New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani handily won the New York City Democratic mayoral primary in June, despite corporate media’s best attempts to discredit and suppress his campaign. But his opponents are not giving up, and Mamdani faces three noteworthy challengers in the general election.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s humiliating defeat, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams’ overwhelming unpopularity and Republican Curtis Sliwa’s eccentricities have not stopped the Wall Street Journal from trying to discourage New Yorkers from voting for Mamdani in the general election. Once primary results became official on July 1, the Journal published ten op-eds in a single week (7/1–7/25) that cast Mamdani in a negative light.

Red scare

Mary Anastasia O’Grady (Wall Street Journal, 7/6/25) denounced Zohran Mamdani’s “plan to turn New York into an Orwellian ‘Animal Farm’ of equality.”

Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which to the Wall Street Journal is equivalent to Stalinism. There are currently six mayors in America who are DSA members, and none of them have implemented purges or rounded up billionaires into gulags. That does not stop the Journal’s opinion writers from fearmongering about a dystopian future under Mamdani.

Under the headline “The Lure of Comrade Mamdani,” former Merrill Lynch strategist and current Heritage Foundation affiliate Mary Anastasia O’Grady (7/6/25) asked, “Have you made something of yourself? If so, [Mamdani is] coming for you.” O’Grady attacked Mamdani’s progressive platform through references to Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela, blaming their economic struggles on socialist leaders. She made no mention, of course, of the US interventionist policies—including not just coups and coup attempts, but also strangling economic blockades and punishments—that were key drivers of those struggles.

Columnist Jason L. Riley (7/1/25) offered readers a “Blueprint for Defeating Zohran Mamdani”: the 2021 Buffalo mayoral election. His op-ed gleefully recounted that when Black democratic socialist India Walton won the Democratic primary there, business elites collaborated with Republicans and establishment Democrats to flood the general election with money and crush her campaign in favor of “corrupt, incompetent” (Jacobin, 11/3/21) incumbent Byron Brown.

Sadanand Dhume (Wall Street Journal, 7/2/25) accused Mamdani of importing “Third World” ideas like rent control (which New York City has had since 1943). 

Sadanand Dhume (7/2/25) of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute contributed the outrageously headlined op-ed, “Mamdani Brings Third World Prejudices to New York.” “Why would someone who emigrated to the US from a poor country champion ideas that keep poor countries poor?” he asked.

More than one writer compared Mamdani to Trump in terms of their extremism. In his piece, Gerard Baker (7/7/25) lambasted the “siren song of socialism,” suggesting that Mamdani and Trump similarly adhere to a “reality-challenging radicalism.” Mamdani shows that Democrats “refuse to reconcile with the new order,” and would rather “take their chances on the easy appeal of radical ideas.”

Meanwhile, Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi (7/2/25) repeatedly drew parallels between Mamdani and Trump, and argued that New York would be destroyed by Mamdani’s “lofty, utopian promises: free public transit, free college tuition, more public housing, sweeping debt cancellation and massive overhauls of systems”—because they will be paid for by modestly increasing taxes on corporations and people making millions. Allysia Finley (7/6/25) took issue with Mamdani’s proposed tax increases for the wealthy, irrespective of the social benefits that money could provide.

Former hedge fund manager Jay Newman (7/7/25) published a satirical op-ed titled “Some Modest Proposals for Mamdani,” modeled on Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” While Swift’s essay was meant to bring attention to the plight of the Irish poor and the callousness of the English response, Newman used the format to mock Mamdani for wanting to respond to the homeless crisis. Newman suggested that Mamdani might convert the Metropolitan Museum of Art into public housing—ignoring the city’s tens of thousands of empty apartment units.

Israel: NYC’s sixth borough?

If polling is to be believed, the Jewish way is more to vote for Mamdani’s New York (Wall Street Journal, 7/3/25).

Much has been written about the Islamophobia and baseless accusations of antisemitism the Zionist establishment has hurled against Mamdani. The Wall Street Journal is a key player in that narrative. Five of the ten anti-Mamdani op-eds (7/2/25,  7/3/25, 7/3/25, 7/7/25, 7/7/25) included reference to Mamdani’s anti-Israel stance (or that of his supporters) as a means to paint him as unfit for office; all of these mentioned “Hamas,” “globalize the intifada” or both.

Dhume (7/2/25), who dedicated three entire paragraphs to Mamdani’s position on Israel, expressed outrage over Mamdani’s compliance with international law. He wrote that Mamdani “accuses the Jewish state of ‘genocide’ in Gaza. If elected, he said he would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister visits New York City.” This is presented as if Mamdani himself is making these accusations, rather than echoing the conclusions of several human rights organizations, and joining various world leaders in complying with the ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu. (A Data for Progress poll—7/11-17/25—found that 78% of Democratic primary voters believe that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people, and 63% think that New York’s mayor should enforce the warrant against Netanyahu.)

Multiple writers warned of a mass exodus of Jews from New York in the face of a Mamdani mayoralty. In an opinion interview with political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, Tunku Varadarajan (7/3/25) wrote that Sheinkopf

expects Jews will start to leave New York in substantial numbers. “Never mind the general election. Jews will think, ‘If Mamdani’s got this far, who knows what’s next?’ ” There are now three-quarters of a million Muslims in New York—nearly 9% of the population. Mr. Mamdani campaigned extensively in their neighborhoods.

It’s an Islamophobic version of the Great Replacement Theory, using a dubious outlier number for the Muslim population, which most sources report to be around 3% of the city’s population (compared to a Jewish population of 7%).

Sheinkopf also suggested that Mamdani’s New York would be “the capital of class war and hatred and antisemitism, where it’s OK for a mayor to say the intifada’s just fine.”

Meanwhile, Dovid Margolin (7/3/25) wrote that Jews in New York “are nervous” because they “know what it means to have to flee. They know what it looks like in America, too, when their homes are no longer safe and there is no one to call for help.”  He painted such a dire depiction of the predicament of Jews under a Mamdani administration that he felt he had to quote Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, “One must stand firm and not run away.”

Despite the Journal’s allegations that Jewish New Yorkers are terrified of a Mamdani victory, his opponent Cuomo believes that “50% of the Jewish people voted for Mamdani” (Forward, 7/20/25). A recent poll by Zenith and Public Progress (7/16–24/25) found Mamdani getting a 43% plurality of the Jewish vote in a five-way race—vs. 26% for Cuomo. Mamdani was the choice of an overwhelming 67% of Jews between 18–44, with Cuomo having only 7% support from this group.

‘Useful idiot generation’

Mark Penn and Andrew Stein (Wall Street Journal, 7/7/25): “Call [Gen X] the Useful Idiot generation, mouthing slogans and causes they don’t understand and from which they would recoil if they did.”

Sheinkopf (7/3/25), for instance, argued that, because of their politics, “the kids are going to be the death of New York.” He called Gen Z “the most pampered generation in the history of the world…. I’m sorry they can’t buy an apartment. But they can buy a $9 latte, and a $100 dinner.”

Given that the average price of a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is $1.5 million, young people would have to forgo their imaginary daily latte and dinner for almost eight years before they could afford a down payment.

Varadarajan also criticized Mamdani for his privileged upbringing, contrasting it with Sheinkopf’s “hardscrabble background” in which he “‘cut corned beef at the Carnegie Deli’ as he put himself through college.” Neither Sheinkopf nor Varadarajan noted that around the time that Sheinkopf was attending college, the average yearly tuition for a US public college was $394. After adjusting for inflation, that’s a quarter of the cost in the 2020s.

The crown jewel of this argument, though, was an op-ed headlined “Gen Z: the Useful Idiot Generation” (7/7/25) by Democratic strategist/corporate lobbyist Mark Penn and disgraced former New York City politician Andrew Stein. They fret about the generation’s “radicalism,” which they argue stems from being “indoctrinated” at college (where, among other things, they supposedly “learn that socialism means free stuff”), delaying marriage and turning away from religion, all of which leaves them “unmoored.” They warned:

Socialism and antisemitism will continue to fester and grow if we don’t stand up and reform our universities, reinforce our basic values and balance our social media.

Though the primary results are finalized, the Wall Street Journal has joined with others in New York’s corporate media in trying to ensure that Mamdani’s success, and his supporters’ enthusiasm, ends there.

This content originally appeared on FAIR and was authored by Emma Llano.

The Micronesian Islands Forum cranks up with officials meetings this week in Majuro, with the official opening for top leadership from the islands tomorrow morning.

Marshall Islands leaders are being joined at this summit by their counterparts from Kiribati, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.

“At this year’s Leaders Forum, I hope we can make meaningful progress on resolving airline connectivity issues — particularly in Micronesia — so our region remains connected and one step ahead,” President Hilda Heine said on the eve of this subregional summit.

• READ MORE: Other Micronesian reports

The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have been negotiating with Nauru Airlines over the past two years to extend the current island hopper service with a link to Honolulu.

“Equally important,” said President Heine, “the Forum offers a vital platform to strengthen regional solidarity and build common ground on key issues such as climate, ocean health, security, trade, and other pressing challenges.

“Ultimately, our shared purpose must be to work together in support of the communities we represent.”

Monday and Tuesday featured official-level meetings at the International Conference Center in Majuro. Tomorrow will be the official opening of the Forum and will feature statements from each of the islands represented.

Handing over chair
Outgoing Micronesian Island Forum chair Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero is expected to hand over the chair post to President Heine tomorrow morning.

Other top island leaders expected to attend the summit: FSM President Wesley Simina, Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, Nauru Deputy Speaker Isabela Dageago, Palau Minister Steven Victor, Chuuk Governor Alexander Narruhn, Pohnpei Governor Stevenson Joseph, Kosrae Governor Tulensa Palik, Yap Acting Governor Francis Itimai, and CNMI Lieutenant-Governor David Apatang.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa is also expected to participate.

Pretty much every subject of interest to the Pacific Islands will be on the table for discussions, including presentations on education, health and transportation. The latter will include a presentation by the Marshall Islands Aviation Task Force that has been meeting extensively with Nauru Airlines.

In addition, Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr Filimon Manoni will deliver a presentation, gender equality will be on the table, as will updates on the SPC and Secretariat of the Pacific Region Environment Programme North Pacific offices, and the United Nations multi-country office.

The Micronesia Challenge environmental programme will get focus during a luncheon for the leaders hosted by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority on Thursday at its new headquarters annex.

Bank presentations
Pacific Island Development Bank and the Bank of Guam will make presentations, as will the recently established Pacific Center for Island Security.

A special night market at the Marshall Islands Resort parking lot will be featured Wednesday evening.

Friday will feature a leaders retreat on Bokanbotin, a small resort island on Majuro Atoll’s north shore. While the leaders gather, other Forum participants will join a picnic or fishing tournament.

Friday evening is to feature the closing event to include the launching of the Marshall Islands’ Green Growth Initiative and the signing of the Micronesian Island Forum communique.

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.

A group of veterans and their allies have entered their third week of a “Fast for Gaza” outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The group is calling for an end to arms sales to Israel and of Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. We hear from multiple hunger strikers on their decisions to join the planned 40-day action and why they are pressuring the U.N. in particular. “We wake up each morning, and we don’t worry about whether or not our children have been buried under rubble overnight. We’re not drinking poisoned water. We’re not surrounded by rubble. We’re not dealing with the horrible traumas that people in Palestine and Gaza are dealing with,” says peace activist Kathy Kelly, who started her hunger strike two weeks ago. “What would make us stop? Well, certainly, if there were a permanent, unconditional, immediate ceasefire.”

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

The co-founder of Auckland’s Fiji Centre is concerned that Indo-Fijians are not classified as Pacific Islanders in Aotearoa.

This week marks the 146th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured labourers from British India to Fiji, who departed from Calcutta.

On 14 May 1879, the first group of 522 labourers arrived in Fiji aboard the Leonidas, a labour transportation ship.

• READ MORE: Other Girmit reports

That date in 1987 is also the date of the first military coup in Fiji.

More than 60,000 men, women and children were brought to Fiji under an oppressive system of bonded labour between 1879 and 1916.

Today, Indo-Fijians make up 33 percent of the population.

While Fiji is part of the Pacific, Indo-Fijians are not classified as Pacific peoples in New Zealand; instead, they are listed under “Indian” and “Asian” on the Stats NZ website.

Lasting impact on Fiji
The Fiji Centre’s Nik Naidu, who is also a co-founder of the Whānau Community Centre and Hub, said that he understood Fiji was the only country in the Pacific where the British implemented the indentured system.

“It is also a sad legacy and a sad story because it was basically slavery,” he said.

“The positive was that the Fiji Indian community made a lasting impact on Fiji.

“They continue to be around 30 percent of the population in Fiji, and I think significantly in Aotearoa, through the migration, the numbers are, according to the community, over 100,000 in New Zealand.”

However, he said the discussions on ethnic classification “reached a stalemate” with the previous Pacific Peoples Minister.

“His basic argument was, well, ethnographically, Fijian Indians do not fit the profile of Pacific Islanders,” he said.

Then-minister Aupito William Sio said in 2021 that, while he understood the group’s concerns, the classification for Fijian Indians was in line with an ethnographic profile which included people with a common language, customs and traditions.

Aupito said that profile was different from indigenous Pacific peoples.

StatsNZ and ethnicity
“StatsNZ recognises ethnicity as the ethnic group or groups a person self-identifies with or has a sense of belonging to,” Aupito said in a letter at the time.

It is not the same as race, ancestry, nationality, citizenship or even place of birth, he said.

“They have identified themselves now that the system of government has not acknowledged them.

“Those conversations have to be ongoing to figure out how do we capture the data of who they are as Fijian Indians or to develop policies around that to support their aspirations.”

Naidu believes the ethnographic argument was a misunderstanding of the request.

“The request is not to say, like Chinese in Samoa, they are not indigenous to Samoa, but they are Samoans, and they are Pacific Chinese.

“So there is the same thing with Fijian Indians. They are not wanting to be indigenous.

Different from mainland Indians
“They do want to be recognised as separate Indians in the Pacific because they are very different from the mainland Indians.

“In fact, most probably 99 percent of Fijian Indians have never been to India and have no affiliations to India because during the Girmit they lost all connections with their families.”

However, Naidu told Pacific Waves the community was not giving up.

“There was a human rights complaint made — again that did not progress in the favour of the Fijian Indians.

“Currently from . . . Fiji Centre’s perspective, we are still pursuing that.

“We have also had a discussion with Stats NZ about the numbers and trying to ascertain just why they have not managed to put a separate category, so that we can look at the number of Fijian Indians and also relative to Pacific Islanders.”

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told RNZ Pacific that as far as Fiji is concerned, Fijians of Indian descent are Fijian.

Question to minister
Last year, RNZ Pacific asked the current Minister for Pacific Peoples, Dr Shane Reti, on whether Indo-Fijians were included in Ministry of Pacific Peoples as Pacific people.

In a statement, his office said: “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is undertaking ongoing policy work to better understand this issue.”

Meanwhile, the University of Fiji’s vice-chancellor is asking the Australian and British governments to consider paying reparation for the exploitation of the indentured labourers more than a century ago.

Professor Shaista Shameem told the ABC that they endured harsh conditions, with long hours, social restrictions and low wages.

She said the Australian government and the Colonial Sugar Refinery of Australia benefitted the most financially and it was time the descendants were compensated.

While some community leaders have been calling for reparation, Naidu said there were other issues that needed attention.

He said it had been an ongoing discussion for many decades.

“It is a very challenging one, because where do you draw the line? And it is a global problem, the indenture system. It is not just unique to Fiji.

“Personally, yes, I think that is a great idea. Practically, I am not sure if it is feasible and possible.”

Focus on what unites, says Rabuka
Fiji is on a path for reconciliation, with leaders from across the political spectrum signing a Forward Fiji Declaration in 2023, hoping to usher in a new era of understanding between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians.

Rabuka announced a public holiday to commemorate Girmit Day in 2023.

In his Girmit Day message this year, Rabuka said his government was dedicated to bringing unity and reconciliation between all races living in Fiji.

“We all know that Fiji has had a troubled past, as it was natural that conflicts would arise when a new group of people would come into another’s space,” he said.

“This is precisely what transpired when the Indians began to live or decided to live as permanent citizens.

“There was distrust as the two groups were not used to living together during the colonial days. Indigenous Fijians did not have a say in why, and how many should come and how they should be settled here. Fiji was not given a time to transit.

“The policy of indenture labour system was dumped on us. Naturally this led to tensions and misunderstandings, reasons that fuelled conflicts that followed after Fiji gained independence.”

He said 146 years later, Fijians should focus on what unites rather than what divides them.

“We have together long enough to know that unity and peace will lead us to a good future.”

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.

Aotearoa celebrates Rotuman language as part of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ Pacific Language Week series this week.

Rotuman is one of five UNESCO-listed endangered languages among the 12 officially celebrated in New Zealand.

The others are Tokelaun, Niuean, Cook Islands Māori and Tuvaluan.

• READ MORE: Other Rotuman reports

This year’s theme is, ‘Åf’ạkia ma rak’ạkia ‘os fäega ma ag fak Rotuma – tēfakhanisit Gagaja nā se ‘äe ma’, which translates to, ‘Treasure & teach our Rotuman language and culture — A gift given to you and I by God’.

With fewer than 1000 residents identifying as Rotuman, it is the younger generation stepping up to preserve their endangered language.

Two young people, who migrated to New Zealand from Rotuma Island, are using dance to stay connected with their culture from the tiny island almost 500km northwest of Fiji’s capital, Suva, which they proudly call home.

Kapieri Samisoni and Tristan Petueli, both born in Fiji and raised on Rotuma, now reside in Auckland.

Cultural guardians
They are leading a new wave of cultural guardians who use dance, music, and storytelling to stay rooted in their heritage and to pass it on to future generations.

“A lot of people get confused that they think Rotuma is in Fiji but Rotuma is just outside of Fiji,” Samisoni told RNZ Pacific Waves.

Rotuman Language Week.        Video: RNZ Pacific

“We have our own culture, our own tradition, our own language.”

“When I moved to New Zealand, I would always say I am Fijian because that was easier for people to understand. But nowadays, I say I am Rotuman.

“A lot of people are starting to understand and realise . . . they know what Rotuma is and where Rotuma is, so it is nice saying that I am Rotuman,” he said.

Samisoni moved to New Zealand in 2007 when he was 11 years old with his parents and siblings.

He said dancing has become a powerful way to express his identity and honour the traditions of his homeland.

Learning more
“Moving away from Fiji and being so far away from the language, I think I took it for granted. But now that I am here in New Zealand, I want to learn more about my culture.

“With dance and music, that is the way of for me to keep the culture alive. It is also a good way to learn the language as well.”

For Petueli, the connection runs deep through performance and rhythm after having moved here in 2019, just before the covid-19 pandemic.

“It is quite difficult living in Aotearoa, where I cannot use the language as much in my day to day life,” Petueli said.

“The only time I get to do that is when I am on the phone with my parents back home, or when I am reading the Rotuman Bible and that kind of keeps me connected to my culture,” he said.

He added he definitely felt connected whenever he was dancing.

“Growing up, I learnt our traditional dances at a very young age.

Blessed and grateful
“My parents were always involved in the culture. They were also purotu, which is the choreographers and composers for our traditional dances. So, I was blessed and grateful to have that with me growing up, and I still have that with me today,” he said.

Celebrations of Rotuman Language Week first began as grassroots efforts in 2018, led by groups like the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group Inc before receiving official support from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples in 2020.

Interview with Fesaitu Solomone.      Video: RNZ Pacific

The Centre for Pacific Languages chief executive Fesaitu Solomone said young people played a critical role in this movement — but they don’t have to do it alone.

“Be not afraid to speak the language even if you make mistakes,” she said.

“Get together [and] look for people who can support you in terms of the language. We have our knowledge holders, your community, your church, your family.

“Reach out to anyone you know who can support you and create a safe environment for you to learn our Pasifika languages.”

Loved music and dance
She said one of the things that young people loved was music and dance and the centre wanted to make sure that they continued to learn language through that avenue.

“It is great pathway and we recognise that a lot of our people may not want to learn language in a classroom setting or in a face to face environment,” she said.

Fesaitu said for these young leaders, the bridge was already being crossed — one dance, one chant, and one proud declaration at a time.

“And that is the work that we try and do here, is to look at ways that our young people can engage, but also be able to empower them, and give them an opportunity to be part of it.”

Petueli hopes other countries follow the example being set in Aotearoa to preserve and celebrate Pacific languages.

“I do not think any other country, even in Fiji, is doing anything like this, like the Pacific languages [weeks], and pushing for it.

“I think we are doing a great job here, and I hope that we will everywhere else can see and follow through with it.”

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.

“It was so hot, burning,” he recalled. “And the walk – I was crying so much because we were so confused.”

Between 1975 and 1979, between 1.5 million and 2 million Cambodians died by execution, forced labor and famine, including his parents.

“I struggled so hard,” Sok Ry said. “I almost died so many times, but I refused to die.”

Read Sok Ry’s and the other RFA staffers' stories of survival here.

The Photo of the Week showcases a compelling image from the past seven days.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Paul Nelson for RFA.

An intense battle is underway in western Myanmar as junta troops attempt to re-take Falam, the second-biggest city in Chin state, with the military dropping more than 500 bombs over the past week, residents and rebel forces said Tuesday.

Fighting in Chin has escalated in recent months, as rebels seek to push out remaining junta forces that occupied the state following the military’s February 2021 coup d’etat. The clash over Falam comes after a Chin official told RFA Burmese in late December that ethnic Chin and Rakhine rebels were in control of at least 85% of the western state.

Salai Tin Me Htut, the spokesman for the Chin National Defense Force, or CNDF, told RFA the battle for Falam was sparked by a March 11 military offensive to recapture the rebel-controlled city, and that the junta’s air force dropped more than 150 bombs in the area on Saturday alone.

Chin rebels captured Falam during their Nov. 9, 2024, offensive, taking control of the entire territory except for a base operated by the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 268. The Chin PDF spokesman said the latest week-long bombing campaign was part of a bid by the junta to prevent the battalion’s capture.

(Citizen Photo)

Salai Tin Me Htut said that Chin forces have besieged the battalion for nearly a month and the intensified fighting since March 11 came after junta reinforcements arrived a day earlier to try to break the siege.

“They sent 40-50 soldiers, prompting the fighting to break out,” he said. “But we have managed to control [key strategic areas]. That’s why they have responded with airstrikes and fought back viciously.”

The CNDF spokesman said that in addition to the more than 150 bombs dropped by the military on the area on Saturday, he believes that the air force has dropped “more than 500 bombs” on Falam over the course of the week.

Thousands flee

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 residents of Falam have fled the fighting to nearby villages, Sagaing region’s Kalay township, the commercial capital Yangon and across the border to India’s Mizoram state, according to the displaced.

They expressed fear that junta airstrikes will “reduce the town to rubble,” as was the case in Chin’s nearby Thantlang township.

“I’m worried that my town will be destroyed,” said one resident who was displaced by the fighting. “I feel awful that they brought these troubles to the town. Now, I only hope I will be able to return to my town and live peacefully like before.”

Residents of more than 10 villages in the vicinity of Falam are also fleeing the area, while others are “building bomb shelters” and are unable to work on their farms, they said.

“The airstrikes are unpredictable — they simply drop bombs wherever they want," said another resident of Falam. “People in nearby villages are running away ... [but] the farmers ... are supposed to plant crop seeds by next month.”

On Sunday, the air force bombed Thalanzar village, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Falam, damaging homes and a Christian church building, residents said. Two days earlier, an airstrike on Sizar Mourl village injured a man and a woman and damaged four homes, they said.

Attempts by RFA to contact Aung Cho, the junta’s spokesperson for Chin state, about the situation in Falam went unanswered Tuesday.

Sources from anti-junta Chin People’s Defense Force, or PDF, which has fought alongside the CNDF, told RFA that the fighting since March 11 has caused casualties on both sides, although RFA was unable to independently confirm the claim.

The CNDF said that the Chin PDF has captured around 130 junta troops as prisoners of war during battles in Falam since November 2024.

According to a February statement by the Institute of Chin Affairs, which tracks conflict in the state, junta troops have killed at least 491 civilians in Chin state since the military coup four years ago.

The statement said that more than 3,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed by airstrikes and arson over the same period.

Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

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

The Photo of the Week showcases a compelling image from the past seven days.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Paul Nelson for RFA.

The Communist Party enlists carefully selected and loyal delegates from among celebrities, the private sector, ethnic minority communities and “people’s organizations” under the party umbrella.

Delegates from minority political parties are also allowed, but only if they play a role subservient to the ruling party.

Meanwhile, state media portrays the conference as proof of China’s consultative model of “whole process democracy,” as well as its inclusion of people from “all walks of life” in politics.

The Photo of the Week feature will showcase a compelling image from the past seven days.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Paul Nelson for RFA.

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After creating an uproar last week for demanding access to a sensitive system at the Treasury Department, officials affiliated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are expected to turn their attention to another restricted database next week, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.

The new target, the sources said, is a database that tracks the flow of money across the government, from the Treasury to specific agencies and then to the ultimate destination of the funds.

The data in the system, known as the Central Accounting Reporting System, or CARS, is considered sensitive. Many transactions flowing to the same place, for example, can suggest a new national security priority for the U.S. government. People who work with the system have in the past been briefed that the database may be of interest to foreign intelligence agencies, said a third source who has familiarity with the system.

Musk’s affiliates are expected to arrive at Treasury offices in Parkersburg, West Virginia, next week, according to two sources, prompting concern among the staff there. The offices house a large number of staffers who work for the previously obscure Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the part of the Treasury that manages accounting and payments systems.

A spokesperson for DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did a Treasury spokesperson.

CARS is intended to standardize accounting across government agencies and account for how money is moved. It’s unclear what specifically the DOGE team’s interest in the system is. When government auditors have examined the system in the past, the Treasury has pushed for them to do it in secure environments or on the Fiscal Service’s laptops.

DOGE’s earlier actions at the Treasury have become a focus of congressional scrutiny and a federal court battle in recent days. Musk’s team initially tried to halt money going to the U.S. Agency for International Development from the Treasury’s payment system.

A veteran career official within the Treasury pushed back and then retired in the face of the demands. On Friday morning, The Washington Post reported that one of the DOGE-affiliated staffers involved in that standoff, Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley tech executive, would be replacing the career official who resigned, which would give him power over the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment and accounting systems.

Federal workers unions took the matter to court, and a judge on Thursday temporarily limited Musk’s team to read-only access.

The Treasury has assured Congress that the DOGE-affiliated staffers have read-only privileges for the payment system, but Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has raised concerns that the agency may have misled lawmakers, citing reports from Wired that a DOGE staffer had “read-write” access for several days. “Treasury’s refusal to provide straight answers about DOGE’s actions, as well as its refusal to provide a briefing requested by several Senate committees only heightens my suspicions,” Wyden said in a statement on Friday.

One of the two Musk-affiliated officials probing the Treasury’s systems resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal discovered racist posts on a social media account linked to him.

The posts included “I was racist before it was cool” and “I would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth.”

It’s not clear which personnel are scheduled to make the trip to West Virginia or if the resignation will affect those plans. By Friday morning, Musk was posting on X about bringing the staffer back, and Vice President JD Vance backed the idea, saying, “I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.” In a press conference, Trump said he wasn’t familiar with the situation but backed Vance’s take.

Do you have any information about DOGE and the Trump administration’s moves at Treasury that we should know? Robert Faturechi can be reached by email at robert.faturechi@propublica.org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 213-271-7217. Justin Elliott can be reached by email at justin@propublica.org or by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240.

Alex Mierjeski contributed research.

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Justin Elliott and Robert Faturechi.

Myanmar’s junta has rebuffed a New Year’s proposal for political dialogue by rebels in Rakhine state with a week of deadly airstrikes, residents say.

Observers said the military’s actions following the proposal indicate that the junta has no interest in talks, despite frequent calls by chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for political means to end the crisis.

On Dec. 29, Arakan Army, or AA, insurgents captured the west coast town of Gwa from the military, a major step toward their goal of taking the whole of Rakhine state, and then said they were ready for talks with the junta, which seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat.

The seizure came slightly more than a week after the AA took a major military base in Ann town on Dec. 20, and the rebels have now captured 14 of the state’s 17 townships, pushing the military into shrinking pockets of territory.

On Dec. 30, the AA said it was open to talks with the military to resolve Rakhine state’s “internal issues through political means rather than military solutions,” although the group did not refer specifically to a ceasefire.

However, as of Monday, the military had carried out at least six airstrikes since the proposal in the AA-controlled townships of Ponnagyun, Ann, Gwa and Myebon, killing 10 civilians and injuring more than a dozen others, residents told RFA Burmese.

Week of airstrikes

Most recently, on Sunday, a military airstrike on Ponnagyun’s Aung Zon Pyin village killed three members of the ethnic Rohingya community, including a child, and a female resident, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

(Arakan Princess Media)

“As this area has access to mobile signals, residents [of the state] come here to make phone calls, and the area is normally crowded,” said an aid worker in Ponnagyun. “[On Sunday], when people were talking on the phone, an aerial attack took place, causing some [deaths and] injuries.”

The aid worker said another airstrike took place the same day on nearby Taung Pauk village.

The three Rohingya killed in the airstrike on Aung Zon Pyin had traveled there from nearby Kyauktaw township to place phone calls, he said.

RELATED STORIES

Myanmar’s Arakan Army takes a major town, says ready for talks

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Myanmar’s junta reinforcing troops in 3 Rakhine towns ahead of expected rebel attacks

The airstrikes followed a Jan. 3 military bombing of a hospital in Myebon township’s Kan Htaung Gyi town, which killed a woman, residents said.

And on New Year’s Eve — a day after the AA proposal — military jets struck Ponnagyun’s Yoe Ta Yoke village, residents said, killing five civilians and injuring 10 others.

Residents are living in constant fear of aerial bombings, Tin Aung Htay, of Ponnagyun township, told RFA.

“[On Sunday] evening, the junta carried out continuous bombings, with a jet flying overhead for 15 minutes,” he said. “Residents were terrified and fled. Children lay flat on the ground while the plane passed. [No one] dared go to work while the junta’s jet was in the area.”

‘No political dialogue’

A commentator on military affairs in Rakhine state said that the junta’s bombings demonstrates a stance of “no political dialogue,” despite the AA’s offer.

“The recent bombings indicate that the junta has no intention of engaging in political dialogue,” said the commentator, who also declined to be named. “Targeting civilians who are not part of any armed group was both malicious and deeply unethical. These were inhumane acts.”

Attempts by RFA to contact both AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha and junta spokesperson and Rakhine state attorney general Hla Thein for their comments on the attacks went unanswered by the time of publishing.

In November, the AA said that since the Nov. 13, 2023, start of its offensive in Rakhine state, military airstrikes, artillery strikes and small arms fire has killed more than 700 civilians and injured more than 1,500 others.

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

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

“At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in New York. “Israel is responsible for two thirds of those deaths and yet continues to act with total impunity when it comes to the killing of journalists and its attacks on the media. The international community has failed in its obligations to hold Israel accountable for its actions.”

• On December 15, Ahmed Al-Louh, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist who freelanced with multiple outlets including Qatar-funded Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat camp in Gaza city, on December 15, 2024, according to Al Jazeera and multiple news reports. Al Jazeera reported that Al-Louh was wearing a “Press” vest and helmet, considered the attack to be targeted. Al-Louh is the seventh Al Jazeera-affiliated journalist killed by Israel since the war began. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for Arabic Media, Avichay Adraee, acknowledged the targeting of Al-Louh and accused him of being an Islamic Jihad militant in a post on X, but provided no proof for the allegation.
  
• On December 14, Mohammed Balousha, a 38-year-old Palestinian journalist and the reporter for the Emirati-owned, Dubai-based Al Mashhad Media was killed in a direct Israeli drone strike when he was returning from a medical checkup at the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood clinic in northern Gaza City, according to the outlet and multiple news reports. Al Mashhad TV said it considered the attack deliberate.
  
• On December 14, Mohammed Al Qrinawi, a Palestinian journalist and the editor at the local Snd news agency, was killed along with his wife and their three children, in an Israeli airstrike on Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, according to his outlet and multiple news reports.
  
• On December 11, Iman Al Shanti, a 36 year-old Palestinian journalist who was a host and producer for Al Aqsa Radio and a reporter for Al Jazeera’s AJ+ platform during the war, was killed with her family in an Israeli airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza, according to multiple news reports.

At least 141 journalists have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war since October 7, 2023, CPJ has documented; 133 of them were Palestinians in Gaza. Journalists in northern Gaza are facing catastrophic conditions, saying ethnic cleansing is happening in a news void in northern Gaza.

CPJ emailed the IDF North America Media Desk of the IDF asking whether the IDF knew there were civilians in the areas that it bombed, and if journalists were targeted for their work.  The IDF responded that it needed more time to investigate CPJ’s query but did not specify how much time would be required.

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

Look out for a new episode of Gaslit Nation next week! Until then, stay strong! 

If you're in London, details for the Ukrainian Institute event this Friday: https://ukrainianinstitute.org.uk/events/explaining-the-holodomor-to-global-audiences/

Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, ad-free episodes, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.

• UN relief chief urged global support this week as Israeli legislation threatens aid to Palestinian refugees.
• California education chief vows to seek state solutions amid concerns over potential federal funding cuts.
• Immigrant rights groups rally in Fresno, vowing resistance to Trump’s mass deportation plans.
• San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie pledges unity, prioritizes public safety, and vows government accountability after defeating London Breed.
• Santa Clara County leaders pledge commitment to community interests amid GOP threats of deportation and civil rights rollbacks.

