SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY

Romanian opera star Gheorghiu to perform in aid of New York's Met musicians


Issued on: 08/02/2021 - 

Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu performing in Vienna in February 2012. DIETER NAGL AFP/Archives

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu has announced she will lend her voice to help the musicians of New York's Metropolitan Opera (Met), deprived of their pay because of virus-related cancellations of their shows.

"On February 21, through the wonders of technology, I will perform for you Dvorak's 'Song to the Moon' and Anton Pann's 'Tatal Nostru' (Our Father) in a special arrangement by (composer) Andrei Tudor," she wrote on Facebook late Sunday.

I am very happy to have a special appearance on the next MET Orchestra Spotlight Series on Sunday, February 21st, at 3PM...Posted by Angela Gheorghiu on Friday, 5 February 2021

Considered one of the world's greatest opera singers, Gheorghiu, 55, will perform in Bucharest alongside pianist Alexandru Petrovici, to the accompaniment of the Met Orchestra from New York.

Tickets for the performance, which can be watched online, have gone on sale for $15 (12.5 euros).

Gheorghiu said the proceeds would "benefit over 150 Met musicians in need".


In an interview with the Romanian channel Digi24, Gheorghiu said that the musicians "had not received their salaries for a year and were in a very difficult situation".

The soprano rejected the term "charity concert", stressing that she felt a "human and professional need" to support the cause.

"An artist is important only alongside one's artistic family," she said. "Without an orchestra or choir we cannot do anything."

Gheorghiu will perform for the recital in Bucharest's elegant Athenaeum concert hall, built by the French architect Albert Galleron and inaugurated in 1888.


"This is my cathedral," Gheorghiu said of the venue, recalling that she gave her first recital there at the age of 17.

The Met's general manager Peter Gelb told AFP in September that his institution was going through "the most difficult period" in 137 years of existence.

The last eight weeks of the 2019-20 season and the whole of the following one have been cancelled, which is expected to result in a shortfall of $154 million.

(AFP)

Anti-vaccine stronghold emerges in Mexican highlands

CHIAPAS IS ZAPATISTA COUNTRY

Issued on: 08/02/2021 -
O

Only two of the more than 24,000 residents of the Mexican town of San Juan Cancuc are said to want the coronavirus vaccine Isaac GUZMAN AFP

San Juan Cancuc (México) (AFP)

An indigenous town in the highlands of southern Mexico is home to traditional weavers, farmers, ruins, a market -- and possibly the country's most ardent community of coronavirus vaccine skeptics.

While many in the pandemic-plagued nation are waiting impatiently to be immunized, officials in San Juan Cancuc in the state of Chiapas say only two of the more than 24,000 residents want the shot.

According to community leaders, it is a reflection of the low number of cases in the area, as well as worries about vaccine safety and the residents' confidence in their good health.

"Thank God -- until now, there's no pandemic here. No one has died," said local civil protection chief Marcelino Garcia.

In stark contrast to the situation in much of the country, the hospital where Garcia works appears to be empty.

At the market and local sports center, no one wears a face mask.

When the town recently held a consultation about the coronavirus vaccine, almost none of the residents said they were willing to have it, according to Mayor Jose Lopez.

"Only two people voluntarily want to get the vaccine," he said in a report last week to Mexican health authorities.

The overwhelming rejection came after the benefits and possible adverse effects of the shot were explained at a town assembly, according to Lopez.

While it is not yet clear how widespread anti-vaccine sentiment is in other indigenous communities, it could complicate the government's efforts to tame the pandemic gripping Mexico.

- 'Don't blame anyone' -

So far, only three cases of Covid-19 have been reported in San Juan Cancuc, none of which required hospitalization.

The residents, who belong to the Tzeltal ethnic group, grow their own vegetables and believe that "their bodies are totally healthy," Garcia said.

Rumors have also made people worried that "vaccines bring diseases," he added.

The two people who do want to get inoculated were warned they would do so at their own risk, and "if something happens, don't blame anyone," he said.

Jaime, an auto rickshaw driver in his mid-20s, is among San Juan Cancuc's vaccine skeptics.

"I don't believe" in Covid-19, he said.

With around 166,000 known coronavirus deaths, Mexico is one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic.

More than 1.9 million cases have been recorded in the country of 126 million people, around 7.3 million of whom speak an indigenous language, according to a census last year.

