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"Completely Illegal": Dr. Feroze Sidhwa on Israel’s "Outrageous" Attacks on Gaza Hospitals & Staff

Democracy Now! — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:58:50 +0000

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

“Completely Illegal”: Dr. Feroze Sidhwa on Israel’s “Outrageous” Attacks on Gaza Hospitals & Staff

Democracy Now! — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:46:37 +0000

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on Monday to discuss a possible new ceasefire in Gaza, we speak with Dr. Feroze Sidhwa about the humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian territory, where Israel has damaged or destroyed much of the health infrastructure since the start of the war in October 2023. Sidhwa is a trauma surgeon in California who volunteered at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. He says Israel’s impunity in attacking hospitals across Gaza is “outrageous behavior” that blatantly violates the rules of war. “Literally every attack on a healthcare facility in Gaza has been justified by … a willful misunderstanding of international law or just outright lies.”

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

Kyrgyz authorities raid homes, offices of Kloop news staff, arrest 8

CPJ Staff — Fri, 30 May 2025 17:47:07 +0000

New York, May 30, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to end the legal persecution of eight former and current Kloop news website staffers arrested this week—including journalists Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Joomart Duulatov, who on Friday were remanded into pretrial detention until July 21 on charges of calling for mass unrest.

“Following Kloop’s forced shutdown last year, the arrest of eight current and former Kloop staffers and incitement charges against journalists Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Joomart Duulatov is a grave escalation of Kyrgyz authorities’ vendetta against Kloop for its critical coverage of government corruption,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “All press members swept up in these targeted raids must be released without delay.”

Between Wednesday and Friday, officers with Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) raided Kloop’s offices and the homes of journalists and staffers in the capital of Bishkek and the southern city of Osh, seizing electronic devices, before taking them to SCNS offices for questioning, according to multiple reports.

Kloop founder Rinat Tuhvatshin called the arrests “abductions,” stating that the SCNS conducted searches and questioned the journalists without lawyers present and did not allow them to make any phone calls.

In a May 30 statement, the SCNS accused Kloop of continuing to work despite the liquidation of its legal entity and said its “illegal work” was “aimed at provoking public discontent … for the subsequent organization of mass unrest.”

With Aleksandrov and Duulatov, an unnamed Kloop accountant detained Friday also remained in SCNS custody. If found guilty on the incitement charges, Aleksandrov and Duulatov could face up to eight years in prison.

A local partner in the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Kloop regularly reports on alleged corruption and abuses by government officials. The outlet’s website has been blocked in Kyrgyzstan since 2023.

The charges against Aleksandrov and Duulatov echo those brought last year against 11 current and former staffers of investigative outlet Temirov Live.

CPJ’s email to SCNS for comment did not immediately receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Department of Education Forced Idaho to Stop Denying Disabled Students an Education. Then Trump Gutted Its Staff.

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman — Tue, 13 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Idaho Statesman. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week.

Time and again, the U.S. Department of Education has been the last resort for parents who say the state of Idaho has failed to educate their children. The federal agency in 2023 ordered Idaho to stop blocking some students with learning disabilities, like dyslexia, from special education. That same year, it flagged that the state’s own reviews of districts and charters obscured the fact that just 20% were fully complying with the federal disability law. Last year, it told the state it must end long delays in services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, which could include speech or physical therapy.

Now President Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle the department.

Idaho’s superintendent of public instruction Debbie Critchfield has celebrated the proposal. She insisted that the move would not change the requirement that states provide special education to students who need it. That would take an act of Congress.

But parents and advocates for students with disabilities say they are worried that no one will effectively ensure schools follow special education law.

“Historically, when left to their own devices, states don’t necessarily do the right thing for kids with disabilities and their families,” said Larry Wexler, a former division director at the federal Office of Special Education Programs, who retired last year after decades at the department.

Former federal Education Department employees who worked on special education monitoring said oversight measures would likely be hampered by the layoffs, which included attorneys who worked with the special education office to provide state monitoring reports.

Gregg Corr, a former division director with that office, said that without the group of attorneys who were focused on enforcing special education law, it will be “really difficult for staff to finalize and issue these reports to states.” He added there may also be a reluctance to take on more complicated issues without running them by attorneys.

“What might have been, you know, inconsistent with the legal requirements six months ago may be fine now — it just depends on how it’s interpreted,” Wexler said.

Before Federal Law, Millions Denied Services

For parents who have been fighting for services for years, the federal oversight has been critical.

After Ashley Brittain, an attorney and mom to children with dyslexia, moved to Idaho in 2021, she realized a key problem: Idaho’s criteria for qualifying students with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia or dysgraphia was so narrow it disqualified some eligible students from receiving services, she said.

Historically, when left to their own devices, states don’t necessarily do the right thing for kids with disabilities and their families.

—Larry Wexler, a former division director at the federal Office of Special Education Programs

Together with Robin Zikmund, the founder of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho who has a son with dyslexia and dysgraphia, Brittain has spent years trying to get the state to acknowledge the disability and provide services to dozens of kids who needed help.

“We’re at the table time and time again, at the eligibility table, where school teams wouldn’t qualify our dyslexic students,” Zikmund previously told the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica. “And it was like, ‘What is going on?’”

Brittain called state officials and told them they were breaking the law. State officials disagreed. No one took action, she said. In 2022, she wrote to the Office of Special Education Programs. In the letter she sent to the federal department, she said the Idaho Department of Education, under former superintendent Sherri Ybarra, was “refusing to entertain any conversations” about changing the way it determined which students were eligible for special education. Ybarra could not be reached for comment.

Before Congress passed what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975 and created the U.S. Department of Education as an agency under the Cabinet about five years later, Brittain would have been on her own.

At the time, nearly 1.8 million students with disabilities weren’t being served by the public schools, according to estimates. Some states had laws prohibiting students with certain disabilities from attending public schools, according to the federal government’s own history.

The law granted students with disabilities access to a “free appropriate public education” — fitting the individual needs of the student — and gave money to states to fulfill the promise. Now, the law also guarantees infants and toddlers with disabilities access to early interventions, such as physical or speech therapy.

The U.S. Department of Education has since been responsible for making sure states follow the law, providing reviews of state performance, distributing money and offering technical assistance to help states improve learning outcomes for students in special education.

The department conducts an annual review of each state, and a more intensive one that’s supposed to be completed roughly every five years. The annual reviews look at discipline numbers, graduation rates and test scores to identify problems and help states to fix them. A five-year review includes a visit to the state and a look at state policies, student data and annual reports. When states need to take corrective action, the federal special education office monitors that they are making the changes.

Idaho is one of about a dozen states currently being monitored, according to the most recent updates on the federal agency’s website.

We’re at the table time and time again, at the eligibility table, where school teams wouldn’t qualify our dyslexic students. And it was like, ‘What is going on?’

—Robin Zikmund, founder of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho

Parent complaints can also trigger a review, as was the case with Brittain in Idaho. After Brittain alleged that the state was wrongfully keeping kids with dyslexia and other disabilities from special education, she waited over a year before she got an answer from the Office of Special Education Programs: She was right. Idaho, it turned out, accepted a lower percentage of students with specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, into special education compared to other states — about half the national average, according to the most recent data reported to the U.S. Department of Education from the 2022-2023 school year.

By then, Idaho had a new state superintendent of public instruction, Critchfield, for whom Brittain campaigned. The Office of Special Education Programs told Critchfield in 2023 that the state needed to demonstrate its policies complied with federal law or update them.

In response, the Idaho Department of Education has updated its special education manual, which has since been approved by the Legislature. It has also directed school districts to review every student found ineligible for special education since 2023 to determine if they needed to be reevaluated.

Parents in Idaho celebrated the victory, which could make it easier for some kids to qualify in a state that has one of the lowest percentages of students who receive special education. But they acknowledged the fix wasn’t perfect and left out students who may have been found ineligible for special education before the federal office identified the problem. The state isn’t tracking the number of students who have since qualified due to the change.

Nicole Fuller, a policy manager at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said a case like this, in which some students are being missed, “truly underscores the need for federal oversight, and, of course, holding states accountable for accurately identifying disabilities.”

Federal oversight isn’t perfect. By the time Idaho addressed Brittain’s complaint, the state had been out of compliance since at least 2015. States that fall out of compliance can be at risk of losing federal funding, although that penalty does not appear to have been used in decades.

The federal government has never fulfilled its promise to fund 40% of each state’s special education costs, but Idaho relied on federal funding for about 18% — around $60 million — of its special education budget during the 2022-2023 school year, state officials said. The rest is made up by the state or by local school districts through referendums. A recent report by an independent Idaho state office estimated special education was underfunded by more than $80 million in 2023.

But U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed by Trump in March, has said that closing the department wouldn’t mean “cutting off funds from those who depend on them” but would eliminate the “bureaucracy” and regulations associated with them.

Critchfield, Idaho’s superintendent, said on Idaho-based The Ranch Podcast that teachers involved in special education spend a lot of time filling out paperwork instead of “focusing on how to help that child be successful.” The changes are about “removing the bureaucracy.”

But Critchfield acknowledged that cuts at the federal level could pose challenges if states have to take on more of an oversight role.

“As much as I am a champion of states doing that, the reality is there would be implications for Idaho and our department,” she said in a statement to the Statesman and ProPublica. The state is looking at what it can do to prepare and “where gaps would exist” should more responsibilities fall to the states.

Zikmund, the advocate who praised Critchfield for being responsive to parents and having an “open-door policy,” said that parents could be better off after the changes with good leadership at the state level, but without it, they could face a “train wreck.”

One test will come in June, when the Office of Special Education Programs is expected to release reports telling states how they performed in their annual reviews. The layoffs and restructuring under Trump are making some advocates question if the federal government will truly hold states to account.

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman.

Otago academics plan declaration on Palestine to ‘face daily horrors’

APR editor — Mon, 12 May 2025 10:30:31 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

A group of New Zealand academics at Otago University have drawn up a “Declaration on Palestine” against genocide, apartheid and scholasticide of Palestinians by Israel that has illegally occupied their indigenous lands for more than seven decades.

The document, which had already drawn more than 300 signatures from staff, students and alumni by the weekend, will be formally adopted at a congress of the Otago Staff for Justice in Palestine (OSJP) group on Thursday.

“At a time when our universities, our public institutions and our political leaders are silent in the face of the daily horrors we are shown from illegally-occupied Palestine, this declaration is an act of solidarity with our Palestinian whānau,” declared Professor Richard Jackson from Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa — The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

“It expresses the brutal truth of what is currently taking place in Palestine, as well as our commitment to international law and human rights, and our social responsibilities as academics.

“We hope the declaration will be an inspiration to others and a call to action at a moment when the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is accelerating at an alarming rate.”

Scholars and students at the university had expressed concern that they did not want to be teaching or learning about the Palestinian genocide in future courses on the history of the Palestinian people, Professor Jackson said.

Nor did they want to feel ashamed when they were asked what they did while the genocide was taking place.

‘Collective moral courage’
“Signing up to the declaration represents an act of individual and collective moral courage, and a public commitment to working to end the genocide.”

In an interview with the Otago Daily Times published at the weekend, Professor Jackson said boycotting academic ties with Israel was among the measures included in a declaration.

The declaration commits its signatories to an academic boycott as part of the wider Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanction (BDS) campaign “until such time as Palestinians enjoy freedom from genocide, apartheid and scholasticide”, they had national self-determination and full and complete enjoyment of human rights, as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The declaration says that given the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled there is a “plausible” case that Israel has been committing genocide, and that all states that are signatory to the Genocide Convention must take all necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide, the signatories commit themselves to an academic boycott.

BDS is a campaign, begun in 2005, to promote economic, social and cultural boycotts of the Israeli government, Israeli companies and companies that support Israel, in an effort to end the occupation of Palestinian territories and win equal rights for Palestinian citizens within Israel.

It draws inspiration from South African anti-apartheid campaigns and the United States civil rights movement.

The full text of the declaration:

The Otago Declaration on the Situation in Palestine

We, the staff, students and graduates, being members of the University of Otago, make the following declaration.

We fully and completely recognise that:
– The Palestinian people have a right under international law to national self-determination;
– The Palestinians have the right to security and the full enjoyment of all human and social rights as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

And furthermore that:
– Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian nation, according to experts, official bodies, international lawyers and human rights organisations;
– Israel operates a system of apartheid in the territories it controls, and denies the full expression and enjoyment of human rights to Palestinians, according to international courts, human rights organisations, legal and academic experts;
– Israel is committing scholasticide, thereby denying Palestinians their right to education;

We recognise that:
– Given the International Court of Justice has ruled that there is a plausible case that Israel has been committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, that all states that are signatory to the Genocide Convention, which includes Aotearoa New Zealand, have a responsibility to take all necessary measures to prevent acts of genocide;

We also acknowledge that as members of a public institution with educational responsibilities:
– We hold a legal and ethical responsibility to act as critic and conscience of society, both individually as members of the University and collectively as a social institution;
– We have a responsibility to follow international law and norms and to act in an ethical manner in our personal and professional endeavours;
– We hold an ethical responsibility to act in solidarity with oppressed and disadvantaged people, including those who struggle against settler colonial regimes or discriminatory apartheid systems and the harmful long-term effects of colonisation;
– We owe a responsibility to fellow educators who are victimised by apartheid and scholasticide;

Therefore, we, the under-signed, do solemnly commit ourselves to:
– Uphold the practices, standards and ethics of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in terms of investment and procurement as called for by Palestinian civil society and international legal bodies; until such time as Palestinians enjoy freedom from genocide, apartheid and scholasticide, national self-determination and full and complete enjoyment of human rights, as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
– Adopt as part of the BDS campaign an Academic Boycott, as called for by Palestinian civil society and international legal bodies; until such time as Palestinians enjoy freedom from genocide, apartheid and scholasticide, national self-determination and full and complete enjoyment of human rights, as codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Otago Declaration congress meeting will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at 12 noon at the Museum Lawn, Dunedin.

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

Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was a Corporate Lobbyist. Now, Her Former Clients are Lobbying the White House.

Newswire Editor — Mon, 05 May 2025 18:44:41 +0000

Six of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ former lobbying clients – including a tobacco company she was lobbying for just last year – have disclosed that they have lobbied the White House offices that Wiles now oversees on public health regulations, AI policy, tariffs and trade, in the first three months of the Trump Administration.

That’s according to a new report authored by Public Citizen Democracy Advocate Jon Golinger that examines the first federal lobbying disclosures filed in late April 2025 that disclose federal lobbying activity during the first three months of the Trump Administration.

The new filings reveal that a longtime Wiles’ lobbying client that has been actively lobbying the Trump White House is Swisher International, a tobacco company that has been engaged in regulatory and legal battles with the Food and Drug Administration over public health restrictions aimed at preventing kids from smoking its “Swishers Sweets” flavored cigarettes. In addition to Swisher’s own company lobbyists, Swisher paid a lobbying firm led by Wiles’ daughter to lobby the White House.

Wiles’ other former lobbying clients who disclosed lobbying the White House during January-March 2025 are:

Mosaic: a fertilizer producer lobbying on critical minerals and trade

Kruger: a toilet paper and packaging company lobbying on tariffs

Zeta Global: a digital marketing company lobbying on AI policy

Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions: lobbying on tax credits

General Motors: lobbying on autonomous vehicles and fuel economy.

Golinger said this level of high-placed access with no ethical guardrails raises red flags that erode public trust.

“These lobbyist disclosures should make every American ask how corporate interests are influencing this White House,” said Golinger. “Chief of Staff Wiles should disclose whether she has been involved in meetings or discussions regarding her former lobbying clients, reveal whether she has been engaged in decision-making about any issues she lobbied the government on and recuse herself going forward from any matters that could benefit her former clients.”

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

NZ doctors defend nationwide strike action over recruitment

APR editor — Thu, 01 May 2025 10:03:53 +0000

By Ruth Hill, RNZ News reporter

Striking senior New Zealand doctors have hit back at the Health Minister’s attack on their union for “forcing” patients to wait longer for surgery and appointments, due to their 24-hour industrial action.

Respiratory and sleep physician Dr Andrew Davies, who was on the picketline outside Wellington Regional Hospital, said for him and his colleagues, it was “not about the money” — it was about the inability to recruit.

“We’ve got vacant jobs that we’re not allowed to advertise,” he said. “It’s lies that they’re not getting rid of frontline staff.

READ MORE: Gallery: Doctors, health workers challenge NZ government over national crisis

“The job is technically there on paper, but if you’re not going to advertise for the job, you’re not going to fill it.

“In our department, we’ve waited months and months and months to fill some jobs, and you don’t just get a doctor next week. It takes six months for them to come.”

Dr Davies said no-one wanted to strike and have their patients miss out on care, but thousands of patients were already missing out on care every day, due to staff shortages.

“Every week, we’ve got empty clinics,” he said. “There is space in the clinics that’s not being used, because there’s not a doctor in the chair there.

“While, today, that’s 20 percent of the work of the week gone, because we’re on strike, in some departments, it’s 20 percent every week.

“Every day of the week, there’s a 20 percent deficit in the number of patients people are seeing.”

5500 doctors on strike
Nationwide, about 5500 members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists are on strike until 11:59pm today, causing the cancellation of about 4300 planned procedures and specialist appointments.

In a social media post, Health Minister Simeon Brown blamed the union for the disruption, saying an updated offer last week — including a $25,000 bonus for those moving to “hard-to-staff regions” — was rejected by the union, before members even saw it.

Union executive director Sarah Dalton said she would be very happy to facilitate a meeting between doctors and the minister — or he could accept the invitation to attend its national conference.

“They would love to feel like someone up there was listening,” she said. “They don’t at the moment.

“We need to move away from rhetoric, and actually have some time and space for meaningful discussion.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re on strike today. After eight months of negotiating, there was nothing on the table from the employer.

“It was only after we called for strike action that anything changed, so let’s do better.”

Critical workforce shortages were undermining patient care and the current pay offer, which amounted to an increase of less than one percent a year for most doctors, would do nothing to fix that, Dalton said.

“How do you tackle vacancies? You put more time and effort in good terms and conditions for your permanent workforce, and you stop spending spending $380 million a year on locums and temps.

“We shouldn’t have that heavy reliance on those people, so we’ve got to change it.”

NZ training doctors for Australia
After many years of study subsidised by the New Zealand taxpayer, Maeve Hume-Nixon recently qualified as a public health specialist, but may yet end up going overseas.

“I actually thought last year that I would have to go to Australia, where I would be paid another $100,000 minimum, because there were no jobs for me here, basically.

Newly qualified public health specialist Dr Maeve Hume-Nixon says she has struggled to get a job in New Zealand but could earn $100,000 more in Australia. Image: RNZ/Ruth Hill

“In the end, I managed to get an emergency extension to my contract and this has continued, but I don’t have security and it’s a pretty frustrating position to be in.”

Neurologist Dr Maas Mollenhauer said he was not able to access the tests he needed to provide care for his patients.

“I’ve seen patients that I have sent for urgent imaging, but they didn’t receive it, and then I got an email from one of my colleagues who was on call, telling me that patient had rocked up to the Emergency Department and, basically, the front half of their skull was full of brain tumour.”

Cancer patients waiting too long
Medical oncologist Dr Sharon Pattison said the health system had reached the point where it was so starved of people and resources, it had become “inefficient”.

“Everyone is waiting for everything, so everything takes longer, and we are waiting until people get seriously ill, before we do anything about it.”

The government’s “faster cancer treatment time” target — 90 percent of patients receiving cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat — would not give the true picture of what was happening for patients, she said.

“For instance, if I have someone with a potential diagnosis of cancer, there are so many points at which they are waiting — waiting for scan, waiting for a biopsy, waiting for a radiologist to report the scan to show us where to get the biopsy.

Medical oncologist Dr Sharon Pattison says some cancer patients are waiting too long to even get diagnosed, by which point it can be too late. Image: RNZ/Ruth Hill

“That radiologist may be overseas, so if I want to talk to that specialist I can’t do that. Then the wait for a pathologist to report on the biopsy can now take up to 6-8 weeks.

“We know that, for some people with cancer, if you wait for that long before we can even make your treatment plan, we’re going to make your outcomes worse.

“The whole system is at the point where we are making people more unwell, because we can’t do what we should be doing for them in the framework that we need to.”

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

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

Labor Department Official Warns That Staff Who Speak With Journalists Face “Serious Legal Consequences”

by Mark Olalde — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:20:00 +0000

by Mark Olalde

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

A top official in the Department of Labor this week informed all staff members that they could face criminal charges if they speak to journalists, former employees or others about agency business.

A memo sent Monday by Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, Jihun Han, and obtained by ProPublica, states that “individuals who disclose confidential information or engage in unauthorized communications with the media may face serious legal consequences.”

Among the ramifications, the memo states, are “potential criminal penalties, depending on the nature of the information and the applicable laws,” and “immediate disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.”

The guidance document went on to say that “any unauthorized communication with the media,” regardless of what information is shared or how it is shared, “will be treated as a serious offense.”

The memo listed laws, regulations and a departmental guide to explain its legal position. Among them was a regulation concerning civil servants’ ethical obligations and a law, the Freedom of Information Act, guaranteeing the public the right to inspect certain public records.

“This message will serve as your only warning,” the memo stated.

The warning comes as current and former Labor Department employees have spoken to the news media about harms they see resulting from the dismantling of portions of their agency, which enforces laws guaranteeing rights to a safe workplace, fair pay and protections against discrimination.

“It’s very chilling,” a Labor Department employee who requested anonymity for fear of retribution told ProPublica. “It’s never a good look when you’re telling people to never talk about what you’re doing.”

Labor Department spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“These types of missives can chill the free flow of information to the press and the public,” said Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “That’s a concern.”

Civil servants do not sacrifice their First Amendment rights by accepting a job with the federal government, but there do exist higher restrictions on what information they can disclose publicly. Government agencies that handle classified information have on rare occasions launched criminal investigations against leakers, but those are typically invoked only when leaks involve classified national security intelligence or protected financial information, Rottman said.

“But normally, disclosures to the press or others would be a matter of employee discipline as opposed to carrying criminal sanctions,” he said.

While the memo raising the possibility of criminal penalties was sent to Labor Department employees, it reflects a common approach by the administration of President Donald Trump to guard against federal government employees speaking to reporters.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, for example, has publicly announced an aggressive pursuit of leakers. Elon Musk, who launched the Department of Government Efficiency, which is at the heart of the shake-up of the federal government, has bragged about his tactics in rooting out leaks at his companies. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blamed alleged leaks by former Pentagon staffers for reigniting controversy over his use of the Signal messaging app to discuss military operations.

Federal employees at various agencies told ProPublica that an air of suspicion has descended on their workplace during Trump’s second term, with rumors flying of surveillance of rank-and-file government workers. In the Department of Agriculture, for example, a banner temporarily appeared on government computers when employees logged in, telling them that “unauthorized or improper use of this system may result in disciplinary action, as well as civil and criminal penalties.”

Agriculture Department spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Labor Department employee told ProPublica that Monday’s memo felt like the latest attack on a workforce already weathering layoffs, spending freezes and reorganizations.

“It’s been horrible. It’s been a deeply exhausting roller coaster,” the employee said. “It’s very difficult to work when you’re in a constant state of being terrorized by your employer.”

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Mark Olalde.

EPA Environmental Justice Staff Seeks Return to Work

Newswire Editor — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 13:41:42 +0000

For the past two months, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staff who had been assigned to work on environmental justice issues have been on paid administrative leave, with no agency access, and under orders not to conduct any official business. A legal complaint filed on their behalf by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) aims to reintegrate them into the EPA workforce with new assignments.

In one of his first flurries of Executive Orders this January, President Trump rescinded 30 years’ worth of executive actions directing EPA to address environmental justice concerns to reduce the disproportionate pollution burden on low-income and minority communities. Days later, EPA shut down its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights and placed nearly 170 employees on administrative leave. While some have been brought back, many others remain on paid leave more than two months later with no official guidance on what comes next for them.

In a complaint filed with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on behalf of all unassigned environmental justice staff, PEER argues they have been on administrative leave well beyond the statutory limit of no more than 10 days in any calendar year. In addition, the complaint contends the staff are being unfairly and illegally punished because of their prior legitimate assignments.

“EPA’s environmental justice staff has been consigned to internal exile through no fault of their own,” stated PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with EPA. “EPA now treats environmental justice work as a stigma rather than valuable experience.”

Federal merit system principles state that employees cannot be discriminated against on the basis of extraneous issues which have no bearing on the job performance. Many of the environmental justice staff have backgrounds in engineering, public health, program management and specialties such as chemistry which have broad application within other EPA operations but are not allowed to do other work.

“Punishing whole classes of public servants on the basis of ideological bias is the opposite of what the merit system guarantees,” added PEER Staff Counsel Laura Dumais, who filed the complaint. “Each federal employee is entitled to individual consideration of their expertise and experience rather than the one-size-fits-all treatment here.”

###

Read the PEER complaint:
Cover Letter
Attachment 1

Look at EPA’s past environmental justice work

See Trump’s abandonment of environmental justice

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

China frees staff of US consulting firm after 2-year detention

Alan Lu for RFA — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 09:59:44 +0000

TAIPEI, Taiwan – China has released all employees of a U.S. corporate due diligence firm who had been detained in Beijing for the past two years in a move seemingly aimed at reassuring foreign businesses amid declining foreign investment.

In May 2023, Beijing reportedly detained five staff members of Mintz Group after the U.S. firm conducted corporate due diligence investigations into the potential use of forced labor in goods supplied from Xinjiang.

China has faced international criticism over allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are reportedly detained and made to work in cotton and manufacturing industries. Beijing has denied the claims, describing them as false and insisting that the facilities are vocational training centers aimed at countering extremism.

The detention of Mintz Group staff turned out to be the beginning of a sweeping crackdown on consultancy and due diligence firms, including Bain & Company’s office in Shanghai and Capvision Partners.

At that time, foreign firms with business in China expressed concern that the crackdown damaged investor confidence in the world’s second-largest economy.

“We understand that the Mintz Group Beijing employees who were detained, all Chinese nationals, have now all been released,” Mintz Group said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.

“We are grateful to the Chinese authorities that our former colleagues can now be home with their families.”

China has not responded to the company’s statement.

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The release came a day after China’s top officials vowed to welcome more multinational companies. The country is eager to stabilize foreign investment and attract new capital as policymakers seek to boost domestic consumption to mitigate the effects of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has imposed 20% tariffs on all Chinese imports, accusing Beijing of failing to adequately curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

Official data show that foreign direct investment in China fell by 27.1% in local currency terms in 2024 compared to the previous year – the steepest decline since the 2008 global financial crisis.

“China remains committed to expanding high-level opening-up of market, improving the business environment and welcoming more multinational companies to deepen their investment in China,” China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng said at the China Development Forum in Beijing.

Separately, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, speaking at the forum on Sunday, also urged countries to open their markets to combat “rising instability and uncertainty.”

U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, met Li on Sunday with seven senior executives from U.S. companies. Daines called the meeting a chance for them to air their views on the business environment in China directly to Li.

Some 86 company representatives from 21 countries came to the business forum this year, with American firms making up the largest group of attendees, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.

“Where was the UN?” Asks Freed Israeli Captive. Its Staff Were Busy Being Killed

Jonathan Cook — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:31:27 +0000

Sympathy for Israeli former captive Eli Sharabi must not obscure the bigger picture: he has allowed himself to be recruited to Israel’s propaganda campaign for genocide.

Israel has found a captive recently released from Gaza willing to regurgitate some of its most nonsensical talking points on the stage of the United Nations. Predictably, those talking points are already being exploited to justify Israel intensifying its slaughter of Palestinian children in Gaza – and further bully the United Nations into even greater timidity.

Eli Sharabi has every reason to feel aggrieved. After all, he not only spent 490 days in captivity in terrifying conditions before his release last month, but emerged to find his family had been killed during Hamas’ break-out from Gaza on 7 October 2023.

Nonetheless, sympathy for his plight should not obscure the bigger picture: he has allowed himself to be recruited to the Israeli government’s propaganda campaign for genocide.

He has echoed Israeli politicians in claiming that Palestinians in Gaza – all 2.3 million of them, apparently – are “involved” in the mistreatment of the Israeli captives. In other words, he has given succour to the Israeli government’s efforts to justify the extermination of Gaza’s entire population, half of whom are children.

He has also claimed that Hamas stole aid that entered Gaza to eat “like kings”, while he and the captives starved. In other words, he is bolstering the argument of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is justified in blocking food and water to Gaza – a crime against humanity for which Netanyahu is being sought by the International Criminal Court.

But perhaps most ludicrously of all, Sharabi asks of the two largest bodies involved in humanitarian operations on behalf of the destitute, decimated people of Gaza: “Where was the Red Cross when we [the Israeli captives] needed them? Where was the UN?”

Sharabi, more than anyone, ought to know the answer to his own question.

Local staff of the UN and Red Cross – or Red Crescent as it is known in Gaza – have spent the past year and a half living under constant and ferocious air strikes, like everyone else in the enclave. Large numbers have been killed and maimed by the US-supplied bombs Israel has been dropping continuously.

They have certainly not been idle, as Sharabi suggests. When they have not been killed themselves, they have been dealing with the many tens of thousands of dead and the hundreds of thousands of wounded.

And all the while, they have been desperately struggling to help feed a population that Israel has spent the past 18 months actively starving through its strict blockade of food and water into the tiny territory.

The job of the UN and Red Cross has been to save life. That is what they have been doing. Their job is not to go on a wild goose chase, trying to find Israeli captives that Israel itself, with all its technological know-how and military might, has been unable to locate.

Where was the UN?

Did Sharabi’s Israeli government handlers – led by Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN – forget to explain to him that Israel has formally banned the UN from Gaza? Israel both bars the UN from the enclave, specifically targeting local staff with its weapons, and yet also expects those same staff to track down the Israeli captives held there. How can one even begin to take Israel’s position – or Sharabi’s – seriously?

Where was the Red Cross?

Did Sharabi’s Israeli government handlers forget to mention that, also, the Red Cross has not been able to visit a single one of the thousands of Palestinians who have been abducted by Israel from Gaza, including doctors, women and children?

Unlike the Israeli captives, the location of the Palestinian captives is known. They are being held in what the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem calls “torture camps” inside Israel, where sexual assaults and rapes are commonplace.

Israel has refused the Red Cross access for a simple reason: because it doesn’t want the world to know what it is doing to Palestinians inside those torture camps. And the western media is complying, barely reporting the horrors unearthed by human rights groups and UN investigators.

Yes, the Israeli captives have gone through a horrific experience. And their greatest trauma – though Sharabi, unlike his fellow Israeli captives, fails to mention it – was living under Israel’s constant bombs: the equivalent so far of six Hiroshimas. None knew from one day to the next whether they would be vaporised by one of the 2,000lb bombs supplied by the US and dropped all over the enclave.

It is important to hear Sharabi’s account of his captivity on a stage as visible as the UN’s. But it is equally important for the UN to hear from the thousands of Palestinians abducted by Israel and held in even more horrifying conditions, as repeatedly documented by human rights groups.

Yet those Palestinian victims, victims of Israeli barbarism, have not been provided with the platform offered to Sharabi. Why? Because Israel gets to decide who speaks at the UN, for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Unlike Hamas, Israel holds its captives permanently prisoner, even after they have been released from its torture camps. It holds them in a giant open-air concentration camp called Gaza. And they won’t find themselves on a stage at the UN – not unless Israel allows it.

The post “Where was the UN?” Asks Freed Israeli Captive. Its Staff Were Busy Being Killed first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Jonathan Cook.

Surviving Khmer Rouge: RFA staff member looks back on life under Pol Pot

Radio Free Asia — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:51:11 +0000

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

Trump & Musk move ahead with plan to cut Social Security staff & critical services

Democracy Now! — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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

Sabotaging Social Security: Trump & Musk Move Ahead with Plan to Cut Agency Staff & Critical Services

Democracy Now! — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:48:56 +0000

The Social Security Administration is considering drastic new anti-fraud measures that could disrupt benefit payments to millions of Americans, according to an internal memo first obtained by the political newsletter Popular Information. The changes would force millions of customers to file claims in person at a field office rather than over the phone. An estimated 75,000 to 85,000 elderly and disabled adults per week would be diverted to field offices. This comes even as the Trump administration slashes jobs and closes offices at the agency. Officials in the Social Security Administration who spoke with reporter Judd Legum, founder of Popular Information, have told him that there is an “effort to break the organization.”

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

Trump Plans to Fire 80,000 VA Staff, A Blow to Veterans’ Health Care

Newswire Editor — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 22:17:02 +0000

A damning new AP report shows, per internal memos, that Trump and Musk plan to cut 80,000 Department of Veteran Affairs employees, the agency tasked with providing healthcare to the brave men and women that served our country.

Of particular note, these cuts would impact tens of thousands of VA jobs tasked with implementing the bipartisan PACT Act, which helps provide critical health care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. The proposed cuts would also significantly impact veterans’ job security – with a quarter of VA employees being veterans.

Key reporting points from the AP:

“The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.”

“…That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.”

“Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.”

“The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.”

“Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump’s sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of ‘expertise’ as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president’s plans.”

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

Chicago reporter ‘booted’ from community meeting by city councilman’s staff

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 21:39:52 +0000

Reporter Francia Garcia Hernandez said she was told by a local official’s chief of staff to leave a community meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on Feb. 20, 2025, although two other reporters remained. The staffer disputed the account.

The community meeting was held at a public school in the Pilsen neighborhood to discuss the controversial reopening of a local bar that had been temporarily closed by police after a fatal shooting outside, Garcia reported for Block Club Chicago.

Pilsen residents had called for the bar to be permanently closed after the shooting, citing “increasing violence” associated with the business.

Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, who represents the ward that includes Pilsen, had advertised the meeting as public, and a flyer about it had been widely distributed by residents on social media, Garcia noted in a subsequent report about the incident.

“Neighbors shared the public meeting notice and invited me to come to the Thursday meeting,” Garcia reported, “saying they wanted to ensure their concerns about the bar would be heard and other neighbors who couldn’t attend would be able to learn what happened.”

Garcia wrote that she was greeted by Sigcho Lopez after she arrived. But 20 minutes into the meeting, once the attendees had begun to express concerns about the bar reopening, Garcia was told to leave by Sigcho Lopez’s chief of staff, Lucia Calderon (referred to as Lucia Moya in Garcia’s report).

Calderon said that the ward office hadn’t secured permission from Chicago Public Schools for reporters to attend and that the meeting was only for neighbors within a four-block radius of the bar.

“I asserted my First Amendment rights to report, but left because of the police presence in the room, and because I didn’t want to interrupt neighbors’ testimonies,” Garcia wrote.

Garcia added that reporters from Telemundo and Univision remained in the room, though their camera operators were asked to stay outside.

Calderon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had previously informed those reporters the event was closed to media and asserted she hadn’t known they were there. “If there were other members of the media in the room, they did not identify themselves and they did not violate the rules on photography and videography,” she added.

After the incident, Sigcho Lopez, who later referred to coverage as “irresponsible,” also said that the meeting was private, with no media allowed per Chicago Public Schools policy, reported Garcia. He did not specify which policy he was referring to.

Garcia told the Tracker that she has previously attended and reported on several community meetings at public schools in the ward. Garcia also wrote that Calderon subsequently acknowledged “the language around the notification” — which called the meeting “public” — gave the impression the meeting was open to everyone.

Calderon, who later posted a lengthy Instagram response to Garcia’s article about the incident, told the Tracker that “we did not clear media attendance at this event on public school property,” and that Garcia had “alarmed” attendees by taking photos with flash at the meeting, when Calderon said none was allowed.

Calderon said she approached Garcia to say the meeting was closed and added, “Following a brief conversation, Francia offered to leave and Calderon accepted that. At no time was Francia asked to leave or ‘removed from the event’ by any person, official, or worker.”

Garcia said that she had not encountered previous access issues with Sigcho Lopez’s office. She said that her outlet had covered previous violent incidents around the bar and neighbors’ response to them, but could not confirm if her expulsion was linked to that coverage.

“As a neighborhood beat reporter, participating in a meeting about a public issue is critical to understanding neighbors’ perspectives,” Garcia said. “This was the first time the bar owner held a dialogue with neighbors and addressed them, but excluding me from the conversation barred me from observing this conversation and its outcomes.”

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

NASA Official Warns Staff About Publicly Displaying Their Badges Amid Reports of Harassment

by Heather Vogell — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 23:30:00 +0000

by Heather Vogell

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

A high-ranking NASA official warned his employees Friday to “use discretion” in public when displaying badges or emblems that identify them as federal workers — part of an effort, the agency says, to protect its employees amid “stories of possible harassment” outside of work.

“We are all very proud to work for the space program,” wrote Dr. James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer. “But in the current environment, with a lot of negative rhetoric coming in our direction, I want you all to please use caution.”

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump and his administration and allies have used strong language to disparage federal workers, whom they have been firing en masse. “We’re bloated. We’re sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren’t doing their job,” the president said on Feb. 26 during his first Cabinet meeting.

Polk’s warning to employees came two days later, after receiving a report about an employee who was “assaulted” at a Starbucks. “This is probably one of the saddest emails I have had to write of late,” he said in the email, which was obtained by ProPublica.

Polk wrote that Nicola Fox, an associate administrator at NASA, said at a meeting that an employee was confronted at a Starbucks by someone “because she was a federal employee.” The worker was working on her computer and was identified by her badge and a logo, he wrote.

Reached Saturday, Polk said the email was not intended for anyone outside NASA. He said he did not have additional details about the incident and declined to comment on it or on his email to staff, which did not name the employee. Fox declined to comment.

NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner said the agency was “hearing stories of possible harassment toward employees, but not assault,” the term used in the email.

“Our managers are hearing information thirdhand and using this as an opportunity to remind our teams to be mindful of their surroundings and to report any incidences to the Office of Protective Services,” she said.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

It was not clear where the incident took place.

The email was circulating among NASA employees, some of whom said they are concerned by the Trump administration’s rhetoric regarding government workers. The president, his advisers and his congressional allies have all sharpened their attacks on federal employees over the past week as the administration undertakes expansive efforts to reduce the size of the federal government

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who Trump named the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, has been leading the way.

A week ago, he demanded federal employees respond to an email asking them to list five things they’d accomplished in the previous week — or be fired. “What he’s doing is saying ‘Are you actually working’?” Trump said.

On Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said during a committee meeting that “federal employees do not deserve their jobs. Federal employees do not deserve their paychecks.”

And senior Trump officials on Wednesday sent out a memo on reducing the federal workforce that said, “The American people registered their verdict on the bloated, corrupt federal bureaucracy on November 5, 2024, by voting for President Trump and his promises to sweepingly reform the federal government.”

NASA sidestepped expected layoffs in February, but it is still losing personnel due to a buyout plan.

Polk urged his staff to stay vigilant.

“Be aware of your surroundings and keep good situational awareness and operational security,” he wrote. “Use caution when on the phone in public places, and ensure you are aware of those around you.”

If you’re a federal worker and you think you were harassed outside work as a result of your status as a government employee, ProPublica wants to hear from you. Contact our tips number on Signal at ‪917-512-0201‬. Here’s more detail on how to send us information securely.

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Heather Vogell.

"Detained, Tortured & Starved": Report Details Abuse of Gaza Doctors & Staff in Israeli Detention

Democracy Now! — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:36:05 +0000

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

“Detained, Tortured & Starved”: Report Details Abuse of Gaza Doctors & Staff in Israeli Detention

Democracy Now! — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:43:40 +0000

We continue to look at Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees with Naji Abbas from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which has just released a new report detailing the mistreatment of medical workers from Gaza. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, paramedics and other essential medical staff were arrested by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023 and held under brutal conditions, with many describing physical, psychological and sexual abuse, starvation, medical neglect and more. “It’s a whole journey of torture and abuse,” says Abbas, director of PHRI’s Prisoners and Detainees Department.

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

Jeff Bezos makes the implicit explicit in memo to Washington Post staff

Adam Johnson — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 18:18:09 +0000

Mega billionaire Jeff Bezos made news yesterday by formally announcing the parameters of the Washington Post opinion section in clear ideological terms, making explicit what has long been implicit in corporate media and, like then-New York Times opinion editor James Bennet did seven years ago when he said that the New York Times was “pro-capitalism,” effectively doing my job for me.

“I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” the Amazon founder and executive chairman wrote in an open letter to Post employees. “We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

As I wrote in 2018 when Times opinion editor James Bennet said in a closed-door meeting with staffers that the Times was a “pro-capitalism” newspaper, “Media criticism is, more often than not, a practice of inference: seeing patterns and inferring from those patterns the political make-up of media. Occasionally, however, decision-makers from major media outlets come right out and openly declare their ideology.”

Bezos has done us a favor by removing the mystery and inference and cheeky “open debate” pretense from the process of inferring the ideological perimeters of corporate media and laid it all out bare.

Obviously this dictate is, in theory, limited to the opinion section, not the news section, but those working on the other side of the firewall will no doubt take a hearty hint––if they didn’t the last time Bezos explicitly interfered in the opinion output of the paper. The fact is that, compared to peer outlets, the Washington Post’s current national labor coverage, while by no means aggressively anti-capitalist, is robust and generally favorable to workers. Reporters such as Lauren Kaori Gurley and Jeff Stein and columnist Perry Bacon Jr. have done excellent work highlighting the plight of Amazon employees and those on the business end of US sanctions, often in direct contradiction to Bezos’ bottom line and ideological preferences. While the Post’s local metro coverage, as I’ve documented, has often doubled as an Amazon lobbying front, its national coverage has often remained independent of the billionaire’s direct control. Indeed, the Post’s newly anointed chief economics reporter Jeff Stein publicly criticized his boss yesterday morning, writing on social media: “Bezos declaration Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today – makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know.”

Bezos has done us a favor by removing the mystery and inference and cheeky “open debate” pretense from the process of inferring the ideological perimeters of corporate media and laid it all out bare.

One wants to be careful not to totally trivialize this escalation. While it is making explicit what has largely been implicit in corporate media, it appears to be removing even token and limited dissent. In some ways this could accelerate a long-overdue erosion of corporate media’s image as independent of owner influence; on the other hand it may just further codify corporate media’s drift to the right and awaken nothing but more open oligarch-endorsed fascism.

It’s a more open right-wing drift that’s manifesting as well with liberal news channel MSNBC this week, as the Comcast-owned network laid off big name personalities Joy Reid and Ayman Mohyeldin—who, incidentally, were the two best anchors on the topic of the Gaza genocide—in exchange for mid-tier Biden alum Michael Steele and Jen Psaki. Reid and Mohyeldin were, by no means, meaningfully subversive or existentially critical of Biden and his support for genocide (and Reid has a long history of smearing left-wing candidates in sloppy and dishonest ways) but, compared to their media peers, they ran sympathetic and nuanced segments that laid out the human stakes of Israel’s myriad war crimes. This isn’t a narrative being retconned after their firing either. I said this in October of last year, highlighting Mohyeldin and Reid explicitly, when publishing a comprehensive study of cable news’s Gaza coverage for The Nation.

Bezos’ on-the-nose power grab over the ideological output of the Washington Post’s opinion output is useful to analyze, as well, in the context of the media meltdown over then-candidate for president Bernie Sanders’ 2019 suggestion the Post’s coverage of him was, in the aggregate, more negative because the Post was owned by a billionaire. Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron called it a “conspiracy theory,” and CNN handwrung over the claim for days, with its anchors saying it was “dangerous.” NPR, like CNN, predictably drew facile equivalence with Donald Trump’s anti-media rantings. On its face, Sanders’ claim is fairly banal and obvious: clearly media outlets will reflect the ideological preferences of those who own them. There will be exceptions, there will be a scattering of dissenting voices—all sophisticated media understands the importance of permitting 10% dissent—but, generally, being owned by the world’s third-richest person will result in a specific ideological output, in the aggregate.

Bezos making this influence explicit could perhaps reduce some of this feigned indignation and pearl clutching when those on the Left dare suggest that having a handful of corporations and billionaires own our major media outlets limits the scope of debate and coverage of the news, or that capital-owned media will necessarily result in a media that favors the interests and ideology of capital. Yes it’s not neat and clean, yes there are exceptions, and no it’s not the top-down cartoon version of censorship and control we grew up learning about reading 1984—but concentrated wealth curating and dictating how the public interprets the world is inherently anti-democratic. A major media owner worth $235 billion saying the quiet part out loud is menacing, yes, and certainly portends a dark next few years. But in some ways it’s refreshing and—if we approach the broader corrosive nature of oligarch-owned media with open eyes—could be a first step towards a vision of how media can challenge the interests of capital rather than serve as its ideological play toy.

This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Adam Johnson.

Trump fires Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman over “DEI”

KPFA — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

Trump fires Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman over “DEI”

Senate passes $304B budget plan after all night vote-a-rama

Steve Bannon faces backlash after apparent Nazi salute at CPAC

LAFD chief Kristen Crowley axed by Mayor Karen Bass

New California legislation proposes to strengthen micro-plastics ban in products

The post Trump fires Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman over “DEI” appeared first on KPFA.

