Saharan dust smothers Switzerland, France

Agencies Published March 31, 2024 

GENEVA: An exceptionally rare haze of Saharan dust cloaked Switzerland and southeastern France on Saturday, sparking health warnings as a yellow hue tinged the sky.

The phenomenon, which began in Switzerland on Friday, brings with it “a very clear worsening of sunlight and visibility. Added to that is an increase in concentrations of fine particles”, the MeteoSuisse weather service posted on X.

With the dust concentrated at lower than 3,000 metres (around 9,800 feet), air quality was especially affected, with Switzerland’s airCHeck monitoring application flagging high levels of pollution in a corridor stretching from the southwest to the northeast.

Calculations estimate that the amount of dust reached around 180,000 tonnes, double the levels recorded during recent similar events, SRF Meteo forecaster Roman Brogli told public radio.

Skies turn yellow, prompting health warnings

In neighbouring France, local authorities in the southeast and south announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday, with the Herault department asking residents to avoid intense physical effort, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The Sahara desert releases 60 to 200 million tonnes of mineral dust per year. While the largest particles come rapidly back down to earth, the smallest can travel thousands of kilometres.

The sand gives an orange tint to snow and can impact melting processes, notably for glaciers, which are shrinking as average temperatures rise, by reducing the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight. The situation is due to improve in France and Switzerland on Sunday.

According to SWI website, the surge in dust was propelled by a robust southerly current, ferrying particles from the Sahara desert in northern Africa to Swiss skies as early as Friday.

The Sahara stands as the planet’s primary source of mineral dust, emitting between 60 to 200 million tonnes annually. While larger particles precipitate swiftly, smaller ones embark on journeys spanning thousands of kilometres, traversing entire continents, including Europe. These Saharan dust events significantly contribute to aerosol pollution, particularly in the transitional seasons of spring and autumn.

The presence of Saharan dust alters atmospheric dynamics, manifesting in a yellowish hue across the skies and enhancing the spectacle of sunrises and sunsets.

Moreover, when settling upon snow, it can impede outdoor activities like skiing.

While the influx of Saharan dust captures attention, its health implications remain minimal for the majority.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024

SMOKERS’ CORNER: IN SEARCH OF THE 'NEW MAN'

Nadeem F. Paracha 

DAWN

Published March 31, 2024

Illustration by Abro

Till the 1960s, the idea of engineering an ideal society was an earnest endeavour. It did not draw the kind of cynical ridicule or even dread that it often evokes today. The concept of ‘social engineering’ is now understood as a rather sinister idea — but it just might be making a comeback.

The study of social engineering is often tied to the study of ‘ideologemes’ (a way of expression or representation of a particular ideology), such as the ‘New Man.’ The concept of the ‘New Man’ was a popular unit of various ideologies in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The concept first emerged during the 18th century French Revolution, when radicals (the Jacobins) took control of the revolutionary regime and looked to create a whole new society by completely destroying the old. To do this, the regime felt it needed to shape a new kind of citizen through a new set of knowledge and morals. This pursuit led to excesses, in which hundreds of ‘bad citizens’ were brutally executed.

In the 19th century, two books — one in Czarist Russia and the other in Germany — would go a long way in popularising the idea of the New Man. The first was a novel written by the Russian philosopher Nikolay Chernyshevsky. He called it The Story About The New Man.

After gaining prominence in the 19th century and its proliferation in the 20th century, the concept of ‘social engineering’ in order to create an ‘ideal society’ seems to be on the rise once more

The protagonist of the novel sees himself as one of the “new breed of men” in Russia entirely dedicated to forming a new society. He is a self-appointed messiah, envisioning a utopia. He even suppresses his sexual urges for this and is inclined to treat women as equals, as long as they are willing to work towards creating a new society.

The second book was by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, called Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In it, a ‘prophet’ tells the people about the coming of a new kind of man, the Übermensch (or the ‘overman’).

The Übermensch was to rise by shattering established ideas of morality, destroying the ‘decadence’ of the modern world, and would fill the void created by the figurative “death of God” with a new set of morals. The Übermensch was passionate, intuitive and unabashedly egotistical in his pursuit for power and glory.

These two tomes went on to influence experiments in social engineering in the 20th century, mainly in the communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The founder of communist Russia, Vladimir Lenin, was a great admirer of Chernyshevsky’s novel.

Lenin’s Bolshevik party set out to create the ‘New Soviet Man’ and the ‘New Soviet Woman.’ Lenin understood the Russian society to be ignorant and emotional due to the manner in which it was ‘brutalised’ by the old order.

Policies were launched to engineer a society that preferred consciousness over instinct and emotion, and worked towards creating classlessness. The ‘New Soviet Man’ had to be physically and mentally strong, disciplined by Marxist-Leninist ideology. He had to completely forgo his ethnic and racial identity.



The ‘New Soviet Woman’ was to be his equal — a fellow comrade, a securer of the Revolution but also a wife and mother. Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, asked the party to become “engineers of the human soul.” He said that society needed to be remoulded, “just as a gardener cultivates a tree.”

To Stalin, this required rapid industrialisation. Plans to do this were put into action. But whereas the Soviet Union achieved industrialisation at an impressive pace, this was at the cost of millions of deaths in the countryside, due to food extortion by the state to feed the cities, and the introduction of forced labour to build factories, roads and dams. The period also witnessed the mass execution and exile of thousands of “socially harmful elements.”

In Nazi Germany (1933-45), initiatives were launched to create the ‘New Aryan Man.’ He was to use instinct and intuition over reason and consciousness. He was to be a man of sheer will — not as an individual, but as an extension of a collective striving to serve a new Aryan society. The New Aryan Woman was to be a mother, the breeder of children of “pure German blood.”

Crude experiments in eugenics were carried out, millions from “undesired races” were exterminated, brutal military invasions were undertaken, and a bloody world war was fought to hasten the creation and supremacy of the ‘New Aryan Man.’

Nietzsche’s Übermensch was an inspiration to the Nazis, especially the Übermensch’s amoral and passionate impulse for power through grand military means and an unabashed lust for glory, even if this meant causing outright destruction.

The Chinese communist ideologue Mao Zedong tried to create a ‘New Chinese Man.’ The New Chinese Man was to be engineered to construct a new Chinese society. For this, Mao launched a campaign of “thought reform” in the cities. “Bourgeois thoughts” had to be expelled from the mind and replaced with thoughts of communist ‘sages’, such as Mao.

Then, reforms were initiated to create ‘New Chinese Men’ in the countryside. For this, peasants were forcibly organised into large collectives. ‘New Chinese Women’ were to be equals of men. In fact, they were treated as men and given similar tasks.