In Chiapas, which has registered 1,375 Covid-19 deaths, rumors that disinfection work was spreading the virus sparked riots in some areas last year.

While the government has assured Mexicans that coronavirus vaccines are safe, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised they will be voluntary, saying: "The most important thing is freedom."

Lopez Obrador said Monday that he had recovered from his own bout with the novel coronavirus.

© 2021 AFP

Mourners demand justice as shot street artist buried in Chile

Issued on: 08/02/2021 - 

Mourners at the funeral of juggler Francisco Martinez, who was shot by police, call for justice 

MARTIN BERNETTI AFP

Santiago (AFP)

Around 100 mourners demanded justice on Monday at the funeral of a street artist killed by Chilean police during a search.

Juggler Francisco Martinez, who was 27, was fatally shot by an officer after refusing to cooperate with a police identity check in the south of the country.

He was buried in the capital Santiago at a ceremony attended by family members, friends and other street artists who played music and chanted "justice for Francisco" as well as slogans against the police and the government of President Sebastian Pinera.

The funeral turned violent as mourners attacked press teams covering the event, forcing them to flee under a hail of blows and rocks, pictures published by local media showed.

Martinez died in Panguipulli on Friday, some 530 miles (850 kilometers) south of Santiago.

Martinez refused to co-operate with officers checking identity cards while he was juggling with swords on a busy street.

The check resulted in a dispute that ended with one of the agents firing at the street artist, according to a video widely circulated by local channels and on social media.

The fatal shooting sparked indignation across the country and violent protests in Panguipulli, where demonstrators torched a public building.

Chile's security forces were already under fire for the violent reaction to months of protests against social injustice that exploded in October 2019 and resulted in accusations of human rights abuses.

© 2021 AFP

Sudan announces new cabinet with

 ex-rebels as ministers

Issued on: 08/02/2021 

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok speaks during a press conference in Khartoum on Monday, when he announced a new cabinet bringing in ex-rebel chiefs as ministers ASHRAF SHAZLY AFP

Khartoum (AFP)

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced Monday a new cabinet bringing in seven ex-rebel chiefs as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed to end decades of war.

Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) -- which played a major role in the Darfur conflict -- was appointed as Sudan's new finance minister.

"We have reached consensus on over 25 ministries," Hamdok said, during a press conference in Khartoum.

"This lineup aims to preserve this country from collapse... we know there will be challenges but we are certain that we will move forward."

Hamdok dissolved the previous cabinet on Sunday to make way for a more inclusive lineup in government.

Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from the Forces for Freedom and Change group, which plays a key role in Sudanese politics.

The group was the driving force behind the anti-government protests that led to the April 2019 ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir.

Hamdok named as foreign minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, daughter of Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, who died aged 84 in November from a coronavirus infection.

He was toppled by Bashir in a 1989 Islamist-backed military coup.

- Economic challenges -

Last week, Sudan appointed three ex-rebels to the ruling sovereign council, the civilian-majority ruling body led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which was installed months after Bashir's ouster.

It follows the peace deal last year between the transitional government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of five rebel groups and four political movements, including the troubled western region of Darfur.

Hamdok said he is still pushing for talks with two remaining holdout groups who did not sign the deal.

Fighting in Darfur since 2003 left at least 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the UN.

Hamdok said his government will continue with completing other pillars of the peace agreement, including establishing a transitional parliament by February 25.

Despite the October peace deal, violence continues in Darfur, a vast and impoverished region awash with weapons where bitter rivalries over land and water remain.

Hamdok said the new government will focus on fixing the ailing economy.

Sudan's economy was decimated under Bashir by decades of US sanctions, mismanagement and civil war, as well as the independence of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011.

Galloping inflation, chronic hard currency shortages, and a flourishing black market remain pressing challenges, with protests in recent weeks at the worsening economy.

Ibrahim, the new finance minister, taught as an economist at universities in Khartoum and Saudi Arabia, before he took over leadership of the JEM rebels when his brother Khalil was killed in an 2011 airstrike.

The government will also have to tackle stormy relations with neighbouring Addis Ababa, amid both border tensions and long-running negotiations -- along with Egypt -- over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.

Facebook ramps up effort to curb vaccine hoaxes

Issued on: 08/02/2021

Facebook announced fresh moves to curb the spread of coronavirus misinformation in coordination with global health authorities Olivier DOULIERY AFP/File

San Francisco (AFP)

Facebook on Monday said it is ramping up efforts to stem the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, spread facts, and figure out who might be wary of getting the jab.