The post UN relief chief urged global support this week as Israeli legislation threatens aid to Palestinian refugees – November 8, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

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

“Unfortunately, Turkey seems to be following the regional trend of establishing a judicial tool for demonizing and censoring independent journalists and researchers who work with foreign partners or receive foreign funding,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Despite the reassurances offered by government officials, there are numerous examples of severe violations against the freedom of the media in neighboring countries that have passed similar laws in recent years present. Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly should vote against this law in order to not tarnish the country’s already problematic press freedom record.”

The Turkish government first introduced the law in parliament in May but then shelved it until last week over intense criticism from the opposition parties and civil society. The proposed law introduces a new crime “against the security or political interests of the state” and carries a prison sentence of three to seven years for committing a crime “against the security or internal or external political interests of the state in line with the strategic interests or instructions of a foreign state or organization.”

Turkey’s Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said last week the law aims to combat actual espionage, and would not be used broadly to punish “anyone doing research in Turkey.” 

Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia recently passed similar “foreign agent” laws, which have been used to silence critical outlets.

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

The post Media Literacy Week: Guide to Fake News and Voices from the Frontlines appeared first on Project Censored.

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

As New York City’s Climate Week begins, we speak to environmental justice activist Kumi Naidoo, the former head of Greenpeace International and Amnesty International and now the president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, about his work to end the use of fossil fuels, the leading driver of climate change. Naidoo calls for “urgency and the fastest withdrawal” from the world’s dependence on fossil fuel companies, slamming the “arrogance,” “control” and “impunity” of their profit-maximizing CEOs. Naidoo is from South Africa, which brought the genocide case against Israel to the International Criminal Court, and he has joined other climate activists in linking the climate justice and antiwar movements. “We have to recognize many of the struggles we face are very intersecting and very connected.”

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

The roadmap will be released at a panel during Food Day at Climate Week NYC and includes more than 100 policy recommendations to reduce food and agriculture emissions, harm, and inequity. It comes at a time when experts agree that global emissions from animal production must decline by 50% by 2030 to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.

“There’s a growing movement uniting against industrial animal agriculture’s exploitation of workers, animals and the environment,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The roadmap provides direction on stopping the global food system from driving us toward climate catastrophe.”

The roadmap was coproduced by more than 50 contributors. It represents a shared vision for transformation away from industrial animal agriculture and calls on global leaders to take action on three key levers of change for a just transition: strengthening food system governance, promoting agroecological practices, and shifting toward diets with planetary and social boundaries.

The pathways can be tailored to local and regional contexts, taking into account local legislation, cultural sensitivities, community-based solutions, meat consumption and reduction narratives, the role of plant-based diet shifts, and how entrenched industrial animal agriculture is in a given region. Efforts are already underway in Nigeria, Kenya, Togo, Southeast Asia, and the United States to create localized roadmaps.

“Industrial animal agriculture is exacting a heavy toll on animals, ecosystems, our health, and our communities. It is a system that profits from the exploitation of billions of animals, millions of workers, and our limited natural resources,” said Cameron Harsh, US director of programs at World Animal Protection. “Its only beneficiaries are the immensely powerful meat, seafood, and dairy companies who wield incredible influence over political processes. We must put ourselves on a clear pathway away from factory farming before it’s too late.”

The roadmap will be launched to a U.S. audience on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 2-3 p.m. at a Food Day panel during Climate Week NYC. More information about the panel is available here.

Industrial animal agriculture is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, a leading driver of climate change, habitat loss, water pollution and pesticide use, and a significant source of animal suffering. Food production contributes about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution from industrial agriculture harms the most vulnerable communities.

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

In her best-selling novel Speak, young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson wrote, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” Since the American Library Association (ALA) and Association of American Publishers helped launch Banned Books Week (BBW) 42 years ago on the heels of the Supreme Court Pico case, that dysfunctional family of censorship has unfortunately grown significantly. Across the United States, the past several years has brought a staggering increase in book challenges, bans, and other attacks on the right to read and academic freedom, but there are many signs of hope which BBW celebrates.

On today’s program we welcome the new president of ALA, Cindy Hohl. We discuss the latest report just released from ALA on the state of the right to read with some hopeful notes. Then we’re joined by BBW Youth Honorary Chair Julia Garnett about how young people are on the front lines of censorship battles in schools and they are fighting back and winning, as we hear from the interim director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, attorney Jeff Trexler, about a history of attacks on comics and other literature, and we’ll learn of some recent legal victories, but also of challenges to come. Project Censored has been a proud supporter and part of the Banned Books Week Coalition for more than a decade.

The post Freed Between the Lines: A Banned Books Week Special appeared first on Project Censored.

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

In her best-selling novel Speak, young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson wrote, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” Since the American Library Association (ALA) and Association of American Publishers helped launch Banned Books Week (BBW) 42 years ago on the heels of the Supreme Court Pico case, that dysfunctional family of censorship has unfortunately grown significantly. Across the United States, the past several years has brought a staggering increase in book challenges, bans, and other attacks on the right to read and academic freedom, but there are many signs of hope which BBW celebrates.

On today’s program we welcome the new president of ALA, Cindy Hohl. We discuss the latest report just released from ALA on the state of the right to read with some hopeful notes. Then we’re joined by BBW Youth Honorary Chair Julia Garnett about how young people are on the front lines of censorship battles in schools and they are fighting back and winning, as we hear from the interim director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, attorney Jeff Trexler, about a history of attacks on comics and other literature, and we’ll learn of some recent legal victories, but also of challenges to come. Project Censored has been a proud supporter and part of the Banned Books Week Coalition for more than a decade.

The post Freed Between the Lines: A Banned Books Week Special appeared first on Project Censored.

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

What exactly is the U.N. General Assembly?

Each year since 1945, at the close of World War II, the U.N. General Assembly has brought together world leaders to discuss important global issues. Leaders from all 193 member states are permitted a chance to speak, but not all show up, and many send deputies.

These senior officials appear before the assembly to share their country’s perspective – and sometimes to take part in diplomatic wrangling on the sidelines.

This year is poised for a focus on issues ranging from the expanding conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine to pandemic preparedness and the risk of microbial resistance to antibiotics.

Does anything else happen?

While the speeches are the most visible part of the UNGA, a lot of the work happens behind the scenes. Diplomats hold private meetings on the sidelines to seek compromises on issues where their governments disagree and cooperation on issues where they share interests.

A major theme this year is combating antimicrobial resistance, with a number of side events focussing on the problem. Health officials have repeatedly raised alarms about the overuse of antibiotics, which is leading to strains of bacteria that current medications can’t fight.

The conflicts in Europe and the Middle East are also expected to dominate the sidelines, as well as the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with many countries still struggling.

How has the U.N. General Assembly changed?

In its earliest years, the UNGA was a key event for landmark speeches by major world leaders and for real progress toward major multilateral deals. Recently, though, its ability to act as a forum for the world’s big problems has been diluted as multilateralism has receded.

Global decision-making is now dominated by smaller and exclusive groups who also meet regularly – such as the Group of Seven or Group of 20. Even bilateral meetings between the world’s major powers are often viewed as more influential in terms of impact.

Nevertheless, the UNGA remains one of the few opportunities where leaders from around the world come to the same place at the same time. This offers an unmatched chance for diplomatic engagement, especially for leaders of smaller countries who are often forgotten.

At an event in Washington last week, Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, said UNGA was best described as “diplomatic speed-dating on steroids” – but also “the world’-s finest forum and venue for getting work done on the margins.”

Who are the main speakers to watch this year?

U.S. President Joe Biden (Tuesday morning session)

Biden will make one of his final speeches on the global stage before he cedes power to his vice president, Kamala Harris, or predecessor, Donald Trump, depending on who wins the Nov. 5 election. Expect a focus on U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, alliances in the Indo-Pacific (with an eye to China) and the fight for democracy.

Vietnamese President To Lam (Tuesday afternoon/evening session)

Lam will give his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly since his recent rise to power. He previously headed the Ministry of Public Security, which has been criticized for spearheading Vietnam’s rampant human rights abuses and imprisonment and repression of government critics. Lam’s speech will offer a glimpse into Hanoi’s evolving foreign policy as it balances ties with Washington and Beijing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Wednesday morning)

Zelensky is expected to appeal to the international community for continued support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 invasion. He is likely to focus on an appeal for more military and economic aid, but the issue of North Korea’s arms supplies to Russia may also get some time. Watch also for any mention of China, which has provided support to Russia – but which Zelensky has been at times reluctant to call out.

Bangladeshi Interim Prime Minister Mohammad Younus (Friday morning)

Younus will deliver his first global speech since taking power after the the long-serving and authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from office last month. As Bangladesh undergoes a transitional period ahead of elections, Younus’ speech is likely to focus on stability and development in his country, which is one of the world’s most densely populated and climate vulnerable countries. 

Pacific Island leaders (Friday)

This year could bring even more attention to China’s expanding influence in the Pacific region, which has irked officials in Washington.

At last year’s UNGA, then-Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare delivered an acerbic – and incredibly overtime – speech criticizing the United States and praising China. Sogavare this year passed power to his foreign minister, Jeremiah Manale, whose speech Friday evening will be one to watch for both its tone and content.

Also worth watching on Friday will be Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape – his government is reportedly negotiating a controversial security deal with Beijing similar to the one the Solomon Islands inked last year that drew a global focus to the region.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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

The aim, apparently, is to empower the winner of November’s presidential election to get off to a running start in Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing.

Speaking at a Hudson Institute event in New York in July, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said that one of his main goals was to have “a significant package of China related legislation signed into law by the end of this year.”

“We’ll build our sanctions package, punish the Chinese military firms that provide material support to Russia and Iran,” Johnson said, “and we’ll consider options to restrict outbound investments.” 

It’s unclear which ones will make it to the floor of the House for debate – or if the Senate will even consider them. To become law, both houses of Congress need to approve bills by a majority of votes. 

The president then needs to either sign the bill into law or veto it. A two-thirds majority of both houses is needed to override a veto.

What are the bills?

A laundry list of bills introduced to the House over 2023 and 2024 have been put forward for consideration, with the Republican leadership of the chamber saying they will aim to pass a bulk of the bills in a single package vote by suspending the normal rules for proceedings.

Some of the more prominent bills include:

• The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act, which would enable the president to close Hong Kong’s de facto consulates in the United States if the city’s government cannot prove its autonomy from Beijing.
• The Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act, which would create a China-focussed unit within the Department of Justice’s national security division.
• The End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act, which would prohibit electric cars with Chinese-made batteries or other components from eligibility for lucrative tax credits introduced by the Biden administration this year.
• The No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, which would require two-thirds of the Senate to approve any pandemic measures negotiated within the World Health Organization, due to fears of Chinese influence there.
• The Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries, which would limit the ability of Chinese people and companies to purchase farmland in America, citing food security concerns.
• The DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, which would ban funding from the Department of Homeland Security to universities and colleges that accept grants from the Chinese government.

Besides those, also apparently up for votes will be the Countering CCP Drones Act, the No Foreign Election Interference Act, the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, the Economic Espionage Prevention Act, the Chinese Currency Accountability Act, and the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act.

In his speech in New York, the House speaker also flagged the possibility of a bill to close the “de minimis” loophole in U.S. trade. 

Critics say that the loophole enables Chinese online fashion retailers like Shein and Temu to ship clothing allegedly made with Uyghur slave labor directly to the front doors of American consumers.

However, no such legislation has yet been put on the table. A bill targeting U.S. outbound investment in China, which was also promised by Johnson in July, also does not appear to be on the agenda.

Why is it all being done in one week?

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is a Republican from Louisiana, told Fox News that the aim was to highlight congressional action on China, which has been a focus of the current Congress.

U.S. lawmakers from across the partisan divide have zeroed in on China as a rare area of agreement in an otherwise polarized political sphere, accusing Beijing of representing a national security threat.

“We wanted to combine them all into one week so that you had a real sharp focus on the fact that we need to be aggressive in confronting the threat that China poses,” Scalise told Fox, explaining that he hoped to attract “real bipartisan support for a number of these.”

“They're all bills that should be very bipartisan, because there are things that China is doing right now that are direct threats to our country's national security,” he said, “and if we get strong bipartisan votes, you have a higher chance of getting through the Senate.”

Related stories

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US intelligence: Beijing may try to influence 2024 election

Will the bills become law?

The Republicans, who control a majority of the 435 seats in the House, have the numbers alone to pass the package of “China Week” bills on their own, but even then they will likely be joined by some like-minded Democrats in sending the bills to the Senate.

However, if all the bills are passed by the end of this week, it would leave the famously slow-moving Senate only two weeks to consider them.

More importantly, the House and the Senate also have to pass a bill to fund the government after Sept. 30, which is a day after both chambers head back into a monthslong recess ahead of the Nov. 5 elections.

Democrats and Republicans are already split on the proposals to keep funding going through to next year, which – if history is any guide – will likely draw the majority of their focus over the next three weeks.

Still, some of the bills could eventually be shoehorned into the mammoth defense appropriations bill typically passed by Congress in December of each year – importantly, this year, after the elections.

What does China say?

As might be expected, Beijing isn’t terribly happy about being declared the focus of proceedings in the first week back of Congress.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia that the pieces of legislation proposed as part of “China Week” were all politically motivated and intended to provide lawmakers with evidence of their tough stances on China. 

“If passed, it will cause serious interference to China-U.S. relations and mutually beneficial cooperation, and will inevitably damage the U.S.'s own interests, image and credibility,” Liu said in an email.

“The so-called ‘China Week’ and the China-related bills are full of Cold War thinking and zero-sum game concepts, exaggerating the ‘China threat,’ inciting strategic competition and even confrontation with China, clamoring for a ‘new Cold War’ and ‘decoupling,’” he added. 

“This is new McCarthyism in the U.S. Congress, manipulating China issues and hyping up Sino-U.S. relations in the U.S. election year.”

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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

“By arresting journalists Khaled Mamdouh and Ashraf Omar and subjecting them to enforced disappearance, the Egyptian regime has once again demonstrated its shameful commitment to targeting journalists and violating their basic human rights,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “It is time to break Egypt’s longstanding pattern and release Mamdouh and Omar, dropping all charges against them.”

Egyptian security forces have systematically used enforced disappearance—characterized as a state-sponsored arrest or abduction followed by a lack of acknowledgment of the person’s fate or whereabouts—to target journalists and human rights defenders, who are often mistreated prior to being presented for charges.

Security authorities arrested Omar early Monday morning at his apartment in the October Gardens neighborhood in Giza, and took him to an unknown location.

Human rights lawyer Mahienour El-Massry told Al-Manassa that she went to the Sixth of October Police Station, but they denied his presence or arrest. Al-Manassa and the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate called on the public prosecutor to reveal Omar’s whereabouts and any charges.

Security forces arrested Mamdouh at his home in Mokattam, a southern plateau in the capital, Cairo, on Tuesday, July 16, and confiscated his laptop. Security forces took Mamdouh to an undisclosed location, where he was forcibly disappeared for five days.

Security forces presented Mamdouh to prosecuting authorities on Sunday, where he was detained for 15 days pending investigation into charges of joining and funding a terrorist organization and spreading false news.

CPJ’s email to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Mamdouh and Omar’s arrest and charges did not receive an immediate response.

Separately in June and July, the Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution repeatedly renewed the detention of freelance reporter Yasser Abu Al-Ela, pending an investigation into charges of joining a terrorist organization, committing a financing crime, and publishing false news.

Abu Al-Ela said at a June 15 meeting with the prosecution that during the 50 days of his enforced disappearance, he was subjected to “physical and psychological torture.” His wife, Naglaa Fathi, was detained and charged after filing several complaints with Egyptian authorities after her husband disappeared.

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

The post United Auto Workers Put 32-Hour Work Week on the Agenda appeared first on Project Censored.

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

As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948.

• READ MORE: As Israel bombs Gaza, sirens echo in West Bank marking 76 years since Nakba
• Fiji abstains from new UN vote on Palestinian membership bid
• 1000 protest in Auckland over Israel’s war on Gaza, honour Nakba victims
• Other War on Gaza reports

This was when Israeli militias slaughtered more than 15,000 people, perpetrated more than 70 massacres and occupied more than three quarters of Palestine, with 750,000 of the Palestinian population forced into becoming refugees from their own land.

The Nakba was a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing followed by the destruction of hundreds of villages, to prevent the return of the refugees — similar to what is being wrought now in Gaza.

The Nakba lies at the heart of 76 years of injustice for the Palestinians — and for the latest injustice, the seven-month long war on Gaza.

Participants told through their stories, poetry and songs by candlelight, they would not forget 1948 — “and we will not forget the genocide under way in Gaza.”

Photographs: David Robie

Nakba Day vigil in Tāmaki Makaurau in Aotearoa 2024

1 of 12

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

A National Union of Workers (NUW) official is hopeful Fiji Water employees who have been on strike for almost a week will return to work shortly.

Last Tuesday, a group of workers for Fiji Water went on strike over pay disputes at the multi-million dollar US-owned company’s water bottling plant in Yaqara and the Naikabula depot in Lautoka.

NUW’s industrial relations officer Mererai Vatege said the parties were currently working on a resolution.

• READ MORE: Fiji Water committed to resolving issues with striking workers

“There have been some developments, the parties are currently talking,” Vatege said.

“We’re very hopeful and positive that this will be resolved soon.”

Vatege said the NUW met with Ministry of Labour officials on Thursday and are now awaiting a response from Fiji Water.

However, she was unable to give a date when she expected the matters to be resolved by.

Talks broke down last month
The employees have continued their strike, holding signs with messages calling for pay increases and working conditions.

Talks broke down between Fiji Water and workers on April 8.

The workers claim the company has failed pay owed overtime and have not made income adjustments to inflation, along with other pay related issues.

Fiji Water employees strike.           Viudeo: RNZ Pacific Waves

RNZ Pacific have requested comment from Fiji Water but have not had a response.

However, in a statement last Wednesday, a company spokesperson told Fijian media it was regrettable workers had engaged in a strike.

“The decision to strike is also unlawful because these issues have been submitted to the Ministry of Employment, which has not yet decided on the dispute,” the spokesperson said.

“Fiji Water takes great pride in being one of the best employers in Fiji and operating one of the most advanced and safest plants in the world.”

Some of ‘highest benefits’
The spokesperson said the company provided some of the highest and best benefits in Fiji, including a 13.5 percent wage increase in 2022.

They said recent offers to the union equal an additional 17 percent pay increase for hourly-paid workers and a new roster pattern that would give workers 17 more days off each year.

“Instead, the union has elected to engage in a strike that harms workers who will not receive wages while on strike,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the company would remain committed to resolving the contested issues with the union.

Vatege said employees wanted to return to work but were united in strike action.

She said they would only return once an agreement was signed between the union and the employer.

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.

About 1000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand gathered for a two-hour rally in central Auckland today and marched down Queen Street and returned to Aotea Square to mark the Nakba three days early — and protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

They called for an immediate ceasefire in the war as the death toll passed more than 35,000 people killed — mostly women and children – and chanted “hands off Rafah” as the Israeli military intensified their attack on the southern part of the besieged enclave.

Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) also deployed tanks in northern Gaza months after claiming that they had “dismantled” the resistance force Hamas in the area.

• READ MORE: ‘Madness’: Palestinians forced to flee amid Israeli offensive across Gaza
• The Nakba did not start or end in 1948
• Other War on Gaza reports

For the past seven months, protesters have staged rallies across New Zealand every week at more than 25 different towns and locations and they have rarely been reported by the country’s news media.

Ironically, today was also marked as Mother’s Day and many protesters carried placards and banners mourning the mothers and children killed in the seven-month war, such as “Every 15 min a Palestinian child dies”, “Israel/USA, how many kids did you kill today”, “Decolonise your mind — stand with Palestine”, and “Stop the genocide”.

Some protesters carried photographs of named children killed in the war, honouring their short and tragic lives, such as 13-year-old Hala Abu Sada, who “had a passion for the arts – she made educational and entertaining videos for deaf children”.

“Hala dreamed of becoming a singer.”

The Nakba – ‘ethnic cleansing’
Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world, numbering about 12.4 million, mark the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society in 1948, reports Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian experience of dispossession and loss of a homeland is 76 years old this year.

On that day, the State of Israel came into being. The creation of Israel was a violent process that entailed the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state — the wishes of the Zionist movement.

Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population were forced out of their homeland and made refugees beyond the borders of the state.

Zionist forces seized more than 78 percent of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 villages and cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.

The current resolution does not give Palestinians full membership, but recognises them as qualified to join, and it gives Palestine more participation and some rights within the UNGA.

Thank you to the peoples of the world, nations, & majority of States who voted for Palestinian self-determination, for Palestinian existence & future. Thank you for standing for humanity, for the UN Charter, & for freedom & justice. Onwards, until 194th Member pic.twitter.com/H15egK4zwj

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) May 10, 2024

Overwhelming UN vote backs Palestine
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly voted to support a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

Memberships can only be decided by the UN Security Council, and last month, the US vetoed a bid for full membership.

The current resolution does not give Palestinians full membership, but recognises them as qualified to join, and it gives Palestine more participation and some rights within the UNGA.

Voting yes for the resolution were 143 countries, including three UN Security Council permanent members, China, France and Russia and also Australia, New Zealand and Timor-Leste.

Nine countries voted against, with four Pacific nations, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea among those joining Israel and the US.

Twenty five countries abstained, including UNSC permanent member United Kingdom and three Pacific countries, Fiji, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

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

The number of killings has more than tripled in the last week, ahead of the official start of conscription, which the junta has said will take place in April. On March 23, RFA reported a total of six such killings.

The junta enacted the “People’s Military Service Law” on Feb. 10 to replenish its military ranks after months of mounting losses and surrenders to insurgents in Myanmar’s three-year civil war.

In the weeks since the announcement, youths in many cities have fled abroad or to rebel-controlled territories to avoid the draft, refusing to fight for the military that seized control of the country in a February 2021 coup d’etat.

RFA has received reports of forced recruitment and officials compiling lists of residents of fighting age, as well as draft lotteries to select who will serve.

But rebel forces are fighting back against those doing the junta’s bidding, according to sources who spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

As of Tuesday, at least 17 village- and township-level general administration officials and other related personnel, including clerks and heads of 100 households, have been assassinated in Bago, Magway, Sagaing and Mandalay regions, as well as Rakhine, Mon and Kachin states, sources told RFA Burmese.

When asked about the killings, an administrative officer in Yangon region’s South Dagon township said there had been no resistance to recruitment in his ward, which had been implemented through a lottery last week.

He suggested that only “corrupt officials” had been targeted after accepting bribes to keep some draft-eligible youth out of the selection process, while “those who worked transparently have remained unharmed.”

List of victims grows

The earliest instance of an official being killed for their role in military recruitment took place on Feb. 20, when an administrator for Shin Thabyay Pin village in Magway’s Taungdwingyi township named Nan Win was found dead. 

Members of the local anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, claimed responsibiliity, saying he was killed after pressuring residents to join military training.

On March 18, members of the Salin Township PDF shot and killed Myint Htoo, the administrator of Pu Khat Taing village in Magway’s Salin township, as he called on residents to enlist for military service with a loudspeaker, according to sources in the township.

The following day, unidentified attackers killed Maung Pu, the administrator of Mandalay region’s Wundwin township, while he worked to recruit soldiers for the junta, township residents said. Details of the attack were not immediately available.

On March 20, Tin Win Khaing, the administrative officer of Oke Shit Kone village in Magway’s Yenangyaung township, and his clerk San Naing, were also killed.

On March 22 and 24, Mya Mye Nyein, a junior clerk at the General Administration Office in Sagaing’s Shwebo township, and Nan Nwe Oo, the administrator of Shwebo’s Ward No. 4, were shot dead.

Both had distributed leaflets calling on people to join the military and were deeply involved in the recruitment process, said a resident of Shwebo, who identified himself as Oat Aaw and claimed that a guerrilla group known as Shwebo Ar Mann had carried out the assassinations.

Rebels issue warnings

San Lwin, the administrator of Taung Ka Lay village in Mon’s Kyaikhto township, was also shot dead on his way to work on March 24. He had handed over a list of local draft-eligible residents to township officials, a leader of the anti-junta Kyaikhto Revolution Force told RFA.

“We have issued a notice to local administrative officials instructing them not to cause harm to the people, and not to force youths into the military, in accordance with the junta's order,” the rebel leader said. “If they don’t follow our instructions, we will take action against them."

The PDF issued a similar warning in the third week of March, stating that ward members from various regions and states would be “punished appropriately” if they forcibly pressured people to serve in the military.

Political commentator Than Soe Naing said he expects the killings will continue unless the junta halts its implementation of the military service law.

"The public’s anger was clearly sparked by the junta’s decision to enact the law,” he said.

The public backlash has also prompted some administrators to resign, saying they won’t be able to comply with the junta’s order.

Last week, 21 administrators in Rakhine’s Thandwe township collectively resigned, accounting for more than one-third of the heads of Thandwe’s 62 village-tracts. Similar resignations have taken place in Yangon region’s Thanlyin and Sanchaung townships, and Bago region’s Nat Than Kwin village.

Blazes in Ayeyarwady

Buildings being used in the junta’s recruitment drive have also burned under mysterious circumstances in Ayeyarwady region’s Hinthada and Yegyi townships in recent days, according to residents.

On Sunday, the rear of an administrative office in Hinthada’s Ka Naung Su ward caught fire at approximately 8 pm, while a draft lottery was underway, a resident of the ward told RFA.

While some residents attributed the fire to faulty electrical wiring, others suggested it had been set by someone opposing the recruitment drive.

On March 19, the residence of Administrator Kyaw Moe in Hinthada’s Oke Hpo Chaung village, was set on fire while he was recruiting for the military in the front yard, according to a resident of the village.

Damage was minimal, as those present acted quickly to put out the blaze, he added.

The same day, the house of a Yegyi ward administrator was also destroyed by fire, although details remained unclear.

Residents characterized the fires as “arson” and said the incidents were motivated by anger over the implementation of the conscription law.

Attempts by RFA to contact Khin Maung Kyi, the junta’s social affairs minister and spokesperson for Ayeyarwady region, went unanswered Wednesday.

Mandalay recruitment drive

Meanwhile, residents say there has been a push for recruitment in central Myanmar’s Mandalay region, with administrative authorities actively compiling military service rosters and threatening punishment for those who resist.

Recruitment activities were most prevalent in Mandalay’s Chan Mya Thazi and Maha Aung Mye townships, they said, and census-taking is underway throughout the region.

Residents also reported that authorities manning checkpoints along roads connecting Mandalay to Sagaing region have intensified their scrutiny of passing vehicles, looking for anyone trying to escape the draft.

A resident of Mandalay said the junta is issuing threats of arrest and punishment for entire families of youths evading service.

"There are ominous warnings of apprehending family members of those aged between 18 and 35 on [recruitment] lists, should they refuse military service," she said.

A resident of Patheingyi township said local administrators have openly told people to pay them money in order to avoid service.

"It is said that if we don't want to go, we can give them money to arrange for a replacement,” she said.

Thein Htay, the junta’s minister of economy and spokesperson for Mandalay region, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The military has said that it will enlist draft-eligible citizens in batches of 5,000 monthly, beginning in April.

According to data released last week by independent research group Data for Myanmar, the junta had commenced implementation of the military service law in 172 townships nationwide as of March 22.

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

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

European Union foreign ministers in Brussels provided strong public backing to the exiled widow of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, vowing additional sanctions against Moscow to hold it responsible for the death of her husband in a remote Arctic prison.

"The EU will spare no efforts to hold Russia's political leadership and authorities to account, in close coordination with our partners; and impose further costs for their actions, including through sanctions," the EU’s top diplomats said in a joint statement following their meeting with Yulia Navalnaya on February 19.

Navalnaya, who has become a vocal Kremlin critic in her own right over recent years, vowed to "continue our fight for our country" as she traveled to Brussels to seek backing from the 27-member bloc, whose leaders have expressed outrage over Navalny's death in custody last week and Russian authorities' refusal to allow his mother and lawyers to see his body.

"Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Aleksei Navalny," Yulia Navalnaya said in a two-minute video post on X, formerly Twitter.

Navalnaya, who along with their two children lives abroad, was already in Munich for a major international security conference when reports emerged on February 16 that Navalny had died at a harsh Arctic prison known as Polar Wolf, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for alleged extremism that Navalny and Kremlin critics say was heaped atop other convictions to punish him for his anti-corruption and political activities.

"I will continue the work of Aleksei Navalny," Navalnaya said. "Continue to fight for our country. And I invite you to stand beside me."

She called for supporters to battle the Kremlin with "more fury than ever before" and said she longed to live in "a free Russia."

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell emerged from that meeting expressing "the EU's deepest condolences" and confidence that Russian President "Vladimir Putin & his regime will be held accountable for the death of [Aleksei Navalny]."

"As [Navalnaya] said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin," Borrell said, adding that the bloc's support is assured "to Russia's civil society & independent media."

An ally of Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, said in a post on Telegram that an investigator had stated that tests on Navalny's body will take 14 days to complete.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis insisted earlier that the EU must "at least" sharpen sanctions against Russia following Navalny's death.

The EU has already passed 12 rounds of Russian sanctions and is working on a 13th with the two-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaching later this week, with member Germany pressing for more.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said Berlin would propose new sanctions on Moscow at the meeting with Navalnaya, but the outcome remained unclear.

The German Foreign Office said it was summoning the Russian ambassador over Navalny's death to "condemn this in the strongest possible terms and expressly call for the release of all those imprisoned in Russia for political reasons."

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's office called separately for clarification on the circumstances and for Russian authorities to release Navalny's body to the family.

The Kremlin -- which for years avoided mention of Navalny by name -- broke its official silence on February 19 by saying an investigation was ongoing and would be carried out according to Russian law. It said the question of when his body would be handed over was not for the Kremlin to decide.

It called Western outcry over the February 16 announcement of Navalny's death "absolutely unacceptable."

The Latvia-based Novaya Gazeta Europe said on February 18 that police were securing a local morgue in the Siberian city of Salekhard as speculation swirled around the location of the 47-year-old Navalny's body and whether it showed signs of abuse.

Navalny is the latest on a significant list of Putin foes who have ended up dead under suspicious circumstances abroad or at home, where the Kremlin has clamped down ruthlessly on dissent and free speech since the Ukraine invasion began.

Political analyst Yekaterina Shulman told Current Time that Navalny "possessed incomparable moral capital" in Russia but also well beyond its borders.

"He possessed fame -- all Russian and worldwide," Shulman said. "He had moral authority [and] he had a long political biography. These are all things that cannot be handed down to anyone and cannot be acquired quickly."

She cited Navalny's crucial credibility and "political capital" built up through years of investigations of corruption, campaigning for elections, and organizing politically.

"Perhaps this apparent political assassination will become a rallying point not for the opposition -- the opposition is people who run for office to acquire mandates [and] we are not in that situation -- but for the anti-war community...inside Russia," Shulman said.

Navalny's family and close associates have confirmed his death in prison and have demanded his body be handed over, but authorities have refused to release it pending an investigation.

Mediazona and Novaya.gazeta Europe said Navalny’s body was being held at the district morgue in Salekhard, although officials reportedly told Navalny's mother otherwise after she traveled to the remote prison on February 17 and was denied access.

A former spokeswoman for Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, claimed Navalny's mother had been turned away again early on February 19.

Yarmysh tweeted that Russia's federal Investigative Committee had told his mother and lawyers that "the investigation into Navalny’s death had been extended. How much longer she will go is unknown. The cause of death is still 'undetermined.'"

"They lie, stall for time, and don't even hide it," she added.

The OVD-Info human rights group website showed more than 57,000 signatories demanding that the Investigative Committee return Navalny's body to his family.

WATCH: Court documents examined by RFE/RL reveal that medical care was repeatedly denied to inmates at the prison where Aleksei Navalny was held. In one case, this resulted in the death of an inmate. The revelation comes amid questions over how Navalny died and as his body has still not been handed over to his family.

The group noted that a procedural review process could allow authorities to keep the body for at least 30 days, or longer if a criminal case was opened.

Since the announcement of his death on February 16, Russian police have cordoned off memorial sites where people were laying flowers and candles to honor Navalny, and dispersed and arrested more than 430 suspected violators in dozens of locations.

Closely watched by police, mourners on February 19 continued to leave flowers at tributes in Moscow to honor Navalny. Initial reports suggested police in the capital did not intervene in the latest actions.

The Western response has been to condemn Putin and his administration, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying there is "no doubt" that Putin is to blame for Navalny's death.

The British and U.S. ambassadors laid tributes over the weekend at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to repression that has emerged as a site to honor Navalny.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said she was honoring "Navalny and other victims of political repression in Russia," adding, "His strength is an inspiring example. We honor his memory."

The French ambassador also visited one of the memorials.

With reporting by Reuters

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

The United States and Britain launched fresh retaliatory strikes against Iran-linked sites late on February 3, hitting 36 Huthi targets in Yemen as they followed through on threats to continue military action against groups that have attacked Western interests in the region.

A U.S. statement said the latest strikes were carried out by ships and warplanes, part of efforts to retaliate following a drone strike in Jordan last month that killed three American service members, an attack Washington blamed on Tehran and its allies operating in Syria and Iraq.

The statement said 13 different locations in Yemen were hit by U.S. F/A-18 jets from the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and by U.S. warships in the Red Sea firing Tomahawk missiles.

U.S. officials earlier said they believe air strikes on dozens of Iran-linked sites in Syria and Iraq late on February 2 were successful and U.S. allies expressed support, as Iran, Iraq, and Syria expressed anger amid concerns of widening conflict in the region.

