elections, prompting concerns among victims’ groups.
Former police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is among Duterte’s allies who were on track to take nine of 12 open seats in the upper house, with 95% of ballots counted. The senate has previously been a bulwark against some of the president’s most controversial proposals.
“[Dela Rosa] now has his own influence and clout, independent of the president,” said Kristina Conti, a lawyer for the victims’ group Rise Up for Life and for Rights, which filed criminal and civil cases against police in relation to Duterte’s drug war. “He might use his political clout to whitewash investigations into the human rights violations of the police.”
Before the elections, families who lost loved ones in the drug war agreed not to vote for Dela Rosa. “Now that he’s going to be a senator, two mothers who filed cases against police told me they’re afraid for their security,” said Rubilyn Litao, a church worker helping those affected pursue cases against the police.
More than 18,000 positions were at stake in the vote, primarily local posts, but also half the senate and nearly 300 seats in the lower house of representatives.
Duterte’s deadly crackdown has drawn international censure, but is central to the populist appeal that has buoyed his remarkable standing among Filipinos since taking the presidency in 2016. Administration loyalist candidates for the senate were heading for a resounding win after Monday’s vote.
Another of Duterte’s hand-picked candidates on course for a senate seat is Imee Marcos, daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
She is poised to beat scions of political families who fought her father’s dictatorship, including Senator Paolo “Bam” Benigno Aquino IV. He is the nephew and namesake of Benigno Aquino Jr, whose assassination in 1983 invigorated opposition to the Marcos regime.
No candidate from the opposition senatorial ticket made it into the top 12 in the current tally. A number of the candidates have conceded defeat. Historically, the nation’s 24 senators – who serve six-year terms – have had a reputation for being more independently minded than the lower house.
“My fear is there will be no genuine opposition,” said Samira Gutoc, from Marawi City, an opposition candidate who has criticised the imposition of martial law in Mindanao region.
Gutoc has conceded defeat but vowed to continue her opposition to Duterte and push for the rehabilitation of Marawi, which was devastated by a five-month battle between government forces and Islamic State-affiliated militants in 2017.
“This election just gave Duterte carte blanche to push his brand of governance to its logical conclusion: complete transformation of the nation’s political system,” the analyst Richard Heydarian told AFP.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, the president of the opposition Liberal party, said: “We need to strengthen our ranks as well as our resolve to face the coming challenges.”
As part of his drug crackdown that has killed more than 5,000 people, Duterte has pledged to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12.
The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.
He also promised to rewrite the nation’s constitution to create a federal republic in which regions would be given more power to tackle deep-rooted poverty.
However, opponents see those plans as an effort to extend his hold on power or weaken the nation’s democratic institutions.
Former police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is among Duterte’s allies who were on track to take nine of 12 open seats in the upper house, with 95% of ballots counted. The senate has previously been a bulwark against some of the president’s most controversial proposals.
“[Dela Rosa] now has his own influence and clout, independent of the president,” said Kristina Conti, a lawyer for the victims’ group Rise Up for Life and for Rights, which filed criminal and civil cases against police in relation to Duterte’s drug war. “He might use his political clout to whitewash investigations into the human rights violations of the police.”
Before the elections, families who lost loved ones in the drug war agreed not to vote for Dela Rosa. “Now that he’s going to be a senator, two mothers who filed cases against police told me they’re afraid for their security,” said Rubilyn Litao, a church worker helping those affected pursue cases against the police.
More than 18,000 positions were at stake in the vote, primarily local posts, but also half the senate and nearly 300 seats in the lower house of representatives.
Duterte’s deadly crackdown has drawn international censure, but is central to the populist appeal that has buoyed his remarkable standing among Filipinos since taking the presidency in 2016. Administration loyalist candidates for the senate were heading for a resounding win after Monday’s vote.
Another of Duterte’s hand-picked candidates on course for a senate seat is Imee Marcos, daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
She is poised to beat scions of political families who fought her father’s dictatorship, including Senator Paolo “Bam” Benigno Aquino IV. He is the nephew and namesake of Benigno Aquino Jr, whose assassination in 1983 invigorated opposition to the Marcos regime.