The move includes banning groups which repeatedly spread misinformation and debunked claims about the virus and vaccines.

The leading social network has been highlighting health advice from reliable agencies and removing Covid-19 misinformation for months and on Monday expanded that initiative.

A list of debunked claims about the virus of vaccines not welcomed at Facebook was updated with the help of the Worth Health Organization.

Groups or accounts that share such misinformation may be removed completely from the social network, Facebook warned. Debunked information about vaccines or the pandemic is already banned in ads at the social network.

People in charge of groups at the social network were told to require posts of members prone to spreading bogus information to be approved before being shared.

At Facebook-owned Instagram, accounts of people discouraging Covid-19 vaccinations will be harder to find using automated search tools, according to the social network.

Facebook said that it has gotten more than 50 million responses to a Covid-19 survey it launched last year in a collaboration with two US universities.

It was designed to gather insights from people about Covid-19 symptoms, mask wearing, and access to care.

"The survey program is one of the largest ever conducted and has helped health researchers better monitor and forecast the spread of Covid-19," Facebook said.

"The survey data will provide a better understanding of trends in vaccine intent across sociodemographics, race, geography and more."

Survey findings about vaccine attitudes will be shared globally, according to the social network.

US Sanctions hurt Venezuela economy, 

US government study says

Issued on: 08/02/2021 -

A man uses a mobile phone in front of a sign displaying prices in US dollars in December 2020 outside a clothing store in Venezuela's capital Caracas, which has been ravaged by hyperinflation and other economic problems Federico PARRA AFP/File

Washington (AFP)

US sanctions have likely contributed to Venezuela's economic deterioration and have caused obstacles for humanitarian workers, a study by a US government watchdog said Monday.

The assessment by the Government Accountability Office, requested by Democratic lawmakers, comes as President Joe Biden looks set to fine-tune Venezuela policy but largely preserve his predecessor's unsuccessful goal of toppling leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

"The US sanctions likely contributed to the decline of the Venezuelan economy, mainly by further limiting its revenue from crude oil exports," the report said.

It pointed to the sanctions Donald imposed by Donald Trump's administration on state oil firm PDVSA, saying that buyers of Venezuela's key export shied away or were able to negotiate lower prices.

But the report did not quantify a figure and noted that there were plenty of other factors behind Venezuela's economic collapse, including mismanagement by the government.

It did not directly say if sanctions hurt ordinary Venezuelans rather than the government and noted that the United States has emphasized that it is not restricting humanitarian goods.

"However, despite US agency efforts to mitigate the negative humanitarian consequences of sanctions, humanitarian organizations assisting Venezuelans are still experiencing some challenges delivering assistance, including delays in processing financial transactions and transfers," it said.

The report recommended that the Treasury Department do more to track complaints from humanitarian workers to address recurrent problems.

Representative Andy Levin, one of the lawmakers who requested the report, said it "makes clear that sanctions imposed by the United States made a dire situation worse."

"With this new administration, we have an opportunity to pursue foreign policy guided by our values," he said.

"Let us take the lessons of this report to heart and use them to craft a more thoughtful, humane and effective approach moving forward."

The Biden administration plans one key shift by shielding Venezuelans in the United States from deportation -- a step refused by the anti-immigration Trump despite his tough talk against Maduro.

But State Department spokesman Ned Price made clear that the new administration does not plan dialogue anytime soon with Maduro, who has voiced hope of improving ties with Biden.

The United States and most Western and Latin American nations declared Maduro to be illegitimate two years ago after an election that drew wide reports of irregularities.

More than five million Venezuelans have fled the crumbling economy but Maduro remains in power with support from the military, Russia, China and Cuba.

© 2021 AFP

Lawrence of Arabia's legendary Brough motorcycles reborn in French revival

Issued on: 08/02/2021 - 

Vintage items are displayed, on January 28, 2021 at the Brough

 Superior Motorcycles factory in Saint-Jean, southwestern France. 

AFP - LIONEL BONAVENTURE

Text by: WEB NEWS

Brough motorcycles, favourites of the writer, spy and gentleman adventurer T.E. Lawrence, are making a comeback — not in their former home in England, but deep in the southwest of France.