In 1966, Mao launched a ‘Cultural Revolution’ to galvanise Chinese youth to lead the way in persecuting those who had supposedly retained “bourgeois thoughts” and habits. Some 30 million people starved to death due to the collectivisation policies in the countryside, and the death toll during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) is said to have been two million. Many were killed by young men and women who were turned into fanatical believers of “the thoughts of Chairman Mao.”

In South Asia, the Muslim poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal wrote about the need to create a ‘New Muslim Man.’ Iqbal took the romanticised and mythologised dimensions of Islamic history to conceptualise the New Muslim Man, who was to be intuitive. He would passionately seek to shatter orthodoxy as well as ‘decadent’ modernity. A kind of Islamic Übermensch.

Iqbal’s ideas, in this context, went on to inspire Islamist ideologues such as Abul Ala Maududi, Islamic modernists such as Ghulam Ahmad Parvez, Islamist revolutionaries such as Ali Shariati and Ruhollah Khomeini, and populists such as Imran Khan.

The Hindu nationalist V.D. Savarkar sought to create a new kind of Hindu who was militant and proudly chauvinistic, or the opposite of the archetypal ‘peaceful Hindu.’ Decades later, Savarkar’s status suddenly rose to that of a ‘sage’ with the rise of populist Hindu nationalism in India.

A fascination with ideas of social engineering is clearly present in the political populism that has engulfed various regions of the world from 2010 onwards — a dreadful development.

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 31st, 2024

Japan, China experts discuss Fukushima water release

China has accused Tokyo of treating the sea as a “sewer”, but Japan insists the discharge is safe.

 
MAR 31, 2024

TOKYO - Japanese and Chinese experts held talks on treated wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan’s foreign ministry said late on March 30, the first such talks to be announced since Tokyo began releasing the water into the ocean in 2023.

Japan and China have been at loggerheads over the discharge of the wastewater, which was used to cool the reactors after the 2011 meltdown.

Japan insists it has been safely treated, but China has criticised the release and banned Japanese seafood imports.

“A dialogue between Japanese and Chinese experts on the discharge of... treated water into the ocean (by the Fukushima plant) was held in Dalian, China on March 30 to exchange views on technical matters,” Tokyo’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The announcement comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November and said science-based discussions would take place at the expert level.

Japan began gradually discharging some of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater that have accumulated since the disaster into the Pacific in August, sparking a diplomatic row with China and Russia, both of which banned seafood imports.

China has accused Tokyo of treating the sea as a “sewer”, but Japan insists the discharge is safe, a view backed by the UN atomic agency.

Mr Kishida called on China at the November Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco to make an “objective judgment” on the safety of Japan’s seafood, which is a major industry in the country.

Japan began releasing the treated wastewater because the nuclear facility was running out of space to build more water tanks, and it needed to make room for the much more hazardous task of removing radioactive fuel and rubble from the three stricken reactors. AFP

22 Injured As United Airlines Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner Hits Severe Turbulence

BY CHANNING REID

SIMPLY FLYING

PUBLISHED 9 HOURS AGO

Several passengers were treated for their injuries at an airport in Upstate New York.

Photo: Ronen Fefer | Shutterstock


SUMMARY

United Airlines flight 85 made an emergency landing due to extreme turbulence on Friday.

The 787-10 Dreamliner diverted to New York Stewart International Airport after hitting high winds on approach.

The FAA is investigating the incident, with United facing scrutiny over a series of recent safety issues.

A Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner operated by United Airlines made an emergency landing at New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) on Friday after reportedly experiencing “extreme turbulence.” More than 20 passengers were injured as a result, with seven taken to the hospital upon arrival.

It is believed that the aircraft hit high winds while on approach to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Following the encounter, the aircraft aborted its landing at the airport, climbed a few thousand feet, and diverted north to SWF.
Flight details

United confirmed the incident to Simple Flying on late Friday, stating,

“On Friday, United flight 85 landed at Stewart International Airport (SWF) after reported high winds at Newark. One passenger deplaned due to a medical incident, and a few other customers were seen by medical personnel for possible motion sickness. The flight refueled and continued to Newark tonight.”

The aircraft, registered as N14016, operated as UAL85 from Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to Flightradar24.com. The 787 departed from its gate at 11:30 but was not airborne until 13:05. It proceeded to an initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet before jumping up to 36,000 feet. As it crossed over the North Atlantic Ocean, the plane subsequently climbed to 38,000 feet and continued west for the remainder of its cruise, which appeared to be uneventful.

Approaching EWR

Around 10 hours and 51 minutes into the flight, N14016 had begun its initial descent. Ten minutes after beginning its descent, the aircraft was around 20,000 feet. Flying over Albany, the Dreamliner turned south. Its rate of descent had slowed as it passed west of Poughkeepsie. At around 17:25 EDT, the 787 was flying around 4,200 feet and turned back north before turning east, traveling closer to EWR. Five minutes later, the plane turned slightly southeast to intercept the approach path.



Photo: Flightradar24.com

At 17:35, the aircraft had lined up for final approach on Runway 22L and was descending through 3,000 feet. It then continued for what appeared to be a normal approach. Flight data shows that the plane was only 350 feet in the air over the runway at approximately 17:37. It then climbed 3,200 feet and continued flying south of the airport before turning northwest. The Dreamliner eventually reached 4,200 feet before descending and landing at SWF. N14016 landed safely on Runway 27 at around 18:00, according to Flightradar24.com.


A slew of safety incidents

It is unclear when the aircraft encountered the severe turbulence, but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would investigate the incident. The agency told Simple Flying that the crew reported a passenger emergency, which prompted the diversion. According to Blaise Gomez, a reporter at News 12 Westchester, 312 passengers were onboard. Fifteen were treated by paramedics at SWF, while seven were taken to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital.



After sitting on the ground for over two hours, UAL85 continued to EWR. The aircraft departed from SWF at 20:16 and landed at EWR at 20:34.

The incident was the second United aircraft to make an emergency landing in about 24 hours. On Thursday, UA990 was enroute from San Francisco to Paris when it diverted to Denver following engine issues. United has been under the spotlight for experiencing a slew of safety incidents in the past few weeks. Last week, the FAA said it would increase its oversight of United’s operations to ensure safety compliance.

Obama, Clinton and Hollywood big names help Biden raise record $26m for his reelection



Bill Clinton (R) watches as Barack Obama (L) and Joe Biden shake hands during a campaign fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Thursday night. AFP

Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some big names from the entertainment world teamed up on Thursday night to deliver a rousing New York embrace of President Joe Biden that hauled in a record-setting $26 million-plus for his reelection campaign.

The mood at Radio City Music Hall was electric as Obama praised Biden's willingness to look for common ground and said, "That's the kind of president I want.” Clinton said simply of the choices facing voters in 2024: "Stay with what works."