U.S. allies expressed support for the move as Iran, Iraq, and Syria expressed anger amid concerns of widening conflict in the region.

Officials from U.S. allies Britain and Poland issued statements in support of the U.S. actions, citing Washington's right to respond to attacks and warning that Iran proxies were "playing with fire."

Tehran said it "strongly" condemns the air strikes.

Iraq said it summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Baghdad to protest.

Reports from Iraq and Syria suggested that around 40 people had been killed in strikes at seven locations, four in Syria and three in Iraq.

Baghdad said earlier that 16 troops of a state security body known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, which includes Iran-backed entities, had been killed. Earlier, it said the dead included civilians.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Andulrahman, said 23 guards at targeted sites had been killed.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement released shortly after the attacks that "our response began today," adding: "It will continue at times and places of our choosing."

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” he added.

A British government spokesperson on February 3 condemned alleged Iranian actions in the region as "destabilizing" and reiterated London's "steadfast" alliance with Washington.

"The U.K. and U.S. are steadfast allies," the spokesperson, quoted by Reuters, said. "We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks.

The spokesperson added: "We have long condemned Iran’s destabilizing activity throughout the region, including its political, financial, and military support to a number of militant groups."

Another NATO ally, Poland, also condemned Iran and the groups it allegedly sponsors.

"Iran's proxies have played with fire for months and years," Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said as he arrived for an EU meeting in Brussels, "and it's now burning them."

Iran, whose Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have extensive ties to some militias in the region, accused the United States of undermining stability.

"Last night's attack on Syria and Iraq is an adventurous action and another strategic mistake by the U.S. government, which will have no result other than intensifying tension and instability in the region," Naser Kanani, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani accused the U.S.-led military coalition in the region of threatening security and stability in his country and attacking its sovereignty.

His office said the casualties included some civilians among 16 dead and two dozen injured.

Sudani also rejected any suggestion that Washington had coordinated the air strikes with his government.

After a previous U.S. air strike in Baghdad, Sudani asked for the 2,000 or so U.S. troops in Iraq to be withdrawn -- a sensitive bilateral topic.

The Foreign Ministry of Syria called the U.S. actions a path to further conflict.

"What [the United States] committed has served to fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way," the ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States "did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes" but did not provide details. He said the attacks lasted about 30 minutes and included B-1 bombers that had flown from the United States.

Lieutenant General Douglas Sims of the U.S. Joint Staff was quoted as saying secondary explosions suggested the strikes had successfully hit weaponry. He also said that planners were aware anyone in those facilities was at risk.

"U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States," U.S. Central Command said, adding that it had struck "command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces."

U.S. officials have said that the deadly January 28 attack in Jordan carried the "footprints" of Tehran-sponsored Kataib Hizballah militia in Iraq and vowed to hold those responsible to account at a time and place of Washington’s choosing, most likely in Syria or Iraq.

On January 31, Kataib Hizballah extremists in Iraq announced a "suspension" of operations against U.S. forces. The group said the pause was meant to prevent "embarrassing" the Iraqi government and hinted that the drone attack had been linked to the U.S. support of Israel in the war in Gaza.

Biden has been under pressure from opposition Republicans to take a harder line against Iran following the Jordan attack, but said earlier this week that "I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said Tehran "will not start any war, but if anyone wants to bully us, they will receive a strong response."

The Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba militia in Iraq as saying "every action elicits a reaction" but also adding that "we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions." He said most of the sites bombed were "devoid of fighters and military personnel" at the time.

The clashes between U.S. forces and Iran-backed militia have come against the background of an intense four-month military campaign in Gaza Strip against the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group Hamas after a Hamas attack killed at least 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels hit in Yemen on February 3 have also waged attacks on international shipping in the region in what they call an effort to target Israeli vessels and demonstrate support for Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to his fifth round of crisis talks in the region from February 3-8, with visits reportedly planned to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank in an effort to promote a release of hostages taken by Hamas in its brutal October 7 raids.

With reporting by Reuters, the BBC, and AP

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

• The war in Ukraine will persist until the West realizes that a return to the previous world order is unattainable.
• In Iran, with parliamentary elections scheduled for March, the government is likely to face yet another challenge to its legitimacy.
• In Belarus, setbacks for Russia in Ukraine could prompt the Lukashenka regime to attempt to normalize relations with the West.
• While 2024 will see a rightward shift in the EU, it is unlikely to bring the deluge of populist victories that some are predicting.
• The vicious spiral for women in Afghanistan will only worsen.
• Peace between Armenia and its neighbors could set the stage for a Russian exit from the region.
• Hungary's upcoming leadership of the European Council could prove a stumbling block to the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine.
• Kyrgyzstan is on course to feel the pain of secondary sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if the West's patience runs out.

Here, then, are our correspondents' predictions for 2024. To find out more about the authors themselves, click on their bylines.

The Ukraine War: A Prolonged Stalemate

By Vitaliy Portnikov

In September 2022, Ukrainian generals Valeriy Zaluzhniy and Mykhaylo Zabrodskiy presciently warned that Russia's aggression against Ukraine would unfold into a protracted conflict. Fast forward 15 months, and the front line is effectively frozen, with neither Ukrainian nor Russian offensives yielding substantial changes.

As 2023 comes to a close, observers find themselves revisiting themes familiar from the previous year: the potential for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive, the extent of Western aid to Kyiv, the possibility of a "frozen conflict,” security assurances for Ukraine, and the prospects for its Euro-Atlantic integration ahead of a NATO summit.

It is conceivable that, by the close of 2024, we will still be grappling with these same issues. A political resolution seems elusive, given the Kremlin's steadfast refusal to entertain discussions on vacating the parts of Ukraine its forces occupy. Conversely, Ukraine’s definition of victory is the full restoration of its territorial integrity.

Even if, in 2024, one side achieves a military victory -- whether through the liberation of part of Ukraine or Russia seizing control of additional regions -- it won't necessarily bring us closer to a political resolution. Acknowledging this impasse is crucial, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on Ukraine is part of a broader agenda: a push to reestablish, if not the Soviet Empire, at least its sphere of influence.

For Ukraine, resistance to Russian aggression is about not just reclaiming occupied territories but also safeguarding statehood, political identity, and national integrity. Western support is crucial for Ukraine's survival and the restoration of its territorial integrity. However, this backing aims to avoid escalation into a direct conflict between Russia and the West on Russia's sovereign territory.

The war's conclusion seems contingent on the depletion of resources on one of the two sides, with Ukraine relying on continued Western support and Russia on oil and gas revenues. Hence, 2024 might echo the patterns of 2023. Even if external factors shift significantly -- such as in the U.S. presidential election in November -- we might not witness tangible changes until 2025.

Another potential variable is the emergence of major conflicts akin to the war in the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, this would likely signify the dissipation of Western resources rather than a shift in approaches to war.

In essence, the war in Ukraine will persist until the West realizes that a return to the previous world order is unattainable. Constructing a new world order demands unconventional measures, such as offering genuine security guarantees to nations victimized by aggression or achieving peace, or at least limiting the zone of military operations to the current contact line, without direct agreements with Russia.

So far, such understanding is lacking, and the expectation that Moscow will eventually grasp the futility of its ambitions only emboldens Putin. Consequently, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will endure, potentially spawning new, equally perilous local wars worldwide.

Iran: Problems Within And Without

By Hannah Kaviani

Iran has been dealing with complex domestic and international challenges for years and the same issues are likely to plague it in 2024. But officials in Tehran appear to be taking a “wait-and-see” approach to its lengthy list of multilayered problems.

Iran enters 2024 as Israel's war in Gaza continues and the prospects for a peaceful Middle East are bleak, with the situation exacerbated by militia groups firmly supported by Tehran.

Iran’s prominent role in supporting paramilitary forces in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen has also drawn the ire of the international community and will continue to be a thorn in the side of relations with the West.

Tehran has refused to cooperate with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear program, resulting in an impasse in talks with the international community. And with the United States entering an election year that could see the return of Donald Trump to the presidency, the likelihood of Tehran and Washington resuming negotiations -- which could lead to a reduction in sanctions -- is considered very low.

But Iran's problems are not limited to outside its borders.

The country’s clerical regime is still reeling from the massive protests that began in 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after her arrest for not obeying hijab rules. The aftershocks of the Women, Life, Freedom movement that emanated from her death were reflected in acts of civil disobedience that are likely to continue in 2024.

At the same time, a brutal crackdown continues as civil rights activists, students, religious minorities, and artists are being beaten, detained, and/or given harsh prison sentences.

With parliamentary elections scheduled for March, the government is likely to face yet another challenge to its legitimacy as it struggles with low voter turnout and general disinterest in another round of controlled elections.

Another critical issue Iranian officials must continue to deal with in 2024 is the devastated economy resulting from the slew of international sanctions because of its controversial nuclear program. After a crushing year of 47 percent inflation in 2023 (a 20-year high, according to the IMF), costs are expected to continue to rise for many foods and commodities, as well as real estate.

Iran’s widening budget deficit due to reduced oil profits continues to cripple the economy, with the IMF reporting that the current government debt is equal to three annual budgets.

With neither the international community nor the hard-line Tehran regime budging, most analysts see scant chances for significant changes in Iran in the coming year.

Belarus: Wider War Role, Integration With Russia Not In The Cards

By Valer Karbalevich

Belarus has been pulled closer into Moscow’s orbit than ever by Russia’s war in Ukraine -- but in 2024, it’s unlikely to be subsumed into the much larger nation to its east, and chances are it won’t step up its so-far limited involvement in the conflict in the country to its south.

The most probable scenario in Belarus, where the authoritarian Alyaksandr Lukashenka will mark 30 years since he came to power in 1994, is more of the same: No letup in pressure on all forms of dissent at home, no move to send troops to Ukraine. And while Russia’s insistent embrace will not loosen, the Kremlin will abstain from using Belarusian territory for any new ground attacks or bombardments of Ukraine.

But the war in Ukraine is a wild card, the linchpin influencing the trajectory of Belarus in the near term and beyond. For the foreseeable future, what happens in Belarus -- or to it -- will depend in large part on what happens in Russia’s assault on Ukraine.

Should the current equilibrium on the front persist and Western support for Ukraine persist, the likelihood is a continuation of the status quo for Belarus. The country will maintain its allegiance to Russia, marked by diplomatic and political support. Bolstered by Russian loans, Belarus's defense industry will further expand its output.

The Belarusian state will continue to militarize the border with Ukraine, posing a perpetual threat to Kyiv and diverting Ukrainian troops from the eastern and southern fronts. At the same time, however, Russia is unlikely to use Belarusian territory as a launching point for fresh assaults on Ukraine, as it did at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

If Russia wins or scores substantial victories -- if Ukraine is forced into negotiations on Moscow’s terms, for example, or the current front line comes to be considered the international border -- Lukashenka, consolidating his position within the country, will reap "victory dividends." But relations between Belarus and Russia are unlikely to change dramatically.

Potentially, Moscow could take major steps to absorb Belarus, diminishing its sovereignty and transforming its territory into a staging ground for a fresh assault on Kyiv. This would increase tensions with the West and heighten concerns about the tactical nuclear weapons Moscow and Minsk say Russia has transferred to Belarus. However, this seems unlikely due to the absence of military necessity for Moscow and the problems it could create on the global stage.

The loss of Belarusian sovereignty would pose a major risk for Lukashenka and his regime. An overwhelming majority of Belarusians oppose the direct involvement of Belarus in the war against Ukraine. This fundamental distinction sets Belarus apart from Russia, and bringing Belarus into the war could trigger a political crisis in Belarus -- an outcome Moscow would prefer to avoid.

If Russia loses the war or sustains significant defeats that weaken Putin, Lukashenka's regime may suffer economic and political repercussions. This could prompt him to seek alternative global alliances, potentially leading to an attempt to normalize relations with the West.

Russia, Ukraine, And The West: Sliding Toward World War III

By Sergei Medvedev

2024 will be a critical year for the war in Ukraine and for the entire international system, which is quickly unraveling before our eyes. The most crucial of many challenges is a revanchist, resentful, belligerent Russia, bent on destroying and remaking the world order. In his mind, President Vladimir Putin is fighting World War III, and Ukraine is a prelude to a global showdown.

Despite Western sanctions, Russia has consolidated its position militarily, domestically, and internationally in 2023. After setbacks and shocks in 2022, the military has stabilized the front and addressed shortages of arms, supplies, and manpower. Despite latent discontent, the population is not ready to question the war, preferring to stay in the bubble of learned ignorance and the lies of state propaganda.

Here are four scenarios for 2024:

Strategic stalemate in Ukraine, chaos in the international system: The West, relaxed by a 30-year “peace dividend,” lacks the vision and resolve of the 1980s, when its leaders helped bring about the U.S.S.R.’s collapse, let alone the courage of those who stood up to Nazi Germany in World War II. Putin’s challenge to the free world is no less significant than Hitler’s was, but there is no Roosevelt or Churchill in sight. Probability: 70 percent

Widening war, collapse or division of Ukraine: Russia could defend and consolidate its gains in Ukraine, waging trench warfare while continuing to destroy civilian infrastructure, and may consider a side strike in Georgia or Moldova -- or against Lithuania or Poland, testing NATO. A frontal invasion is less likely than a hybrid operation by “unidentified” units striking from Belarus, acts of sabotage, or unrest among Russian-speakers in the Baltic states. Other Kremlin operations could occur anywhere in the world. The collapse of Ukraine’s government or the division of the country could not be ruled out. Probability: 15 percent.

Russia loses in Ukraine: A military defeat for Russia, possibly entailing a partial or complete withdrawal from Ukraine. Consistent Western support and expanded supplies of arms, like F-16s or Abrams tanks, or a big move such as closing the skies over Ukraine, could provide for this outcome. It would not necessarily entail Russia’s collapse -- it could further consolidate the nation around Putin’s regime. Russia would develop a resentful identity grounded in loss and defeat -- and harbor the idea of coming back with a vengeance. Probability: 10 percent

Russia’s Collapse: A military defeat in Ukraine could spark social unrest, elite factional battles, and an anti-Putin coup, leading to his demotion or violent death. Putin’s natural death, too, could set off a succession struggle, causing chaos in a country he has rid of reliable institutions. While breakup into many regions is unlikely, the empire could crumble at the edges -- Kaliningrad, Chechnya, the Far East – like in 1917 and 1991. Russia’s nuclear weapons would be a big question mark, leading to external involvement and possible de-nuclearization. For all its perils, this scenario might provide a framework for future statehood in Northern Eurasia. Probability: 5 percent

EU: 'Fortress Europe' And The Ukraine War

By Rikard Jozwiak

2024 will see a rightward shift in the European Union, but it is unlikely to bring the deluge of populist victories that some are predicting since Euroskeptics won national elections in the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia and polled well in Austria and Germany.

The European Parliament elections in June will be the ultimate test for the bloc in that respect. Polls still suggest the two main political groups, the center-right European People's Party and the center-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, will finish on top, albeit with a smaller share of the vote. But right-wing populist parties are likely to fail once again to agree on the creation of a single political group, thus eroding their influence in Brussels.

This, in turn, is likely to prod more pro-European groups into combining forces again to divvy up EU top jobs like the presidencies of the European Commission, the bloc's top executive body, and the European Council, which defines the EU's political direction and priorities. Center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is widely tipped to get a second term, even though she might fancy NATO's top job as secretary-general. Charles Michel, on the other hand, will definitely be out as European Council president after serving the maximum five years.

While right-wing populists may not wield major influence in the horse-trading for those top jobs, they will affect policy going forward. They have already contributed to a hardening of attitudes on migration, and you can expect to hear more of the term "fortress Europe" as barriers go up on the EU's outer border.

The biggest question for 2024, however, is about how much support Brussels can provide Ukraine going forward. Could the "cost-of-living crisis" encourage members to side with Budapest to block financial aid or veto the start of de facto accession talks with that war-torn country? The smart money is still on the EU finding a way to green-light both those decisions in 2024, possibly by unfreezing more EU funds for Budapest.

Although it seems like a remote possibility, patience could also finally wear out with Hungary, and the other 26 members could decide to strip it of voting rights in the Council of the European Union, which amends, approves, and vetoes European Commission proposals -- essentially depriving it of influence. In that respect, Austria and Slovakia, Budapest's two biggest allies right now, are the EU countries to watch.

The one surefire guarantee in Europe isn't about the European Union at all but rather about NATO: After somehow failing to join as predicted for each of the past two years, against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden will become the transatlantic military alliance's 32nd member once the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments vote to ratify its accession protocol.

Caucasus: A Peace Agreement Could Be Transformative

By Josh Kucera

Could 2024 be the year that Armenia and Azerbaijan finally formally resolve decades of conflict?

This year, Azerbaijan effectively decided -- by force -- their most contentious issue: the status of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. With its lightning offensive in September, Azerbaijan placed Karabakh firmly under its control. Both sides now say they've reached agreement on most of their fundamental remaining issues, and diplomatic talks, after an interruption, appear set to resume.

A resolution of the conflict could transform the region. If Armenia and Azerbaijan made peace, a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement could soon follow. Borders between the three countries would reopen as a result, ending Armenia's long geographical isolation and priming the South Caucasus to take full advantage of new transportation projects seeking to ship cargo between Europe and Asia while bypassing Russia.

Peace between Armenia and its neighbors also could set the stage for a Russian exit from the region. Russian-Armenian security cooperation has been predicated on potential threats from Azerbaijan and Turkey. With those threats reduced, what's keeping the Russian soldiers, peacekeepers, and border guards there?

A Russian exit would be a messy process -- Moscow still holds many economic levers in Armenia -- but Yerevan could seek help from the United States and Europe to smooth any transition. Washington and Brussels have seemingly been waiting in the wings, nudging Armenia in their direction.

But none of this is likely to happen without a peace agreement. And while there don't seem to be any unresolvable issues remaining, there are mounting indications that Azerbaijan may not see it in its interests to make peace. Baku has gotten what it wanted most of all -- full control of Karabakh -- without an agreement. And maintaining a simmering conflict with Armenia could arguably serve Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev well, as it would allow him to continue to lean on a reliable source of public support: rallying against an Armenian enemy.

But perhaps the most conspicuous indication of a broader strategy is Aliyev's increasing invocation of "Western Azerbaijan" -- a hazily defined concept alluding to ethnic Azerbaijanis who used to live on the territory of what is now Armenia and their presumed right to return to their homes. It suggests that Azerbaijan might keep furthering its demands in hopes that Armenia finally throws in the towel, and each can accuse the other of intransigence.

Hungary: The Return Of Big Brother?

By Pablo Gorondi

Critics might be tempted to believe that Big Brother will be watching over Hungarians in 2024 like at no point since the fall of communism.

A new law on the Defense of National Sovereignty will allow the Office for the Defense of Sovereignty, which the law created, to investigate and request information from almost any group in Hungary that receives foreign funding. This will apply to civic groups, political parties, private businesses, media companies -- in fact, anyone deemed to be conducting activities (including "information manipulation and disinformation") in the interests of a foreign "body, organization, or person."

The law has been criticized by experts from the United Nations and the Council of Europe over its seemingly vague language, lack of judicial oversight, and fears that it could be used by the government "to silence and stigmatize independent voices and opponents."

The head of the Office for the Defense of Sovereignty should be nominated for a six-year term by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban and appointed by President Katalin Novak by February 1. This would allow the new authority to carry out investigations and present findings ahead of simultaneous elections to the European Parliament and Hungarian municipal bodies in early June -- possibly influencing their outcomes.

Asked by RFE/RL's Hungarian Service, some experts said fears of the new authority are overblown and that the government is more likely to use it as a threat hanging over opponents than as a direct tool for repression -- at least until it finds it politically necessary or expedient to tighten control.

On the international scene, meanwhile, Hungary will take over the Council of the European Union's six-month rotating presidency in July, a few weeks after voting to determine the composition of a new European Parliament.

MEPs from Orban's Fidesz party exited the center-right European People's Party bloc in 2021 and have not joined another group since then, although some observers expect them to join the more Euroskeptic and nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists.

Orban has for years predicted a breakthrough of more radical right-wing forces in Europe. But while that has happened in Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovakia, experts suggest that's not enough to fuel a significant shift in the European Parliament, where the center-right and center-left should continue to hold a clear majority.

Because of the June elections, the European Parliament's activities will initially be limited -- and its election of a European Commission president could prove complicated. Nevertheless, Orban has said in recent interviews that he wants to "fix the European Union" and that "we need to take over Brussels." So, Hungary's leadership may make progress difficult on issues that Orban opposes, like the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine or a possible reelection bid by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Stability And The 'Serbian World'

By Gjeraqina Tuhina and Milos Teodorovic

Serbia, once again, will be a key player in the region -- and its moves could significantly shape events in the Balkans over the next 12 months.

For over a decade, the dialogue to normalize relations between Serbia and its former province Kosovo has stymied both countries. Then, in February in Brussels and March in Ohrid, North Macedonia, European mediators announced a path forward and its implementation. There was only one problem: There was no signature on either side. Nine months later, little has changed.

Many eyes are looking toward one aspect in particular -- a renewed obligation for Pristina to allow for an "appropriate level of self-management" for the Serb minority in Kosovo. This also entails creating possibilities for financial support from Serbia to Kosovar Serbs and guarantees for direct communication of the Serb minority with the Kosovar government.

In October, EU mediators tried again, and with German, French, and Italian backing presented both parties with a new draft for an association of Serb-majority municipalities. Both sides accepted the draft. EU envoy to the region Miroslav Lajcak suggested in December that the Ohrid agreement could be implemented by the end of January. If that happened, it would mark a decisive step for both sides in a dialogue that began in 2011.

"The Serbian world" is a phrase launched a few years ago by pro-Russian Serbian politician Aleksandar Vulin, a longtime cabinet minister who until recently headed the Serbian Intelligence Service. It is not officially part of the agenda of either Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic or the government, but it underscores the influence that Serbia seeks to wield from Kosovo and Montenegro to Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But how Vucic chooses to exert the implicit ties to Serb leaders and nationalists in those countries could do much to promote stability -- or its antithesis -- in the Balkans in 2024.

Another major challenge for Vucic revolves around EU officials' request that candidate country Serbia harmonize its foreign policy with the bloc. So far, along with Turkey, Serbia is the only EU candidate that has not introduced sanctions on Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is unclear how far the Serbian president is willing to push back to foster ongoing good relations with Moscow.

But first, Serbia will have to confront the fallout from snap elections in December dominated by Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party but rejected by the newly united opposition as fraudulent. The results sparked nightly protests in the capital and hunger strikes by a half-dozen lawmakers and other oppositionists. A new parliament is scheduled to hold a session by the end of January 2024, and the margins are seemingly razor-thin for control of the capital, Belgrade.

Central Asia: Don't Write Russia Off Just Yet

By Chris Rickleton

Will the empire strike back? 2023 has been a galling year for Russia in Central Asia as it watched its traditional partners (and former colonies) widen their diplomatic horizons.

With Russia bogged down in a grueling war in Ukraine, Moscow has less to offer the region than ever before. Central Asia’s five countries have made the most of the breathing space, with their leaders holding landmark talks with U.S. and German leaders as French President Emmanuel Macron also waltzed into Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with multibillion-dollar investments.

And China has reinforced its dominant position in the region, while Turkey has also increased its influence.

But don’t write Russia off just yet.

One of Moscow’s biggest wins in the neighborhood this year was an agreement to supply Uzbekistan with nearly 3 billion cubic meters of gas every year, a figure that could increase.

Power deficits in Uzbekistan and energy-rich Kazakhstan are the most obvious short-term sources of leverage for Moscow over those important countries.

The coming year will likely bring more in terms of specifics over both governments’ plans for nuclear power production, with Russia fully expected to be involved.

And Moscow’s confidence in a region that it views as its near abroad will only increase if it feels it is making headway on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s hereditary succession has been expected for so long that people have stopped expecting it. Does that mean it is back on the cards for 2024? Probably not.

In 2016, Tajikistan passed a raft of constitutional changes aimed at cementing the ruling Rahmon family’s hold on power. Among them was one lowering the age to run for president from 35 to 30.

That amendment had an obvious beneficiary -- veteran incumbent Emomali Rahmon’s upwardly mobile son, Rustam Emomali. But Emomali is now 36 and, despite occupying a political post that makes him next in line, doesn’t look any closer to becoming numero uno.

Perhaps there hasn’t been a good time to do it.

From the coronavirus pandemic to a bloody crackdown on unrest in the Gorno-Badakhshan region and now the shadows cast by the Ukraine war, there have been plenty of excuses to delay the inevitable.

Turkmenistan

But perhaps Rahmon is considering events in Turkmenistan, where Central Asia’s first father-son power transition last year has ended up nothing of the sort. Rather than growing into the role, new President Serdar Berdymukhammedov is shrinking back into the shadow of his all-powerful father, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.

And this seems to be exactly how the older Berdymukhammedov wanted it, subsequently fashioning himself a post-retirement post that makes his son and the rest of the government answerable to him.

But Turkmenistan’s bizarre new setup begs a question: If you’re not ready to let it go, why not hold on a little longer?

Kyrgyzstan/Kazakhstan

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) in November, a former IMF economist argued that Kyrgyzstan would be the "perfect test case" for secondary sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Robin Brooks described the country as "small, not remotely systemically important, and very clearly facilitating trade diversion to Russia."

Official statistics show that countries in the Eurasian Economic Union that Moscow leads have become a “backdoor” around the Western-led sanctions targeting Russia. Exports to Kyrgyzstan from several EU countries this year, for example, are up by at least 1,000 percent compared to 2019.

Data for exports to Kazakhstan shows similar patterns -- with larger volumes but gentler spikes -- while investigations by RFE/RL indicate that companies in both Central Asian countries have forwarded “dual-use” products that benefit the Kremlin’s military machine.

Belarus is the only Russian ally to get fully sanctioned for its support of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine -- but will that change in 2024?

Central Asian governments will argue they have resisted Russian pressure to provide political and military support for the war. They might even whisper that their big friend China is much more helpful to Russia.

But the West’s approach of targeting only Central Asian companies actively flouting the regime is failing.

So, while Western diplomats continue to credit the region’s governments for their anti-evasion efforts, their patience may wear out. And if it does, Kyrgyzstan might be first to find out.

Afghanistan: The Vicious Spiral Will Worsen

By Malali Bashir

With little internal threat to Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and the failure of the international community to affect change in the hard-line Islamist regime’s policies, the Taliban mullahs’ control over the country continues to tighten.

And that regime’s continued restrictions on Afghan women -- their rights, freedom, and role in society -- signals a bleak future for them in 2024 and beyond.

Many observers say the move by the Taliban in December to only allow girls to attend religious madrasahs -- after shutting down formal schooling for them following the sixth grade -- is an effort by the Taliban to radicalize Afghan society.

“Madrasahs are not an alternative to formal schooling because they don’t produce doctors, lawyers, journalists, engineers, etc. The idea of [only] having madrasahs is…about brainwashing [people] to create an extremist society,” says Shukria Barakzai, the former Afghan ambassador to Norway.

The crackdown on women’s rights by the Taliban will also continue the reported uptick in domestic violence in the country, activists say.

Since the Taliban shut down Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission and Women Affairs Ministry, women find themselves with nowhere to turn to and find it extremely difficult to seek justice in Taliban courts.

With no justice for victims of abuse on the horizon, women’s rights activists say violence against women will continue with no repercussions for the perpetrators.

Barakzai argues that Taliban officials have already normalized domestic violence and do not consider it a crime.

“According to [a Taliban] decree, you can [confront] women if they are not listening to [your requests]. Especially a male member of the family is allowed to use all means to punish women if they refuse to follow his orders. That is basically a call for domestic violence,” she said.

The vicious spiral for women will only worsen.

Being banned from education, work, and public life, Afghan women say the resulting psychological impact leads to panic, depression, and acute mental health crises.

Although there are no official figures, Afghan mental health professionals and foreign organizations have noted a disturbing surge in female suicides in the two years since the Taliban came to power.

"If we look at the women who were previously working or studying, 90 percent suffer from mental health issues now," said Mujeeb Khpalwak, a psychiatrist in Kabul. "They face tremendous economic uncertainty after losing their work and are very anxious about their future."

Heather Bar, associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch, says, "It's not surprising that we're hearing reports of Afghan girls committing suicide. Because all their rights, including going to school, university, and recreational places have been taken away from them."

Promising young Afghan women who once aspired to contribute to their communities after pursuing higher education now find themselves with no career prospects.

“I do not see any future. When I see boys continuing their education, I lose all hope and wish that I was not born a girl,” a former medical student in Kabul told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

Despite immense global pressure, the Taliban seems adamant about maintaining its severe limits on women and reducing their role in society. This will result in a tragic future for the women of Afghanistan with no relief in sight.

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

Pyongyang stated in early December that it would convene the Central Committee Plenary Meeting of the Workers’ Party Korea later the month, without specifying exact dates. 

Given North Korea’s tradition of convening year-end meetings and announcing results on New Year’s Day to set the next year’s policies, the meeting is likely to take place this week. 

And analysts believe that Pyongyang is set to declare its continuation of the nuclear capability advancement plan, designed to justify its nuclear weapons acquisition.

Wang Son-taek, director of the Global Policy Center at the Han Pyeong Peace Institute, said that the meeting is expected to boast North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s strategy for what appears to be a new-Cold-War-diplomacy. 

“Ultimately, Kim Jong Un’s approach, particularly his emphasis on nuclear capabilities, which has allegedly positioned North Korea as a formidable military power on par with the United States, will likely be affirmed,” said Wang. “This stance is anticipated to be further developed and showcased in the meeting.”

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency has found that a new nuclear reactor is apparently operational at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex, suggesting the country’s acquisition of additional means to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons. 

The nuclear watchdog’s discovery came as the North’s official state media reported Kim Jong Un emphasizing the country’s implementation of its “assertive response strategy,” which includes the potential for a nuclear attack in retaliation against the allies. Meanwhile, the leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong issued a fresh warning that the allies should consider how Pyongyang might respond to what it perceives as their hostile actions.

“Furthermore, for 2024, it is anticipated that North Korea will maintain this approach while diplomatically working to build a tripartite alliance with China and Russia against the U.S., and also attempt to draw in more anti-U.S. nations into this coalition,” Wang said. 

“Special efforts are expected to be made to involve China more actively in this anti-America coalition. Compared to Russia, China has been relatively passive, but the inclusion of China is crucial for elevating this alliance to a higher level. Continuous efforts to achieve this will likely be evident,” the analyst added..

Next year marks the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s normalization of relations with China. North Korea may use the occasion to further address North Korea-China relations extensively to maximize its strategic benefits.

Cheon Seong-whun, former security strategy secretary at South Korea’s presidential office, believes the message may primarily articulate North Korea’s stance to the U.S. Since its 2017 declaration of nuclear capability, North Korea has aimed to confront Washington, using its nuclear power to undermine American political resolve and compel engagement with a nuclear-armed regime.

“This has resulted in a policy standoff between U.S. sanctions and North Korea’s nuclear armament, with North Korea seemingly gaining the upper hand, partly due to China and Russia creating loopholes in the sanctions. North Korea likely believes it is winning in this battle,” he said. 

“In its 2024 policy declaration, North Korea may proclaim the success of its nuclear strategy so far and announce plans to accelerate its nuclear capabilities,” Cheon noted, adding that this could include additional launching of reconnaissance satellites and ICBMs, while simultaneously pressuring for recognition of its status as a nuclear power. 

This may also be accompanied by a nuanced suggestion that the door to dialogue could be open, the pundit added.

“Ultimately, North Korea aims to increase its bargaining strength ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Militarization is seen as a key strategy to draw the U.S. to the negotiating table,” Cheon said. “The approach will likely be full speed towards armament enhancement, preparing for disarmament negotiations.”

Last week, North Korea fired its latest solid-fueled ICBM, the Hwasong-18, with the launch reaching a maximum altitude of about 6,500 kilometers (4,040 miles) and flying a distance of around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before hitting its target off its eastern coast.

Although the test was conducted at a high angle, it still represented a potential threat to the U.S. If launched at a lower trajectory, this missile may be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

The Central Committee Plenary Meeting is likely to cover Pyongyang’s ongoing efforts to finish its military reconnaissance satellite system. Following the satellite launch in November, leader Kim Jong Un outlined his intention to complete the reconnaissance satellite launch agenda for the upcoming year. This detailed strategy might also be a key topic of discussion at the meeting.

Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA.

Contacts: Beverly Maxwell, (505) 592-7466. asdzaanlichi_88@outlook.com 

Janene Yazzie, ‪(505) 399-2967‬. janene@ndncollective.org

+++

Shiprock, New Mexico 

Beverly Maxwell was out of town on business for work when she was contacted by another community member on December 11th about an oil spill she discovered near a BIA road through her grazing land and near a wash that drains into one of the numerous agricultural canals farmers depend on. On Thursday, December 14th, an all-day soaking rain storm came through the community. Ms. Maxwell was not able to get a response from any officials that she contacted, but a family member said that they were told that the nearest safety valve was far away so there was no choice but to just let the crude oil flow.

Walking along her grazing land to assess the reach of the flow, Ms Maxwell took 45 mins of video footage, estimating the the oil flowed a good 1/2 mile from the breach in the pipeline. While some of the oil spill spread out over the adjacent grazing land, much of it also flowed into a nearby wash and gullies which, with heavy rains, drains into a nearby livestock pond and a major irrigation canal, potentially reaching surrounding agricultural fields. In the video Ms. Maxwell took she describes the kind of wildlife, aside from livestock, that depend on the pond, called “Duck Pond”, illustrating the importance of the local reservoir to the surrounding ecosystem.