This content originally appeared on KPFA - The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.

CNN made FOIA request about DOGE—only to learn FOIA staff was fired

Eloise Goldsmith — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:43 +0000

This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Feb. 18, 2024. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.

When CNN put in a Freedom of Information Act request with the Office of Personnel Management for information related to security clearances for billionaire Elon Musk and other personnel at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency who have been allowed access to sensitive or classified government networks, the outlet got an unexpected response.

“Good luck with that, they just fired the whole privacy team,” an OPM email address wrote back, according to Tuesday reporting from CNN. An OPM official told the outlet that the federal government’s human resources agency did not layoff the entire privacy team, but did not comment further on the matter.

“Definitely never seen this type of response to a FOIA request,” quipped CBS News journalist Jim LaPorta reacting to the news on X.

According to CNN, OPM’s privacy team “is tasked with ensuring the agency’s data privacy practices meet legal requirements and protect the trust of the public.” Members of the agency’s communications staff and employees who handle FOIA requests were also terminated, per CNN, which cited two unnamed sources.

Federal agencies are required to furnish information requested via FOIA unless the information falls within an exemption.

These firings at OPM, which is the chief human resources agency of the federal government, constitute “a move that limits outside access to government records related to the security clearances granted to Elon Musk and his associates,” according to CNN, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the matter.”

OPM was one of the first federal agencies to be infiltrated by Musk’s associates at the Department of Government Efficiency and has been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s purge of federal workers.

Last month, OPM sent out the now infamous “Fork in the Road” memo, which offered a widely decried deferred resignation program for nearly all federal employees. The message resembled—including the verbatim wording of the subject line—an email that Musk sent Twitter employees in 2022, when he took over the social media platform now known as X.

CNN’s coverage also noted that the move to fire members of OPM’s privacy and communication teams echoes Musk’s decision to fire the media relations department at Twitter.

On X, Washington Post video journalist Jorge Ribas wrote the word “‘transparency'” in response to CNN’s reporting about the FOIA request, in an apparent nod to Musk’s assertion that DOGE is attempting to be transparent in carrying out its operations.

This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Eloise Goldsmith.

Israel orders patients, staff to ‘evacuate’ last two hospitals in northern Gaza siege

APR editor — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 08:58:56 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Israel is forcing two hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate under threat of attack as its ethnic cleansing campaign continues.

Israeli forces have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital, where many staff and patients sought shelter after nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was destroyed in an Israeli raid last week, reports Al Jazeera.

Late on Friday, a forced order to evacuate was also issued for the al-Awda Hospital, where 100 people are believed to be sheltering.

The evacuation order came today as New Zealand Palestine solidarity protesters followed a silent vigil outside Auckland Hospital yesterday with a rally in downtown Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square today, where doctors and other professional health staff called for support for Gaza’s besieged health facilities and protection for medical workers.

Protester Jason holds a placard calling for Kamal Adwan Hospital medical director Dr Hussam Abu Safiyyan to be set free at today’s Palestinian solidarity rally in Auckland. Image: David Robie/APR

When one New Zealand medical professional recalled the first time that the Israel military bombed a hospital in in Gaza November 2023, the world was “ready to accept the the lies that Israel told then”.

“Of course, they wouldn’t bomb a hospital, who would bomb a hospital? That’s a horrible war crime, if must have been Hamas that bombed themselves.

“And the world let Israel get away with it. That’s the time that we knew if the world let Israel get away with it once, they would repeat it again and again and we would allow a dangerous precedent to be set where health care workers and health care centres would become targets over and over again.

“In the past year it is exactly what we have seen,” he said to cries of shame.

“We have seen not only the targeting of health care infrastructure, but the targeting of healthcare workers.

“The murdering of healthcare workers, of aid workers all across Gaza at the hands of Israel — openly without any word of opposition from our government, without a word of opposition from any global government about these war crimes and genocidal actions until today.”

In an impassioned speech about the devastating price that Gazans were paying for the Israeli war, New Zealand Palestinian doctor and Gaza survivor Dr Abdallah Gouda vowed that his people would keep their dream for an independent state of Palestine and “we will never leave Gaza”.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation into the Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals and medical workers.

Volker Türk told the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East that Israeli claims of Hamas launching attacks from hospitals in Gaza were often “vague” and sometimes “contradicted by publicly available information”.

Tino rangatiratanga and Palestinian flags at the Gazan health workers solidarity rally in Auckland today. Image: David Robie/APR

Palestine urges UN to end Gaza genocide, ‘Israeli impunity’
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, said: “It is our collective responsibility to bring this hell to an end. It is our collective responsibility to bring this genocide to an end.”

The UNSC meeting on the Middle East came following last week’s raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the arbitrary arrest and detention of its director, Hussam Abu Safia.

“You have an obligation to save lives”, Mansour told the council.

“Palestinian doctors and medical personnel took that mission to heart at the peril of their lives. They did not abandon the victims.

“Do not abandon them. End Israeli impunity. End the genocide. End this aggression immediately and unconditionally, now.”

Palestinian doctors and medical personnel were fighting to save human lives and losing their own while hospitals are under attack, he added.

“They are fighting a battle they cannot win, and yet they are unwilling to surrender and to betray the oath they took,” he said.

Norway is the latest country to condemn the attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and medical workers.

On X, the country’s Foreign Ministry said that “urgent action” was needed to restore north Gaza’s hospitals, which were continuously subjected to Israeli attack.

Without naming Israel, the ministry said that “health workers, patients and hospitals are not lawful targets”.

Urgent action is needed to restore North Gaza’s hospitals and uphold international humanitarian law.

Protecting healthcare saves lives.
We share WHOs concern at #UNSC

Health workers, patients, and hospitals are not lawful targets. https://t.co/VWswcGhCex

— Norway MFA (@NorwayMFA) January 3, 2025

A critical “NZ media is Zionist media” placard at today’s Auckland solidarity rally for Palestinian health workers. Image: APR

Israel ‘deprives 40,000’ of healthcare in northern Gaza
The Israeli military is systematically destroying hospitals in northern Gaza, the Gaza Government Media Office said.

In a statement, it said: “The Israeli occupation continues its heinous crimes and arbitrary aggression against hospitals and medical teams in northern Gaza, reflecting a dangerous and deliberate escalation.”

These acts, it added, were being carried out amid “unjustified silence of the international community and the UN Security Council”, violating international humanitarian law and human rights conventions.

The statement highlighted the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safia, was arrested and reportedly subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

The GMO described these acts as “full-fledged war crimes”.

According to a recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Israeli military had conducted more than 136 air raids on at least 27 hospitals and 12 medical facilities across Gaza in the past eight months.

The GMO report demanded an independent international investigation into these violations and accountability for Israel in international courts.

Protesters at today’s Auckland rally in solidarity with Palestinian health workers under attack from Israeli military. Image: David Robie/APR

Amnesty International criticises detention of Kamal Adwan doctor
Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of the human rights watchdog Amnesty International, said Israel’s detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safia underscored a pattern of “genocidal intent and genocidal acts” by Israel in Gaza.

“Dr Abu Safia’s unlawful detention is emblematic of the broader attacks on the healthcare sector in Gaza and Israel’s attempts to annihilate it,” Callamard said in a social media post.

“None of the medical staff abducted by Israeli forces since November 2023 from Gaza during raids on hospitals and clinics has been charged or put before a trial; those released after enduring unimaginable torture were never charged and did not stand trial.

“Those still detained remain held without charges or trial under inhumane conditions and at risk of torture,” she added.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa secretary Neil Scott speaking at today’s Auckland rally supporting health workers under Israeli attack in Gaza. Image: David Robie/APR

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

‘Suspend Israel ties’ plea to global medical professionals – Auckland hospital protest vigil over Gaza

APR editor — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 09:44:25 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has called on “medical professionals worldwide” to suspend ties with Israel in an act of solidarity with the more than “1000 colleagues of yours” killed in Gaza over the past 14 months.

Countless more Palestinian medical workers “were arrested, tortured, disappeared”, Albanese said in a post on social media.

“Out of dismay [and] solidarity you should revolt, and urge suspension of ties with Israel until it stops the genocide [and] accounts for it. What are you waiting for,” she said.

Her appeal came as about 100 New Zealand protesters held a “silent vigil” outside the country’s largest medical institution, Auckland Hospital, declaring health workers were “not a target”.

Earlier on Friday, Albanese and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Physical and Mental Health, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, issued a joint statement denouncing the “blatant disregard” for the right to health in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safia.

“For well over a year into the genocide, Israel’s blatant assault on the right to health in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory is plumbing new depths of impunity,” the UN experts said.

Medical professionals worldwide: my colleague @drtlaleng and I have a message you should read.
Israel has killed over 1000 colleagues of yours in Gaza in 14 months. Countless were arrested, tortured, disappeared. Their “heroic actions … teach us what it means to have taken… https://t.co/aubGgZ7jsQ

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) January 3, 2025

The Auckland protesters spread in a long line outside Auckland hospital with banners declaring “healthcare workers in Aotearoa call for a ceasefire” and “stop the genocide”, and placards with slogans such as “healthcare workers and hospitals are not a target”, “Free Dr Hussam Abu Saffiya” and “hands off Kamal Adwan [a northern Gaza hospital destroyed by Israeli forces last week].

New Zealand protesters against the genocide and attacks on the healthcare workers and hospitals in Gaza outside Auckland City Hospital today. Image: David Robie/APR

Palestinian Prisoners Society warn over ‘danger’ to Dr Hussam
The Palestinian Prisoners Society has warned of “a danger” to Dr Hussam Abu Safiyya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, following the Israeli military’s denial of any records proving his arrest, reports Anadolu Ajensi.

Munir al-Bursh, the Director-General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said the ministry submitted a request through the Physicians for Human Rights organisation to inquire about Abu Safiyya’s fate, but the Israeli occupation responded by saying that it had no detainee by that name.

Al-Bursh told the Al Jazeera news channel that there was concern that the Israeli occupation may execute Dr Abu Safia after his arrest about a week ago.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Dr Abu Safiyya “is one of thousands of detainees from Gaza facing the crime of enforced disappearance”.

The group said that “despite clear evidence of Dr Abu Safia’s arrest on December 27, 2024, the occupation is denying what it had previously stated and is also dismissing the evidence, including photos and videos it published as well as testimonies from some detainees who were released.”

It held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for his fate.

It also reiterated its call for the “international human rights system to save what remains of its role amid the ongoing genocide, after its function has eroded due to a frightening state of impotence.”

Last Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry announced the arrest of Dr Abu Safiyya by the Israeli military in northern Gaza.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHRI) have been informed that the Israeli military has no record of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyyah, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was reportedly arrested by the occupation forces on December 27, 2024.

Despite video evidence showing his arrest, the… pic.twitter.com/S2ofhRaEQE

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 2, 2025

The Auckland City Hospital silent vigil protest today over the genocide in Gaza. Image: David Robie/APR

‘Proud’ of 15 months of NZ protest
Meanwhile, the national chair of New Zealand’s Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) issued a statement today critical of the government’s inaction in the face of the ongoing genocide and the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system as protests continued across the country.

“While the stench of decaying morality hangs over [New Zealand’s] coalition government and its MPs after 15 months of complicity with genocide, nationwide protests against Israel’s genocide continue in 2025,” said national chair John Minto.

“Over 15 months of weekly nationwide protests is unprecedented in New Zealand history on any issue at any time.

“We are enormously proud of New Zealanders who stand with the vast mass of humanity against Israel’s systematic, indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

“This week’s protests are the first of New Year and they will continue while our government cowers under the bedclothes and refuses to sanction Israel for genocide.”

The Gaza death toll stands at more than 45,000 — the majority killed being women and children.

“Today’s death toll of innocents killed is a repeating nightmare” for Palestine, he said while Western media highlighted “Israeli propaganda to justify the endless massacres while ignoring Palestinian voices”.

The United Nations has denounced the targeting of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, saying that medical facilities need “to be off limits”.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said that there were more than 12,000 people in Gaza who need medical evacuation.

A protester chalks a “Boycott Israel, boycott genocide” sign on the pavement near Auckland Hospital today. Image: David Robie/APR

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

Gideon Levy on Israel’s "Moral Blindness": Gaza Babies Freeze; Strikes Kill Medical Staff, Reporters

Democracy Now! — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:33:07 +0000

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

Sexual abuse from prison staff is rampant in prisons across the U.S.

Democracy Now! — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 22:00:36 +0000

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

Alumni group slams USP’s failure to release council meeting outcomes

APR editor — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 06:31:25 +0000

RNZ Pacific

A group of concerned alumni of the University of the South Pacific has called the regional institution’s delay in releasing the outcomes of the 98th USP Council meeting held in Rarotonga late last month “totally unacceptable”.

The group released a statement on Thursday, stating that the regional university’s main decision-making body and support staff’s failure to provide a timely update “to keep the Pacific Islands taxpayers and fee-paying students fully informed about important decisions . . . is becoming totally unacceptable”.

“This is particularly so as the USP unions’ strike action mandate is active,” the statement read.

READ MORE: Other USP crisis reports

Earlier this week, there was speculation that the USP vice-chancellor and president, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who has fallen out of favour with the staff unions, had stepped down from his role at the Rarotonga meeting.

However, the USP told RNZ Pacific that information about Professor Ahluwalia resigning was “inaccurate”.

The university did not respond to RNZ Pacific’s specific question on whether the vice-chancellor had resigned.

“The University of the South Pacific wishes to clarify that the allegations regarding events at the 98th Council meeting are inaccurate,” a USP spokesperson said.

“The USP Council will issue an official statement on the outcomes of the meeting in due course.”

But the USP alumni statement included a “summary of the major council decisions”, including the appointment of a new VCP as one of seven main outcomes of the two-day meeting in the Cook Islands.

Professor Pal Ahluwalia . . . reported to have resigned at the council meeting, but a USP spokesperson said this report was “inaccurate”. Image: USP/RNZ Pacific

But the USP alumni statement included a “summary of the major council decisions”, including the appointment of a new VCP as one of seven main outcomes of the two-day meeting in the Cook Islands.

“A new USP visitor has also been appointed. He is Mr Daniel Fatiaki, former Chief Justice of Fiji and Vanuatu. He is an alumnus and Preliminary 2 graduate in the early 1970s.

“On the first day, VCP [Ahluwalia] indicated he would be stepping down from the VCP position.”

The USP is jointly owned by 12 Pacific Island nations.

New Zealand and Australia have been major development partners of the institution since its inception in in 1968, providing core funding for the university.

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

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

Laos detains staff at hostel linked to backpacker poisonings: media

RFA Staff — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 11:04:44 +0000

Police in the Lao tourist town of Vang Vieng have detained staff at a backpackers’ hostel linked to the death of six tourists from suspected methanol poisoning, media reported on Tuesday.

Two young Australian women, a British woman, two young Danish women and an American man have died, and about a dozen more people were reported to be sick, after consuming drinks suspected to have been laced with methanol on Nov. 12 in the town that has for years been a laid-back stop for young Western travelers.

The Laopost news site reported that the 34-year-old manager and seven employees at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, where at least some of the victims are known to have stayed, had been arrested.

Media reported earlier that the hostel had been temporarily closed.

Laos has not officially confirmed the cause of the poisonings though a Thai hospital, where one of the victims died, said it was methanol, a clear, tasteless liquid that can be used to boost the alcohol content of drinks, often with fatal consequences.

Mass methanol poisonings occur with grim frequency around the world.

6 tourists dead after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos

Australian, American take death toll from tainted alcohol in Laos to 4

Details of how the tourists came to drink tainted alcohol in Vang Vieng are sketchy and it is not clear if they were all drinking at the same place.

While authorities have ordered inspections of tourist venues and are carrying out an investigation of the incident, business owners in Vang Vieng told RFA Lao there had already been a drop in tourism in the town.

“Yes, we’ve started to see some impact,” said one bar owner.

“We’ve seen a decrease in the number of foreign customers,” she said, adding that foreign tourists are “much more careful” when they visit her establishment.

District mayor Bounchan Malavong told media on the weekend that authorities had responded quickly to the deaths, investigating and taking measures including inspecting restaurants and entertainment venues to ensure that safety standards are upheld and to protect tourists.

Edited by Taejun Kang.

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

Staff, students ‘tread carefully’ at Hong Kong’s eight universities

By Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:03:00 +0000

Hong Kong's universities are seeing the erosion of academic freedom under an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the city, much of it in the form of self-censorship, according to a new report.

Academic freedom in Hong Kong has severely declined since the Chinese government imposed the National Security Law on the city on June 30, 2020, according to the report, which was co-authored by the New York-based group Human Rights Watch and the Hong Kong Democracy Council.

"Hong Kong students and faculty, accustomed to academic freedom, now have to tread carefully to avoid retribution for what they teach, research, and publish, and even with whom they associate,” Human Rights Watch's associate China director Maya Wang said.

Police in riot gear move through a cloud of smoke as they detain a protester at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, Nov. 18, 2019. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

The ruling Chinese Communist Party announced last year that it would step up "patriotic education" in schools, universities and religious institutions across the country, including in Hong Kong, in a move likely designed to quash internal political challenges to Xi Jinping's authoritarian rule.

Since 2020, the authorities have arrested former Hong Kong University law lecturer Benny Tai for "subversion" after he formulated a strategy to win a majority in the Legislative Council for pro-democracy lawmakers, withdrawn funding from student unions that were involved in the 2019 protest movement, and torn down pro-democracy displays on Hong Kong campuses.

Universities have also removed sculptures and other memorials marking the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, public commemoration of which is now banned in Hong Kong.

Academics have also told Radio Free Asia that university departments no longer dare to offer courses deemed politically risky, for fear of running afoul of security laws, while being obliged to offer patriotic "national security education" as a mandatory class.

‘Increasingly repressive’

The Sept. 24 report, titled "We Can't Write the Truth Anymore: Academic Freedom in Hong Kong Under the National Security Law," found that freedom of expression, assembly and association have all come under threat, as universities become "increasingly repressive."

“The Chinese government considers gaining ideological control over Hong Kong’s universities a top priority, and many students and faculty now find themselves in the line of fire," Human Rights Watch's Wang said.

Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive John Lee, is the chancellor of all of the city's publicly funded universities, with the power to appoint key members of their government councils, which appoint senior management and staff.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Benny Tai (C) walks towards a Hong Kong Correctional Services van at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre where he was taken after appearing at the West Kowloon Court the day before on the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion, in Hong Kong, March 2, 2021. (Vernon Yuen/AFP)

Since 2020, many of those who disagreed with Beijing have lost positions of authority, while those who support the ruling Chinese Communist Party line have been rewarded, the report said.

According to the report, which was based on interviews with individuals at Hong Kong universities as well as local media reports, students and faculty widely self-censor, fearful of being targeted for harassment, retribution, and even prosecution for what they say and do both in the classroom and on campus.

Lecturers and students alike "regularly self-censor in the classrooms, when they write and publish articles, apply for academic funding, and deliberate over which speakers to invite to conferences and events," it said, adding that students, academics and administrators all felt as if they were "living under a microscope."

Censorship and suppression aren't always direct, either.

Pressure on publications

Days before the report was launched, students at Lingnan University said they had been warned off using the logo of the Lingnan University Student Union Press Bureau, with management citing concerns it could be mistaken for an official body of the school.

A recent Lingnan graduate who gave only the nickname Fern for fear of reprisals said she had once served on the Press Bureau committee, which had relied on selling merchandise like T-shirts to fund some of its publications.

"The student union doesn't give much annual funding to the editorial board, so if they can't sell merchandise, I don't know how they're going to fund their publications," Fern said.

A demonstrator throws a rock on a footbridge during an anti-government protest near City University in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China Nov. 12, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

During her time at Lingnan, Fern said management would also sometimes contact union members with "concerns" about their activities, for example, about plans to invite certain speakers to address members.

"I felt the atmosphere was very tense," she said of her time there. "It's not a place for spontaneous activism or a citizens' debate."

Hong Kong schools ban books, warn teachers not to get 'political'

Hong Kong sees fall in academic freedom amid ongoing crackdown

Fewer questions, less discussion

Even off-campus activities were monitored, Fern said.

"They might call and ask students what they're planning to do and where, or maybe the national security police will call and tell them not to go ahead, as a 'reminder'," she said.

Another Hong Kong university student who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals told RFA Cantonese that both students and faculty are extremely careful about what they say in public these days, for fear of being reported to the authorities.

Students also ask fewer questions in class, and there is less public academic discussion, they said.

Chief Executive John Lee delivers a video address at a ceremony, Sept. 9 2024, in Hong Kong. (Hong Kong Jockey Club via AP Images)

Chung Kin-wah, a former assistant professor in social sciences at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said the universities no longer function like places that encourage exploration and debate.

"What they're doing now isn't really a university education at all, because the universities are even suppressing the student unions ... to hound them out of existence," Chung told RFA Cantonese.

"If the student union doesn't run activities and there are no student organizations, let alone direct participation in politics," he said. "There's no room for discussion in campus politics now, which I think is a very serious issue."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Luisetta Mudie and Paul Eckert.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Matthew Leung for RFA Cantonese.

Myanmar opponents of military warn scores of junta staff to quit

By RFA Burmese — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:21:00 +0000

Nearly 90 junta administrators in western Myanmar abandoned their posts after opponents of military rule warned them not to support the regime, pro-democracy representatives said on Wednesday.

Activists determined to end military rule in the wake of a 2021 coup have set up various parallel administrations, from a shadow National Unity Government in exile down to village-level teams, gradually eroding the authority of the army.

In Chin state’s Kanpetlet township, 88 health and education department staff had left their positions after being given notice by an anti-junta People’s Administration, a resident of Kanpetlet town told Radio Free Asia.

“After being warned by the People’s Administration, they came to join the Civil Disobedience Movement,” said the resident, who declined to be identified, referring to a nationwide campaign against military rule.

The military plunged Myanmar into turmoil with the 2021 coup against an elected government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Civil Disobedience Movement sprang up when the army crushed demonstrations against a military takeover that brought to an end a decade of democratic reforms in a country that had endured rule by the generals since 1962.

The anti-junta administration told the staff in May that if they did not join the Civil Disobedience Movement in 60 days, they would be “dealt with according to the existing law,” the resident said, referring to the movement’s self-declared authority.

Armed activists opposing the military have attacked junta administrators, in particular those enforcing army conscription efforts. As of June, gunmen had killed more than 80 administrators across the country.

Western Myanmar farmers warn of low yields from rainy season rice

‘Not forcing them’

Not all of the staff who resigned joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, with some fleeing to neighboring regions, like Magway or Sagaing, or even as far as the main city of Yangon, residents said.

“Some have fled because they were afraid to stay in the area, and there were others who applied to the junta to be transferred to another post,” the first Kanpetlet resident said.

RFA attempted to contact some of those who had resigned but was unable to due to telecommunications blackouts plaguing large parts of the country.

A spokeswoman for Kanpetlet anti-junta People’s Administration said the staff had been given the opportunity to join the anti-junta movement in the township, which boasts some 800 members.

“The main thing is that we are not forcing them to join the Civil Disobedience Movement,” said the spokeswoman who declined to be named for security reasons. “We’re giving them the chance because they wanted to join after we explained things carefully.”

RFA called Chin state’s junta spokesperson, Aung Cho, for information on the situation but he did not respond by the time of publication.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

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

Taste of home: South Korea team staff wheel in cup noodles | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

Radio Free Asia — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:14:33 +0000

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

‘Attack on freedom of speech’: USP staff call out Ahluwalia for sacking union president

APR editor — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 19:09:15 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The University of the South Pacific staff associations are up in arms about the sacking of a union leader and academic by the university’s chief executive.

In a joint press release, the Association of the University of the South Pacific (AUSPS) and the USP Staff Union (USPSU), this week claimed that USP vice-chancellor and president Pal Ahluwalia had “launched a vicious attack on the staff unions and freedom of speech” after he terminated the employment contract AUSPS president Dr Tamara Osborne-Naikatini on July 9.

They said Ahluwalia sacked Dr Osborne-Naikatini because she spoke to the media about the “flawed process” through which he was offered a renewal to his contract to lead the institution.

READ MORE: Other USP saga reports

“The university’s claim of ‘gross misconduct’ stems from information Dr Osborne-Naikatini allegedly shared, as AUSP President, in an Islands Business interview reported in the March 2024 edition that revealed a flawed process in the review of the performance of Ahluwalia that subsequently led to a two-year renewal of contract,” they said in the release.

Dr Osborne-Naikatini was the staff representative on the the chief academic authority — the USP Senate — to the review committee, they added.

“Dr Osborne-Naikatini stood for the staff of USP and fought for good governance which ultimately led to her termination,” they said.

The staff unions say that by sacking the biology lecturer, Ahluwalia has “launched a vicious attack on the staff unions and freedom of speech” and are demanding her reinstatement.

RNZ Pacific had put these claims to the university.

Staff contracts ‘confidential’
“Please note that all staff contracts, including terminations, are confidential. The university is not at liberty to discuss staff information with third parties,” the USP said in an email statement.

The USP, the premier institution of higher learning for the region, has had to deal with a series of crisis in relation to the good governance practices and staff-management issues since the vice-chancellor first took the job in 2018.

Professor Pal Ahluwalia . . . deported from Fiji in 2019, but based in Nauru then Samoa. Image: RNZ Pacific

In 2019, Ahluwalia was deported from Fiji in a midnight raid carried out Fijian police and immigration officials, after he fell out of favour with the previous Bainimarama administration, for exposing allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement at the university under the leadership of his predecessor.

He led USP from exile, for some time from Nauru, before relocating to Samoa in 2021. In May this year, the USP Council voted for him to relocate back to Suva.

The staff unions reminded Ahluwalia of the 2019 saga in their joint statement, saying they “stood steadfast with him when he was victimised as the whistleblower. He seemed to have a short-lived memory”.

Earlier this year, the unions were at loggerheads with the management over salary disputes.

They had threatened to take strike action if the executive team failed to meet their demands, which they claimed has been neglected by Ahluwalia.

However, both sides reached an agreement last month, and the unions withdrew their strike action.

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

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

Millionaire whose firm won £40m PPE contract sexually assaulted staff

Martin Williams — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:02:26 +0000

Revealed: Chief executive attended work party weeks after being found guilty of assaulting three employees

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Martin Williams.

CODEPINK’s Palestinian-American Staff Member ARRESTED on False Accusation of Assault by Member of Congress

Dissident Voice Communications — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 03:03:20 +0000

Milwaukee, WI – In an incident of political thuggery and intimidation at the RNC, CODEPINK’s Palestinian campaign organizer, Nour Jaghama, has been unjustly arrested by police on accusation of assaulting a member of Congress.

While peacefully waiting in line to enter the event, Nour, a visibly Palestinian woman, was intentionally bumped into by a bald, white member of Congress while he tried to shove past her. Despite not reacting to this, Nour was falsely accused of “alleged” assault by a Texas State police officer on the scene and we are told she will be taken to a Milwaukee Police Department for arrest. Notably, two other CODEPINK staff members ahead of her in line passed through without any issues, raising concerns of racial profiling.

Nour holding a Peace Now sign at the March On The RNC rally on Monday, July 15 in Milwaukee, WI.

It is a microcosm of the misogyny at the RNC that the more gentle non-violent woman, the only Palestinian in line with our group is assaulted and then even when she did not respond she was the one who was arrested.

The post CODEPINK’s Palestinian-American Staff Member ARRESTED on False Accusation of Assault by Member of Congress first appeared on Dissident Voice.

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

CODEPINK’s Palestinian-American Staff Member Arrested on False Accusation of Assault by Member of Congress

CounterPunch News Service — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 05:57:25 +0000

Nour holding a Peace Now sign at the March On The RNC rally on Monday, July 15 in Milwaukee, WI.

Milwaukee, WI

In an incident of political thuggery and intimidation at the RNC, CODEPINK’s Palestinian campaign organizer, Nour Jaghama, has been unjustly arrested by police on accusation of assaulting a member of Congress.

CODEPINK unequivocally states that no one from our organization assaulted anyone. We attended the RNC to deliver a message of peace and disarmament, adhering strictly to non-violent protest methods.

The post CODEPINK’s Palestinian-American Staff Member Arrested on False Accusation of Assault by Member of Congress appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by CounterPunch News Service.

Nearly 100 prison staff sanctioned for ‘inappropriate’ relationships

Sian Norris — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:31:13 +0000

‘Overcrowded jails and inexperienced guards’ behind increase in relationships between staff and inmates, experts warn

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Sian Norris.

Nike Pledged to Shrink Its Carbon Footprint. It Just Slashed the Staff Charged With Making That Happen.

by Rob Davis, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

by Rob Davis, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This article was produced by ProPublica in partnership with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

Eight years ago, the world’s largest sports apparel brand made a bold commitment. Nike was embarking on what it called a moonshot: doubling its business while halving its impact on the warming planet.

To get there, then-CEO Mark Parker said the Oregon-based company’s innovations in environmental sustainability would become a “powerful engine for growth,” a catalyst capable of changing industries. The company’s chief sustainability officer at the time, Hannah Jones, said achieving the goal would take “innovation on a scale we’ve never seen before.”

Nike’s Sustainable Innovation team embodied the commitment. It looked for environmentally friendly new materials, like leather made from kelp and foams made from plants, that could replace some of the hundreds of millions of pounds of rubber, leather and cotton used in traditional Nike products. It assisted in testing and refining the foam in the new Pegasus 41 that Nike says cut the carbon footprint of the shoe’s midsole by at least 43%.

So it came as a surprise one Sunday night in December when the dozen or so people on the team got summoned to a mandatory meeting the next morning. In a Zoom call before sunrise, they learned why. The team was being eliminated. The vice president who ran the team was gone. The call lasted less than 10 minutes.

It was the first in a series of deep cuts that one former Nike employee called “the sustainability bloodbath.”

With sales flatlining, Nike executives in December announced a plan to cut costs by $2 billion over three years. Those cuts have dealt a big blow to Nike’s sustainability workforce.

Nike has laid off about 20% of employees who worked primarily on its sustainability initiatives, The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica found. Roughly another 10% left voluntarily or were transferred to other jobs. The cuts to its sustainability staff of about 150 people were far deeper than Nike’s 2% reduction companywide and 7% reduction at its Oregon headquarters.

The estimates are based on state employment records, a review of LinkedIn posts and interviews with more than 10 current and former Nike staff members who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media or are looking for jobs in the industry.

“I’m truly shocked that so many sustainability roles would be eliminated,” said one person who was laid off. “I would have never thought that from the industry leader. Never in a million years.”

Given Nike’s leadership and investment, their retreat is unfortunate, especially in light of the scale and urgency of the challenge.

—Ken Pucker, professor of practice at Tufts University

Nike’s elimination of such a substantial share of its environmental sustainability staff is a stunning turn in the company’s 52-year history. After emerging from the shadow of labor abuses in its foreign factories in the 1990s, the apparel behemoth helped spark the corporate responsibility movement. As the public’s attention turned to corporate impact on the environment, a chastened Nike aimed to lead.

But before the layoffs, Nike had missed its own targets for reducing its contribution to global warming. Its emissions have instead grown slightly since 2015.

Nike today is losing market share and is likely trying to prioritize the short-term financial results Wall Street wants over sustainability’s longer-term payouts, said Ken Pucker, a former executive with the Timberland shoe brand and a professor of practice at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.

“Given Nike’s leadership and investment, their retreat is unfortunate, especially in light of the scale and urgency of the challenge,” Pucker said.

The company’s stock price has been cut in half since late 2021, including an almost 20% drop in late June, a day after executives forecast a sales decline this year.

Get in Touch

ProPublica and The Oregonian/OregonLive plan to continue reporting on Nike and its sustainability work, including its overseas operations. Do you have information that we should know? Rob Davis can be reached by email at rob.davis@propublica.org and by phone, Signal or WhatsApp at +1-503-770-0665. Matthew Kish can be reached by email at mkish@oregonian.com, by phone at +1-503-221-4386, and on Signal at +1-971-319-3830.

Nike would not address the news organizations’ estimates of job cuts when asked about them.

Jaycee Pribulsky, who was named Nike’s chief sustainability officer in February, said she was confident in the sustainability team Nike has in place and described Nike’s current strategy as “embedding” the work throughout the company. In other words: making sustainability everyone’s job as opposed to solely assigning it to a dedicated staff.

“We’re not walking away from sustainability,” Pribulsky said. “I mean, full stop. We are committed.”

The sweeping job cuts touched numerous layers of the organization. Attorneys and finance, waste and packaging specialists who worked in sustainability were laid off. Nike eliminated two of just five people working to trace the origins of the hundreds of millions of pounds of materials it uses. The company is legally prohibited from importing products containing cotton connected to forced Uyghur labor in China and has promised not to use leather that contributes to deforestation in the Amazon.

Three top sustainability executives left, including Noel Kinder, its previous chief sustainability officer, who announced his retirement at age 52 in February.

We’re not walking away from sustainability. I mean, full stop. We are committed.

—Jaycee Pribulsky, Nike chief sustainability officer

Nike by then had already moved sustainability down in the corporate hierarchy. In 2011, Jones, who held the top sustainability job for nearly 14 years, said that her team had gone from obscurity to reporting directly to Nike’s CEO. By the time Kinder left, the position was reporting to the chief supply chain officer, who reports to the marketplace president, who reports to the CEO.

Kinder has since given several talks without addressing the cuts to his former employer’s sustainability staff. But in a June 6 webinar, he said any company’s sustainability strategy depends on what its senior leaders do “from a business strategy standpoint.”

“And this actually happened at Nike,” Kinder said, “where a change in business strategy, or a change in financial objective, directly impacted the sustainability strategy, and frankly in a negative way. And so, there, it is what it is.”

Kinder did not say when that happened. He later told the news organizations he was not referring to any particular moment in his career at Nike.

“Sustainability was a priority at Nike for the nearly 25 years I was there regardless of the ups and downs of the business,” he said. “It was very much part of the fabric of the operating rhythm.”

Noel Kinder, then-chief sustainability officer for Nike, left, at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in 2019 with Marissa McGowan, then-senior vice president for corporate responsibility at PVH Corp. (Ole Jensen/Getty Images for Copenhagen Fashion Summit)

To understand the impact of the cuts to Nike’s sustainability staff, it helps to look at the enormous task assigned to a group of 30 Nike employees in the spring of 2023.

The Carbon Target Setting Working Group began gathering every other Wednesday, 90 minutes by Zoom and in person, to develop a detailed plan to drastically shrink Nike’s carbon footprint. As participants in the international Science Based Targets Initiative, Nike and 5,000 other companies pledged to match the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Nike promised to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2030 throughout its supply chain.

With the deadline fast approaching, Nike’s climate working group debated possible investments to reach its targets, according to two people involved in the process. Should Nike buy renewable natural gas? How much should it invest in healthier agricultural practices? How much should it spend on renewable fuels for its shipping container vessels?

The group calculated the tonnage of emissions that would be reduced by eliminating the paper stuffed into the toes of shoes. It outlined savings from what employees called “light-weighting” shoe boxes, a strategy to use less materials and reduce freight shipping weights. Those seemingly small changes add up when multiplied across millions of products.

A composite image Nike used to promote the Nike One Box, an effort to move from two boxes to one when shipping shoes (Nike)

The result was a plan so important that it would eventually require executive approval and the Nike board’s review. It was still being finalized when the staffing cuts began, the two sources said.

About half of employees involved in Nike’s carbon target planning were laid off or transferred to non-sustainability jobs, according to two sources the news organizations used to identify names. The list included some members who would have been responsible for implementing the steps recommended for ratcheting down emissions.

“Now you have a stool with one leg missing,” one participant said.

Asked about the status of the 2030 plan and how the company would reach its goals for emissions reductions with fewer sustainability employees working on them, Pribulsky said work on the 2030 goals continues.

“We’re committed to continue our journey from a greenhouse gas and a carbon reduction emissions perspective,” she said.

And this actually happened at Nike, where a change in business strategy, or a change in financial objective, directly impacted the sustainability strategy, and frankly in a negative way. And so, there, it is what it is.

—Noel Kinder, Nike’s former chief sustainability officer, in a June webinar

The carbon work that remains is substantial. Nike’s global operation spans more than 600 contract factories concentrated in Vietnam, China and Indonesia, countries heavily dependent on coal-fired power. Nike has said its carbon footprint equates to that of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, a city of roughly 1 million people.

Nike has made progress by powering its own office buildings and distribution centers with renewable energy. But the production and shipping of sneakers and apparel by suppliers and contractors accounts for 99% of its emissions. Nike’s total carbon pollution has been declining since 2020, but it is still just 1.6% lower than when Parker challenged Nike to halve its footprint in 2016.

The cuts to Nike’s sustainability staff come as multinational companies face increasing mandates to disclose their climate risks, trace the origins of their raw materials and deliver the carbon reductions they promise.

Some of Nike’s smaller competitors are doing better. Germany-based Puma has approached the moonshot that Nike missed, saying it has reduced its carbon footprint by almost a third while more than doubling revenues since 2017.

Still, few fashion companies are on target to achieve the reductions needed to prevent severe impacts to the planet, said Achim Berg, a former senior partner with the consulting giant McKinsey & Co.

“If you have conversations with CEOs in the industry, they will admit that it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish what has been committed to years ago,” said Berg, who oversaw McKinsey’s apparel, fashion and luxury practice. “Realistically, we’re going to see a wave of companies changing the targets or postponing the timeline.”

If the industry doesn’t act with more urgency, Berg said, “we can write off all the targets, because nobody’s even close. We need to recognize this.”

Nike’s retreat from sustainability threatens to upend its carefully crafted image as a brand working to address climate change, not one that is making it worse.

The company took a huge public relations hit in the 1990s after reports emerged about its contract factories in Asia using child labor, physically abusing workers and paying as little as 20 cents an hour. Co-founder Phil Knight ultimately admitted the company had problems, saying in 1998 that Nike’s products had become synonymous with “slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse.”

The company began issuing public reports that detailed issues its auditors identified in suppliers’ factories and laid out how it would address them. It became the first in its industry to disclose its finished product suppliers.

Nike employees also saw an opportunity to get ahead of negative headlines on another issue of social concern: the environment.

“We were learning from the mistakes made in the reaction to the labor issues that we needed to go on the offense,” said Sarah Severn, who spent two decades working to lessen Nike’s environmental impact before leaving in 2014. “We were much more aggressive about it and conscious that if those things didn’t get addressed, it would just add more problems to the company’s reputation.”

Factory workers make shoes for a Nike supplier in Indonesia in 1992. Foreign factory conditions in the 1990s created a public scandal that led the company to pledge to do better. (Tim Jewett/The Oregonian)

Executives including CEO John Donahoe have described the company’s aspirations today as something like a virtuous circle, a closed loop that includes turning plastic bottles and trash into Olympics medal-podium jackets and futuristic shoes inspired by the scarcity of living on Mars. Innovating ways to waste less, make lighter shoes and use fewer materials doesn’t just save on carbon emissions. It saves money.

Nike’s marketing machine has amplified the message of sustainability in pitches before the Summer Olympics, an event that sneaker companies consider an unparalleled opportunity to launch new products. Nike’s chief design officer in 2020 called it “a moment for us to telegraph our intentions as a company.”

Ahead of the 2012 London Games, Nike introduced Flyknit, one of its most successful sustainable innovations, a lightweight, woven top part of a sneaker that reduced waste and became a $1 billion business within four years.

Before the 2016 Rio Games, Nike highlighted AeroSwift, a lightweight fabric made from recycled plastic bottles.

In 2020, it was the Space Hippie, a shoe made from recycled factory scraps. Vogue magazine said Nike’s new shoe was its “most sustainable yet.” Harper’s Bazaar called it “game-changing.”

Donahoe highlighted the new shoe during one of his earliest media appearances as CEO. Speaking on CNBC in February 2020, Donahoe praised Nike’s innovation in sustainability and said the company was making significant investments in it.

“The consumer increasingly cares about sustainability, and so they’re looking to companies like Nike to lead on this dimension,” Donahoe said.

That night, Donahoe sat next to the rapper Drake and other luminaries at a colorful New York Fashion Week runway show highlighting Nike’s environmental priorities around the Olympics.

Nike CEO John Donahoe, second from right, with, from left: fashion editor Edward Enninful; late fashion designer Virgil Abloh; pop star Rosalía; rapper Drake; and gymnast Gabby Douglas. They gathered for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic collection fashion show at New York Fashion Week in 2020. (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images)

Looking back on how good Nike’s sustainability work has been for its business, the recent staff cuts make little sense, said Tensie Whelan, director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

“It’s just bizarre to me that Nike would want to step back, having been the leader,” Whelan said. “If they’re moving away from sustainability driving innovation, that is the Nike brand. What does it become then?”

This April, when Nike revealed its new outfits for athletes in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, Donahoe returned to CNBC. The CEO didn’t talk about the Space Hippie, the shoe that won critical acclaim. Just two Space Hippie models remained available on Nike’s website recently. Both were being advertised at a big discount.

Donahoe talked about what Nike needed to do differently. Just four months after his company killed its Sustainable Innovation team, Donahoe repeatedly said “disruptive innovation” would drive growth.

He didn’t use the word sustainability once.

Alex Mierjeski contributed research.

Matthew Kish is a reporter covering the sportswear industry for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Contact him at mkish@oregonian.com or @matthewkish.

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Rob Davis, ProPublica, and Matthew Kish, The Oregonian/OregonLive.

On the Ground at UCLA Encampment: Faculty & Staff Denounce Police Violence Against Students

Laura Flanders & Friends — Sun, 26 May 2024 16:00:06 +0000

This content originally appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends and was authored by Laura Flanders & Friends.

Raisi’s Chief Of Staff Says Weather Was Fine During The President’s Helicopter Crash

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Wed, 22 May 2024 16:02:22 +0000

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

Ukrainska Pravda staff, lead investigative reporter Mykhailo Tkach receive threats

Committee to Protect Journalists — Thu, 16 May 2024 11:18:55 +0000

New York, May 16, 2024 – Ukrainian authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate recent threats sent to several journalists, including investigative reporter Mykhailo Tkach, with the independent news website Ukrainska Pravda, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

On May 10, Tkach received a message on Telegram from someone claiming to be Oleksandr Slobozhenko, a Ukrainian millionaire and subject of an April 15 video investigation by Tkach into the luxurious vacations of Ukraine’s wealthy youth amid a new mobilization law, according to a May 14 statement by Ukrainska Pravda.

“I suggest we end this fuckin’ thing here and now,” the sender wrote, according to a screenshot of the message reviewed by CPJ. He offered to “make peace” with the journalist in exchange for a monetary reward and “advise[d]” him not to delay in responding.

“I know how to fight, too, and remember on the internet I’m at home,” he said.

“Ukrainian authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the intimidation of Ukrainska Pravda journalists, including Mykhailo Tkach, and ensure that members of the press are not harassed or threatened over their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “The work of investigative journalists is a matter of public interest and should not be discouraged — during periods of peace or war.”

On May 11, unknown users repeatedly tried to log into Tkach’s bank account, according to Ukrainska Pravda, which reported that the journalist began to receive “dozens of calls from unknown numbers and text messages with authorization codes from banking and credit institutions.”

On May 13, at least 10 Ukrainska Pravda journalists and editors received “threatening” emails, including on their personal email addresses, the statement said and Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Sevgil Musaieva told CPJ.

All of the messages were sent by “John Doe,” came from the same email address, and were signed “S.”

“I’ve written about this to Tkach before, but apparently it didn’t get through to him, so I’ll try to make the point one last time. Sometimes the ability to close your mouth at the right time can save your life. My offer to settle the matter peacefully still stands, I am waiting for a reply,” they said.

In its statement, Ukrainska Pravda said that it regarded the actions “as an attempt to influence and intimidate both Mykhailo Tkach and other employees.”

On May 14, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office announced that the Shevchenkivskyi Police Department in the capital Kyiv was conducting a preliminary investigation for “influence on a journalist with the aim of preventing him from fulfilling his professional duties” and death and violence threats against a journalist in connection with their work.

“Since the messages were sent from anonymous accounts, I hope the official investigation will establish whether it was Mr. Slobozhenko or someone else trying to exploit the situation,” Tkach wrote on Facebook. He thanked “the law enforcement agencies for their prompt response” but pointed out that eight of the 12 obstructing journalistic activity cases, in which he was the victim, were “not being investigated at all.”

CPJ emailed the Shevchenkivskyi Police Department and Ukraine’s National Police for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.

CPJ contacted Slobozhenko via messaging app did not immediately receive any response. Ukrainska Pravda chief editor Musaieva told CPJ that his outlet had also reached out to the millionaire, but he never answered.

Tkach has previously been surveilled and harassed in connection with his work. Several Ukrainian investigative journalists have faced surveillance, threats, violence, and intimidation in connection with their work since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

USP Council votes to bring controversial VC back to Fiji

APR editor — Fri, 03 May 2024 01:55:56 +0000

By Joe Yaya of Islands Business

Controversial University of the South Pacific (USP) vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia will return to be based at the USP main campus in Fiji following a decision by the University Council.