Biden himself went straight at Donald Trump, saying his expected GOP rival's ideas were "a little old and out of shape.”

Moderator Stephen Colbert, in an armchair conversation with the trio, called them "champion talkers” and joked that the three presidents had come to town "and not one of them is here to appear in court,” a dig at Trump’s many legal troubles. The eye-popping fundraising haul was a major show of Democratic support for Biden at a time of persistently low poll numbers. The president will test the power of his campaign cash as he faces off with Trump, who proved with his 2016 win over Democrat Hillary Clinton that he didn’t need to raise the most money to seize the presidency.

During the nearly hourlong conversation, Obama and Clinton explained just how hard Biden's job is. They spoke of loneliness and frustration over policies that work but aren’t immediately felt by the public. They gave an insider's view of the office as they sought to explain why Biden was best for the job.

"It is a lonely seat,” said Obama, who had hitched a ride to New York on Air Force One with Biden.

 

Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton during a campaign fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall. Reuters


The talk was by turns humorous and serious, ending with all three donning sunglasses in the mostly dark music hall, a nod to the trademark Ray-Ban sunglasses that Biden often wears.

The sold-out Radio City Music Hall event was a gilded exclamation mark on a recent burst of campaign travel by Biden, who has visited several political battlegrounds in the three weeks since his State of the Union address served as a rallying cry for his reelection bid. Thursday's event also brought together more than three decades of Democratic leadership.

The music hall's marquee advertised the big-dollar night as "An Evening with Joe Biden Barack Obama Bill Clinton.” NYPD officers lined surrounding streets as part of a heavy security presence.

PROTESTERS DISRUPT EVENT

Protesters angry at Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza and strong support of Israel briefly disrupted the show, drawing a pledge from Biden to keep working to stop civilian deaths, particularly of children. But he added, "Israel’s existence is at stake.” Hundreds more protested outside in the drizzling rain, many demanding a cease-fire and waving Palestinian flags.



Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, was up first to warm up the crowd of about 5,000 supporters. Entertainers, too, lined up to make the case for Biden. Lizzo belted out her hit "About Damn Time” and emcee Mindy Kaling joked that it was nice to be in a room with "so many rich people,” adding that she loved that they were supporting a president who openly promises to "raise your taxes.”

Obama laid out the choice for the audience, saying that "at the end of the day, you do have to make a choice about who sees you and cares about you. I’m pretty confident the other guy doesn’t.”

At one point, Colbert said he suspected some Americans had forgotten some of the more concerning aspects of Trump's presidency, including Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in a failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Biden said concerns over the riot reverberated outside the US, with foreign leaders questioning the stability of the U.S. democracy. That democracy is still fragile, he said.

The fundraiser had different tiers of access depending on a donor's generosity. Other participating celebrities included Queen Latifah, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. Tickets sold for as low as $225.

More money got donors more intimate time with the presidents. A photo with all three was $100,000. A donation of $250,000 earned donors access to one reception, and $500,000 got them into an even more exclusive gathering. First lady Jill Biden and DJ D-Nice hosted an afterparty at the music hall with 500 guests, the campaign said.

Obama and Clinton were helping Biden expand his already significant cash advantage over Trump. Biden had $155 million in cash on hand through the end of February, compared with $37 million for Trump and his Save America political action committee.

The more than $26 million tally for the New York City event includes money from supporters who handed over cash in the weeks before the fundraiser for a chance to attend. It raised $6 million more than Trump raised during February.

"This historic raise is a show of strong enthusiasm for President Biden and Vice President Harris and a testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built,” said campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg. "Unlike our opponent, every dollar we’re raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election - communicating the president’s historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election."

Trump’s campaign is expecting to bring in $33 million at a big fundraiser next week in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a person familiar with the details who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm a number first reported by the Financial Times.

  

US signs off on more bombs and warplanes for Israel

WAR CRIMES OF THE HEGEMON

John Hudson | The Washington Post

The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000 pound bombs have been linked to previous mass-casualty events throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. These officials, like some others, spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because recent authorizations have not been disclosed publicly.

The development underscores that while rifts have emerged between the United States and Israel over the war’s conduct, the Biden administration views weapons transfers as off-limits when considering how to influence the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” said a White House official. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.”

Some Democrats, including allies of President Biden, say the U.S. government has a responsibility to withhold weapons in the absence of an Israeli commitment to limit civilian casualties during a planned operation in Rafah, a final Hamas stronghold, and ease restrictions on humanitarian aid into the enclave, which is on the brink of famine.

'Use leverage effectively'

“The Biden administration needs to use their leverage effectively and, in my view, they should receive these basic commitments before greenlighting more bombs for Gaza,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said in an interview. “We need to back up what we say with what we do.”

The Israeli government declined to comment on the authorizations.

Four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah, say U.S. and Israeli officials. More than 1.2 million Palestinians have sought shelter there after being forced from their homes during Israel’s extensive bombing campaign over the past five months. Biden suggested that a scorched-earth invasion of the city along Gaza’s border with Egypt would cross a “red line” for him.

Biden requested that Netanyahu send a team of security officials to Washington this week to listen to U.S. proposals for limiting the bloodshed. Netanyahu canceled the visit after the United States refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages, but which did not condemn Hamas.

Israeli officials have not allayed U.S. concerns about the impending operation in Rafah, but they agreed to reschedule the meeting in Washington, the White House said.

The increasingly public spat has not dissuaded Biden from rushing weapons and military equipment into the conflict. Last week, the State Department authorized the transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth roughly $2.5 billion, U.S. officials said. The case was approved by Congress in 2008, so the department was not required to provide a new notification to lawmakers.

The MK84 and MK82 bombs authorized this week for transfer also were approved by Congress years ago but had not yet been fulfilled.

More transparency

Washington’s marginalization on the world stage over its support for Israel has rankled some Democrats in Congress, some of whom have called for more transparency in arms transfers and raised questions about whether the authorization of older unfilled cases is an effort to avoid new notifications to Congress, which could face scrutiny.

When asked about the transfers, a State Department official said that “fulfilling an authorization from one notification to Congress can result in dozens of individual Foreign Military Sales cases across the decades-long life-cycle of the congressional notification.”

“As a matter of practicality, major procurements, like Israel’s F-35 program for example, are often broken out into several cases over many years,” the official added.

The 2,000-pound bombs, capable of leveling city blocks and leaving craters in the earth 40 feet across and larger, are almost never used anymore by Western militaries in densely populated locations due to the risk of civilian casualties.