No candidate from the opposition senatorial ticket made it into the top 12 in the current tally. A number of the candidates have conceded defeat. Historically, the nation’s 24 senators – who serve six-year terms – have had a reputation for being more independently minded than the lower house.
“My fear is there will be no genuine opposition,” said Samira Gutoc, from Marawi City, an opposition candidate who has criticised the imposition of martial law in Mindanao region.
Gutoc has conceded defeat but vowed to continue her opposition to Duterte and push for the rehabilitation of Marawi, which was devastated by a five-month battle between government forces and Islamic State-affiliated militants in 2017.
“This election just gave Duterte carte blanche to push his brand of governance to its logical conclusion: complete transformation of the nation’s political system,” the analyst Richard Heydarian told AFP.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, the president of the opposition Liberal party, said: “We need to strengthen our ranks as well as our resolve to face the coming challenges.”
As part of his drug crackdown that has killed more than 5,000 people, Duterte has pledged to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12.
The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.
He also promised to rewrite the nation’s constitution to create a federal republic in which regions would be given more power to tackle deep-rooted poverty.
However, opponents see those plans as an effort to extend his hold on power or weaken the nation’s democratic institutions.
Poland cancels Israeli visit over WWII property restitution row
Agence France-Presse - raw story
13 MAY 2019 AT 05:57 ET
A model of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw in 2013, 70 years after it was destroyed during World War II. Poland insists the issue of the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust is closed AFP/File / WOJTEK RADWANSKI
Poland on Monday said it had cancelled a visit by Israeli officials over their intention to raise the issue of the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, a matter Warsaw insists is closed.
“Poland decided to cancel the visit of Israeli officials after the Israeli side made last minute changes in the composition of the delegation suggesting that the talks would primarily focus on the issues related to property restitution,” the foreign ministry said in a statement posted to its website.
It said a delegation headed by Avi Cohen-Scali, the director general of the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, had been due in Warsaw on 13 May.
Several thousand nationalists rallied in the Polish capital on Saturday against a US law on the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, an issue which has surfaced ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
Poland’s governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party as well as the centrist and liberal opposition have downplayed the law signed by US President Donald Trump in May 2018, insisting that it will have no impact on Poland.
The US Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act — known as the 447 law — requires the US State Department to report to Congress on the progress of countries including Poland on the restitution of Jewish assets seized during World War II and its aftermath.
Pre-war Poland was a Jewish heartland, with a centuries-old community numbering some 3.2 million, or around 10 percent of the country’s population at the time.
Anti-Semitic concerns regarding Poland have recently resurfaced.
Last year, Warsaw passed a law that made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in Nazi German war crimes.
The move sparked an outcry from Israel, which saw it as an attempt to ban testimonials on Polish crimes against Jews.
In response, Warsaw amended the law to remove the possibility of fines or a prison sentence.
In February, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew Poland’s ire by saying “Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk.”
In April, the World Jewish Congress condemned a Polish town after reports that residents hung and burnt an effigy “made to look like a stereotypical Jew” in a revival of an old Easter tradition.
“Poland decided to cancel the visit of Israeli officials after the Israeli side made last minute changes in the composition of the delegation suggesting that the talks would primarily focus on the issues related to property restitution,” the foreign ministry said in a statement posted to its website.
It said a delegation headed by Avi Cohen-Scali, the director general of the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, had been due in Warsaw on 13 May.
Several thousand nationalists rallied in the Polish capital on Saturday against a US law on the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, an issue which has surfaced ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
Poland’s governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party as well as the centrist and liberal opposition have downplayed the law signed by US President Donald Trump in May 2018, insisting that it will have no impact on Poland.
The US Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act — known as the 447 law — requires the US State Department to report to Congress on the progress of countries including Poland on the restitution of Jewish assets seized during World War II and its aftermath.
Pre-war Poland was a Jewish heartland, with a centuries-old community numbering some 3.2 million, or around 10 percent of the country’s population at the time.