The vice-chancellor’s return to Suva was a key demand of unions embroiled in an industrial dispute with the university.

Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week.

READ MORE: Other USP leadership reports

It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union (USPSU) — remain locked in mediation after the unions voted for strike action in March over backdated salary adjustments totaling around FJ$13.8 million (NZ$10.2 million), and other grievances.

Ahluwalia has been operating from the university’s Samoa campus since 2021, following a short stint in Nauru. That followed his deportation from Fiji in February of that year by the then FijiFirst government of Voreqe Bainimarama.

Union leaders earlier told Islands Business they had major concerns about the cost overruns from Ahluwalia remaining in Samoa and travelling to and from Fiji, despite a new Fijian government lifting the ban on him last February.

USPSU president Reuben Colata told Islands Business, the unions “are happy to hear the news he is coming back to Laucala”.

Concern over expense account
“That will save money for the university,” he added.

Colata also told Islands Business that a combined staff union paper was given to members of the USP Council before this week’s meeting.

Among other things, the paper raised concerns about a new expense account that was created for Ahluwalia in 2021 during his deportation from Fiji and stint in Nauru for six months, before he was relocated to Samoa.

Colata said that account is recorded in USP’s 2024 Annual Plan under the title ‘VC’s Contingency & Strategic Initiatives’ – and the amount spent in 2021 was $1.3 million.

“This year (2024) the amount allocated to that account has shot up by 90% to $2.5 million.”

There is also an uproar among the unions over recently revised per diem rates which they say are higher than what the United Nations pays its staff in Fiji.

Islands Business has sought comment from Ahluwalia and his management team on the expense account and the per diem rates.

Ahluwalia’s current contract expires in August. In November, the Council voted to give him an extra two-year term until August 2026.

Republished from Islands Business with permission.

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

Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes

by Brett Murphy — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:20:00 +0000

by Brett Murphy

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses.

But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials.

The incidents under review mostly took place in the West Bank and occurred before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. They include reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli Border Police; an incident in which a battalion gagged, handcuffed and left an elderly Palestinian American man for dead; and an allegation that interrogators tortured and raped a teenager who had been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.

Recommendations for action against Israeli units were sent to Blinken in December, according to one person familiar with the memo. “They’ve been sitting in his briefcase since then,” another official said.

A State Department spokesperson told ProPublica the agency takes its commitment to uphold U.S. human rights laws seriously. “This process is one that demands a careful and full review,” the spokesperson said, “and the department undergoes a fact-specific investigation applying the same standards and procedures regardless of the country in question.”

The revelations about Blinken’s failure to act on the recommendations come at a delicate moment in U.S.-Israel relations. Six months into its war against Hamas, whose militants massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 240 more on Oct. 7, the Israeli military has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to local authorities. Recently, President Joe Biden has signaled increased frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the widespread civilian casualties.

Multiple State Department officials who have worked on Israeli relations said that Blinken’s inaction has undermined Biden’s public criticism, sending a message to the Israelis that the administration was not willing to take serious steps.

The recommendations came from a special committee of State Department officials known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum. The panel, made up of Middle East and human rights experts, is named for former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chief author of 1997 laws that requires the U.S. to cut off assistance to any foreign military or law enforcement units — from battalions of soldiers to police stations — that are credibly accused of flagrant human rights violations.

The Guardian reported this year that the State Department was reviewing several of the incidents but had not imposed sanctions because the U.S. government treats Israel with unusual deference. Officials told ProPublica that the panel ultimately recommended that the secretary of state take action.

This story is drawn from interviews with present and former State Department officials as well as government documents and emails obtained by ProPublica. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment.

Over the years, hundreds of foreign units, including from Mexico, Colombia and Cambodia, have been blocked from receiving any new aid. Officials say enforcing the Leahy Laws can be a strong deterrent against human rights abuses.

Human rights organizations tracking Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks have collected eyewitness testimony and videos posted by Israeli soldiers that point to widespread abuses in Gaza and the West Bank.

“If we had been applying Leahy effectively in Israel like we do in other countries, maybe you wouldn’t have the IDF filming TikToks of their war crimes now because we have contributed to a culture of impunity,” said Josh Paul, a former director in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and a member of the vetting forum. Paul resigned in protest shortly after Israel began its bombing campaign of Gaza in October.

The Leahy Laws apply to countries that receive American-funded training or arms. In the decades after the passage of those laws, the State Department, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, followed a de facto policy of exempting billions of dollars of foreign military financing to Israel from their strictures, according to multiple experts on the region.

In 2020, Leahy and others in Congress passed a law to tighten the oversight. The State Department set up the vetting forum to identify Israeli security force units that shouldn’t be receiving American assistance. Until now, it has been paralyzed by its bureaucracy, failing to fulfill the hopes of its sponsors.

Critics have long assailed what they view as Israel’s special treatment. Incidents that would have disqualified units in other countries did not have the same result in Israel, according to Charles Blaha, the former director of the State Department’s Office of Security and Human Rights and a former participant in the Israeli vetting forum. “There is no political will,” he said.

Typically, the reports of wrongdoing come from nongovernment organizations like Human Rights Watch or from press accounts. The State Department officials determining whether to recommend sanctions generally do not draw on the vast array of classified material gathered by America’s intelligence agencies.

Actions against an Israeli unit are subject to additional layers of scrutiny. The forum is required to consult the government of Israel. Then, if the forum agrees that there is credible evidence of a human rights violation, the issue goes to more senior officials, including some of the department’s top diplomats who oversee the Middle East and arms transfers. Then the recommendations can be sent to the secretary of state for final approval, either with consensus or as split decisions.

Even if Blinken were to approve the sanctions, officials said, Israel could blunt their impact. One approach would be for the country to buy American arms with its own funds and give them to the units that had been sanctioned. Officials said the symbolism of calling out Israeli units for misconduct would nonetheless be potent, marking a sign of disapproval of the civilian toll the war is taking.

Since it was formed in 2020, the forum has reviewed reports of multiple cases of rape and extrajudicial killings, according to the documents ProPublica obtained. Those cases also included several incidents where teenagers were reportedly beaten in custody before being released without charges. The State Department records obtained by ProPublica do not clearly indicate which cases the experts ultimately recommended for sanctions, and several have been tabled pending more information from the Israelis.

Israel generally argues it has addressed allegations of misconduct and human rights abuses through its own military discipline and legal systems. In some of the cases, the forum was satisfied that Israel had taken serious steps to punish the perpetrators.

But officials agreed on a number of human rights violations, including some that the Israeli government had not appeared to adequately address.

Among the allegations reviewed by the committee was the January 2021 arrest of a 15-year old boy by Israeli Border Police. The teen was held for five days at the Al-Mascobiyya detention center on charges that he had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces. Citing an allegation shared by a Palestinian child welfare nonprofit, forum officials said there was credible information the teen had been forced to confess after he was “subjected to both physical and sexual torture, including rape by an object.”

Two days after the State Department asked the Israeli government for information about what steps it had taken to hold the perpetrators accountable, Israeli police raided the nonprofit that had originally shared the allegation and later designated it a terrorist organization. The Israelis told State Department officials they had found no evidence of sexual assault or torture but reprimanded one of the teen’s interrogators for kicking a chair.

Do you have any information about American arms shipments to countries accused of human rights violations? Contact Brett Murphy at brett.murphy@propublica.org or by Signal at 508-523-5195.

Alex Mierjeski contributed reporting.

This content originally appeared on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica and was authored by by Brett Murphy.

A climate pledge verifier said it would allow more carbon offsets. Its staff revolted.

Joseph Winters — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 19:09:39 +0000

The world’s most prominent verification program for corporate climate pledges is reportedly in turmoil following its board of trustees’ unilateral decision this week to allow carbon offsets to count toward companies’ supply chain emissions reduction targets.

In a letter to the board seen by Grist, dozens of staffers and program managers at the Science-Based Targets initiative, or SBTi, said the decision had caused “grave reputational damage” and implied that it risked turning their organization into a “greenwashing platform.”

The letter called for the resignation of SBTi CEO Luiz Amaral and board members who supported the change, as well as the withdrawal of the new policy.

“The actions of the CEO and the board have resulted in significant harm to our organization’s reputation and viability,” the letter said.

The SBTi is a nonprofit that sets standards for corporate emissions reduction targets. It evaluates hundreds of companies’ targets each year and certifies those it deems legitimate. Companies, in turn, advertise the SBTi’s certification as evidence that their pledges are meaningful.

Among the staffers’ main concerns is that access to carbon credits will incentivize companies to offset, rather than reduce, greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation and production of materials they buy and products they sell to consumers. Scientists say companies should do everything they can to limit these emissions, known as “scope 3” emissions, before trying to cancel them out with credits.

Carbon credits are supposed to represent some amount of carbon emissions that are avoided or removed from the atmosphere — through projects like planting trees or installing wind turbines — but experts say it’s questionable whether they actually work. More than 90 percent of the rainforest-based credits offered by one popular organization were shown last year to be “worthless,” largely because they promised to protect forests that were never under threat. (The issuer of those credits disputed the findings.)

The SBTi staffers also said the board moved “prematurely,” without notifying or adequately consulting with its technical advisers.

“The Technical Council was neither informed, consulted, nor given approval for such a significant decision,” they wrote, calling this a “clear and apparent breach” of the SBTi’s governance structures. At least one of the SBTi’s technical advisory group members — Stephan Singer, a senior adviser at the nonprofit Climate Action Network — said he resigned from the SBTi over the issue. In his resignation letter, obtained by the Financial Times, he called carbon credits “scientifically, socially, and from a climate perspective a hoax.”

Doreen Stabinsky, another SBTi adviser and a professor of global environmental politics at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, told Grist the move was a “corporate takeover of SBTi that will undermine any ‘science-based’ credibility they had.”

More than 90 percent of the rainforest-based credits offered by one popular organization were shown last year to be “worthless,” largely because they promised to protect forests that were never under threat. Michael Dantas / AFP via Getty Images

The trustees’ abrupt decision may have been influenced by external pressure to boost business prospects for the voluntary carbon market. Over the past few years, investigations and public scrutiny of “fraudulent” offsets have made prospective buyers wary of carbon credits; perhaps fearing backlash, companies bought 17 percent fewer carbon credits in 2022 than they did the previous year.

If the SBTi softened its position on these credits, it could drive up demand for them. Carbon credit programs would benefit from a bigger pool of interested buyers, and companies would be able to meet their emissions reduction targets more easily. Indeed, dozens of companies told the SBTi in a survey published last month that meeting their scope 3 targets is “too much of a challenge,” and the overwhelming majority of positive reactions to the board’s about-face on carbon credits have come from carbon market funders and participants like the American Forest Foundation, Climate Impact Partners, and Indigo Ag.

María Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition — which advocates for corporate climate action and is one of the SBTi’s five partner organizations — said in a statement that the move would allow companies to “bring more innovation and investment into cutting emissions from their value chains, while also bringing in much needed funding for climate projects in the Global South.”

Organizations that set standards for the voluntary carbon market in order to help it grow, including the International Emissions Trading Association, the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets, and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, also supported the new policy. The last of these recently adopted a similar position on carbon credits used to offset supply chain emissions that raised similar concerns among experts.

“The faulty business model of offset credits is in danger, and this wild move is an attempt to keep the business model alive,” Sybrig Smit, a policy analyst for the nonprofit NewClimate Institute, told Grist. “It’s not an attempt to save the climate.”

Some carbon credit proponents may have lobbied the SBTi board directly for a change in policy. Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion philanthropic organization created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and a “core funder” of the SBTi, arranged a two-day meeting in March with SBTi board members, at which representatives of the fund urged the SBTi to allow companies to use offsets.

Appalachian State Fires LGBTQ+ Staff Amidst Rollback of DEI Initiatives

Kate Horgan — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 16:50:28 +0000

Four leaders of a queer affinity group at Appalachian State University have been fired, according to the article “Firing of LGBTQ+ Staff Leaders Raises Questions,” published on March 29, 2024, by Johanna Alonso for Inside Higher Ed. The terminations were sudden, and the only explanation given was that North Carolina…

The post Appalachian State Fires LGBTQ+ Staff Amidst Rollback of DEI Initiatives appeared first on Project Censored.

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

Russia Begins Closing Prisons As Prisoners And Staff Are Recruited For War In Ukraine

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 08:24:30 +0000

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

ABC editorial staff call for content chief to resign over Gaza comments sacking

Pacific Media Watch — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:40:33 +0000

Pacific Media Watch

Editorial staff at Australia’s public broadcaster ABC have again registered a vote of no confidence in managing director David Anderson and senior managers over the handling of complaints by Israeli lobbyists.

At a national meeting of members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance this week, staff passed a resolution of no confidence in Anderson and all ABC managers involved in the decision to unfairly dismiss freelance broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf, MEAA said in a statement.

The meeting was held in response to the Fair Work Commission hearings to determine Lattouf’s unfair dismissal claim after she had been sacked from her temporary job as host of ABC Sydney radio’s morning show in December.

READ MORE: Other reports on ABC and media bias over Israel’s war on Gaza

Staff have also called for ABC’s head of content, Chris Oliver-Taylor, to step down immediately for his role as the ultimate decisionmaker in the dismissal of Lattouf.

“The mishandling of Antoinette Lattouf’s employment has done enormous damage to the integrity and reputation of the ABC,” said MEAA media director Cassie Derrick.

“Evidence provided in the Fair Work Commission hearing about the involvement of David Anderson and Chris Oliver-Taylor in her dismissal has further undermined the confidence of staff in the managing director and his senior managers to be able to protect the independence of the ABC.

ABC union staff call for the resignation of content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor over the dismissal of journalist Antoinette Lattouf. Image: Middle East Eye screenshot APR

“The Lattouf case continues a pattern of ABC journalists, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds, lacking support from management when they face criticism from lobby groups, business organisations and politicians.

“For these reasons, Chris Oliver-Taylor should be stood down immediately, while Mr Anderson must demonstrate he is taking the concerns of staff seriously to begin to restore confidence in his leadership.”

Lattouf co-founded Media Diversity Australia (MDA) in 2017, a nonprofit agency which seeks to increase cultural and linguistic diversity in Australia’s news media.

Her parents arrived in Australia as refugees from Lebanon in the 1970s.

Lattouf was born in 1983 in Auburn, New South Wales. She attended various public schools in Western Sydney and studied communications (social inquiry) at the University of Technology Sydney.

Union-led ABC staff call for the resignation of the Australian @ABCNews chief content officer after court documents revealed his role in journalist Antoinette Lattouf’s dismissal for an accurate social media post about Israel’s starvation strategy.https://t.co/eQ8fLBiQL6

— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) March 21, 2024

The full motion passed by ABC MEAA members on Wednesday:

“We, MEAA members at the ABC, are outraged by the revelations of how ABC executives have disregarded the independence of the ABC, damaged the public’s trust in our capacity to report without fear or favour, and mistreated our colleague Antoinette Lattouf.

“Staff reaffirm our lack of confidence in managing director David Anderson, and in all ABC managers involved in the decision to unfairly dismiss Antoinette Lattouf.

“Chris Oliver-Taylor has undermined the integrity of the entire ABC through his mismanagement, and should step down from his role as Head of the Content Division immediately.

“We call on ABC management to stop wasting public funds on defending the unfair dismissal case against Antoinette Lattouf, provide her and the public a full apology and reinstate her to ABC airwaves.

“We demand that ABC management implement staff calls for a fair and clear social media policy, robust and transparent complaints process and an audit to address the gender and race pay gap.”

An earlier statement expressing loss of confidence in the ABC managing director David Anderson for “failing to defend the integrity” of the broadcaster and its staff over attacks related to the War on Gaza on 22 January 2024. Image: MEAA screenshot APR

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

USP strike: Staff offer management ‘one more chance to come to table’

APR editor — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 23:29:37 +0000

By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

University of the South Pacific staff unions are giving management “one more chance to come to the table” before they go on strike.

On Wednesday, the staff association received the secret ballot outcome from Fiji’s Labour Ministry, which confirmed that they had a mandate for strike action.

Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) general-secretary Rosalia Fatiaki told RNZ Pacific that staff have agreed to return to management to give them one last opportunity to meet the unions demands.

READ MORE: Other USP strike reports

“We [are giving management] one more chance to come to the table and in good faith, let’s look at this. Hopefully we are able to resolve the issues that led us to take this action. By next week we expect a response,” she said.

Fatiaki said the USP management would be given a week to meet with the unions and 21 days to come to an agreement, adding if the management do not come to the table “the next course of action is strike action”.

“When staff go on strike the students are the people that will be most affected. That’s why we’re giving management another chance.”

Fatiaki said the unions were expecting management to negotiate a new offer.

Secret ballot
On March 6, AUSPS cast a secret ballot where 96 percent of its members voted in favour of strike action above the needed majority threshold.

Fatiaki said management had refused to negotiate salary adjustments and that was why staff might strike.

She said staff missed out on salary adjustments in 2019 and 2022.

The regional university gave staff a two percent pay rise in October 2022, January 2023, and January this year.

AUSPS general-secretary Rosalia Fatiaki . . . USP pay rise “way below” the increase needed to match the cost of living in Fiji and unions were not consulted. Image: AUSPS/FB

However, Fatiaki said it was “way below” the increase needed to match the cost of living in Fiji and unions were not consulted.

She said USP used to contribute an additional two percent above the national minimum for its superannuation contribution to senior staff but this was reduced to the minimum during the covid-19 pandemic and had not returned which the union was demanding.

Financial reasons
She said USP had not engaged with the union but had cited financial reasons for withholding pay.

Late last month, AUSPS members staged a protest calling for the resignation of the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, for not being responsive to the union’s concerns.

In a statement to RNZ Pacific, USP said “we remain hopeful that through USP management, we can continue to have discussions with the AUSPS about their grievances and follow proper channels to meet their demands until an amicable solution is reached.”

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

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

World Bank Chief Apologizes to Staff for Handling of Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Ryan Grim — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 22:00:44 +0000

This article was originally published as a newsletter from Ryan Grim. Sign up to get the next one in your inbox.

Once in a while, it’s nice to get a reminder that journalism still matters. The latest one came in the form of a remarkable all-staff email sent by World Bank President Ajay Banga, which was quickly leaked to me.

If you’ve been following our reporting, you know that over the past year, Neha Wadekar and I unearthed a whistleblower’s shocking claim of a cover-up of a child sex abuse scandal, a who’s who of international do-good financiers, and a for-profit education chain operating mostly in Africa called Bridge International Academies. (Bridge didn’t get back right away to my emails for comment.)

Our subsequent report showed in detail how an investigator working for the World Bank was stymied and retaliated against. (An official with the World Bank said he resisted moves to slow down the investigation and he was bound a confidentiality provision, which allowed the World Bank to obtain information that “was essential for the investigation.”) We got notes from a critical phone call between World Bank officials and company executives showing a plan to “neutralize Adler” — the lead internal investigator who had uncovered the allegations — and slow down the process. “Time matters,” as one person on the call put it. “Need to delay until Series F.” (That’s a name for a financing round.)

Following our reporting, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., sent multiple letters to the World Bank, warning the new president that how he responded to the scandal would be used by Congress as a proxy for his broader seriousness about reforming the bank. “We view the Bridge case as a litmus test for the conversation currently taking place around IFC’s responsibility to remedy social and environmental harm caused by its projects, especially those where IFC is not following its own policies, which we see as an important foundation for any proposal to increase the funds available to the World Bank Group,” the senators wrote, referring to the World Bank’s private financing arm, the International Finance Corporation. (The World Bank declined to comment.)

The Guardian and the New York Times wrote follow-up articles, and earlier this week California Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen similarly slamming the Bank.

Over the past several months, however, Banga was strangely resistant to taking action. At a conference in February, he pushed back on the notion there was a “legal effort to cover it up.”

“I think there’s a series of things management could have done better,” he said. “And that’s the discussion we’re going to have with the board shortly. So I’m not going to preempt that. I just disagree that there was a legal effort to cover it up — that I will not accept as a question — because I don’t agree with it. If it is proven to be so, I will take all the action that’s necessary, but really conjecturing that is so in a public space, I will refuse to sign up for it. That’s who I am. I’m sorry if you don’t like it.” He added: “I’d be happy to be fired by the way. I can go back to my private sector life.”

Bridge International Academies was backed by the World Bank’s IFC, as well as prominent Silicon Valley and venture capital leaders, including private funds linked to Bill Ackman, Mark Zuckerberg, and Pierre Omidyar (whose foundation was the founding donor of The Intercept, but has since stepped back).

Banga didn’t start his term as World Bank president until June 2023, long after the scandal and the claimed cover-up began, meaning it was handled — or mishandled — exclusively by bank officials appointed by Donald Trump. Why he went to the mat for those Trump officials remains a mystery.

Regardless, that’s over, with Banga now apologizing, acknowledging “mistakes were made,” and pledging to “do better.” What that better looks like remains a focus of contention. The IFC proposed a remedial plan Thursday, but civil society groups have been quick to condemn it as inadequate.

Read his full apology below. It’s a classic of the corporate genre.

Our first exposé.

Our follow-up, which blew the lid off the cover-up.

Our produced podcast version.

Banga’s email to staff:

Colleagues,

Ten years ago, the World Bank Group invested in Bridge International Academies with the ambition of helping children in Kenya gain access to quality education and the opportunities that come as a result. Early on we received reports of child sexual abuse, but protocols were not followed and children were hurt. Put simply, mistakes were made.

On behalf of the World Bank Group, I am sorry for the trauma these children experienced, committed to supporting the survivors, and determined to ensure we do better going forward.

The change we are pursuing requires action but begins with self-reflection.

Tomorrow, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman will publish findings that resulted from a years long independent investigation into this tragedy. The report comes with an opportunity to take another step down that road of reform, but it won’t be easy and demands we each take ownership.

Those findings will be accompanied by a Management Action Plan that our shareholders have approved, under which IFC will develop a remediation program with input from survivors, civil society, and child abuse experts. I encourage everyone to read the report and sincerely consider its conclusions.

But already we know areas that need to be addressed and preliminary next steps. We should have responded earlier and more aggressively. We should have onboarded learnings across the World Bank Group on how to properly address allegations. And we should have pulled in the other investors at the onset and encouraged them to be partners in the response.

In the near future, IFC – with child safety experts – will begin having important conversations with survivors in a way that ensures their well-being. Additionally, in order to make certain the CAO investigation is received with the credibility it deserves, we will ask an outside investigator to ensure that this was conducted in a manner that was free from interference.

This is a difficult moment for our institution, but it must be a moment of introspection. I know each of you care for the World Bank Group – and the people we serve – as deeply as I do. We are all here for a purpose, that purpose must guide us to do better.

Ajay

Update: March 14, 2024, 7:22 p.m. ET
This newsletter has been updated to include comments from a World Bank official.

Join The Conversation

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Ryan Grim.

USP staff vote in favour of strike action over ‘just and fair’ pay rise

APR editor — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 22:00:29 +0000

By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

A secret ballot by members of the Association of University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and USP Staff Union have voted in favour of strike action at the institution.

Unofficial results in the poll last Wednesday showed 63 percent in favour, above the needed majority threshold.

AUSPS general secretary Rosalia Fatiaki said staff missed out on salary adjustments in 2019 and 2022.

READ MORE: Other USP staff reports

Fatiaki said the union had not pushed USP at the time to adjust the salaries because they were told the university was in a financial crisis.

The regional university gave staff a two percent pay rise in October 2022, January 2023, and January this year.

However, Fatiaki said it was “way below” the increase needed to match the cost of living in Fiji and unions had not been consulted.

“The management has refused to negotiate salary adjustment and that is what the secret ballot was for,” she said.

USP not engaged
“We now demand that the university be just and fair to staff by looking and negotiating salary adjustments with the union.”

Fatiaki said USP used to contribute an additional two percent above the national minimum for its superannuation contribution to senior staff but this was reduced to the minimum during the covid-19 pandemic and had not returned which the union was demanding.

She said USP had not engaged with the union but had cited financial reasons for withholding pay.

USP’s vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia . . . both campus unions hope he will “come to the table”. Image: USP

Fatiaki said this was despite more students being on the USP roll.

She said the union was now waiting on Fiji’s Labour Ministry to advise the on next course of action.

“We have not received a confirmation from [the ministry], they have acknowledged the receipt of the secret ballot results and they are yet to formally provide us that confirmation. So we are awaiting for that and we are expecting that to come through today (Friday).”

Fatiaki said she hoped vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia would “come to the table” and take staff grievances seriously.

‘Going round and round’
“We are going round and round and round,” she said.

“Rather than [Professor Ahluwalia] coming to tell us ‘no we can’t, we will not [meet the unions demands]’, he’s sending the representatives to come and talk to us and then they go [and] back to him.

“Now it’s time for him to come to the table and deal with the issues.”

She said staff dissatisfaction with Professor Ahluwalia was not a reason for the strike.

However, she said union members had expressed concerns about the vice-chancellor’s leadership because of “numerous unresolved issues”.

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

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

TVNZ to cut up to 68 jobs in restructure – ‘dire for democracy’

Pacific Media Watch — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:25:17 +0000

RNZ News

Television New Zealand will start talks from tomorrow with staff who will lose their jobs in the state broadcaster’s bid to stay “sustainable”.

It is proposed that up to 68 jobs will be cut which equates to 9 percent of its staff.

TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell told staff today that “tough economic conditions and structural challenges within the media sector” have hit the company’s revenue.

READ MORE: RNZ’s live blog on the media cuts

She said “difficult choices need to be made” to ensure the broadcaster remained “sustainable”.

Changes like those proposed today were incredibly hard, but TVNZ needed to ensure it was in a stronger position to transform the business to meet the needs of viewers in a digital world.

RNZ understands a hui for all TVNZ news and current affairs staff will be held at 1pm tomorrow. This follows separate morning meetings for Re: News, Fair Go, and Sunday.

A TVNZ staffer told RNZ it was not yet clear what the meetings meant for those programmes — whether they were to be fully cut or face significant redundancies.

RNZ also understands 1News Tonight might also be affected.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said of the job cuts: “It’s incredibly unsettling”.

He said he felt for the staff there and acknowledged some would be at his media standup in Wellington.

Luxon said all media companies here and around the world were wrestling with a changing media environment.

Minister Shane Jones interrupted and said “a vibrant economy will be good for the media, bye bye”.

More than TVNZ 60 roles to go with 6pm news & current affairs threatened. Increasingly hard for free to air public broadcasters to survive commercially. Time to bite bullet & accept that as with BBC & Oz ABC, public broadcasting needs 2 be publicly funded? https://t.co/oL7awc7ag2

— Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) March 6, 2024

Former prime minister Helen Clark said on X it was becoming increasingly hard for free to air public broadcasters to survive commercially.

She asked if it was time to accept that, as with the BBC and ABC, public broadcasting should be publicly funded.

‘Dire implications for our democracy’
Sunday presenter Miriama Kamo said the news of jobs possibly being axed was “awful”.

“It’s devastating not just for our business, it’s devastating for what it means for our wider society.”

She said along with the likely demise of Newshub it had “dire implications for our democracy”.

When cuts were being made in news programmes at the state broadcaster that indicated how dire things had become.

“I’m very very concerned about what the landscape looks like going forward.”

A TVNZ news staffer who spoke to RNZ on the condition of anonymity said the most disappointing part of the process was finding out there would be job cuts via other media, such as RNZ and The New Zealand Herald.

“Our bosses didn’t have the decency to be transparent about what was going on. You know, they say that they’ve been forthcoming over the past month over what’s going to happen in this company and whatnot — they haven’t.

‘What sort of vision?’
“So it’ll be an interesting day tomorrow to see how widely the team’s affected, and to see what sort of vision they have for TVNZ, because in the time that I’ve been working there they keep talking about this digital transformation, and I haven’t seen any transformation yet.”

The mood among current staff this morning was “pretty pissy”, particularly from those affected.

“Obviously, not impressed,” the person said.

Media commentator Duncan Greive said some TVNZ staff were hopeful an argument could be made against the job losses.

Greive, who also founded The Spinoff, told RNZ’s Midday Report TVNZ staff working on Fair Go, Sunday and Re: News were invited to meetings today, and told to bring support people.

He said staff have told him the news was devastating, but said they didn’t yet know how deep and widespread the cuts would be — leaving them hopeful their teams would not be as impacted on as they feared.

Meanwhile, an organisation supporting news media staff said the hundreds of people facing redunancy would struggle to find new work in the industry.

Deeply unsettling
Media chaplaincy general manager Elesha Gordon said it was deeply unsettling for those whose livelihoods were on the line.

She said 368 people (from Newshub and TVNZ) with very specialised skillsets would be stepping out into an industry that would not have jobs for them.

Gordon said the proposed cuts were a “cruel and unfair symptom” of the industry’s financial state.

Last week, TVNZ flagged further cost cutting as it posted a first half-year loss linked to reduced revenue and asset write-offs.

The state-owned broadcaster’s interim financial results showed total revenue had fallen 13.5 percent from last year to $155.9 million.

Its net loss for the six months ended December was $16.8m compared to a profit of $4.8m the year before.

O’Donnell said the broadcaster’s management had tried to cut operating costs over the last year but there was now no option other than to look at job losses.

‘No easy answers’
“There are no easy answers, and media organisations locally and globally are grappling with the same issues. Our priority is to support our people through the change process — we’ll take the next few weeks to collect, consider and respond to feedback from TVNZers before making any final decisions.”

A confirmed structure is expected to be finalised by early April.

TVNZ staff arrive to hear the news from their bosses. Image: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

The layoffs at TVNZ have come one week after the shock announcement by the US corporation Warner Bros Discovery that it intended closing its Newshub operation in New Zealand by the end of June.

It means up to 300 people will lose their jobs.

Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee told RNZ Checkpoint yesterday she had spoken to TVNZ bosses last week but it was not up to her to reveal details of the conversation.

She declined to comment on Newshub’s offer to TVNZ to team up in some ways to cut costs, nor suggestions TVNZ could cut its 6pm news to half-an-hour or cancel current affairs programming.

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

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

NYT investigates staff as ‘Hamas r@pe’ scandal deepens

The Grayzone — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 06:23:58 +0000

This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.

Israel Raids Nasser Hospital, Arrests Staff in Latest Assault on Gaza Medical System

Democracy Now! — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:38:21 +0000

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

“3 Days of Hell”: Israel Raids Nasser Hospital, Arrests Staff in Latest Assault on Gaza Medical System

Democracy Now! — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:26:37 +0000

As Israeli forces raid Nasser Hospital in Gaza, trapping hundreds of patients there and arresting medical staff, we speak with emergency room physician Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who just recently returned to the United States after three weeks volunteering at the hospital. “We’re just asking that hospitals not be targeted, that they not be bombed, and that doctors and nurses can provide for their patients without being worried that they may be killed, that they may be abducted or arrested,” says Ahmad. “We need a ceasefire now. Hospitals need to be protected and functioning.” He also criticizes the American Medical Association for speaking out against Russian attacks on hospitals in Ukraine but staying silent on much more widespread attacks on medical facilities and personnel in Gaza.

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

Chicago ER Doctor Just Back from Gaza Says Patients, Medical Staff Face Catastrophic Conditions

Democracy Now! — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:40:33 +0000

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

Despite Looming Gaza Famine, U.S. Halts UNRWA Funding After Israel Claims Staff Aided Oct. 7 Attack

Democracy Now! — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 15:35:20 +0000

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

Despite Looming Gaza Famine, U.S. Halts UNRWA Funding After Israel Claims 12 U.N. Staff Aided 10/7 Attack

Democracy Now! — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 13:50:30 +0000

On the same day the U.N.'s highest court accepted South Africa's case alleging genocide in Gaza, Israel accused 12 employees with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, of taking part in the Hamas attack on October 7. The United States and at least 10 other nations have now suspended funding to the agency, which retains a staff of over 13,000 and provides essential aid to most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. “It’s the worst possible reaction to these allegations,” says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He calls for an investigation but says donors must continue to support aid groups, with UNRWA being the most important. “All of us combined other groups are not even close to being what UNRWA is for the people of Gaza,” says Egeland. UNRWA has responded to the allegations by announcing the group will “immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation.”

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

Chicago ER Doctor Just Back from Gaza Says Patients, Medical Staff Face Catastrophic Conditions

Democracy Now! — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 13:43:16 +0000

We get an update on conditions in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis area, where displaced Palestinians who fled there to seek refuge are reporting heavy aerial and tank fire as Israel intensifies its ground offensive around two main hospitals there. Dr. Thaer Ahmad is an emergency room physician who spent three weeks volunteering at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. “I thought, 'This can't be real.’ This is not something that I would expect in 2024,” says Ahmad, who worked alongside doctors who have been volunteering without pay for months as waves of Gazans, including their own families, seek help and safety at the remaining hospitals. “They assume that the hospital can be a sanctuary, and time and time again that has been proven incorrect in Gaza.”

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

ABC staff ‘have lost confidence’ in boss in defending public trust in Israel row

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 01:27:04 +0000

Pacific Media Watch

Union members at the Australian public broadcaster ABC have today passed a vote of no confidence in managing director David Anderson for failing to defend the integrity of the ABC and its staff from outside attacks, reports the national media union.

The vote was passed overwhelmingly at a national online meeting attended by more than 200 members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union said in a statement.

Union members have called on Anderson to take immediate action to win back the confidence of staff following a series of incidents which have damaged the reputation of the ABC as a trusted and independent source of news.

The vote of ABC union staff rebuked Anderson, with one of the broadcaster’s most senior journalists, global affairs editor John Lyons, reported in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age as saying he was “embarrassed” by his employer, which he said had “shown pro-Israel bias” and was failing to protect staff against complaints.

This followed revelations of a series of emails by the so-called Lawyers for Israel lobby group alleged to be influential in the sacking of Lebanese Australian journalist Antoinette Lattouf for her criticism on social media of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza that has killed 25,000 people so far, mostly women and children.

Another pro-Israel WhatsApp lobbying the ABC.
It makes me sick in the stomach to see people celebrate my sacking.
It makes me sick in the stomach to see an alleged Ita Buttrose response saying I’m now gone.
It makes me worry about the ABC’s integrity https://t.co/6qTeU7f8Wz pic.twitter.com/L9Te8A1Ynx

— Antoinette Lattouf (@antoinette_news) January 22, 2024

Staff have put management on notice that if it does not begin to address the current crisis by next Monday, January 29, staff will consider further action.

The acting chief executive of MEAA, Adam Portelli, said staff had felt unsupported by the ABC’s senior management when they have been criticised or attacked from outside.

Message ‘clear and simple’
“The message from staff today is clear and simple: David Anderson must demonstrate that he will take the necessary steps to win back the confidence of staff and the trust of the Australian public,” he said.

“This is the result of a consistent pattern of behaviour by management when the ABC is under attack of buckling to outside pressure and leaving staff high and dry.

“Public trust in the ABC is being undermined. The organisation’s reputation for frank and fearless journalism is being damaged by management’s repeated lack of support for its staff when they are under attack from outside.

BREAKING NEWS:
Censorship Crisis at the ABC.

Senior ABC journalist accuses ABC of bowing to “a group of lawyers lobbying for a foreign power.”

“The clue is in the name: ‘Lawyers for Israel’ thought that they could run a campaign to bully an ABC journalist out of her job —… pic.twitter.com/VbyFfGqpnB

— Peter Cronau (@PeterCronau) January 22, 2024

“Journalists at the ABC — particularly First Nations people, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds — increasingly don’t feel safe at work; and the progress that has been made in diversifying the ABC has gone backwards.

“Management needs to act quickly to win that confidence back by putting the integrity of the ABC’s journalism above the impact of pressure from politicians, unaccountable lobby groups and big business.”

The full motion passed by MEAA members at today’s meeting reads as follows:

MEAA members at the ABC have lost confidence in our managing director David Anderson. Our leaders have consistently failed to protect our ABC’s independence or protect staff when they are attacked. They have consistently refused to work collaboratively with staff to uphold the standards that the Australian public need and expect of their ABC.

Winning staff and public confidence back will require senior management:

Backing journalism without fear or favour;
Working collaboratively with unions to build a culturally informed process for supporting staff who face criticism and attack;
Take urgent action on the lack of security and inequality that journalists of colour face;
Working with unions to develop a clearer and fairer social media policy; and
Upholding a transparent complaints process, in which journalists who are subject to complaints are informed and supported.

A further resolution passed unanimously by the meeting read:

MEAA members at the ABC will not continue to accept the failure of management to protect our colleagues and the public. If management does not work with us to urgently fix the ongoing crisis, ABC staff will take further action to take a stand for a safe, independent ABC.

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

ABC staff ‘have lost confidence’ in boss in defending public trust in Israel row

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 01:27:04 +0000

Pacific Media Watch

The vote was passed overwhelmingly at a national online meeting attended by more than 200 members of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union said in a statement.

Another pro-Israel WhatsApp lobbying the ABC.
It makes me sick in the stomach to see people celebrate my sacking.
It makes me sick in the stomach to see an alleged Ita Buttrose response saying I’m now gone.
It makes me worry about the ABC’s integrity https://t.co/6qTeU7f8Wz pic.twitter.com/L9Te8A1Ynx

— Antoinette Lattouf (@antoinette_news) January 22, 2024

Staff have put management on notice that if it does not begin to address the current crisis by next Monday, January 29, staff will consider further action.

The acting chief executive of MEAA, Adam Portelli, said staff had felt unsupported by the ABC’s senior management when they have been criticised or attacked from outside.

“This is the result of a consistent pattern of behaviour by management when the ABC is under attack of buckling to outside pressure and leaving staff high and dry.

BREAKING NEWS:
Censorship Crisis at the ABC.

Senior ABC journalist accuses ABC of bowing to “a group of lawyers lobbying for a foreign power.”

“The clue is in the name: ‘Lawyers for Israel’ thought that they could run a campaign to bully an ABC journalist out of her job —… pic.twitter.com/VbyFfGqpnB

— Peter Cronau (@PeterCronau) January 22, 2024

The full motion passed by MEAA members at today’s meeting reads as follows:

Winning staff and public confidence back will require senior management:

Backing journalism without fear or favour;
Working collaboratively with unions to build a culturally informed process for supporting staff who face criticism and attack;
Take urgent action on the lack of security and inequality that journalists of colour face;
Working with unions to develop a clearer and fairer social media policy; and
Upholding a transparent complaints process, in which journalists who are subject to complaints are informed and supported.

A further resolution passed unanimously by the meeting read:

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

The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – January 22, 2024 Nearly 30,000 professors, coaches librarians and other CSU staff begin weeklong strike of 23 campus system.

KPFA — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 18:00:00 +0000

Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

US-British militaries coordinate again to strike Iranian-backed Houthi rebel targets in Yemen.
Secretary of State Blinken travels to Africa to meet with regional leaders.
EU foreign ministers meet to promote the creation of a Palestinian state as the only way to end Middle East conflict.
Nearly 30,000 professors, coaches librarians and other CSU staff begin weeklong strike of 23 campus system.
FAA recommends airlines expand safety reviews to include all Boeing planes.
Lawmakers introduce bill to keep ACA and Medicare costs down.

The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – January 22, 2024 Nearly 30,000 professors, coaches librarians and other CSU staff begin weeklong strike of 23 campus system. appeared first on KPFA.

This content originally appeared on KPFA - The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.

Gaza: MSF condemns strike on shelter that killed staff member’s five-year-old daughter

Newswire Editor — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 20:20:09 +0000

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the Jan. 8 strike on an MSF shelter, which led to the death of the five-year-old daughter of an MSF staff member.

Yesterday morning, a shell, resembling that from a tank, broke through the wall of the building where over 100 MSF staff and their family members were seeking shelter in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The five-year-old girl was critically injured by the strike and underwent surgery at the Gaza European Hospital. However, she later died of her injuries on Jan. 9. Three other people were slightly injured in the strike.

“We are outraged and deeply saddened by the death of yet another family member of our MSF staff. This strike on civilians is unacceptable and, once again, goes to show that it doesn’t matter where you are in Gaza, nowhere is safe,” said Thomas Lauvin, MSF project coordinator in Gaza. “The shell did not detonate on impact, otherwise many more of our staff and their families would have most likely been killed.”

Prior to the incident, MSF notified Israeli forces that the shelter near Gaza European Hospital was housing MSF staff and their families. Furthermore, no evacuation orders were issued before the strike. While MSF is not able to confirm the origin of the shell, it appears to be similar to those used by Israeli tanks. MSF has contacted Israeli authorities and is seeking further explanation.

Four of MSF’s staff have been killed since the beginning of the war in addition to numerous family members.

We reiterate our call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. Indiscriminate violence against civilians must end now.

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

Staff Member Abdulkader Reports From Northwest Syria

International Rescue Committee — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 16:41:54 +0000

This content originally appeared on International Rescue Committee and was authored by International Rescue Committee.

London’s RSA launches probe into pro-Israel event that sparked staff walkout

Dania Kamal Aryf — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:34:52 +0000

The Royal Society of Arts claims it was not made aware of the event’s ‘geopolitically sensitive’ nature

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Dania Kamal Aryf.

London’s RSA launches probe into pro-Israel event that sparked staff walkout

Dania Kamal Aryf — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:34:52 +0000

The Royal Society of Arts claims it was not made aware of the event’s ‘geopolitically sensitive’ nature

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Dania Kamal Aryf.

London’s RSA launches probe into pro-Israel event that sparked staff walkout

Dania Kamal Aryf — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:34:52 +0000

The Royal Society of Arts claims it was not made aware of the event’s ‘geopolitically sensitive’ nature

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Dania Kamal Aryf.

Johnson denies ‘racism’ contributed to deaths of ethnic minority NHS staff

Ruby Lott-Lavigna — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:51:53 +0000

Ex-PM struggled to answer Covid inquiry’s questions on disproportionate number of deaths in minority ethnic groups

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Ruby Lott-Lavigna.

Nine editors double down in ‘tense’ war on Gaza editorial ban meeting

Pacific Media Watch — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:40:33 +0000

By Cam Wilson in Sydney

A senior Nine staff journalist has resigned and readers are angrily cancelling their newspaper subscriptions as Sydney Morning Herald and Age editors defend a decision to ban staff who signed a letter protesting about Australian media’s handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict from covering the war.

The fallout continues from a last Friday afternoon announcement in response to the open letter addressed to Australian newsrooms that called on them to “support ethical reporting on Israel and Palestine”.

The petition, which had more than 100 signatures from journalists, including some from Nine’s mastheads, advocated covering credible allegations of war crimes and disclosing whether staff had taken sponsored trips to the region.

Editors for Nine’s metro papers SMH, The Age, Brisbane Times and WAToday — comprising executive editor Tory Maguire, SMH editor Bevan Shields, Age editor Patrick Elligett and SMH national editor David King — reacted by saying they would remove any staff who signed the letter from reporting or producing content related to the war.

Part of the Australian journalists’ open letter . . . claims that the “devastating” Israeli bombing of Gaza and the media blockade “threatened newsgathering and media freedom in an unprecedented fashion”. Image: MEAA

Following the letter, the editors organised an in-person meeting on Tuesday morning and invited Nine’s signatories to the open letter along with the mastheads’ house committee members of journalist union Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).

According to five staff who spoke to Crikey on the condition of anonymity, little was known about the meeting prior to it being held. Initially, some staff were concerned the meeting would be about further repercussions for the letter’s signatories while others wondered if the editors were planning on softening their stance.

What became clear soon into the 90-minute meeting was that the editors had no intention of backing down. Multiple staff described them as “doubling down” in a “tense” meeting.

‘Mostly defensiveness’
“I would say the vibe was a lot of open discussion but mostly defensiveness from the editors,” one staff member told Crikey.

Editors stressed that their decision to sideline staff who had signed the letter was motivated by a desire to protect their mastheads’ reputations from a perception of bias.

They argued that the bans — while saying they were hesitant to use the word “ban” to describe them — were not punitive and were set to last as long as the conflict does.

A point of contention was the “hypocrisy” of treating staff as potentially biased for signed the letter about media coverage, while not applying that same standard to staff who have attended sponsored trips to Israel. (Crikey reported earlier this week that Maguire, Shields, Elligett and King have all made such trips.)

When one editor raised that a hypothetical reader coming across a Nine journalist’s name on the open letter would affect their perception of the paper, a staff member asked why it would not be the same for someone who had been on a trip, especially given that they were not required to disclose it.

While saying that going on a junket “years ago” would not affect a journalist’s coverage, editors singled out two journalists in the newsroom for having gone on trips — one supported by a movie studio and the other by environmental advocacy group Greenpeace — and whether they would need to disclose this.

In both cases, these journalists, who declined to comment to Crikey, had disclosed the relationship as part of their coverage.

“They [the editors] tried to make comparisons that weren’t really comparisons,” one journalist said.

‘Punished’ over backgrounds
Staff also used the meeting to raise concerns about what management was doing to retain diverse staff, describing feeling as being “punished” for their own backgrounds.