Israel has used them extensively in Gaza, according to several reports, most notably in the bombing of Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp Oct. 31. U.N. officials decried the strike, which killed more than 100 people, as a “disproportionate attack that could amount to war crimes.” Israel defended the bombing, saying it resulted in the death of a Hamas leader.

Israeli officials deny that their military campaign has been indiscriminate and say civilian casualties are the fault of Hamas for embedding its fighters among the population in Gaza.

Biden’s decision to continue the flow of weapons to Israel has been strongly supported by powerful pro-Israel interest groups in Washington, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is spending tens of millions of dollars this election cycle to unseat Democrats it views as insufficiently pro-Israel.

AIPAC, alongside congressional Republicans and several Democrats, oppose any conditions on U.S. military assistance to Israel. “The U.S. can protect civilians, on both sides of the conflict, by continuing to ensure Israel receives as much U.S. assistance as is needed, as expeditiously as possible, to keep its stockpiles full of lifesaving munitions,” Reps. August Pfluger, R-Tex., and Don Davis, D-N.C., and Michael Makovsky, president of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, wrote in a recent column. “Doing so is also morally right and in the U.S. interest.”

‘Assault on the rule of law’

Biden’s recurring approvals of weapons transfers are an “abrogation of moral responsibility, and an assault on the rule of law as we know it, at both the domestic and international levels,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved in arms transfers who resigned in protest of Biden’s Gaza policy.

“This is a policymaking process that is fundamentally broken, and which makes everyone from policymaking officials to defense manufacturers to the U.S. taxpayer complicit in Israel’s war crimes,” he said.

The Post’s reporting on the new weapons authorizations follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week in which he requested that the Biden administration expedite a range of weaponry.

Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that Israeli officials have been asking for weapons they consider important “in pretty much every meeting” he has been in with them.

Israel has “not received everything they’ve asked for,” Brown said. The United States has withheld some, he said, either due to capacity limits or because U.S. officials were not willing at the time. Brown did not identify the weapons.

Hours later, the Pentagon clarified Brown’s remarks, highlighting the issue’s sensitivity. Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, a spokesman for the general, said there has been no change in policy and that the United States assesses its stockpiles as it provides aid to partners. “The United States continues to provide security assistance to our ally Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas,” Dorsey said.

Taking longer than anticipated

Advocates of the policy inside the administration say behind-the-scenes discussions with the Israelis have succeeded in delaying the country’s Rafah operation, which they now don’t expect to happen until May. But at least part of that delay is due to Israel’s military operations in Khan Younis taking longer than anticipated.

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the war began in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took at least 250 hostage.

Any increase in fighting in Rafah, a key transit point for humanitarian aid, risks exacerbating conditions across the enclave that the United Nations and aid groups say is suffering from chronic shortages of food, water and medicine. A massive influx of aid trucks is required to remedy the situation, but U.S. officials say Israel has imposed onerous restrictions on deliveries, which are deeply unpopular inside Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government.

The Biden administration does not see that its words and actions are in conflict with respect to weapons transfers, Van Hollen said.

“They do not see the contradiction between sending more bombs to the Netanyahu government even as it is ignoring their demands with respect to Rafah and getting more humanitarian assistance to starving people,” he said. “If this is a partnership it needs to be a two-way street.”

PETTY CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Police raid Peruvian President Boluarte's home in luxury watch investigation

Agence France-Presse
March 30, 2024 

Peru's President Dina Boluarte speaks as she meets with foreign press, in Lima, Peru January 24, 2023. © Angela Ponce, Reuters


Peruvian authorities raided President Dina Boluarte's home on Saturday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation related to undisclosed luxury watches.



According to a police document obtained by AFP, about 40 officials were involved in the raid, which was searching for Rolex watches that Boluarte had not publicly declared.

The raid "is for the purpose of search and seizure," police said.

The embattled president did not appear to be home at the time.

Authorities launched an investigation into Boluarte this month after a news outlet drew attention to pictures of her sporting luxury watches at public events.

Saturday's raid, a joint operation between the police and the prosecutor's office, was broadcast on local television channel Latina.

Government agents could be seen surrounding the house in the Surquillo District of the capital Lima while officers blocked oncoming traffic.

The surprise, early-morning raid was requested by the public prosecutor and authorized by the Supreme Court of Preparatory Investigation.

It came after prosecutors refused Boluarte's request for more time to respond to a subpoena demanding she furnish proof of purchase for her watches.

'Clean hands'

Already facing declining approval ratings, Boluarte has been plunged into a fresh political crisis with the launch of the probe into whether she has illegally enriched herself while in office.

If she is indicted in the case, a trial could not take place until after her term ends in July 2026 or she is impeached, according to the constitution.


Dozens of journalists descended on the president's house on Saturday but prosecutors and officials at the scene did not respond to questions.

The Peruvian president's office also did not react immediately.

The scandal erupted after local news outlet "La Encerrona" reported in mid-March that Boluarte had worn various Rolex timepieces at official events.

The outlet drew attention to the watches with pictures dating from December 2022, when Boluarte took office.

The government comptroller later announced it would review Boluarte's asset declarations from the past two years to search for any irregularities.

Boluarte, 61, has staunchly defended herself.

"I entered the Government Palace with clean hands, and I will leave it with clean hands," she said last week.

Responding to questions about how she could afford such expensive timepieces on a public salary, she said they were a product of working hard since she was 18 years old.

The lawyer and former vice president became Peru's first woman president after leftist leader Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and rule by decree, leading to his quick ouster and arrest.


Violent protests demanding Boluarte step down and fresh elections be held followed, with almost 50 people killed in the ensuing crackdown.

(REUTERS)

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro indicted over Covid-19 vaccine data fraud

The Supreme Court released the police’s indictment on Tuesday that alleges Bolsonaro and 16 others inserted false information into the public health database to make it appear as though the then-President, his 12-year-old daughter and several others in his circle had received the Covid-19 vaccine

AP/PTI 

Sao Paulo 

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro

Sao Paulo: Brazil’s federal police have accused former President Jair Bolsonaro of criminal association and falsifying his own Covid-19 vaccination data, marking the first indictment for the embattled far-Right leader with others potentially in store.

The Supreme Court released the police’s indictment on Tuesday that alleges Bolsonaro and 16 others inserted false information into the public health database to make it appear as though the then-President, his 12-year-old daughter and several others in his circle had received the Covid-19 vaccine.

During the pandemic, Bolsonaro was one of the few world leaders railing against the vaccine, openly flouting health restrictions.

His administration ignored several emails from pharmaceutical company Pfizer offering to sell Brazil tens of millions of shots in 2020 and openly criticised a move by Sao Paulo state’s then-governor João Doria to buy vaccines from Chinese company Sinovac when no jabs were otherwise available.