Anti-Semitic concerns regarding Poland have recently resurfaced.
Last year, Warsaw passed a law that made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in Nazi German war crimes.
The move sparked an outcry from Israel, which saw it as an attempt to ban testimonials on Polish crimes against Jews.
In response, Warsaw amended the law to remove the possibility of fines or a prison sentence.
In February, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew Poland’s ire by saying “Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk.”
In April, the World Jewish Congress condemned a Polish town after reports that residents hung and burnt an effigy “made to look like a stereotypical Jew” in a revival of an old Easter tradition.
george carlin was right!!!
US is hotbed of climate change denial, major global survey finds
Exclusive: Out of 23 big countries, only Saudi Arabia and Indonesia had higher proportion of doubters
Oliver Milman in New York and Fiona Harvey
the guardian
Wed 8 May 2019 02.00 EDT
The US is a hotbed of climate science denial when compared with other countries, with international polling finding a significant number of Americans do not believe human-driven climate change is occurring.
A total of 13% of Americans polled in a 23-country survey conducted by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project agreed with the statement that the climate is changing “but human activity is not responsible at all”. A further 5% said the climate was not changing.
Only Saudi Arabia (16%) and Indonesia (18%) had a higher proportion of people doubtful of manmade climate change.
Americans were also more likely than any other western country polled to say they did not know whether the climate was changing or people were responsible – a total of 13% said this.
But despite these views, the great majority of US citizens do accept the science of climate change, with nearly four in 10 saying human activity was at least partly responsible, potentially with other factors, and a further third taking the stronger view that human activity is the dominant cause.
Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists, warned of the dire consequences of continued global warming, indicating the window of opportunity for action had narrowed to as little as 12 years.
A global movement of young people calling for action has sprung up as a result, spearheaded by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, giving way in London to a more feisty display of street protest orchestrated by the Extinction Rebellion group.
In the US, street protests have been less visible but the political landscape around climate change has been transformed by the Green New Deal, an effort by the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to spur a second world war-level mobilisation to stem the increasingly severe hurricanes and wildfires that are racking the country.
This week a UN global assessment report, compiled over three years by more than 450 scientists and diplomats, warned that a million species are at risk, largely as a result of human actions that are accelerating the decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems at an alarming rate.
But wider denial of climate science is down to a concerted campaign of misinformation by fossil fuel interests and aspects of American character, according to Margaret Klein Salamon, a clinical psychologist who founded the advocacy group Climate Mobilization.
“The Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry have put billions of dollars into lying to the American public, even sending literature to science teachers in schools,” Salamon said. “They are so well organised and have managed to turn climate change into a controversial subject that gets shut down. It’s clearly working.
“There is also the issue of American individualism, remnants of manifest destiny, that don’t set us up well for understanding that we are part of the web of life. The American dream is quite self-involved. We need a new American dream.”
Americans also appear unusually prone to climate-related conspiracy theories, the YouGov data suggests. A total of 17% of those polled agreed that “the idea of manmade global warming is a hoax that was invented to deceive people”.
Belief in this conspiracy theory, which was previously invoked by Donald Trump, who falsely claimed climate change was made up by China, increases with age and also conservative political ideology. A total of 52% of Americans who described themselves as “very rightwing” to YouGov insisted global warming was a hoax.
In Europe, fewer than one in 10 people across the major countries surveyed thought the climate was not changing or not changing owing to human activity, with only Poland showing a slightly higher number, with 12% taking one of these views.
In the UK, the public’s appetite for stronger action on climate change appears to have increased markedly in the past few weeks alone, after this polling was carried out. The Extinction Rebellion mass protests have met with broad support, and the youth activist Thunberg was greeted by senior politicians, including the Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the environment secretary, Michael Gove.
Last week the UK government’s statutory adviser, the Committee on Climate Change, recommended ways in which the UK could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by mid-century, and the UK parliament voted that the world was in a state of “climate emergency” and that action must be taken accordingly.
Individuals often shrug that there is little they can do on their own – but the YouGov survey found people are already examining their own shopping habits for environmental reasons.