Maguire, Shields, Elligett and King did not respond to questions from Crikey about the meeting, including asking what Nine’s leadership was doing to retain diverse staff. A Nine spokesperson responded with a general statement instead.

“The editorial leaders are in constant communication with a vast range of newsroom staff, representing all perspectives, and will continue to encourage open dialogue on all issues, including this one,” they said in an emailed statement.

Shortly after the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, 17-year Age veteran and environment reporter Miki Perkins posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she was resigning from her role.

“I have made the decision that it’s time to seek broader horizons and I will be leaving,” she wrote.

Perkins, who hopes to stay working in journalism, was one of the journalists singled out in the meeting and had been assisting in circulating the open letter to journalists. She did not mention the meeting but Age staff believe that Nine management’s handling of the matter was the final straw.

Angry comments
Meanwhile, Nine’s Slack channel #feedback-smh-website, which automatically posts responses to a feedback survey, has been filled with angry comments from current and former readers who took issue with the editors’ response to the letter.

One metro paper journalist said that the last time they had seen such directed reader feedback was during the backlash to SMH‘s outing of Rebel Wilson.

“My family has been a subscriber to the Age consistently for around 100 years — but this is too far. Please end my subscription immediately,” wrote one respondent.

“Vale Herald. You shall be missed,” wrote another.

Cam Wilson is a journalist for the independent Crikey website in Australia. Republished by Pacific Media Watch.

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

‘Up in arms’ USP staff challenge vice-chancellor’s stay in Samoa

APR editor — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:47:09 +0000

By Alexander Rheeney in Apia

Disgruntled staff at the University of South Pacific (USP) are demanding the USP Council make a decision on the relocation of the vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, to Fiji from Samoa.

The demands from the USP staff coincide with the university’s two-day 96th council meeting at the Laucala campus’s Japan ICT Building earlier this week.

In an email that was sent to regional media last Friday, including the Samoa Observer, the staff said they were “up in arms” over the decision by the university’s pro-chancellor to block a submission from the staff to the agenda of the council’s meeting.

“The paper is in response to the decision of the May 2023 USP Council (C95) meeting where its attention was drawn to the many unresolved issues faced by the staff over the period 2021 to May 2023 and some earlier, despite meetings of the staff policy committee and SMT/union quarterly meetings which are chaired by VCP [vice-chancellor and president],” read the statement issued by the university staff.

“University management only found it necessary to respond to issues when the Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) filed a log of claims in October 2023. The VCP then appointed the chief operating officer and the executive director people and workforce strategy to engage with the union.”

According to the USP staff, two meetings were held to respond to the decision of the May Council for the university management and the unions to work together to address the issues and to report and update the November (C96) council.

A paper was then submitted for the November 2023 council agenda containing updates on resolved and unresolved issues in response to the council’s decision and new issues that have come to light since C95.

Paper ‘cannot be tabled’
However, the staff said that on November 20 the secretary to the council informed the council staff representative that the pro-chancellor and chair of the council had directed him to inform her that after reviewing the paper, “it cannot be tabled at the 96th council meeting” because “the issues raised therein are not for council to deliberate on”.

University of the South Pacific staff protesting in black with placards calling for “fair pay” and for vice-chancellor Professor Ahluwalia to resign. Image: Association of USP Staff (AUSPS)

They added that the pro-chancellor had directed that these be worked on with the USP management!

“She failed to acknowledge that the paper contained responses to May council decision and that there are issues such as the salary adjustment that the management has refused to discuss or negotiate on.

“PC [pro-chancellor] then proceeded to state that the council does not deal with matters of salary adjustment. Precedent has been set where the council has approved salary adjustments.”

Fiji’s national broadcaster FBC on Tuesday reported that the president of AUSPS, Elizabeth Read Fong, had questioned why Professor Ahluwalia continued to live in Samoa despite the Fiji government lifting the ban that the former Fijian government had placed on him.

Fong reportedly said that the logical choice would be for the university’s vice-chancellor and president to return to his office at the main headquarters of the USP in Laucala Bay, Suva, and appealed to the Samoa government to facilitate the release of the vice-chancellor.

She said the regional university continued to spend a lot on Professor Ahluwalia’s travel and accommodation expenses every time he travelled to Suva from Samoa.

The Samoa Observer has contacted the USP vice-chancellor for comment on the concerns that the USP staff members have raised.

Many USP staff dressed in black protested for two days over their grievances with the vice-chancellor.

Alexander Rheeney is editor of the Samoa Observer. Republished with permission.

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

Ahluwalia reappointed as USP’s VC in spite of protests, strike threat

APR editor — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 22:22:26 +0000

By Vijay Narayan in Suva

The University of the South Pacific Council has reappointed Professor Pal Ahluwalia as vice-chancellor and president amid two days of staff protests.

The council says it has also heard from staff representatives and urged the unions and management to work collaboratively in the interest of the university.

The meeting was chaired by the acting pro-chancellor and chair of council and the New Zealand government representative, emeritus Professor Pat Walsh, in place of the pro-chancellor and chair of council Dr Hilda Heine, who is away from university business.

In a statement released by USP, Professor Walsh welcomed the reappointment of the vice-chancellor and expressed his and the council’s endorsement of Professor Ahluwalia’s performance.

Professor Ahluwalia thanked the vouncil for its continued support, saying he looked forward to serving the university and the region.

The council noted reports from the pro-chancellor and the vice-chancellor and president on activities undertaken since their last report to council.

Professor Pal Ahluwalia said the university was delivering its priorities successfully against the backdrop of declining enrolment numbers and financial constraints.

Updated on finances
The council was updated on the finances of the university and noted the ongoing challenges USP continues to face.

The council adopted the proposed annual plan for 2024 and noted the financial strategies for the coming year.

It also approved the financial plan for 2024 and adopted the audited financial statements for the half-year ended 30 June 2023.

The council further noted the impact and risks associated with the financial challenges being faced by the university largely due to the decline in student numbers.

The management outlined its strategies for mitigating the challenges ahead.

The council also approved a report by the University Senate and instituted new programmes in Pacific TAFE.

In addition, the council endorsed a proposed scoping study to establish a Pacific Centre of Excellence for Deep Ocean Science and a report will be presented at the next council meeting to be held in Vanuatu in 2024.

Unions want VC out
Meanwhile, The Fiji Times reported yesterday in a front page report that staff unions said they wanted Professor Pal Ahluwalia out.

During a protest on Monday and yesterday, more than 130 members turned up dressed in black with placards listing their grievances against the USP management.

Staff also questioned why a paper outlining their grievances was not included in the council’s meeting agenda.

Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) president Elizabeth Fong said staff had supported the university in its greatest time of need.

Now, they are asking for recompense and recognition in terms of a “fairer and just” salary adjustment.

A statement from USP management said they were still negotiating some terms with staff unions.

However, news reports yesterday said the unions were now planning strike action.

Vijay Narayan is news director of Fijivillage News. Republished with permission.

University of the South Pacific staff protesting in black with placards calling for “fair pay” and for vice-chancellor Professor Ahluwalia to resign. Image: Association of USP Staff (AUSPS)

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

USP strike on the cards after council blocks staff papers in pay row

APR editor — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 04:19:01 +0000

By Apenisa Waqairadovu in Suva

The Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) will now make necessary submissions to go on a strike.

This comes after AUSPS president Elizabeth Read Fong confirmed that the USP Council had denied staff papers to be presented in this week’s USP Council meeting.

Fong said this meant there would be no pay adjustments, among other things they had asked for.

She said that the next step would be to take industrial action, and they will give 21 days’ notice prior to the planned action.

She added that they would decide on the date of the protest for maximum impact.

AUSPS president Elizabeth Read Fong . . . date to be chosen for a strike with maximum impact. Image: FBC News

The staff braved the wet conditions today to carry out a second day of peaceful protest outside the meeting venue of the USP Council.

USP vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia . . . staff want him to step aside or be removed. Image: USP screenshot

Fong said staff still wanted vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia to step down or be removed from his role.

The meeting will conclude later today.

Apenisa Waqairadovu is a FBC News multimedia journalist.

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

USP union warns of industrial action if fair pay is not approved

APR editor — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 18:19:07 +0000

By Iliana Biutu in Suva

University of the South Pacific Union (USPU) president Reuben Colata says industrial action will be the next step if USP does not approve their pay increment being sought.

Colata said they did not know why the university did not want to negotiate a salary increase.

He said the university had about $80 million in savings with another $19 million given by the government this year.

With that amount of money, the university could pay the staff rather than allow the staff to bargain for their salary.

His union is one of two unions representing USP staff.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad, said he encouraged the staff to engage with management — and with the USP Council — to resolve this issue.

Professor Biman said Fiji’s coalition government believed in academic freedom and also valued the freedom of workers the country needed.

The USP Council meeting is still underway at the USP Japan ICT Centre and it will continue today.

The USP staff had a silent protest yesterday after their staff paper was not allowed to be included as part of the council’s agenda.

Seeking removal of VC
They are calling for the staff paper to be discussed by the USP Council which includes the issues about the staff pay increment demand.

They are also calling for the removal of the regional institution’s vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

The academic staff are represented by the Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) whose president, Elizabeth Read Fong, told FBC News that Professor Ahluwalia’s contract should end by December 31.

She hinted that the vice-chancellor had already turned 65, which is the institution’s retirement age.

“He also turns 65 at the beginning of the year,” she said.

“The university policy is that when you turn 65, you work until December 31st, so there is a post-retirement thing, but he has put that on hold, so one policy applies to everybody.”

Iliana Biutu is a Fiji Village News reporter. Republished with permission.

University of the South Pacific staff protesting yesterday in black with placards calling for “fair pay” and for vice-chancellor Professor Ahluwalia to resign. Image: Association of USP Staff (AUSPS)

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

‘All talk and no action’ say USP protesters calling for fair pay

APR editor — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 10:32:26 +0000

RNZ Pacific

University of the South Pacific (USP) staff gathered outside the Japan-Pacific ICT Centre today to protest over better pay and conditions as well as calling for the removal of the regional institution’s vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

The university’s main decision making body, the USP Council, is meeting at the Laucala campus this week.

Aggrieved employees of the university showed up in black, holding placards calling for “fair pay” and for Professor Ahluwalia to resign.

The staff are unhappy after the USP pro-chancellor chair of council Dr Hilda Heine did not include a staff paper on the agenda of the meeting today, according to local media reports.

“The Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) president Elizabeth Fong said the paper included a submission on staff salary adjustment and a recommendation to recruit a new Vice Chancellor who is originally from the region,” according to Fiji One News report.

USP staff are calling for a “fair pay” deal and for the university to recruit a new vice-chancellor who is originally from the Pacific region. Image: Association of USP Staff (AUSPS)

FBC News reports that the staff are calling for the “non-renewal Ahluwalia’s contract, claiming that he is no longer fit for the role” and that the vice-chancellor’s position to be advertised.

“Fong claims the VC is all talk and no action,” it reported.

The state broadcaster is reporting that USP staff want a 11 percent increase in pay and not the four percent they have received recently.

“We have staff shortages, vacancies which means people have doubled up and tripled up on their responsibilities. This is about keeping USP serving the region, serving its people,” Fong was quoted by FBC News as saying.

USP staff gather in numbers for peaceful protest pic.twitter.com/y4XA6EHYvC

— fijivillage (@fijivillage) November 27, 2023

‘We remain hopeful’ — USP
In a statement to RNZ Pacific, USP said its management “continues to work with the staff unions regarding their grievances” since they were raised earlier in the year.

“Through its meeting with AUSPS, the USP management has resolved some of the matters raised in the log of claims while discussion continued on the remaining issues.”

The university said that in October 2022, all USP staff received salary increments and the second increase kicked in in January 2023.

“Staff also received a bonus in the middle of the year (2023). Negotiations are continuing, and provisions have been made for another salary increase next year, subject to the Council approving our 2024 budget.”

The USP said the chair of the USP Council approved the council agenda, “and the USP management does not have a say in the matter”.

“As stated several times previously, the vice-chancellor’s relocation is decided by the council.

“The institution, as always, supports union rights and acknowledges that a peaceful protest is within its ambit.

“However, we remain hopeful that through USP management, we can continue to have discussions with the AUSPS about their grievances and follow proper channels to meet their demands until an amicable solution is reached,” it said.

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

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

USP staff unhappy with VC, but he thanks them for ‘engagement’

APR editor — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 19:20:40 +0000

By Felix Chaudhary in Suva

University of the South Pacific staff who once stood by vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia are now up in arms about his role in a decision by pro-chancellor Dr Hilda Heine to disallow a staff paper to be placed on the agenda of the 96th USP Council meeting being held today.

A joint press statement by the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the University of the South Pacific Staff Union (USPSU) said the blocked paper was in relation to “many unresolved issues faced by the staff over the period 2021 to May 2023”, which included pay and other matters.

The unions said staff from across the region met on November 22 and “are aggrieved and angry at the refusal of the PC (pro-chancellor) and VCP to allow their voice to be heard at council”.

READ MORE: USP saga and other reports

“This is the same VCP that the staff stood for in his hour of greatest need,” the unions said.

“The same staff who took risks to ensure that he was given worker justice and the opportunity to prove his worthiness of the VCP position.

“That he was a likely party to a decision to disallow the Staff paper is indicative of VCP’s leadership style which has become very clear to staff.”

The unions said USP management refuse to discuss or negotiate a salary adjustment for 2019-2023 and the final course of action was to bring the matter to the council for resolution in preference to industrial action.

What the VC had to say
In response to queries from The Fiji Times, Professor Ahluwalia sent a message he had issued to USP staff.

In it, he thanked them for joining him in a staff discussion which had a “record number of staff who attended with a high level of engagement.

“Whilst we have made considerable progresses, some issues remain outstanding,” the VC said.

He said USP now had a budget that would be presented to the council for approval today.

“Despite the alarming situation concerning declining student numbers, we have managed to ensure no redundancies, albeit, we will only be able to fill 30 per cent of our vacancies next year.”

Professor Ahluwalia said in terms of salary adjustments, the university had “made a great deal of progress, with two salary increases in October 2022 and January 2023 and an increment/bonus for all staff in the middle of the year (2023), and provisions have been made for another salary increase next year subject to council approving our 2024 budget.”

Questions sent to pro-vice chancellor Dr Hilda Heine yesterday remained unanswered.

Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

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

UNRWA staff member recounts agency’s ‘impossible mission’ in Gaza

Nancy Sarkis — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 16:32:42 +0000

Negotiations continued on Thursday towards the implementation of the Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza, where staff from the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, remain “on the ground doing an impossible mission”.That’s according to Maha Hijazi, UNRWA Warehousing and Distribution Officer, who was responsible for securing food for hundreds of thousands of people in the enclave, which continues to face dire shortages of food, water fuel and medicines. Ms. Hijazi and her family fled to Egypt on Monday. She spoke to UN News’s Nancy Sarkis about what life was like in Gaza, where during the day she worked to support thousands sheltered in UNRWA facilities while at night she would comfort her children so they could fall asleep amid the sound of bombardment.

This content originally appeared on UN News - Global perspective Human stories and was authored by Nancy Sarkis.

Over 100 Organizations Oppose “Fiscal Commission” That Threatens Social Security, As Do Former Greenspan Commission Staff

Newswire Editor — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 16:22:13 +0000

Today, over 100 organizations released a letter to Congress opposing the creation of a so-called “fiscal commission” designed to fast-track cuts to Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors.

Additionally, five former staff members of the 1983 Greenspan Commission released a statement opposing the commission. These staffers include individuals who worked for both Democrats and Republicans. The full statement is HERE and a two-page summary is HERE.

These statements are an urgent response to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has announced his intentions to form just such a commission. The Biden administration has accurately called this type of commission a “death panel” for Social Security and Medicare.

“Congress should address Social Security in the sunlight, through regular order, as it always has,” said Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works and former top assistant to Alan Greenspan on the 1983 commission. “The only reason to create a fast-track, closed door commission is to overthrow the will of the American people by cutting their hard-earned benefits. Anyone who supports this commission is supporting benefit cuts.”

The organizations opposed to Mike Johnson’s planned commission include labor unions, advocates for seniors and people with disabilities, women’s rights organizations, and more. The full list of organizations is below and the letter is HERE:

ACA Consumer Advocacy

AFL-CIO

AFSCME

AFT Washington Retiree Chapter 8045R

Alliance for Retired Americans

American Family Voices

American Federation of Government Employees

American Federation of Musicians

American Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers, Washington

American Postal Workers Union

Arkansas Community Organizations

Beta Cell Action

Blue Future

BOWL PAC

California Alliance for Retired Americans

Campaign for America’s Future

Center for Common Ground

Center For Economic And Policy Research

Center for Popular Democracy

Church World Service

Citizen Action of New York

Coalition on Human Needs

Communications Workers of America

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces

Consumer Action

District Eight National Alliance of Postal & Federal Employees

Doctors for America

Economic Opportunity Institute

Economic Policy Institute

Equality Federation

Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research

Generations United

Goddard Riverside-NYC

Health Care for America Now

Healthcare for All Minnesota

Healthcare is a Human Right – Washington

Indivisible

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers

Justice for All Network

Justice in Aging

Labor Campaign for Single Payer

Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy

Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc.

Massachusetts Senior Action Council

Metro New York Health Care for All

Michigan People’s Campaign

Michigan United

Midtown South Community Council

MomsRising

MoveOn

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

National Employment Law Project

National Federation of Federal Employees

National LGBTQ Task Force

National Organization for Women

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Postal Mail Handlers Union

National Union of Healthcare Workers

National Women’s Law Center

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New Mexico AFSCME Retirees

New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans

North Seattle Progressives

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition

NY Statewide Senior Action Council

NYS Alliance for Retired Americans

Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York

One Payer States

Our Revolution

P Street

Pacific Islander Health Board of WA

Painters and Allied Trades International Union

People’s Action

Physicians for a National Health Program

Physicians for a National Health Program – NY Metro Chapter

Physicians for a National Health Program – Washington

Progress America

Progressive Democrats of America

PSARA Education Fund

Public Citizen

Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action

Revolving Door Project

Rise Up WV

SEIU 521

Social Security Works

Strengthen Social Security Coalition

Swing Left Bakersfield, CA

Tennessee Health Care Campaign

The Other 98% Lab

The People United

Transportation Trades Department

U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph

United Mine Workers of America

Unity Fellowship of Christ Church-NYC

Upper East Side for Change

Upper West Side Action Group: MoveOn/Indivisible/SwingLeft

Utility Workers Union of America

VOCAL-NY

Washington CAN

We the 45 Million

West Virginia Citizen Action

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

Missile Kills Ukrainian Courier Company Staff

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 13:39:46 +0000

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

Massey University science staff, students fight for jobs and studies

APR editor — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:25:59 +0000

By Jimmy Ellingham, RNZ Checkpoint reporter

Science staff and students at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand are fighting to save their jobs, and their studies.

The cash-strapped university is proposing to slash science courses from its Albany campus, which would hollow out a new high-tech building full of specialised labs.

It is part of Massey’s scenic grounds on Auckland’s North Shore, which are shrouded with an air of uncertainty as proposed job cuts hang over this campus.

LISTEN TO RNZ CHECKPOINT: Fighting to save Massey jobs, studies

More than 100 jobs are on the line at Massey, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) says, including from the schools of natural sciences, and food and advanced technology — programmes that would cease to exist in Auckland.

Only a year ago, a new Innovation Complex opened its doors in Albany, reportedly costing $120 million. The university would not confirm the price.

It was to be called the Innovation and Science Complex, but the science part of the name was quietly dropped, although it remains on some signs in the building.

Professor of behavioural ecology Dianne Brunton . . . Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Professor Dianne Brunton — a specialist in conservation biology whose job is on the line — showed RNZ what the complex had to offer this week.

Building for the future
“This space — all of these labs, the whole building, really, is a building for the future, a building for the next 20 to 40 years,” she said. “And [for the] students and the staff and the growth we’ll see in the sciences here on the North Shore, where the population is just ballooning.

“It’s not going to stop. It’s just going to keep going.”

Staff and students have until Friday to have their say on Massey’s science proposals as the university deals with an expected shortfall of about $50 million for the year.

“We were in little huts. They were temporary buildings and they were fitted out,” Professor Brunton said of the previous office and lab space.

“They were like Lockwood houses, if you remember that far back. They’re little prefabs, but they worked.

“In fact, some of the best covid work was done on that campus by researchers that were here with us then, and they’ve since gone.”

Professor Brunton said Albany staff were determined to offer solutions to the university, and work with it so they could remain, including on how they pay to use their space.

Floor space rented out
Massey effectively charges rent for floor space to its colleges, and science takes up room.

“There are some solutions to that and one of them is to have biotech companies in. We’ve had a number of biotech companies working in the molecular lab, basically leasing it out,” Professor Brunton said.

“We’ve got lots of ideas about other things, but the instability that we’re seeing at the moment makes that a bit tricky.”

The Innovation Complex is an award-winning building, and a leader in its field.

“It’s not just a science building — make that clear. There’s lots of student space, work space, flexible teaching space, but really state-of-the-art, really efficient labs,” Professor Brunton said.

Among its jewels are a chamber for detecting spider vibrations and a marine wet lab which allows for experiments using live animals thanks to a reticulated salt water system.

In the previous buildings, buckets of salt water sourced from the sea had to suffice.

Massey University’s Innovation Complex opened its doors in Albany in 2022 . . . It houses several disciplines and contains specialised spaces and equipment. Image: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Specialised spaces
Professor Brunton said she did not know what would happen to specialised spaces or equipment if the Massey proposal went through.

“Some of these pieces of equipment are not the kind a local company could come in and use.”

Staff had to have hope the proposal would not go through, she said.

She also raised concerns about the quality of the financial information made available on which staff and students could make submissions.

Many students are in limbo due to the threat to cut courses from the Albany campus.

Third-year food technology student Cynthia Fan, 21, said those affected were trying to prepare for exams, while worrying about where they would be next year and organising submissions.

Under the proposal, food technology students were among those who might have to continue their studies at Palmerston North, unless Massey decided to stagger the cessation of the courses in Albany.

“The thing that really sucks is I have no idea and we have no idea. The uni has said that they will not speak to students,” Fan said.

Fan would like to see the university focused on helping its students.

“I think in the first week [after the proposal was announced] everyone was hard panicking. I think a lot of people missed lectures because they didn’t have energy.”

‘Financial sustainability is urgent,’ university says
In a statement, Professor Ray Geor, pro vice-chancellor for Massey’s College of Sciences, said the university’s financial statements were inspected and approved by Audit NZ.

“During a financial year, it is expected there could be adjustments. Additionally, during the close-inspection focus of the proposal for change processes, we expect there will be refinements of information,” Professor Geor said.

“Organisational finances are never static. However, we are confident that adjustments will be minor and not substantive to the financial drivers for the need for a proposal for change,” he said.

“As we are funded by taxpayers, part of being a financially responsible organisation is exploring revenue streams, as many tertiary education providers are doing within New Zealand.

“Staff can provide avenues for exploration and the College of Sciences will consider all feedback. However, the need to reduce costs and generate income to ensure financial sustainability is urgent for this year and for the near term — 2024-2027.”

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

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

Laphonza Butler’s EMILY’s List Spends Millions on Kamala Harris While Laying Off Grassroots Staff

Akela Lacy — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 04:42:09 +0000

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler to the U.S. Senate. Butler will fill the seat of former Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died on Friday. The news came less than a month after Butler’s organization, EMILY’s List, laid off eight people, citing budget deficits ahead of a major election year.

Layoffs were announced in September, just over a year before the 2024 elections. The influential Democratic Party-aligned organization cut five staff members from the training and community engagement team, which ran outreach to grassroots candidates and voters; two people from the digital team; and another person on the state and local campaigns team. Several staff members who were laid off and not part of the union were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to receive severance. Last week, EMILY’s List shut down Run to Win, its national recruitment and training program.

“Staff trainings like the ones EMILY’s List has run for years are essential for high quality campaigns.”

A source with knowledge of the layoffs, who asked for anonymity to protect their professional relationships, said Butler billed the layoffs as part of a change in the organization’s scope and scale, but that they signaled a major shift in priorities away from outreach to grassroots candidates in the lead-up to a critical election year.

“Staff trainings like the ones EMILY’s List has run for years are essential for high quality campaigns,” said Gabe Tobias, the co-founder of Movement School, a sister organization of Justice Democrats. “Scaling these back going into a critical election year would be a big loss for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.”

The layoffs came on the heels of broader organizational restructuring in the spring. EMILY’s List cut the position of vice president of research and split the department in two. Another source with knowledge of the restructuring, who requested anonymity for the same reason, said staff was told at the time of the restructuring that there would not be layoffs.

Layoffs in September cut people who weren’t fundraising or working with an endorsed candidate.

Two months before the layoffs, EMILY’s List announced one of its biggest priorities for 2024: a plan to spend tens of millions of dollars to back the reelection of Vice President Kamala Harris, a close ally of Butler’s. A portion of the group’s limited resources will go to boosting Harris as her approval ratings drag below that of her predecessors.

EMILY’s List also runs a separate Twitter account, “Madam Vice President,” dedicated to pumping up Harris’s image. Butler, who joined EMILY’s List in September 2021, was senior adviser to Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign. EMILY’s List spent $10 million backing Harris after her vice presidential nomination that year.

“At this time, we are prioritizing our resources to the efforts most central to the EMILYs List’s mission: electing a diverse group Democratic pro-choice women in targeted seats,” said EMILY’s List spokesperson Christina Reynolds. “This required another look at our budget for the cycle, revisiting our focus and our scope and making some tough choices, including having to cut specific functions and lay off some valued colleagues.”

The second source said they were puzzled by other financial decisions in the lead-up to layoffs, which were first reported by HuffPost shortly after The Intercept made a press inquiry. The source said there were questions about spending on conferences and consultants. They said Butler and former Executive Director Emily Cain, who left in April, had trouble attracting big donors during a widespread Democratic fundraising slump, but that the organization found success in appealing to older and more moderate voters through Harris.

During a time when staff across the Democratic fundraising spectrum are having trouble connecting with donors, Harris’s role as the first female vice president plays well, they said. Consultants on contract for EMILY’s List worked on Harris’s brand and frequently posted content praising her on both the pro-Harris and main organizational Twitter accounts.

“All the Kamala stuff does really, really well,” they said. “I think part of it is like, the base is eating it up any Kamala graphics we’re putting out.”

“Caught Us Off Guard”

EMILY’s List’s restructuring began in the spring. Twelve departments were merged into five to reduce the number of siloed functions within the organization. In April, Cain left, and vice president of campaigns Jessica Mackler and Reynolds, the vice president of communications, were promoted to senior vice presidents in their departments. (Cain started a consulting company in July.)

The role of vice president of research was replaced with a senior director of research, and the former vice president of research left in March. The department was split across two others: campaign and opposition research, and communications and fact-checking research. Several research staff later left on their own. The organization also hired a new senior vice president and chief of staff, Michelle White, who joined in July.

Butler’s background as a labor leader made her handling of the organization’s restructuring and later news of layoffs more disappointing, said a former EMILY’s List employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect personal relationships. Prior to joining EMILY’s List, Butler was director for public policy and campaigns at Airbnb. She was previously president of both the SEIU California State Council and the state’s largest union, SEIU Local 2015, which represents home care and nursing home workers.

The former employee disagreed with Butler’s approach to the restructuring, relying on outside consultants rather than on the employees doing the organization’s work.

“It caught us off guard for sure,” the source said. “She comes from such a prominent labor background, I and my team members definitely expected more of her.”

Since the restructuring, the group has spent more time talking about Harris. In June, Butler told Politico that EMILY’s List was focused on reminding voters why they should support the vice president.

“We’re going to tell the story about who she is, what she’s done, support her at every turn and really push back against the massive misinformation and disinformation that’s been directed towards her since she’s been elected,” Butler said.

Boosting Harris makes sense for a fundraising organization dedicated to electing women, the second source said. It still struck them as odd how many resources were dedicated to backing Harris in a position that’s an afterthought for many voters.

“EMILY’s List is doing a lot of stuff for the vice president, which I always thought was weird,” they said. “I know the vice president is an elected position, I just don’t really view it that way.”

Join The Conversation

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Akela Lacy.

North Korea orders diplomatic staff to donate $100 each for new subs

By Kim Jieun for RFA Korean — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 13:16:16 +0000

Kim Jong Un has submarine envy, so every North Korean attached to diplomatic missions abroad has been ordered to “donate” US$100 to a new fund that will go toward the construction of “cutting-edge” submarines and other warships, sources in China told Radio Free Asia.

The donation mandate was the first order of business after Kim returned from his summit in Russia with President Vladimir Putin, where the two countries agreed to strengthen ties.

During that trip, Kim toured military facilities including a naval base for Russia’s Pacific Fleet and was “shocked” by Moscow’s high-tech weaponry, especially submarines, the sources told RFA.

“Yesterday, Pyongyang sent an order to the North Korean Embassy here in China to raise the necessary funds to build new submarines and warships,” a source in Beijing who is familiar with the situation, told RFA Korean Sept. 23 on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“The instructions state that the members of all overseas diplomatic missions must donate $100 each before Party Foundation Day on Oct. 10,” he said, adding that the ambassador in Beijing had sent the same order to North Korean consulates in Shenyang and Dandong. Personnel working in overseas companies are also considered part of the mission.

“The order states that the construction of new warships and submarines is a top priority that can no longer be postponed, considering the current situation,” the source said. “The members at the embassy all gave $100 as soon as they received the instructions. Most of them seem to understand that the leader gave this order after being quite shocked by Russia’s advanced weapons.”

Not cheap

Even though the stated purpose is to raise money for warships and submarines, the source said that the order is also a test of loyalty, and likely that future instructions will continue to ask for funding.

“Some of the people responded to the order by saying ‘New submarines and warships are high-tech, and require expensive materials and equipment. They are not children’s toys. I don’t understand how it will be possible to build them by saving just $100 per person.’”

Indeed, submarines are not cheap, and such donations would seem to hardly make a dent in the overall cost.

Construction costs for the type of nuclear-powered submarine North Korea could build, such as the French-designed Barracuda-class, run about $1.19 billion each.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un [right] watches a cruise missile being launched from a warship in the East Sea, in this undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 21, 2023. Credit: AFP/KCNA via KNS

When the orders reached the consulates in the northeastern cities of Shenyang and Dandong and the former British colony Hong Kong, the officials there “looked dejected,” a source in Shenyang told RFA on condition of anonymity for personal safety.

Companies there are used to getting orders to donate a specific amount of money from their revenue, but this order appealed to them to “exhibit a high level of loyalty in response to the Marshall's instructions to build submarines and new warships,” the Shenyang source said. In official communications, Kim is often referred to by his military rank.

Companies did not force the workers to donate, he said. Instead, they anticipate that some of the workers will demonstrate their loyalty with a large donation, and then the pressure will be on for the rest of the workers to better or match that amount.

“The workers could not hide their sense of dejection at the instructions,” the Shenyang source said. “The workers are saying, ‘We have been tightening our belts to develop nuclear weapons for decades as we were preparing for war. Now we are building new submarines and warships.’”

“It was foolish of us to expect that [the government] would finally address the country’s food problems.”

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

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

Faith-based NGO fires local staff in Myanmar following strike

By RFA Burmese — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 20:26:34 +0000

A global faith-based humanitarian group has fired more than 80 local Burmese employees working in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state following a strike over demands for a fixed euro exchange rate for salaries, some of the terminated workers said.

The Lutheran World Federation, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has operated in Myanmar since 2008 and provides humanitarian and educational assistance to Rohingya refugees and others affected by armed conflict in Rakhine.

The laid-off employees said the group emailed them termination letters on Sept. 4, saying they were let go because they had violated the rules of its branch in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state.

All the workers went on strike on Aug. 14, but the organization did not address their grievance about the exchange rate, said one of the affected employees who declined to be identified so as not to not risk any retribution for speaking to the press about the incident.

“We have been asking to be paid at the current exchange rate for years, but they haven’t done anything about it,” he said.

The employees had contracts stating that they would be paid in euro equivalent. Instead, they were paid at a fixed exchange rate of 2,100 kyats (US$1) to the euro.

“Our salaries are usually transferred to us by a private bank, but we do not receive our pay according to that bank’s euro exchange rate,” the affected employee said.

Employees have one-year to three-year labor contracts, he said.

Those fired, including married and pregnant women, have not received their salaries for the past month, nor have they received any compensation for their termination, he added.

Radio Free Asia emailed David Mueller, the Lutheran group’s country representative in Myanmar, and Ruth Ait Bah, regional finance and administration manager, for comment on the staff dismissals, but did not receive responses.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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

Former Radio Free Europe staff demand probe over ‘pro-Azerbaijan content’

Lamiya Adilgizi, Tom Rowley — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 22:01:06 +0000

Radio Azadliq, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service, is accused of mismanagement and bias after string of sackings

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Lamiya Adilgizi, Tom Rowley.

West Virginia University guts programs, decimates staff in new budget | Working People

The Real News Network — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 13:00:57 +0000

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

Staff at Home Office-funded hotel accused of ‘treating migrant like slave’

Sian Norris, Sascha Lavin — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 23:01:07 +0000

1,400 complaints about government-funded accommodation include allegations of sexual harassment, racism and violence

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Sian Norris, Sascha Lavin.

The Intercept’s 2022 Annual Staff Demographic Survey

The Intercept — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 18:00:00 +0000

In 2020, The Intercept began conducting an annual staff survey in order to assess how we’re faring in our efforts to increase the newsroom’s demographic diversity. We are now making available the results of our third and latest demographic assessment, which was conducted in April and May 2022.

This year, we added three new questions with the hope of capturing our staff members’ class backgrounds as well as their experiences with debt and means-tested government assistance. With these additions, our survey consisted of 20 questions that were sent to 49 full-time U.S. employees and fellows. We saw a slight decrease in participation from last year; the survey was completed by 88 percent of those who received it. As in previous years, the survey was both voluntary and anonymous.

According to the 2022 results, 60.5 percent of our staff identify as white and 35 percent identify as people of color, with the remainder declining to self-identify. These percentages are similar to last year’s survey results, in which 60 percent of our staff identified as white and 34 percent identified as people of color.

The Intercept’s long-term goal is to increase the percentage of people of color in the newsroom to 50 percent, and to raise the number of staff members who come from backgrounds underrepresented in journalism.

The Intercept is continuing to implement our “double Rooney Rule,” which requires at least two candidates from currently underrepresented groups in journalism to be interviewed for all open positions. We have also sought to diversify our pool of freelance contributors via our freelancer database, which we began publicizing this past year. The database captures a diverse range of contributors and serves as a resource for Intercept editors looking to commission stories or solicit pitches.

The 2022 Annual Survey

The responses to our annual anonymous survey are being presented as percentages in three categories: managers, non-managers, and total staff. We are including all racial demographics in our final report, including ones lacking any representation among our staff. We rounded to the first decimal point, so some percentages do not add up to 100.

All questions offered the option “prefer not to say.” Some questions also allowed responders to fill in individual answers; these answers will not be made public in order to protect the anonymity of responders.

Gender

Of all staffers, 48.8% are female, 48.8% are male, and 7% are nonbinary. Women are a slight majority (51.9%) among non-managers, while men are the slight majority (53.3%) among managers. All nonbinary staffers are non-managers, and at the time the survey was completed, no one at The Intercept identified as transgender.

Age

Roughly one-third of Intercept employees (34.9%) are in the 30-to-39 age range. The next most common age bracket — from 40 to 49 years old — comprises 27.9% of our staff. Staffers between 20 and 29 years old increased from 18% to 20.9% this year. Slightly more than one-half of our managers (53.3%) are between 40 and 49. The largest percent of non-managers (37%) are between ages 30 and 39, and one-third of non-managers (33.3%) are between ages 20 and 29.

Race and Ethnicity

The chart below represents the racial and ethnic breakdown of all Intercept staffers. The majority of staff members (60.5%) identify as white and a combined 35% identify as either Black, East Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or two or more races. No one at The Intercept identifies as Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander.

The chart below features data on 11.6% of the staff who answered the race and ethnicity question with “two or more.” Those who did not choose that specific answer were asked to answer this question with “not applicable.”

Sexual Orientation

The number of Intercept staffers who identify as LGBPQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Queer, or Asexual) increased from 18 to 23.3% since last year.

Education

A majority of The Intercept staff attended public high schools (65.1%).

Over half of staff members obtained their bachelor’s degrees at private institutions (58.1%).

A majority (55.8%) of employees do not have an advanced degree, while 25.6% have a master’s degree from a private university.

Out of all Intercept staff, 16.3% were first-generation college students. A total of 18.5% of Intercept non-managers are first-generation college students; a total of 13.3% of managers fall in that category.

Immigration

A total of 23.3% of our staff are first-generation immigrants, and 27.9% have parents who are immigrants.

Family Class Background

The highest percentage (37.2%) of Intercept employees identified their family class background as upper-middle class, with nearly half (46.7%) of managers selecting upper-middle class. The second-highest demographic bracket was middle class (25.6%), followed by working class (20.9%).

Government Assistance and Debt

This year, The Intercept introduced the two following yes-or-no questions about socioeconomic background:

Have you or your immediate family ever received means-tested government assistance, such as free/reduced lunch, earned income tax credit, food stamps, or Medicaid?

Do you or a member of your household spend more than 20 percent of your income paying down debt including student debt and medical debt (but not including a mortgage)?

More than one-third of Intercept employees (34.9%) said either they or their immediate family had received some form of means-tested government assistance, and nearly half (46.7%) of managers said the same. Roughly one-fifth of the entire staff (20.9%) said a member of their household spends more than 20 percent of their income paying down debt.

Disability

Among all employees, 14% identify as having a disability.

Time at First Look Media, The Intercept’s Parent Company

A total of 34.9% of Intercept employees have worked at First Look Media, The Intercept’s parent company, for more than five years.

One-third of non-managers (33.3%) have been with The Intercept for more than five years, and another one-third (33.3%) have been with The Intercept for one to three years. All managers have been with the company longer than a year.

Years Working in Journalism

A little less than a third of Intercept employees (30.2%) have worked in journalism between five and 10 years, while 25.6% of our newsroom has between one and five years of experience in newsrooms.

Another 23.2% of our staff newsroom have worked in journalism between 10 and 20 years, and 16.2% of our employees have more than 21 years of experience. Just 2.3% of our staff have one year or less of journalism experience.

Join The Conversation

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by The Intercept.

Revealed: Bank of England staff handed £25m in bonuses

Martin Williams — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 11:48:53 +0000

Top bankers have pocketed up to £22,500 on top of their regular salaries, as critics say there is ‘no justification’

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Martin Williams.

Home Office would send just 3 staff to ‘monitor’ rights of 25,000 in Rwanda

Camille Corcoran — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 16:26:12 +0000

Exclusive: The department currently has only one person in Rwanda, despite stressing ‘monitoring obligations’ in court

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Camille Corcoran.

Starved of funds and vision, struggling universities put NZ’s entire research strategy at risk

APR editor — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 23:14:34 +0000

ANALYSIS: By Nicola Gaston, University of Auckland

The crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand’s university and wider research sector did not happen overnight. While funding shortfalls and sweeping redundancies are now making headlines, the underlying problems have been evident for years.

As I wrote after last year’s budget, financial support for research across our universities and crown research institutes “is steadily eroding and has been doing so for some time”, given the impacts of inflation.

The year before was no better. “The 2021 budget is not the investment we needed to see,” I wrote then. “Anything other than an increase in line with inflation is rather a slap in the face.”

And of 2020’s covid-dominated budget, I could only say: “Under normal conditions, I might describe this as a disappointing budget for science [. . . ] missing not merely in action, but in aspiration.”

It was a similar story in 2019, with a 1.8 percent increase to tertiary tuition subsidies only slightly alleviating inflation pressure; and in 2018, when the government restated its intention to lift research funding to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years.

That 2 pecent of GDP target has been around for a long time now, with little significant movement and a current spend of 1.47 percent. The lack of new funding for science and research in recent successive budgets might once have been explained by sector reform being a work in progress.

But time is running out.

With redundancies wreaking havoc across the university sector in particular, getting new funding into the system should have been a priority in this year’s budget. The opportunity cost of not doing this is simply too great.

Challenge and capacity
The university sector is now undeniably in crisis, with the scale of the cuts — most seriously at Otago and Victoria University of Wellington, but also at Waikato and Massey — becoming clearer in the past few weeks.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Education refuse to interfere in what they see as operational matters, saying universities need to adapt to changing realities.

And there is little doubt universities face real challenges, from the changing nature of work, to increased expectations of digital learning, and the implications of artificial intelligence tools.

‘Tragic’ blow for staff as Victoria University makes cuts to jobs and entire subjects https://t.co/242Of0DceT

— RNZ News (@rnz_news) June 21, 2023

But cutting staff undermines the sector’s capacity to deal with those challenges in the first place — because capacity lies at the heart of this issue. As former prime minister Helen Clark said last week:

It has taken decades to build the current capacities of our universities. That should not be destroyed by short-term budgetary considerations. The money required to maintain viable and comprehensive universities is small in the overall scheme of things.

The missing money may indeed be small. But a lack of inflation adjustment over multiple years has created real problems — especially given universities did not qualify for any financial support during covid-19, and have cut or not replaced staff over the past three years already.

We are falling further behind Australia in terms of everything, especially the recruitment of high-quality academic staff and research funding, argues Ananish Chaudhuri https://t.co/w7GZSuaUMc

— Newsroom (@NewsroomNZ) June 14, 2023

A system at odds with itself
This year, the key budget hole is traceable to a dip in student numbers, likely related to sub-optimal student experiences during the pandemic, and perhaps the relatively strong job market.

It is easy to sympathise with this, and to hope those students return to tertiary education in future. The question is, what will our universities look like if and when they do?

That research funding target of 2 percent of GDP — reiterated again in this year’s budget — has been with us since 2017.

Patience was encouraged on the basis that, while government funding was below target, business expenditure on research and development (R&D) was even worse. We needed to wait for R&D tax credits to move that dial before government funding would increase.

But the reverse is now true. As last year’s white paper from science sector reform programme Te Ara Paerangi-Future Pathways made clear, it was no longer business R&D capacity that was holding us back — it was capacity on the public side:

The current [research, science and innovation] system is poorly placed to utilise increased funding to prepare us for [the] future.

That the loss of capacity threatened by current university cuts seems not to have raised concerns in government about the viability of its own research strategy suggests something is profoundly wrong.

OPINION: The removal of Asian studies programmes will leave us more isolated, more ignorant and less competitive. https://t.co/0vj7u3VRaX

— Stuff (@NZStuff) June 15, 2023

Simple funding solutions
The immediate solution shouldn’t be that hard. As has been pointed out elsewhere, money to cover projected higher student enrolments was originally budgeted for by the government.

The decision not to allocate that money due to lower than expected enrolments is really a question of funding priorities and structures.

The research activities of universities are supported first through baseline funding to ensure there is available capacity; and secondly through contestable grants that allow governments to invest in research areas on strategic grounds (such as health or economic development).

A shift in the balance between baseline and per-student funding is not a dramatic structural change. An alternative might be to set a floor on how much per-student funding can be cut from one year to the next — just like the government sets a cap on raising student fees, for example.

In our dysfunctional system, it often appears the university’s chief role is as real estate developer. https://t.co/ofBs1JRjMA

— Stuff.co.nz Politics (@NZStuffPolitics) June 14, 2023

A coordinated national strategy
In the longer term, it would also be good to see stronger coordination and collaboration between universities at both governance and academic levels.

Perhaps a “supercouncil” composed of representatives of each university council could provide the forum for this. It would help ensure individual university strategies were complementary, making the most of their distinctiveness and responsibilities to local communities.

And to address those concerns about adaptation to modern realities, a ministry of education initiative to develop strategic plans for disciplines and programmes (with academic input) would be welcome.

The relationship between university research and teaching, mandated in the Education Act, should mean that changing research realities have implications for how and what we teach.

It is a matter of academic freedom that universities and academics make these decisions themselves. But having national strategic thinking available to support those decisions could only be a good thing.

At the very least, it would be rather more strategic than making these decisions based on the order in which staff apply for redundancy.

Dr Nicola Gaston, co-director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Auckland. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

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

Government stockpiled ‘much’ less PPE for Black staff – health chief

Ruby Lott-Lavigna — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 17:09:31 +0000

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Ruby Lott-Lavigna.

Updates from IRC Staff on Flooding in Kherson, Ukraine

International Rescue Committee — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 21:14:37 +0000

This content originally appeared on International Rescue Committee and was authored by International Rescue Committee.

Revealed: Labour taking free staff from scandal-hit consulting firms

Adam Bychawski — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 22:01:06 +0000

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Adam Bychawski.