“Cottontail rabbits, birds of various species, lizards, snakes, migratory birds that come through, they actually use that pond down there as well. The Great Blue Heron, bald Eagles… a number of different prey birds. Kangaroo rats, a number of different species of Kangaroo rat, I remember one time we came across a Calico, big, bigger than the usual Kangaroo Rat” said Ms. Maxwell, who continues generational farming and raising of livestock on lands deeply rooted in. She continued “and milk snakes … this is not okay. Any spill of any oil and gas, on any area is not okay. The smell is pretty strong”. Capturing a huge oil tank brought in, she shared, “as I understand, a family member said there were three tanks at one time; there’s one now, the others must have filled out or something of what was gushing out. It’ll [the smell] give you a headache and nauseous feeling in an instant.”

Ms. Maxwell and others have reached out to the Navajo Nation, Navajo Nation Oil and Gas, and elected leadership with no response though cleanup crews did show up at the area at an undetermined time after the spill was detected. It’s not clear how fast their response was, when they stopped the flow, nor who is doing the cleanup. Since then Ms. Maxwell has been able to piece together that the oil pipeline was ruptured as the result of an accident, stemming from routine road maintenance (road grading). Currently a cleanup crew is trenching and moving contaminated soil into a pile, but there is still residual contamination in the trenched areas and across the spill area.

“That pipeline was just inches from the road surface and leveled with it [the road]. This road used to be maintained by the BIA but the Chapter has been helping with maintenance in the past few years by grading it”, observed Ms. Maxwell, “why the company, who cleanup crews said was Running Horse Pipeline, has not done due diligence to ensure the protection and safety of their pipeline from accidents like this is a question that needs to be answered. They know where they’ve laid their pipelines and they should be ensuring that dangerous breaches like this are prevented,” said Ms. Maxwell.

Ms. Maxwell and community advocates from Diné Centered Research and Evaluation (DCRE) have also reached out to local media and state representatives to bring attention to this urgent issue.

“Oil and Gas infrastructure is all through the Shiprock community and Eastern Navajo, and daily operations as well as spills like this pose a major threat to the local ecosystems, water resources and public health. We need to address how this spill could’ve happened, why response took so long, and why there are no emergency management procedures in place to inform the community in a transparent way how much was spilled and what efforts are being done to mitigate and clean up the impacted areas?” said Hazel James of DCRE. “When Ms. Maxwell reached out to us, we understood that a timely response would be important to ensure that the community is not further negatively impacted”.

“We need to make sure that independent environmental studies are carried out to assess any damage to the soil, vegetation and local water resources and irrigation canals,” said Janene Yazzie of NDN Collective, and a member of DCRE.  “This incident shows how Oil and Gas operations are allowed to operate with little to no community accountability or transparency that centers public health and protection of our lands and waters.”

The post Farmers Receive No Response One Week After Oil Spill Was Discovered by Navajo Citizen, Impacting Navajo Grazing and Agricultural Land in Shiprock, New Mexico appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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

The agreement will also reinforce the two countries’ mutual security interests in the Pacific and allow for the possible establishment of a regional police academy in Papua New Guinea, the island country’s Prime Minister James Marape said Tuesday. 

“The security arrangement is in the best interest of Papua New Guinea and also for Australia and its regional security interests,” Marape said in a statement. Any Australian police in Papua New Guinea would work under the local police’s chain of command, the statement said.

Stability for Papua New Guinea, which gained its independence from Australia in 1975, has remained elusive as it grapples with tribal violence and challenges such as corruption and lack of infrastructure. 

Parts of the mountainous country, which makes up the western half of New Guinea island and shares a long border with Indonesia, have been largely outside central government control for decades. Its election last year was marred by deadly violence and lawlessness in highlands provinces is an ongoing threat to national security and economic development. 

Australia and the United States have sought closer security and defense relations with Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific island nation, in response to China’s inroads in the region. 

China, over several decades, has become a substantial source of trade, infrastructure and aid for developing Pacific island countries as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and build its own set of global institutions. 

Last year, China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, alarming the U.S. and its allies such as Australia. The Solomons and Kiribati switched their diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019.

Marape said the agreement for closer security relations with Australia would be signed in the Australian capital Canberra on Thursday.

“Australia and Papua New Guinea share common security interests, and such security arrangements are vital to maintaining law-and-order in the region, safeguarding economic and trading interests,” Marape said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Marape had at the beginning of this year urged officials to complete negotiations by the end of April. 

Papua New Guinea and the U.S. signed a defense cooperation agreement in May, which once ratified would give the U.S. military unrestricted access to six air and sea ports in the island nation. The U.S. would have criminal jurisdiction over American military personnel in Papua New Guinea. 

Papua New Guinea’s opposition leader has sought a Supreme Court review of the legality of the agreement, which critics say would impinge on the country’s sovereignty. 

Marape said the agreement with Australia will extend to potential Australian support for Papua New Guinea’s Bomana Police Academy, which recruits and trains police cadets. 

Papua New Guinea has one police officer for about every 1,800 people, nearly four times less than the level recommended by the United Nations to ensure law and order, according to a Griffith Asia Institute report released earlier this year. 

The ratio of police to people has declined substantially in the past half century as Papua New Guinea’s population tripled to more than nine million, the report said.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Harlyne Joku for BenarNews.

On November 22, Silvia Arce and Alberto Sánchez, a married couple who founded the news website RedSiete, were abducted by unknown assailants in Taxco, a town in the central state of Guerrero, some 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of the capital Mexico City, according to news reports.

Three days prior, on November 19, journalist Marco Antonio Toledo was kidnapped, together with his wife and son, when unknown armed men forced themselves into his home, according to news reports  and a statement by the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office. Their abduction was reported on November 22. Toledo is editorial director of news website Semanario Espectador de Taxco and a correspondent for privately owned broadcaster N3 Guerrero and news website La Crónica Vespertino de Chilpancingo.

All three journalists regularly report on crime, security and politics.

Arce and Sánchez were released on November 25, followed by Toledo and his wife on November 26, and Toledo’s son on November 28, according to news reports.

Also on November 28, four journalists—Óscar Guerrero, a photographer for news website En Primer Plano; Víctor Mateo, a reporter for news website Ahora Guerrero; Jesús de la Cruz of online news agency El Jaguar, and a fourth victim who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety—were traveling in a car after covering the murder of a bus driver when they were shot at by unidentified gunmen in a car and on a motorcycle in Chilpancingo, Guerrero’s state capital, according to news reports and a statement by Guerrero’s state prosecutor’s office.

Two of the reporters were in a stable but “delicate” condition in a hospital, the two other reporters, who asked to remain anonymous, citing safety fears, told CPJ. All four journalists regularly report on local crime and security, which exposes them to attacks by gangs, they said.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s most violent states due to turf wars between criminal groups, according to the Wilson Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

On November 29, Maynor Ramón Ramírez, or “El May,” who regularly reports on crime for newspaper Diario ABC Michoacán, was shot by unknown attackers while at his family’s carpet cleaning business in the city of Apatzingán in the drug cartel-dominated neighboring state of Michoacán, according to news reports. Ramírez and another person, who was not identified, were taken to a hospital for treatment, those sources said.

In 2016, Ramírez was shot in the stomach, according to news reports.

“The series of attacks on journalists in Guerrero and Michoacán are shocking, even in a country accustomed to violence against the press, and underscore the Mexican government’s failure to adequately protect the press,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “CPJ calls on Mexican authorities to immediately investigate these attacks and bring the culprits to justice, lest these crimes linger in impunity as so many others have before them.”

A spokesperson for the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office, which said in its statements that it was investigating the attacks, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via messaging app.

CPJ was unable to find contact information for Ramírez’s family. ABC Michoacán did not reply to a request for comment. CPJ’s phone calls to the Michoacán state prosecutor’s office, which also said in a statement that it was investigating the attack on Ramírez, were not answered.

Tobyanne Ledesma, head of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, told CPJ that her agency had not had prior contact with the reporters in Guerrero and Michoacán, and it was reaching out to them to offer protection under a federal program run by the federal Interior Ministry. Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalists. In 2022, 13 journalists were killed in Mexico, the highest number CPJ has ever documented in that country in a single year. At least three of those journalists were murdered in direct retaliation for their reporting on crime and political corruption, while CPJ is investigating the motive behind the 10 other killings.

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

• The United States is hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference this week for the first time since 2011, with leaders from the 21-member APEC economies gathering in San Francisco to talk about how to better spur trade and economic growth across the Pacific region; meanwhile the gatherings of world leaders and corporate CEOS has drawn protesters from across the country, who rallied in San Francisco Sunday and will try to shut down the APEC summit on Wednesday.
• Health officials say battles between Israel and Hamas around hospitals forced thousands of Palestinians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza. Critically wounded patients, including newborns, and their caregivers have been stranded, officials say, with dwindling supplies and no electricity. U.S. President Joe Biden said today that Gaza City’s main hospital, Shifa, “must be protected.”
• Efforts to create a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution began today as most of the world’s nations, along with petrochemical companies, environmentalists, and other stakeholders affected by the pollution, gathered to discuss draft language for the first time.
• Current government funding expires on Nov. 17, 2023. While newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not announced any new and specific proposals that stand a chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate, he has urged the public to “trust us.”
• The Supreme Court says it is adopting a code of ethics, though the new rules have no means of enforcement.
• Donald Trump Jr. returned to the witness stand to laud his father’s real estate exploits as the ex-president’s civil fraud trial began its defense.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom says arson caused a massive fire that has indefinitely closed a vital section of a freeway in Los Angeles.

Protestors against APEC rally in San Francisco on Sunday, Nov. 12. (KPFA Photo / Aileen Alfandary)

The post The United States hosts the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference this week, with world leaders gathering in San Francisco to discuss trade and economic growth; meanwhile the event has drawn protesters from across the country, who rallied in San Francisco ahead of the summit – Monday, November 13, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

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

Global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Israeli authorities to end military pactices that “violate international law” with the deaths of civilians, including journalists.

This came in the wake of seven journalists being killed by Israeli security forces in the space of a week — six in the besieged Gaza Strip and the seventh in Lebanon.

“We’re stunned by this sad record of seven journalists killed in seven days during this bloody week, as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate response to the horrific massacre committed by Hamas,” said Christophe Deloire, the secretary-general of RSF, in a statement.

• READ MORE: ‘Drop in the ocean’: Aid trucks begin crossing into Gaza from Egypt
• Al Jazeera live news blog on Gaza
• Other War on Gaza reports

On Saturday, 14 October 2023, reporter Issam Abdallah was buried in the Lebanese town of El Khayam, where he was born and grew up.

The videographer was killed the day before while reporting for the British news agency Reuters with several colleagues.

The group of journalists, clearly identifiable according to several sources, was stationed near Alma al Chaab, in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel, to cover the clashes between Israeli military forces and those of the Islamist armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In total, around 10 journalists were killed in the region within a week, including seven in Gaza and Lebanon under Israeli bombardment and fire.

Protest to Israel
These include photojournalists Mohammed Soboh of the Palestinian news agency Khabar, Hisham al-Nawajha of the independent Palestinian news channel Al Khamissa, Ibrahim Lafi of the production company Ain Media, and Mohammad al-Salihi of the Palestinian news agency al-Sulta al-Rabia, as well as Saïd al-Tawil, editor-in-chief of Al Khamissa, and Mohammed Abou Matar, correspondent for Roya News.

“We solemnly call on the Israeli authorities to put an end to military practices that violate international law and result in the deaths of civilians, including journalists,” said RSF’s Deloire.

“RSF calls on the parties involved to implement their obligations to protect journalists during conflicts, and on international institutions to ensure that these protection measures are respected.”

Issam Abdallah, 37, had worked for Reuters in Beirut for 16 years.

A videographer in areas of tension, he has covered the conflict in Ukraine in recent months and, in 2020, the explosion in the port of Beirut.

In his last photo posted on his Instagram account on October 7, the reporter paid tribute to Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist from Al Jazeera and correspondent in Palestine, who was killed by an Israeli sniper in May 2022 while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin on the West Bank.

Six other journalists were wounded on Friday, October 13: two members of the Reuters team, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, an image reporter (Dylan Collins), and a photographer (Christina Assi) from Agence France-Presse (AFP), as well as two journalists from the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera, Carmen Jokhadar and cameraman Elie Barkhya.

They were taken to the American University of Beirut hospital. Their lives are out of danger, but Christina Assi was still in intensive care.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

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

And, so, THAT Anniversary too is on my mind: 22 Years Ago, October 7, 2001, US-NATO Invaded Afghanistan: It Was Presented as “Act of Self Defense.” “America Was Attacked by an ‘Unnamed Foreign Power.'”

From silly to serious, these national and international celebration days give pause for serious writers.

Shoot, here are some powerful dates to remember: 9/5, International Day of Charity; 9/8, International Literacy Day; 9/10, World Suicide Prevention Day; 9/16, International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; 9/18, World Water Monitoring Day.

Rapidly changing global context took a new meaning over the past years, hampering the literacy progress and widening inequalities across world regions, countries, and populations.  In low- and middle-income countries, the share of 10-year-old children who could not read and understand a simple text with comprehension has increased from 57 per cent in 2019 to an estimated 70 per cent in 2022.

In this context, this year’s International Literacy Day will be celebrated worldwide under the theme, ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies’.

It is incumbent upon the reader to check out national and international days,  weeks and months of recognition. Heck, K12 educators could develop  curricula around deep and not-so-deep topics for each month.

Heck, National Guacamole Day (9/16) might seem like a foodie thing, but in the hands of competent teachers, the details of how the dip is made unravels some seriously environmentally and culturally damaging aspects of the avocado.

Here comes the downer: Up to 20,000 acres of forest are believed to be cleared yearly to facilitate avocado crops. Water: It takes more than 500 gallons of water to grow only 2 pounds of avocados. Yep, transportation and pesticides add to the negative outcomes of a guacamole dip.

My adopted country, Mexico, pays the brunt of the avocado farming: Avocado production is valued at $3 billion annually, ahead of Mexico’s beer and tequila industries. That money has attracted the country’s cartels.

I still have journalist buddies in Juarez and elsewhere covering avocado violence: The thugs’ tactics include “protection fees,” but much worse — cutting down swaths of forest to start their own orchards. Just like the old USA Mafia days, avocado “pickers” have been forced to work at gunpoint for no pay. Trucks full of avocados have been robbed and hijacked.

Cartels even use government databases to find, extort, and kidnap avocado farmers. In some instances, cartels directly take over the farming lands, becoming ‘informal owners’ of the fields or installing avocado orchards on protected woodlands. They ensure they get their share of a thriving industry using force, intimidation, and violence.

When I was teaching college in El Paso,  we adopted a systems thinking approaches to topics. We looked at redistributive justice programs, and restorative conservation. We studied embedded/embodied energy and the  impact of consumer goods and services. We did cradle to grave (life cycle) analyses.

For every great idea, there are a dozen or hundreds of negative/bad consequences.

That was September, but now we’re in October? Banning, and, in some sense, book burning, if you consider being de-platformed and demonetized on the Internet. But here, from my days as a writing and literature instructor in Oregon, Washington, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico:

The American Library Association has tracked attempts to ban or restrict access to books across the United States and “to inform the public about censorship efforts in our libraries and schools.”

Last year the ALA, documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.. Of the titles entered into this report, the majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community or by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.

Or head over to the Project Censored, and you will understand another form of “censoring” and “banning” of stories that should be at the forefront of our critical debates about our society, our world.

Banned in the USA: Banned Books Week Celebrates its 40th Anniversary as Book Bans and Challenges to Academic Freedom Surge = Link

• -Betsy Gomez is coordinator for the Banned Books Week Coalition.
• -Cameron Samuels is a recent high school graduate and activist from the Katy Independent School District near Houston, Texas. Cameron was named the Youth Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week (the first time the title has been awarded) for actively opposing book banning in the District as a student there.
• -Jordan Smith is the digital editor at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
• -Nico Perrino is Executive Vice-President at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights In Education, an organization specializing in protecting academic freedom.

That’s where I also take my students – projectcensored (dot) org. The Top 25 Most Censored Stories of 2012-2022 actually threads through how broken our reprehensive and participatory democracy is.

Take a look at the ALA’s list of challenged and cancelled books, and then go to Project Censored:

• Federal Safety Agency Underreports Deaths of Offshore Oil and Gas Workers;
• Injustice for Incarcerated Women in Maryland after State Defunds Prerelease Facility;
• School-Issued Technology Poses ;
• Surveillance Risks for Students;
• Facebook’s Blacklist of “Dangerous Individuals and Organizations” Stifles Public Debate;
• Concerns for Journalistic Independence as Gates Foundation Gives $319 Million to News Outlets.

The presentation of the Top 25 stories of 2021-2022 extends the tradition originated by Professor Carl Jensen and his Sonoma State University students in 1976, while reflecting how the expansion of the Project to include affiliate faculty and students from campuses across North America has made the Project even more diverse and robust. The Top 25 stories of 2021-2022 have been selected from several hundred candidate stories submitted by 207 student researchers from ten US college and university campuses.

You’re  biting at the bit to get into stories that were reported by valiant and intrepid reporters at less well known, or so-called alternative media sites, to discover what we need to know about our democracy, our world.

Are you willing to let (sic) educators broach these topics in the school system, i.e. 6-12 classes?

Do your own biases and contexts hold you back from allowing for more critical looks at the world around you?

While the banned books week (Oct. 1-7) is worthy of discussing with your friends and family and children, getting deeper in your lives beyond  your “news” feeds and posts on social media platforms is paramount in making wise decisions based on knowledge and points of view.

In Portland, where I worked for years as educator and social worker, I went to a Peace Park near the Lloyd Center. It’s almost hidden, not a high profile site. But what I gathered from my visits was a reminder of another sort of banning. My friend, a US Air Force combat veteran friend, Rusty Nelson, spoke about peace and alternative ways to serve one’s country at a Spokane high school graduation ceremony.

His message was one of peace and asking students who were graduating to look deeper into the role of the military and politicians in exporting harm to the world, as well as bringing back that harm to the US in the form of damaged soldiers.

In Portland, I worked with soldiers, veterans, many of them homeless and struggling through substance abuse. Their problems occurred through in many cases bad leadership in boot camp. All my female clients had been sexually assaulted by their own soldiers, in the USA and sometimes in combat areas.

As a substitute teacher, here in Lincoln County, I too have felt the knife of banishment. I was asked to leave a class I was teaching when students asked about drug abuse, homelessness, and their role in understanding themes in the books I was directed to help them with – Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm.

Banning, disenfranchisement, ghosting, gas-lighting, marginalizing, manipulating facts, being found guilty without a fair hearing or airing of a situation, those are also the Scarlet Letter moments in this supposed free and open society.

I have to say to Rusty, who was permanently banned from the Spokane School system as an expert and active member of Spokane’s justice community, “Peace out, brother.” He and his wife started the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. Here are comments he made in 2016:

“Be creative, kind, considerate. Be involved, outspoken, radical, subversive. Stop worrying about where your next dollar is coming from, and be concerned about where your neighbor’s next breath of fresh air and drink of clean water are coming from, where your child’s next raft of information is coming from, where your next tax dollar is going, your next consumer dollar. Make your needs known to your local officials and be tenacious.”

My older stuff at the Newport News Times: Banning books: An American tradition that should be stopped

Freedom of the press means having a press in the first place

Haeder, Paul, Newport News Times.

*****

Finally, you will hear nothing in the Mainstream Mush and Muddling and Murdering Press about this reality – Oct. 7, 2001.

Freedom to Lie Press. Here, reality. A Day of Infamy (many many of those for all the countries bombed, invaded, couped, sanctioned by the U$A)!

The legal argument used by Washington and NATO to invade Afghanistan was that the September 11 attacks constituted an undeclared “armed attack” “from abroad” by an unnamed foreign power, and that consequently “the laws of war” apply, allowing the nation under attack, to strike back in the name of “self-defense”.

The “Global War on Terrorism” was officially launched by the Bush administration on September 11, 2001. On the following morning (September 12, 2001), NATO’s North Atlantic Council meeting in Brussels, adopted the following resolution:

“if it is determined that the [September 11, 2001] attack against the United States was directed from abroad [Afghanistan] against “The North Atlantic area“, it shall be regarded as an action covered by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty”. (emphasis added)

In this regard, Article 5 of the Washington Treaty stipulates that if:

“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” (NATO, What is Article 5,  NATO Topics – NATO and the Scourge of Terrorism, accessed 24 November 2009, emphasis added; October 7, 2001. Afghanistan was invaded under the doctrine of “self-defense”)

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/10/06/gratitude-guile-and-guts-septembers-gone-banned-book-week-is-here/feed/ 0 432599 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/senate-trip-schumer-10032023111805.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/senate-trip-schumer-10032023111805.html#respond Tue, 03 Oct 2023 17:00:48 +0000 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/senate-trip-schumer-10032023111805.html Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead a bipartisan group of six senators on a trip next week to China, South Korea and Japan, with reports they hope to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The delegation will include Democrats Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, according to an announcement from Schumer’s office. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, will be joined by Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, both Republicans of Louisiana. 

The trip to China was scheduled with the goal of “advancing U.S. economic and national security interests in the region,” the document says, and will also include business leaders from both countries.

“Leader Schumer will focus on the need for reciprocity in China for U.S. businesses that will level the playing field for American workers, as well as on maintaining U.S. leadership in advanced technologies for national security,” the document says. It also lists fentanyl, human rights and China’s “role in the international community” as topics.

The announcement does not provide dates for the trip – or details about South Korea and Japan legs – but says it will take place during next week’s Senate recess, which begins Friday and ends Oct. 16.

Xi meeting

A report by Bloomberg, citing anonymous courses, said the senators hope to meet with Xi while in China, and plan to discuss a ban on the sale in China of products made by U.S. chipmaker Micron, which was unveiled in June amid the ongoing U.S.-China “chip war.”

Crapo’s office confirmed the planned trip to RFA but declined to comment further on the itinerary. Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington welcomed the trip but also declined to comment on any Xi meeting.

“China welcomes people from all walks of life in the United States, including members of the Congress, to visit China so as to have a better understanding of China, promote exchanges between the two countries, and inject more positive energy into the China-U.S. relationship,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu.

Next week’s trip comes amid an attempted thaw in the relationship between China and the United States that is now four months old. 

Over that time, four members of President Joe Biden’s cabinet have visited Beijing, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. However, a senior member of China’s government is yet to make the reverse trip to Washington.

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

]]> https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/senate-trip-schumer-10032023111805.html/feed/ 0 431639 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/10/02/let-freedom-read-banned-books-week-for-2023/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/10/02/let-freedom-read-banned-books-week-for-2023/#respond Mon, 02 Oct 2023 21:39:34 +0000 https://www.projectcensored.org/?p=33336 Mickey dedicates this show to Banned Books Week 2023 (Oct. 1-7). Now in its 41st year, Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating and promoting the freedom to read…

The post Let Freedom Read: Banned Books Week for 2023 appeared first on Project Censored.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/10/02/let-freedom-read-banned-books-week-for-2023/feed/ 0 431446 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/laos-lawyer-09142023140433.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/laos-lawyer-09142023140433.html#respond Thu, 14 Sep 2023 18:35:55 +0000 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/laos-lawyer-09142023140433.html Chinese rights attorney Lu Siwei has been repatriated to China after being arrested in Laos en route to join his family in the United States, in another example of transnational law enforcement by Beijing, rights activists said on Thursday, citing Lu's lawyer.

A senior official in Laos' Ministry of Public Security in charge of the case told Lu's Laos-based lawyer in a phone call on Thursday that his client was sent back to China last week along with dozens of other Chinese nationals, Bob Fu, president of the U.S.-based Christian rights group ChinaAid told Radio Free Asia. 

The news -- which was also posted to X by Tokyo-based human rights activist Patrick Poon -- emerges amid growing international criticism of China's "long-arm" law enforcement and pursuit of dissidents overseas.

"Sadly, Chinese human rights lawyer #LuSiwei was deported back to China, according to his lawyer in Laos," Poon wrote, adding: "We should continue to put pressure on China, calling for his release."

According to an official notification dated Sept. 11 issued by the Chinese Embassy in Laos to the Lao Ministry of Public Security, Lu was "approved for criminal detention" by police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Sept. 3, on suspicion of "illegally crossing a border."

The document, a copy of which was circulating on social media in recent days but which has now been proven likely genuine, informed the Lao authorities that the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China "requires that the suspect Lu Siwei be transferred to China, to be brought to justice as soon as possible."

It suggests that Lu was already in China when activists in Tokyo, including Poon, were demonstrating for his release outside the Lao Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Torture concerns

Fu said he was "shocked and disappointed" at the move, which he described as a violation of international law.

"The communist government in Laos has grossly ignored its legal obligations under international human rights [treaties] and violated international law under the Convention against Torture," Fu said.

"By deporting one of the most persuasive and well-known human rights lawyers of all time, Lu Siwei, it has set a terrible precedent," he said. "Every drop of his blood he sheds will be on the hands of the Laos and Chinese Communist regimes." 

Lu, a prominent rights advocate who lost his law license after speaking out about the cases of 12 Hong Kong activists detained by the Chinese coast guard after the 2019 protest movement, was arrested in Vientiane in late July as he boarded a train for Thailand en route to the United States, where he planned to join his family.

Lu had been under surveillance in China since his attorney’s license was revoked in 2021, with a camera installed at the door of his home. He had also been barred from leaving China. 

Lu's wife Zhang Chunxiao told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Tuesday that she fears for her husband's safety and well-being.

"The thing I feared was suddenly right there in front of me," she said, commenting on being told that the police document seen on social media was genuine. "Before that, it just had a vague existence [in my mind], but then I saw all at once, saw clearly that this was real."

She said Lu will be sent to prison once back in China, and "probably tortured," and the couple's daughter may not see her father again for eight, possibly 10 years.

Last month, it was confirmed that free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, who was reported missing in Vientiane amid reports of a cross-border arrest by Chinese police, is being held in a detention center in the central Chinese province of Hunan, according to overseas activists familiar with the matter.

Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.

Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hwang Chun-mei, Gao Feng and Wang Yun for RFA Mandarin.

]]> https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/laos-lawyer-09142023140433.html/feed/ 0 427196 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/09/03/four-days-a-week-this-labor-day-lets-talk-about-laboring-less/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/09/03/four-days-a-week-this-labor-day-lets-talk-about-laboring-less/#respond Sun, 03 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000 https://theintercept.com/?p=443406

Two child laborers eat lunch at the Economy Glass Works factory in West Virginia in 1908.

Photo: Lewis Hine/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Which U.S. vice president said this, and when? 

“The time is not far distant when the working man can have a four-day week and family life will be even more fully enjoyed by every American. [These are] not dreams or idle boasts, simply projections of the gains we have made in the past four years.”

The answer is Richard Nixon, when he and Dwight Eisenhower were running for reelection in 1956.

When Nixon advocated for the four-day workweek, the demand to spend less time working had already been central to progressive politics for 90 years. After a long absence, it has finally returned. First and foremost, the United Auto Workers are preparing to strike, calling not just for better pay and benefits, but also a 32-hour, four-day workweek.

In the second half of the 1800s, new industrial employers regularly required 60 hours or more of work each week. On May 1, 1867, unions demonstrated in Chicago in support of a new Illinois law that mandated an eight-hour workday. This didn’t go anywhere: Employers largely ignored both the demonstrators and the law.

But in memory of the 1867 protests, a nationwide labor federation picked May 1, 1886 as the day for a universal strike calling for an eight-hour day. This was such a heartfelt desire that demonstrators sang a song called “Eight Hours”:

We want to feel the sunshine
And we want to smell the flow’rs.
We are sure that God has willed it
And we mean to have eight hours.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
Eight hours for what we will.

The millionaires of the Gilded Age found this so charming that Chicago police shot and killed several striking workers at the city’s McCormick reaper plant. The next day, a striker threw a bomb at the cops, killing one of them. All of this became known as the Haymarket Affair, one of the most significant events in U.S. labor history.

However, this didn’t make much difference for a long time. Unions had only intermittent success fighting for a shorter workweek until the 1930s and the Great Depression. In 1938, Congress finally passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which created the minimum wage, prohibited most child labor, and effectively created a 44-hour workweek. This was lowered to 40 hours two years later.

The fact that Nixon — generally not seen as a left-wing radical — was calling for a 32-hour workweek by 1956 illustrates how deeply it had seeped into American consciousness that, over time, everyone would get to work less and live more. 

The fact that Nixon was calling for a 32-hour workweek illustrates how deeply it had seeped into American consciousness that, over time, everyone would get to work less and live more.

The general concept is simple, even if its manifestation is complex.

Over time, people figure out ways to produce more with the same amount of human labor. Looms made it possible for fewer workers to generate much more fabric. Legions of typists were replaced by computers and word-processing software. Eventually artificial intelligence may supplant, for instance, the radiologists who peer at scans of the inside of your body and try to puzzle out what’s going on in there.

This process is so powerful that even Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels celebrated it in “The Communist Manifesto”:

The bourgeoisie … has been the first to show what man’s activity can bring about. It has accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals.

The bourgeoisie … has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together.

We’re used to the idea that people in an increasingly productive society can be paid more. But we generally don’t realize they also can get paid the same but work fewer hours. If productivity goes up enough, they get both: making more money for fewer hours.

John Maynard Keynes, one of history’s most important economists, considered what this meant in a 1930 essay called “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren.”

As Keynes explained, “The economic problem, the struggle for subsistence, always has been hitherto the primary, most pressing problem of the human race.” However, he argued, “the economic problem may be solved, or be at least within sight of solution, within a hundred years” — i.e., right about now.

Keynes speculated that people would still want to work, but perhaps only 15 hours a week. Then the rest of the time, each human would have to figure out “how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well.”

Keynes wasn’t sure we had it in us to pull this off. Larry Summers, the prominent Harvard economist who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, agrees. He recently expressed distress about the prospect of regular slobs having too much leisure time, saying “for every nonemployed middle-aged man who’s learning to play the harp or to appreciate the Impressionists, there are a hundred who are drinking beer, playing video games, and watching 10 hours of TV a day.”

But what Keynes foresaw, and Summers fears, has been largely off the U.S. political agenda since 1956. Increased productivity can lead to better pay or less work for regular people. But we now know this requires an immense political effort. For the most part over the last 50 years, neither has happened. American society overall has gotten far more productive during that time. But most of the gains from this have accrued for the top 10 percent of Americans, to the tune of about $47 trillion total.

The UAW’s demand illustrates that, at long last, regular folks are realizing again that it is totally feasible for them to work less, yet make the same amount of money or more. 

The idea is slowly spreading through society across the world. The Maryland state legislature has been pondering a bill to encourage businesses to establish a four-day week. The Scottish National Party, the ruling party in Scotland, has called for a 32-hour week. Last year, 70 companies in the U.K. participated in a trial of a four-day week.

Making a four-day workweek the standard is obviously still far away. It will certainly face the same ferocious opposition as a five-day week did 100 years ago. But people simply understanding that it’s possible is a big, big step forward, and something to celebrate this Labor Day.

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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Jon Schwarz.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/09/03/four-days-a-week-this-labor-day-lets-talk-about-laboring-less/feed/ 0 424745 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/turkey-suspends-critical-outlet-tele1-for-a-week/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/turkey-suspends-critical-outlet-tele1-for-a-week/#respond Tue, 08 Aug 2023 15:15:38 +0000 https://cpj.org/?p=305755 Istanbul, August 8, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a court’s implementation of a seven-day suspension of critical online outlet and TV broadcaster TELE1 following an order by the official media watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK).

“The court-imposed suspension of TELE1 due to an RTÜK order, along with the imprisonment of the outlet’s chief editor Merdan Yanardağ in June, are unlawful and shameful acts aimed at intimidating the opposition media in Turkey into silence,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative, on Tuesday. “TELE1 should immediately be allowed to continue broadcasting, and Turkish authorities should make peace with the fact that a free and critical news media is essential for democracy.”

The blackout started on Sunday, August 6, and will last until Saturday, August 12, according to reports by TELE1 and other outlets.

Yanardağ was arrested, pending trial, in June due to his criticism of authorities over the prison conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, the convicted leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

At that time, RTÜK also ordered a seven-day suspension of TELE1, which was delayed pending a lawsuit filed by the media organization. The RTÜK decisions can be appealed in court, according to the related Turkish laws. However, TELE1 reported on August 1 that it had been informed that an Ankara court had lifted the stay of execution and allowed the suspension to go into effect.

RTÜK’s board is based on political party seats in parliament, which is currently controlled by the ruling Justice and Development Party and its allies. In the past, RTÜK has favored pro-government outlets and has focused penalties on critical outlets. In April, CPJ joined other press freedom, freedom of expression, and human rights organizations in calling for the regulator to stop punishing broadcasters for critical reporting.

TELE1 published a press statement on Saturday assuring its audience that the outlet will live on and “continue on its path as a distinguished example of honorable journalism in the history of the press.” The outlet also published an online video that day in which the TELE1 staff vowed to continue doing their jobs after the suspension ends despite the pressure they face.