Brazil’s prosecutor-general’s office will have the final say on whether to use the police indictment to file charges against Bolsonaro at the Supreme Court. It stems from one of several investigations targeting Bolsonaro, who governed between 2019 and 2022.

Bolsonaro’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

AP/PTI

 GLOW IN THE DARK GREEN ENERGY 

$1.52B loan guarantee issued in effort to restart Michigan nuclear power plant


The Energy Department Wednesday announced a $1.52 billion loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades to finance the restoration and restart of Michigan's Palisades nuclear power plant near Lake Michigan. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it will support 100,000 jobs nationwide.  (MORE LIKE 10,000)

Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo


March 27 (UPI) -- The Energy Department Wednesday announced a $1.52 billion loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades to finance restoration and restart of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.

The plant's reopening is subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval.

"Nuclear power is our single largest source of carbon free electricity, directly supporting 100,000 jobs across the country and hundreds of thousands more indirectly," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement. "President Biden's Investing in America agenda is supporting and expanding this vibrant clean energy workforce here in Michigan with significant funding for the Holtec Palisades nuclear power plant."

According to the Energy Department, the project will create 600 good-paying, high-quality jobs.

Related

Ex-regulatory chief, 2 execs indicted in sprawling Ohio nuclear power bribe case

IEA forecasts global surge in electricity demand amid shift to clean energy

Energy Department grants $2.26B loan for Nevada lithium project

The plant stopped operating in May 2022.

"Once open, Palisades will be the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history, driving $363 million of regional economic impact and helping Michigan lead the future of clean energy," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. "I am so grateful to my bipartisan partners in the Michigan Legislature, the Biden-Harris administration, Holtec, and labor for coming together to get this done."

During the plant's projected additional operation once back online, the Energy Department said the project will "avoid 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per year for a total of 111 million tons of CO2 emissions during the projected 25 years of operations-an amount roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of removing more than 970,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road."

Whitmer added that the plant will power 800,000 homes.

Holtec Palisades already has signed power purchase agreements for the rejuvenated plant's power output with rural electric co-ops Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.

This is the first project with a conditional commitment under the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act.

In 2007 the NRC authorized the Palisades plant in Covert near Lake Michigan for 20 more years operation.

Nuclear waste is stored at the plant near Lake Michigan, prompting safety concerns from environmental groups. A coalition of local, state and national organizations had petitioned to stop the NRC from allowing Palisades to operate for 20 more years due to those safety concerns.

New EPA rules to curb heavy-duty vehicle emissions starting with 2027 models


New heavy-duty vehicles like freight trucks and buses will now be subject to new greenhouse gas pollution standards, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday. 

File Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

March 29 (UPI) -- New heavy-duty vehicles like freight trucks and buses will be subject to enhanced greenhouse gas pollution standards, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday.

The standard will apply to vehicles beginning in the 2027 model year, running through 2032 and will avoid producing 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions or the equivalent of the emissions from more than 13 million tanker trucks' worth of gasoline, according to the EPA.

"In finalizing these emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, EPA is significantly cutting pollution from the hardest working vehicles on the road," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement released by the agency.

"Building on our recently finalized rule for light- and medium-duty vehicles, EPA's strong and durable vehicle standards respond to the urgency of the climate crisis by making deep cuts in emissions from the transportation sector."

The agency also estimates the new regulations will "provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits to society related to public health, the climate, and savings for truck owners and operators."

The third and final phase of the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles aligns with its ​​Clean Trucks Plan announced in 2021. The agency's plan represents the most protective set of EPA regulations ever for the on-road sector.

The EPA unveiled the second phase of the standards in 2016.

The transportation sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States with heavy-duty vehicles accounting for 25% of all emissions in that sector.

"EPA's standards complement President Biden's unprecedented investment in our workers and communities to reduce harmful emissions, while strengthening our manufacturing capacity for the transportation technologies of the future," national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in the EPA statement issued Friday.

"By tackling pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, we can unlock extraordinary public health, climate, and economic gains."

The news is the latest move by President Joe Biden's administration to curb emissions generated by traditional combustion engines and promote green technology.

Earlier in March, the White House finalized a new EPA rule leaning heavily on the automotive sector to bring more electric and hybrid cars to market.

The new rule pushes the auto industry to have electric vehicles make up 56% of new cars or trucks entering the market with hybrids constituting another 13%.

Arizona lawmakers sue Biden administration over EPA pollution rule

March 27 (UPI) -- Arizona's Republican legislative leaders and the state's Chamber of Commerce sued the Environmental Protection Agency over new pollution standards.

The filing in a Washington appeals court on Monday said the new EPA standards were "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion" that would damage the economy and called on the court to vacate it. Arizona's Senate President Warren Peterson, released a statement saying it is being joined by House Speaker Ben Toma and the chamber in the lawsuit.

"The Biden administration should be rewarding American businesses for being the most environmentally friendly in the world," Peterson said in a statement. "Instead, they are doubling down on their left-wing agenda. Their rule will create unnecessary hardships for job creators and hardworking Arizonans."

Peterson said new construction that would improve safety would be stopped, permits in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties would be blocked and small businesses would be forced to pay for expensive new equipment and

Report: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan have highest levels of air pollution globally

He added that eight counties would be now ruled out of compliance with EPA guidelines and it would force jobs to go overseas.

"The EPA should focus on mitigating wildfires, the primary source of pollution," Peterson said. "It will detrimentally impact our power grid and create even more red tape for both small and large businesses. We have no choice but to ask the courts to provide relief from this tyrannical, arbitrary and illegal move by the EPA."

The EPA's new rule targets PM 2.5, which researchers say can get into the bloodstream and cause everything from strokes to heart attacks and asthma. The 2.5 microns particles can come from wildfires, fireplaces, wood-burning ovens, burning coal and other manufacturing processes,

The EPA finalized the new rule in February, saying it would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, to $46 billion in health benefits by 2032.

Biden administration tightens restrictions on imports of African elephants

WHAT ABOUT ASIAN ELEPHANTS?!


Illegal ivory trinkets and creations are on display along with a tun of ivory before being destroyed as an ode to end the illegal trafficking and brutal mistreatment of elephants in Central Park, New York City in Aug. 2017. On Friday, the federal government took steps to protect the African elephant in dwindling decline. 

Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


March 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday finalized a rule to improve conservation and other protections of African elephants imported to the United States.

Friday's rule change "will strengthen protections of internationally traded live African elephants, increase transparency of the Service's permit decision-making, and more closely align U.S. requirements with guidance from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Fauna and Flora," the agency said in a news release.

"The Service values collaborative conservation of wildlife all around the world and is committed to improving implementation of international conservation law," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said.