Rly staff have joined Balasore accident probe, reports of ‘absconding’ false. And the station master’s name is not Sharif

Oishani Bhattacharya — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 09:48:57 +0000

Nearly 300 people were killed and over 800 injured in a horrific train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday, June 2. According to information available at the moment, a little before 7 pm on Friday, the Chennai-bound Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express hit an iron ore-laden stationary goods train and 10 to 12 Coromandel coaches got derailed and fell over on another track. The Bengal-bound Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, plying on that line, subsequently collided with those coaches, derailing three to four of its own coaches. The accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station on the Kharagpur–Puri line under the Kharagpur railway division of the South Eastern Railway zone.

In the days following the accident, even as the Railways started an inquiry to find out the exact cause of the mishap, several theories surfaced in media and public discourse. Some social media users claimed that the station master of the Bahanaga Bazar railway station, a certain Sharif, was absconding since the accident.

Vivek Pandey (@vivekpandeyvns_), a Twitter Blue subscriber the ‘chief of Rashtravadi Hindu Mahasabha‘ according to his bio, said in a now-deleted tweet said, “Name Sharif. Post – Station Master. At present, is absconding since the order of investigation. From now on one needs to check the name before offering a job. #Balasore”. (Archive)

Another Twitter Blue user, @Manv1994, whose bio says that he is the BJP IT chief in Vidhan Sabha from the Khair constituency, tweeted something similar on June 4 and also added an image of the supposed station master, Sharif: “Heard that the station master named ‘Sharif’ has gone missing after the inquiry was ordered? This is the problem with this community. #BalasoreTrainAccident #TrainAccident.” (Archive)

सुना है कि जाँच के आदेश के बाद “शरीफ” नाम का स्टेशन मास्टर गायब हो चुका है ?
इस कौम के साथ यही समस्या है।#BalasoreTrainAccident #TrainAccident pic.twitter.com/hOinGouwEF

— मानवेन्द्र सिंह (@Manv1994) June 4, 2023

Another user, योगीआदित्यनाथफैन(डिजिटल योद्धा)गोडसे का भक्त (@maheshyagyasain), who is a Twitter Blue subscriber, also shared a tweet with the similar claim that the station master, Sharif, is absconding since the mishap. He went on to claim that the accident was made to happen by station master Sharif.

He wrote, “This (the triple train collision) is not an accident, not a negligence, it has been intentionally executed by the station master Sharif who is absconding. He moved the Coromandel Express to the loop line where a static goods train. His real face will be exposed in the investigation if the involvement of station master Sharif is exposed.” (Archive)

स्टेशन मास्टर शरीफ 3 ट्रेन की दुर्घटना के बाद गायब लूप लाइन पर एक मालगाड़ी खड़ी थी कोरोमण्डल एक्सप्रेस को थ्रू पास का सिग्नल दिया गया था फिर सिग्नल कैंसिल किया गया एक ऐसा सवाल जो पूरा राष्ट्र जानना चाहेगा कि चलो सिग्नल कैंसिल किया पर ट्रेन लूप लाइन पर कैसे गई जब लूप लाइन पर पहले…

— योगीआदित्यनाथफैन(डिजिटल योद्धा)गोडसे का भक्त (@maheshyagyasain) June 4, 2023

Many other users including @manojkrs29, @yagya_varaha, @SNJ_111, @satyamS19745855, @JPThailand2, @UmeshCh57137537, @Kashi_Ka_Pandit shared similar claims.

Click to view slideshow.

As can be seen above, several users connected the ‘station master Sharif’ theory with the supposed mosque near the tracks. The photo, where the white building has been pointed at with an arrow, was viral separately as well with the suggestion that it was a mosque, which proved the role of Muslims behind the accident. Alt News has already debunked this. The building is actually an ISKCON temple.

Fact Check

A keyword search led us to a report by Kalinga TV, an Odia language news outlet, published on June 3. The headline said, “Odisha train accident: Bahanaga Assistant Station Master is on the run, case registered”. The report further mentioned that “according to reports, Bahanaga Assistant Station Master S B Mohanty, who was on duty, fled from the spot after the train accident took place.”

Then on June 5, Kalinga TV published another report with the headline: “Odisha Train Accident: Interrogation of Bahanaga Station Master underway.” The report mentioned that Mohanty was being interrogated by the Railway Safety Commissioner team regarding the train accident on June 2.

We contacted two senior IPS officers from Odisha who confirmed to us that none of the station staff was absconding and police were in touch with them. One of them said there was no one named ‘Sharif’ among the station staff. Another one said, “All the station staff are available. They are attending inquiries at different levels/places.”

Further, we reached out to a senior Bhubeneswar-based journalist with a national English daily who covered the accident. He said on Monday, “All of this is a rumour. He is not absconding and is cooperating with the authorities in the investigation. Mohanty travelled to Khurdah late last night to join the probe.”

Railways PRO Nihar Mohanty, too, confirmed to Alt News that S B Mohanty was not absconding.

To check the authenticity of the image used by @Manv1994 in his tweet, we ran a reverse image search, which led us to a website: vikaschander.com. We found the image in a blog post published on the website on March 2004. The title said: “Kottavalasa Kirandul KK Line”. We found more such railway blog posts on the website.

We came across Vikas Chander’s Facebook profile where his bio said that he is a digital creator, it also had the above website link attached.

Click to view slideshow.

The man whose photo has been used in the viral posts is identified as the station master of Borra Guhalu railway station in the blog.

Thus, the claims that the Balasore railway station master named Sharif is absconding are false. The Bahanaga Bazar station master’s name is S B Mohanty. There was an initial report that Mohanty was missing for some time after the accident, but we can confirm that he is available and cooperating with the investigation.

It is worth noting that several social media users have made attempts to add a communal twist to the Odisha tragedy, one of the deadliest train accidents in India. In a tweet on June 4, Odisha Police said severe action would be taken against those who were trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours.

We appeal to all concerned to desist from circulating such false and ill-motivated posts. Severe legal action will be initiated against those who are trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours.

— Odisha Police (@odisha_police) June 4, 2023

The post Rly staff have joined Balasore accident probe, reports of ‘absconding’ false. And the station master’s name is not Sharif appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

Hipkins faces grilling from students over University of Otago staff cuts

APR editor — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 00:07:25 +0000

By Tess Brunton, RNZ News reporter

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faced a grilling by University of Otago students during his trip to Ōtepoti yesterday.

Students, staff and community members have been fighting against the university’s request for staff to consider redundancies in a bid to save $60 million.

But the students did not keep their questions to cuts alone.

READ MORE: Other NZ universities reports

Hipkins got a mixed welcome with protesters chanting and asking for selfies with the prime minister.

Associate professor of politics Brian Roper said staff were already finding out that their courses were being cut and they were losing their jobs.

“I bumped into one of them. She was in tears, she’s absolutely distraught. What this government is doing to our universities is scandalous,” he said.

“Five out of eight of them are currently experiencing severe financial difficulties because of a chronic underfunding from this government.”

Declining enrolments
Hipkins said declining enrolments meant universities across the motu were finding ways to rebalance their books.

“I know that’s a really uncertain and uncomfortable time for the staff. The universities make their own decisions about how they manage their finances so it’s not something we can intervene on as a government.”

The prime minister attended a student association forum yesterday afternoon, making a speech before opening the floor to questions from students.

“I was just in a lecture where we’re doing course evaluations and my lecturer was begging the class to give a positive evaluation to keep her job. We have a $60 million budget hole, why can’t you just fix it?”

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins got a mixed reception – with some protesting and others asking for selfies. Image: Tess Brunton/RNZ

Hipkins said there was a lot of demand on the government’s coffers, and they could not cover all of the requests they got.

He offered no policy promises, telling students they would hear them well before the election

“Our rent has increased, the university’s spiralling down. I’m just thinking why on Earth should I be voting for you?” one student asked.

‘Most political answer’
Hipkins said: “I’ll probably give you the most political answer I’ve given you so far. The biggest increase in tertiary funding that we’ve seen in 20 years in this year’s Budget versus a government that actually wants to do the opposite of that.”

But his responses in regards to the National Party did not go over well with multiple students telling him to stop the blame game or saying what the opposing party would not give them, and instead tell them his policies and what he would deliver.

Protesters, including the yellow-suited monkey, at Otago University yesterday. Image: Tess Brunton/RNZ

A yellow-suited monkey has become a feature of recent university protests — they want the government to bail out the university to save jobs and courses.

“I have a banana addiction as a monkey, but my Bachelor of Arts is being cut and I think that’s appalling. Millions and millions of dollars are sitting there which could bail out our university for underfunding, but he’s just not spending it, which he needs to,” the monkey said.

Earlier in the day, Hipkins toured KiwiRail’s Hillside Workshops in South Dunedin as it works on a multi-million dollar redevelopment to build a new wagon assembly facility.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (left) and ministers with Balancing Monkey Games co-founder Sam Barham (seated). Image: Tess Brunton/RNZ

Then he swapped a hard hat for a console, visiting three gaming development studios, after announcing $160 million to set up a 20 percent rebate for game developers in the recent Budget.

Hopeful over rebate
Balancing Monkey Games co-founder Sam Barham is hopeful the rebate could help them hire more staff and continue to do what they love.

Currently, he said developers made most of their money straight after releasing a game and then lived off that until they released another one.

“It makes a huge difference in terms of our ability to survive. It’s not the least risky business out there so we’ve got to think about how do we keep going. Our main aim is to still be doing this. It’s a thing that we love doing.”

The details of the rebate will be consulted on, but up to $3 million in rebate funding is likely to be up for grabs per year for individual studios.

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

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

Congress war room video viral as IT firm staff celebrating Karnataka poll results

Shinjinee Majumder — Tue, 23 May 2023 15:14:52 +0000

Against the backdrop of Congress’s victory in the Karnataka elections, a clip has gone viral with the claim that it shows employees at an IT company celebrating the results. User @DalviNameet tweeted the video and garnered close to 2000 likes and retweets. The user wrote, “Celebration at an Indonesian based IT Co, @Anabatic_India Technologies in Bengaluru! We have to share this until it reaches their Co HR and if they can take action”. (Archive)

Celebration at an Indonesian based IT Co, @Anabatic_India Technologies in Bengaluru!
We have to share this until it reaches their Co HR and if they can take action. pic.twitter.com/zkQ4106cPm

— Madridista (@DalviNameet) May 17, 2023

Twitter Blue subscriber @RajeswariAiyer tweeted the clip and claimed that employees of Anabatic were celebrating Congress’ win. (Archive)

MNC tech co employees in Bengaluru (Anabatic technologies) owned by some Japs celebrating BJP defeat in Karnataka…
Company name/logo visible at 1:02 time of the video. pic.twitter.com/eE8rhobsyn

— RajeIyer (@RajeswariAiyer) May 22, 2023

Several other users also shared the clip with the same claim, including verified user @trunicle. (Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Click to view slideshow.

The clip is viral with the same claim on Facebook as well.

Fact Check

We found that the social media coordinator for Indian Overseas Congress had tweeted the viral clip on the day of the results of the election with the caption “Celebrations will continue like this for some time & who else can celebrate more than the war room guys ??? It’s your day guys enjoy”.

Celebrations will continue like this for some time & who else can celebrate more than the war room guys ??? It’s your day guys enjoy #KarnatakaElectionResults pic.twitter.com/7JotEDAvFF

— Vijay Thottathil (@vijaythottathil) May 13, 2023

Paul Koshy, who was part of Congress’s state-level election war room, also tweeted several videos and images in a thread documenting the functioning of the war room. The Anabatic Technologies nameplate can be seen in the videos that Koshy tweeted.

And the team danced in the War Room pic.twitter.com/A5ASZauZZw

— Paul Koshy (@Paul_Koshy) May 13, 2023

In one of his tweets, he was seen posing with Sasikanth Senthil who was appointed the chairman of the War Room for Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Senthil can also be seen in the viral video.

Working with #ShashikanthSenthil @s_kanth ,ex IAS , now Head of the War room was one of the most enriching experiences pic.twitter.com/3ZNgxo8B8e

— Paul Koshy (@Paul_Koshy) May 13, 2023

Sasikanth Senthil, too, tweeted images from the War Room on May 13. The people celebrating in the viral video are also seen in Senthil’s tweet.

In a statement refuting the viral claims, Sasikanth Senthil told Alt News, “It is the Congress War Room. It is a rental space which was earlier used by the said company. Anabatic Inc has nothing to do with the celebrations”.

We noticed that India Today also had visited the War Room on the morning of May 13. The people seen in the viral video are also visible in India Today’s coverage. “We have a dispersed model because we have very clear-cut functional distribution. We work in these functional areas in different centres and this (the War Room) is where we coordinate everything, this is where we come for end-of-the-day coordination and all the sections feed into this particular space” Senthil told India Today journalist Preeti Choudhry.

We also looked up Anabatic Technologies India’s profile on Zauba Corp and noticed that the company was currently under liquidation.

Thus, a viral video of workers in the Congress War Room celebrating Congress’ win in the Karnataka elections is viral with the claim that employees of IT company Anabatic Technologies India are celebrating the win. In reality, the office space used as Congress’s War Room was earlier used by the company, which is currently under liquidation.

The post Congress war room video viral as IT firm staff celebrating Karnataka poll results appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.

RNZ announces presenters for Midday Report and Pacific Waves

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 16 May 2023 22:15:05 +0000

RNZ Pacific

RNZ has announced Charlotte Cook as the new presenter of Midday Report — Te Pūrongo o te Poutūtanga on RNZ National and Susana Suisuiki as host of Pacific Waves on RNZ Pacific.

Cook has most recently been a senior reporter/producer for Morning Report and hosted the programme over the summer, as well as filling in on Midday Report.

Her career highlights to date include telling the stories of multiple New Zealanders on the front line of the war in Ukraine and reporting live from the Parliament protests when the police were called in to clear the grounds.

READ MORE: Other RNZ reports on Asia Pacific Report

Cook is known for spotting a great yarn — her video of Wellington’s “Sushi Penguins” passed more than a million views, and her 2020 Elevator Pitch election series saw her challenge political party leaders to summarise why people should vote for them in the space of a quick trip in a lift.

Her podcast Hair and Loathing is a finalist for Best Documentary or Factual Talk Feature at the 2023 NZ Radio Awards.

Suisuiki joined RNZ Pacific as a journalist in early 2022 and has spent time on air as a fill-in newsreader and Pacific Waves host.

Succeeds Koroi Hawkins
She takes on the permanent presenter role following Koroi Hawkins’ move to the Pacific news editor role at RNZ Pacific.

A proud New Zealand-born Samoan, Suisuiki has strong family ties to the villages of Letogo and Satapuala in Upolu, Samoa.

She followed a long-held dream to pursue journalism, joining RNZ Pacific after six years working in the communications field with stints in public health, not-for-profit organisations, and foreign affairs/international development.

Born into a family of performers and creatives, she strives to carry on her family’s legacy through performing and teaching the Siva Samoa.

Her passion for the siva has led to choreographing and tutoring solo performances, one of which took the top award at the Polyfest Samoan stage in 2021.

RNZ head of news Richard Sutherland said both presenters are great examples of the outstanding fresh talent at RNZ.

“Charlotte quickly made her mark in the RNZ newsroom as someone with a keen eye for a story and the ability to build a rapport with the people she interviews, and that’s something she’s continued as a producer and reporter for Morning Report,” he said.

“Her stints as a fill in host on several programmes have proven she’s ready for this next step.

Key Pacific programme
“Pacific Waves is an important Pacific-focused current affairs programme that’s broadcast across the Pacific via the internet and short-wave radio, as well as on RNZ National.

“Susana has been a key part of the team contributing to the programme since she first joined the RNZ Pacific team early last year, and she’s impressed when hosting the show.

“It’s great to have Pacific Waves presented out of Aotearoa’s biggest Pacific city, Auckland.”

Suisuiki is on air in her new role immediately and Cook will present Midday Report from Friday.

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

Go to Pacific Waves

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

Rep. Gerry Connolly Condemns ‘Unconscionable’ Baseball Bat Attack on His Staff

Brett Wilkins — Mon, 15 May 2023 19:53:02 +0000

Two members of U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly's staff were hospitalized Monday after a man armed with a baseball bat attacked them in the Virginia Democrat's district office in Fairfax.

"This morning, an individual entered my district office armed with a baseball bat and asked for me before committing an act of violence against two members of my staff. The individual is in police custody and both members of my team were transferred to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries," Connolly said in a statement.

"Right now, our focus is on ensuring they are receiving the care they need," the congressman continued. "We are incredibly thankful to the City of Fairfax Police Department and emergency medical professionals for their quick response."

\u201cWow. A man in Fairfax, VA entered the district office of Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly with a baseball bat looking for the congressman. \n\nThe man attacked two of the staffers with the bat.\u201d
— Sawyer Hackett (@Sawyer Hackett) 1684173028

"I have the best team in Congress. My district office staff make themselves available to constituents and members of the public every day," Connolly added. "The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff's accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating."

While the motive of Monday's assault is not yet clear, it came amid increasingly violent rhetoric and threats targeting Democratic members of Congress and people close to them. Last October, a far-right conspiracy theorist broke into the San Francisco home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and brutally attacked her octagenarian husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer.

That came after an armed man threatened to kill Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at her Seattle home last July. In a Washington Post story about that incident, the congresswoman also shared the racist, misogynistic, and violent messages she receives on social media.

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

NZ’s winter health plan fails to stem shortages, burnout, say frontline staff

APR editor — Sun, 07 May 2023 23:43:16 +0000

By Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter

Te Whatu Ora’s new winter health plan fails to address workforce shortages and staff burnout in Aotearoa New Zealand, frontline healthcare workers say.

The organisation launched its 24-point plan on Wednesday, saying it would help hospitals and GPs cope with an expected surge in patient demand over the coming months.

Under the plan, people with minor ailments will be able to be assessed by a pharmacist and given free or subsidised medication in line with if they had visited their GP.

READ MORE: Other NZ public health reports

LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTING: Winner 2022 Voyager Awards Best Reporting Local Government (Feliz Desmarais) and Community Journalist of the Year (Justin Latif)

Family doctors will also be able to refer patients for X-rays and ultrasounds in a bid to reduce hospital admissions.

Regional and national escalation plans will be in place to help improve hospital capacity by “diverting resources and patients within and across regions to support under-pressure facilities”.

But a doctor from Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while diverting patients and resources sounded “good in theory”, there needed to be the staff available to deliver that plan.

There was so much burnout among doctors and nurses, she said.

“You can’t flog a dead horse.

Staff ‘not available’
“In practice these escalation plans involve going through a checklist of different resources that can be provided to help, but you then find out they aren’t available — due to staffing issues.”

A nurse from the hospital’s ED agreed chronic workforce shortages would prevent many of the proposals ever working.

“It all sounds all great, but where is Te Whatu Ora finding all the staff to do these things and how are they going to do it in a healthcare system that is already understaffed and in crisis?”

Giving pharmacists a greater role to play could also be problematic as they were also busy and were not trained to diagnose patient ailments, the nurse said.

In February, Te Whatu Ora identified Middlemore Hospital as one of eight national ‘hotspots’ needing extra support before the winter flu season.

Former chairperson Rob Campbell admitted the workforce shortages plaguing Middlemore’s ED would not be addressed in time for the flu season.

It followed comments from frontline healthcare workers who said the hospital’s ED was haemorrhaging staff and they were concerned about its ability to function during winter.

‘Doing what we can’
In a statement, Te Whatu Ora (Counties Manukau) interim lead of hospital and specialist services Dr Vanessa Thornton said while there had been growth in staffing numbers nationally, it needed to continue to grow its workforce.

“We know that pressure from shortages across our workforce is being felt on the frontlines of our health system. We can’t fix those shortages quickly – but are doing what we can to alleviate pressure and get more staff into our hospitals and other services.”

She said that includes making it easier for internationally qualified staff to work here and assisting qualified nurses to return to practice.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. It is published by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration.

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

Activists Arrested for Occupying Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Office While Staff Literally Eat Cake

Brett Wilkins — Thu, 04 May 2023 00:17:29 +0000

More than a dozen activists were arrested late Wednesday after occupying part of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to protest his "fascist agenda," especially his support for a new anti-immigrant bill.

Protest organizers said 14 people were placed under arrest Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day, dozens of members of the Florida-based and youth-led Dream Defenders and allied groups including Florida Rising and Showing Up for Racial Justice had entered the lobby of DeSantis' office in Tallahassee, where around a dozen people sat and locked hands in front of the reception desk.

\u201cActivists protesting Gov. Ron DeSantis and his policies, who were holding a sit-in at his office, are being arrested.\u201d
— Douglas Soule (@Douglas Soule) 1683157317

The activists—who said they would not leave until they met with the governor and presumptive 2024 GOP presidential contender—were protesting a wide range of DeSantis' policies and actions, including his support for S.B. 1718, a bill passed by both houses of Florida's Legislature that would ban cities and counties from funding organizations that issue identification documents to people who enter the U.S. illegally.

The bill also bans businesses from accepting identification—including out-of-state driver's licenses—from such immigrants, and forces hospitals to record patients' immigration status upon admission.

\u201cFrom his Don't Say Gay bill to his 6-week abortion ban and now to his newest anti-immigrant bill, Ron DeSantis has made his fascist agenda crystal clear.\n\nWe won't stand for it and neither will the millions of young voters who're ready to punch back.\u201d
— Sunrise Movement \ud83c\udf05 (@Sunrise Movement \ud83c\udf05) 1683140591

Video posted on social media by Dream Defenders shows at least one of DeSantis' staffers eating chocolate cake in front of the demonstrators.

One protester is heard saying in the video that "they sittin' here eatin' cake while the people of Florida are in crisis."

Florida Planned Parenthood Action tweeted that "as always, the cruelty is the point with this administration."

\u201c@GovRonDeSantis\u2019s staff is giving Marie Antoinette vibes..\u201d
— Women's Voices SW Florida (@Women's Voices SW Florida) 1683140993

Florida Rising senior political adviser Dwight Bullard—a former Democratic state lawmaker—said in a statement that "Gov. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have chosen to attack many of Florida's most vulnerable and historically marginalized communities with policies that attack who they are, who they love, and how and what they learn."

Showing Up for Racial Justice associate director Julia Daniel said that DeSantis "stokes division to try and make white people afraid, and I'm here to say that we will not be divided or tricked because we know that we are stronger when we stand together."

Common Dreams reported last month that advocacy organizations issued a travel advisory for Florida, with one of the groups, Equality Florida, citing DeSantis' "passage of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, restrict access to reproductive healthcare, repeal gun safety laws and allow untrained, unpermitted carry, and foment racial prejudice" in warning that the Sunshine State "may not be a safe place to visit or take up residence."

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

If Dominic Raab can’t deal with challenges, he’s the snowflake, not his staff

Jenny McCullough — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 15:26:06 +0000

OPINION: I was bullied as a Commons clerk. I know a government that can’t stamp it out is headed for disaster

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Jenny McCullough.

How School Staff Won a Major Strike in Los Angeles

Glenn Daigon — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 16:07:54 +0000

The service workers’ big win adds momentum to what teachers are demanding in their current contract negotiations.

This content originally appeared on The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good and was authored by Glenn Daigon.

Jessica Rawlins Smith Joins Innocence Project as Chief Development Officer

Dani Selby — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:13:02 +0000

April 4, 2023— (NEW YORK, NY) The Innocence Project announced today that Jessica Rawlins Smith, a veteran fundraising specialist with a deep commitment to mission-driven work, has joined the organization as its Chief Development Officer.

Ms. Rawlins Smith brings more than a decade of experience in fund development, securing significant public and private philanthropic dollars to resource organizations that drive transformative social change.

As a fundraising specialist, Ms. Rawlins Smith has supported some of New York’s most impactful education and community-based initiatives. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Ms. Rawlins Smith served as Chief Development Officer at Partnership with Children, an organization devoted to providing New York’s most vulnerable children with the resources they need to thrive in school and beyond. While there, she led the critical growth of private fundraising to support school-based mental health initiatives. In addition, she previously served as Senior Director of Development at All Our Kin, overseeing a broad portfolio of philanthropic, public, and corporate funding in support of high-quality family child care programming. Ms. Rawlins Smith also served as Director of Institutional Giving at the Harlem Children’s Zone, one of New York City’s most dynamic community-based initiatives, supporting a broad range of early education, K-12, post-secondary, and family-based programs.

“We are thrilled that Jessica will serve as Innocence Project’s new Chief Development Officer,” said Innocence Project Executive Director Christina Swarns. “Her proven track record of bolstering mission-driven organizations like ours makes her exactly the kind of dynamic and forward-thinking leader we need to strengthen and grow our community of supporters and donors and advance our mission to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, equitable, and compassionate systems of justice for everyone.”

The Innocence Project’s development team has significantly grown the organization’s operating budget year over year by cultivating new donors, creating innovative partnerships and events, and educating key external stakeholders about the organization’s work.

“Throughout my career, I have always been drawn to organizations that seek to build opportunities and more fair and equitable outcomes for everyone,” said Ms. Rawlins Smith. “The Innocence Project is one of the most transformative organizations in criminal legal system reform, and I am eager to bring my skills and experience to its continued growth and success.”

Ms. Rawlins Smith received her B.A. in religion from Dartmouth College and an M.S. in fundraising management from Columbia University. She serves on the board of directors of Fiver Children’s Foundation and resides in Harlem with her husband and their French bulldog.

###

ABOUT THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, our work is guided by science and grounded in anti-racism.

The post Jessica Rawlins Smith Joins Innocence Project as Chief Development Officer appeared first on Innocence Project.

This content originally appeared on Innocence Project and was authored by Dani Selby.

CPJ calls on Bangladesh authorities to cease harassing staff of Prothom Alo newspaper

Erik Crouch — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:38:29 +0000

New York, March 30, 2023—Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all investigations into the staff of the Prothom Alo newspaper in retaliation for its work and allow its employees to do their jobs freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

In the early morning of Wednesday, March 29, authorities arrested Prothom Alo correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams under the Digital Security Act for allegedly spreading “false news” in a March 26 article.

On Wednesday evening, authorities in the capital city of Dhaka opened another DSA investigation into Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, Shams, an unnamed camera operator at the outlet, and other unidentified people, according to news reports, Prothom Alo executive editor Sajjad Sharif, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and a copy of the first information report launching that investigation, dated March 29 at 11:10 p.m., which CPJ reviewed.

Also on Wednesday, Mithun Biswas, a lawyer based in southern city of Chittagong, issued a legal notice to Rahman, Sharif, and Shams demanding they unconditionally and publicly apologize for that March 26 article within seven days or face legal action, according to news reports and a copy of the notice reviewed by CPJ.

On Thursday morning, Shams appeared before a Dhaka court and was denied bail, according to news reports. Authorities had not arrested Rahman or the camera operator as of Thursday evening, Sharif said.

“Bangladesh authorities’ harassment of staff members with the Prothom Alo newspaper and the arrest of correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams under the draconian Digital Security Act are clear attempts to quash critical reporting,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Authorities must immediately release Shams and cease abusing the legal process against journalists, which produces a chilling effect on the media.”

That March 26 article and a post on Facebook briefly used a child’s photo to accompany a quote from an adult laborer about price hikes; the outlet swiftly removed the Facebook post and re-published the article on its website and Facebook page with a correction.

The investigation opened Wednesday night by the Ramna police station in Dhaka was sparked by a complaint by Abdul Malek, a lawyer who said the accused had used “print, online and electronic media to tarnish the image and reputation of the state” and displayed that erroneous image. When reached by phone, Malek told CPJ that he stood by the allegations in the complaint, and the journalists should be punished for their work “against the independence” of the country.

Police are investigating the accused under three sections of the Digital Security Act pertaining to the transmission or publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; publication or transmission of information that deteriorates law and order; and abetment, according to the first information report.

The first two offenses can carry a prison sentence of three to seven years and fines of 300,000 taka to 500,000 taka (US$2,797 to $4,662), according to the law, which says abetment can carry the same punishment as committing an offense itself.

CPJ called and messaged Abu Ansar, the investigating officer in the case, and Roy Niyati, a Dhaka metropolitan police spokesperson, for comment, but did not receive any replies.

CPJ called the phone number listed for Biswas in his legal notice, but received an error message. CPJ was unable to immediately find other contact information for him.

In February, CPJ joined civil society organizations in a letter calling on Bangladesh to cease the judicial harassment of Prothom Alo special correspondent Rozina Islam, who faces an ongoing investigation under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act and the penal code in apparent retaliation for reporting on alleged corruption in the public health sector at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

University staff member interrupts student journalist’s coverage at SEC Tournament

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 21:59:37 +0000

While covering the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 10, 2023, student photojournalist Jack Weaver’s coverage of men’s basketball was abruptly interrupted by a University of Arkansas staff member following the university’s loss.

Weaver told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for The Kentucky Kernel, the student newspaper of the University of Kentucky. He went onto the court after the Arkansas-Texas A&M game to photograph the player and coach reactions, as he had done with previous games.

“As [Arkansas coach Eric Musselman] started making his way toward the tunnel, I took out my phone to grab a video of the team coming off the court. And that did not go as planned,” he said.

Weaver said that just as he began filming, Arkansas’ Director of Internal Operations Riley Hall grabbed the phone out of his hand and threw it.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman left the court in a rage of f-bombs after losing to Texas A&M in the #SECMBB Tournament. His assistant then grabbed my phone and threw it at the ground. @KYKernelSports pic.twitter.com/xRiX7O7dAN
— Jack Weaver (@jack_weaver_) March 11, 2023

Weaver said that the three-second clip he posted to Twitter was all that his phone captured before it hit the ground and stopped recording, but that the phone was not damaged.

“I was wearing my press credentials, I had my camera around my neck and I was standing completely to the side by the rail with plenty of room to move there. I wasn’t in anyone’s way and was in an approved area,” Weaver said.

“Obviously I’m fine, all he did was grab my phone and toss it. It’s not like he pushed me or broke my camera,” he said. “But still, nonetheless, you can’t do that. And I think people kind of understand that that’s not acceptable.”

Weaver said the newsroom as well as professors at the university have been supportive. In a statement on Twitter, The Kernel said it was appalled by the incident.

“Jack Weaver always embodies professionalism on the job and no journalist, especially a student journalist, should be subjected to violence for simply doing their job,” the statement read.

Hunter Yurachek, the vice chancellor and director of athletics at the University of Arkansas, posted a statement on Twitter the following day apologizing for the incident, which he characterized as accidental.

“Mr. Hall expressed his regret that while leaving the floor his engagement inadvertently resulted in knocking the reporter’s cell phone from his hand,” Yurachek wrote. “While, based on our discussion, I do not believe there was malicious intent, I have addressed the issue with Mr. Hall and he agrees his actions were not appropriate or reflective of our program.”

Weaver told the Tracker that Hall also called him to apologize, reiterating that it had been unintentional. Weaver said that when he challenged that claim, Hall simply repeated that he was sorry and that it was an accident.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

‘Shameful wage stealing’ endemic at Australian universities, says report

APR editor — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 05:13:38 +0000

By Kalinga Seneviratne in Sydney

A National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) report claims that “wage theft has shamefully become an endemic part of universities’ business models” while Australia’s biggest public universities record massive surpluses and their vice-chancellors earn more than A$1 million a year in wages.

The union report, released late last month and titled Wage Theft, exposes a staggering amount in wages that has allegedly been stolen from casual academic staff.

An analysis of 34 cases conservatively estimates that a collective amount of A$83.4 million is owed to staff across the higher education sector. More than A$80 million has been uncovered since 2020 across public universities.

READ MORE: Other Australian university reports

Thousands of casual academic staff were laid off during covid-19 pandemic closures starting from March 2020 when revenue from foreign students fell dramatically.

NTEU argues that this should not be an excuse for some of Australia’s wealthy universities not to pay proper wages to hard-working staff who are integral to teaching and research which “generates revenue and delivers immeasurable public good”.

Bigger problem than anticipated
“It’s deeply disappointing but not at all surprising that the staggering wage theft figure is even higher than the NTEU first calculated,” Dr Alison Barnes, national president of NTEU, said in a media statement.

“Even more sadly, the true figure will rise well beyond AU$107.8 million once ongoing cases are settled. Systemic wage theft is endemic in our public universities. This is simply unacceptable,” she added.

Barnes told University World News it was also “unacceptable” that A$107.8 million “has been stolen from higher education staff while universities post huge surpluses and vice-chancellors collect million-dollar salaries”.

At fault are some of Australia’s top universities which also attract huge numbers of foreign students.

The University of Melbourne topped the list with an estimated “wage theft” bill of A$31.6 million, while the University of Sydney came second with A$12.75 million and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) third with A$10 million.

Higher education wage theft comes in many forms, according to the NTEU report.

It includes being paid for fewer hours than the work takes, piece rates for marking instead of the actual time worked, and sham contracting to undercut award and agreement entitlements.

Teaching misclassification is among the most common forms of wage theft in universities.

According to Barnes, two-thirds of all Australian university staff are employed insecurely. With high rates of casualisation among university academic staff, casually employed workers are more vulnerable to wage theft than those who have secure employment, argues the NTEU report.

“Many workers are reluctant to raise complaints over underpayment, or to ask for compensation for hours worked for free when they require contract renewals every teaching period,” it notes.

Fresh revelations and claims
New revelations from the University of Melbourne have taken its underpayment tally beyond A$45 million, cementing it as the leading culprit. Monash University admitted to A$8.6 million in wage theft in 2021.

The management is now fighting tooth and nail against new claims, going to the Fair Work Commission in an attempt to change its enterprise agreement so it is no longer liable to pay staff the money the union alleges is owed.

Bill Logan (not his real name) has worked as a casual for many years at Melbourne University and lately at RMIT. Speaking to University World News on condition of anonymity out of fear that his casual contracts may be denied in the next round, he said that as a casual you have job security for only three months at a time.

Casual lecturers, even though they do the same work as full-time lecturers — preparing tutorials, marking and student administration — are not considered for full-time academic appointments.

After reading the NTEU report, he said: “I still can’t figure out how it has happened as universities pay via software and it is approved by a few people at the top before payments.”

He said it was ironic that universities underpay staff “while teaching students how to practise good governance”.

Logan admits that having job flexibility is a highlight of doing casual teaching.

However, he points out disadvantages: “Until the pre-semester preparation, we didn’t know whether we would be able to do tutoring for the semester, because it depends on the number of students [enrolled for the course].”

“Casuals are not paid for administrative tasks such as writing recommendation letters for internships or further studies [for students],” he added.

Personal sacrifices
Speaking on ABC TV’s 7.30 Report, Natalia Chulio, who has worked as a casual sociology lecturer at the University of Sydney for the past decade, said that to do such work she had had to make a lot of sacrifices in her personal life.

“I can’t have children because I don’t have a guaranteed income … You are always doing work that you are not paid for. For example, I am paid for 28 hours of face-to-face work per week, but I work for more than 45 hours a week.

“I’m underpaid when it comes to marking.”

Logan said: “Even though casual tutors are paid at a higher rate [in academia] than in other sectors, there is no consistency in payments. [Thus] casuals are discriminated against [for example] when you apply for bank loans.”

According to the Wage Theft report, the University of Melbourne admitted in November 2022 that it had started back-paying more than 15,000 staff who were owed A$22 million. That revelation came a little over a year after Melbourne repaid A$9.5 million to 1000 casual academics.

It posted a A$584 million surplus in 2022.

When interviewed on the 7.30 Report, Professor Nicola Phillips, provost of the University of Melbourne, admitted that the system needed an overall. “This is not a sustainable model for us and it is not a desirable one for the future,” she said. “We are looking at dramatically reducing our number of casual contracts as a way of employing staff.”

Logan agreed that institutions like Melbourne University should employ permanent part-time staff rather than casuals.

“Permanent part-time tutors could be hired who could teach a variety of similar subjects,” he argued, pointing out that casuals “teach different but similar subjects” every semester.

‘Tackle insecure work’ plea
“We’re calling on the federal government to address wage theft through tackling its chief cause — insecure work,” said NTEU’s Barnes. “Wage theft in higher education is a deep crisis. We need urgent action to create the better universities that Australia deserves.”

Barnes called on the Australian government to pass laws that make wage theft a crime.

“That needs to happen alongside a mechanism for staff to quickly recover money stolen from them,” she said.

She also encouraged all university staff to become union members.

“The NTEU has pursued enterprise agreements which include secure jobs guarantees, like at Western Sydney University, to increase permanent roles,” she said.

The full NTEU Wage Theft report

Dr Kalinga Seneviratne is a Sri Lanka-born journalist, radio broadcaster, television documentary maker and a media and international communications analyst. He was head of research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) in Singapore from 2005-2012.This article was originally published by University World News and has been republished here with permission.

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

No, Punjab did not issue order to monitor social media activities of govt staff

Abhishek Kumar — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 14:52:47 +0000

A number of mainstream media outlets recently reported that the Punjab government had directed various departments to monitor the social media activities of their employees to check whether they criticized government policies.

The Tribune claimed in an article that the Punjab government reportedly asked all administrative secretaries to monitor their employees’ social media activity to check whether they were commenting adversely on government policies. Though the outlet has since deleted the article, an archived version can be found here. The daily also shared the article on its official Twitter handle, which has also been deleted. (Archived link)

Right-wing propaganda website OpIndia also released an article claiming the Punjab government would monitor the social media activity of government employees. (Archived link)

Reacting to the news, former Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said in a now deleted tweet, “As per our constitution, all citizens have the right to freedom of speech/expression, then how can the Aam Aadmi Party of Punjab government direct administrative secretaries to keep tabs on employees critical of government policies? If Bhagwant Mann is not doing anything wrong, then why stop the voices with such instructions?” Readers can find the archived version of the tweet here.

IANS, News18, Bhaskar Hindi, Latestly, News Nation, News18 Hindi also covered the development.

Click to view slideshow.

In the same context, a document is also viral on social media. It contains instructions to all administrative secretaries to regularly monitor social media networks and to identify and issue notices to employees who criticize government policies on social media.

It is being claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab issued this order.

Several right-wing influencers, politicians and social media users tweeted the document linking it to the Punjab government. Among them were prominent advocate Prashant Bhushan, Gujarat BJP media co-coordinator Zubin Asra, Akhilesh Kant Jha, Adnan Ali Khan, Kumar Manish, along some handles which frequently share misinformation, like Megh Updates, and @BefittingFacts.

Click to view slideshow.

Fact Check

Alt News noticed that the Aam Aadmi Party Punjab had tweeted from its official handle that the viral news fake. They said the viral document was actually related to the governance of Jammu and Kashmir, and had nothing to do with the Punjab government. Along with this, Aam Aadmi Party Punjab had tweeted a longer version of the viral document in a thread, in which (JKSSR/JKPSC) was highlighted.

FAKE NEWS ALERT !!

A notification of J&K Admin is FALSELY portrayed as belonging to Punjab Govt

The news was circulated by these notorious accounts & media handles

Since they can’t digest the loss of 2022, they must get a medical treatment for SPITTING VENOM

Here’s the TRUTH! pic.twitter.com/DeR1rDr2mI

— AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab) February 21, 2023

To check the veracity of the document, we examined public Telegram groups of students preparing for JKSSRB. We found that a longer version of the viral document was sent on a Telegram channel named JKSSRB ASPIRANTS on February 18.

We noticed that the signature of under secretary with chief secretary Dr Farooq Paul was present on the viral document. Alt News reached out to him for more information on this issue. He confirmed that this was a document related to the Jammu and Kashmir administration, and had nothing to do with the Punjab government.

Later, The Tribune issued a clarification in the newspaper and wrote that the Punjab government had not issued any such order.

To sum it up, several media outlets, politicians and right-wing influencers falsely attributed a directive by the Jammu and Kashmir administration to identify and issue notices to employees criticizing government policies on social media to Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party government.

The post No, Punjab did not issue order to monitor social media activities of govt staff appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

‘We were orphaned since you left,’ Rabuka says in apology to USP’s Pal

Wansolwara — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 17:17:14 +0000

By Geraldine Panapasa in Suva

The University of the South Pacific is expected to receive the first instalment of the promised $10 million part payment of owed grants soon.

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said this was a show of the coalition government’s commitment to restoring Fiji’s outstanding grant contributions since 2019.

It is understood that by June this year, the total grant to be paid to USP would reach $116 million.

Rabuka made the comment during a moving thanksgiving service at USP’s Laucala campus this week to mark the return of exiled vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia to Fiji.

Since 2019, the previous government under FijiFirst remained steadfast in its decision to withhold grant contributions to USP until independent investigations into alleged mismanagement by Professor Ahluwalia were carried out, ultimately leading to the professor and his wife Sandra’s deportation from Fiji.

Professor Ahluwalia, who has since been operating in exile from USP’s Samoa campus, was offered an invitation by Rabuka to return to Fiji, a move that has gained widespread support from USP students and staff.

“The power of one vote on the floor of Parliament made it possible for me to sit as Prime Minister in Parliament and cabinet, and allowed me and Fiji to say to Pal Ahluwalia to come home, come back,” Rabuka said.

‘Fiji did it to you’
“I want to apologise to you, very simple. It doesn’t matter who did it. As far as the world is concerned, Fiji did it to you,” Rabuka said.

“Now, I am Fiji by the power of one vote. We’ve corrected that. Thank you for agreeing to come back.

“I reiterate the USP students’ apology, we were orphaned since you left; now we have our parents back.”

The Prime Minister said USP was the best example of regional cooperation, breaking new ground in bringing people together, not only from the Pacific but within Fiji.

In accepting the apology, Professor Ahluwalia said the thanksgiving service was a day to celebrate and expressed his appreciation to the Prime Minister and Deputy PM for their support and commitment to the regional university.

“After 107 weeks of exile, I never thought I would see the day I get to thank my staff and students in person,” he said.

“I am overwhelmed by the heart of the university, our students, for standing by me, our staff; how do I thank people who sacrificed without expecting anything in return.

Beacons for education
“Universities have to become beacons for education and to speak truth to power. I am here, I am here to serve you and the nation.”

USP pro-chancellor and chair of the USP Council Hilda Heine expressed her gratitude to Rabuka for allowing Professor Ahluwalia to return to Fiji and for providing assurances and support towards the region’s premier institution.

She also acknowledged Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa for hosting the vice-chancellor and his family in Samoa since January last year, and Nauru’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament and former president Lionel Aingimea and the government of Nauru for hosting the vice-chancellor following his removal from Fiji in February 2021.

Geraldine Panapasa is editor-in-chief of the University of the South Pacific’s journalism newspaper and website Wansolwara News. Republished in collaboration with the USP journalism programme.

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

Taliban raids office of Tamadon TV, assaults staff in Afghanistan

Erik Crouch — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 18:24:46 +0000

New York, February 15, 2022 – The Taliban must allow Tamadon TV to operate freely and independently and end its campaign of harassment and violence against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, February 14, about 10 armed Taliban members raided the headquarters of the privately owned broadcaster in Kabul, beat several staff members, and held them for 30 minutes, according to news reports and a journalist familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

That journalist said they did not know what led to the raid. Tamadon TV is predominantly owned and operated by members of the Hazara ethnic minority, and covers political and current affairs as well as Shiite religious programming. Hazara people have faced persecution and escalated violence since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

“The Taliban’s raid of Tamadon TV and attacks on its employees show the group’s failure to abide by its professed commitment to freedom of expression in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Access to information in Afghanistan is critical. The Taliban must stop harassing journalists and stifling the work of the free press.”

While entering the broadcaster’s premises, Taliban members beat a security guard, two journalists, and two media workers, the journalist who spoke to CPJ said.

The Taliban members then pointed guns the station’s staff members, confiscated their mobile phones, and transferred them to a meeting room, where they were held for 30 minutes while Taliban members verbally harassed them, referring to one as an “infidel Hazara journalist,” according to that journalist.

Taliban members roamed around the headquarters, but it was not clear if they conducted any additional searches, and then confiscated two of the broadcaster’s vehicles when they left the scene.

CPJ contacted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response.

In August 2022, CPJ published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan, showing a rapid deterioration in press freedom since the Taliban retook control of the country, marked by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

French journalist Erwan Chartier, Le Poher staff receive death threats

Committee to Protect Journalists — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:03:17 +0000

Berlin, February 14, 2023 — French authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the death threats received by journalist Erwan Chartier and the editorial staff of the Le Poher newspaper and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

On January 31, an unidentified person sent an email to Chartier containing racial slurs and explicit threats of death and physical violence directed to him and the staff of the privately owned weekly newspaper Le Poher, where Chartier works as editor-in-chief, according to news reports, a report by the outlet, and Chartier, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

On February 9, two days after the newspaper published its report about the threats, an unidentified man called the newspaper’s reception desk to inquire about Chartier’s whereabouts; when the receptionist asked why he would like to speak to him, the man said he would like to “shoot a bullet in his head” and hung up, Chartier told CPJ.

Chartier told CPJ that he believes the threats are connected to the newspaper’s reporting on a project to welcome migrants to Callac, a town near the western commune of Carhaix where the newspaper is based, which was abandoned in January following pressure from right-wing activists.

“French authorities must thoroughly investigate the anonymous death threats sent to journalist Erwan Chartier and the editorial team of the newspaper Le Poher and hold the perpetrators to account,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Journalists like Chartier and his team must be allowed to cover controversial local issues without fear. Authorities must take these threats seriously and ensure Chartier and his team’s safety.”