A clear majority of those surveyed across all countries took the view that it was fairly or very important to buy ethical goods made in socially and environmentally responsible ways.
Perhaps surprisingly, support for ethical shopping was weakest in Germany, with only 54% of people regarding ethical shopping as important, while 40% of people in the UK and the US viewed it as unimportant.
The YouGov polling data, published exclusively by the Guardian, shows a clear majority of people around the world think climate change is happening and that it is all or partly down to human actions.
Though holdouts still remain, particularly among people with self-described very rightwing political views – a third of whom either took a sceptical stance or said they did not know when asked about climate change – there appears a mandate in this data for politicians to take a bolder approach to dealing with global warming, said Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network Europe, a civil society group.
“Poll after poll confirms that there is a large majority of citizens who recognise that climate change is happening and is manmade,” said Trio. “Citizens expect governments to act and reduce our negative impact on the climate. Governments have the obligation to drastically increase emission reductions and protect their citizens from climate disasters.”
A total of 13% of Americans polled in a 23-country survey conducted by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project agreed with the statement that the climate is changing “but human activity is not responsible at all”. A further 5% said the climate was not changing.
Only Saudi Arabia (16%) and Indonesia (18%) had a higher proportion of people doubtful of manmade climate change.
Americans were also more likely than any other western country polled to say they did not know whether the climate was changing or people were responsible – a total of 13% said this.
But despite these views, the great majority of US citizens do accept the science of climate change, with nearly four in 10 saying human activity was at least partly responsible, potentially with other factors, and a further third taking the stronger view that human activity is the dominant cause.
Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists, warned of the dire consequences of continued global warming, indicating the window of opportunity for action had narrowed to as little as 12 years.
A global movement of young people calling for action has sprung up as a result, spearheaded by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, giving way in London to a more feisty display of street protest orchestrated by the Extinction Rebellion group.
In the US, street protests have been less visible but the political landscape around climate change has been transformed by the Green New Deal, an effort by the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to spur a second world war-level mobilisation to stem the increasingly severe hurricanes and wildfires that are racking the country.
This week a UN global assessment report, compiled over three years by more than 450 scientists and diplomats, warned that a million species are at risk, largely as a result of human actions that are accelerating the decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems at an alarming rate.
But wider denial of climate science is down to a concerted campaign of misinformation by fossil fuel interests and aspects of American character, according to Margaret Klein Salamon, a clinical psychologist who founded the advocacy group Climate Mobilization.
“The Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry have put billions of dollars into lying to the American public, even sending literature to science teachers in schools,” Salamon said. “They are so well organised and have managed to turn climate change into a controversial subject that gets shut down. It’s clearly working.
“There is also the issue of American individualism, remnants of manifest destiny, that don’t set us up well for understanding that we are part of the web of life. The American dream is quite self-involved. We need a new American dream.”
Americans also appear unusually prone to climate-related conspiracy theories, the YouGov data suggests. A total of 17% of those polled agreed that “the idea of manmade global warming is a hoax that was invented to deceive people”.
Belief in this conspiracy theory, which was previously invoked by Donald Trump, who falsely claimed climate change was made up by China, increases with age and also conservative political ideology. A total of 52% of Americans who described themselves as “very rightwing” to YouGov insisted global warming was a hoax.
In Europe, fewer than one in 10 people across the major countries surveyed thought the climate was not changing or not changing owing to human activity, with only Poland showing a slightly higher number, with 12% taking one of these views.
In the UK, the public’s appetite for stronger action on climate change appears to have increased markedly in the past few weeks alone, after this polling was carried out. The Extinction Rebellion mass protests have met with broad support, and the youth activist Thunberg was greeted by senior politicians, including the Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the environment secretary, Michael Gove.
Last week the UK government’s statutory adviser, the Committee on Climate Change, recommended ways in which the UK could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by mid-century, and the UK parliament voted that the world was in a state of “climate emergency” and that action must be taken accordingly.