The changes require that countries that import elephants to the United States implement laws to increase conservation and protection including barring illegal trade and that authorized imports of both live elephants and "trophies" will contribute to conservation efforts and not cause the species to decline.

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It also requires that elephants only be sent to facilities that are equipped to house and care for them when they arrive in the United States.

Lastly, the rule clarifies import regulations on sport hunting and permit requirements.

In 2017, the Trump administration lifted an Obama-era ban on the import of endangered elephant remains from Africa. This comes as the Biden administration has been taking steps to strengthen many animal conservation policy reversals under Trump.

"Our actions today will help support range countries' efforts to manage and conserve African elephant populations and will further protect African elephants that are imported to the United States," Williams added. "We are optimistic that with this final rule and by continuing to work in partnership with range countries, wild African elephant populations will be sustainable into the future."

The agency says the African elephant in the wild has been reduced down to an estimated 415,000 from roughly 26 million at the end of the 18th century.

Cesar Chavez family members endorse Biden for president


Images of Cesar Chavez are seen as thousands of supporters turn out at the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene, California on October 8, 2012. 

File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo

March 29 (UPI) -- The family of iconic civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez on Friday endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The iconic Hispanic labor leader's sons, Fernando and Paul Chavez, told CBS News they would endorse Biden, who already employs Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of the late labor leader, as his campaign manager.

"The bonds of affection and respect for a president who by his character and actions consistently reflects the genuine legacy of my father, Cesar Chavez," Paul Chavez said.

The announcement comes ahead of Kennedy's event at Union Station on Saturday, where the independent candidate highlights historical ties between his late father, late President John F. Kennedy, and Chavez.

Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., in one well-known gathering in 1967 with Chavez called the labor leader "one of the heroic figures of our times."

An announcement about the Kennedy event invites those who are interested to "celebrate the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, a good friend of RFK and RFK, Jr.

"Cesar was a legendary organizer of farmworkers and voters, who exercised their citizen power. Today, we have an opportunity to take back our government with people power."

Courting Latino voters will be a key for Biden winning re-election. The president opened a national program last week in Arizona to specifically target Hispanic voters.

First Lady Jill Biden speaks on LBGTQ+ rights at Human Rights Campaign dinner in California

“They want to take our victories away but we won’t let them,” said Jill Biden, referencing Republican attacks on LGBTQ+ rights

First Lady Jill Biden (AP file photo)

By CLARA HARTER | charter@scng.com
PUBLISHED: March 24, 2024

First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley Biden highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts to fight on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community at the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Los Angeles dinner on Saturday evening, March 23.

“Thanks to our president, marriage equality is now a law, he ended the ban on bisexual and gay men donating blood, he made it possible for trans Americans to serve openly and honorably in the military and he’s standing firmly against conversion therapy,” said Jill Biden.

HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization and selected the first lady as their keynote speaker due to her record of advocating on behalf of the queer community. The private event was hosted at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Century City and attended by approximately 650 people.

Biden used her speech to underscore the importance of reelecting her husband in November noting that “MAGA extremists” are trying to “unwind all the progress we’ve made” on LGBTQ+ rights and equality.

“Just last night we had to fend off more than 50 anti-gay amendments that Republicans tried to force into the government funding bill,” she said. “These were extreme measures aimed directly at this community, measures that would have limited health care, eroded protection for same sex couples and more.”

“And they serve only one purpose: to spread fear.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 50 proposed anti-LGBTQ+ provisions were stripped from the final version of the $1.2 trillion funding package that was approved by the Senate on Saturday morning.

“They want to take our victories away but we won’t let them,” she said. “We will win tomorrow and on the days after, until all the people in all of the places can live freely surrounded by love. I love you. Your President loves you.”

Ashley Biden also referenced ongoing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community during her speech, including the recent death of transgender teen Next Benedict who was fatally attacked in a school bathroom in Oklahoma.

“We know it’s not just Next, LGBTQ students deserve to feel safe at school and no one should have to endure violence just because of who they are,” she said. “My parents know that.”

Last October, President Biden and the First Lady, spoke at HRC’s national dinner in Washington, D.C, which marked the president’s fourth time keynoting the event.

The first lady is in town for a four-day fundraising and speaking swing through Los Angeles and Palm Springs. On Friday, she attended a campaign reception in Hancock Park and on Monday she is scheduled to deliver a speech on the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research at the Getty Center.

Earlier on Saturday, Biden delivered a speech to around 125 people at a private fundraiser in the Rancho Mirage home of James Costos and Michael Smith.

Will Rollins, the Democratic nominee for California’s 41st Congressional District, introduced the first lady and thanked her for her advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Thanks to the work that the first lady and the president have put in throughout their careers, America is now a place where you can serve the country you love, regardless of who you love,” said Rollins, “So thank you, Dr. Biden.”

During the ten minute address Biden hit upon many of the same points she shared at Friday evening’s L.A. campaign reception. This includes the strength of her relationship with Joe Biden, his major accomplishments as President and the urgency of reelecting him in November.

“These are tumultuous times for the world — Russia’s brutal campaign in Ukraine, war in the Middle East — and they require the steadiness and the expertise of a tested, proven leader like my husband,” she said.

“With his judgment and his experience and his relationship with leaders across the globe, Joe isn’t just the right person for the job,” she continued. “He’s the only person for the job.”

USNS Harvey Milk completes maiden voyage to San Francisco

Vessel first one for U.S. Navy to be named after openly gay person

By Ehren Wynder

UPI

MARCH 29, 2024 

The USNS Harvey Milk is the first Navy ship to be named after a gay person. Milk served in the navy during the Korean War and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the United States. 

Photo courtesy U.S. Navy

March 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk made its first voyage through the Golden Gate Bridge and docked in San Francisco Thursday.

The USNS Harvey Milk is the first Navy ship to be named after an openly gay person. It is an oiler ship that resupplies Navy ships at sea with diesel fuel, lubricating oil and jet fuel, as well as some provisions

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in 2016 told Congress of his plan to name the John Lewis-class oilers after prominent civil rights leaders, with this particular ship to be named after Milk, who was a gay rights activist.

Milk served as a lieutenant in the Navy during the Korean War aboard USS Kittiwake. His career ended with an other-than-honorable discharge, and he was forced to resign rather than face a court martial because of his homosexuality.

Milk became the first openly gay person elected to public office in the country when he won a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. He and Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed in 1978 by a disgruntled former supervisor who was upset that Moscone did not reappoint him after he resigned.

"To have that ship visit San Francisco on its very first port visit -- not only its first port visit to San Francisco, but its first port visit ever to be San Francisco, is so significant," said U.S. Navy Media Officer Brian O'Rourke. "This was Harvey's chosen city; very important to him. To have this ship come to San Francisco is a testament to his legacy."