The day before the first threat was received, Chartier’s lawyer notified far-right news website Résistance Républicaine that the journalist had initiated a civil defamation lawsuit against the outlet and one of its authors, Bernard Germain, Chartier told CPJ. He said the suit stemmed from an October 31, 2022, article criticizing Le Poher’s coverage of the migrant project in Callac, which CPJ reviewed, in which Germain called the paper a “miserable rag” of the “extreme left.”

Although he did not mention Chartier by name, Germain called the author of Le Poher’s coverage of the project a “pathetic little collaborator” who supports the “invaders.” Germain was also a local candidate of the French far-right Reconquête party for the 2022 parliamentary elections but did not win a seat, according to reports.

On January 31, 2023, local police began a criminal investigation, conducted a risk assessment, and subsequently increased surveillance of the neighborhood of the newspaper’s office, Chartier said.

In an editorial on February 7, Chartier wrote that they alerted the authorities because “it is unacceptable to see journalists insulted or threatened,” and he and his team would like to continue their work “without pressure of any kind.”

CPJ’s emails to the public prosecutor’s office in Brest in charge of the investigation, Résistance Républicaine, and Germain through the press department of the Reconquête party did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Kalsakau wants Melanesian staff to work at MSG secretariat

APR editor — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 23:15:15 +0000

By Hilaire Bule, RNZ Pacific Vanuatu correspondent in Port Vila

Vanuatu’s prime minister has stressed any future employment within the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat must be from MSG member countries.

Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, who is also chair of the MSG Secretariat, made the statement following the recruitment of two Indonesian consultants to work in the MSG secretariat in Port Vila.

“We must first look within our region if we have people with required skills,” Kalsakau said.

“If the Melanesian region does not have those skill sets for any upcoming job, then we can look beyond our region,” he said.

Kalsakau’s remarks to MSG Director-General Leonard Louma come after members of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association staged a protest outside the secretariat in Port Vila against the hiring of Indonesian consultants.

Louma had said at the time that the agency was aiming to strengthen its capacity, which included the recruitment of two Indonesian nationals filling the roles of a private sector development officer and a manager of arts, culture and youth programme.

Louma said the secretariat had been directed to reprioritise its activities and was now positioning itself to meet the demands and expectations of the leaders.

Vanuatu support for West Papua
He also added that saying only Melanesians should work at the MSG Secretariat was like saying that only Pacific Islanders should work at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, adding it was “disingenuous” to suggest such a notion.

But, the Free West Papua Association in Vanuatu said hiring the Indonesians made a mockery of the support Vanuatu had given West Papua for many years.

However, Indonesia has associate membership status in the MSG. The granting of this status has been criticised by Pacific civil society groups due to the ongoing conflict between Indonesia’s military and the West Papua liberation army, and human rights violations.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has observer status in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and is actively seeking full membership.

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

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

Food Was Amazing and Staff Was Even Better!

Abby Zimet — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 06:18:05 +0000

Graciously offering up some black trauma porn with dinner, a Republican Women's Club in Kentucky just hosted a book promo at a local restaurant for Jon Mattingly, one of the Louisville police officers who helped murder Breonna Taylor in her bed, to tell "his side" of a story that they claim "has been twisted to fit into a false, woke storyline.” They also broadcast the "snuff by cop" audio and video on public speakers so all the patrons could hear. So thoughtful. Up next: Postcards of the lynching.

A black, 26-year-old emergency room technician in Louisville, Taylor was asleep in bed with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker around midnight on March 13, 2020 when plainclothes police officers pounded on their door as part of a drug raid mistakenly targeting her long-ex-boyfriend. After breaking down the door with a battering ram, at least seven cops burst into the apartment without identifying themselves; Walker, thinking they were intruders, fired a warning shot (from a licensed gun) that hit Mattingly in the leg. Police opened fire with at least 32 shots; Taylor was hit by six bullets and died. In the media, the murder of a loving, productive, entirely innocent black woman came to be routinely called "a botched raid." More accurately, it was a racist, bloody clusterfuck, born of already-contentious no-knock warrants, that just kept getting worse.

The local Courier Journal had to sue to get the investigative report from Louisville police, who refused to release it. Months later, when they did, it was a four-page, almost blank report: It lists the time, date, case number, victim's name. It checks "no" to forced entry. Though she was shot at least eight times and died in a pool of blood on her hallway floor, it lists her injuries as "none." It names the three Louisville officers who fired shots - Jon Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankison, all white and in their 40s - but omits the vital narrative of what happened except for the word "investigation." The Journal editor's response: "Are you kidding?" Activist Hannah Drake called the report a slap in the face to all black women." "This document is proof that LMPD continues to make a mockery of transparency," she said. "This is the best they could offer Breonna, even in her death."

It got still worse when a grand jury declined to charge police for killlng Taylor, sparking widespread protests. They found Mattingly and Cosgrove, whose shots killed Taylor, acted "in self-defense," then bafflingly charged Hankison with three counts of "wanton endangerment" - one savage headline: "Cop Charged With 'Whoopsie' - for firing shots that passed into an adjoining apartment and displaying "an extreme indifference to the value of human life." It's unclear what they thought Mattingly's and Cosgrove's "wanton murder" displayed, but Hankison was acquitted. The DOJ charged four cops with federal civil rights offenses, falsifying the search warrant; two still face trials. The city also settled two lawsuits, paying $12 million to Breonna's mother Tamika Palmer and $2 million to Kenneth Walker; because the police's superpower remains shamelessness, he was initially charged with attempted murder of a cop, but protests, also reality, led to charges being dropped.

Fortuitously inhabiting a country where, notes Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The officer carries with him the power of the American state and the weight of an American legacy" - both of which have long fallen disproportionately on black bodies - Mattingly has thus been free to retire from the Police Department, write a "tell-all" book about the raid in which he whines about "the woke mob," and rebrand-himself, Kyle-Rittenhouse-like, as a conservative speaker whose sole dubious qualification is having a barbarous hand in killing Breonna Taylor. In his grievance-laden book, Mattingly says he wants his story "to make a difference. "I want society to stop insisting on someone to blame for every crisis and tragedy," he writes. "I don’t want another Breonna Taylor or another John Mattingly.” By unfathomably equating his fate with hers, notes one sage, he indisputably proves once and for all that "white victimhood is so powerful it can leap a locomotive in a single bound."

His hosts for last week's dinner-with-black-trauma-on-the-side were the Republican Women of South Central Kentucky, who in a now-deleted Facebook post dutifully parroted his paranoid cant. Mattingly, they said, would “share what really happened... what he saw, and how the media’s narrative has been corrupted and twisted to fit into a false, woke storyline.” Still, not everyone was there for it, even in deep-red Kentucky. He was originally scheduled to speak at the Bowling Green Country Club with a GOP gubernatorial candidate, but they backed out after a ripple of outrage appeared. Much of it echoed that of Kentucky Democratic Chair Colmon Elridge, who, citing the evening's price tag, termed "abhorrent" the right's ongoing fetish of lionizing those who kill innocent black people, "from Till to Taylor...Apparently the worth of a murdered innocent Black woman is a country club dinner at $40 per person, tax and tip included."

The event was then moved to a second-floor space for private events at Anna’s Greek Restaurant, where Mattingly was reportedly introduced to "raucous applause" from about 80 people. The problem - or one problem - was that it's not really a private space: Other patrons said that, as they sat at their dinners, the lights were dimmed and graphic audio and video began loudly playing on the restaurant speakers, complete with gunshots. As Mattingly went through his grisly presentation and appalled guests started murmuring in protest, Mattingly fan-boys, demonstrating a long-honed skill of white supremacists, glared menacingly down at them. In interviews and social media posts afterwards, guests, including veterans and people of color, said they found the spectacle "disturbing," "disgusting," and "traumatizing." The local branch of the NAACP ripped the event as “beyond reprehensible,” charging it violated "the most fundamental principles of human decency.”

For black viewers or listeners, of course, it also presents one more ugly example of the right's persistent celebration of black death at the hands of police - and, as an inevitable result, the belittling and diminishing of black lives. "It's already traumatizing that we are bombarded by these images...constantly coming up against these little snuff films where Black lives are ended," writes Toure in The Grio. He cites "searing" images of scores of black killings "we can call up at any time...We can see, in our mind’s eye, so many killings....Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice...We see the footage in our minds....We carry that around with us all the time." The impact of that baggage is "surely corrosive," he writes, never mind when it's used to make a tawdry buck to sell a shitty book. For many critics, the whole vile debacle - Breonna's murder, the justice she didn't get, her free killers resurfacing to hawk their plaints and wares while glad crowds applaud them - summon nothing so much as the American lynchings so many modern Black killings are likened to.

There were, of course, thousands through the 19th and into the 20th century; many featured making a buck on the horrors. On August 7, 1930, a white mob broke into a Marion, Indiana jail to lynch three young black men wrongly accused of murdering a white man and raping a white woman.Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, both 19, were beaten and tortured, then hung from trees as a crowd of thousands gathered; James Cameron, 16, survived. When the bodies were cut down, people rushed to take parts as souvenirs, and photos were later bought and sold as postcards. On May 25, 1911, Laura Nelson and her teenage son L.D., both black, were kidnapped from an Oklahoma jail and hung from a bridge, where hundreds came to see; more photos as postcards. On June 15, 1920, a white mob of up to 10,000 stormed a jail in Duluth, Minn. holding six black circus workers falsely accused of rape; the crowd got to three - Isaac McGhie, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson - and beat and hanged them. More postcards. Warning: very graphic photo here.

Jon Mattingly, meanwhile, had a swell time re-living his lynching for profit; afterwards, he posted on Facebook, "Food was amazing and staff was even better!" Commenters were appalled: "What a vulture...And great entertainment too! How fun for you!...You are a murderer...Everything you put in your mouth will turn to ash...Shame shame shame..." and, after admitting it was maybe "a mistake" to broadcast his spiel, "You seem to make a lot of mistakes. Good thing you didn't make the mistake of being a black woman sleeping in her own home." Astonishingly - or not (see shameless) - he angrily argued with "all of you slamming a good man." The GOP ladies defended themselves too: The event was "taken out of context," Mattingly is "also a victim," none of them "are racist," and "other individuals with firsthand experience relating to this case are welcome to request an opportunity to speak to our organization." Yes, well. Kenneth Walker is still "deeply traumatized" and Breonna Taylor is still dead, so neither is available.

Postscript: Witnessing that Duluth lynching was an 8-year-old immigrant boy named Abraham Zimmerman. Years later, he evidently described it to his son Robert, who was born 21 years later. Or maybe Robert, a curious, precocious boy who became Bob Dylan, learned about it on his own, found some of those photo postcards in the old junk stores he loved to explore his entire life. In any case, when Dylan came to write what's been deemed the sixth greatest song of all time - and some of us might put it higher - he bitterly recalled the photos to start Desolation Row:

They're selling postcards of the hanging,

They're painting the passports brown,

The beauty parlor's filled with sailors,

The circus is in town.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Abby Zimet.

Biden’s New Chief of Staff Might Be Very Bad News

Deconstructed — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 20:05:17 +0000

President Joe Biden is naming Jeff Zients to be his next chief of staff. Zients, a corporate Democrat, was previously in the White House helping steer its pandemic response and leading vaccination efforts. Previously, Zients helped oversee two health care companies embroiled in Medicare and Medicaid fraud allegations, which they paid tens of millions to settle. This week on Deconstructed, Intercept reporter Daniel Boguslaw and The American Prospect’s Robert Kuttner join Ryan Grim to discuss Zients’s past in the world of for-profit health care. Zients is also a former Facebook board member, worrying progressives pushing for the administration to rein in Silicon Valley.

Transcript coming soon.

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Deconstructed.

Revealed: MPs’ staff bankrolled by climate sceptics and gambling industry

Andrew Kersley — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 23:01:07 +0000

Exclusive: Campaigner warns of ‘conflict of interest’ over donors who gave £1m to fund MPs’ staff and offices

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Andrew Kersley.

‘Catastrophic Decision’: Progressives Rip Choice of Jeff Zients for Chief of Staff

Jake Johnson — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 11:45:56 +0000

Reports Sunday that President Joe Biden has chosen Jeff Zients to replace outgoing White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain were met with alarm among progressive watchdogs, who pointed to Zients' disastrous tenure as the administration's coronavirus czar as well as his history in the corporate world—where he built a fortune investing in healthcare companies accused of fraud.

Klain, who developed a solid working relationship with progressives in Congress, is expected to depart shortly after Biden's State of the Union address on February 7.

Revolving Door Project executive director Jeff Hauser called the elevation of Zients to White House chief of staff a "catastrophic decision," saying in a statement that "the Biden administration has been at its best when it has been on the attack against corporate excesses that wide majorities of Americans find abhorrent."

"Americans are appalled by profiteering in healthcare—Jeff Zients has become astonishingly rich by profiteering in healthcare," said Hauser. "Americans are aghast at how social media companies have built monopolies and violated privacy laws—Zients served on the Board of Directors of Facebook as it was defending itself against growing attacks from both political parties."

The Revolving Door Project's Daniel Boguslaw and Max Moran wrote for The American Prospect last year that Zients—who was replaced as Covid-19 response coordinator back in April—has "controlled, invested in, and helped oversee" healthcare companies that "were forced to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud."

"They have also been accused of surprise-billing practices and even medical malpractice," Boguslaw and Moran noted. "Taken together, an examination of the companies that made Zients rich paints a picture of a man who seized on medical providers as a way to capitalize on the suffering of sick Americans. In the end, it seems to have all paid off."

"The most egregious violation is documented in a 2015 Justice Department settlement announcement," they added. "Portfolio Logic—the investment firm Zients founded with his own money—agreed to pay almost $7 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing, involving a subsidiary (Pediatric Services of America Healthcare, or PSA) that it purchased in 2007."

"Hopefully Zients will prove us wrong—but unless that unlikely and fortuitous surprise occurs, Biden will need a quick hook."

Progressives have also been highly critical of Zients' performance in government.

In early 2022, Boguslaw urged the Biden administration to fire Zients over his "failure to "provide the materials necessary to improve the U.S. response" to Covid-19 "or the guidance necessary to keep the pandemic under control."

Following news that he would be leaving the coronavirus response post, Public Citizen's Robert Weissman lamented that Zients "refused to pay appropriate attention to global solutions to the global pandemic, because of political concerns or otherwise."

"And the Zients-led Covid response refused to challenge Big Pharma's monopoly control, in the U.S. and globally, over technologies that relied crucially on public support," Weissman continued. "As a result, the United States and other rich countries failed to expand vaccine supply sufficiently to meet global need. Without adequate supply, efforts to bolster low-income country distribution and delivery systems consequently have lagged and been similarly under-resourced."

During his time as pandemic response coordinator, Zients was far and away the wealthiest member of Biden's cabinet, disclosing assets worth at least $89.3 million and as much as $442.8 million.

Citing the Revolving Door Project's work, progressive strategist Murshed Zaheed said Sunday that "Zients as a businessman embodies much of the corporate misconduct the executive branch led by a Democratic Party ought to be cracking down on."

But the Biden White House doesn't appear remotely concerned about Zients' corporate past.

With Biden expected to launch a bid for reelection in the coming weeks, The New York Timesreported that "the president could lean on" Zients to "help run the government while other advisers focus on the politics of winning a second term."

Hauser said Sunday that "hopefully Zients will prove us wrong—but unless that unlikely and fortuitous surprise occurs, Biden will need a quick hook."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

‘Catastrophic Decision’: Progressives Rip Choice of Jeff Zients for Chief of Staff

Jake Johnson — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 11:45:56 +0000

Klain, who developed a solid working relationship with progressives in Congress, is expected to depart shortly after Biden's State of the Union address on February 7.

"Hopefully Zients will prove us wrong—but unless that unlikely and fortuitous surprise occurs, Biden will need a quick hook."

Progressives have also been highly critical of Zients' performance in government.

During his time as pandemic response coordinator, Zients was far and away the wealthiest member of Biden's cabinet, disclosing assets worth at least $89.3 million and as much as $442.8 million.

But the Biden White House doesn't appear remotely concerned about Zients' corporate past.

Hauser said Sunday that "hopefully Zients will prove us wrong—but unless that unlikely and fortuitous surprise occurs, Biden will need a quick hook."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Staff at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in War-Torn Ukraine Awarded for Heroism

Jessica Corbett — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 20:12:12 +0000

A U.S.-based group on Friday recognized the "heroic" Ukrainian staff at a Russian-controlled nuclear power plant, highlighting concerns about the facility nearly 11 months into Russia's invasion.

The Arms Control Association (ACA) hosts an annual online contest celebrating efforts to "advance disarmament, nuclear security, nonproliferation, civilian protection, and international peace, security, and justice."

"Russia's illegal and unprecedented occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant created an untenable nuclear safety and security situation."

After thousands of votes were cast from nearly 80 countries, the Energoatom workers at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) were selected as the 2022 Arms Control Persons of the Year.

ZNPP is one of four nuclear energy facilities in Ukraine, also home to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Ukrainian workers remain at the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant despite the Russian military's takeover and shelling that the countries have blamed on each other.

"Russia's illegal and unprecedented occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant created an untenable nuclear safety and security situation," said Kelsey Davenport, ACA's director for nonproliferation policy, in a statement. "In the face of harassment and threats by Russian forces, Ukrainian personnel have continued to operate the plant and avert a nuclear crisis."

"The international community owes a debt of gratitude to the heroism and bravery of the Zaporizhzhia personnel, but this dire situation cannot continue," Davenport stressed. "The ongoing safety and security risks underscore the critical importance of establishing a zone of protection at the site, returning control of Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine, and strengthening the norm against targeting civilian nuclear infrastructure."

\u201cPerfect choice! On the frontlines of one of the most frightening conflicts that humanity has faced, the @energoatom_ua staff must be recognized, cared for, and encouraged. #StandWithUkraine\u201d
— U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament (@U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament) 1673617819

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), plans to travel to Ukraine next week to discuss a proposed nuclear safety and security protection zone around ZNPP with Ukrainian government officials in Kyiv.

"I remain determined to make the much-needed protection zone a reality as soon as possible," Grossi said in a statement Friday. "My consultations with Ukraine and Russia are making progress, albeit not as fast as they should. I remain hopeful that we will be able to agree and implement the zone soon."

Since the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) was established in September, five groups of agency experts have spent time at the facility, with the latest team arriving this week.

As the IAEA detailed:

The ISAMZ team reports that the ZNPP's last remaining 330 kilovolt (kV) backup power line is now connected to the plant, after suffering some further disconnections in the last week, highlighting the continued fragile off-site power supply situation for Europe's largest NPP. The ZNPP's six reactors are in shutdown but still need electricity for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions. The ZNPP receives off-site power also from its last remaining operational 750 kV external power line. In case of loss of external power, all the site's 20 diesel backup generators are ready to supply the site with the electricity needed for all safety related equipment. In addition, nine mobile diesel-fueled boilers are now operating to help prevent critical ZNPP systems from freezing during the winter and provide heating for ZNPP personnel. The situation at the ZNPP remains precarious.

The agency also noted that ZNPP staff are under pressure to accept new labor contracts with the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom, which the national Ukrainian operator Energoatom has discouraged.

"The reduced ZNPP staffing levels combined with psychological stress due to the ongoing military conflict and the absence of family members who fled the area have created an unprecedented situation that no NPP staff should have to endure," said Grossi.

"As this tragic war enters its second year, we must continue to do everything we can to avert the danger of a serious nuclear accident that would cause even more suffering and destruction for the people of Ukraine and beyond," he emphasized.

In addition to meeting with officials in the Ukrainian capital, Grossi plans to visit the South Ukraine and Rivne nuclear plants as well as to the Chernobyl site to launch the missions of two experts at each facility. The IAEA also intends to soon station a two-member team at the Khmelnitsky plant. The missions were requested by the Ukrainian government, according to the global agency.

"Soon the IAEA will be permanently present at all of Ukraine's nuclear pwer facilities, including Chernobyl," Grossi said. "This is an important step in our work to help Ukraine during these immensely difficult and challenging times. Our nuclear safety and security experts will monitor the situation at the plants, assess their equipment and other needs, provide technical support and advice, and report their findings to IAEA headquarters."

\u201cNext week, Director General @rafaelmgrossi will be in #Ukraine to establish a continuous presence of nuclear safety & security experts at all the country\u2019s nuclear power facilities \u2014 stepping up the efforts to help prevent a nuclear accident. https://t.co/m0ac6SgaEs\u201d
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency \u269b\ufe0f (@IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency \u269b\ufe0f) 1673627228

Discussing his Ukraine trip on an Italian television channel earlier this week, Grossi said: "After that, there is hope to get to Moscow. The plant is Ukrainian but under Russian control, and it is a reality. And I have to work with both sides."

"Our duty is to secure the plant. The establishment of a permanent group [of IAEA observers] is the first concrete and tangible result of our efforts, but we cannot stop; the main thing is to protect the plant's safety," he continued, stressing the need for a deal to establish a zone around ZNPP.

"This agreement is not impossible," he said, "because a nuclear accident is not in the interests of anyone, not even the Russians."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

‘This Is Corruption’: Manchin Chief of Staff Now Chief Lobbyist for Big Oil

Jake Johnson — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 13:15:56 +0000

The top aide of Sen. Joe Manchin, a close ally of the fossil fuel industry, is leaving the West Virginia Democrat's office to work directly for Big Oil as a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, one of the most powerful influence-peddling organizations in the United States.

Axios, which first reported the news of Lance West's departure to API on Thursday, noted that "through the on-again and off-again Build Back Better negotiations, he developed a reputation as a fierce advocate for Manchin's positions."

Manchin, the top recipient of oil and gas industry donations in Congress, ultimately succeeded in killing the Build Back Better package, which contained more ambitious climate measures than the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, a law packed with fossil fuel giveaways that Manchin helped secure.

That the aide who helped Manchin fight for the industry's interests in Congress is moving on to work as an oil lobbyist hardly surprised watchdogs and progressive critics, who cast the transition as a glaring example of Washington's ever-spinning revolving door.

"This is corruption. Period," tweeted Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy and a former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign.

Others, including Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media, reacted with mock astonishment:

\u201c\u201cShocking!\u201d said absolutely no one\u201d
— Jamie Henn (@Jamie Henn) 1673551541

West, who will be API's vice president of federal government relations, joins the ranks of other former Capitol Hill staffers and lawmakers who have left Congress to represent the industries they were previously tasked with overseeing and regulating.

According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, more than 60% of oil and gas lobbyists in Washington, D.C. previously worked for the federal government in some capacity—from entry-level aide to chief of staff for members of the U.S. House and Senate.

API, which spent $3.6 million on lobbying in 2022, has been sued by New York City and the state of Minnesota for its role in misleading the public about the climate crisis.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

New York Nurses Strike for More Staff & Better Pay as Hospital CEOs Make Millions, Cut Charity Care

Democracy Now! — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 14:55:16 +0000

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

New York Nurses Strike for More Staff & Better Pay as Hospital CEOs Make Millions, Cut Charity Care

Democracy Now! — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 13:40:01 +0000

We speak with one of the 7,000 nurses on strike now in New York City at two hospital systems that account for more than a quarter of all hospital beds in the city, and a journalist who has documented how hospital CEOs are boosting their own pay by millions of dollars while slashing charity care. The strike began Monday after nurses failed to reach a new contract agreement with Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center, with higher wages and better staffing among their main demands. “If we do not address this, we will continue to see nurses leaving the workforce because of unsafe staffing,” says Sasha Winslow, a striking nurse at Montefiore Medical Center. The Lever’s Matthew Cunningham-Cook details his investigation into how hospital CEOs have received millions in raises and perks while medical staff have been pushed to the breaking point during COVID.

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

‘Union-Busting on Day 1’: House GOP Aims to Stop Congressional Staff From Organizing

Jessica Corbett — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 18:28:48 +0000

Labor organizers on Capitol Hill were undeterred Monday despite U.S. House Republicans' plans to try to undo progress made last year after Democrats passed a resolution enabling congressional staffers to form unions.

In preparation for taking narrow control of the lower chamber on Tuesday, the GOP on Sunday unveiled its rules package, which states the party's intention to "eliminate Democrats' creation of House staff labor unions so that congressional staff are accountable to the elected officials they serve."

The Congressional Workers Union (CWU) fired back Monday, tweeting: "We organized and unionized offices in the 117th Congress, and we're going not to stop in the 118th Congress. When we fight, we win, and we’re ready to take on any anti-worker battles that may come our way."

\u201c.@Congress_Union won't back down. https://t.co/VQdUJhfTin\u201d
— People for Bernie (@People for Bernie) 1672671684

The office of Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) ratified the first-ever contract negotiated by congressional staff just last month. However, Levin—who introduced the resolution enabling his and other staffers to organize, which passed the House in a May 2022 party-line vote—will not return for the 118th Congress after losing a Democratic primary to Rep. Haley Stevens.

Democrats, labor leaders, and other critics across the country called the GOP's plans "shameful" as well as "sad, disgusting, and predictable."

\u201cunion busting is disgusting! whether it\u2019s amazon, starbucks, or the halls of congress every worker deserves a union and a democratic workplace. solidarity forever.\u201d
— tyler \u201cneiman marxist\u201d (@tyler \u201cneiman marxist\u201d) 1672680635

"Any attempt to deny workers' rights to organize—perhaps especially on Capitol Hill—is anti-democratic," said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. "We will fight it and stand with the [CWU] all the way."

Courtney Rose Laudick, the CWU's vice president of organizing, asserted that "ALL workers deserve a union. That's not up for debate."

Both Laudick and David Dayen, The American Prospect's executive editor, highlighted on Twitter that it's not clear the House GOP will even be able to put its plan into action.

\u201cMoral of the story: staff ARE the American people. We are essential to Congress's ability to serve the public and Congress is a workplace just like any other. Denying any workers the right to organize is anti-democratic AND anti-accountability. Full stop.\u201d
— Courtney Rose Laudick (@Courtney Rose Laudick) 1672681552

There is "some question as to whether the House GOP can even do this," given that "last year's House resolution on staff unions just implemented a provision of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995," Dayen explained, so it is "not certain a rules package can take that away."

Levin similarly tweeted Monday that the "GOP may be so reflexively anti-union that they want to strip their employees of the chance to form one—but it's not that easy. Under the Congressional Accountability Act, rights that have been implemented can't simply be taken away absent new legislation to change the act itself."

Demand Progress policy director Dan Schuman pointed out that the 1995 law was passed under Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.).

\u201cIt was Newt Gingrich and the Republicans who passed the law allowing for staff unions in the House, and Nancy Pelosi that allowed that provision to take effect. Now House Republicans don't want staff to make their own choices on whether to unionize.\u201d
— Daniel Schuman | @danielschuman@mastodon.social (@Daniel Schuman | @danielschuman@mastodon.social) 1672672079

CNNreported Monday that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty (R-Calif.) "outlined some of the concessions that he has agreed to in his campaign for speaker on a Sunday evening conference call—including making it easier to topple the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources on the call."

Noting that the rules package was released after the call and "formalizes some of the concessions that McCarthy has agreed to," the outlet added that "the House adopts its rules package only after it selects a speaker, which McCarthy has not locked down, so there could be additional compromises made in the coming days."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

ERA knocks back ‘flawed’ attempt by AUT to axe 100 plus academic staff

APR editor — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 05:26:04 +0000

RNZ News

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has knocked-back an attempt by one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest universities to axe more than 100 staff.

The Auckland University of Technology planned to make 170 academic staff redundant, but the ERA has now ruled that its process was flawed and breached the collective agreement.

Now the school may need to walk back its dismissals, and start all over again.

ERA said AUT had called for voluntary redundancies too early, before the institution had even decided which positions to cull.

The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) is celebrating the ruling as a win. However, AUT says the union and the university have interpreted the decision differently and it would be seeking clarification.

Lawyer Peter Cranney, in an email to members of the TEU yesterday, said the ERA was considering a compliance order that would require AUT to withdraw all the notices it had already issued.

“Although a compliance order is discretionary, the [ERA] authority has indicated it will not decline the granting of the order it needed,” he wrote.

“The parties will now have three days to consider the matter; and if a compliance order is necessary, the AUT will need to comply within five days.”

Cranney said any compliance order would be issued by Friday.

Trust difficult to rebuild, says union organiser
TEU organiser Jill Jones said the decision meant people at risk of losing their jobs no longer were.

“It’s great because what it does show is our collective agreement has been respected by the Employment Relations Authority,” Jones told RNZ Morning Report.

But although staff members were “absolutely” thrilled with the decision of the ERA, there was a breakdown of trust with their employer and it would be difficult to rebuild it.

“Its been a long, hard road for these staff members. They’ve paid a very large price.

“These are members that really, really care about their students and the high price that they’ve paid for this bungled redundancy is that lots of things have happened.

“It’s felt as if, to them, it’s been a very callous and uncaring process and it’s going to be difficult to come back from that.”

With issues of trust and many staff feeling targeted and bullied, AUT had a “very big job” ahead to rebuild that trust, she said.

Frances* was one of the unlucky 170 to receive a redundancy letter.

“This level of disruption and instability in our lives is just crippling,” she said.

The ERA decision had not brought much comfort.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” she said. “I’m really happy that we’ve seen some justice be recognised through the court system, but I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Frances expected AUT to withdraw her notice of dismissal, but did not expect a happy ending.

“I’m not deluded, they’re still going to come for me I’m sure, but they’ll have to start from scratch and do it properly,” she said.

“That’s all we ask, that this is done properly.”

Poor handling of the situation had destroyed staff morale, she said.

“For three months, I’ve been feeling disengaged, demotivated, angry, upset, waiting, waiting, waiting for this letter,” she said.

“This whole process has been about targeting, humiliating, and bullying people.”

AUT seeks clarification of ‘complex findings’
An AUT spokesperson said the findings were legally complex and it regretted that a “procedural issue” highlighted had made staff more uncertain.

“Although the ERA has published its findings, it has not issued orders.

“AUT’s view of these findings differs from that of the TEU. AUT is endeavouring to clarify and resolve the issue promptly.

“Given the differing views between the parties it will therefore be necessary to return to the ERA tomorrow for clarification on some aspects.”

AUT said ERA’s findings found no bad faith in how it had acted — and AUT had formed a differing view of the collective agreement.

“The ERA has noted that AUT should have identified the specific positions potentially declared surplus and, at this point, written to offer voluntary redundancy to the people in these specified positions.

“Following clarification of the procedural issue we will write to those impacted by the decision to confirm the way forward.”

* Name changed to protect identity. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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

AUT VC Damon Salesa responds over 170 academic staff cuts

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 21:02:26 +0000

Pacific Media Watch

Yesterday RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme looked at the impact of redundancies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) among academic staff — particularly on post-graduate students who are losing their supervisors.

The university has announced that 170 academic positions are being cut, but there are concerns about whether the criteria by which staff were selected to lose their jobs was fair.

Legal proceedings have been launched by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), which says the university has truncated the processes for dismissal set out in the collective agreement.

It argues staff were selected because they failed to meet teaching and research requirements they did not know they were subject to.

Presenter Kathryn Ryan speaks to Professor Damon Salesa, who is vice-chancellor of AUT.

Pacific Media Watch reports that Professor Salesa, who is the first Pasifika vice-chancellor at a university in Aotearoa New Zealand, has also faced criticism from Māori and Pacific staff worried about their futures. Yesterday on RNZ TEU organiser Jill Jones outlined how Dr Salesa had declined to face academic staff over the cuts and refused to negotiate with the union.

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

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

Domestic violence, isolation hit Pacific women during pandemic, says USP survey

Sri Krishnamurthi — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 01:04:14 +0000

By Sri Krishnamurthi

While some women at the University of the South Pacific’s 14 campuses found working from home enjoyable during the covid-19 pandemic, others felt isolated, had overwhelming mental challenges and some experienced domestic violence, a Pacific survey has found.

Titled “University Women Remote Work Challenges”, the survey was funded by the Council of Pacific Education (COPE) and was supported by the Association of the University of the South Pacific staff (AUSPS)

The research report, released last month, was conducted by Dr Hilary Smith (an honorary affiliate researcher at the Australian National University and Massey University) for the women’s wing of AUSPS.

READ MORE: Other Pacific gender research

AUSPS women’s wing chair Rosalie Fatiaki . . . “Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations.” Image: AUSPS

“This survey confirms that many of our university women had support from their family networks while on Work From Home, but others were left feeling very isolated,” said Rosalie Fatiaki, chair of the AUSPS women’s wing.

“Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations — some had to wait until after midnight to get a strong enough signal,” she said.

Around 30 percent of respondents reported having developed covid-19 during the Work From Home periods, and 57 percent had lost a family member or close friend to covid-19 as well as co-morbidities.

In the survey there was also evidence of the “shadow pandemic” of domestic abuse and although the reported levels were low, it was likely the real incidence was much higher, said Dr Smith.

‘Feelings of shame’
“That was because of the feelings of shame (reporting domestic violence). In the Pacific Islands families and communities tend to be very close-knit groupings,” Dr Smith said.

Only two of the 14 USP campuses in 12 Pacific countries avoided any covid-19 closures between 2020 and 2022 — the shortest closure was two days in Tokelau and the longest at the three Fijian campuses of Laucala, Lautoka and Labasa lasting 161 days.

There had been no cases on the Tuvalu campus until the second quarter of this year.

“For women who had older children they said they enjoyed the time with their families,” Dr Smith said.

“And it was more difficult for those with young families,” she said.

She stressed the importance of being careful with the survey in relation to domestic violence.

“With this kind of survey, we had to be a little bit careful. We can’t say we got evidence of how much there is because it is a very tricky thing to survey and especially in this kind of survey,” Dr Smith said.

‘Sensitive issue’
“And because it is a sensitive issue and people tend not to identify and it is something that people tend to be ashamed about pretty much.

“The survey was totally confidential, and we set it up so no one would who the respondents were.

“It was impossible to find out through the ANU programme we used.

“But the fact people did give some evidence then I think that we know that it is actually quite significant, and we assumed that the prevalence was quite higher.”

She said that she was not saying there were more incidents, but from media reports, particularly in Fiji, she had suspicions that it was higher than reported in the survey.

“We were responding to the fact that there were other news reports in Fiji we referenced, and there has been the other report by the UN (United Nations) women about it,” she said.

The report “Measuring the Shadow Pandemic – violence against women during Covid-19” was released by the UN in December 2021 and the Violence Against Women Rapid Gender Assessments (VAW RGA) were implemented in 13 countries spanning all regions — Albania, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Paraguay, Thailand and Ukraine.

There was general support of national statistical offices (NSOs) or national women’s groups and funding from the policy and Melinda Gates Foundation, which found an incidence of 40 percent of reported domestic violence.

‘There in Pacific”
“So, we weren’t saying that it was more than in other countries, but we were saying it was there in the Pacific.

“It could be more, or it could be less but because the evidence had been already highlighted in Fiji, we were just picking up on that.”

AUSPS had specifically asked for it to be followed up because of “widespread murmuring” that domestic violence was occurring.

“My colleagues at USP had indicated they wanted to follow it up because they had heard that it was an issue for some women,” Dr Smith said.

In her recommendations she had suggested counselling for women and a safe space on campus, but she was unsure if it would be acted on.

Limited counselling
There was limited counselling available already and some had suggested that it should be done through religious denominations, she said.

She said internationally people had struggled with mental health issues during the pandemic, so it was common to all communities.

“There was a relatively high incidence in Fiji, and we reported the findings from the survey,” Dr Smith said.

Among the recommendations for support during isolation was the setting up of a helpline and regular calls from senior personnel and support staff.

She said even if this pandemic had passed there were other events like natural disasters, politics, and wars to be mindful of.

“Human-made or nature-made or the prevalence of other pandemics, we are basically saying the university should be prepared,” Dr Smith said.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Sri Krishnamurthi.

‘Huge distress’: Post-grad students feel impact of AUT academic staff cuts

APR editor — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 22:49:26 +0000

RNZ Nine To Noon

Post-graduate students are petitioning Auckland University of Technology over academic staff cuts — saying it is hugely disruptive and will impact on New Zealand’s research sector.

AUT planned to cut 170 academic positions — those affected had until last Thursday to take voluntary redundancy or face a compulsory layoff.

The petition states the criteria for selecting which staff would go was based on “unjust” and “flawed” performance criteria — something backed by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) which is taking legal action against AUT on similar grounds.

The criteria included “teaching” and “research” on disputed grounds, but ignored “supervision” and “community service”, vital components of academic work.

RNZ’s Susie Ferguson talks to TEU organiser Jill Jones, and two PhD students: Sarah, and Melanie Welfare, who have both signed the petition requesting AUT reinstate staff.

Pacific Media Watch reports that the journalism programme, which celebrates 50 years of teaching media tomorrow, is among those sectors hit by the AUT layoffs.

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

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

The New School Staff Are Still Striking for a Fair Deal

Miles Hamberg — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 15:53:15 +0000

With contract negotiations in limbo, part-time faculty have shut down the private, liberal university in New York until they get a living wage and healthcare coverage.

This content originally appeared on The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good and was authored by Miles Hamberg.

Fetterman Taps Person Who Literally Wrote the Book on Killing Senate Filibuster as Chief of Staff

Jon Queally — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 15:00:21 +0000

U.S. Senator-elect John Fetterman on Friday announced two key staff hires for his office on Friday, including tapping the author of a book calling for the abolishment of the arcane Senate filibuster to be his next chief of staff.

The Pennsylvania Democrat said in a statement that he has hired Adam Jentleson to oversee his D.C. office as chief of staff and that longtime party operative and labor organizer Joseph Pierce will be his state director.

A veteran of the Senate who served under former Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Jentleson also wrote the 2021 book, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern State and the Crippling of American Democracy, which examines Senate rules that powerful interests have exploited to obstruct progressive legislation with overwhelming majority support among the American public.

Throughout the first two years of the Biden administration, Jentleson was a key voice calling for Senate reforms to enact pressing priorities.

When Republicans blocked an effort in the Senate in May of 2021 to establish an official inquiry into the January 6 insurrection, Jentleson, then serving as executive director of the advocacy group Battle Born Collective, said it would be a "dereliction of duty" for Democrats not to reform the chamber's rules to push the measure through.

"There is no longer any question about whether Republicans will put country over party—it is clear to anyone with eyes to see that they will not," Jentleson said at the time. "The only question that remains is whether Democrats will take the steps necessary to protect our democracy, and end the filibuster."

On the campaign trail ahead of the midterm elections, Fetterman repeatedly vowed to support the end of the filibuster in the Senate if it would allow for key legislation to pass on gun control, labor protections, abortion rights, or voting access.

At a September rally with voters, Fetterman denounced the U.S. Supreme Court ruling destroying the abortion rights and said, "Send me to D.C. and you will know I will be there to be that vote to scrap the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade."

While Jentleson has been spearheading Fetterman's transition team since winning in Pennsylvania against Republican Mehmet Oz, Pierce served as statewide political director on the winning campaign.

"Joe and Adam are the best in their fields and I am honored that they have both accepted key staff positions for my office," Fetterman said in a statement on Friday.

"It will be invaluable to have a veteran of the Senate and a veteran of state politics in these key positions as we serve the people of Pennsylvania," he added. "Between Adam's deep understanding of the Senate and Joe's wealth of knowledge and experience serving the people of our commonwealth, I am confident that my office will be ready to fight and deliver for the people of Pennsylvania on day one."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jon Queally.

Scuffle between ex-serviceman and pantry car staff on train given communal spin on social media

Archit — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 13:40:51 +0000

Several Twitter users have shared a clip of a man narrating an assault on him inside a train. The users have alleged that the man was beaten up by people from the Muslim community.

Sagar Kumar, a journalist at pro-BJP propaganda channel Sudarshan News, shared this clip and wrote, “Jihadis brutally assault a Hindu brother on a train.” This video gained close to one lakh views and around 5,000 retweets. (archived link)

जिहादियों ने हिंदू भाई को रेल में किया लहूलूहान।@AshwiniVaishnaw pic.twitter.com/W8wF42MlfQ

— Sagar Kumar “Sudarshan News” (@KumaarSaagar) November 21, 2022

Dainik Bhaskar journalist Rahul Sharma shared images of five Muslim men and claimed that they assaulted an ex-serviceman after the latter asked for a way of passage while they were offering namaz.

स्वर्ण जयंती एक्सप्रेस में #सामूहिक_नमाज पढ़ने को लेकर विवाद में पूर्व सैनिक के साथ बेरहमी से मारपीट। पीड़ित विलास नायक ने नमाज पढ़ रहे लोगों से रास्ता मांगा तो उन्होंने मना कर दिया। जब पूर्व सैनिक अपनी सीट पर मंत्रोच्चार करने लगे तो उनके साथ मारपीट की गई। बैतूल में चल रहा इलाज। pic.twitter.com/1JmspStJkF

— राहुल शर्मा । Rahul Sharma (@rahulreporter4) November 21, 2https://twitter.com/rahulreporter4/status/1594641614202605568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw022

Social media head of UP BJP youth wing Richa Rajpoot shared the video and made the same claim.

ट्रेन No-12804 में रास्ते का अतिक्रमण कर 5 बार नमाज पढ़ने के चलते हिन्दू यात्री को टायलेट जाने नही दिया ..जवान ने मंत्र जपा तो बेहरहमी से पिटाई करी…ट्रेन में होने वाली इन जाहिल हरकतों पर रेल प्रशासन रोक लगाएं @RailMinIndia @RPF_INDIA pic.twitter.com/fsv64b1bIm

— Dr. Richa Rajpoot (@doctorrichabjp) November 21, 2022

Twitter user RituRathaur shared the same video and wrote, “Horror! Hindu man brutally beaten up by ‘shanti doots’ (an often used term mocking Muslims) for objecting to their reading Namaj thrice in moving train thus even obstructing way to bathrooms Security guard kept quiet and no one helped the Hindu man in a train to Vishakhapatnam Tyranny of fascist minority..” This tweet gained over 1,000 retweets.

Horror!
Hindu man brutally beaten up by ‘shanti doots’ for objecting to their reading Namaj thrice in moving train thus even obstructing way to bathrooms

Security guard kept quiet and no one helped the hindu man in a train to vishakhapattanam

Tyranny of fascist minority.. pic.twitter.com/FbgkzT4qn6

— Ritu #सत्यसाधक (@RituRathaur) November 21, 2022

Twitter user @its_vsr shared the viral video and wrote, “This community is another form of demons.”

ये देख लो ट्रेन में भी ठुल्लो की दादागिरी अब हिंदू एक नही होने के कारण सब जगह मार खाता ही रहेगा।
कुछ लोग फिर भी कहते हैं कि उनके लिए इतना जहर क्यों है दिल में
ये कौम असुरों का दूसरा स्वरूप है#जागो_हिन्दुओं_जागो pic.twitter.com/MAt0Etyfhq

— ᴠɪꜱʜ ꜱɪɴɢʜ ʀᴀᴊᴘᴜᴛ (@its_VSR) November 21, 2022

Fact-Check

While listening to the man’s narration in the viral video, we found that the man says, “… In S4… on both sides (of the train bogey) there are five to six Muslims. Around 5:15 AM; 1:30 PM, and 5:15 PM they block the passage and offer namaz. I want to go to the washroom, and they denied me the passage multiple times. After they finished the namaz, I sat there and started offering prayers to my gods. When you offer namaz you don’t dare to stop it… now I’m starting my namaz. I did (prayers) for two, three minutes, and then two-three members from pantry car came and did this to me (pointing at his injuries)…” It is worth noting that the man does not blame Muslim men for the assault.

Alt News found that Times Now had reported on the incident which took place on Swarn Jayanti Express heading to Visakhapatnam from Hazrat Nizamuddin. A scuffle broke out between the pantry car staff and Vilas Naik, a retired soldier, at Madhya Pradesh’s Betul on November 20. The ex-soldier was admitted to a hospital for treatment.

In addition to inputs from Naik’s testimony from the viral video, Times Now inputs from Mujkir Ahmed, a passenger who was offering Namaz; and Harvesh Shrivastava, the pantry car manager. Furthermore,Madhya Pradesh-based journalist Kashif Kakvi shared video statements of Ahmed, Shrivastava, and Betul Government Railway Police official. In the Free Press Journal report, the name of the GRP official is Narottam Singh Thakur.

In the video statement, Ahmed said, “When we were offering namaz, the man came and deliberately asked for passage through where we were praying. We requested him to wait for a few minutes or go from the other way. That side was clear. The man insisted on going through where we were praying…”

Ahmed told Times Now, “We were offering Namaz. The retired soldier deliberately objected to it by saying that he wanted to go to the toilet. After offering Namaz we all sat down in our seats. However, he started offering his prayers and even stopped a pantry staff member. After which the scuffle broke out.” Ahmed can also be heard saying the same in the video.