Individuals often shrug that there is little they can do on their own – but the YouGov survey found people are already examining their own shopping habits for environmental reasons.
A clear majority of those surveyed across all countries took the view that it was fairly or very important to buy ethical goods made in socially and environmentally responsible ways.
Perhaps surprisingly, support for ethical shopping was weakest in Germany, with only 54% of people regarding ethical shopping as important, while 40% of people in the UK and the US viewed it as unimportant.
The YouGov polling data, published exclusively by the Guardian, shows a clear majority of people around the world think climate change is happening and that it is all or partly down to human actions.
Though holdouts still remain, particularly among people with self-described very rightwing political views – a third of whom either took a sceptical stance or said they did not know when asked about climate change – there appears a mandate in this data for politicians to take a bolder approach to dealing with global warming, said Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network Europe, a civil society group.
“Poll after poll confirms that there is a large majority of citizens who recognise that climate change is happening and is manmade,” said Trio. “Citizens expect governments to act and reduce our negative impact on the climate. Governments have the obligation to drastically increase emission reductions and protect their citizens from climate disasters.”
Britain sets record of 7 days without coal power as renewables surge
UK to shutter all coal plants by 2025.
JOE ROMM - thinkprogress
MAY 8, 2019, 1:39 PM
Great Britain’s electrical grid has gone more than seven days without burning any coal as of Wednesday morning, the longest stretch on record since the Industrial Revolution began in England over two centuries ago.
Meanwhile, plummeting prices for wind and solar power have helped renewable energy sources surge to meet a quarter of electricity demand during this coal-free week — more than the demand met by nuclear power. In fact, wind power alone accounted for some 27% of British power on Saturday, greater than even natural gas.
What the U.K. is demonstrating this week is that coal is not needed to power a major economy, and that renewable energy sources can shoulder a bigger and bigger share of the load.
Coal power’s share of British electricity generation has been dropping sharply in recent years — from nearly 40% in 2012 to a mere 5% last year. Two years ago, the country committed to stop generating electricity with coal entirely by 2025.
Britain’s National Grid utility reported its first coal-free day in April 2017, and the previous record for going coal-free was 90 hours. But, as of publication, National Grid reports the country is at 172 hours coal-free and counting.
“As more and more renewables come onto our energy system, coal-free runs like this are going to increasingly seem like the new normal,” a National Grid spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The U.K. currently has only six operational coal plants still running. England has five, Wales has one, and Scotland went coal-free back in 2016. The goal is for these remaining plants to shutter over the next few years.
But even when all of the coal plants in Britain have closed, it will still be generating a substantial portion of its electricity with natural gas — as much as 40%.
Given that the country has a target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in three decades — and is actively considering a net-zero emissions goal for 2050 — the next step will be to start phasing out gas plants. Much of that natural gas generation appears likely to be replaced by offshore wind, which the U.K. expects will generate over 30% of the country’s electricity from by 2030.
Global coal use has flattened in recent years. The rise in coal use in the developing world has slowed while much of the developed world, including the United States, has starting replacing coal use — initially with natural gas, but more and more with renewable energy generation.
Meanwhile, plummeting prices for wind and solar power have helped renewable energy sources surge to meet a quarter of electricity demand during this coal-free week — more than the demand met by nuclear power. In fact, wind power alone accounted for some 27% of British power on Saturday, greater than even natural gas.
What the U.K. is demonstrating this week is that coal is not needed to power a major economy, and that renewable energy sources can shoulder a bigger and bigger share of the load.
Coal power’s share of British electricity generation has been dropping sharply in recent years — from nearly 40% in 2012 to a mere 5% last year. Two years ago, the country committed to stop generating electricity with coal entirely by 2025.
Britain’s National Grid utility reported its first coal-free day in April 2017, and the previous record for going coal-free was 90 hours. But, as of publication, National Grid reports the country is at 172 hours coal-free and counting.
“As more and more renewables come onto our energy system, coal-free runs like this are going to increasingly seem like the new normal,” a National Grid spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The U.K. currently has only six operational coal plants still running. England has five, Wales has one, and Scotland went coal-free back in 2016. The goal is for these remaining plants to shutter over the next few years.