CPJ emailed RTÜK but did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/turkey-suspends-critical-outlet-tele1-for-a-week/feed/ 0 417730 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/in-one-week-at-least-56-people-killed-in-police-raids-across-three-different-states-in-brazil/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/in-one-week-at-least-56-people-killed-in-police-raids-across-three-different-states-in-brazil/#respond Tue, 08 Aug 2023 09:29:24 +0000 http://www.radiofree.org/?guid=43ca353d1033c3abd1016210cc09c61b
This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/08/08/in-one-week-at-least-56-people-killed-in-police-raids-across-three-different-states-in-brazil/feed/ 0 417648 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/24/at-least-74-new-poison-pill-riders-in-house-spending-bills-this-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/24/at-least-74-new-poison-pill-riders-in-house-spending-bills-this-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/#respond Mon, 24 Jul 2023 17:02:54 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/at-least-74-new-poison-pill-riders-in-house-spending-bills-this-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them

Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would cut the U.S. military budget by 10%. Earlier this month, House Republicans refused to allow a vote on a similar amendment put forth by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

In his op-ed Monday, Sanders pointed to the "enormous crises" facing the U.S., including "unprecedented and rising temperatures" caused by fossil fuel use, a "broken" healthcare system in which insurance and pharmaceutical giants profit while tens of millions go uninsured, a "teetering" education system, and a dire shortage of affordable housing.

"And then there is defense spending. Well, that's a whole other story," Sanders wrote. "The proposed military budget that the Senate is now debating would increase defense spending by $28 billion to over $886 billion, an all-time record. The total is over $900 billion if you include nuclear weapons spending through the Department of Energy."

Sanders argued that in addition to being unnecessary, an even larger military budget would be actively harmful given that the Pentagon "cannot keep track of the dollars it already has, leading to massive waste, fraud, and abuse in the sprawling military-industrial complex."

"Much of this additional military spending will go to line the pockets of hugely profitable defense contractors—it is corporate welfare by a different name," the senator noted. "Almost half of the Pentagon budget goes to private contractors, some of whom are exploiting their monopoly positions and the trust granted them by the United States to line their pockets."

Sanders' opposition to the NDAA comes after House Republicans passed their version of the legislation after packing it with right-wing amendments and rejecting proposed changes aimed at reining in out-of-control Pentagon spending and cracking down on fraud.

The Senate is expected to continue working on its own NDAA this week.

As Congress prepares to authorize around $900 billion for the U.S. military, House Republicans are pushing for steep cuts across the federal government, targeting everything from education programs to climate spending to clean water funds. The House GOP proposals have heightened concerns that the government will shutdown on September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Sanders said in a statement Monday that he has had "very productive conversations" with members of the Senate HELP Committee on bipartisan legislation to address the nation's worsening primary care crisis. Sanders said he hopes to have a bill ready by the first week of September.

Last week, Sanders introduced legislation that would invest $20 billion over a five-year period into expanding community health centers. The senator said the measure would "provide the resources necessary to recruit, train, and retain tens of thousands of primary care doctors, mental health providers, nurses, dentists, and home healthcare workers."

The nation is currently hurtling toward a primary care cliff. If Congress doesn't act by September 30, community health centers across the U.S. will face a devastating 70% funding cut.

The National Association of Community Health Centers estimates that nearly 7 million people will lose access to healthcare if Congress doesn't extend the critical funding.

"As every American knows, our country faces a major crisis in primary care and a massive shortage of doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, and dentists," Sanders said last week. "Tens of millions of Americans live in communities where they cannot find a doctor while others have to wait months to be seen."

"At the end of the day," he added, "this crisis not only increases human suffering and unnecessary deaths, but wastes tens of billions a year as Americans flock to expensive ER rooms or hospitals because they could not access the primary care they need."

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/24/at-least-74-new-poison-pill-riders-in-house-spending-bills-this-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/feed/ 0 414144 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/19/yes-oppenheimer-isnt-opening-in-japan-this-week-but-the-country-has-a-long-history-of-cinema-about-the-war/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/19/yes-oppenheimer-isnt-opening-in-japan-this-week-but-the-country-has-a-long-history-of-cinema-about-the-war/#respond Wed, 19 Jul 2023 22:04:37 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=90890 ANALYSIS: By Peter C. Pugsley, University of Adelaide

While Christopher Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer is opening in much of the world this week, a Japanese release date has not yet been announced.

A delay in naming a release date is nothing new for Japan, where Hollywood releases often take place weeks or months later than other national markets.

Japan’s cinema industry is savvy enough to take a wait-and-see approach to blockbuster films.

• READ MORE: Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’: who was atom bomb pioneer Robert Oppenheimer?
• Tokyo Olympiad, Kon Ichikawa’s documentary of the 1964 Games, is still a masterpiece
• Suzume builds on a long line of Japanese art exploring the impacts of trauma on the individual and the collective

If Oppenheimer fails at the box office in other markets, then Japan may decide on a quick opening in a smaller number of cinemas. If it is the global hit the producers hope, it may open across the country.

Some have speculated the tragic history of events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki make the film too sensitive for Japanese audiences. But concerns that the film contains sensitivities to Japan’s past can be easily discarded by a quick glance through Japan’s cinematic history.

The Oppenheimert trailer.   Video: Universal Pictures

The Japanese film industry
The Japanese film industry began in 1897, developing quickly through studios such as Nikkatsu and Shochiku. In the 1930s, the industry gained international attention with emerging filmmakers such as Yasujiro Ozu.

By the late 1930s, studios and filmmakers were drafted into the war effort, making propaganda films.

Until the end of the Second World War, the Japanese government had been strictly censoring all films in line with efforts to produce this state-sanctioned propaganda. From 1945 to 1949, the US-Occupation forces set up procedures to ensure films avoided intensely nationalist or militaristic themes.

Japan’s film classification body was created in 1949 following the withdrawal of the Production Code. This gave Japanese authorities the chance to determine their own rules around film content based on themes of language, sex, nudity, violence and cruelty, horror and menace, drug use and criminal behaviour.

Japanese film was always quite progressive in terms of artistic licence, escaping the type of strictly enforced limitations found in America’s Hays Code, which put restrictions on content including nudity, profanity and depictions of crime.

Filmmakers in Japan had freedom to practise their art, so the pinku (soft pornography) films of the 1960s and 70s were the products of the major studios rather than underground independents.

These freedoms saw Japanese filmmakers absorb influences from Europe (particularly through French and Italian cinema), but saw significant content differences between Japanese and Hollywood cinema until the close of the Hays era.

Since the 1950s, censorship in the form of suggested edits or very rarely, “disallowed films”, has mostly been in response to violent or overly-explicit sexual imagery, rather than concerns over political or militaristic issues.

Japan is the third biggest box office market in the world, behind only China and North America, and cinema is dominated by local films.

While it can appear that Japanese cinema is dominated by anime and live-action remakes of manga and anime, it includes a rich array of genres and styles. The late 1990s saw a global appetite for horror films, under the mantle of J-horror. Films like Battle Royale (2000) and Ichi: The Killer (2001) created a new level of violence combining the horror genre with comic moments. Meanwhile samurai and yakuza films continue to find audiences, as do high-school themed dramas.

Internationally, the arthouse stylistics of films by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Naomi Kawase are feted at Cannes and Venice.

The war on screen
Many Japanese filmmakers have explored the Second World War.

As early as 1952, Kaneto Shindo’s Children of Hiroshima directly addressed the aftermath of the war through confronting imagery then with a gentle, humanist touch.

A year later, Hideo Sekigawa’s Hiroshima upped the political ante with a docudrama critical of the United States’ actions in a film that included real survivors from the nuclear blast acting as victims.

The obvious metaphorical imagery of successive Godzilla films reflect fears of the potential horrors nuclear activities could unleash.

The title of Shōhei Imamura’s Black Rain (1989, not to be confused with Ridley Scott’s yakuza film of the same name and same year) referenced the colour of the acid rain following the nuclear blast in Hiroshima, and was recognised with some of Japan’s highest film honours.

Anime has also directly shown the damage wrought by Oppenheimer’s device, most notably with Barefoot Gen in 1983, and its sequel in 1986.

In the style of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, a young wide-eyed boy, Gen, is caught in the horrors of the conflict, watching as his mother literally melts in front of him.

Summer with Kuro (1990) and In This Corner of the World (2016) each gave their own, less graphic, anime versions of lives touched by the conflict.

Foreign films
Foreign films about the second world war have also found an audience in Japan.

Alain Resnais’ intensely serious French New Wave drama, the French/Japanese co-production Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), exposed the international implications of personal relations after the bomb.

Japan warmly welcomed Clint Eastwood’s 2006 twin-release of Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, which showed the battle from the views of Japanese and US soldiers, respectively.

Both films would go on to win Outstanding Foreign Language Film at the Japan Academy Awards.

Stories of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not a taboo topic in Japan. Of all the nations in the world to be banning films, Japan must surely be near the bottom of the list.

Whether there’s a release date or not, Oppenheimer must have the appeal to be a box office hit to determine its suitability for release in Japan.

Dr Peter C. Pugsley is associate professor, Department of English, Creative Writing and Film, University of Adelaide. 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.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/19/yes-oppenheimer-isnt-opening-in-japan-this-week-but-the-country-has-a-long-history-of-cinema-about-the-war/feed/ 0 413074 https://grist.org/extreme-weather/we-are-in-uncharted-territory-earth-logs-hottest-week-on-record/ https://grist.org/extreme-weather/we-are-in-uncharted-territory-earth-logs-hottest-week-on-record/#respond Mon, 10 Jul 2023 23:31:30 +0000 https://grist.org/?p=613553 This story is part of Record High, a Grist series examining extreme heat and its impact on how — and where — we live.

The world just experienced its hottest week ever recorded, with seven straight days of blistering, historic levels of heat, according to preliminary data released by the World Meteorological Organization, or WMO. The unsettling milestone, set during the first week of July, also follows the hottest June on record. 

The news comes amidst a sweep of extreme weather events across the globe, from devastating flooding in the northeastern United States, India, and Japan, to a marine heat wave affecting 40 percent of the world’s oceans. Together, the various events have prompted alarm over the unprecedented climatic changes underway as a result of fossil fuel emissions.

Experts say the extreme heat and severe weather, linked to climate change and the global El Niño weather phenomenon, portend a summer that will continue to be rattled by storms and soaring temperatures. 

“We are in uncharted territory,” said Christopher Hewitt, director of climate services at the WMO in a statement released Monday. “We can expect more records to fall as El Niño develops further and these impacts will extend into 2024.”

Over the weekend, severe flooding in New York’s Hudson Valley left hundreds stranded and at least one person dead. In West Point, New York, 7.5 inches of rain fell in just six hours on Sunday. On Monday, parts of Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts remained under emergency flood warnings as the deluge of rain swept up roads and bridges across the region. Forecasters compared the rainfall to Hurricane Irene, which caused $6.5 billion in damage to homes and other infrastructure along the East Coast and in the Caribbean in 2011. 

In India, heavy rain across the northern region of the country killed at least 22 people, officials announced Monday. Flash floods and landslides collapsed buildings and flooded the streets in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Delhi. In Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, located in the Himalayan region, local authorities asked people to not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. 

Meanwhile, torrential rain across southwest Japan overflowed rivers and triggered landslides. Officials asked tens of thousands of residents in affected areas, including in parts of the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures, to evacuate on Monday. Military troops have been sent in to help with rescue operations. Several factories and train lines in the region have been temporarily closed, and dozens of flights have been canceled. 

The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data. It follows the hottest June on record, with unprecedented sea surface temperatures and record-low Antarctic sea ice extent. #StateOfClimate

https://t.co/NbYM6Nllii pic.twitter.com/5Vaw3ISs8A

— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) July 10, 2023

Worrying changes are also happening to the world’s oceans, further fueling a cycle of extreme weather and rising temperatures. Scientists say both climate change and the current El Niño cycle, which typically brings above-average ocean temperatures, play a role in the global marine heat wave affecting 40 percent of all ocean areas. Sea-surface temperatures reached a record high this past May and June, to about 69.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In Florida and other parts of the U.S. South, a crazy-hot Gulf of Mexico is one of the factors driving brutal heat and humidity this week. A recent study found that the Gulf is warming at twice the rate of the rest of Earth’s oceans. 

Hotter seas will impact ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, and global fisheries. United Nations climate researchers note that an abnormally warm North Atlantic is of particular concern, due to its outsize role in fueling hurricanes, tropical cyclones, and heavy rain and drought in West Africa. 

The events bring into harsh light the real and ever-growing consequences of delaying a transition away from fossil fuels. “Climate change is out of control,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week in response to the shattered heat records. “If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation.” 

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline ‘We are in uncharted territory’: Earth logs hottest week on record on Jul 10, 2023.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Akielly Hu.

]]> https://grist.org/extreme-weather/we-are-in-uncharted-territory-earth-logs-hottest-week-on-record/feed/ 0 410757 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/09/this-week-america-failed-to-get-josh-hawley-to-feel-shame/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/09/this-week-america-failed-to-get-josh-hawley-to-feel-shame/#respond Sun, 09 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000 https://production.public.theintercept.cloud/?p=434356

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., delivers remarks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 2023.

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

This July 4, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley got on Twitter and quoted founding father Patrick Henry. According to Hawley, Henry told the world that “[i]t cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

This immediately generated vast Twitter unhappiness because Henry, while a devout Anglican, never said this.

You might hope Hawley would have absorbed this reality and graciously acknowledged his error. After all, he’s a human being and so presumably can feel shame. He was a history major at Stanford and then got a law degree at Yale. He just wrote a book called “Manhood,” which tells us that to be a man is “to live the truth, to speak the truth, and to live by the truth, always.” The first word in his Twitter bio is “Christian,” and the Ninth Commandment is “thou shalt not bear false witness.”

But you’d hope for this in vain. Expecting basic honesty from Hawley is like expecting an armadillo to fly an F-14. You’re invariably going to be disappointed.

Patrick Henry: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity,…

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 4, 2023

Let’s take a quick cruise through the basic facts here and then speculate about their significance.

Seth Cotlar, a professor of U.S. history at Willamette University, dug up the origins of the spurious Henry quote. The words first appeared in 1956 in a magazine called The Virginian — not attributed to Henry, but as the publication’s own gloss on “the spoken and written words of our noble founders.” To give you a sense of where The Virginian was coming from, Cotlar points out that it dared politicians to speak the plain truth “that the mainspring of the conspiracy to mongrelize white America lies in the powerful, wealthy Jewish organizations.”

How the words of The Virginian transmogrified into the words of Henry and then made the journey into Hawley’s mind is unclear. They appeared in a 1989 book called “The Myth of Separation.” Then, in 2001, a GOP representative from Maryland entered “a sermon given by Dr. Richard Fredericks of the Damascus Road Community Church” into the congressional record, and the sermon attributed the words to Henry. That sermon seems to have subsequently spread widely via email and now appears in many nooks and crannies of the internet.

Beyond Twitter, Hawley was criticized by HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, the New Republic, and Religion News Service. Most significantly, the Kansas City Star editorial board ran an editorial headlined “Josh Hawley Rings in July 4 With Fake Quote With Antisemitic, White Nationalist Roots.”

I did my part by asking Hawley’s communications director whether he was going to correct the false quote. Her only response was, “Relevant tweet thread here to include in your story:”

I’m told the libs are major triggered by the connection between the Bible and the American Founding. For example: “The Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission on earth.” – John Quincy Adams

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 5, 2023

“I’m told the libs are major triggered by the connection between the Bible and the American Founding,” wrote Hawley on Twitter. “For example: ‘The Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission on earth.’ – John Quincy Adams.”

I politely repeated my initial question and got no response.

In other words, all our efforts have had no effect. On the contrary, Hawley has doubled down. His new efforts have the advantage of using real quotes, though with the disadvantage of quoting non-Founding Fathers speaking long after the American Revolution.

This is distressing, if you’re the kind of person who still has some faint hope that powerful people might care about reality. It’s worth going through some of the reasons that Hawley’s lack of interest in the truth is especially funny and/or horrifying.

First, take a look at Hawley’s book, “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.” (This is just a figure of speech; I wrote a review of “Manhood” and do not recommend that you take a look at it.) As mentioned above, “Manhood” informs us that real men must “speak the truth” (Page 192). It also says:

“Today’s popular culture … tells you to find ‘your truth’ … Modern liberals say there are no permanent truths, only ‘constructs.’” (Page 28)

“For those of an Epicurean persuasion, [masculinity] impinged on the treasured Epicurean right to define your own truth.” (Page 51)

“Self-regard … will consume your life … You won’t risk incurring the wrath of the powers that be by speaking the truth.” (Page 121)

“I am thankful for the opportunity [as a U.S. senator] — to learn, to serve, and to hold fast to the truth.” (Page 126)

“We don’t tell the truth as we ought to. We disappoint others and ourselves.” (Page 162)

There’s a lot more, but you get the gist. Maybe “Manhood” was ghostwritten and Hawley hasn’t gotten around to reading it.

Then there’s the motto of Yale, Hawley’s law school alma mater. It’s “lux et veritas,” meaning “light and truth.” Clearly, this didn’t make much of an impression on him.

Last but hopefully not least, there’s the Bible. Matthew 19:16-19 reads, “One came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ … Jesus said, ‘Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness.’”

Of course, what kind of Christian has time for that nonsense? Especially when there are so many important things to tweet.

The significance of all this is suggestive and quite disturbing. On the one hand, attributing made-up quotes to illustrious figures of the past is a hallowed tradition in American politics. Al Gore and Ronald Reagan have done it enthusiastically, along with many, many others.

But on the other, there’s something that feels new about Hawley’s adamantine refusal to recognize facts, combined with his ridicule of “the libs” for caring about them. The internet has enabled the teeming millions to fact-check falsehoods like this instantly, something that could never be done in the past. If it had been possible decades ago, institutions and cultural norms would probably have forced Hawley to correct himself. But the internet and the self-sustaining cult-like bubbles it creates have also obliterated the power of those institutions and norms. Donald Trump has exploited this most of all, but many ambitious creatures like Hawley are eagerly exploring the trail he blazed.

As George Washington said, “If America ever gets to this point, you guys better watch the fuck out.”

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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Jon Schwarz.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/07/09/this-week-america-failed-to-get-josh-hawley-to-feel-shame/feed/ 0 410440 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/28/charter-schools-fail-and-close-every-week/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/28/charter-schools-fail-and-close-every-week/#respond Wed, 28 Jun 2023 17:31:13 +0000 https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=141503

Nonstop disinformation from charter school promoters that charter schools are amazing and successful is belied by the failure and closure of charter schools every week.

Not a week goes by that we do not hear of yet another charter school failing, closing, and abandoning hundreds of parents, teachers, students, and principals. Below are many examples.

These closures are often sudden and abrupt, which is why parents, teachers, students, and principals always say they are shocked by the closure announcement. They didn’t see it coming, they often say. They always feel blind-sided and like they have to scramble desperately to find a new school.

Interestingly, most of this news comes from a media that is typically charter-friendly. A media more critical of charter schools and more in tune with scholarly and professional research on charter schools would make the public aware of far more problems, failures, and closures in the charter school sector.

Some of the charter schools that close have been around for only a few years while others have been around for more than 10 years. Overall, about 5,000 charter schools have closed over the past 30 years. That is a high number in both relative and absolute terms. Currently, there are fewer than 7,800 privately-operated charter schools in the country.

Most charter school students are low-income minority youth. Charter schools are generally more segregated than public schools and tend to have fewer nurses and fewer experienced teachers than public schools. Many do not offer meals or transportation, and all are governed by unelected private persons. Like private businesses, many charter schools also spend a large amount of money on advertising. In addition, quite a few charter schools are owned-operated by private for-profit Education Management Organizations (EMOs).

The top four reasons privately-operated charter schools close nationwide every week include financial malfeasance, mismanagement, poor academic performance, and low enrollment. Scandal, fraud, nepotism, and corruption, it should also be recalled, are widespread and entrenched in the charter school sector. Conflicts of interest are rampant and transparency is negligible.

It is also important to appreciate that the high charter school failure-closure rate is not an expression of “accountability at work” but rather a failed bankrupt project altogether—“a scam” in colloquial terms. Charter school operators want people to believe that endless churn, instability, and turnover in the charter school sector is somehow a good healthy thing—a sign of success and virtue. We are to believe that weekly closures and severe disruptions and upheaval are how charter schools “live up to their promise” of providing hope and an outstanding education and future.

But who thinks running a school poorly, often for years, and leaving thousands of parents, teachers, students, and principals high and dry every week represents success, greatness, and an amazing model to emulate? Is this what “accountability” looks like? Why is such a thing tolerated for even one second?

In reality, charter schools are imbued with the chaos, anarchy, and violence of the “free-market.” There is no security, stability, or accountability in this dog-eat-dog setup where everyone is compelled to fend-for-themselves in their consumerist quest for a “good” education offered by a private operator focused on profit. Only the so-called “fittest” individuals survive in this competition of all against all. The commodification of education really means “you are on your own out there in the twenty-first century, good luck.” Anything can happen. Nothing is guaranteed. There will be many different losers—the “invisible hand” at work.

To be sure, charter schools have long over-promised and under-delivered, hence the long-standing chasm between charter school rhetoric and charter school realities. Charter schools were never the silver bullet that promoters claimed they were. Such disinformation is designed to fool the gullible.

Neoliberals and privatizers do not understand or accept that human responsibilities cannot be commodified. They reject the conclusion that education is a right, not a business. They approach education and life from a narrow business-centric perspective. They think “costs,” “efficiency,” and “results” are the end-all and be-all. They don’t see that students are not widgets, machines, robots, or “products.” They think that students are part of some assembly line and that they can be developed, quantified, and processed like business products. In this technicist and instrumentalist view, students and life are approached along behaviorist lines linked to reward-and-punishment structures that accrue to “winners” and “losers.” It is no accident that parents and students are often referred to as customers and consumers by charter school promoters and owners.

Below is a short list of charter schools that have closed recently, leaving thousands of parents, teachers, students, and principals out in the cold again—all in the name of “accountability.”

Unexpected and quick charter school closures speak to a high level of instability and mismanagement in the charter school sector. This is not “accountability at work,” it is failure on a broad scale.

Charter School Closures

According to a June 15, 2023, article at WIS News 10 in Columbia, South Carolina, Midlands Arts Conservatory Charter School “is set to close its doors for good on June 30 [2023] and both parents and students say the news of the closure is a shock.”

A June 10, 2023, article at NBC Bay Area – KNTV reports that Perseverance Preparatory Charter School in San Jose “appears to be closing permanently.” The school operated for less than five years.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on June 9, 2023, that, “Next Door Foundation plans to close its kindergarten charter school at the end of next school year.” Enrollment in the school, which opened in 1997, has declined.

On May 23, 2023, The Denver Post reported that:

A charter elementary school centering Black students won’t open as planned in Denver this fall. 5280 Freedom School did not enroll enough students for next school year, and the Denver school board isn’t considering giving the charter school more time.

Less than two months earlier [March 30, 2023], the following headline appeared in Native News Online: “Indigenous Charter School in Denver Will Close at End of School Year.” Low enrollment was given as the reason for the closure. Here it should be noted that many charter schools do not have long waiting lists, as charter school promoters like to often assert. Many charter schools fail to meet even low enrollment targets. There are many parents and students not clamoring to enter charter schools.

Over the years, dozens of other charter schools have failed and closed in Colorado. For instance, a March 16, 2023, article in The Coloradoan, stated that “31 Colorado charter schools closed in the last decade.” The article points out that:

Essentially, for every four charter schools that open each year in Colorado, one closes. That volatility can create added social and emotional strain to students and families tasked with finding new community supports and educational opportunities upon a school’s closure.

Here again we see the antisocial consequences of the chaos, anarchy, and violence of the “free market” at work. Parents, students, teachers, and principals have no control over their affairs in the charter school sector; “free market” carnage rules. A charter school may be here one day, and gone the next, just like a shoe store at the mall.

On May 19, 2023, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that:

The state’s charter school authority voted unanimously Friday to accept Girls Empowerment Middle School’s decision to close. The Las Vegas school will be shuttered after the school year ends — the last day was Friday — because of financial issues spurred by chronically low enrollment.

On May 4, 2023, Caroline Beck of the Indianapolis Star reported that “one third of Indy charter schools close.” That is a very high number.

Also on May 4, 2023, an article on the WCNC news site (North Carolina) reported that:

The North Carolina State Board of Education voted Thursday [May 4, 2023] to officially revoke the charter of Eastside STREAM Academy in east Charlotte. [The school] has just two months until it has to close its doors to students. Its charter expires on June 30th.

Reasons for not renewing the school’s charter are the typical reasons given for closing many charter schools across the country. They include failing grades, staff turnover, and fiscal mismanagement.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency revealed on May 5, 2023 that the decade-old Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Manhattan, New York will shutter at the end of the school year. Low enrollment was only one factor in the closure decision.

Live 5 WCSC reported on April 24, 2023, that:

A charter school in North Charleston [Gates School] will close its doors after this school year following a history of violations and instances of noncompliance, according to the Charter Institute at Erskine.

On April 12, 2023, Alaska Public Media reported that:

Last week the Anchorage School Board voted to revoke the charter of Family Partnership Charter School…. For years, the district tried to help the school fix longstanding dysfunction on its policy committee. Family Partnership Charter School is the oldest and largest charter school in Anchorage. It opened in 1997 and is one of two charter schools within the district that also serves as a homeschool program.

A March 22, 2023, headline from the Waco Tribune-Herald (Texas) reads: “Waco Charter School parents, staff tell board they were blindsided by closure plan.” Here again is the theme of sudden closure and complete shock, pointing again to the high level of mismanagement and instability in the charter school sector. Waco Charter School was closed at the end of this school year due to low enrollment and financial problems.

On March 20, 2023, The Empire Center in the state of New York announced that:

Buffalo Collegiate, a charter school serving grades 4 to 8 since Fall 2018, announced this month that officials will be shutting them down in June for failing to meet student performance criteria outlined in the state’s charter school regulations.

Many other charter schools in Buffalo, New York have had a poor academic track record for years but are allowed to continue to operate.

Meanwhile, in Rochester, New York, about 80 miles east of Buffalo, we learn from the charter school-friendly Democrat & Chronicle (March 10, 2023) that, “Three years after receiving a last-second reprieve from closure, Rochester’s Urban Choice Charter School is again likely to be shut down by the state Board of Regents.” The Democrat & Chronicle informs us that:

According to the state’s most recent site visit in November 2022, the school was meeting only three of its 10 benchmarks. Student performance on standardized tests now lags behind RCSD in most areas; teacher turnover is excessive, key leadership positions are unfilled; and the school has failed to follow through on some of the promises it made to secure earlier charter extensions.

Over the years, dozens of charter schools have failed and closed across New York state.

According to a February 15, 2023, article in The Kansas City Star, the Missouri Charter Public School Commission voted 6-1 to revoke the charter of Genesis Charter School due to years of poor academic performance. One month earlier, also in Missouri and for the same reason, “La Salle Charter Schools, Inc. announced it will be voluntarily giving up its charter school status and closing the middle school effective June 30, 2023.”

GoErie reported on February 7, 2023, that, “The Erie School Board on Jan. 18 [2023] voted to force the closing of Erie Rise due to poor student test scores. Erie Rise must close by June 30, according to the board’s resolution.” Erie Rise Leadership Academy Charter School opened in 2011 (more than 10 years ago).

In December 2022, CBS News Sacramento reported that:

A school shuttered its doors with no warning. Parents of Placer Academy Charter [in Rocklin, California] say the recent announcement came out of nowhere.

Going back a little further, a 2018 report from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that, “Florida charter school closures average 20 per year, report shows.” The real number is likely higher.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, between 2010-11 and 2019-20, a nine year period, 2,047 charter schools closed in the U.S.

Referencing a recent report on the largest federal grant program for charter schools, EducationWeek reported in October 2022 that, “Of the 6,000 [charter] schools that received [federal] funding for the program from fiscal year 2006 through 2020, 14 percent either never opened or closed, according to the report.”

A 2020 report from the Network for Public Education documents the closure of a large number of charter schools between 1999-2017. Peter Greene from Forbes offers this summary of report findings:

Within the first three years, 18% of charters had closed, with many of those closures occurring within the first year. By the end of five years, 25% of charters had closed. By the ten year mark, 40% of charters had closed.

Such closures are disruptive to everyone concerned. The report notes that about one million students were displaced by charter school closures between 1999-2017.

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), between 1998-99 and 2019-20, a 21-year period, 694 charter schools opened and closed the same year.

Across the country, dozens of charter school petitions are denied every year by public school boards who understand the perils of charter schools and charter school expansion. Fortunately, opposition to charter schools grows steadily and methodically each year. No doubt, charter school promoters will intensify disinformation in 2024 to justify the unjustifiable.

Privatization, a key pillar of the neoliberal agenda launched in the early 1970s, is a method by which major owners of capital restructure the state to funnel more public resources of all kinds to private interests under the banner of high ideals. While privatization enriches a handful of people it does not actually solve any problems confronting the natural and social environment. If anything, it multiplies problems. So-called public-private “partnerships” and various other pay-the-rich schemes are constantly being set up in different sectors in the name of solving problems confronting people and the economy. The net result is more economic and political inequality with each passing year. No real social progress is actually made.

Privatized education arrangements like charter schools, vouchers, or so-called “Education Savings Accounts” have only increased problems at all levels for everyone. The same can be said about education privatization schemes abroad, both at the secondary and post-secondary levels. With privatization, educational and intellectual missions are being replaced rapidly by mindless branding, intense digitization, endless slogans, aggressive advertising, diluted curricula, lower standards, and overnight credentials. It is all part of the destruction of the human factor and the social fabric of society.

Education is a right and rights cannot be commodified. Education is not a business or “cost” issue. Education cannot be reduced to “efficiency,” “results,” and quantification. The right to education must be guaranteed in practice in a complex modern society. It cannot be left to the chaos, anarchy, and violence of the “free-market.” Experience shows daily that this does not work.

Supplementary Note On Virtual Charter Schools

A June 12, 2023, article in The Hechinger Report indicates that nationally:

The worst [academic] results were posted by online charter schools, also known as virtual schools, which enroll six percent of the nation’s 3.7 million charter school students. Students at these schools learned the equivalent of 58 fewer days in reading and 124 fewer days in math than their public school peers. That’s like missing one third of the school year in reading and two thirds of the school year in math.

Many virtual charter schools have been rocked by salacious scandals over the years and have been fined heavily and/or shut down. [1] Many more will be shuttered in the years ahead.

1. See Cyber Charters in at Least 5 States Face Closure. What’s Going On?

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/28/charter-schools-fail-and-close-every-week/feed/ 0 407876 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/#respond Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:41:35 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them

"H&M's workforce deserves better working conditions and salaries," the unions said when calling the strike on June 12, as El Diarioreported, "which is why we ask you to join in the stoppages and strikes."

"We need to increase wages substantially."

The unions are negotiating on behalf of more than 4,000 workers at H&M brands including H&M, Cos, and Other Stories, The Associated Press reported. The unions want the retail giant to improve staffing after H&M laid off 400 workers in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to El País. The shortages have put additional strain on the remaining employees, most of whom are part time. Further, the unions want the company to offer more hours and improve wages, which are set by many different provincial agreements and as low as the minimum in some places.

"H&M workers in Spain earn less than 1,000 euros a month," 42-year-old worker Santiago Sanza said while protesting in front of a Madrid store on June 20, as Reuters reported, adding that most employees only netted 24 hours a week.

"We need to increase wages substantially," Sanza said.

Union leader Ángeles Rodríguez Bonillo said that low salaries had been made harder to bear with inflation, which is at 2.9% in Spain, according to the AP.

"Salaries that have been frozen for many, many years," Bonillo said, but the status quo had become intolerable "with the economic situation and the high cost of living."

The unions have been negotiating with H&M since January, El País reported. The store said it had offered to improve staffing and hours and implement a rewards-based pay system, but the unions said their proposals were "too abstract."

"The company has not put forward a single solution to the issues we raised," the unions said in their June 12 strike announcement, as El Diaro reported, "because of which we have decided to plan protests so that the company will understand the extent of the workforce's plight."

The UGT and CCOO initially announced three actions: partial work stoppages June 20 lasting from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm local time and again from 8:30 to 10:30 pm, a full 24-hour strike June 22, and another 24-hour strike June 26.

The strike action went ahead after negotiations derailed June 19 following a 12-hour session, according to the AP and Reuters.

During the June 22 strike, 80% of the workforce participated, shuttering around 95 stores, Reuters reported Friday.

"In general, there's been a lot of success," a CCOO spokesperson told El País, adding that the walkout had closed all the H&Ms in Fuerteventura, Asturias, Jaén, Murcia, Granada, Alicante, and Málaga, with only one store open in both Madrid and Barcelona.

The unions have since announced that strikes will continue July 1 and 8.

"The strike is extended because negotiations are blocked," union leader Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez said, as Reuters reported Friday.

"This move by management in Spain is not an isolated example."

UNI Europe, which represents service workers in the European Union, said H&M's actions in Spain, from the part-time hours to the stalled negotiations, reflected continental trends.

"This move by management in Spain is not an isolated example," UNI Europe regional secretary Oliver Roethig told the AP. "Even in the company's home country of Sweden, workers are being pushed into the precarity of zero-hour contracts."

At the same time, the company has become less willing to compromise.

"From Sweden to Spain, we are seeing that they are adopting a more conflictual approach to labor relations recently," Roethig said in a statement. "Workers and their unions will not allow management to cut hours and normalize low pay in a bid to divert income away from workers and towards profits. We urge management to rethink their approach."

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/feed/ 0 407146 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/#respond Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:41:35 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them

"H&M's workforce deserves better working conditions and salaries," the unions said when calling the strike on June 12, as El Diarioreported, "which is why we ask you to join in the stoppages and strikes."

"We need to increase wages substantially."