In the video, Shrivastava, the pantry car manager, said, “… He (Naik) stopped our staff (from passing through the corridor)… our staff stood there for nearly half an hour. If they tried to pass through, he (Naik) would push them. So the staff came to me…”

The Times Now report added, “When the pantry car manager, Harvesh Shrivastava, tried to intervene, a scuffle broke out between him and the ex-soldier. Pantry car staff also started thrashing Naik. As per Shrivastava, the ex-soldier resorted to violence when he went to resolve the matter. The pantry car manager also alleged that he sustained an injury on his neck.” The video statement by Shrivastava covers these points.

Thakur, the GRP official, said, “A scuffle broke between pantry car staff and retired defense personnel. The latter sustained injuries on the nose, and he has been admitted to a hospital. We’ll take the FIR now against the pantry car staff. The conflict took over the way of passage. It seems the pantry car staff weren’t allowed to pass by the ex-serviceman.” When the reporter asked about Muslim men’s involvement, the official responded, “The Muslims were reading namaz on the side. They are not involved in this conflict.” Kakvi also uploaded Shrivastava’s statement in a tweet thread, which can be viewed below.

To sum it up, Vilas Naik, a retired soldier who was traveling to Visakhapatnam from Hazrat Nizamuddin on the Swarn Jayanti Express on November 20, got involved in a scuffle with the pantry car staff. Shortly after Naik’s clip went viral where he claimed that Muslim men blocked his passage while they were reading namaz. He, however, never claimed he was beaten up by Muslims. Subsequently, Sudarshan News and Dainik Bhaskar reporters shared that clip and falsely reported that Muslim men thrashed Naik.

The post Scuffle between ex-serviceman and pantry car staff on train given communal spin on social media appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Archit.

Regional USP staff, students call for vote against FijiFirst over $85m unpaid fees

APR editor — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 22:44:44 +0000

GRUBSHEET: By Graham Davis

With barely four weeks to go to the election, students and staff at the regional University of the South Pacific have stepped up their political activity against the FijiFirst government over its refusal to pay $85 million (and counting) in outstanding contributions to the running of USP.

The USP community — which some estimates put at more than 30,000 — is being encouraged to vote accordingly, with an indirect but unmistakable appeal to “Friends of USP” to vote for the People’s Alliance-National Federation Party prospective coalition come polling day.

It beggars belief that the Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has left Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and his cabinet colleagues so exposed at USP.

Because if the university community — students, staff, their families and sympathisers — lodge a collective protest vote against his conduct, it could easily cost the government the election.

What other political party in its right mind would put at risk its survival to support a position that simply isn’t sustainable because Fiji doesn’t have the numbers on the USP Council to enforce its will?

FijiFirst, of course. Which is prepared, lemming like, to go over a cliff with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum just to pander to his ego.

You might have expected student protests at USP as it is being slowly strangled by the ruling party and certainly that would have happened anywhere else in the world. Yet it’s no surprise to learn that there has been a strong, though subtle, plainclothes police and military presence at USP for some time, including specific incidents of intimidation of students and staff.

Climate of fear
So the relative silence from the student body doesn’t owe itself to apathy but fear — the climate of fear that pervades the rest of the nation as well and has been the subject of public comment by church leaders and private comment by almost everyone else.

It is a rich vein for the opposition to mine in the election lead-up. So get set for the government’s scandalous conduct at USP to become a major election issue.

And for the prospect of FijiFirst suffering a humiliating setback at the polls to match its humiliating inability to get its way with its absurd demand for “reform” of the university, including the removal of its exiled vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who continues to run USP from Samoa.

Australian-Fijian journalist Graham Davis publishes the blog Grubsheet Feejee on Fiji affairs. Republished with permission.

Statement to Friends of USP voting in Fiji’s election 2022:

TURN UP AND MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT.

We will be casting our votes on 14 December.

Nine political parties are contesting. Apart from Fiji First Party (FFP), the other serious contenders are Rabuka’s People’s Alliance Party, Prasad/Tikoduadua’s National Federation Party (NFP), and Gavoka’s Social and Democratic Party (SODELPA). SODELPA has been imploding for some time!

Since 2018, FFP government has withheld Fiji’s contribution to USP. All other parties have campaigned to pay what Fiji owes. Most of us would like to see a change of government because of the government’s refusal to pay its contribution which stands at FD$85 million.

As preposterous as it may sound, it means that eight small member countries such as Tokelau (pop. 1400), Niue (1600) and Tuvalu (11,300) are subsidising Fiji, having the largest population with nearly a million people!

Despite five independent investigations confirming corrupt practices by the former vice- chancellor and president (VCP), and confirming the current VCP’s report on the corruption, the government continues to shield the former VCP and his supporters.

Through its domineering presence in Council, the government lobbied hard to terminate the current VCP Dr Ahluwalia’s contract. When Council rejected it, the government unprecedentedly deported Dr Ahluwalia and his wife Gestapo-like. It declared them persona-non-grata in the same shameful manner as the late pre-eminent Pacific historian Dr Brij Lal and his family.

With Council’s support, USP is being run from Samoa campus, home of current Chancellor (Head of State Tuimaleali’ifano) former mother and daughter Pro Chancellors (Fetaui and Fiame Naomi Mata’afa), and VCP Professor Ahluwalia.

There are three serious implications of the Fiji debt.

First, institutional utilities and student services are likely affected as maintenance and upkeep of buildings and facilities are compromised.

Second, the growing vacancies across a number of academic, professional and support staff will not be filled quickly, thereby increasing the work-load of an already overstretched staff.

This is exacerbated by the protracted delays in the issuance of work permits to expatriates and regional staff from member countries such as Tonga and Solomon Islands.

Staff shortage threatens availability and variety of programmes (e.g. Pasifika orientated programs in Governance, Law, Social Sciences, Climate Change, Engineering, MBA etc), erosion of quality of teaching and research output.

The third and most critical is the obvious collateral damage to the education of students (35,000 to 40,000 in 2022) and 50 years of capacity building with an alumni of 60,000 plus across the globe.

For USP to continue as the premier university to nurture and realise the spirit of Pasifikan regionalism, a change is necessary.

In 2018, the FFP narrowly won by 150 votes. A groundswell of support is evident for Rabuka’s Peoples Alliance Party (PAP), and Prasad/Tikoduadua’s National Federation Party (NFP). To make the change and ensure USP’s survival, make your vote count.

Voting is at the polling stations shown on the voter registration card. For iTaukei voters intending to travel to the islands and villages before 14 December, before traveling, check the polling station shown in your voter registration card and avoid disappointment.

WE must turn up and not waste OUR votes on FFP, smaller parties and independent candidates.

God Bless Fiji and USP

November 2022.

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

Contractor where staff traded racist messages banks millions in profit

Adam Bychawski — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:44:22 +0000

Mitie was handed a £53m contract in September despite reports of poor conditions at asylum centres

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Adam Bychawski.

Staff at trans charity targeted by trolls describe impact of abuse and doxxing

Maysa Pritilata — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 17:45:59 +0000

Mermaids staff received more than 100 abusive calls and messages in the wake of a misleading news article

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Maysa Pritilata.

Staff of Serbian newspaper Danas gets email threatening Charlie Hebdo attack

Committee to Protect Journalists — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 19:40:08 +0000

Berlin, November 9, 2022—Serbian authorities should conduct a quick and thorough investigation into the threats made against staff at the privately owned Danas daily newspaper, bring the perpetrators to justice, and ensure the journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Sunday, November 6, an unknown individual from an email address with the name “threateningaccount” sent a message with the subject line “Charlie Hebdo of Belgrade” to Dragoljub Petrović, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Danas, threatening reporters, editors, and columnists with “barrages of bullets” because of its editorial policy, according to Danas, U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Ana Bellotti Družijanić, head of Danas’ digital development, who communicated with CPJ by email.

In January 2015, heavily armed and hooded shooters attacked the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, injuring 11 people and killing 12, including eight journalists.

The individual mentioned the newspaper’s coverage of Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, countries once belonging to the former Yugoslavia, according to these reports and the email, which was published by trade news site Cenzolovka. The email also listed specific journalists and columnists working for Danas (Snežana Čongradin, Aleksej Kišjuhas, Nenad Kulačin, Teofil Pančić, Nikola Samardžić, Marko Vidojković) and two journalists—Bosnia-based columnist Dragan Bursać and Serbian radio host Daško Milinović—who are not Danas staff members. The email called these journalists “enemy of the Serbian people” and “traitors.” In 2021, Bursać received a death threat and two unidentified men used pepper spray on Milinović while he walked to work.

The prosecutor’s office in Belgrade ordered an investigation, police promised to increase patrols around the newsroom, and police asked journalists to call if they notice anything suspicious, Danas reported.

“It is a welcome development that authorities in Serbia reacted quickly to the threats made by an unknown individual to the editorial staff of daily newspaper Danas and that they increased patrols around the newsroom,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Authorities must ensure the safety of the journalists working there, that the case is thoroughly investigated, and that threats against the press do not go unpunished.”

Bojan Cvejić, editor-in-chief of Danas’ website, said in an interview with the outlet that those who do not feel safe can work remotely. He also said the newspaper’s journalists often receive threatening messages, but this email was sent by someone who is familiar with their work.

In April 2022, Danas staff received a number of death threats via email, messaging app, and comments on their social media pages from both anonymous and named accounts. The messages referenced a quote from Mahatma Gandhi that Danas had published on Instagram, reading “Truth, not God.” The messages alleged that the Gandhi quote was an insult to Christians ahead of the Orthodox Easter on April 24.

CPJ emailed questions to the press department of Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the police, but did not receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ asks British authorities to strengthen protection for London-based Iran International staff

Committee to Protect Journalists — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:20:26 +0000

Washington, D.C., November 8, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday asked British authorities to strengthen their protection of threatened staff members of Iran International, a Persian-language news television channel based in London, and demanded that they hold Iranian authorities accountable for transnational crimes.

“Time and again Iranian authorities have acted with impunity in attempting to silence journalists around the world,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “U.K. authorities must ensure the safety of Iran International’s staff and send a message that threats to journalists on its soil will not be tolerated. Until foreign governments hold Iran accountable, this trend will only worsen, and journalists will continue to face unacceptable threats to their safety.”

Earlier this week, Iran International announced in a statement that two of its journalists received credible threats to their lives by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in direct relation to their work as journalists.

Iran has arrested at least 61 journalists since the start of protests in mid-September—Iran International covered the protests—following the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, whom morality police arrested for allegedly violating the country’s conservative dress law. CPJ has documented the release on bail of 13 of those journalists. CPJ has called for the release of all detained journalists.

In recent years, the Iranian government has increasingly targeted journalists on foreign soil. They have harassed, threatened, abducted, carried out extrajudicial measures against journalists, and thus far have not been held accountable.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ asks British authorities to strengthen protection for London-based Iran International staff

Committee to Protect Journalists — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:20:26 +0000

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Junta forces seize orphanage in Mandalay region, driving out children and staff

By RFA Burmese — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:32:16 +0000

Junta troops and police have taken control of a Christian orphanage in Mandalay’s Pyigyitagon township. They raided the building on Wednesday night, claiming it was being used by People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) following a series of nearby explosions and an attack on a local administrative office.

About 50 children from war-torn Kachin State in northern Myanmar were sheltering in the building when it was raided, according to locals.

The single story building was sealed with a roll of yellow tape and made off-limits, a resident told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

“They pulled the children out overnight and sealed off the building at the same time,” the local said.

“We still don’t know where the children were taken … They put a vinyl notice on the building saying it had been seized.”

The notice said the building was connected to PDFs, so no one could enter or try to sell the building or the land, which had been confiscated by the state, the local said.

At around 7 p.m. the same night the power supply to the entire neighborhood was cut and remained off for the entire night, according to residents.

The orphanage was also being used as a private kindergarten, which opened five years ago, according to a woman who used to send her child there. She said the orphans had been brought there over the past two years. Although locals said it was a Christian orphanage they were unclear about which church was running it.

RFA’s calls to junta regional spokesman, Economic Minister Thein Htay, went unanswered on Thursday.

Pyigyitagon’s Ward F administrative office, close to where the orphanage is located, was attacked with a grenade on Tuesday, injuring five people, including the administrator. That night there were explosions in various places around the neighborhood. The junta reacted by removing three shops, and 10 temporary stalls near the administrative office that are normally open in the evening.

At least 786 residential buildings have been sealed off and seized since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup through to the end of October this year according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

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

No Concession From Brazil’s Bolsonaro—But Staff Say Transition to Proceed

Brett Wilkins — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 20:34:51 +0000

This is a breaking story... Please check back for updates.

The chief of staff to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he has received authorization from the defeated far-right leader to start the transition process leading up to the January 1 inauguration of President-Elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and that the current administration would "comply with the law" and the constitution.

Bolsonaro spoke publicly on Tuesday for the first time since losing Sunday's presidential runoff to Workers' Party co-founder da Silva, making no mention of any concession to his leftist challenger.

Ciro Nogueira, Bolsonaro's chief of staff, followed his boss' speech by declaring that "the president authorized me... based on the law, to start the transition process," and that the administration would "comply with the law of our country."

In his two-minute address, Bolsonaro said, "I want to start by thanking the 58 million Brazilians who voted for me last October 30th." Referring to protests by truck drivers and other supporters, he added that "the current popular movements are the result of indignation and a feeling of injustice at how the electoral process took place."

"Peaceful demonstrations will always be welcome," he added, "but our methods cannot be those of the left, which have always harmed the population, such as invasion of property, destruction of patrimony, and restriction of the right to come and go."

The union representing the Federal Highway Police (PRF)—who stand accused of suppressing da Silva voters by dramatically increasing Election Day vehicle stops in the challenger's strongholds—blamed Bolsonaro's refusal to concede for the protests that are causing traffic chaos around the country.

"The posture of the current president of the republic, Jair Bolsonaro, in maintaining silence and not recognizing the results of the polls has made it difficult to pacify the country, encouraging some of his followers to adopt blockade actions on Brazilian roads," Federação Nacional dos Policiais Rodoviários Federais said in a statement.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also heads Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, threatened PRF chief Silvinei Vasques imprisonment and hourly fines of R$100,000 (USD$19,440) if he did not comply with an order to unblock highways by midnight Tuesday.

In one of the more bizarre demonstrations by Bolsonaro supporters, video posted on social media shows an ecstatic crowd cheering what they believed to be the arrest of de Moraes—who has worked doggedly to stymie any potential right-wing coup—but what was in fact a baseless rumor.

Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of International Relations in São Paulo, observed that "Bolsonaro's carefully worded statement was so cryptic [because] he needed to speak to very different audiences: radical followers who think Lula stole the election feel Bolsonaro confirmed their beliefs, but his more moderate allies also feel Bolsonaro will not mess with the transition."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

Fetterman Calls on Dr. Oz to Fire ‘Multiple Insurrectionists’ on Staff

Julia Conley — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 14:08:14 +0000

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the state's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, warned that Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz is working with numerous people who pose "a direct threat to our American democracy" and demanded that he fire his staffers recently exposed as supporters of the January 6 insurrection.

Rolling Stonereported on Sunday that at least two people working on Oz's campaign attended the rally former President Donald Trump held in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 before thousands of his supporters waged an attack on the U.S. Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results.

"It really says a lot about Dr. Oz that he's hired people who want to quite literally overthrow American democracy," tweeted Fetterman on Monday.

Lee Snover, a campaign coordinator for Oz, was among the Trump supporters who marched to the Capitol after the so-called "Stop the Steal" rally. She also participated in a Zoom call four days before the insurrection about the Trump campaign's plans for "decertifying" election results in swing states and called for state legislators to push then-Vice President Mike Pence to interfere with the counting of electoral votes.

Political adviser Josh Bashline was also profiled by Rolling Stone, which reported that he attended the "Stop the Steal" rally.

"Dr. Oz and his disgustingly radical campaign must fire these insurrectionist staffers immediately."

"Dr. Oz and his disgustingly radical campaign must fire these insurrectionist staffers immediately," said Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for Fetterman.

The news regarding Oz's campaign staff is just the latest evidence that the celebrity doctor supports Trump's continued baseless claims that he was the true winner of the 2020 election.

Oz said in April that "we cannot move on" from the election and he supports the gubernatorial campaign of Doug Mastriano, who organized buses to Washington, D.C. for the January 6 rally and whose campaign event Oz attended over the weekend.

Along with members of Oz's staff, a consultant for his campaign, Larry Weitzner, told a former supporter of the Republican candidate that Oz was not "an election denier" even as Weitzner promoted the false claim that fraud had taken place during voting.

"He is not denying the [2020] election," Weitzner texted Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, before adding, "Massive difference between saying their [sic] was fraud, which most Republican officials and voters believe as well as real evidence, [versus] saying the election was stolen or denying Biden won."

As Rolling Stone reported, Weitzner was among the Trump allies who received an email from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on December 8, 2020, which read, "The goal is to arouse the country's anger through new verifiable information the American people have never seen before... If we inform the American people in a way they find convincing and it arouses their anger, they will then bring pressure on legislators and governors."

Four staff members of Nicaragua’s La Prensa charged with conspiracy, two in detention

Committee to Protect Journalists — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 16:25:40 +0000

Guatemala City, October 14, 2022 — Nicaraguan authorities should immediately drop all criminal charges against staff members of the independent newspaper La Prensa, release two drivers held in custody, and cease harassing the outlet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On September 29, the Nicaraguan prosecutor’s office charged four La Prensa staff members with “conspiracy to undermine national integrity,” according to a report by the outlet and the newspaper’s chief editor Eduardo Enríquez, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

The staffers facing charges are two drivers, who were arrested by Nicaraguan police after their homes were raided on July 6, as well as a journalist and an administrative worker who have not been arrested, Enríquez told CPJ. Police arrested the drivers shortly after a La Prensa team covered the expulsion from Nicaragua of a group of nuns affiliated with a charity that was closed by the government. Enríquez said the newspaper is choosing not to disclose the identities of the four staffers for security reasons.

“The Nicaraguan government wants to make it perilous to work at a newspaper in any capacity,” said Natalie Southwick, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must immediately drop the charges against La Prensa’s staff, release the drivers, and allow members of the media to work freely.”

If convicted, the staffers could face up to 15 years in jail, according to the Nicaraguan criminal code.

One of the La Prensa staffers, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told CPJ in a phone interview, “I feel like my neck is in the guillotine.”

Enríquez called the charges “absurd” and told CPJ that judicial officials have prohibited the drivers from hiring private defense lawyers and instead forced them to accept a public defense lawyer assigned by the government.

“This cannot be described as anything other than as an insane action; we are talking about people who do logistical work,” he said of the charges.

“Beyond the fact that there is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom to work,” he added.

According to The Associated Press, La Prensa announced on July 21 that the newspaper’s staff, including reporters, editors, and photographers, had gone into exile due to the persecution faced by the outlet.

CPJ called and emailed the Nicaraguan prosecutor’s office for comment but received no reply.

CPJ has documented the Nicaraguan government’s crackdown on independent media and actions against La Prensa and its staff, including the conviction of the newspaper’s publisher, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, on money laundering charges in March, a police raid and occupation of its newsroom in 2021, and the seizure of the outlet’s ink and paper in 2019.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Inspired by Starbucks and Amazon Worker Wins, 300 T-Mobile Customer Service Staff Unionize

Brett Wilkins — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 18:12:58 +0000

Citing "mass layoffs and recent pay deductions" and inspiration from unionizing workers at Starbucks and Amazon, hundreds of workers at telecommunications giant T-Mobile on Wednesday announced that they are forming an independent union, the T-Force Social Care Alliance.

"It's been more and more layoffs, more and more pay cuts, more and more work pressure."

The nascent TSCA—which represents around 300 T-Mobile social media customer service workers—said in a statement that it has "tried to work with" the company, whose U.S. branch alone is worth over $170 billion, but "has been brushed aside."

TSCA tweeted Thursday that its "mission is to have management recognize our union, advocate for our fellow workers through empowerment, economic justice, job security, and healthy work standards for all."

More Perfect Union reports:

The effort has been spurred by two moves from management: One, to force workers back into the workplace, despite years of remote work; and two, to restructure workers' bonus pay system, in some cases cutting workers' take-home pay by thousands of dollars.
More broadly, workers are looking to the union for job security. T-Mobile merged with Sprint in 2019, promising government regulators that the move would result in job creation "from day one"; instead, the company has shed over 6,000 jobs in the years since, with further layoffs announced as recently as July.
The Communication Workers of America estimates the job loss is closer to 20,000. Watching the company eliminate positions as part of "organizational shifts" has customer service workers worried they might be next.

"If we don't do something as far as getting federal protection through unionizing, our jobs are next," TSCA member Tyler Roquemore told Democracy Now! Wednesday. "And, you know, ever since the merger with [Sprint], it's been more and more layoffs, more and more pay cuts, more and more work pressure. So, this is what we feel is the right thing to do, is stand in solidarity for worker rights."

In 2017, the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered T-Mobile to rescind illegal workplace rules that prohibited discussions about pay, employment conditions, and other issues, and banned documentation of safety violations and other problems.

"T-Mobile's culture made it a perfect stronghold against unions for years, but the clear shift to profits over people has changed the perception of many of their employees," TSCA said.

Kazakh outlet Orda, staff subjected to months of threats, online harassment, cyberattacks

Committee to Protect Journalists — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 20:23:20 +0000

New York, October 12, 2022—Authorities in Kazakhstan should thoroughly investigate recent threats against independent news website Orda and its chief editor Gulnara Bazhkenova, and ensure the outlet and its staff’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On October 5, unidentified individuals sent a severed pig’s head to Orda’s editorial offices in the southern city of Almaty, with a torn photo of Bazhkenova in its mouth, according to news reports and Bazhkenova, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

The incident is the latest in a series of threats, online harassment, and cyberattacks against Bazhkenova, her family, and Orda, following the outlet’s publication of an investigation into alleged lobbying practices by a company reportedly connected to Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Bazhkenova told CPJ she believes these incidents are connected to this and other investigations into Nazarbayev-linked organizations.

CPJ emailed representatives of Nazarbayev for comment via an address provided on his official website but did not immediately receive any reply.

“The shocking and repulsive campaign of threats and harassment against Gulnara Bazhkenova and her outlet Orda are something no journalist ought to face for simply doing their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate all incidents of harassment of Bazhkenova and her staff, hold the culprits accountable, and ensure that journalists can operate free from such odious forms of pressure.”

Orda’s July 13 investigation suggested that a London-based company allegedly controlled by Nazarbayev had employed a British lord to lobby on behalf of the former president’s U.K. business interests. A week later, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks began against the outlet’s website, forcing it offline for three weeks, Bazhkenova said.

While Orda has strengthened its cybersecurity, Bazhkenova said DDoS and other forms of cyberattacks have continued “incessantly” since July, with perpetrators constantly seeking “weak spots,” causing the site to go offline for short periods.

Bazhkenova said they do not believe the cyberattacks came from Kazakh authorities, who normally simply block websites, and that such attacks require considerable resources—experts have told her they cost up to $15,000 per day to carry out.

Alongside the website cyberattacks, she said, unidentified users have flooded Orda’s Telegram chat with indecent images and insults directed at Bazhkenova and Orda staff, orchestrated mass complaints that caused the outlet’s Instagram accounts to close, and posted Bazhkenova’s photo and number and the number of Orda’s editorial office in social media ads proposing sexual services, causing them to receive large numbers of unsolicited calls, among other forms of online harassment.

In recent weeks, the online insults have been replaced by threats against Bazhkenova and her seven-year-old son, the journalist said. Photoshopped, pornographic images featuring Bazhkenova and her son have been sent to the outlet’s Telegram chat, accompanied by the address of her son’s school and threats to kidnap him, she said.

On October 4, the day before the pig’s head delivery, threats against Bazhkenova and her son were graffitied in large letters on a square overlooked by Orda’s office windows, according to Bazhkenova and a post by the journalist. Bazhkenova said she filed a complaint with police following this incident and police are investigating both incidents together.

CPJ emailed Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment but did not receive a reply. Information Minister Darkhan Qydyrali, whose ministry oversees the media, condemned the pressure on Orda on Facebook and offered the outlet legal support.

In October 2021, independent news website HOLA News was apparently blocked by Kazakh authorities for 10 days following reporting on Pandora Papers leaks concerning Nazarbayev’s wealth. Bazhkenova said Orda also was blocked for one day during that time over its coverage of the same story.

At the start of Kazakhstan’s mass anti-government protests in January 2022, Orda was one of two outlets blocked before authorities enacted a nationwide internet shutdown.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

More than 5,000 Chinese military staff live on islands in the South China Sea

By RFA Staff — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 07:32:00 +0000

New reports by China’s state-sanctioned media have revealed the extent of the population in Chinese reclaimed and controlled islands in the South China Sea.

CGTN, the global arm of state television network CCTV, reported on Monday that a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) hospital ship, Youhao, has just completed an 18-day voyage covering 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 kilometers) and has now returned to port.

The hospital ship, commissioned in November 2020, visited 13 islands of the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos in the South China Sea, which China calls Xisha and Nansha islands, and “provided medical services to more than 5,000 people,” according to CGTN.

They are “officers and soldiers stationed on Xisha and Nansha islands and reefs,” the TV channel said.

This is the first time a Chinese official channel has disclosed the number of soldiers on the rocks and reefs that China has reclaimed and developed in the disputed South China Sea.

A report published earlier this year by Recorded Future, a U.S.-based private cybersecurity company, estimated the number of Chinese troops stationed in the South China Sea was more than 10,000.

A Pentagon report in 2016 said China had reclaimed more than 3,200 acres (13 square kilometers) of land in the South China Sea but the current area of artificial islands is believed to be much larger as reclamation works have continued in recent years.

Three of the reclaimed islands - Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross – all in the Spratlys in the southern part of South China Sea, have been fully militarized with warehouses, hangars, seaports, runways and radars, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John Aquilino said earlier this year.

China’s efforts to transform artificial islands into military bases are “destabilizing to the region,” Aquilino said.

Sansha‘s growing population

China and five other parties including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, hold conflicting claims over parts of the South China Sea but Beijing’s claims are by far the most expansive, almost 90 per cent of the sea.

In the northern part of the South China Sea, PLA troops seized some of the reefs occupied by the South Vietnam army in 1974 and China is now the sole occupier of the Paracel archipelago with about 130 small coral islands and reefs.

Despite protests from neighboring countries, in 2012 China established Sansha City to administer the Paracel and Spratly islands, Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal, and their surrounding waters.

A Dec. 14, 2020 satellite image of Woody Island, where China conducted construction work. CREDIT: Planet Labs Inc.

Woody Island in the Paracels serves as the headquarters for Sansha City, which covers nearly two million square kilometers, but includes only around 20 square kilometers of land.

Sansha had only 1,800 permanent residents including civilians and military personnel in 2020, making it the prefecture-level city with the largest area but the smallest population in China, according to another CGTN report.

Youhao, or Friendship in English, is a 4,000-ton hospital ship built in China. The ship has more than 100 beds, three operating theaters, and is equipped with a wide range of medical equipment.

The ship’s medical staff came from the First Naval Hospital of the Southern Theater Command in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

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

Exclusive: Weapons firms install 50 staff inside the Ministry of Defence

Lucas Amin — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 04:01:06 +0000

BAE among arms firms paying Ministry of Defence staff’s salaries while winning lucrative contracts

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Lucas Amin.

AUT apologises to Australian MP over sexual harassment complaint inquiry

APR editor — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 04:00:43 +0000

RNZ News

Auckland University of Technology has unreservedly apologised to a former academic turned Australian MP for its botched handling of her complaint regarding sexual harassment by a former staff member.

Dr Marisa Paterson was director of Australian National University’s Centre for Gambling Research in 2020 when she publicly accused internationally-respected gambling expert Max Abbott of stalking and harassing her.

He stepped down as dean of the School of Health and Environmental Sciences after the story was aired by the news organisation Stuff. He later resigned as a professor.

In a joint statement with the university issued through the Office of the Human Rights Proceedings today, Dr Paterson, now a Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, said she made the complaint because she wanted the harmful behaviour to stop and for the situation to be investigated.

“My desperation in lodging a formal complaint was extreme — my career was everything to me and I knew that making a complaint would have significant implications. The independent report that was commissioned by AUT and this apology, are public recognition that I did not experience the appropriate or adequate response to the harm I experienced.”

Dr Paterson said in addition to the sexual harassment, she suffered “long-term distress and implications” from having to fight an institution for an adequate response.

“But today, what I went through is being publicly recognised. And my voice today is being heard — most importantly by AUT. It is accounted for and it is being recognised as an equal through this joint statement. My statement today is not one of forgiveness. This is a public step in leadership.

“This can never happen again.”

‘Poor investigation’
Chancellor Rob Campbell said AUT offered its unreserved apology to Dr Paterson for its poor investigation into her complaint and lack of communication through the process.

“We would also like to recognise your courage in coming forward, and to thank you for providing the opportunity for AUT to learn from this and initiate a process of culture change which we are confident will improve the experience of people learning and working in the university,” he said.

“We hope that our actions will be viewed as reflecting a survivor-centred approach and positive shift in institutional culture.

“We trust that this genuine apology will support you in your pathway forward.”

He said the university was already working to respond the 36 recommendations in the independent review, including the development of a stand-alone sexual harassment policy, a new three tier complaints process, and training for all managers.

The Office of the Human Rights Proceedings said the apology and joint statement was a positive outcome for both sides.

‘Absolute tenacity’
Director Michael Timmons said it reflected “Dr Paterson’s absolute tenacity and her strength in accessing justice for what happened to her”.

“But it also shows AUT has acknowledged what has happend to her and is publicly holding themselves to account.”

He conceded the outcome had been a long time coming.

In an interview with the ABC in Australia, Dr Paterson said: “I am feeling vindicated. I feel that today there has been some justice served. This has been many years in the making for me, and I think that this is a big day for human rights and for women.”

Dr Paterson first laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in November 2021 but it was not resolved.

Mid-way through this year, she contacted the Office of the Human Rights Proceedings, which is responsible for providing publicly-funded representation to complainants taking legal action under the Human Rights Act.

Timmons said the settlement has avoided the need for further legal proceedings.

“This case is really important because it says to big institutions, particularly tertiary institutions, that they have firm obligations under the Human Rights Act for the actions of their staff.”

Max Abbott’s name was not mentioned in the apology or statement as the case only concerned AUT’s actions, he said.

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

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

‘Five-Alarm Crisis’: US Has Shortage of 300K Teachers, School Staff

Julia Conley — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 17:13:08 +0000

National Education Association Becky Pringle on Thursday warned that the U.S. teacher shortage has spiraled into a "five-alarm crisis," with nearly 300,000 teaching and support positions left unfilled and policymakers taking desperate—and in some cases, questionable—measures to staff classrooms.

Pringle told ABC News that teachers unions have been warning for years that chronic disinvestment in schools has placed untenable pressure on educators as they face low pay and overcrowded classrooms.

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage."

"We have a crisis in the number of students who are going into the teaching profession and the number of teachers who are leaving it," Pringle told the outlet. "But, of course, as with everything else, the pandemic just made it worse."

As a survey taken by the NEA earlier this year showed, 91% of educators said pandemic-related stress and burnout is a "serious problem" in the profession, and 55% reported they plan to leave their profession earlier than originally planned.

Chronically low pay is a problem in the profession which was well-documented prior to the pandemic, and educators across the country report it is a contributing factor as teachers leave schools. The national average salary for teachers is $64,000, but in states including Mississippi, South Dakota, and Florida, many educators earn far less.

As The Week reported on Monday, teachers in Arizona are paid an average of $52,000 per year as they face one of the highest teacher-to-student ratios in the nation.

"I do think the main root cause of the teacher shortage is pay," Justin Wing of the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association told Fox 10 Phoenix, adding that the state has a "very concerning" shortage of 2,200 teachers.

While advocates have for years called on state lawmakers to invest heavily in schools in order to recruit and retain highly qualified educators—with Arizona teachers staging a walkout in 2018 after legislators passed corporate tax cuts that would have left the state $100 million short—Republican leaders this year have turned to other methods of keeping classrooms sufficiently staffed.

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled the state's official website recruiting veterans to help fill in the gaps in schools. Former armed service members do not need a bachelor's degree to teach the state's children—in keeping with a trend across the country, as at least 12 states have changed or eliminated their licensing requirements for educators in the last year, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality.

According to the Florida Education Association, students in the state are approaching the school year with 8,000 teacher vacancies compared with 5,000 in 2021.

Andrew Spar, the union's president, told NBC affiliate WPTV that the shortage is directly linked to other initiatives pushed by DeSantis, including H.B. 1557, commonly called the "Don't Say Gay" law, which bars teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms up to third grade. DeSantis's spokesperson said in March that anyone opposed to the bill was "probably a groomer" or wouldn't "denounce the grooming of 4-8-year old children."

The Republican governor also signed H.B. 7, which bars teachers from instructing students about racism and "white privilege."

"When the governor goes around the state vilifying teachers and staff in our schools—and, let's face it, that's what he's doing—he's sending a message to teachers and staff that you don't matter," Spar told WPTV. "They are then leaving the profession."

Republicans in more than a dozen states have proposed laws controlling what teachers can talk about with their students, contributing to a teacher shortage that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called "contrived" earlier this month.

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage," Weingarten told The Washington Post.

Pringle told ABC News that teachers are even more strained than they before the pandemic as they try to support families who are under new financial stress:

We encourage everyone to continue to push to make sure their school districts... use the American Rescue funds, to make sure that the schools have the resources that students need. And parents and families don't have to supply as much as they have been.
We also know there is an increase in the number of dollars that teachers are pulling out from their own pockets, taking away from their own families, to try to meet those needs and those gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, from food crisis to housing crisis, healthcare crisis.

Pringle added that teachers need "professional respect" to stay in their profession.

"For them that is three things," she said. "Professional authority to make teaching and learning decisions for their students. Professional rights to have the conditions and resources to do the jobs they love. And professional pay that reflects the importance of the work they do."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Julia Conley.

‘Five-Alarm Crisis’: US Has Shortage of 300K Teachers, School Staff

Julia Conley — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 17:13:08 +0000

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage."

As The Week reported on Monday, teachers in Arizona are paid an average of $52,000 per year as they face one of the highest teacher-to-student ratios in the nation.

According to the Florida Education Association, students in the state are approaching the school year with 8,000 teacher vacancies compared with 5,000 in 2021.

The Republican governor also signed H.B. 7, which bars teachers from instructing students about racism and "white privilege."

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage," Weingarten told The Washington Post.

Pringle told ABC News that teachers are even more strained than they before the pandemic as they try to support families who are under new financial stress:

We encourage everyone to continue to push to make sure their school districts... use the American Rescue funds, to make sure that the schools have the resources that students need. And parents and families don't have to supply as much as they have been.
We also know there is an increase in the number of dollars that teachers are pulling out from their own pockets, taking away from their own families, to try to meet those needs and those gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, from food crisis to housing crisis, healthcare crisis.

Pringle added that teachers need "professional respect" to stay in their profession.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Julia Conley.

‘Five-Alarm Crisis’: US Has Shortage of 300K Teachers, School Staff

Julia Conley — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 17:13:08 +0000

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage."

As The Week reported on Monday, teachers in Arizona are paid an average of $52,000 per year as they face one of the highest teacher-to-student ratios in the nation.

According to the Florida Education Association, students in the state are approaching the school year with 8,000 teacher vacancies compared with 5,000 in 2021.

The Republican governor also signed H.B. 7, which bars teachers from instructing students about racism and "white privilege."

"The political situation in the United States, combined with legitimate aftereffects of Covid, has created this shortage," Weingarten told The Washington Post.

Pringle told ABC News that teachers are even more strained than they before the pandemic as they try to support families who are under new financial stress:

We encourage everyone to continue to push to make sure their school districts... use the American Rescue funds, to make sure that the schools have the resources that students need. And parents and families don't have to supply as much as they have been.
We also know there is an increase in the number of dollars that teachers are pulling out from their own pockets, taking away from their own families, to try to meet those needs and those gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, from food crisis to housing crisis, healthcare crisis.

Pringle added that teachers need "professional respect" to stay in their profession.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Julia Conley.

Pence’s Ex-Chief of Staff and White House Lawyer Testified to Jan. 6 Grand Jury

Jessica Corbett — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 22:13:04 +0000

Multiple news reports revealed Monday that two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence recently were subpoenaed and appeared before the federal grand jury probing the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Marc Short, who served as Pence's chief of staff, "was caught by an ABC News camera departing D.C. District Court on Friday alongside his attorney, Emmet Flood," the outlet reported, sharing a still from the footage and citing sources familiar with the matter.

While spokespeople for Short and the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment, sources also confirmed his appearance to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Journalists and others noted that Short is now the highest-ranking official from former President Donald Trump's administration known to have cooperated with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation.

"This is movement in the right direction. Because #JusticeMatters," tweeted Glenn Kirschner, an MSNBC and NBC News legal analyst, about Short's testimony, which reportedly lasted two to three hours.

Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said that "we don't totally know what this means, but it's clearly good news for accountability."

In a series of tweets, Just Security's Ryan Goodman, a former Defense Department special counsel, laid out the potential significance of Short cooperating with the probe.

"Most importantly, Marc Short has significant testimony he could give that implicates Trump. Also importantly, he can give testimony that significantly implicates Mark Meadows," Goodman said, referencing the former president's White House chief of staff.

Greg Jacob, Pence's top White House attorney, also recently appeared before the grand jury under subpoena, according to the Journal.

The newspaper noted that the DOJ recently added prosecutors and resources to the probe and suggested that the new interviews signal investigators "are targeting a senior circle of Trump associates who pushed for the former vice president" to halt the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.

As the Journal detailed:

One area of interest to prosecutors was a January 4, 2021 Oval Office meeting where conservative lawyer John Eastman pushed Mr. Pence, in Mr. Trump's presence, to either reject the electoral votes outright or suspend the proceedings and ask several state legislatures to re-examine the results.
Last month, Mr. Jacob testified at length before the January 6 congressional committee about that meeting, which included Messrs. Trump, Pence, Short, Eastman, and Jacob. During the meeting, Mr. Eastman admitted his proposals would violate the law but wanted to proceed anyway, Mr. Jacob said.
"During that meeting on the fourth, I think I raised the problem that both of Mr. Eastman's proposals would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act. Mr. Eastman acknowledged that that was the case, that even what he viewed as the more politically palatable option would violate several provisions," Mr. Jacob told the committee.

During a press conference last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that "there is a lot of speculation about what the Justice Department is doing, what it's not doing, what our theories are, what our theories aren't, and there will continue to be that speculation."

"That's because a central tenet of the way in which the Justice Department investigates and a central tenet of the rule of law is that we do not do our investigations in public," he continued. "This is the most wide-ranging investigation and the most important investigation that the Justice Department has ever entered into."

"We have to get this right," he stressed. "And for people who are concerned—as I think every American should be—about protecting democracy, we have to do two things: We have to hold accountable every person who is criminally responsible for trying to overturn a legitimate election, and we must do it in a way filled with integrity and professionalism."

Garland later added that "no person is above the law in this country."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

Pence’s Ex-Chief of Staff and White House Lawyer Testified to Jan. 6 Grand Jury

Jessica Corbett — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 22:13:04 +0000

While spokespeople for Short and the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment, sources also confirmed his appearance to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

In a series of tweets, Just Security's Ryan Goodman, a former Defense Department special counsel, laid out the potential significance of Short cooperating with the probe.

Greg Jacob, Pence's top White House attorney, also recently appeared before the grand jury under subpoena, according to the Journal.

As the Journal detailed:

One area of interest to prosecutors was a January 4, 2021 Oval Office meeting where conservative lawyer John Eastman pushed Mr. Pence, in Mr. Trump's presence, to either reject the electoral votes outright or suspend the proceedings and ask several state legislatures to re-examine the results.
Last month, Mr. Jacob testified at length before the January 6 congressional committee about that meeting, which included Messrs. Trump, Pence, Short, Eastman, and Jacob. During the meeting, Mr. Eastman admitted his proposals would violate the law but wanted to proceed anyway, Mr. Jacob said.
"During that meeting on the fourth, I think I raised the problem that both of Mr. Eastman's proposals would violate several provisions of the Electoral Count Act. Mr. Eastman acknowledged that that was the case, that even what he viewed as the more politically palatable option would violate several provisions," Mr. Jacob told the committee.

Garland later added that "no person is above the law in this country."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

USP unions slam Fiji’s Sayed-Khaiyum for ‘damaging’ Pacific university

APR editor — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 02:19:55 +0000

By Wata Shaw in Suva

Fiji’s Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is “doing damage” to the premier regional university by withholding the Fiji government’s obligatory contribution, say the two staff unions representing the University of the South Pacific.

Association of the USP academic staff president Dr Elizabeth Fong and USP staff union president Tarisi Vacala said in a statement that the USP Council had held several special meetings to address current USP issues as well as matters of concern of the Fiji government members.

“The council deliberations led to clear majority decisions that exonerated Professor Pal Ahluwalia yet again of any mismanagement, administrative or for financial, and his reappointment as vice-chancellor and president of the USP and his relocation to Samoa,” the statement said.

READ MORE: Other reports on the USP saga

The unions said despite the deportation from Fiji of Professor Ahluwalia and his wife, just two years into his first contract, the government continued to “hurt Fiji and regional students” by withholding its obligatory grant.

“Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s statements in the Fiji Parliament and media about the withholding of Fiji government grant have not been accompanied by any formal paper to the University Council justifying his calls for an independent inquiry, the objectives of the inquiry, the composition of the commission of inquiry, or its terms of reference nor the financial costs that may be incurred.

“It is apparent, that unable to remove Professor Pal Ahluwalia for his exposure of financial mismanagement and other breaches, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is doing damage to the premier regional university and hurting USP students by withholding the Fiji government’s obligatory contribution.”

Questions sent to Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum by The Fiji Times remained unanswered at publication time.

‘Honour’ Parliament decisions call
RNZ Pacific reports that the unions called on the Fiji government to “honour” the decisions of Parliament and pay the outstanding subsidy due to the university.

The Fiji goverment has withheld what is officially called a grant but is in fact a subsidy on the student fees at the university, RNZ Pacific said.

The two unions — Association of USP Staff (AUSPS) and the USP Staff Union (USPSU) — said the Fiji government owed the institution FJ$78.4 million (NZ$58 million).

The money has been withheld by the government because of its ongoing battle with vice-chancellor Pal Ahluwalia.

USP chief librarian Dr Elizabeth Fong … speaking for the Association of USP Staff (AUSPS). Image: Fijivillage/File

There were a series of inquiries after Ahluwalia had identified significant corruption within the previous administration at the USP.

Five inquiries so far have cost the USP more than FJ$1 million — and they have all exonerated Ahluwalia.

The unions said: “It is apparent, that unable to remove Professor Pal Ahluwalia for his exposure of the financial mismanagement and other breaches of the previous USP Administration, the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service, Communications, Housing and Community Development is doing damage to the premier regional university and hurting USP students by withholding the Fiji government’s obligatory contribution.”

However, the Fiji government last week called for yet another investigation.

The two unions representing staff at the University of the South Pacific are calling on the Fiji Government to honour the decisions of their parliament and pay the outstanding subsidy due to the university.https://t.co/aIgYpn0lu3

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) July 22, 2022

The unions had a paid advertisement running yesterday in Fiji.

In it they said: “Based on the outcomes of the inquiries there is no reasonable justification for another inquiry.

“The unions on behalf of the students, staff and alumni therefore call on the Prime Minister, [Voreqe] Bainimarama to abide by and honour the decision of the Fiji Parliament that approved the USP grants for 2020, 2021 and to pay what is owed under its obligation and to bring this matter to closure so as to leave no-one behind.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and with permission from The Fiji Times.

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

Nigerian police arrest, briefly detain 5 staff members of Peoples Gazette in Abuja

Erik Crouch — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 17:43:31 +0000

New York, July 22, 2022 — Nigerian authorities should cease harassing employees of the Peoples Gazette and reform the country’s laws to decriminalize defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

Mid-day on Friday, July 22, police arrived at the privately owned news website’s office in Abuja, the capital, and arrested assistant managing editor John Adenekan, according to the outlet’s managing editor, Samuel Ogundipe, who spoke to CPJ over the phone, and media reports.

Police returned about 30 minutes later and arrested four more people: reporters Ameedat Adeyemi and Sammy Ogbu, and administrative staff members Grace Oke and Justina Tayani, according to those sources.

Authorities released Adeyemi, Ogbu, and Tayani shortly thereafter, and released Adenekan and Oke on bail Friday evening, according to Ogundipe and Peoples Gazette lawyer Ken Eluma Asogwa, who also spoke to CPJ by phone.

The arrests were related to a criminal defamation complaint filed by former Nigerian army chief Tukur Buratai over a Peoples Gazette report published on June 23 about a law enforcement operation at Buratai’s home, Ogundipe and Asogwa told CPJ.

