Hong Kong mountaineer on a high after fastest Everest climb by a woman

Issued on: 30/05/2021 - 

Former Hong Kong schoolteacher Tsang Yin-hung set a new record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest by a woman in 25 hours and 50 minutes PRAKASH MATHEMA AFP

Kathmandu (AFP)

Former Hong Kong schoolteacher Tsang Yin-hung said Sunday she always believed in aiming high after setting a new record for the fastest ascent of Everest by a woman.

Tsang scaled the 8,848.86-metre (29,031 feet) mountain in 25 hours and 50 minutes, a Nepal government officer who recorded her time told AFP on Thursday.

The 44-year-old reached the summit of the world's highest peak on May 23 and arrived back in Kathmandu on Sunday.

"I am... relaxed and happy because I set this target around four years before," she told AFP.

"I have always shared with my students and my friends that if you aim high and expect high, you can achieve high."

Tsang had tried to reach the summit earlier in May, but was stopped by poor weather conditions when she was at 8,755 metres, her guide Pemba Sherpa said.

She had to return to base camp and climb up the mountain again to make her record attempt.

Tsang was born in mainland China and her family moved to Hong Kong when she was 10 years old.

As a child, Tsang said they lived with "no resources" and sport -- which was free to participate in at her school -- became her source of joy.

"When I was young I used to run on the mountains, play basketball and do other sports," she said.#photo1

She started to train as a mountaineer 11 years ago and summited Everest in 2017 -- the first woman from Hong Kong to achieve such a feat.

In 2018, Nepali climber Phunjo Jhangmu Lama set the fastest ascent of Everest for a woman with a time of 39 hours 6 minutes.

Tsang's achievement came after Nepal issued a record 408 Everest permits for this climbing season, after last year's was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Several coronavirus cases have been reported at Everest base camp so far as Nepal battles a spike in infections.

Up to 350 people have summited the mountain this spring, the tourism department said.#photo2

Other records broken this season include the most ascents of Everest, by Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, who broke his own record with his 25th summit.

Arthur Muir, 75, became the oldest American to climb the world's highest peak when he broke Bill Burke's record set in 2009 at age 67.

Four people -- two foreign climbers and two Sherpa guides -- have died on the mountain so far this year.

Petition seeks to honour French Resistance hero Joséphine Baker at the Panthéon

Issued on: 30/05/2021 - 
Text by: Aude MAZOUE|
Video by: Delano D'SOUZA

A petition circulating on the internet is pushing for American-born French dancer Joséphine Baker to be buried in the Panthéon, an honour reserved for France’s national heroes. The move would recognise the courage of a renowned artist who was also a feminist, actively resisted Nazi Germany during World War II, and who fought against racism and antisemitism.

The Osez Joséphine (Dare with Joséphine) petition was started by writer Laurent Kupferman on May 8, which is celebrated as Victory in Europe Day. Already signed by more than 30,000 people including high-profile personalities, the nascent movement is expected to reach a new high on June 3 – Joséphine Baker’s birthday.

"Some new signatories will be unveiled and then we will send the petition to the French presidency,” said Kupferman. Only the French president can decide to induct someone into the Panthéon.

"Inducting Baker into the Panthéon would be a powerful symbol of national unity, of emancipation and of France’s universalism," according to Kupferman.

Singer Joséphine Baker poses in her dressing room at the Strand Theater in New York City on March 6, 1961. AP

War messages hidden in her dress

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Joséphine Baker rose to international stardom in the 1930s – especially in France, where she settled in 1925 and soon dominated the country’s cabarets with her big smile, sense of humour and wispy clothing.

Baker also became a French citizen and patriot who was dedicated to the country’s resistance against the Nazi occupation during World War II. After her 1937 marriage to Jean Lion (born Levy), a Jewish industrial mogul, she profited from her celebrity: she would hide secret messages in her clothes from the customs officials who were too busy asking for autographs. Baker would also crash embassy parties to collect intelligence on the positions of German troops.

She regularly shared her support by writing to her 4,000 wartime "godsons" in letters and donated the proceeds from all of her concerts to the French Army. Even the Chateau des Milandes, where she lived, became a resistance hotspot.

Documents relating to Joséphine Baker were kept for years in the archives of the medieval castle of Vincennes east of Paris. François Mori, AP.

Growing support

Only five women have been inducted to the Panthéon out of the 80 people honoured there. Baker would join the ranks of Simone Veil, Sophie Berthelot and Marie Curie.

But Baker "should not be inducted only because she was a woman or because she was Black”, Kupferman said. “She should be inducted because of the acts of courage she performed for the country."

>> At the mausoleum for France’s ‘Great Men’, Simone Veil's burial is the most revolutionary yet

The idea of Baker taking her place among France’s greats is not new. On December 16, 2013, writer Régis Debray pushed for it in a Le Monde op-ed piece.

"The proposition had been sent to [then president] François Hollande, but he did nothing," says Brian Bouillon Baker, one of the artist’s adopted sons, in an interview with FRANCE 24.

Dubbed "the Frenchest of all Americans", Baker’s descendants say public interest and support for her induction has only been growing. "Many officials have been increasingly asking us (Baker’s children) to take part in inaugurating schools, streets, squares and dancehalls, all in her honour. International media is asking for interviews. There are even three movies currently being shot, including a biopic and a documentary, both with big budgets. We didn’t have all that admiration for her 30 years ago," Bouillon Baker said.

According to Kupferman, this growing public interest is due, in part, to the fact that Baker’s activism is still relevant today. "She was a free woman and an activist, a feminist, a resistance fighter, and an activist against racism and antisemitism. In a world turned in on itself, where tribalism and racism are exacerbated, her ideals resonate in people’s hearts," the author explained.