The unions are negotiating on behalf of more than 4,000 workers at H&M brands including H&M, Cos, and Other Stories, The Associated Press reported. The unions want the retail giant to improve staffing after H&M laid off 400 workers in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to El País. The shortages have put additional strain on the remaining employees, most of whom are part time. Further, the unions want the company to offer more hours and improve wages, which are set by many different provincial agreements and as low as the minimum in some places.

"H&M workers in Spain earn less than 1,000 euros a month," 42-year-old worker Santiago Sanza said while protesting in front of a Madrid store on June 20, as Reuters reported, adding that most employees only netted 24 hours a week.

"We need to increase wages substantially," Sanza said.

Union leader Ángeles Rodríguez Bonillo said that low salaries had been made harder to bear with inflation, which is at 2.9% in Spain, according to the AP.

"Salaries that have been frozen for many, many years," Bonillo said, but the status quo had become intolerable "with the economic situation and the high cost of living."

The unions have been negotiating with H&M since January, El País reported. The store said it had offered to improve staffing and hours and implement a rewards-based pay system, but the unions said their proposals were "too abstract."

"The company has not put forward a single solution to the issues we raised," the unions said in their June 12 strike announcement, as El Diaro reported, "because of which we have decided to plan protests so that the company will understand the extent of the workforce's plight."

The UGT and CCOO initially announced three actions: partial work stoppages June 20 lasting from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm local time and again from 8:30 to 10:30 pm, a full 24-hour strike June 22, and another 24-hour strike June 26.

The strike action went ahead after negotiations derailed June 19 following a 12-hour session, according to the AP and Reuters.

During the June 22 strike, 80% of the workforce participated, shuttering around 95 stores, Reuters reported Friday.

"In general, there's been a lot of success," a CCOO spokesperson told El País, adding that the walkout had closed all the H&Ms in Fuerteventura, Asturias, Jaén, Murcia, Granada, Alicante, and Málaga, with only one store open in both Madrid and Barcelona.

The unions have since announced that strikes will continue July 1 and 8.

"The strike is extended because negotiations are blocked," union leader Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez said, as Reuters reported Friday.

"This move by management in Spain is not an isolated example."

UNI Europe, which represents service workers in the European Union, said H&M's actions in Spain, from the part-time hours to the stalled negotiations, reflected continental trends.

"This move by management in Spain is not an isolated example," UNI Europe regional secretary Oliver Roethig told the AP. "Even in the company's home country of Sweden, workers are being pushed into the precarity of zero-hour contracts."

At the same time, the company has become less willing to compromise.

"From Sweden to Spain, we are seeing that they are adopting a more conflictual approach to labor relations recently," Roethig said in a statement. "Workers and their unions will not allow management to cut hours and normalize low pay in a bid to divert income away from workers and towards profits. We urge management to rethink their approach."

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/06/26/at-least-24-new-poison-pill-riders-were-added-to-house-spending-bills-in-the-past-week-lawmakers-must-remove-all-of-them/feed/ 0 407147 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/blinken-china-06092023182408.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/blinken-china-06092023182408.html#respond Fri, 09 Jun 2023 22:24:43 +0000 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/blinken-china-06092023182408.html U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing next week, Reuters and the Associated Press reported Friday, as the United States seeks to shore up strained ties with China.

Both Reuters and AP said Blinken would be in Beijing on June 18, next Sunday, citing anonymous American officials. AP said he would meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang and possibly President Xi Jinping.

State Department officials would not confirm the reported plans.

In February, Blinken abruptly canceled a trip to Beijing just hours before he was set to depart Washington after officials said a Chinese spy balloon was found floating over the United States. China insisted it was a weather balloon that strayed off course.

Since then, an unofficial trip by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to New York and Los Angeles in March has further inflamed ties.

Relations between the world’s two major powers have been tense since August, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan to the protests of Beijing, which regards the democratic island as a renegade province and has vowed to reunite it with the mainland.

There has also been an uptick in near-miss accidents between the two countries’ militaries in the past two weeks in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, with the Pentagon accusing China’s navy and air force of dangerous maneuvering in front of American vessels.

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

]]> https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/blinken-china-06092023182408.html/feed/ 0 402617 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/30/its-time-for-resistance-against-injustice-this-memorial-day-week/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/30/its-time-for-resistance-against-injustice-this-memorial-day-week/#respond Tue, 30 May 2023 00:40:47 +0000 https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=140668 The meaning of Memorial Day needs to be broadened.

We in the USA need to remember not just those who have died or risked death in one of the many wars the USA has been part of, going back to the original revolutionary war for independence from Britain. We also need to remember those who died or risked death or imprisonment in battles for the rights of workers to unionize, against Jim Crow segregation and for equal rights for all, for peace in Vietnam and against all imperialist wars, for the rights of women and lgbtq people, and against polluting industries and for the rights of nature and all its life forms.

The White House/Republican House debt ceiling bill underlines how important it is to draw strength from those before us who refused to accept unjust laws and practices, because this is a draft law which must be fought and fought right now, this week.

This legislation, if passed, would mandate the completion and operation of the destructive Mountain Valley Pipeline. It would roll back key provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act to enable a continued expansion of the fossil fuel industry. It apparently does almost nothing to advance clean renewables like wind and solar, including doing nothing to make it easier for new renewables to gain access to the electrical grid. It would weaken important social safety net provisions that help those of low income and low wealth while almost certainly increasing the nearly one trillion dollar per year military budget. And it requires student loan payments to restart for millions of young people.

There is no question that corrupt dirty-dealer Joe Manchin had a lot of do with this result. Joe Biden and his administration seem to have decided that appeasing this coal baron is the path forward when it comes to energy. They continue to disregard the statements made over the last two years by the International Energy Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and, just recently, Pope Francis that the deepening urgency of the climate emergency requires that the world’s industrialized countries stop the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Some progressives who get it on these and other issues nevertheless have begun to come out in favor of this latest version of the Manchin dirty deal. There is little doubt that on this one there will be a divide among those on the political Left. Those who openly support this flawed compromise will be saying, in essence, that Biden had no choice, which of course is just not true. For weeks other progressives, like Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna, have been calling upon the Biden administration to continue to pay US debts on the basis of the 14th Amendment, but so far that rational argument has fallen on deaf ears in the White House.

At this point I have no sense as to where House and Senate members are on this latest dirty deal. What I do know is that, once again, those of us who appreciate the importance of fighting against, not weakly compromising with, the Maga Republicans and Democrats like Manchin, must flood Congress right now and every day this week, with calls and texts and faxes and tweets and visits to and actions at Congressional offices.

Let’s act in the spirit of our justice-seeking ancestors who have come before us, remembering our children and grandchildren and the seven generations coming after us. They are depending on us to take action right now.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/30/its-time-for-resistance-against-injustice-this-memorial-day-week/feed/ 0 399280 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/16/girmit-day-shaping-fiji-through-hard-work-blood-sweat-and-tears/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/16/girmit-day-shaping-fiji-through-hard-work-blood-sweat-and-tears/#respond Tue, 16 May 2023 00:04:10 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88387 EDITORIAL: By The Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley

Sunday — May 14 — was an important date for Fiji.

It is recorded in history as a day set aside to commemorate the Girmitiya.

Sometimes we need a reminder to appreciate the importance of history, and what it means to us as a nation.

• READ MORE: Girmit Day – Overcast skies fail to deter Fijians
• Historic Girmit Day apology accepted as Fiji enters new era of unity and reconciliation
• Other Girmitya reports

We need to be reminded about events that contributed to making Fiji the nation that it is today.

So Sunday was about reflecting on history.

It was about appreciating the role history has in shaping our future.

We live in a country that was shaped through hard work, through blood, sweat and tears and tightly woven in there is the history of our Girmitiya.

It was on 14 May 1879 that the first group of indentured labourers arrived from India, into our waters.

We have grown as a nation and we should be appreciative of the place of the Girmitiya in how our nation has turned out.

It may be difficult to understand what transpired then.

It may be difficult to appreciate the sense of uncertainty, frustration, fear and shock when the first lot of indentured labourers sailed away from their motherland.

They were headed for a new beginning.

Life was very different from what they were accustomed to back home.

There was the weather to contend with, the food, and an environment they weren’t familiar with.

But they survived, and they adapted to a new way of life.

Yesterday was about acknowledging their sacrifice, hard work, and contribution to the development of a young nation.

We remind ourselves of the importance of history because it can help us appreciate what we have now.

History can reinforce our appreciation of who we are as a people, and as a nation.

To move forward, let’s get our bearings through history and take care never to repeat mistakes of the past.

The Girmit era should invoke in us a sense of appreciation of the early years of our economic progress as a nation.

It should also acknowledge the great sacrifices made by every indentured labourer.

History teaches us values.

Today let’s be reminded about something former US President George Bush said in a speech on 17 September 2002 which has deep meaning.

He told Americans: “Our history is not a story of perfection. It’s a story of imperfect people working toward great ideals.

“This flawed nation is also a really good nation, and the principles we hold are the hope of all mankind. When children are given the real history of America, they will also learn to love America.

“Ignorance of American history and civics weakens our sense of citizenship. To be an American is not just a matter of blood or birth; we are bound by ideals, and our children must know those ideals.”

They were powerful words which stood out then as they should today.

They are relevant and should serve as a reminder for us to remember our history.

On Sunday, emotions were on over-drive.

Tears flowed and we captured that on the front page today and inside.

There was a great feeling.

There was acceptance of the need for reconciliation.

There was forgiveness!

We remember thousands of people had an impact on the birth of our nation.

We remember the Girmitiya.

This Fiji Times editorial was published on 15 May 2023 under the original title “Girmit Day – We remember” and is republished here with permission.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/16/girmit-day-shaping-fiji-through-hard-work-blood-sweat-and-tears/feed/ 0 394978 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/15/nakba-day-75-years-of-palestinian-statelessness-but-also-persistence/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/15/nakba-day-75-years-of-palestinian-statelessness-but-also-persistence/#respond Mon, 15 May 2023 03:35:58 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88355 NAKBA DAY ADDRESS: By Rand Hazou

Although Israelis celebrate 1948 as the birth of the Jewish nation, for Palestinians this date is referred to as the Nakba, or “catastrophe”.

As the Palestinian scholar Edward Said points out, the Nakba is when “two thirds of the population were driven out, our property taken, hundreds of villages destroyed, an entire society obliterated” (Said, 2000, p. 185).

In 1948, Israeli forces killed an estimated 13,000 Palestinians, 531 Palestinian villages were entirely depopulated and destroyed, and almost three-quarters of a million Palestinians were made refugees (Passia, 2004, p. 1). Palestinians have been living with the consequences of the Nakba for 75 years.

• READ MORE:  The Naksa: How Israel occupied the whole of Palestine in 1967
• Other Nakba Day reports

My father is a Palestinian refugee who was born in Jerusalem. My grandfather began work at 13, transporting passengers in a horse-drawn cart on the relatively short distance of nine km along the old road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

He eventually developed a taxi business and then a chauffeur service. He ended up working as a transport manager for the Near East Arab Broadcasting Station which was run by the British Foreign Office.

In early May 1948, the station was moved to Cyprus, the “island of love” in the Mediterranean, where the British have a big army base. My grandfather was offered the opportunity to keep his job and relocate to Cyprus.

Eventually the family joined him there and they lived in Cyprus for about 10 years from 1948-1958. The family moved to Amman, Jordan — that’s where I was born.

On a good day you can stand on the hills overlooking the Jordan Valley, and you can see the Holy Land; on a clear evening you can just make out the lights of Jerusalem.

I grew up knowing that my homeland, this place called Palestine, was just over there — visible yet out of reach. It is a feeling common to many Palestinians. It is a feeling of displacement that Palestinians have been feeling for 75 years.

My family’s experience is like a lot of Palestinian refugee families that were forced to flee their homes because of the hostilities and ended up in nearby countries, waiting for the situation to be resolved so that we could go back to our homes, towns and villages.

We’ve been waiting for 75 years.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was established by the United Nations in 1949 to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees.

According to UNRWA, some 5.9 million Palestine refugees are eligible for the agency’s services. Most of these refugees live in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

They have been living there for 75 years.

The UN General Assembly set forth the legal framework for resolving the Palestinian refugee issue in UN Resolution 194 (III) in December 1948 which demands repatriation for those refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbours, or compensation for those choosing not to return.

This has become commonly referred to as the “right of return” — and it is a right that Palestinians hold particularly dear. In our minds and in our hearts we’ve been holding onto the right of return for 75 years.

Most Palestinian refugee families that were forced to flee their homes in 1947 still hold deeds or keys to their homes. The key has become a symbol of this right to return. The key is passed down from one generation to the next.

They’ve been passing down keys to the family home for 75 years.

When we think about the Nakba we often think about 75 years of statelessness, 75 years dispossession, 75 years of right denied. But the Nakba is also a story of 75 years of persistence.

Seventy five years of resilience. Seventy five years of steadfastness. It is 75 years of a commitment to rights and justice.

Dr Rand Hazou is a Palestinian-Kiwi theatre practitioner and scholar at Massey University. His research explores the intersections between the arts and social justice, and how creativity intersects with human rights, citizenship, justice and well-being. This speech was delivered to mark the 75th anniversary of Nakba Day at Aotea Square, Auckland, on 13 May 2023.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/15/nakba-day-75-years-of-palestinian-statelessness-but-also-persistence/feed/ 0 394809 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/14/historic-girmit-day-apology-accepted-as-fiji-enters-new-era-of-unity-and-reconciliation/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/14/historic-girmit-day-apology-accepted-as-fiji-enters-new-era-of-unity-and-reconciliation/#respond Sun, 14 May 2023 22:09:03 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88325 By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva

History unfolded live at the Vodafone Arena at Laucala Bay in Suva yesterday when the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma and descendants of the Girmitya exchanged apologies and forgiveness in a solemn church service marking the fourth day of the inaugural Girmit Day celebrations.

An emotional Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, fought back tears as he sought forgiveness for the hurt and pain inflicted on Fijians of Indian origin during the colonial era and the political upheavals of 1987 and 2000.

“I am not making this confession as Prime Minister of Fiji, as I do not hold the government accountable for my actions of 1987,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other Girmitya reports

“I do not claim to be making this confession on behalf of the vanua of Navatu, I am not Tui Navatu and I am just a member of the Yavusa Navatu of Cakaudrove.

“But I make this confession on behalf of all those that took part with me in the military coup of May 14, 1987.

“We confess our wrongdoings, we confess that we have hurt so many of our people in Fiji, particularly those of our Indo-Fijian communities at that time and among them were sons and daughters of those that were indentured as labourer from India between 1879 and 1960.”

Rabuka said they had every right to be angry about what was done to them.

‘I ask for your forgiveness’
“I stand here to confess and ask for your forgiveness. I have made our confession to some who were affected by our deeds in 1987.

“To those I did not reach, I hope [this is] coming through for us here, please forgive us.

“As you forgive, you release us and you are released. You are released from hatred and from your anger and we begin to feel the peace of God coming to our beings and our lives.”

In an emotional response, former prime minister and Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said it was a great day for the nation and worth celebrating.

It would go down well in history and everyone must build on it.

“I am deeply honoured by this gesture. Prime Minister Rabuka, I also accept your apology. In your personal capacity you apologised,” he said.

“I accept the apologies of the Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Kaba, Marama Roko Tui Dreketi and the Tui Cakau. Thank you very much for your magnanimity.

“I think the spirit is there now, that we can all work together, may God bless Fiji.”

‘One nation of different beliefs’
Fiji Times journalist Navnesh Reddy reports that on Saturday Prime Minister Rabuka spoke at the Western Girmit Day Remembrance Celebration held at Churchill Park in Lautoka.

“Today I am wearing the Hindu salusalu and have accepted the ‘tika’ on my forehead because we are now one nation of different beliefs.

“We are now one nation of different cultures and rather than offend the young student who put that on me, I accept it because my custom now is acceptance and to co-exist harmoniously.”

Rabuka said that as the nation moved forward, there was a need to create more awareness on how Fijians could overcome their differences.

“The underlying theme of the new Girmit Day holiday is about unity and I believe we all — the descendants of the Girmitya, the indigenous people and the chiefs — [must] live in harmony and we have to lay that foundation now.

“Our children need to know that we cannot build a new future by relying on our vision and beliefs from the past.”

He also acknowledged the organisers for putting together a programme that envisaged what the Coalition government believed in.

“This morning we came together and worshipped in three different religions and heard prayers from the Pundit, Reverend, and also the Imam.

“This is a very special time for Fiji because we are now coming together as a nation to observe the first public holiday to acknowledge and honour the Girmitya of India, who came to Fiji between 1879 to 1916.”

Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/14/historic-girmit-day-apology-accepted-as-fiji-enters-new-era-of-unity-and-reconciliation/feed/ 0 394793 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/09/fun-community-activism-and-rotuman-language-on-the-airwaves/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/09/fun-community-activism-and-rotuman-language-on-the-airwaves/#respond Tue, 09 May 2023 07:11:43 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88098 Asia Pacific Report

Pacific Media Network broadcaster and community activist Ernestina Maro (left) and Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group chair Rachael Mario share the microphone to talk up Rotuman Language Week events.

Cultural and social justice events feature in the eight day programme.

Last night the Titiri o Waitangi legacy and Rotuman community responses were aired at the Rotuman Community Centre and Whānau Hub in Auckland’s Mount Roskill.

• READ MORE: Rotuman communities in NZ celebrate their language week 2023

Tonight Polynesian Panthers co-founder Will Ilolahia will talk about the Dawn Raids era and the latest controversy.

• Full Rotuman Language Week programme details on Facebook and at the Rotuma website.

 

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/09/fun-community-activism-and-rotuman-language-on-the-airwaves/feed/ 0 393434 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/time-is-right-for-reconciliation-fijis-methodist-church-seeks-to-mend-race-relations/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/time-is-right-for-reconciliation-fijis-methodist-church-seeks-to-mend-race-relations/#respond Mon, 08 May 2023 09:35:03 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88040 By Rachael Nath, RNZ Pacific journalist

The Methodist Church of Fiji is seeking forgiveness from the descendants of Indian indentured labourers, or Girmitiyas, for the transgressions of the last 36 years.

The racially motivated violent coups of 1987 and 2000 and the military coup d’état of December 2006 have left a permanent scar on race relations within the country.

The 1987 and 2000 coups were supported by the church’s then-leadership.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES: Methodist Church delivers an official apology 
• READ MORE: Other Fiji race relations reports

But in a historic move, the church is launching a 10-year campaign to heal the wounds of the past — starting with an apology to coincide with the inaugural Girmit Day celebrations next Sunday.

Reverend Ili Vunisuwai is leading the official apology at the national reconciliation service on May 14 as the head of the largest Christian denomination in Fiji.

“The time is right to launch a campaign for national reconciliation and give the people of all races a chance to confess their weaknesses,” Reverend Vunisuwai said.

“Let’s seek forgiveness from those they regard as their enemies. We strongly believe that by confession with pure hearts and humility, our transgression can be forgiven,” he said.

“As we look back, the dark days of social upheavals of coups of 1987, 2000 as well as 2006, and then, unfolding events of hatred and discrimination, which resulted in fear and uncertainties, I think there’s a lot to be done by the church to bring the two races together.”

The timing of the event has much significance as the country of under a million people marks 144 years since the arrival of the first of more than 60,000 indentured labourers or Girmitiyas as they later came to be known.

Girmitiyas were brought to Fiji between 1879 to 1916 by British colonial rulers to work in plantations across the island.

As a result of the indentured labour system, Fijians of Indian descent make up the second largest ethnic population in Fiji today — slightly over 34 percent, while the iTaukei or indigenous people comprise 62 percent.

Chair to the Girmit Celebrations, Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran, is calling the apology efforts a start of a peaceful future for the nation.

‘We acknowledge the pain’
‘I’m very humbled, and I’m very, very touched at the strength of the Committee and of the leadership of the Methodist Church,” Kiran told RNZ Pacific.

“They’re willing to look at the problem in the eye and say, ‘Well, let’s talk about it. We apologise, we can’t change the past, but we are sorry for the hurt that we have caused’.”

But while Kiran accepts the apology from the church, she acknowledges that many in the Indo-Fijian community may not be ready.

“Any pain cannot be underrated,” she said. “What people went through was their pain, and it’s their journey so by no means can we judge what people are feeling or going through”

“We acknowledge the pain. We acknowledge the pain of the past,” she added.

However, she admits that events of the past cannot be undone, and the way forward is through healing.

“In the interest of healing the nation, in the interest of future generations that they born into a healed nation…we ask you to please open your hearts and open your inner feelings,” she appealed to Fijians.

“Let’s talk about it [past atrocities], and let’s work on healing and come into that space.”

She said it was also “okay” for those people who still “need time” to heal from the racial troubles, adding “at least we begin to talk about this.”

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who has publicly apologised for his actions in 1987 repeatedly, accepts that many will still remember the dark past that made him notorious worldwide.

“The man that we did not want to know about, we shied away from his name, addressed us…and he does not bite, he’s not an angry young man,” Rabuka told the 12th World Hindi Conference in Nadi in February.

“He is just an old man who understands the feelings of the descendants of the Girmitiyas who are now his age, looking at their grandchildren and children growing up in the land they now call home.”

RNZ Pacific asked Reverend Vunisuwai why it has taken the Methodist Church of Fiji 35 years to apologise to the Indo-Fijian community?

“The current government has allowed the celebration of the Girmitiyas, and that’s probably a good time for national reconciliation regarding all the upheavals of the past 30 years or so.”

• The official Girmit week celebrations kicks off on Wednesday.

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.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/time-is-right-for-reconciliation-fijis-methodist-church-seeks-to-mend-race-relations/feed/ 0 393186 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/rotuman-communities-in-nz-celebrate-their-language-week-2023/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/rotuman-communities-in-nz-celebrate-their-language-week-2023/#respond Mon, 08 May 2023 06:26:12 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=88024 Asia Pacific Report

Rotuman people and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand launched their Rotuman Language Week 2023 celebrations yesterday.

The event by the NZ Rotuman Collective began with a blessing and service at the Kingsland Rotuman Methodist Church — where the congregation began more than 30 years ago — and will showcase the language and culture of Rotuma.

“Each day of the week has been allocated a different theme with the elders, youth, children, community and religious leaders hosting their days,” said chairperson Rachael Mario.

• READ MORE: Other Rotuman reports

In addition to language and culture, the Rotuman Language Collective also focuses on key social justice areas that communities need more awareness about. These issues being presented at the NZ Rotuman Community Centre in Mt Roskill and other venues include:

• Te Tirirti o Waitangi presentation (Monday, May 8, 7.30am)
• Dawn Raids and Pasifika people’s advocacy for social justice (Tuesday, May 9, 7.30am)
• Health and wellbeing with Hula Fit exercise (Wednesday, May 10, 10.30am, 11.30am)
• Seniors lunch and storytelling (on Wednesday, May 10, 12 noon)
• Home ownership workshop (Wednesday, May 10, 7pm)
• Art classes for wellness (Thursday, May 11, 4pm)
• Serving our communities by continuing weekly distribution of food parcels (Friday, May, 12, 7pm)
• Education Hub launch (Friday, May 12, 7.30pm)
• Rotuman cultural show and community engagement (Saturday, May 13, Kingsland Trinity Methodist Church, 5.30pm)
• Mother’s Day acknowledging mothers and family (Sunday, May 14, 2pm)

“It is extremely important for our migrant communities to connect with Māori as people of this land, and be aware of colonisation and displacement,” Mario said.

‘Understanding colonisation‘
“This will also help Rotuman people understand our own colonisation by the British and Fiji.”

The Rotuman Language Week, a New Zealand-led initiative started in 2018 by the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group Incorporated (ARFGI), has now grown to include many groups across the world.

The feature event will be on Rotuma Day, including the Rotuman Showcase with a traditional dance and fashion show.

This will be followed by Community Engagement with chief guest MP Teanau Tuiono, Green Party spokesperson for Pacific peoples.

This year is also the continuation of the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages, making this Language Week even more important.

The theme for this year’s Language Week is: “Vetḁkia ‘os Fäega ma Ag fak hanua” (Sustaining our language and culture).

Rotuman people are a separate ethnic group with their own distinct Polynesian language, culture, and identity.

‘Untouched paradise’
Rotuma is described by commentators as an “untouched paradise” with some of the world’s most pristine and beautiful beaches.

“Language is what makes us who we are, and is part of our culture and identity,” Mario said. “And it is our duty to preserve this invaluable taonga”.

The group hopes the week’s activities will help bring people together, and showcase Rotuman culture.

“We invite everyone to join us and celebrate being Rotuman,” Mario said.

“It has not been easy for our community to keep our language alive in Aotearoa.”

“We pay tribute to our elders and leaders, who for the last 40 years, have continued to celebrate our culture in New Zealand, and for helping keep our customs and traditions relevant.”

Rotuma consists of the island of Rotuma and its nearby islets, and is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 500 kms north of Fiji, and 500 kms west of the French-ruled territory of Wallis and Futuna.

Rotuma was annexed by the British on 13 May 1881 (“Rotuma Day”). Although Rotuma is its own “nation”, it is currently administered by Fiji as a dependency.

The Rotuman language is listed on the UNESCO List of Endangered Languages as “Definitely endangered”.

• Full Rotuman Language Week programme details on Facebook and at the Rotuma website.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/08/rotuman-communities-in-nz-celebrate-their-language-week-2023/feed/ 0 393181 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/04/not-a-radical-idea-sanders-calls-for-32-hour-workweek-with-no-pay-cuts/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/04/not-a-radical-idea-sanders-calls-for-32-hour-workweek-with-no-pay-cuts/#respond Thu, 04 May 2023 13:04:23 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/news/not-a-radical-idea-sanders-calls-for-32-hour-workweek-with-no-pay-cuts

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday called for a 32-hour workweek with no pay cuts for U.S. employees, pointing to the overwhelmingly positive results in nations that have recently experimented with or enacted shorter workweeks.

"Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea," Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, wrote in an op-ed in The Guardian. "In fact, movement in that direction is already taking place in other developed countries. France, the seventh-largest economy in the world, has a 35-hour workweek and is considering reducing it to 32. The workweek in Norway and Denmark is about 37 hours."

The senator also pointed to a recent four-day workweek pilot program in the United Kingdom, where more than 90% of participating companies said the trial was so successful that they have no plans to return to a five-day workweek.

"Not surprisingly, it showed that happy workers were more productive," Sanders wrote. "Another pilot of nearly 1,000 workers at 33 companies in seven countries found that revenue increased by more than 37% in the companies that participated and 97% of workers were happy with the four-day workweek."

Sanders also noted that "an explosion in technology" in recent decades, and associated increases in worker productivity, have not prompted any changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the 1938 law that established the 40-hour workweek.

Between 1979 and 2021, according to the Economic Policy Institute, worker productivity rose by nearly 65% while hourly pay rose just 17.3%.

"The result: millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages, with the average worker making nearly $50 a week less than he or she did 50 years ago, after adjusting for inflation," wrote Sanders, who has said he will introduce legislation Thursday that would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour.

"It's time to reduce the workweek to 32 hours with no loss in pay," the senator continued. "It's time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life. It's time to make sure that working people benefit from rapidly increasing technology, not just large corporations that are already doing phenomenally well."

"It's time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life."

Sanders is one of just a handful of U.S. lawmakers to endorse a 32-hour workweek. Earlier this year, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) reintroduced his Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, legislation that would cut the standard U.S. workweek by amending the FLSA.

The bill currently has just two co-sponsors: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). The measure has also been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and other organizations.

"Workers across the nation are collectively reimagining their relationship to labor—and our laws need to follow suit," Takano said in March. "We have before us the opportunity to make common sense changes to work standards passed down from a different era. The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would improve the quality of life of workers, meeting the demand for a more truncated workweek that allows room to live, play, and enjoy life more fully outside of work."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/05/04/not-a-radical-idea-sanders-calls-for-32-hour-workweek-with-no-pay-cuts/feed/ 0 392439 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/24/celebrating-daniel-ellsberg-week-a-special-episode-of-the-project-censored-show-with-kevin-gosztola-and-daniel-ellsberg/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/24/celebrating-daniel-ellsberg-week-a-special-episode-of-the-project-censored-show-with-kevin-gosztola-and-daniel-ellsberg/#respond Mon, 24 Apr 2023 21:11:25 +0000 https://www.projectcensored.org/?p=28471 On the latest program, we celebrate Daniel Ellsberg Week (April 24-30), co-sponsored by The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy & and RootsAction Education Fund, as we honor whistleblowers in support of…

The post Celebrating Daniel Ellsberg Week: A Special Episode of the Project Censored Show with Kevin Gosztola and Daniel Ellsberg appeared first on Project Censored.

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/24/celebrating-daniel-ellsberg-week-a-special-episode-of-the-project-censored-show-with-kevin-gosztola-and-daniel-ellsberg/feed/ 0 390113 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/22/educators-are-standing-up-for-healthy-green-schools-and-a-livable-climate-this-earth-week/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/22/educators-are-standing-up-for-healthy-green-schools-and-a-livable-climate-this-earth-week/#respond Sat, 22 Apr 2023 13:41:09 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/earth-day-education-green-new-deal

The Earth is burning, and our schools are crumbling. Investments in healthy, sustainable, green schools can help solve both problems.

As a result of human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, generated primarily by the combustion of fossil fuels, the global climate is now about 1°C (nearly 2°F) warmer than the historical climate in which modern civilization emerged. Every amount of GHG emitted into the atmosphere worsens the global climate crisis, leading to real and increasingly measurable risks to human and ecosystem health, to the economy, and to global security. Predominantly Black and Brown communities and economically disadvantaged communities are at the frontlines of the impacts of the crisis.

At the same time, our nation’s public schools are drastically in need of improvements. According to the Aspen Institute, there are nearly 100,000 public schools in the U.S. They are, on average, 50 years old and emit 78 million metric tons of CO2 per year at an energy cost of about $8 billion annually. Investments in school infrastructure and climate mitigation, including the replacement of outdated and ineffective heating and cooling systems, improvements to ventilation and insulation, the installation of rooftop solar, and the remediation of asbestos, lead, and mold will not only improve the school environment for students and staff, but will also address historical injustices along the lines of race and class. These investments will also contribute to stabilizing the Earth’s climate.

That's why this Earth Week (April 17-22), students, educators, parents, school staff, and community members around the U.S. are taking action to demand healthy, green schools now.

Educators in locals like the Chicago Teachers Union, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, the New Jersey Education Association in Atlantic County, and New York’s United Federation of Teachers passed resolutions demanding action plans from their districts for green, healthy, fully-resourced community schools, prioritizing racial justice and disadvantaged communities. Educators across the country will be taking action during the week in a variety of ways.

This Earth Week, students, educators, parents, school staff, and community members around the U.S. are taking action to demand healthy, green schools now.

In the Seattle Education Association, educators will fight to expand on their recent victory of a nearly $20 million bond levy to make green, healthy retrofits to Seattle public schools, creating good union jobs and pathways to those jobs for students. Minneapolis educators will fight against the nearby Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, which creates large amounts of toxic air pollution and carbon emissions by burning garbage within a low-income community of color. Some educators from the Educators Climate Action Network (ECAN), the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and United Teachers Los Angeles, will be teaching lessons on the climate crisis and climate justice to their students in the classroom. Members of the Oakland Education Association will be participating in a community cleanup with the Alameda Labor Council.

The Chicago Teachers Union, Climate Justice Committee, launched a multidisciplinary program with educators and community members earlier in the year and has been building momentum and skills to engage in environmental justice action. For example, leading to Earth Day, twenty K-12 educators from all across Chicago enrolled in the Teaching Climate Justice Through Interdisciplinary Learning professional development class co-taught by a Fine Arts teacher and Environmental Science teacher to develop climate justice lesson plans for the Earth Week of Action. On Earth Day, Chicago Teachers Union members, in collaboration with Chicago Bike Grid Now organizers, plan to engage in a Pedal for the Planet event to educate and advocate for collective demands such as safer bike infrastructure and funding for healthy, green, sustainable community schools.

Going beyond the week of action, the United Teachers of Los Angeles have proposed an entire article on healthy green schools during their contract negotiations this year. The demands include climate literacy curricula, a green jobs study, a green school plan, including conversion to electric buses and renewable energy systems, and clean water, free from lead and other toxins. And the Boston Teachers Union has fought hard both to get a Green New Deal for Public Schools on the agenda with the city’s mayor and to ensure a meaningful seat at the table for the union as the plan moves forward.

Taken together, these actions represent a growing movement of educators across the U.S. seizing the moment to realize healthy green schools and make a Green New Deal for Education. We hope you will join us during this Earth Week to demand healthy green schools for our students and communities. You can join the Educators Climate Action Network to learn more and get involved. Together we can save the world, one school at a time.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Todd E. Vachon.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/22/educators-are-standing-up-for-healthy-green-schools-and-a-livable-climate-this-earth-week/feed/ 0 389697 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/#respond Mon, 10 Apr 2023 21:25:01 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=86894 By Walter Zweifel, RNZ Pacific reporter

Campaigning for French Polynesia’s territorial elections has entered its final week.

Dressed in their parties’ respective colours, supporters of several parties held small rallies at the weekend market in the capital Pape’ete.

In two rounds of voting — on Sunday, April 16 and Sunday, April 30 — voters will elect a new 57-member assembly for a five-year term.

• READ MORE: Other Tahitian elections reports

A total of seven lists are contesting the elections.

Under the proportional system introduced in 2011, a list needs the support of at least 12.5 percent of the votes to make it to the second round.