San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty, who served in what was Milk's former board seat, toured the ship Thursday. He said, "It's beautiful that it is here ... This being the first Navy ship being named after someone who wasn't honorably discharged, it's poetic."

An LGBTQ San Diego advisory group first called for a Navy ship to be named after Milk in 2012. The ship was officially named at a ceremony in San Francisco in 2016 prior to its construction.

It was christened and launched from San Diego Bay in November 2021.

Officials will hold a ceremony to honor the ship and its namesake on Friday. There also will be a National Vietnam War Veterans Day awards presentation for Bay Area veterans that afternoon.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Court sentences 2 to prison for $9 million hospice fraud scheme

Two California men, Gayk Akhsharumov and Karen "Kevin" Sarkisyan, were sentenced in a $9 million hospice fraud case.

 File Photo by Simaah/Pixabay


March 29 (UPI) -- A California hospice owner and his biller were sentenced to jail time for bilking Medicare out of more than $9 million in false and fraudulent claims for hospice services.

Gayk Akhsharumov, 40, who owned two hospice companies, and Karen Sarkisyan, 45, both of Glendale, both were sentenced to one year and one day in prison for the scheme. Sarkisyan, also known as Kevin Sarkisyan, also served as Akhsharumov's consultant.

Prosecutors said Akhsharumov was the manager and beneficial owner of San Gabriel Hospice and Palliative Care Inc., and Broadway Hospice Care. Investigators said he hid his ownership of the facilities from Medicare, put in false owners and paid kickbacks to patient recruiters. Sarkisyan submitted the false applications.

On March 23, 2023, Akhsharumov entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and Sarkisyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States on April 3, 2023.

Authorities said even after closing one of his facilities, he filled out an application for COVID-19 relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program and received funds. Prosecutors said Akhsharumov received $50,000 from the relief plan even though the hospice was not in operation

Akhsharumov was ordered to pay $9.18 million in restitution while Sarkisyan was ordered to pay back $3.68 million in restitution.

French high school principals rally in Paris over death threats targeting colleague

Principal asked student to remove headscarf because of ban on religious signs in schools; student said she was hit, subjected to violence

Nur Asena Ertürk |30.03.2024 

ANKARA

French high school principals rallied Friday in Paris following death threats targeting one of their colleagues, according to the Franceinfo broadcaster.

A group of principals and MPs gathered in front of the Maurice Ravel High School, whose principal resigned last week for security reasons and death threats via the internet, after he asked a student to take her headscarf off in February, due to the ban on religious signs at school, it said.

The student told reporters earlier the month that she was subjected to violence and the principal hit her arm when she refused to remove her scarf.

The Paris prosecutor’s office dismissed her complaint for “insufficiently grounded offense.”

The principal filed a complaint against the threats and a 26-year-old suspect was arrested.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal backed the principal Wednesday in an interview and criticized the student for defamatory allegations.

Then-Education Minister Attal announced the ban on the abaya -- a loose full-length robe worn by Muslim women -- as of Sept. 4, 2023, the start of the new school term.

The controversial move sparked a backlash against the government, which has been criticized in recent years for targeting Muslims with statements and policies, including raids on mosques and charitable foundations, and an "anti-separatism" law that imposes broad restrictions on the community.

ANALYSIS:

 Russian Orthodox Church Hails Moscow’s Imperialist Expansionism as a ‘Holy War’

Moscow Patriarchate calls for the conquest and absorption of the Ukrainian and Belarusian nations into an ultranationalist ‘Russian world'.

By ISW
March 30, 2024

President Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. AFP

The Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP), a Kremlin-controlled organization and a known tool within the Russian hybrid warfare toolkit, held the World Russian People’s Council in Moscow on March 27 and 28 and approved an ideological and policy document tying several Kremlin ideological narratives together in an apparent effort to form a wider nationalist ideology around the war in Ukraine and Russia’s expansionist future.

ROC MP Head Patriarch Kirill, reportedly himself a former Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) officer and a known staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, chaired the congress of the World Russian People's Council that approved the document, and Kirill likely coordinated the document’s ideological narrative and policy recommendations with the Kremlin.

The document, "The Present and Future of the Russian World,” addresses Russian legislative and executive authorities with specific calls to amend Russian policy documents and laws. These calls are likely either attempts to socialize desired Kremlin policies among Russians before their implementation or to test public reactions to policies that Kremlin officials are currently considering.

Putin and Kremlin officials have gradually attempted to elaborate on amorphous ideological narratives about the war in Ukraine and their envisioned geopolitical confrontation with the West since the start of the full-scale invasion, and the ROC MP appears to be offering a more coherent ideological framework for Russians.

The ROC MP released the document a week after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack and roughly a month before the start of the Orthodox Easter Holy Week, and likely aims to seize on heightened anxieties following the terrorist attack and increased Russian Orthodoxy observance to garner support for its desired ultranationalist policies and ideological vision.


The ROC MP intensified Kremlin rhetoric about Russia’s war in Ukraine and cast it as an existential and civilizational “holy war,” a significant inflection for Russian authorities who have so far carefully avoided officially framing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as any kind of “war.” The ROC MP called Putin’s “special military operation” a holy war (Svyashennaya Voyna) and a new stage in the Russian people’s struggle for “national liberation...in southwestern Russia,” referencing eastern and southeastern Ukraine.

The ROC MP claimed that the Russian people are defending their lives, freedom, and statehood; their civilizational, religious, national, and cultural identity; and their right to live within the borders of a single Russian state by waging Putin’s war of conquest in Ukraine.

The ROC MP argued that the war in Ukraine is a holy war because Russia is defending “Holy Russia” and the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West, which has fallen into Satanism.

The ROC MP asserted that the war in Ukraine will conclude with Russia seizing exclusive influence over the entire territory of modern Ukraine and the exclusion of any Ukrainian government that the Kremlin determines to be hostile to Russia.

The ROC MP’s description of Russian goals is in line with repeated Kremlin statements indicating that Putin retains his objective to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty and statehood. The ROC MP’s use and description of the holy war in Ukraine is also consistent with Kremlin efforts to frame the war as an existential national struggle against Ukraine and the collective West but notably expands the alleged threats that defeat in Ukraine poses for Russians.

The term “holy war” may also conjure allusions to the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War), as the Soviet Union’s unofficial war anthem shared the same name, and the Kremlin has routinely invoked the mythos of the Great Patriotic War to generate domestic support for the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has continued to stress that the war in Ukraine is a “special military operation,” however, and the ROC MP’s direct acknowledgment of the conflict as a holy war may elicit support from Russians who have found the Kremlin’s comparatively restrained rhetoric uninspiring. The ROC MP did not define the holy war as a purely Orthodox concept and instead tied it to the Kremlin’s purposefully broad conception of who is a part of the Russian nation and Russkiy Mir (Russian World).