But even when all of the coal plants in Britain have closed, it will still be generating a substantial portion of its electricity with natural gas — as much as 40%.
Given that the country has a target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in three decades — and is actively considering a net-zero emissions goal for 2050 — the next step will be to start phasing out gas plants. Much of that natural gas generation appears likely to be replaced by offshore wind, which the U.K. expects will generate over 30% of the country’s electricity from by 2030.
Global coal use has flattened in recent years. The rise in coal use in the developing world has slowed while much of the developed world, including the United States, has starting replacing coal use — initially with natural gas, but more and more with renewable energy generation.
How to fix nature and avoid human misery: UN report
Agence France-Presse - raw story
04 MAY 2019 AT 08:12 ET
Revamping global food production, retooling the financial sector, moving beyond GDP as a measure of progress and other “transformative changes” are needed to save Nature and ourselves, a major UN biodiversity report is set to conclude.
Delegates from 130 nations wrap up week-long negotiations in Paris Saturday on the executive summary of a 1,800-page tome authored by 400 scientists, the first UN global assessment of the state of Nature — and its impact on humanity — in 15 years.
The bombshell Summary for Policymakers, to be unveiled on May 6, makes for very grim reading.
Up to a million of Earth’s estimated eight million species face extinction, many of them within decades, according to a draft version obtained by AFP.
All but seven percent of major marine fish stocks are in decline or exploited to the limit of sustainability. At the same time, humanity dumps up to 400 million tonnes of heavy metals, toxic sludge and other waste into oceans and rivers each year.
Since 1990, Earth has lost 2.9 million hectares — an area more than eight times the size of Germany or Vietnam — of forests that play a critical role in absorbing record-level CO2 emissions.
The heavily negotiated text does not make explicit policy recommendations, but will serve “as a basis for redefining our objectives” ahead of a key meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in China next Fall, said Yunne Jai Shin, a researcher at the Research Institute for Development in Marseilles.
But the pressure to set clear targets — similar to the cap on global warming in the 2015 climate treaty inked in the French capital — has sparked calls for a “Paris moment” on biodiversity.
– ‘Harmful subsidies’ –
The new report details how humans are undermining Earth’s capacity to produce fresh water, clean air and productive soil, to name a few “ecosystem services”.
The direct causes of Nature’s degradation — in order of importance — are shrinking habitat and land-use change, hunting for food or illicit trade in body parts, climate change, pollution, and predatory or disease-carrying alien species such as rats, mosquitoes and snakes.
“There are also two big indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change — the number of people in the world and their growing ability to consume,” Robert Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), told AFP ahead of the meeting.
The way humanity produces, distributes and consumes food — accounting for a third of land, 75 percent of fresh water use and a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions — is especially destructive, the report shows.
Fertiliser use, which degrades the soil’s ability to grow plants and absorb CO2, has risen four-fold in just 13 years in Asia, and doubled worldwide since 1990.
“Feeding the world in a sustainable manner entails the transformation of food systems,” the report notes.
Local food production, less demand for meat, fewer chemical inputs, use of renewable power, sustainable limits for fisheries, a sharp decline in tropical deforestation — all are feasible and would help restore Nature.
The report also spotlights “harmful subsidies” that encourage environmentally damaging fishing, agriculture, livestock raising, forestry and mining.
– A downward spiral –
The report cites estimates that tax havens finance about 70 percent of vessels implicated in unregulated fishing, and an equal share of the soy and beef sectors that are ravaging the Amazon.
The summary for policymakers maps out what Watson calls “several plausible futures,” some inviting, others less so.
One labelled “economic optimism” sees burgeoning international trade unfettered by regulation. Population growth slows, but per capita consumption is high, leading to more climate change and pollution.
A “reformed markets” variant would feature more policies aimed at poverty alleviation and protecting the environment, but consumer demand remains high, if more equally distributed.