The list winning most votes in the second round will get a third of all seats as a bonus.

The remaining two thirds will then be distributed according to the lists’ relative strength.

Observers say only the ruling Tāpura Huira’atira and the pro-independence Tāvini Huira’atira stand a chance to win, given their presence across the island groups.

The last time French Polynesian voters went to the poll was in 2018.

President Édouard Fritch of the Tāpura Huira’atira has held the territory’s top job since 2014.

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

En Polynésie française les élections territoriales se dérouleront les 16 et 30 avril 2023. 7 listes s’affronteront dans les huit section dans une circonscription électorale unique, divisée en huit sections. Qui sont les candidats et… https://t.co/gf6p6gGyj1 Tahiti Polynesie pic.twitter.com/GX4rGIXluQ

— polynesiela1ere (@Polynesiela1ere) April 8, 2023

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/feed/ 0 386696 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/#respond Mon, 10 Apr 2023 21:25:01 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=86894 By Walter Zweifel, RNZ Pacific reporter

Campaigning for French Polynesia’s territorial elections has entered its final week.

Dressed in their parties’ respective colours, supporters of several parties held small rallies at the weekend market in the capital Pape’ete.

In two rounds of voting — on Sunday, April 16 and Sunday, April 30 — voters will elect a new 57-member assembly for a five-year term.

• READ MORE: Other Tahitian elections reports

A total of seven lists are contesting the elections.

Under the proportional system introduced in 2011, a list needs the support of at least 12.5 percent of the votes to make it to the second round.

The list winning most votes in the second round will get a third of all seats as a bonus.

The remaining two thirds will then be distributed according to the lists’ relative strength.

Observers say only the ruling Tāpura Huira’atira and the pro-independence Tāvini Huira’atira stand a chance to win, given their presence across the island groups.

The last time French Polynesian voters went to the poll was in 2018.

President Édouard Fritch of the Tāpura Huira’atira has held the territory’s top job since 2014.

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

En Polynésie française les élections territoriales se dérouleront les 16 et 30 avril 2023. 7 listes s’affronteront dans les huit section dans une circonscription électorale unique, divisée en huit sections. Qui sont les candidats et… https://t.co/gf6p6gGyj1 Tahiti Polynesie pic.twitter.com/GX4rGIXluQ

— polynesiela1ere (@Polynesiela1ere) April 8, 2023

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

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/10/french-polynesia-election-campaigning-now-in-final-week-for-sundays-vote/feed/ 0 386697 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kale-04072023165751.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kale-04072023165751.html#respond Fri, 07 Apr 2023 21:13:50 +0000 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kale-04072023165751.html Heavy artillery began raining from the sky onto villages to the north of Kale township on March 30, touching off what would become a week of fierce fighting between junta troops and local armed opposition forces.

By the time the dust had settled on Wednesday, more than 50,000 residents of 17 villages had scattered, leaving a vast swathe of area on the outskirts of the bustling township in Myanmar’s Sagaing region eerily quiet and creating a humanitarian crisis in nearby population centers where many fled to seek shelter.

“They all had to flee to the town of Kalay – the number of refugees coming into town amounted up to about 30,000 in two days, according to our calculations,” an aid worker assisting the displaced told Radio Free Asia. The influx of refugees amounts to nearly a quarter of the town’s population of around 130,000.

“What they mainly need is mosquito nets, as there are a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. The weather is too hot, too. They need medicines and food such as rice, cooking oil and salt.”

Following the artillery barrage, junta troops from the junta’s Kale-based Kha-La-Ya (228) unit, backed by forces from the regional command headquarters, conducted village raids using ground troops while aircraft provided support.

A fighter jet and three military helicopters were deployed to attack a location near the village of Pyin Taw U on Monday evening alone, residents said.

An official with the anti-junta Kale People’s Defense Force paramilitary group told RFA that multiple buildings were destroyed during the week of raids.

“How the fighting broke out was that the junta forces first started firing heavy artillery on the villages in the north of Kale more than 40 times and then their ground troops [and air force] began to attack,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security concerns.

“We haven’t been able to confirm the details of the casualties and property damage in the villages yet. A Christian church and several houses have been damaged,” he said. “The junta threw fire bombs into the villages [on Thursday]. Nyung Kone and Kyi Kone villages are still burning.”

The official said that two people from the Kale PDF had been captured by the junta, one was killed and three were injured in the fighting. 

A spokesman for the Kale PDF claimed that 10 junta soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded over the course of the week, but RFA has not been able to independently confirm the numbers.

Early on Tuesday, fighting broke out between junta soldiers stationed at Kale University and the anti-junta Siyin region Civic Defense Militia, the militia said in a statement. One junta soldier was killed and CDM forces captured some military weapons, the group said. 

Attempts by RFA to reach Aye Hlaing, the junta spokesman for Sagaing region, about the clashes went unanswered Friday.

‘Our village is burning’

A resident of one of the villages north of Kale, who also declined to be named, told RFA that most of the people displaced by the fighting are sheltering in the homes of relatives in town, churches and Bible schools, or in the jungle.

Other sources said that at least two civilians were killed by the military during the raids, while three others were injured by shelling and airstrikes.

Meanwhile, the junta troops have set up camp at a Buddhist monastery in Nyang Kone village, making it impossible to return to the area, a resident said.

“When the fighting paused, we returned home riding motorcycles to fetch our items of value, but once we heard them start back up, we had to flee again,” the Nyang Kone resident said.

“We can hear gunshots and artillery shelling from the town. I dare not go back to my village. Other villagers who fled to the nearby woods said that our village is burning.”

On Thursday, the anti-junta Kale Defense Force issued a warning to residents traveling to the north of the township that “a fight could break out at any time.”

Residents estimate that since Myanmar’s military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup d’etat, around 70,000 people – or 1 out of every 5 inhabitants – have fled fighting in Kale township.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

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

]]> https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/kale-04072023165751.html/feed/ 0 386240 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/03/golden-rule-week-is-coming-are-you-ready-to-join/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/03/golden-rule-week-is-coming-are-you-ready-to-join/#respond Mon, 03 Apr 2023 05:37:46 +0000 https://www.counterpunch.org/?p=278237

It was a bright, busy Sunday afternoon in a restaurant, and the woman bussing our dishes beamed. I’d just complimented her lovely pink nail polish. “It’s hard in this job,” she smiled as she wiggled her fingers in display. “But I try to take care of my nails.” She gave us an extra grin as she cleared our plates.

“That gave her wings,” my husband commented as she walked away.

He was right. I had noticed something she was proud of, so she felt validated – probably something that doesn’t often happen with people in her job. What’s more, the quick, shared moment had made me feel good as well. I felt more connected to her, enjoying the fact that we were no longer complete strangers but rather people chatting on a Sunday afternoon.

Neuroscience bears this out. When we undertake an act of kindness, endorphins, oxytocin and dopamine are released in our brains. These are chemicals that, in part, make us feel good – what’s known as a “helper’s high.” They also help create new neural connections in our brains, which means it becomes easier and easier to undertake such random acts of kindness. Essentially, we build muscles for kindness.

This is great news as we approach Golden Rule Week, from April 1-7. All sorts of organizations, schools, even city councils are promoting kindness campaigns and asking people to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We can join these campaigns individually, challenging ourselves to commit at least one act of kindness each day during Golden Rule Week. We can join them as families or teams, setting goals for how many acts of kindness collectively we can commit.

Here are some thoughts about how we can build our kindness muscles:

* Reach out to someone who might be feeling lonely. A simple text can do wonders, and a call or visit even more.

* Be curious enough about someone different from you to ask them a question. Stanford neuroscientist Jamil Zaki notes this helps us see other people in their full, human complexity – something vital in our polarized time when we are encouraged to see others as mere stereotypes.

* Imagine a kind act you could commit in the future. Studies show even imagining an act of kindness has benefits.

* Read a novel about people different from you. Other studies show that entering someone else’s world builds empathy, which is part of kindness.

* Talk with your children, asking their opinions about why kindness is important. You’ll show them you value their opinion, model being empathetic, and spend quality time together.

* Be kind to yourself! In our competitive society, our “self-talk” – that constant commentator in our heads – too often is negative. Give yourself grace, and you’ll be ever more able to give it to others.

April 1-7 is a great chance to build our kindness muscles. We can have wide impact, as acts of kindness help us, the people we reach, and even the “kindness bystanders” who watch or hear about our actions. As you think about setting Golden Rule goals, remember the words of the Dalai Lama: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Melinda Burrell.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/03/golden-rule-week-is-coming-are-you-ready-to-join/feed/ 0 384583 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/02/trumps-indictment-was-not-the-biggest-story-of-the-week/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/02/trumps-indictment-was-not-the-biggest-story-of-the-week/#respond Sun, 02 Apr 2023 17:17:37 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-indictment-antarctica-study

Last Thursday’s big news story was the indictment of Donald Trump, with banner headlines in all the papers that still print on paper. The phrase I saw most often was “uncharted territory,” (and occasionally “unchartered territory”), which is somewhat true: we’ve never had a former president, much less one seeking election, under indictment. But, truth be told, it seems like these waters were fairly easy to predict. It’s been obvious for many years that Trump disregarded rules and laws, acted on whims and appetites, and was a greedy skinflint; him ending up in trouble for tax evasion to cover up an affair with a porn star seems unlikely only in its details.

The truly novel story came out a few hours earlier on Thursday, with the publication of Nature. The magazine is one of the world’s two pre-eminent scientific journals, and it emerges weekly from its London base with the latest in carefully peer-reviewed research. This week it carried one of the most important installments in the most important saga of our time, the rapid decline of the planet’s physical health. It was in the form of a dispatch from the Antarctic, where researchers found, to quote their title, clear evidence of “Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater.”

One understands why that was not quite as easy to put into headlines as Trump’s arrest. But translated from the scientific, it’s the rough equivalent of “South Pole to Planet Earth: Drop Dead.” As The Guardian explained, in the best summary of the research I’ve seen, the study shows that “melting ice around Antarctica will cause a rapid slowdown of a major global deep ocean current by 2050 that could alter the world’s climate for centuries and accelerate sea level rise.”

If greenhouse gas emissions continue at today’s levels, the current in the deepest parts of the ocean could slow down by 40% in only three decades.

This, the scientists said, could generate a cascade of impacts that could push up sea levels, alter weather patterns and starve marine life of a vital source of nutrients.

Basically, as melting ice pours fresh water into the ocean around Antarctica, it dilutes the salinity of the sea; that reduces its density and it’s no longer heavy enough to sink, pushing out the water that’s already there. The decomposing organisms that have dropped to the sea floor thus remain locked there, as the whole vast conveyor belt begins to slow. This phenomenon has already been observed in the Arctic, where melting water pouring off Greenland and from melting sea ice has slowed the Arctic Meridional Overturning Current, or AMOC; the Australian scientists behind this new study have confirmed that the same thing is underway in the antipodes. The water that once flowed north, carrying nutrients to the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans will stagnate in place. Other studies have predicted additional problems as these currents decline, including moving rainfall bands by a thousand kilometers from their present position. As one scientist put it, the Antarctic current is “on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse,” and not on a scale of centuries, or even century. On a scale of decades and years. We’re as far from 2050 as we are from Bill Clinton denying he’d had “sexual relations” with “that woman,” which is to say not very far (and also reminder that embarrassing presidents are not in themselves a new phenomenon, even if Trump took it to an entirely new and endlessly more dangerous level).

The scale of the systems we’re now affecting is almost incomprehensible—the flow of the Arctic current is a hundred times larger than the Amazon river. And the speed is incomprehensible. “In the past, these circulations have taken more than 1,000 years or so to change, but this is happening over just a few decades,” one of the study’s authors said. “It’s way faster than we thought these circulations could slow down.”

But that’s because we’ve built a new planet, one with a markedly different atmosphere. Which changes everything. Even before the epochal news from the Antarctic, the earth’s oceans had been sending distressing signals this spring. In late March, scientists reported that the temperature of ocean waters around the planet was rising abruptly, reaching record levels in recent weeks.

Around mid-March, ocean-temperature monitoring data shows that average surface water temperatures surpassed 21 degrees Celsius (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit) around the globe, excluding polar waters, for the first time since at least 1981, when the data set originated. That is warmer than what scientists observed at this time of year in 2016, when a strong El Niño drove the planet to record warmth.

This time those records are being set in the latter phases of a La Nina cold cycle—though it’s becoming clear that a new El Nino is in the process of forming and should be here by late summer or early fall. The chances are growing that it will be an extremely strong version of the Pacific warm current, and if so it will drive the climate crisis into a new gear—Jim Hansen, the planet’s greatest climatologist, has suggested we could see temperatures pass, at least for a time, the 1.5-degree temperature mark. In political terms, this means probably the last spurt in aroused global fear, translating into the last chance for widescale emissions reductions, during the period when we still have some hope of really limiting temperature rise. After that, we may well be in territory where only truly terrifying interventions like solar geoengineering will suffice.

“The longer we go on with higher rates of greenhouse gas emissions, the more changes we commit ourselves to,” said one of the Aussie scientists who brought us this week’s grim and vital news. That’s been true for decades now; the question as always is if we’ll react to the latest warning. The crime that history will remember Trump for is almost certainly withdrawing from the Paris climate accord. But they got Al Capone on his taxes too.

In other energy and climate news:

+New York governor Kathy Hochul seems poised to do something really dumb, undermining New York’s climate laws at the behest of the fossil fuel industry, largely by introducing an accounting trick on the way we figure the warming impact of methane. New York enviros are fighting back. Follow the Twitter feed (sigh) of New York Communities for Change for the latest updates

+You can sign a petition asking state treasurers to do the right thing and back climate and indigenous rights in this spring’s round of shareholder meetings at big companies. Meanwhile, thanks to Senator Ed Markey and Reps Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib for introducing legislation that would cut off the flow of financing from big banks to the fossil fuel industry. A strong argument for this law comes in a Seattle Times oped from Third Act organizers Lisa Verhovek, Mary Lou Dickerson, and Bobby Righi:

In light of the recent upheavals in the banking sector and the greater concentration of deposits in the large Wall Street banks, we need more than ever to demand that these banks use their enormous power to invest responsibly. We can expect our banks to manage both financial and climate risks, and to this end encourage people to contact their own banks and credit unions to review both the stability of the bank, FDIC insurance coverage and whether they are funding fossil fuel development.

+Jeff Goodell, one of the world’s great climate reporters, has come back with a haunting dispatch from the Okavango Delta, where oil companies have begun drilling in yet another remarkable corner of the earth.

The Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for good reason: It is one the world’s last wild places. It’s not a savanna or a rainforest or a jungle. It’s at the northern edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana — a desert formed of the wind-blown fragments of some of the oldest rocks on Earth. But at certain times of the year, water comes flooding down from the highlands of Angola, a gently rising plateau north of Botswana and Namibia that was the site of bloody conflicts for the last three decades of the 20th century. Out of these battle-scarred hills, this land of strife and suffering, runs the water that makes up the delta.

The water in the delta is beautiful and clear, unpolluted by chemicals or sediments. For wildlife, this water is a lifeline, a paradise, a refuge. Hippos and crocodiles thrive in the shallow channels and pools. More than 500 species of birds flash through the skies. It is a landscape of ancient baobab trees (one baobab in Namibia is estimated to be 2,100 years old) and riverbanks of papyrus, the plant from which Egyptians learned to make paper 4,000 years ago. It is an unfenced, undomesticated place that still moves to the rhythms of nature, where the big animals that populated your childhood imagination live and hunt and die without human interference.

+An old friend—and truly veteran solar campaigner Sajed Kamal—offers an essay detailing his hopes for a move from mutually assured destruction to an era where climate cooperation offers some hope for peace. It includes a reminder of a quote from former Exxon CEO (and Trump secretary of state) Rex Tillerson: “My philosophy is to make money. If I can drill and make money, then that’s what I want to do.”

+Many thanks to the Wall Street Journal (whose news side is different from its editorial side) for pursuing the “mystery” of who hired a global hacker to spy on opponents of Exxon. The hacker is in a New York jail, not talking. Bonus is a picture of yours truly, since my account was one of the ones he was after.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Bill McKibben.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/02/trumps-indictment-was-not-the-biggest-story-of-the-week/feed/ 0 384453 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/01/with-a-holy-week-indictment-donald-trump-is-entering-jesus-territory/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/01/with-a-holy-week-indictment-donald-trump-is-entering-jesus-territory/#respond Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:02:12 +0000 https://theintercept.com/?p=425238

Faith leaders pray over President Donald Trump during an Evangelicals for Trump campaign event held at the King Jesus International Ministry on Jan. 3, 2020, in Miami, Fla.

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Get ready for the MAGA Christian nationalist crowd to make the connection between Donald Trump’s surrender to New York authorities next Tuesday and Holy Week. Next Tuesday is Holy Tuesday, and the parallels will write themselves. Any Christian nationalist minister who fails to draw the comparison should have his Venmo account suspended.

Trump is expected to turn himself in and appear in court in Manhattan on Tuesday following his indictment by a New York grand jury. The indictment is still sealed, so the charges against the former president are not yet public. But the grand jury had been hearing evidence about hush-money payments made to former porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Holy Week, which begins this Sunday, is the most important week of the year in the Christian calendar. Beginning with Palm Sunday, on April 2, and ending with Holy Saturday, on April 8, it follows the narrative of the Passion of Christ, from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem through the Last Supper, his betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and death. Christ’s resurrection follows on Easter, which falls this year on April 9.

Holy Tuesday is one of the least important days of Holy Week, but it still counts.

In the upside-down world of the Christian nationalists at the heart of the MAGA subculture, Donald Trump — a porn-star-fucking, Putin-loving, psychopathic liar and traitorous crook who is running for president again just to stay out of jail, grift more dollars, wreak more havoc, and seek further revenge against his enemies — is a Christ-like figure. Of course, they will see him as a martyr straight out of the Bible.

It would probably be better for the Christian nationalists of MAGA world if Trump surrendered next Friday, which is Good Friday, the day when believers observe Christ’s crucifixion. Holy Tuesday is a middle-of-the-week drudge day of Holy Week, and biblical scholars have spent a millennium trying to piece together what they think Jesus was doing that day. But the generally accepted version of what happened on Holy Tuesday will still fit nicely into the narrative of victimhood and righteousness that Christian nationalists have built around Trump.

After his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, when the joyful crowd threw palms in front of his donkey to smooth his path, Jesus cleansed the Temple of Jerusalem on Holy Monday, overturning the tables of the moneychangers.

Holy Tuesday was a day of testing for Jesus. As he entered the temple, according to the Gospel of Matthew, “the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’”

Jesus had an answer ready:

“Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.

“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.”

The MAGA crowd has frequently compared Trump to Jesus, and now they are beginning to make the connection between Trump’s latest legal problems, Jesus Christ, and the liturgical calendar.

In fact, the right-wing outrage that erupted after Trump’s indictment in New York was disclosed on Thursday has already taken on an apocalyptic tenor, and MAGA-world characters are beginning to fill their biblical roles. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has come to symbolize MAGA in Congress, immediately vowed to go to New York to support Trump; she seems to be fulfilling the role of Mary Magdalene, who washed Christ’s feet with her tears and later witnessed his crucifixion. Of course, Michael Cohen, Trump’s onetime lawyer and the star witness against him in the New York case, is being cast by MAGA world as Judas. What could be better for Trump than to have a MAGA minister standing outside the courthouse on Tuesday quoting Matthew?

The problem for the Christian nationalists is that they may have to defend Trump at least four times. In addition to the New York case, Trump is also facing two federal criminal investigations and another in Georgia.

If he is charged in all four cases, where in the Bible will Christian nationalists seek guidance?

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by James Risen.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/04/01/with-a-holy-week-indictment-donald-trump-is-entering-jesus-territory/feed/ 0 384102 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/03/21/letter-from-london-a-long-week-in-march/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/03/21/letter-from-london-a-long-week-in-march/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2023 05:45:06 +0000 https://www.counterpunch.org/?p=277264

MONDAY last week threw a surprise. It began with word from Central Asia about a film project, an anti-war tale plugged into a moment in recent history. This meant liaising with an American scriptwriter friend in Oregon to whom I immediately sent a text. It just so happened he was waking up in the middle of the night ‘from one of those really long detailed dreams where for some reason your dad shows up with a sick dog.’ Pacific Time and Central Asian time are 13 hours apart and throughout the day I tried bridging the gap. ‘A Long Week in March’ was used to describe the military success of the 36th (Ulster) Division in the German Spring Offensive of March 1918. Mine was no such thing — and the week had only just begun — but it was acquiring momentum.

I spoke on video to a second American, this person in Philadelphia with a knocked-focus background, re-visiting his childhood. The power of the past was forefront in his mind. After discussing a new art movement in the Arab world, I explained how London was preoccupied with the latest banking crisis. ‘It looks like the Treasury will become the new depository of choice for those who have the financial resources,’ wrote Michael Hudson in CounterPunch that day. ‘Or gold of course,’ said an English friend, upset the greatest financial crisis in fifteen years had some media focused on Gary Lineker, Lineker being the former soccer player no longer suspended by the BBC for tweeting about government language related to asylum policies.

The crisis had my New Yorker friend, freshly back from his father’s 100th birthday celebrations, considering writing another book on banking. I had been trying to encourage him to write one on his loyalty to the UK, but clearly he preferred meatier topics. To be fair, his last book was on the American and EU financial system and regulation, with particular emphasis on Blighty, which of course was very much the European finance capital at the time.

Talking of books, the artist stepped out from her studio Monday night to a revamped Kings Cross with poet and teacher Kate Ling, knowing how important it was to remember friendship, on this occasion a Faber book launch of ‘Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor’ by their good friend Emma Warren. The artist on social media later described what she saw as Emma’s compassion in her work, and how the book was a key celebration of dance and the spaces in which we dance.

TUESDAY got under way with a four-way chat with three good friends, people I had introduced to each other over a year ago during what were intense circumstances for two of them. All three became a component part of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2022 in Oslo, their particular event taking place in the university’s great ceremonial hall beneath artist Edvard Munch’s only publicly commissioned works. Formal humanitarian occasions are challenging at the best of times. It is a legitimate question to ask if anything ever comes of these panel-type discussions at the top table, other than a reinforcement of already established points of view. However, my friends were more than holding their own with a mixture of originality and poise, and in the company of a former American Secretary of State, too. Talking to them again last Tuesday, I was reminded of just how profound and disruptive it must be when your love of country is stunted by endless conflict.

At the same time, someone sent an energetic Twitter thread posted by Sunday Times chief political commentator Tim Shipman, a man last sighted at my local chemist. In fact, an increasingly bearded Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is also in the ‘hood, though former Chancellor Kwazi Kwarteng has been keeping a low profile of late. Nor are there many sightings these days of Kwarteng’s close neighbour Liz Truss. I also see Mail on Sunday columnist Dan Hodges striding across the heath, plus his marvellous twice-Oscar-winning former Labour MP mother Glenda Jackson in the aisles of the local supermarket. I haven’t seen in a while the bicycling Andrew Gilligan of tragic David Kelly fame, who became a special adviser to Boris Johnson. Maybe he has cycled off into the sunset. Anyway, it is elsewhere in the world we must look now for consequence, staring out as we do from an increasingly precarious crow’s nest on the good ship Britannia. I noticed across the ocean DeSantis in Florida saying Ukraine was not vital to US interests, suggesting the war was more of a squabble between Ukraine and Russia. Trump has also come out with claims he could end it in a day. Whoever the 2024 Republican party nomination is, you do feel the battle-lines are already being drawn. Continued war (Democrat) or brutal peace (Republican); I can’t believe I am saying that. Who knows what further hell awaits the people of Ukraine, or the innocent young Russian men and, more recently, Russian women, sent there to fight. If a future American President does call off the dogs of war, are we honestly saying it will be left to the UK to lead the fight against Russia and therefore China?

WEDNESDAY being Budget Day introduced itself with a suitably flat grey sky. You could already sense the ruckus about to kick off on the back-benches over Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s likely raising of corporation tax. This decision would be despite repeated warnings from economists that it would stifle recovery. Global banking crises aside, the air was rank with fake optimism. You felt anything could be happening, including total economic collapse, and some of our politicians would still be praising good old British spunk. Maybe I am reading this all wrong, and that somewhere within the mayhem is something somehow admirable, but I am not so sure. ‘The thing is,’ said another friend, ‘the west’s economies have been a debt-fuelled illusion for the last thirty years.’ He found it amazing they had even lasted that long.

Striking doctors meanwhile continued to protest outside Downing Street, and I wondered how many attended the screening of my NHS film ten or so years ago at Queen Mary University in London when Professor Allyson Pollock asked the auditorium if anyone knew that the NHS in England had been abolished. This was after the Health and Social Care Act 2012 abolished the government’s duty to provide secondary and other NHS services. It did however later that day appear that NHS unions might reach a pay deal soon for nurses and paramedics. Junior doctors were also beginning to agree formal talks. One growing problem is that so many UK doctors are being lured to Australia as International Medical Graduates (IMGs) with the UK providing more than any other nation. It is a doctor-drain.

I was still mulling over this as I caught sight by the Thames of a lone coot on the water’s edge. A coot is an attractive black water bird with prominent white beak. It is also a word used to describe a stupid or eccentric person, typically an old man. Who was the real coot? It had a more interesting voice than mine. A chipping sound, like a sculptor’s chisel on granite. I also loved the way it kept stepping in and out of the water and stamping on each and every wavelet.

I knew THURSDAY was going to be interesting because it meant meeting up with someone I had never met in person but with whom I had spoken almost every day during the pandemic. This was while we worked together on a successful voluntary data project. While corporations elsewhere were profiteering on misery, we were doing it for free. In the end it grew over-complicated and ultimately ungiving but had been the source of at least two continuing new friendships. On my way to London Bridge, avoiding the striking overland trains, I was fascinated to know what exactly the third dimension would bring. Friendships, even relationships, have been made and lost in this sphere. What pure joy it was to discover therefore that this person even more remarkable in the flesh than on the screen. Our hugs were swift and sincere. We spoke of another friend and sent an image of our meeting, reaffirming throughout the important loyalty underpinning it.

Still thinking about my news on Monday, FRIDAY had me wonder how much we can effect change through creative endeavour. Can artistic works transform how people think? Or has creativity become so powerless in this age of division that by appearing to take sides we never get to present the big picture? What rubbish. Creatively we can do whatever we wish. With the right formulation we might even help make a better world. Just because it is on the sick list now, it doesn’t make it dead.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Peter Bach.

]]> https://www.radiofree.org/2023/03/21/letter-from-london-a-long-week-in-march/feed/ 0 380925 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/xijinping-russia-03172023175215.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/xijinping-russia-03172023175215.html#respond Fri, 17 Mar 2023 22:07:43 +0000 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/xijinping-russia-03172023175215.html Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Beijing and Moscow announced on Friday as the U.S. warned against "one-sided" Ukraine peace plans and the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for illegally deporting Ukrainian children.

Xi's visit to Moscow Monday to Wednesday, his first to China's closest global partner since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, will be a "a trip for peace," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

"China will uphold an objective and fair position on the Ukraine crisis and play a constructive role in promoting talks for peace," he added.

China last month released a 12-point proposal for ending the war and called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. The plan received a cautious welcome from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but was greeted skeptically by the U.S. and Europe because it called for an end to “unilateral sanctions” without demanding a Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory.

China's attempts to portray itself as neutral in the conflict have been strained by Beijing's actions, including its refusal to condemn or even recognize Moscow’s move into Ukraine in February 2022 as an invasion, its declaration of a “no-limits” friendship with Russia just weeks before the Russian aggression, and the parrotting of Moscow's propaganda by officials and state-controlled media blaming NATO for the war.

China has also provided diplomatic support for Moscow and held joint military drills with Russia, as state firms have snapped up Russian oil and gas at distressed prices to help ease the pain of international sanctions.

“A ceasefire now is, again, effectively the ratification of Russian conquest,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters when asked about Xi's trip.

A premature pact would “in effect recognize Russia’s gains and its attempt to conquer its neighbor’s territory by force, allowing Russian troops to continue to occupy sovereign Ukrainian territory," he said, encouraging Xi to reach out to Zelenskyy as well as Putin.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Xi is expected to have a phone call with Zelenskyy after the trip, in what would be their first conversation since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Thursday and "this topic, among others, was discussed by foreign ministers of Ukraine and China," the Washington Post reported, quoting a text from Ukrainian presidential spokesperson Serhiy Nykyforov. "So we can say that the work is in progress.”

China's spokesman Wang declined to comment on the possible call, but said: "China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear. We maintain communication with all parties."

In a development Friday that could complicate Xi's mission, International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, Reuters news agency reported.

Russia is not a member of the ICC, but the move will obligate the Netherlands-based court's 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory, Reuters noted.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the ICC allegations "outrageous and unacceptable," the agency reported.

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

]]> https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/xijinping-russia-03172023175215.html/feed/ 0 380313 https://www.radiofree.org/2023/03/14/peoples-earth-week-climate-justice-arts-and-action/ https://www.radiofree.org/2023/03/14/peoples-earth-week-climate-justice-arts-and-action/#respond Tue, 14 Mar 2023 13:42:26 +0000 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/people-s-earth-week-climate-art

In this country, there are two centers of power large enough to make a real difference in the global climate fight: the federal government and the financial industry. That’s why our coalitions are focused on these two arenas of contestation. People vs Fossil Fuels is a coalition of more than 1,200 organizations demanding President Biden end fossil fuel expansion. Stop the Money Pipeline is a network of more than 240 groups dedicated to ending Wall Street’s financing of the fossil fuel industry.

Now, for the first time, our coalitions are coming together for a shared project: Peoples’ Earth Week - Climate Justice Arts & Action.

Right now, people all over the country are signing up to receive climate justice movement poster art created by leading artists who are involved in movements for justice. Between April 15th and 25th, activists will use the poster art to organize mass wheat pasting actions, pop-up art shows, and arts-centered direct actions. This Earth Day will be the biggest day of coordinated climate arts-based action.

Peoples’ Earth Week builds on a long history of social movements centering arts and culture. Freedom songs were the soul and lifeblood of the civil rights movement, sung in meetings, at sit-ins, and in jail houses. Poetry played a key role in the fight for women’s liberation in the 1960s, helping to bring countless women into the struggle. In the 1980s, ACT UP brilliantly used graphic arts and direct action to help win changes that saved millions of lives.

This Earth Day will be the biggest day of coordinated climate arts-based action.

As with so many other struggles for liberation, arts and culture are a key front in the fight to end environmental racism, protect Indigenous rights, and rein in the climate crisis. This is never clearer than when art is used as a form of direct action, as the climate movement has done increasingly well in recent years. In San Francisco, activists have shut down the financial district to paint block-long murals. In Seattle, bank branches have been redecorated in the dark of night. In New York, activists have placed thousands of stickers onto Citi-sponsored rent-a-bikes and held “eat the rich” banquets in the doorways of billionaires.

Wheatpasting a poster onto a bank branch or placing a sticker on an ATM may not feel like a direct way to address the climate crisis, but movements are made up of millions of such small actions, actions that taken together chip away at harmful, oppressive systems and help to contribute to a new zeitgeist. We may not have the money to take out million-dollar TV ads, but we have the power to blanket the nation in posters and stickers that shine a light on the White House’s role in greenlighting new oil and gas projects and Wall Street’s financing of those projects.

Of course, activists should be aware that there is some legal risk that comes with wheatpasting, especially if you’re wheatpasting onto a bank or a government building. They should also be aware that the level of risk varies from state to state, and city to city. But no movement has ever won real change without a dedicated base of thousands of people who are willing to take risks great and small. If it were not for the countless thousands who overcame fear and took risks women might still not have the right to vote and segregation might still be the law of the land.

We’ve chosen to focus on Earth Day for this action for a reason. In 1970, an estimated twenty million people took to the streets for the first Earth Day. It was a watershed moment in this nation’s history. Two months later, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed and over the subsequent years a litany of bedrock environmental laws were passed, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

Since then, however, Earth Day has too often been co-opted by corporate forces. Major corporations use Earth Day as an opportunity to put out empty statements and greenwashed marketing, even as they continue to fund fossil fuel expansion and exacerbate environmental racism in communities of color. The President of the Wells Fargo Foundation ― the “charitable” arm of the world’s largest funder of fracking ― even sits on the board of the official Earth Day organization.

What better way to reclaim the radical roots of Earth Day than by simultaneously making the world a more beautiful place, and exposing those who are truly responsible for the climate crisis?

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Alec Connon.

The post Branding the Acceptable: Battling Cancel Culture at Adelaide Writers’ Week appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Binoy Kampmark.

The fuss began with the festival organisers’ invitation of two Palestinian authors, Susan Abulhawa and Mohammed El-Kurd. Abulhawa was specifically targeted for critical comments on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, notably regarding NATO membership, and for being a mouthpiece of “Russian propaganda”, while El-Kurd has been singled out for social-media commentary on the Israeli state, calling it “sadistic”, “demonic” and “a death cult”.

Righteously, the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas showed his less than worldly view on such festivals by insisting on boycotting their talks and presentations. Ever the vote-getting politician, there were those constituents at the Association of Ukrainians in South Australia who had been making noise, notably through their president, Frank Fursenko. “We are very concerned that [the festival organisers] are giving a platform to people who are known apologists for the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” insisted Fursenko.

Malinauskas even contemplated pulling government funding from the event, something he declared at his address opening Writers’ Week. (This was also the view of the South Australian opposition leader, David Speirs.) The premier, it should be noted, is less morally troubled when it comes to funding the LIV Golf tournament, backed by the obscurantist journalist-assassinating regime of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At the very least, he made some concession to maturity: refusing “to listen to someone’s viewpoint” also involved surrendering “the opportunity to challenge it, much less change their mind.” But for all that Abulhawa’s presence at the Writers’ Week had to be “actively” questioned.