Ukrainian victory does not pose these existential threats, however, as Ukraine’s struggle to restore its territorial integrity, return its people, and defend its national identity does not infringe on Russian identity, statehood, or territorial integrity.

The ROC MP called for the codification of elements of the Russkiy Mir and may be gauging public support for the formal inclusion of ethnic Ukrainians and Belarusians in the Kremlin’s concept of the Russian nation. The ROC MP stated that Russia is the “creator, support, and defender” of the Russkiy Mir and that the Russkiy Mir is a “spiritual, cultural, and civilizational phenomenon” that transcends the borders of the Russian Federation and historical Russian lands and encompasses everyone that values Russian traditions and culture.

The ROC MP claimed the Russkiy Mir’s mission is to destroy and prevent efforts to establish “universal hegemony in the world” and that the reunification of the “Russian nation” should be one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy.

The ROC MP stated that Russia should return to the “trinity doctrine” of the Russian nation, which falsely asserts that the “Russian nation” is comprised of sub-groups of ethnic Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians whom Russia should reunify.

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The ROC MP called on Russia to codify the “trinity doctrine” in law, make it an “integral part” of the Russian legal system, include it in the “normative list” of Russian spiritual and moral values, and give the concept legal protection.

Putin and other Kremlin officials have consistently invoked similar claims about the “Russian people” and Russkiy Mir since before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine as a means to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine while undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and denying the existence of a Ukrainian ethnic identity. The ROC MP may be gauging the response to the idea of codifying the “trinity doctrine” on the Kremlin’s orders. The Kremlin may codify this doctrine as official Russian policy.

The ROC MP heavily emphasized Russia’s need for traditional family values and an updated migration policy to counter Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis. The ROC MP labeled Russia’s demographic crisis as Russia’s main existential threat and characterized steady demographic growth as a critical national security priority. The ROC MP asserted that Russia should aim to grow its population to 600 million people (a roughly 450 million increase) in the next 100 years and laid out a series of measures that it envisions would allow Russia to achieve this monumental task.

The ROC MP called for the revival of the “traditional large family” and traditional family values in Russia – echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s emphasis on 2024 as the “Year of the Family” in recent major national addresses. The ROC MP claimed that the Russian government should recognize the family and its well-being as Russia’s “main national development goal” and a “strategic national priority” and should amend Russia’s main strategic planning documents to reflect this. The ROC MP called on Russian popular culture to create a “cult of the family” in society and suggested various economic benefits the state should enact to encourage larger families.

The ROC MP claimed that a new state migration policy is also key to an “effective” demographic policy. The ROC MP complained that migrants who do not speak Russian, do not understand Russian history and culture, and cannot integrate into Russian society are “deforming” Russia’s unified legal, cultural, and linguistic space. The ROC MP alleged that the “uncontrolled” influx of migrant labor decreases the “indigenous” population’s wages and access to jobs and that “closed ethnic enclaves” are “breeding grounds” for corruption, organized crime, extremism, and terrorism.

The ROC MP offered a series of policy recommendations that Russia should prioritize in a new migration policy, including “significant” restrictions on low-skilled foreign laborers, guarantees of employment and high incomes for Russian citizens, protections of the rights and interests of ethnic Russians, and other indigenous peoples of Russia, the mass repatriation of "compatriots” to Russia, and the relocation of highly-skilled foreign specialists who are loyal to Russia and ready to integrate into Russian society.

The ROC MP’s demographic and migration policy suggestions continue to highlight how the Kremlin struggles with inconsistent and contradictory policies concerning migrants and the interests of its ultranationalist population. Select Russian officials and ultranationalist voices have recently called for Russia to enact anti-migrant policies following the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, but ISW continues to assess that Russia is unlikely to introduce any restrictions that would reduce the number of migrants in Russia given that Russia continues to heavily rely on migrants to offset domestic labor shortages and for force generation efforts.

Putin asserted in December 2023 that Russia’s “compatriots abroad” are those who have historical, cultural, or linguistic ties to Russia, and the ROC MP appears to suggest that the repatriation of such “compatriots” to Russia could be a large resource Russia could tap into to solve its demographic crisis. Some of the ROC MP’s other policy recommendations, however, contradictorily seek to restrict some of the very migrants that would fall under Putin’s definition of “compatriots abroad.” The ROC MP’s approach to the Russkiy Mir appears to be at odds with Putin’s previous definition of Russkiy Mir which posits a diverse and inclusive Russian civic nationalism.

The ROC MP appears to be combining previously parallel Kremlin narrative efforts into a relatively cohesive ideology focusing on national identity and demographic resurgence that promises Russians a period of national rejuvenation in exchange for social and civic duties.

The ROC MP highlighted that “the restoration of the unity of the Russian people” through the war in Ukraine is a key condition for Russia’s survival and successful development throughout the 21st century. This call for restoration amounts to the full-scale destruction of the Ukrainian nation and its envelopment into Russia.

The ROC MP aims to also envelop ethnic Belarusians into the Russian nation through its conception of the “trinity doctrine” while also massively repatriating other “compatriots” abroad. The ROC MP’s calls for Russians to assume the responsibility for steadily increasing birth rates and averting demographic catastrophe similarly promises Russians that Russian sovereignty and identity will persist in the 21st century.

These efforts to expand Russia’s control over those it considers to be a part of the Russkiy Mir, whether through mass repatriation or forceful means like Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine, serve the same purpose as the calls for Russians to increase birth rates — increasing Russia’s overall population with people that ultranationalists consider to be “Russian.”

The ROC MP argued that the establishment of a stable and sovereign Russkiy Mir under the Russian state will lead to economic opportunity and Russia’s role as one of the leading centers of a multipolar world order. The ROC MP stated that the typical embodiment of the Russkiy Mir after the promised national rejuvenation would be a Russian family with three or more children and their own single-family home, offering ordinary Russians future socioeconomic benefits in exchange for sacrifices made now in backing the ROC MP’s suggested ultranationalist ideology and achieving Russia’s “unification” with Ukraine and Belarus.

The ROC MP’s suggested ideology explicitly ties Russian national security to the preservation of an imagined and disputed Russian nation and Russian demographic growth, offering the Kremlin expanded justifications for acts of aggression against neighboring countries and the West in the name of protecting the overall size and growth of the imagined Russkiy Mir.

The Kremlin may choose not to fully align itself publicly with the ultranationalist ideology that the ROC MP has proposed at this time but will highly likely borrow from and leverage it to generate support for the war effort in Ukraine and any future acts of aggression against Russia’s neighbors and the West.

See the original here.