“The arrest of five Peoples Gazette staff members over a report published by their outlet is a gross overreaction and a direct attack on freedom of the press in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities should cease harassing and intimidating the outlet and decriminalize defamation nationwide,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, from Durban, South Africa. “There is no reason for Nigerian police to arrest journalists over their reporting. It’s something that happens far too often in the country, and authorities should act swiftly to reverse this trend.”

Ogundipe said officers took all five detainees to a police station in Utako, a neighborhood in Abuja, after their arrests.

Officers initially said Adenekan and Oke would be held until Ogundipe and Adefemola Akintade, a Peoples Gazette reporter who authored the June 23 report, appeared at the station, but then released them later Friday evening, Ogundipe and Asogwa said. Asogwa said Buratai’s complaint specifically accused Ogundipe and Akintade of defaming him.

The Nigerian Union of Journalists’ Abuja chapter secretary acted as surety for Adenekan and Oke’s bail, Asogwa said.

CPJ called Buratai but the calls rang unanswered or did not connect. CPJ also called national police spokesperson Alumuyiwa Adejobi and Josephine Adeh, a spokesperson for police in the Federal Capital Territory including Abuja, but no one answered.

CPJ has previously reported how access to the Peoples Gazette website was blocked in Nigeria and how intelligence agents have harassed its staff.

In 2017, Nigerian police arrested Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of the news website Premium Times, and Evelyn Okakwu, a Premium Times reporter who now works as a CPJ correspondent, over a defamation complaint by Buratai, as CPJ reported at the time.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

‘Historic Day’ as Staff of 8 House Democrats File for Union Elections

Jessica Corbett — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:56:02 +0000

"For far too long, congressional staff have dealt with unsafe working conditions, unlivable wages, and vast inequity in our workplaces."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

Editors’ checklist: Protecting staff and freelancers against online abuse

Jennifer Dunham — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 16:51:21 +0000

The following checklist allows editors and commissioners to understand how well-prepared journalists are when it comes to protecting themselves against online abuse.

For additional safety information, please see CPJ’s safety guidance on protecting against online harassment, removing your personal data from the internet, and protecting against targeted online attacks.

Editors and journalists should also consult CPJ’s digital safety kit for more information on digital security best practices.

As part of the risk assessment process, consider the following:

Does the journalist already have a history of being attacked online? If so, this likely means that he or she will be attacked again.

Does the story involve contacting people who are known to harass others online, for example members of online communities or certain political groups and their supporters?

Is the subject of the story likely to cause the journalist to be attacked online? Be aware that certain groups are more active online than others.

Is your journalist aware of the risks of online abuse related to the story they are covering?

Your journalists are more likely to be attacked online just after publication. Be aware that others in the newsroom, including those who are publicly affiliated with the news outlet, may also be attacked online as a result of the story.

Be aware that journalists and newsrooms are increasingly being targeted by sophisticated online smear campaigns. These campaigns often try to discredit an individual journalist or the outlet by linking them to an issue, a government, or an organization. For example, by stating that the media outlet receives money from foreign governments.

Online abuse can sometimes lead to physical threats. This risk is greater if the people attacking your reporter online live locally.

Before assigning a story:

Managing personal data

Ask the journalist to review what personal data is available about them online. They should do this using all search engines and using the incognito or private window option in their browsers. The journalist should review photos, video, and comments under stories, as well as any content on websites. For more information on managing and removing your personal data, see CPJ’s safety note.

Journalists should be encouraged to remove data that could be used to identify them, locate them, or contact them through a means they do not want, for example through their personal email address. This should include any information posted or shared by family members and friends.

Both the editor and the journalist should be aware that online abusers often target a journalist’s family members. Journalists may wish to speak to family members about this.

If based in the U.S., journalists should be encouraged to sign up to a service, such as DeleteMe, that removes their personal data from data-broker sites.

Account security

Editors and journalists should be aware that online harassers often target a journalist’s account and try to gain access.

The journalist should secure both their work and personal accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA).

The journalist should ensure they are using good password security to protect both their work and personal accounts.

Journalists should avoid using their personal email address or phone number when contacting sources that have a history of harassment and doxxing, for example members of the far right.

Ideally reporters should be given a work phone for contacting possible hostile sources.

Consider the following:

Does the newsroom have a protocol for dealing with online abuse, including steps for reporting online harassment?

Has the newsroom planned for a situation of doxxing?

What tech support will you be able to offer a journalist should their online accounts be hacked? Does that support extend to a journalist’s personal online accounts?

What mental health and wellbeing support is available for a journalist targeted by online abuse?

Click here to download a printable version of this checklist.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is a member of the Coalition Against Online Violence (CAOV), which has numerous resources for journalists and editors on how to deal with threats of digital harassment and abuse. See the CAOV’s Online Violence Response Hub for more information.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jennifer Dunham.

20 MPs took staff from anti-abortion group seeking to replicate US backlash

Adam Bychawski — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 13:31:40 +0000

Exclusive: Pro-choice and secular groups warn that scheme is part of strategy to “undo” progress on women’s rights

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Adam Bychawski.

Top DOJ Staff Threatened Mass Resignation as Trump Weighed Naming Jeff Clark AG to Overturn Election

Democracy Now! — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:27:04 +0000

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

Top DOJ Staff Threatened Mass Resignation as Trump Weighed Naming Jeff Clark AG to Overturn Election

Democracy Now! — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 12:39:26 +0000

Former top officials in President Trump’s Justice Department told the House January 6 committee Thursday they threatened to resign en masse when Trump mused about appointing Jeffrey Clark, a loyalist who backed the baseless voter fraud claims, as acting attorney general. “I said, 'Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours, you could have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire Justice Department because of your actions,'” said former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue. “’What’s that going to say about you?’”

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

‘He Must Resign’: Staff Texts Over Fake Elector Slates Implicate Ron Johnson

Brett Wilkins — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 19:43:43 +0000

"Trump and his MAGA allies planned, promoted, and paid for a seditious conspiracy to overturn an election they lost," said one Democratic Senate candidate. "And Ron Johnson attempted to deliver it to D.C. on a silver platter."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

ReproJobs’ Emily Likins-Ehlers: Overly Cautious Organizations and Imminent Roe Overturn Are Driving Staff Dissent

Ryan Grim — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 22:07:22 +0000

The imminent overturn of Roe v. Wade, coming on top of decades of what many activists consider to be an overly cautious abortion rights movement, is having ripple effects in reproductive rights organizations and clinics, according to Emily Likins-Ehlers, who’s with the group ReproJobs, a worker empowerment center recently highlighted by The Intercept. “People are just trying to grab control where they can,” Likins-Ehlers said. “Making sure that they have a severance when they lose their job in two weeks or whatever has been on the forefront of most workers’ minds that I’ve spoken with. They just want to pay their bills after Roe falls.”

ReproJobs is a nonprofit run by two anonymous organizers who work in the reproductive rights field, as well as Likins-Ehlers. The group has widely followed and influential Instagram and Twitter accounts focused on workplace organizing and discontent inside reproductive rights workplaces. Likins-Ehlers offered to do an interview about the group and its role, which was mentioned in our story on the implosion of the progressive nonprofit world in Washington, D.C., adding that the two co-founders are continuing to remain anonymous.

“I don’t envy anyone who has to manage an organization right now, particularly, but I think they would find that they could actually find more resources if they were willing to ally themselves with the union, by accepting the union into their space,” Likins-Ehlers said, though they agreed with the executive directors cited in The Intercept article that a generational divide and a culture that encourages callouts have made organizations more difficult to manage. Turmoil in progressive organizations generally, and reproductive rights groups specifically, isn’t explained by the presence of a union drive. Some organizations going through upheaval have been unionized for decades, such as NARAL Pro-Choice America or the Sierra Club, while others, like the Guttmacher Institute and Groundswell Fund, are seeing fresh union drives.

There’s a fear, Likins-Ehlers said, that many organizations will soon shut down and blame the union. “That’s what a lot of these reproductive justice orgs will do,” Likins-Ehlers said, referring to a previous organization they had worked with that did just that. “They’ll say, ‘Roe fell, and this became too hard. And I’m too scared of getting arrested. And I guess the union was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and now we have to close.’”

At the same time, Likins-Ehlers said, things have not been going well under the current and former executive directors. “If the managers feel like the conditions are becoming unworkable, that means that the workers are doing a good job disrupting the system. And I think that most of these workers right now know that it’s toast. We’re fucked. Roe is going to fall any day now. And we are going to have to set up bail funds.”

Likins-Ehlers said they work as a part-time contractor for ReproJobs. The two anonymous founders go by the pseudonyms Hermione and Luna. The budget for the operation, ReproJobs said, is around $275,000 this year, and the major funding began around 2019. “If they feel like they can’t rise to this challenge,” Likins-Ehlers said of the managers at nonprofits, “they can get out of the way and let somebody else rise to this challenge. Because there is a generational gap, and more people are unionizing now than ever before.”

“If the managers feel like the conditions are becoming unworkable, that means that the workers are doing a good job disrupting the system.”

Likins-Ehlers said that they had recently been in a webinar with one of their movement heroes, Loretta Ross, an author, activist, and reproductive justice pioneer. Ross, who was featured in The Intercept’s article, has been publicly advocating against callout culture in progressive organizations for several years.

“I really respect Loretta Ross and everything she has to say, and she sort of gave me the business during a webinar a few weeks ago, where she told me that when she was a young organizer, you were lucky to have a sleeping bag on the floor of a church when you went to a protest. Things were different. There weren’t jobs in the movement 50 years ago; this is a new industry that is just forming,” they said.

“Loretta has a book coming out that sort of disrupts callout culture in a really powerful way, and so I think that there’s been a lot of calling out that’s happened in the organizing efforts — specific executive directors have been targeted and have been ousted from their positions of power — and when I speak to workers, I don’t encourage that kind of calling out because I don’t feel like it builds collective power. I feel like it will simply give you a new figurehead to the same dynamic. So when we create a union, we’re simply trying to disrupt the power dynamic in and of itself and say, ‘This isn’t about you, as a leader, or you as a person necessarily. This is about a system, a structure.’”

Likins-Ehlers said that there are indeed examples of employees who lean too heavily into callouts of management over issues that should be handled differently, but that it’s important to separate those instances from the worthy goal of improving workplaces generally. “Loretta Ross said to me that she had an employee that called her out because the employee’s cat died, and she wanted time off to mourn her cat, and Loretta was unwilling to give her time off to mourn her cat or something like this. And that was Loretta’s example of the kinds of conflicts that are happening with the unions, and I had to kind of shrug because I was like, yeah, if a worker came to me with that story, I would tell them to deal with it personally. That’s not what we’re talking about. We are talking about living wages, we’re talking about parental leave. We are talking about the right to have a real job and not a temporary job that can be pulled out from underneath you at any moment. We’re talking about the right to work-life balance.”

Likins-Ehlers added that there were also cultural issues at work, recalling a previous boss of theirs who behaved transphobically. “Our executive director would deadname people,” they said, adding:

So just because you are the director of an abortion clinic doesn’t mean that you are respectful of transgender people. So I’m not saying that Loretta is wrong or that any of these leaders are wrong. They’re right also. But why don’t they just join us? They really aren’t the boss, they are employed by a board of directors. All of these executive directors are just an employee, just like us. Just like the rest of the workers who are trying to unionize, they have a boss, but their boss is a volunteer board of directors instead of an individual. So it’s harder to target. But that is really who runs these nonprofits. It’s not the EDs. The boards are the ones, and these are often people who are wealthy or work in other industries or are high-powered lawyers — like Planned Parenthood has these, like, super high-powered, amazing lawyers who could be spending their time strengthening the movement but instead spend their time fighting the unions, when really the only thing that anybody wants is just a formal contract.

Most of these employees, when they come to me, they’re like: “I don’t want my clinic to shut down. I don’t want my organization to be burdened. I’m not looking for a raise.” They literally just want a formal employment contract. Because we all feel so insecure in this job economy, like you said. So I don’t know. There’s just, I think, cognitive dissonance because, like, I’m holding Loretta Ross’s book, right here, “An Introduction To Reproductive Justice.” And she says, specifically, quote, “Reproductive justice explains that indeed, poverty creates poor conditions for mothering, because it shortens lifespans and increases rates of infant and child mortality and lower birth weights.” So if we’re talking about poverty wages, that’s what a lot of these reproductive justice workers are making in their cities: poverty wages. I made way more money as a busser at a pizza place than I made at the clinic. So for them to question our loyalty to the movement feels really rude.

The cautious politics of many of the leading abortion rights groups, Likins-Ehlers said, also helped bring about the catastrophe the movement is now facing. “When I started in the abortion movement back in 2012, they told me that I wasn’t allowed to use the word abortion as I advocated, that we could only say ‘a woman’s right to choose’ — that saying the word abortion was too radical and too leftist. And I got put on a list, like, ‘Emily’s not allowed to talk to people because she’s too radical about what she says.’ So I’ve always been a disrupter, everywhere I’ve gone. You can ask anyone who’s worked with me, I’m a pain in the fucking ass,” they said. “I felt this moment coming for so many years. And I feel like the movement has — we have been failed.”

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Ryan Grim.

Shielded From Public View, Misconduct by Corrections Staff in Illinois Prisons Received Scant Discipline.

by Shannon Heffernan, WBEZ — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 11:00:00 +0000

by Shannon Heffernan, WBEZ

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with WBEZ. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

Correctional officer James Fike already had been suspended twice when the Illinois Department of Corrections began investigating allegations that he had beaten a man who was incarcerated at Pontiac Correctional Center, in a small town in central Illinois, in 2016.

The man, Jamale Douglas, was in trouble for holding open the slot in his cell door where staff deliver food trays. When Douglas refused to pull his arm out of the slot, staff said they called in a special tactical team to remove him from his cell.

According to a report from Department of Corrections’ internal affairs officials, who investigate both staff and prisoner wrongdoing, Douglas refused to get in handcuffs, so officers maced him. Douglas said the tactical team then came into his cell and he was repeatedly punched, even after he was handcuffed. Staff are required to film the situation anytime the tactical team forcibly removes someone from a cell, and the video of this incident, as described in that report, shows an officer making an “up and down” motion with his arm in the back of the cell. That video is incomplete — an officer in charge of videotaping explained the gap by saying it occurred when she was changing the camera battery. Later video footage shows Douglas’s face covered in blood, and photos from the prison show that his face was swollen and bruised and that he appeared to have a chipped tooth.

When internal affairs investigated, another employee identified the officer in the video as Fike, who had already been suspended in 2014 for reasons that are not public, and again in 2015 for violations of “standards of conduct.” This time around, Fike told investigators that he wasn’t sure if it was him and that “he did not recall losing control” and that he had “kept it professional.” But the prison investigators ruled that accusations of excessive force were substantiated based on the testimony of other officers and on the video. Fike received a written reprimand, which was then expunged from his record by the warden, according to documents from internal affairs — though no explanation for the expungement is given.

What was remarkable about these cases was not the findings, however, but what happened next. Two years later, in 2018, Fike was promoted to lieutenant. How could a correctional officer disciplined three times in three years be promoted? WBEZ and ProPublica tried to find out.

Across the country, there have been calls for increased consequences for police officers who harm people. In Illinois, the state legislature passed a massive criminal justice bill in 2021 that gives the state more power to decertify problematic police and remove them from duty.

But those reforms have had no effect on how correctional officers are disciplined. That system is so shielded from the public that experts say it is difficult to track if the Department of Corrections is properly handling misconduct allegations.

Here’s why: Disciplinary records for an individual correctional officer are exempt from public disclosure if the documents date back more than four years. And the reasoning and evidence that went into the disciplinary decisions are invisible because publicly available records show only the outcome, nothing about the decision-making process.

So WBEZ and ProPublica used the files that are available to try to piece together how the system responds when internal investigations find that staff engaged in serious misconduct against prisoners. The news organizations reviewed hundreds of pages of internal affairs documents detailing when a corrections employee was found to have done something wrong.

Through that effort, WBEZ and ProPublica identified 18 Illinois corrections employees who, according to internal affairs findings between 2014 and 2019, had misused force or sexually harrased people incarcerated in the state’s prisons, but who remained on staff. In one case, an imprisoned man died from asphyxiation when guards restrained him. In another case, a video shows a guard pulled a man from his prison bunk and pushed him against a wall; according to the man, the officer then choked him until he nearly passed out.

Of those 18 employees whom internal affairs found responsible for serious wrongdoing, all 18 held onto their jobs after the misconduct; 11 remain employed by the Illinois Department of Corrections today; the others either retired, resigned or were terminated years later, for apparently separate reasons. For seven of the 18, no discipline was recorded in the personnel records that were available via public records laws, although after a period of time disciplinary records may be shielded from public disclosure. We did find that at least eight of the 18 were suspended shortly after the misconduct and at least four, including one who was also suspended, were fired — and then later reinstated after they filed grievances.

The Department of Corrections claims that state laws requiring records to be made public apply only to the final outcome of the case, not to any documents from discipline hearings in the Department of Corrections or to hearings about whether to reverse penalties. Even the records of discipline are exempt from public disclosure after four years.

When asked about transparency regarding staff discipline, Anders Lindall, a spokesperson for AFSCME, the union that represents most corrections staff, shared portions of the state’s transparency statute that mention concerns over privacy and security, but did not elaborate.

Advocates say the Department of Corrections needs to provide increased transparency, especially given the life-and-death circumstances of its work.

“We should know exactly what it is they’re doing, how they’re being disciplined, all of the information around that should be made publicly available,” said Jenny Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, an independent citizen group that has monitored Illinois prisons for more than a century. “We cannot hold accountable behavior that we can’t see happen.”

That secrecy contrasts with the Chicago Police Department, where evidentiary hearings about the most serious cases of alleged misconduct are open to the public and evidence — including dispatch recordings, body camera video and police reports — is posted online.

The call for changes in correctional officer discipline comes amid criminal proceedings of three guards charged in the 2018 death of Larry Earvin while he was incarcerated at Western Illinois Correctional Center. Documents reveal there had been a pattern of abuse, sometimes involving the same officers and the same location in the prison, prior to Earvin’s death. One officer pleaded guilty, another was convicted at trial this year and a third is scheduled to go on trial in July.

The Illinois Department of Corrections did not respond to repeated requests for an interview and did not answer numerous written questions. But in a written statement, prison officials said that the department takes appropriate disciplinary action when an employee violates rules and that “employees facing possible discipline must be provided due process rights under their union contract and the personnel rules.”

WBEZ and ProPublica also sought comment from all 18 staff members, as well as their union, about the wrongdoing that internal affairs found they had committed, and all either declined comment on the specific cases or could not be reached despite multiple attempts.

Sarah Grady, a civil rights attorney with Kaplan & Grady who has spent over eight years working on prisoners’ rights cases, said the public needs to know about “folks who are misusing the great power that they've been given as correctional staff.” As long as it remains secret, she added, “there’s really no disincentive to continuing to commit that abuse.”

“They Do It Just Because They Can”

In 2019, the Department of Corrections’ internal affairs division conducted an investigation into Jason Hermeyer and Christopher Melvin, two staff members who ran a program where incarcerated men worked making eyeglasses. Investigators conducted more than a dozen interviews with department employees and prisoners, which revealed a pattern of prisoner abuse.

According to one witness cited in the report, Hermeyer would put his leg up on a table, “like the Captain Morgan statue,” and gyrate toward prisoners. Incarcerated men and at least one staff member also reported that he would grab men’s rear ends and grind his genitals against them. Witnesses said the sexual harassment was so common that men placed mirrors at their workstations so they could see Hermeyer approach.

Both staff members treated the imprisoned men in a range of cruel or unprofessional ways, according to an internal affairs report. On one occasion, prisoners said staff ordered a man to get into a cardboard box and taped it shut. Then, according to one witness, Melvin had other incarcerated men dump the box in a trash can. At other times, the report says, men were forced to make decorations for a graduation party for Hermeyer’s and Melvin’s kids and to make eyeglasses for Melvin’s relatives.

Hermeyer and Melvin denied the allegations, according to department reports but internal affairs investigators found that the evidence substantiated multiple accusations against the two, including allegations of unauthorized use of state property, sexual harassment and, in Hermeyer’s case, sexual assault. Both were also criminally charged for official misconduct, a felony, although the state’s attorney ultimately dropped those charges as part of a diversion program agreement that required them to do things like community service.

Today, Hermeyer still works for the Illinois Department of Corrections, while Melvin retired in 2021, two years after the internal affairs report.

Richard Serrano says he experienced abuse and harassment under Hermeyer and Melvin while incarcerated. “They do it just because they can do it,” Serrano said in an interview. “They can get away with it.” Neither the lawyer nor the union representing Hermeyer and Melvin responded to a request for comment about the internal affairs investigation or criminal charges; the Department of Corrections also declined to comment.

WBEZ and ProPublica set out to learn what happened next, both in the Hermeyer and Melvin cases and in the 16 other cases we identified where a correctional officer was found to have violated use-of-force rules.

The news organizations searched the public record for evidence of any discipline that was meted out. We requested information from personnel records and from the state office that handles grievances from employees facing discipline. We found that even in an extreme case in which internal affairs concluded excessive force had caused a death, there was no public information on whether or how the officer was disciplined for that death.

The news organizations found that internal affairs ruled that charges had been substantiated against four Pontiac guards who, in a 2015 incident, continued to apply force to a man named Terrance Jenkins even after he was restrained, face down, and no longer posing a threat. A pathologist concluded Jenkins died from asphyxiation. In 2018, the state settled a $2 million lawsuit linked to the incident, but even after the internal affairs findings and settlement, the guards kept their jobs, according to state records.

For Hermeyer, the corrections employee who was found to have sexually harassed men in prison, a public records request early in the reporting process revealed that he had been suspended without pay for 21 days. But for Melvin, it took months to find out what happened. Ultimately, the department did disclose that Melvin received a 15-day suspension.

One key way corrections employees are able to keep their jobs and avoid punishment is by filing grievances through the union; some of those end up in arbitration. But those processes, too, happen behind closed doors.

The grievance system came into play in a 2016 incident involving Demarko Mason, who was incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center. Mason said he was in his bunk when an officer named Adrian Thomas began yelling at prisoners who were supposed to be in their beds. In an interview with WBEZ and ProPublica, Mason said that when he laughed, Thomas came charging at him “like a raging bull.” An internal affairs report says Thomas yanked Mason off the top bunk, causing him to hit his head on another bunk. Thomas then pushed him against the wall. Most of the incident was caught on video. Mason said he was choked until he nearly passed out, but the camera angle does not clearly capture the part of the incident in which he says he was choked.

In an interview with internal affairs, Thomas said that besides “helping Mason off the bed,” he never touched the prisoner. Internal affairs said Thomas had violated departmental rules regarding use of force. The department fired him. But that’s when the union proceedings kicked in: Thomas filed a grievance and then, after he’d been away from the job for more than a year, the department reinstated him. The basis for that decision has not been released. Thomas continues to work for the department and declined to comment for this story.

Neither the union nor the Department of Corrections provided data for how often disciplinary decisions were overturned. But state employment records show that of the 141 staffers discharged for cause from May 2016 to May 2019, 33 were reinstated.

Before he retired in 2004, Charles Hinsley worked for the Department of Corrections for 20 years and served as a warden at Menard Correctional Center. He said the way grievances and arbitration worked made it difficult for him to hold staff accountable. (AFSCME, the union that represents most correctional officers, says the grievance system provides an important check, ensuring that discipline is fair.)

While he was warden, he was accused of being too pro-prisoner and anti-staff, and the union cast a vote of no confidence against him. But, he said, when administrators fail to respond to staff violence, it puts both incarcerated people and other staff at risk.

Hinsley said that inaction in response to staff misconduct sends a message to the incarcerated that “we have to fend for ourselves.” He added, “My position is always if there’s an employee that has been found in violation of staff misconduct, and it’s a very grievous level of misconduct, and they were terminated, they shouldn’t ever be reinstated.”

New Legislation Does Not Cover Prison Staff

WBEZ and ProPublica asked the Illinois Department of Corrections about the opaque disciplinary records. A spokesperson said the department doesn’t track data that would show how often it disciplined employees.

Vollen-Katz said knowing how staff misconduct and abuse is handled is essential to the John Howard Association’s ability to do its job as a watchdog group. “It’s outrageous, it’s irresponsible, frankly, for the state of Illinois that we don’t know that piece of information,” Vollen-Katz said.

Alan Mills, an Illinois civil rights lawyer and executive director of the Uptown People’s Law Center, said other places, like Oregon, already publish information about correctional officer misconduct and Illinois should move in that direction.

In February of 2021, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a massive criminal justice bill that, among other things, mandates an annual report to the legislature outlining the number of investigations conducted into state police misconduct and their outcomes. After the bill’s passage, its sponsor, state Sen. Elgie Sims, said those provisions do not apply to corrections officers, but he is aware of how important it is to address the behavior of prison staff.

Sims said the new law “should only be a starting point in an ongoing effort at reform.”

Those reforms could include independent oversight, a strategy the John Howard Association has spent years pushing for. To make that kind of system effective, advocates say, any oversight body would need autonomy, enforcement capabilities and the power to share information with the public. Other states, like New Jersey and Washington, already have a corrections ombudsperson, an independent office that can rule on disputes within the department of corrections. A bill that would create an ombudsperson for the Illinois Department of Corrections was proposed in 2021 but has not become law.

Shareese Pryor, who was the chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General and now works as senior staff counsel for Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, told the news organizations there needs to be more transparency into accusations of and discipline for correctional officer misconduct “so that the public knows what’s happening and whether public actors are responding to brutality within our jails and prisons.”

Such measures might have helped in the case of Fike, the correctional officer who was suspended twice and given a written reprimand for excessive force before he was promoted to lieutenant in 2018. The story didn’t end there: The next year, he was criminally charged with battery and official misconduct for another prison beating. That time, Fike pleaded guilty to battery, and a felony charge of misconduct was dropped. He resigned from the department in June of 2019.

Please get in touch with WBEZ’s criminal justice editor Rob Wildeboer if you have something to share about: violence and safety inside Illinois prisons, staff conduct and oversight, prisoner discipline or internal affairs operations. You can reach him via email (rwildeboer@wbez.org) or phone: 312-948-4650.

Claire Perlman contributed research.

This content originally appeared on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica and was authored by by Shannon Heffernan, WBEZ.

Labor has a huge health agenda ahead of it. What policies should we expect?

APR editor — Sun, 22 May 2022 08:29:40 +0000

ANALYSIS: By Stephen Duckett, The University of Melbourne

Labor’s win in Saturday’s election heralds real change in health policy. Although Labor had a small-target strategy, with limited big spending commitments, its victory represents a value shift to a party committed to equity and Medicare, and, potentially, a style shift to a hands-on, equity-oriented health minister.

Labor’s health spokesperson, Mark Butler, is expected to be the new health minister, subject to a reshuffle caused by two Labor shadow ministers losing their seats.

Butler is very different from his predecessor. He was Australia’s first minister for mental health and ageing in the Gillard government.

He also held the equity-focused ministries of housing, homelessness, and social inclusion. He has written a book about ageing in Australia, published by Melbourne University Press.

The new minister faces two urgent policy priorities: primary care and covid.

Fixing primary care
Outgoing health minister Greg Hunt released an unfunded strategy paper on budget night. It aimed to improve primary care — a person’s first point of contact with the health system, usually their GP or practice nurses. The paper had languished on his desk for months and was the result of years of consultation and consensus-building.

One of the largest and most important Labor commitments during the campaign was almost A$1 billion over four years for primary care reform, about A$250 million in a full year.

The funding commitment is cast broadly, promising to improve patient access to GP-led multidisciplinary team care, including nursing and allied health and after-hours care; greater patient affordability; and better management of complex and chronic conditions.

Presumably, a key way this will be effected will be through voluntary patient enrolment. A patient would enrol with a practice, and the practice would get an annual payment for that enrolment. This was promised for people over 70 in the 2019–20 budget but not delivered.

This new policy is a welcome start for reform in primary care and signals the importance that a Labor government attaches to the sector.

Mark Butler was minister for mental health and ageing in the Gillard government. Image: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Strengthening Medicare Fund was only sketched out in broad terms before the election, and provides insight into the new ministerial style. The details of the policy will be thrashed out in a taskforce which will include key stakeholders.

Most importantly, the taskforce will be chaired by the minister — no hiding behind consultants; he or she will hold the hose.

Reducing covid deaths
Another crucial early challenge for the minister will be addressing the continuing covid pandemic.

Covid deaths continue: three times as many people have died this year than in the previous two. The Coalition delegitimised any form of action, including mask wearing and vaccine mandates, as part of its undermining of state public health measures, especially action by Labor states.

The prevalence of third dose vaccinations, necessary for adequate protection from omicron, sits at about two-thirds of the over-16 population, much lower in the under-16s, meaning that many in the population are not protected.

Public hospitals are bursting at the seams, with staff overwhelmed. This needs urgent attention, and the Coalition strategy of ignoring it and saying it was someone else’s problem, must be dumped.

Labor vowed to “step up the national strategy” late in the election campaign.

“The Australian people have voted for change.”

Labor leader Anthony Albanese told his supporters in Sydney on Saturday after leading his party to victory ending nearly a decade of conservative gov’t https://t.co/ufTwpZ1FXA pic.twitter.com/YdEqshEWRC

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 21, 2022

Aged care support
Hopefully Labor’s shadow aged care minister, Clare O’Neil, will continue in this role post-election. She proved more than a match for her hapless opponent, Richard Colbeck.

Labor made big commitments in aged care, creating a significant point of difference with the Coalition, despite the Coalition’s investments in the 2021–22 budget.

In addition to the Coalition commitments, Labor promised 24/7 registered nurse coverage in residential aged care facilities, and to support a wage rise for aged care workers. The latter is particularly important because without a wages uplift, the staff shortages in the sector will continue.

A new approach
Labor won’t engage in climate denialism or use climate policy as a political wedge.

Recognising and addressing climate change is an important issue for the health sector and, of course, the community more broadly as the teal surge and the Greens’ wins demonstrated.

Labor has committed to establishing a centre for prevention and disease control, which should provide a framework for addressing social and economic determinants of health.

Potentially as important in terms of policy style are Labor’s public service policies. The “consultocracy” which thrived under the Liberals will be shown the door, replaced by public servants doing the job the public service has always been available to do.

Obviously, a new Labor government will not be able to be meet all the community’s pent-up aspirations in a single term.

Nevertheless, it is disappointing Labor did not commit to phasing in universal dental care – the crucial missing piece of Australia’s universal health coverage.

Butler and his colleagues have a huge agenda on their plates. Starting with primary care is a good first focus, as without those foundations in place, the whole system cannot work well.

Dr Stephen Duckett is honorary enterprise professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

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

‘We’re not paid fairly for the work we do’, say striking NZ health workers

APR editor — Mon, 16 May 2022 07:51:48 +0000

By Rowan Quinn, RNZ News health correspondent

Striking New Zealand health workers have picketed around the country, saying they are fed up with being underpaid and undervalued.

About 10,000 allied health staff who work at district health boards have walked off the job for 24 hours, with rolling demonstrations.

They are health workers who are not doctors or nurses.

READ MORE: Other NZ public health reports

One of the first pickets has been outside Hutt Hospital, with workers chanting and holding signs, and getting lots of beeps of support from passing cars.

Social worker Lorraine Tetley said her team was losing social workers to higher paid jobs in the public sector.

Those left behind felt undervalued, she said.

“They’re essential workers who work on the frontline during the pandemic. Every day we work with risk and we work with vulnerable families and we’re not paid fairly for the work we do,” she said.

Working hard under covid
Dental therapist Char Blake said they had been working really hard, especially after the lockdown and covid restrictions.

“We love caring for patients but is just really hard to pay for things with the price of things going up and we’ve waited 18 months for a pay rise,” Blake said.

Today’s allied health workers strike. Video: RNZ News

Dental assistant for the School Dental Service Faye Brown said she was paid just over the minimum wage.

Her service was six people short, and in danger of losing more.

“It can be quite stressful at times — we have to do more than we are supposed to at times. We don’t want to let our patients down,” she said.

Jane McWhirter tests newborn babies’ hearing and says she is earning the same amount as her 16-year-old daughter who works at Dominoes Pizza.

She says even though she is training on the job, she is doing important, skilled work and she and her colleagues deserves better.

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

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

Look Up Nursing Home Staff COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

by Ruth Talbot — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 09:01:00 +0000

by Ruth Talbot

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

On Thursday, ProPublica added staff COVID-19 vaccination data to the Nursing Home Inspect project.

The virus has killed more than 150,000 nursing home residents and staff since the beginning of the pandemic. Experts say that staff vaccination is a key part of protecting residents from outbreaks in their homes, but thousands of workers remain unvaccinated despite a federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care employees. Some of those unvaccinated workers are claiming medical exemptions, which doctors say should be rare.

Nursing Home Inspect already lets the public, researchers and reporters search deficiency reports and other data across more than 15,000 nursing homes in the United States. Now, users can quickly compare staff COVID-19 vaccination and booster rates across states and between nursing homes.

Each state page allows users to sort homes by vaccination rate, making it easy to identify homes in your state with very low or very high vaccination rates. For each nursing home, a chart allows users to see how the home compares with both state and national averages.

Additionally, we have removed the COVID-19 case and death count data from the database because the figures were reported cumulatively and do not provide an accurate picture of recent outbreaks.

If you write a story using this new information, or you come across bugs or problems, please let us know!

This content originally appeared on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica and was authored by by Ruth Talbot.

K-12 Cafeteria Staff are Severely Underpaid

Vins — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 22:59:31 +0000

K-12 school cafeteria staff are severely underpaid according to a March 2022 report in Jacobin. School cafeteria workers made an average of $12.32 per hour between 2014 and 2019, making them some of the lowest paid workers in an already underpaid industry. Compounding this, these employees work an average of twenty-nine hours per week, meaning many of them cannot afford to live on their cafeteria salary alone, but taking on a second job is exhausting. The Biden Administration has recognized the problem and released a February 2022 report recommending that the United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA), which is tasked with implementing school lunch programs, ensure cafeteria workers are employed full time.

A February 2022 report by the Economic Policy Institute considering K-12 staff shortages more widely explains that poor cafeteria staff pay is likely a major reason for a shortage of cafeteria staff. They made an average of just $331 per week (in 2020 dollars) between 2014 and 2019 according to an analysis of Current Population Survey data, though there are slight discrepancies in the average hourly pay and weekly pay figures due to methodology. In contrast, the median American worker made $790 per week, more than double the average K-12 cafeteria worker.

Privatization, and school districts contracting with for-profit lunch providers, such as Chartwells, Aramark, and Sodexo, have exacerbated this problem. K-12 cafeteria staff who are employed directly by school districts earn more than their outsourced counterparts. Additionally, Jacobin explained that privatization in one area “tends to deteriorate wages and working conditions across the board.” School lunches began being served in a standardized manner after passage of the National School Lunch Act of 1946, which was originally intended as an agricultural support program, but the privatization of K-12 school lunchrooms didn’t take hold on a large scale until the 1970s. In the 1960s and 1970s, advocates of urban schools without kitchens organized the Right to Lunch Movement, since urban students were not receiving school lunch. In response, Congress reformed the program, practically expanding it to all public and non-profit private schools. However, no funds were allocated to build kitchens in kitchen-less schools, forcing these schools to rely on privately mass produced, pre-made meals. Eventually, suburban schools with kitchens switched to mass produced meals too. Because school meals were no longer cooked from scratch, the job of cafeteria staff became a part-time, less-skilled job with worse pay. This switch has not made cafeteria workers’ jobs easier though. One worker told Jacobin that their job required them to engage in “hazardous activities like lifting very heavy things above my head when they’re like 420 degrees.”

The only corporate outlet that covered this story is business magazine Fortune, which claimed “no one wants to be a cafeteria worker anymore.” Fortune focused its story on the shortage of workers, suggesting that higher pay alone will not resolve it.

Source: Nora De La Cour, “’Lunch Ladies’ Are Tired of Being Underpaid and Overlooked,” Jacobin, March 13, 2022.

Student Researcher: Annie Koruga (Ohlone College)

Faculty Evaluator: Robin Takahashi (Ohlone College)

The post K-12 Cafeteria Staff are Severely Underpaid appeared first on Project Censored.

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

Fight between customers and staff in Harayana dhaba falsely communalised

Archit Mehta — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:07:25 +0000

A CCTV clip of a clash at a restaurant is being shared online with the claim that the incident took place at a dhaba in Haryana owned by a Muslim. As per the claim, a waiter hailing from the Muslim community made lewd comments at a woman from the Hindu community. The claim adds that when the woman opposed, the entire staff comprising Muslims beat up her husband. The viral message also appeals to people to avoid visiting dhabas owned by Muslims.

Twitter user @VishnuMTiwari1 shared this clip and so did many other Twitter users.

हरियाणा के एक मुस्लिम ढाबे में हिंदू महिला को देख कर मुस्लिम वेटर ने महिला पर अश्लील कमेंट किया,
महिला के विरोध करने पर उसके पति को पूरे मुस्लिम स्टाफ के लड़को ने मिल कर बहुत मारा।
किसी मुस्लिम के ढाबे में फैमिली सहित जाने से बचे!!!
धन्यवाद।। pic.twitter.com/tuLPbig7oW

— विष्णु तिवारी (@VishnuMTiwari1) March 5, 2022

We found that several Facebook pages and groups posted this video, including pro-BJP accounts such as योगी है तो यकीन है।, WE SUPPORT BJP RSS ( नमो ), We Support Narendra Modi Ji, BJP Mission 2024 and श्री मोदी जी और श्री योगी जी समर्थक तुरंत जुड़े.

False communal spin

The clip has a voice-over narrating the incident. It carries the logo of ‘Janta Breaking News’ on the top right. The narrator said the incident took place at ‘Mannat Star’ dhaba in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. However, there is no reference that the incident was communal.

Next, we performed a keyword search on Facebook and found that the viral video is clipped from a February 20 report by the Facebook page Janta Breaking News. The viral video comprises the opening three minutes of the report. The original video has 2.1 million views. As per this report, the dhaba staff was assaulting customers. Five minutes into the video, the narrator states the chronology of the events – a couple visited this restaurant for dinner. The wife, Samana Bahu, expressed her concern after a server made a comment. However, the narrator hasn’t revealed the comment.

Haryana News, a YouTube channel, also reported this incident based on the video by Janta Breaking News. As per this report, Ravi and his friends were attacked. Ravi spoke to the channel and his bite can be heard at the 10-minute mark. He said, “…Me and my wife, along with some friends and their partners, went to have dinner at ‘Manna dhaba’. During dinner, they [the staff] misbehaved with my wife. When we raised an issue, we were told to speak with the manager sitting outside. The manager refused to speak with us and soon we were attacked with sticks.” Ravi does not claim that the attack was communally motivated.

At 22:00 minutes, Butana Police Station SHO Kanwar Singh joined the broadcast via a phone call. He said, “By the time we reached the dhaba on February 13, the conflict was over. The victims said they would file a complaint the next morning. The FIR mentions that the staff misbehaved and manhandled the women. While the fight indeed took place, there is no evidence of misbehaving and manhandling as per our investigation.”

Alt News spoke with Kanwar Singh and he informed, “Both the parties hail from the Hindu community. The social media claim that the incident is communal is totally false.” He added, “I have seen the CCTV footage. There is no truth to the claim that the staffer misbehaved with women. As per our investigation, Ravi and his friends spoke rudely to the dhaba staff. This led to a fight between the two groups. As of now, we have arrested three dhaba staffers. The dhaba management has also filed an FIR.”

A clash between customers and staff of a dhaba in Haryana’s Butana was shared with a false anti-Muslim spin.

The post Fight between customers and staff in Harayana dhaba falsely communalised appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Archit Mehta.

Fight between customers and staff in Harayana dhaba falsely communalised

Archit Mehta — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:07:25 +0000

Twitter user @VishnuMTiwari1 shared this clip and so did many other Twitter users.

हरियाणा के एक मुस्लिम ढाबे में हिंदू महिला को देख कर मुस्लिम वेटर ने महिला पर अश्लील कमेंट किया,
महिला के विरोध करने पर उसके पति को पूरे मुस्लिम स्टाफ के लड़को ने मिल कर बहुत मारा।
किसी मुस्लिम के ढाबे में फैमिली सहित जाने से बचे!!!
धन्यवाद।। pic.twitter.com/tuLPbig7oW

— विष्णु तिवारी (@VishnuMTiwari1) March 5, 2022

False communal spin

A clash between customers and staff of a dhaba in Haryana’s Butana was shared with a false anti-Muslim spin.

The post Fight between customers and staff in Harayana dhaba falsely communalised appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Archit Mehta.

Staff and students in universities across the UK deserve better

Khadijah Anabah — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 00:02:00 +0000

Industrial action is a response to intolerable working conditions, and an attempt to make education a better experience for everyone

This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Khadijah Anabah.

Ukrainian Nuclear Plant Staff ‘Being Held,’ Says Atomic Safety Expert

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 15:53:40 +0000

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

CPJ welcomes Lucy Westcott as emergencies director

Committee to Protect Journalists — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 13:49:15 +0000

New York, October 7, 2021–As threats to journalist safety worldwide persist, the Committee to Protect Journalists is pleased to announce that Lucy Westcott has been named CPJ’s emergencies director. In the role, Westcott will oversee the organization’s Emergencies team, which provides comprehensive, life-saving support to journalists and media workers at risk around the world through up-to-date safety and security information and rapid response assistance.

“Lucy is stepping into this role at a time when journalists globally are increasingly working in environments where daily threats are considered the norm, rather than the outliers that they should be,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director. “We are grateful to have Lucy leading our emergency efforts, helping support journalists so they can do their jobs as safely as possible.”

Westcott started at CPJ in 2018 as the James W. Foley Fellow. During her fellowship, Westcott focused on safety issues for women and non-binary journalists in non-hostile environments. As CPJ’s James W. Foley Emergencies research associate, she reported extensively on journalist safety, and assisted with the creation of safety resources for journalists globally. She has played a prominent role in shaping CPJ’s response to crises in places like Syria and Venezuela, and in developing proactive safety resources for journalists covering elections in countries including India and South Africa. Amid the recent crisis in Afghanistan, Lucy was on the ground in Qatar helping Afghan journalists and their families who had been evacuated there for onward resettlement. Prior to joining CPJ, Westcott was a staff writer for Newsweek, where she covered gender and immigration. She has reported for outlets including The Intercept, Bustle, The Atlantic, and Women Under Siege, and was a United Nations correspondent for the Inter Press Service.

“In my time reporting around the world, including at CPJ, it’s concerning to see just how dire the safety situation is for journalists today. It’s also heartening to see the courage of those who risk their lives to bring us the news,” said Westcott. “I look forward to strengthening CPJ’s ability to help journalists globally, and to work firsthand with my colleagues and journalists around the world on ways to better protect them.”

Wescott’s years of experience on issues of journalist safety and emergency support are a valuable asset as CPJ responds to a growing range of threats to the press. In recent months CPJ Emergencies has confronted a wave of new challenges, including the ongoing crisis for journalists in Afghanistan, record numbers of journalists imprisoned globally, the spread of increasingly sophisticated surveillance and spyware technology, as well as a proliferation of threats to journalists covering protests and elections.

Learn more about CPJ Emergencies and the team’s safety resources for journalists here. Find a full list of CPJ staff on our website.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Innocence Project Welcomes Ed Boland and Denise Tomasini-Joshi

Alicia Maule — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 19:16:53 +0000

The Innocence Project is thrilled to welcome Ed Boland and Denise Tomasini-Joshi to the organization’s leadership team.

Mr. Boland serves as the Chief Development Officer and Ms. Tomasini-Joshi as Chief of Staff.

Both bring a wealth of experience to their roles. Over the course of a 30-year career in non-profit organizations, Mr. Boland has had a particular focus on underserved youth. From 2000 to 2018, he led the fundraising department at Prep for Prep, the nation’s premier leadership development program for gifted students of color. More recently, he’s served as interim Director of Development at Publicolor and GLSEN. He also held fundraising positions at Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Barnard College.

Ms. Tomasini-Joshi served as Division Director for the Open Society Foundation’s Health Law and Equity Division, Public Health Program, overseeing a $12M budget and grantmaking across 16 countries. She previously served as the Co-Acting Interim Director of OSF’s Women’s Rights Program, as Deputy Director of OSF’s International Harm Reduction Development program, and as a Legal Officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative in National Criminal Justice Reform.

Prior to joining OSF, Ms. Tomasini-Joshi served, inter alia, as as an Assistant Dean for Public Service and the Executive Director for the Root-Tilden-Kern Program at NYU Law School; as a Policy Analyst on Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project at the Council of State Governments; and as a Staff Attorney for Columbia University’s Goddard-Riverside Tenant Assistant Project.

“I am delighted to welcome both Ed and Denise to the leadership team,” said executive director Christina Swarns. “The depth of experience, their knowledge of the nonprofit sector and their leadership and managerial skills will be invaluable assets to the organization as we step into our fourth decade of freeing the innocent and reforming the systems that allow injustice to happen”.

Please join us in welcoming them both to the Innocence Project family.

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