“Global sustainable development” would see politicians and the public prioritise environmental issues and strict regulations. Policies and education promote low population growth, sustainable production and a concept of progress based on well-being, not just gross domestic product (GDP). People eat a lot less meat, and energy consumption declines.
“All variations of this archetype are beneficial for biodiversity,” the underlying report says.
In a kindred world, international institutions weaken, but regional ones pick up the slack toward the same ends.
Finally, the last two scenarios — “business-as-usual” and “regional competition” — plunge the planet into a nightmarish, downward spiral of conflict, growing inequality and continuing degradation of Nature.
Delegates from 130 nations wrap up week-long negotiations in Paris Saturday on the executive summary of a 1,800-page tome authored by 400 scientists, the first UN global assessment of the state of Nature — and its impact on humanity — in 15 years.
The bombshell Summary for Policymakers, to be unveiled on May 6, makes for very grim reading.
Up to a million of Earth’s estimated eight million species face extinction, many of them within decades, according to a draft version obtained by AFP.
All but seven percent of major marine fish stocks are in decline or exploited to the limit of sustainability. At the same time, humanity dumps up to 400 million tonnes of heavy metals, toxic sludge and other waste into oceans and rivers each year.
Since 1990, Earth has lost 2.9 million hectares — an area more than eight times the size of Germany or Vietnam — of forests that play a critical role in absorbing record-level CO2 emissions.
The heavily negotiated text does not make explicit policy recommendations, but will serve “as a basis for redefining our objectives” ahead of a key meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in China next Fall, said Yunne Jai Shin, a researcher at the Research Institute for Development in Marseilles.
But the pressure to set clear targets — similar to the cap on global warming in the 2015 climate treaty inked in the French capital — has sparked calls for a “Paris moment” on biodiversity.
– ‘Harmful subsidies’ –
The new report details how humans are undermining Earth’s capacity to produce fresh water, clean air and productive soil, to name a few “ecosystem services”.
The direct causes of Nature’s degradation — in order of importance — are shrinking habitat and land-use change, hunting for food or illicit trade in body parts, climate change, pollution, and predatory or disease-carrying alien species such as rats, mosquitoes and snakes.
“There are also two big indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change — the number of people in the world and their growing ability to consume,” Robert Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), told AFP ahead of the meeting.
The way humanity produces, distributes and consumes food — accounting for a third of land, 75 percent of fresh water use and a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions — is especially destructive, the report shows.
Fertiliser use, which degrades the soil’s ability to grow plants and absorb CO2, has risen four-fold in just 13 years in Asia, and doubled worldwide since 1990.
“Feeding the world in a sustainable manner entails the transformation of food systems,” the report notes.
Local food production, less demand for meat, fewer chemical inputs, use of renewable power, sustainable limits for fisheries, a sharp decline in tropical deforestation — all are feasible and would help restore Nature.
The report also spotlights “harmful subsidies” that encourage environmentally damaging fishing, agriculture, livestock raising, forestry and mining.
– A downward spiral –
The report cites estimates that tax havens finance about 70 percent of vessels implicated in unregulated fishing, and an equal share of the soy and beef sectors that are ravaging the Amazon.
The summary for policymakers maps out what Watson calls “several plausible futures,” some inviting, others less so.
One labelled “economic optimism” sees burgeoning international trade unfettered by regulation. Population growth slows, but per capita consumption is high, leading to more climate change and pollution.
A “reformed markets” variant would feature more policies aimed at poverty alleviation and protecting the environment, but consumer demand remains high, if more equally distributed.
“Global sustainable development” would see politicians and the public prioritise environmental issues and strict regulations. Policies and education promote low population growth, sustainable production and a concept of progress based on well-being, not just gross domestic product (GDP). People eat a lot less meat, and energy consumption declines.
“All variations of this archetype are beneficial for biodiversity,” the underlying report says.
In a kindred world, international institutions weaken, but regional ones pick up the slack toward the same ends.
Finally, the last two scenarios — “business-as-usual” and “regional competition” — plunge the planet into a nightmarish, downward spiral of conflict, growing inequality and continuing degradation of Nature.
funnies
|
|