Production of Brough bikes, of which the historic figure known as "Lawrence of Arabia" owned seven, ended in 1940 when the factory in Nottingham was requisitioned for Britain's war effort.

Manufacture didn't resume after the war, but the bike's memory was kept alive over the decades by diehard — and flush — fans, with prices for the bikes sometimes reaching $600,000 at auction.

In the meantime the motorcycle world embarked on a nostalgic love affair with famed old British brands, with Royal Enfield, now Indian-owned, and Triumph leading the neo-vintage way.

'The most beautiful'

Brough fans had to wait much longer for a revival, which began to take shape only in 2013 when Frenchman Thierry Henriette, a former Toulouse motorbike salesman, met with Briton Mark Upham, who had bought the Brough Superior trademark five years earlier.

Within three months Henriette came up with a prototype for a new Brough that won cheers when he presented it at the Milan bike show.

Henriette started production, first under licence, before taking over the brand in 2018.

"I always thought Brough was the most beautiful motorbike brand," Henriette told AFP.

Production is based near Toulouse in southwest France, but Henriette wanted continuity with the brand's English tradition.

It was an important moment when members of the Brough Superior Club made the trip to France on their 1930s bikes to give the venture their blessing.

'The English will forgive you'

"What we're doing is heritage theft," acknowledged Albert Castaigne, Brough Superior's CEO. "But if you do it well, the English will forgive you."

The memory of T.E. Lawrence, bike lover, supporter of an Arab rebellion during World War I and author of the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", is a big factor for the longevity of the Brough legend.

Lawrence kept a regular correspondence with Brough's founder George Brough, got a say in the bikes' design, and acquired seven, four of which were S.S. 100s, the model that still gets the hearts of aficionados racing.

He died in the Dorset countryside when he crashed his sixth Brough before he could take delivery of the seventh, a scene memorably captured in David Lean's 1962 epic film starring Peter O'Toole as Lawrence.

The ultra-modern factory in Saint-Jean will deliver around 100 Brough bikes this year, at a price tag of 60,000 to 100,000 euros ($72,000-$120,000), with customisation costing extra.

Brough offers three neo-retro models: a contemporary version of Lawrence's S.S. 100, a scrambler and an art-deco effort to mark the brand's centenary.

"We have customers in a dozen countries in Europe, in Russia, Australia, Mexico and soon in the United States," Henriette said. 

A new version of an old dream Lionel BONAVENTURE AFP

'Worth the money'

One of them is Patrick Blandinet, a businessman in his 60s based in the French Caribbean department of Guadeloupe, who came over to see the factory, customise his bike and "indulge myself", he said.

"I asked for a gold-leafed logo on the tank," said Blandinet, calling his brand-new bike "a gem" and "worth the money".

The availability of qualified sub-contractors in the Toulouse region, thanks to the Airbus production there, is "indispensable" for Brough, which requires high-value materials including titanium, carbon fibre and speciality steel, Castaigne said.

"You should be able to place every component of the bike on a table and consider them to be both technically accomplished and beautiful," Henriette said.

Brough has also started a collaboration with Aston Martin of James Bond fame, whose first motorcycle, called the AMB01, will be made by Brough.

Ten units of the futuristic-looking Aston Martin bikes are already at the assembly stage.

(AFP)

RACISM IS THE MASK OF COLONIALISM

French police played role in death of black man in custody: report


Issued on: 08/02/2021 - 

Traore has become one of the faces of a growing campaign to end what activists say is police brutality in France Bertrand GUAY AFP

Paris (AFP)

An investigation into the death of a young black man in French police custody found that the tactics used to overpower him played a hand in his death from heatstroke, according to a report seen by AFP on Monday.

The report, from four Belgian doctors commissioned by investigating magistrates, said the way officers pinned Adama Traore to the floor had likely contributed to his death during a heatwave.

Traore, dubbed the "French George Floyd" after the black American killed by US police in 2020, has become one of the faces of a growing campaign to end police brutality in France.


He died on July 19, 2016, at the age of 24 after fleeing officers who wanted to check his ID in Beaumont-sur-Oise north of Paris. After a chase he was traced to an apartment where three officers jumped on him to handcuff him.

One of the officers later said he had complained that he could not breathe -- an admission that later drew comparisons with Floyd's May 2020 death in a chokehold in the US city of Minneapolis.