The Advertiser was less reserved, barking in childish condemnation and demanding, via a statement from editor Gemma Jones, that the Writers’ Week director Louise Adler resign. “The views of the two writers in question are repugnant.”

Law firm MinterEllison also took up a tenancy in the land of black and white in their decision to withdraw sponsorship, citing concerns about “the potential for racist or antisemitic commentary.” It had decided “to remove our presence and involvement with this year’s Writers’ Festival program”. That’s branding for you.

Consultancies hardly known for their principled stances on intellectual debate let alone the public good took to the podium of virtue even as they withdrew their support. PwC, which provides pro bono auditing for the Adelaide Festival Foundation, openly disassociated itself from the event by requesting that its logo be removed from the festival website. “We condemn in the strongest terms any antisemitic comments and any suggestion of support for Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the company stated in a memorandum. “We stand with the Jewish and Ukrainian communities who have been understandably hurt by this issue. In this respect, we have asked the chair of the Adelaide Foundation that any association with PwC with this aspect of the festival be removed.”

In all these shallow, stubbornly ahistorical assessments, context is missing. The background, and sense of where such supposedly horrendous opinions sprung from, are dismissed. The culture of cancellation and erasure, as it has been previously, is the prerogative of the powerful and their PR offices. It is also insidious, stressing the trendy, appealing brand of the moment, the acceptable opinion which makes the acceptable person.

El-Kurd, Palestinian poet and correspondent for The Nation, enraged since the day Jewish settlers made their way into his East Jerusalem home, has made no secret in adopting a more militant stance for Palestinians. It was, he stated, “not enough that I have lost my home to Israeli settlers, it’s not enough that I grew up and lived as a refugee under military occupation.” In his protest and suffering, he had been constantly told to be “polite” and “respectable”.

Those years were behind him, times which featured a “failed strategy” that placed a heavy emphasis on humanising unacceptable tragedy: the focus on women and children (again, the branding that matters); the focus on “our inability to commit violence, our inability to feel rage”. “And we over-emphasise the victims whose qualifiers make them human.”

In her response to the storm, Abulhawa expressed gratitude to Adler and the Board of the Adelaide Festival “for bravely ensuring that we do and will have space to speak and interact with readers on a cultural landscape.” She then moved to chart the fault lines that have made contrarian views – or at least views deemed undesirable by the anointed policing agents on the Ukrainian War – a matter of vengeful reaction. To be critical of the Ukrainian Saint was to somehow be a shill for Russia’s Vladimir Putin; to be a proponent for peace was somehow akin to encouraging genocide. “These assertions are false, absurd and libellous.”

Specifically regarding Zelenskyy, his sins lay in “taking actions and provocations that would lead to foreseeable, even predictable, war, which has not only wrecked Ukraine and her people, but led to global insecurity and fuel shortages, affecting the most vulnerable among us.”

Her views are not unusual, or astonishing. They are also echoed through the Global South, where the brands of the noble Ukrainian victim and the remorseless Russian monster have lesser currency. One can understand the dynamics, and sad perversions of power, without justifying their brutal manifestations. Abulhawa references John Mearsheimer’s warnings about US provocations against Russia, using Ukraine as a base and pretext. The Ukraine conflict, to that end, is not isolated or regional. It is a “global proxy war, the outcome of which may well determine the world order for generations to come.”

Abulhawa would have also been well within her rights to cite the very figure who gave birth to the doctrine of Soviet containment at the start of the Cold War. The late diplomat and historian George Frost Kennan, eyeing the expansionist drive of NATO and US power eastwards towards the Russian border, could only issue this warning in 1997: “Such a decision may be expected to inflame nationalistic, anti-Western and militaristic tendencies in Russian opinion; to have an adverse effect on the development of Russian democracy; to restore the atmosphere of the cold war to East-West relations, and to impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking.”

To her estimable credit, Adler remained adamant and defiant in permitting the writers to attend their events. “Our business,” she told the ABC, “is to operate an open space, not a safe space, in which ideas that may be confronting, disturbing, provocative, are debated with civility, that’s the agenda.” Writers, she also explained to The Age, were not sought out “via their Twitter feeds. I do not think the social media space for a nuanced or reasoned analysis and discussion.” It never was such a place, but to the cancel culture footsoldiers, that is exactly where they feel most comfortable.

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

Cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of the once-funny comic strip "Dilbert," has finally gotten what he always wanted. For a long time now, Adams has acted like that kid in third grade who craves negative attention. Now he's got it. Adams reportedly said:

"If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people … that's a hate group ... the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people ..."

Publishers are dropping his strip left and right. But forget Adams. As is so often the case, the central figure in this story is much less important and interesting than its context. The Rasmussen poll that inspired Adams is an object lesson in the use of polling and media to divide and obscure rather than unite and illuminate.

Polling is an imperfect art, but an interesting and useful one. Here's how I first came to it: When I was a teenager I took a battery of career tests to help me pick a major. It wasn't that nothing interested me. On the contrary; pretty much everything did. The neurological condition known as ADHD wasn't understood back then; all my family and I knew was that I was intrigued by many subjects but had problems focusing on one. ("The way to know God is to love many things," said Van Gogh, but he's hardly a healthy role model.)

Rasmussen conducted a poll which, if taken seriously, could alter people's understanding of their society... It was bound to cause trouble, and it did.

Those tests narrowed my suggested career tracks down to four: musician, writer, politician (a role for which I'm temperamentally unsuited), and—believe it or not—pollster. Unexpected, but it made sense. I was drawn to math early in life, I loved politics, and I was fascinated by language and thought, the things polling is theoretically designed to measure. ("Theoretical" being the key word.)

As I've done all of those things except being a politician, and I worked for a rather successful one of those. Life, as Kierkegaard said, can only be understood backwards but has to be lived forward. I tell you this so that you understand the perspective I bring to this story, and why I was immediately skeptical. The 'poll results' are trash, but the story illustrates five important points to consider when reading about polls or politics.

1. Transparency matters, in news and in media.

Rasmussen conducted a poll which, if taken seriously, could alter people's understanding of their society. Then they hid the details behind a paywall. That's not just secretive and greedy; it's irresponsible. It was bound to cause trouble, and it did.

The media then reported on this sensational 'finding,' often without the necessary context. The outlets that did that are equally culpable. Pollsters and journalists have an obligation to the truth, regardless of how they make their money.

2. Language is all-important.

In polling, each question's exact phrasing is important. Rasmussen's respondents were asked, "Do you agree or disagree with this statement: 'It's OK to be white.'" That turns out to be a right-wing catchphrase well-known to people like Adams. I hadn't heard it before, and I suspect many others hadn't either. I would find the question puzzling, as I'm sure most other people did. "OK"? Compared to what? Why are you asking me that?

People want to give the right answers to a pollster. They might be inclined to say "no" if they think that's what the pollster wants to hear. They'd be even more likely to answer "I don't know" if they don't understand the purpose of the question. Which gets us to the next point:

3. We need to know who said what, and in what numbers.

A poll's crosstabs—which people answered which questions, and in what proportions?—tell us how to read the poll. Did "nearly half of all Blacks" say they "are not okay with White people?" We eventually learned that a majority of Black people polled (53 percent) said sure, it's ok to be white. 21 percent said they weren't sure.

Of the 26 percent (one in four Black people) who said they disagreed that "it's OK to be white," some may have thought that was the answer the pollster wanted. (Maybe it was.) Some may have misunderstood the question—because, let's face it, it's a weird thing to ask someone. But there's no way to accurately interpret this data and conclude most Black people "are not okay" with Whites. The information is too messy and too broken.

And guess what? 20 percent of White people didn't agree that it's "OK" to be White. Maybe they thought, "No, it's not; it's great to be White." But it's more likely that many of them were confused by the question, too.

4. Polling can be trolling.

Most people know that the wording of a question can shape the answer. That weapon has been wielded against the left many times. It's even worse than that in this case. This question was not designed to study popular opinion but to provoke controversy and promote a viral saying popular among white nationalists. This is the behavior of online trolls, not professionals.

To be clear: I'm not opposed to a 'conservative' or 'Republican-leaning' polling firm on principle. Democratic and independent firms have their biases, too. It would be irresponsible for any of them to act this way.

What this says for Rasmussen's future credibility in the media is anybody's guess. I know what I think.

5. What's the opposite of 'Black Lives Matter'?

This question and the reactions from Adams, Elon Musk, and others show a fundamental misunderstanding of (or obfuscation about) racial justice in general and Black Lives Matter specifically—not only the movement, but the phrase itself. Some White people already feel those words lower their social status. That idea has been drummed into them by demagogues who want them to believe that any advance in justice for others is a loss for them. It's a zero-sum game that divides and exploits; as in, "they care about them but not about us."

But BLM doesn't negate White people. The opposite of "Black Lives Matter" isn't "White people are OK." It's "Black Lives Don't Matter." That's the injustice the movement was created to resist. White lives don't figure into it at all, and they shouldn't. It's a movement by, for, and about Black people. Working-class Whites should build solidarity, not just around BLM, but on the economic injustices that affect them, along with Blacks and most other Americans.

As far as I can see, the sole purpose of this unprofessional question was to stoke the imaginary conflict between lower-income Whites and Black people to make money for Rasmussen. That's unprofessional, sleazy, demagogic, and definitely not "OK."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Richard Eskow.

Sixty-one companies in the United Kingdom joined a pilot program in June 2022 in which they reduced their employees' workweek to four days—with no reduction in salary—and eight months later, 91% of them say they have no plans to go back to a five-day week.

Organized by the advocacy group 4 Day Week Global, the research group Autonomy, and researchers at Boston College and the University of Cambridge, the pilot program was the largest that's taken place so far. It ran for six months last year and included companies from a variety of sectors with a total of about 3,000 employees.

According to 4 Day Week Global's report, released Monday, companies were given a choice as to how they would shorten their workweeks, with some opting for Fridays off and others reducing working days per year so employees would work an average of 32 hours per week.

Ninety-one percent said after the trial wrapped up in December that they would continue implementing the 32-hour week, and 18 companies—nearly a third—said they were committing to a permanent change based on the test run. Just three said they would return to a five-day week.

The companies did not experience decreased revenue, as critics of reduced working hours have claimed they would. Revenues rose 35% on average, compared with the same time period in previous years.

More than 70% of workers reported lower levels of "burnout," and employees reported fewer experiences of anxiety and increased "positive emotions" during the trial.

"It is also encouraging to see that participants reported slight improvements in their physical health," reads the study report. "With 37% of employees reporting improvements in physical health (versus 18% decreases), the study suggests that a four-day workweek has the potential to reduce costs associated with healthcare."

The pilot program expanded on an earlier experiment conducted by 4 Day Week Global, whose results were published in November. That test involved about 30 companies and 1,000 employees. None of the companies that participated went back to a five-day week after the trial.

"No question about it—the U.K.'s four-day week trial was a huge success," said 4 Day Week Campaign, the organization's Britain-based campaign group. "It's time for the four-day week to go mainstream."

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

The Peruvian National Association of Journalists said January 10 that at least 72 journalists had been harassed and attacked while covering the demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Dina Boluarte and the return to power of former President Pedro Castillo.

“Peruvian authorities must investigate the assaults of dozens of journalists covering protests in Lima and throughout the country, and hold those responsible to account,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “It is essential that authorities send a clear message that violence against the press is not tolerated, and that journalists’ essential role in covering the protests is fully respected.”

On January 19, demonstrators in Lima insulted, spit on, and punched reporter Lourdes Paucar and camera operator Willy Nieva, both with the independent TV station Canal N and its sister station América Televisión, and tried to steal their equipment, according to news reports and Paucar, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. Paucar said they escaped the attack and were treated at a clinic for minor injuries.

Paucar told CPJ that protesters also attacked other members of their reporting team, throwing bottles, rocks, and bricks at driver Abdias Vidarte, technician Cristian Ydoña, and camera operator Jair Cabezas. She said protesters knocked out two of Vidarte’s teeth.

Ydoña was quoted in those reports saying that the protesters “caught me, hit me, and threw rocks. I had to hang onto our vehicle so they wouldn’t drag me away.”

Paucar told CPJ that many of the protesters accuse the media of supporting the ouster of former President Castillo, who was impeached and arrested in December.

“There is a lot of hatred aimed at the press. The protesters don’t trust us. They say we spread false news,” she said.

Also on January 19, protesters in Lima similarly surrounded, insulted, and spit on Jonathan Castro, a journalist for the social media-based outlet El Encerrona, and tried to steal his camera, he told CPJ via messaging app.

IPYS also reported that on January 20, protesters surrounded Omar Coca, a reporter for the Lima daily La Republica, and shoved him to the ground, and other protesters threw rocks at Andrea Amésquita, a journalist for the RPP radio outlet, striking her in the legs, and stole her microphone.

CPJ emailed the Lima police for comment but did not immediately receive any response.

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

The post Half Lives, Half Strories and Half Truths from Department of Energy This Week appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Mark Muhich.

“No amount of U.S. support for Saudi and UAE’s war on Yemen should be acceptable.”

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Daniel Boguslaw.

Biden departs Thursday for Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP27 meeting. He then attends the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and East Asia summits, which are this year in Phnom Penh, and the G-20 leaders meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

While the COP27 meeting will provide the president with a platform to promote his vision of fighting climate change, his administration’s capacity to make substantive pledges is expected to be restrained by the reality of shared power in Congress in the wake of Tuesday’s midterms.

More significant will be the summits in Southeast Asia starting Saturday. 

Biden’s first task will be convincing ASEAN leaders in Phnom Penh that Washington remains a helpful counterbalance as Beijing seeks to assume the role of regional hegemon. (Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, and leaves the same day as Biden.)

“Biden is going to Phnom Penh to demonstrate U.S. respect for and engagement with ASEAN, ASEAN-centrality and the role of ASEAN multilateral institutions in the security of the Indo-Pacific Region,” Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra, told Radio Free Asia, adding that China would be in focus.

“He will also try to assuage those ASEAN leaders who are swayed by China’s rhetoric that the U.S. is the root cause of regional instability,” he said. “Biden will repeat longstanding U.S. policy that the United States will cooperate with China where it can, but resist China where it must.”

During the summit in Phnom Penh, U.S.-ASEAN relations are expected to be upgraded to the status of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” – as China-ASEAN relations were during last year’s summit in Brunei – before Cambodia hands over the group’s rotating chairmanship to Indonesia.

The future of suspended ASEAN member Myanmar is also expected to feature heavily during the summits, with human rights groups calling for the summit to enact embargoes on arms and jet fuel to Naypyidaw.

Face-to-face with Xi?

After a second day in Phnom Penh, Biden heads off to Bali late on Sunday for the all-important 17th G-20 leaders conference. 

After months of speculation about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday that it was likely – though not certain – his Russian counterpart would not be at the event in person but may instead attend some sessions virtually.

That has meant the biggest question is whether Biden and Xi will meet privately at the G-20, with the pair having not met since Biden took office. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Voice of America on Friday that there were not yet any plans for Biden to meet with Xi, who was just re-elected to a third five-year term as China’s leader.

“There are working-level discussions right now about the potential for a bilateral meeting, but I don't have anything to report at this time,” Kirby said, adding only that Biden looked forward to “an opportunity to engage with foreign leaders about so many shared challenges” at the G-20.

Any meeting between Biden and Xi would be expected to focus on Beijing’s support for Moscow amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, new U.S. export controls on the sale of microchip technology to China and American concerns about Beijing’s alleged plans to invade Taiwan.  

Each has caused growing tensions between the United States and China over a period in which international diplomacy has been increasingly relegated to virtual meetings – first by the pandemic and then by Beijing’s extensive preparations for last month’s Communist Party congress.

“There is value to in-person meetings that no number of virtual meetings or phone calls can replace,” said Peter K. Lee, a security expert and research fellow in the foreign policy and defense program at the United States Studies Centre in Sydney. “The pandemic has limited the kind of leader-led diplomacy that is an important element of statecraft.” 

Lee said a face-to-face meeting between Biden and Xi would be an important opportunity “to take stock of the current trajectory of U.S.-China relations” since the pair last met virtually for two hours on July 28.

“There are so many disputes at the moment such as over Ukraine, Taiwan, North Korea, and technology decoupling where the two leaders are at an impasse but nonetheless need to be talking,” he said.

Breathing room

In contrast to the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, where Biden will be looking to offset growing Chinese influence in the region, a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 may provide a chance to put a floor on increasingly tense relations between the world’s two major powers.

Any such meeting would importantly take place with major domestic political events in the rear-view mirror in both countries, giving both sides some breathing room to broach compromise and cooperation.

“After the midterms and the 20th Party Congress, neither leader will be under pressure from domestic politics to appear hawkish toward the other,” said Nathaniel Sher, a senior research analyst and expert on China-U.S. ties at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“There are too many troubling issues both domestically in China and the U.S. as well as internationally — economic headwinds, climate change, the threat of nuclear war — for either leader to welcome a further deterioration in the bilateral relationship,” he said.

The very fact of any one-on-one meeting could be positive, Sher added, for the broader perception it could create about U.S.-China cooperation.

“Diplomatic engagement at the top sends a message to the bureaucracies in both countries that they can re-engage at the working level,” he said. “Reopening dialogue channels is particularly important after the flare-up in tensions over Taiwan last summer.”

That result of a possible Biden-Xi meeting might be more important than the specific outcome of anything they discuss, according to Thomas Fingar, a fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the former chief U.S. intelligence analyst.

“The meeting would not solve specific problems, but the fact of the meeting would demonstrate that Biden (and the U.S.) is willing to work with Xi/China when and where it is possible to do so (e.g., on Ukraine, nuclear security, climate issues),” Fingar said in an email.

“It would also make it possible for lower-level Chinese officials to re-engage with their American counterparts,” he said. “That might not happen, but it can’t happen unless sanctioned by Xi.”

Detente unlikely

But even then, the prospects for a detente seem dim.

Ja Ian Chong, a professor of international relations and expert in Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, said while Biden and Xi might have an interest in their countries easing ties, the room for maneuver would be limited by the widening chasm in their interests.

“Both sides have incentives to prevent some uncontrolled and uncontrollable downward spiral in relations,” Chong said, but “both sides are likely to signal resolve to each other” on any disagreement.

“Beijing’s insistence on a more forceful style for pursuing its interests, Washington’s determination to resist such moves,” as well as deepening mutual suspicions developing back in Washington and Beijing, he added, “likely make anything more than very small steps very difficult.”

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

“On the ground, there is a sense of disquiet and distrust of the organisers’ motivations for the hui, as some Muslim participants directly connected to the Christchurch tragedy were not invited.”

— Khairiah A. Rahman

The two-day Aotearoa New Zealand government He Whenua Taurikura Hui on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism this week saw participation of state agencies, NGOs, civil rights groups and minority representations from across the country.

Yet media reportage of deeply concerning issues that have marginalised and targeted minorities was severely limited on the grounds of media’s potential “inability to protect sensitive information”.

Lest we forget, the purpose of the Hui is a direct outcome of the Royal Commission recommendations following the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.

• READ MORE: Shifting the dynamics in popular culture on Islamophobic media narratives — Pacific Journalism Review
• Mediawatch: Hui over Christchurch terror attacks puts media under the spotlight
• NZ communities gather in unity for He Whenua Taurikura Hui on countering violent extremism
• Community groups urge need to combat online hate speech at second counter-terrorism hui
• Other countering terrorism reports

The first hui last year had a media panel where Islamophobia in New Zealand and global media was addressed, and local legacy media reiterated their pact to report from a responsible perspective.

A year later, it would be good to hear what local media have done to ask the hard questions — where are we now in terms of healing for the Muslim communities? What is the situation with crime against Muslims across the country? What projects are ongoing to build social cohesion for a peaceful Aotearoa?

This year, the organisers decided to have the Hui address “all-of-society approaches” to countering violent extremism. This means removing the focus on issues faced by Muslims and extending this to concerns of other minorities subjected to abuse and hate-motivated attacks.

While Muslim participants embraced sharing the space with disenfranchised communities, many reflected that this should not detract from a follow-up to issues discussed at the last hui.

A media panel should address the role of media in representing the voiceless communities. In addition to media following up on Islamophobia, how has media represented minority groups based on their ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation? How can media play a direct role in truth-telling that would inspire social cohesion?

A participant of the LGBTQ+ community shared how bisexual members were threatened on social media as a result of local and international media’s reportage of the Amber Heard misogyny case in the US and the negative representation of bisexual people.

As a social conduit for communal voices and public opinion, the media have a significant role in countering terrorism and violent extremism and should not be excluded from the difficult conversations. Legacy, ethnic and diversity media must be included in all future hui, regardless of topics.

Confidential information can be struck from the record if necessary, but often this is hardly shared in a public forum.

There is little point having a Hui where critical national issues of safety and security are discussed across affected communities, if they are just noise in an echo chamber for those affected while people that care outside of this room are unaware.

Six takeaways from the Hui
Discussions centred on what community groups have been doing on the ground and what the larger society and government must do to counter radicalisation and terrorism.

1. Victims’ families call for a Unity Week

Hamimah Ahmat, widow of Zekeriya Tuyan who was killed in the terror attack, and who is chair of the Sakinah Trust, called on the government to observe an official Unity Week for the country to remember the 51 lives lost in Christchurch.

“More than funds — we need to make sure that the nation ring fences their time for reflection and their commitment to that [social cohesion].”

Sakinah Trust, formed by women relatives of the victims, organised Unity Week where Cantabrians participated in social activities and shared social media messages on “unity” to commemorate the lives lost and build a sense of togetherness across diverse communities.

This bonding exercise connected more than 310,000 New Zealanders and initiated 25,000 social media engagements. Hamimah emphasised the importance of this as during the pandemic Chinese migrants had suffered racism and hate rhetoric.

“We need a National Unity Week not just because of March 15 but because it is an essential element for our existence and the survival of our next generation — a generation who feels they belong and are empowered to advocate for each other,” she said.

“And this is how you honour all those beautiful souls and beautiful lives that we have lost through racism, extremism and everything that is evil.”

2. Issues and disappointment

Members of the IWCNZ (Islamic Council of Women in New Zealand) and other ethnic minority groups have repeatedly shared their disappointment that some speakers appeared to equate the terrorist mass murder in the two Christchurch mosques to the LynnMall attack in Auckland. Yet, the difference is stark.

One terrorist was killed and the other was apprehended unharmed. One had a history of trauma and mental instability, and police knew of this but failed to intervene.

The other was a white supremacist radical who had easy access to a semi-automatic weapon. While both could have been prevented, the LynnMall violent extremism was within the authority’s immediate control.

Aliya Danzeisen, a founding member of Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ), said it was offensive that there was an inappropriate focus on the Muslim community in discourse on the LynnMall attack as there was failed deradicalization by the government corrections department.

“We find it offensive as a community because it was a failed government action, not getting in front, again, that someone was shot and killed and seven people were stabbed.”

Danzeisen also reported that despite sitting in the corrections forum for community, she was unaware of any change since the Royal Commission in terms of addressing radicalisation.

On the ground, there is a sense of disquiet and distrust of the organisers’ motivations for the hui, as some Muslim participants directly connected to the Christchurch tragedy were not invited.

Murray Stirling, treasurer of An Noor Mosque, and Anthony Green, a spokesperson for the Christchurch victims, were present at last year’s Hui but did not receive invitations this year.

3. Academic input from Te Tiriti perspectives

The opening of the conference was led by research from a Te Tiriti perspective. The Muslim community had called for a Te Tiriti involvement in the Hui to acknowledge the first marginalised people of the land.

One shared feature of all the discussions related to colonialism. Tina Ngata, environmental, indigenous and human rights activist, called out those in power who passively protect and maintain colonial privilege, allowing extreme and racist ideas to persist.

Ngata cited racialised myth-making in media and schools, state-sanctioned police violence, hyper-surveillance and the incarceration of non-white people.

She argued that a critical mass of harmful ideas was growing and that it is the “responsibility of accountable power to engage humbly in discussion; not just about participants as victims or solution-bearers but also about structural power as part of the problem”.

Bill Hamilton from the Iwi Chairs forum paid tribute to the work of the late Moana Jackson in the area of Te Tiriti, reminding people that Te Tiriti belonged to everyone.

Hamilton recounted that despite Te Tiriti’s promise of protection and non-discrimination, Māori suffered terrorist acts.

“We had invasions at Parihaka . . . our leaders were demonised . . . our grandparents were beaten as small kids by the state for speaking their language [Māori].”

Hamilton reflected on the values of rangatiratanga and said that perhaps, instead of forming a relationship with “the crown”, Māori was better off forming relationships with minority communities based on shared values.

He explained that rangatiratanga is a right to self-determination; the right to maintain and strengthen institutions and representations. It is a right enjoyed by everyone.

Hamilton called for a state apology and acknowledgement of the terrorism inflicted on whānau in Aotearoa. He proposed a revitalisation of rangatiratanga, the removal of inequalities and discrimination, and the strengthening of relationships.

Rawiri Taonui, an independent researcher, presented a Te Tiriti framework for national security.

There was a marked difference between the Crown’s sovereign view of the Te Tiriti relationship with Māori and Māori’s view of an equal and reciprocal Te Tiriti relationship with the Crown.

Taonui highlighted that while Te Tiriti was identified as important for social cohesion in the Royal Commission Report, Te Tiriti was absent in the 15 recommendations for social cohesion.

He explained the tendency in policy documents to separate Māori from new cultural communities.

“That is a very unhelpful disconnect because if we are trying to improve social cohesion, one of the things we need to do is bring Māori and many of our new cultural communities together. Because we share similar histories — colonisation, racism, violence.”

Taonui proposed a “whole of New Zealand approach” towards countering terrorism, emphasising social cohesion to prevent extremism as “we all belong here”.

4. On countering radicalism

In a panel session on “Responding to the changing threat environment in Aotearoa”, Paul Spoonley, co-director of He Whenua Taurikura National Centre of Research Excellence, said that he was confused about how communities should be engaged as “often the affected communities are not the ones that provided the activists or the extremists. How do we reach out to those communities who might often be Pākehā?

“By the time we get to know about these groups, they have progressed down quite a long path towards radicalisation.

“So if we are going to provide tools to communities, we must understand that the context in which people get recruited are often very intimate; we are talking about whānau and peer groups. We are talking about micro settings.”

Sara Salman, from Victoria University in Wellington, spoke on radicalism and the thought processes and emotional attraction to notoriety and camaraderie that encourage destructive behaviours.

For radicals, there is a feeling of deprivation, “a resentment and hostility towards changes in the social world”, whether these are women in the workspace, migrants in society, or co-governance in the political system.

In the context of March 15, the radical is typically a white supremacist male. Such males join extremist groups because they feel a sense of loss and are motivated by power and social status.

According to Salman, there is now a real threat to our governance and democracy by radical groups through subtle ways like entering into politics.

“Radical individuals who ascribe to supremacy ideas are engaging in disruptions that are considered legitimate by entering into local politics to disrupt governance.”

Salman warned that although the government might prefer disengagement, which is intervention before a person commits violence, deradicalisation is critical as it aims to change destructive thinking.

Research showed that children as young as 11 have been recruited and influenced by radical ideas. Without being repressive, the government needs to deradicalise vulnerable groups.

5. Vulnerable communities and post-colonial Te Tiriti human rights

Several speakers on the “countering messages of hate” panel discussed horrific stories of physical, verbal and sexual attacks based on their identities including, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.

Many spoke about the lack of fair representations in media and professional roles and one participant emphasised that members of a group are diverse and not defined by stereotypes.

In an earlier session, chair of the Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust, called on society, including the ethnic and religious communities, to find ways of helping this group feel supported and loved in their communities.

Lexie Matheson, representing the trans community, spoke on the importance of being included in discussions about her people. She echoed my point at last year’s media panel about fair representations: “Nothing about us, without us”.

In the closing session, Paul Hunt, chair of the Human Rights Commission argued that the wide spectrum of human rights is normative as it defined the ethical and legal codes for conduct of states and constituted humanity’s response to countering terrorism.

Hunt offered a post-colonial human rights perspective and called for a process of truth-telling and peaceful reconciliation which respects the universal declaration of human rights and Te Tiriti.

“My point is in today’s Aotearoa, violent extremism includes racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia and white supremacy. And it is dangerous for all communities and for all of us.

“And if we are to address with integrity today’s violence, racism and white supremacy, we have to acknowledge yesterday’s violence, racism and white supremacy which was part of the social fabric of the imperial project in Aotearoa.”

6. What the Hui got right and wrong

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s presence and participation on the final day was timely, inspired confidence and implied a seriousness to address issues. Ardern covered developments that impact on national security, from technology, covid-19 and the war in Ukraine to climate change.

She addressed the radicalisation prevention framework and announced its release at year end, with an approved budget funding for $3.8 million to counter terrorism and violent extremism.

The Hui must have cost a pretty penny. Participants appreciated the food and comfort of the venue, but was there really a need for illustrators to capture the meetings on noticeboards?

If the organisers meant to enthuse participants with the novelties of artwork, stylish pens, and a supportive environment of aroha and healing, they have done a decent job.

But repeated feedback from Muslim representatives on the lack of action by government departments must be taken seriously and addressed promptly. All the good intentions without action achieve nothing.

Until those directly involved in the horrendous Christchurch massacres witness concrete sustainable actions that can support social cohesion, counter radicalism and violent extremism, the great expenses and show of love at this Hui would be wasted.

Khairiah A Rahman was a speaker at the media panel at the He Whenua Taurikura Hui in 2021. She is a senior lecturer at AUT’s School of Communication Studies, a member of FIANZ Think Tank, secretary of media education for Asian Congress of Media and Communication (ACMC), secretary of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), assistant editor of Pacific Journalism Review and a member of AUT’s Diversity Caucus.

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

A Fiji-based academic challenged the Pacific region’s media and policymakers today over climate crisis coverage, asking whether the discriminatory style of reporting was a case of climate injustice.

Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of the journalism programme at the University of the South Pacific, said climate press conferences and meetings were too focused on providing coverage of “privileged elite viewpoints”.

“Elites have their say, but communities facing the brunt of climate change have their voices muted,” he told the Look at the Evidence: Climate Journalism and Open Science webinar panel exploring the role of journalism in raising climate awareness in the week-long Open Access Australasia virtual conference.

• READ MORE: Other open access reports

Dr Singh, who is also on the editorial board of Pacific Journalism Review and was speaking for the recently formed Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), threw open several questions to the participants about what appeared to be “discriminatory reporting”.

“Is slanted media coverage marginalising grassroots voices? Is this a form of climate injustice?” he asked.

“Are news media unknowingly perpetuating climate injustice?”

He cited many of the hurdles impacting on the ability of Pacific news media to cover the climate crisis effectively, such as lack of resources in small media organisations and lack of reporting expertise.

‘Jack-of-all-trades’
“We are unable to have specialist climate reporters as in some other countries; our journalists tend to be a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none,” he said.

He did not mean this in a “disparaging manner”, saying “it’s just our reality” given limited resources.

Key Pacific media handicaps included:

• The smallness of Pacific media systems;
• Limited revenue and small profit margins;
• A high attrition rate among journalists (mostly due to uncompetitive salaries);
• Pacific journalists “don’t have the luxury” of specialising in one area; and
• No media economies of scale.

“Our journalists don’t build sufficient knowledge in any one topic for consistent or in-depth reporting,” he said. “And this is more deeply felt in areas such as climate reporting.”

He cited recent research on Pacific climate reporting by Samoan climate change journalist Lagipoiva Dr Cherelle Jackson, saying such Pacific media research was “scarce”.

‘Staying afloat in Paradise’
A research fellow with the Reuters Institute and Oxford University, Dr Jackson carried out research on how media in her homeland and six other Pacific countries were covering climate change. The report was titled Staying Afloat in Paradise: Reporting Climate Change in the Pacific.

Pacific journalists and editors “have a responsibility to inform readers on how climatic changes can affect them, she argued. But this did not translate into the pages of their newspapers.

“Climate change is simply not as high a priority for Pacific newsrooms as issues such as health, education and politics which all take precedence over even general environment reporting,” Dr Jackson wrote.

“For a region mainly classified by the United Nations as ‘least developed’ and ‘developing’ countries, it is apparent that there are more pressing issues than climate change.

“But the fact that the islands of the Pacific are already at the bottom end of the scale in regards to wealth and infrastructure, and the fact that climate change is also threatening the mere existence of some islands, should make it a big story. But it isn’t.”

Critical of paywalls
Daalder spoke about how open access to scientific papers was vitally important for journalists who needed to read complete papers, not just abstracts. He was critical of the paywalls on many scientific research papers.

Open access enabled journalists to do their job better and this was clearly shown during the covid-19 pandemic — “and we need this to happen for climate reporting”.

Meduna said it took far too long for research, such as on climate change, to filter through into public debate. Open access helped to reduce that gap.

She also said the success of The Conversation model showed that there was a growing demand for scientists communicating directly with the public with the help of journalists.

Dr Sparrow called for a social movement for meaningful action on the climate crisis and more scientific literacy was needed to enable this.

Highly critical of the “dysfunctional” academic publishing industry, he said open access would contribute to “radically accessible” science for the public.

The panel was organised by Tuwhera digital and open access publishing team at Auckland University of Technology.

• Other webinars in the Open Access Week that ends on Friday.

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

The post Has Media Literacy Week Been Co-Opted? appeared first on Project Censored.

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