Traore was taken unconscious to a police station and left handcuffed on the floor in the recovery position, where the emergency services later pronounced him dead two hours after his arrest.

- Conflicting medical reports -

Although an initial autopsy found he died from asphyxiation, experts overruled that finding in May 2020, saying an underlying heart condition and genetic illness caused his death.

Believing his death to be the object of a cover-up, Traore's family demanded another opinion.

The Belgian doctors said they believed he had "very likely suffered a heatstroke."

But "the role in the lethal process of a period of suffocation due to physical constraint cannot be ruled out," they said.

They added that the "momentary containment manoeuvres" and "to a lesser extent underlying conditions" likely hastened the deterioration of his condition.

The Traore family's lawyer Yassine Bouzrou was quoted by France Info radio as expressing satisfaction over the finding.

"We know today that among the causes of death are the violence of his arrest and being tackled face down, which clearly had an important role in the death of Adama Traore," he said.

The report comes a week after the French government kicked off weeks of public consultations on ways of increasing public confidence in the police following repeated scandals over racism and brutality.

In November, a video of Paris police beating and abusing a black music producer inside his studio shocked the country. The police were also recently filmed using violence to tear down a migrant camp in central Paris.

© 2021 AFP

LAWNORDER A COVER FOR LARCENY

Spain's rightwing in dock as slush fund trial opens


Issued on: 08/02/2021 

Former Popular Party treasurer Luis Barcenas says the slush fund was used to pay bonuses to party leaders Juan Carlos Hidalgo POOL/AFP

Madrid (AFP)

The trial of a key figure in an illegal funding scandal involving Spain's rightwing Popular Party opened Monday with the defendant pledging a full confession directly implicating the former premier.

The case centres on a system of parallel bookkeeping used by the PP to manage undeclared funds that was run by Luis Barcenas, the main suspect, who served as the party treasurer between 1990 and 2009.

Two former PP prime ministers will testify at the high-profile trial which opened on Monday morning at the National Court in Madrid and will run until May.

One is Mariano Rajoy, who served as premier between 2011-2018 and has always denied any knowledge of the system, although Barcenas has testified he was "perfectly aware" of it.

José María Aznar, who was Spain's prime minister between 1996-2004, will also testify alongside various other former top party officials.

Just days before the trial opened, Barcenas sent a letter to the prosecutors professing his "willingness to collaborate with the justice system" in a dramatic U-turn that has added further drama to a case that has gripped the nation.

In the letter, he said "Mariano Rajoy was perfectly aware of all these activities to the point that in 2009 we had a meeting in his office in which I showed him the slush fund accounting papers".

Rajoy, who at the time was leader of the opposition, then destroyed them "in a paper shredder without knowing I'd kept a copy", Barcenas wrote.

The alleged slush fund, which was fed by corporate cash donations, operated between 1990 to 2008 and was used to pay bonuses to party leaders, including Rajoy, as well as for the renovation of the party's Madrid headquarters, Barcenas has said.

- Deal breaker -

Details of the accounts emerged in the so-called "Barcenas papers" which were first published by El Pais newspaper in 2013.

In his letter, which was published on Thursday, Barcenas said he was now willing to talk after the PP failed to honour a deal in which he would keep silent as long as they ensured his wife did not go to jail.

Barcenas himself is serving a 29-year sentence over the so-called Gurtel case which centred on a vast system of bribes given to former PP officials in exchange for juicy public contracts between 1999 and 2005.

His wife was also convicted for her role in the case and began serving a 12-year sentence in December.

The trial comes at a difficult time for the main opposition Popular Party which is currently campaigning ahead of Sunday's regional election in Catalonia as polls suggest the faction is facing a dismal result.

Earlier on Monday, PP leader Pablo Casado -- who took over in 2018 after Rajoy was forced out as premier and party head -- said he could not take responsibility for events that happened before his tenure.

That PP "no longer exists" he told Onda Cero radio.

© 2021 AFP

Protests swell in Myanmar one week after military coup

Myanmar coup protests grow – in pictures Police stand guard by their vehicles as protesters rally against the military coup in Naypyidaw, Myanmar. Photograph: Reuters

Huge crowds of protesters have marched in towns and cities across Myanmar in the largest show of popular defiance so far following the military coup a week ago

Myanmar: military imposes curfew and bans crowds of more than five people | Myanmar | The Guardian