The singer was, first and foremost, an outspoken antiracism activist after having to cope with the American segregation system. In 1963 she took part in the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. Dressed in her French wartime uniform, medals included, she was the only Black woman to give a speech during what became the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

While in France she became an advocate at LICA, which would later become the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism in 1979.

‘The Rainbow Tribe’

Well known in France for her song "J’ai deux amours" (“I have two loves"), the singer actually had many more: during her lifetime she adopted 12 children from different origins and religions, applying her humanitarian ideals to her own family, which she often referred to as “The Rainbow Tribe”.

“Our family was not simply a utopia. Our mother wanted us to be different and united. And on that she absolutely succeeded, because to this day, we are just as tied to each other,” said Bouillon Baker, who is now 64.


"J'ai deux amours"

Although all of her children support the idea of her being granted Panthéon honours, they also agree on something else: they refuse to allow her mortal remains to leave the family’s burial site in the small Mediterranean principality of Monaco. “Our mother is resting next to our father and one of their sons, also close to [Princess] Grace of Monaco, whom she loved dearly and who helped her when she was ruined at the end of her life. So it is out of the question to move her," her son said firmly.

But this caveat would not be disqualifying: the transfer of one’s remains is not mandatory to enter the Panthéon. Instead, the Baker family has suggested a simple cenotaph in her memory.

US-born dancer Joséphine Baker, nicknamed "Black Venus", and her husband Jo Bouillon walk with their adopted children in 1956 in front of her castle in Milandes, Dordogne. AFP

But what would Joséphine Baker herself have thought of such an honour? According to Bouillon Baker, she would have been torn.

"She would have been really proud of such an honour from France, just like she was really proud of wearing her military awards (including a Knight of the Legion of Honour medal, a Croix de Guerre from World War II, a Resistance Medal and a Commemorative Medal for voluntary services during the war). But she would also be somewhat embarrassed by such an honour: She was not an intellectual nor a political leader, but simply a woman with common sense," he said.

US-born singer-entertainer Joséphine Baker receives the Legion of Honor medal and the Croix de Guerre on August 19, 1961, from General Martial Valin. © AFP

Although many high-profile personalities support the idea of inducting her into the Panthéon, she also has her critics. Baker performed one dance number with a banana belt around her waist, prompting some to denounce her for taking part in a caricature of racist tropes.

"To say she fuels racism is absurd; we must not look at this scene from the past with present-day glasses. It is nothing but a wild Charleston, not a tribal dance,” insisted Laurent Kupferman.

Bouillon Baker added: “These accusations are marginal; wherever we talk about her, it is with kindness."

But will French President Emmanuel Macron be charmed enough by Joséphine Baker’s legacy to allow her to take her place inside a monument dedicated to France’s “greats”?

The president “is aware of Joséphine’s history, which he referred to during his speech for the 150th anniversary of the Republic … at the Panthéon”, Bouillon Baker noted.

"Either way, even if she doesn’t make it, we have already received so many expressions of sympathy, tributes and recognition for our mother, that this in itself is already a victory.”

This story was translated from the original in French.

Residents of Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan still lack running water



Issued on: 28/05/2021 

By:Maëva Poulet

In several neighbourhoods in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan, residents encounter recurrent problems restricting their access to running water. Our Observer lives in the Abobo Té neighbourhood where, despite numerous complaints, running water problems have persisted since 2015. He told us about the difficulties his relatives have to deal with simply to collect water.

Residents turn on the taps and nothing comes out. For several years now, the Abobo Té Collective for Access to Potable Water has been alerting their water distribution company, Sodeci (Société de distribution d'eau de la Côte d'Ivoire), of this problem.

Qavani Guy Noël Koné spoke to us on behalf of the collective:

In 2014, in the Abobo Té neighborhood, we had water. The following year, a road was built between Abobo and Angré, the neighboring commune. Since then, there has been no running water in Abobo Té.

The only solution was to install a tap at the meter in front of the houses. Water is available there late at night. In each house, there are reserves of water everywhere. Trucks from the National Office of Potable Water also come by once a week.

About 30 to 40 households are affected in our neighborhood. But the absence of running water concerns different areas of the communes of Abobo, Cocody or Yopougon. These communes are not connected to each other, the only common point I see is that these are areas where working-class people live. This is discriminatory.

We have set up collectives to raise awareness, but nothing changes. Some residents have given up. For them, it has become a routine, something banal. They no longer have the will to solve the problem. Meanwhile, we continue to pay bills to Sodeci while water fails to reach our taps, our showers, our toilets.

Contacted by our team, the Ivorian Ministry of Hydraulics has said they are "working hard to restore the continuity of the service [of water distribution] as soon as possible." They say there are plans for improvements to ensure the regular provision of potable water to 155 Abidjan neighbourhoods over the next two years.

Polisario leader in court in Spain: what we know

Issued on: 30/05/2021 -

Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, will appear in a Spanish court on Tuesday RYAD KRAMDI AFP/File

Madrid (AFP)

The leader of Western Sahara's independence movement, whose presence in Spain has angered the Moroccan government, will appear before a Spanish court Tuesday to answer allegations of torture and genocide.

Madrid's decision to allow Brahim Ghali, who heads the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, into Spain in mid-April to be treated for Covid-19 has angered Rabat.

A month later, Spain was caught off guard as up to 10,000 people surged into its tiny north African enclave of Ceuta as Moroccan border guards looked the other way in what was widely seen as a punitive political gesture.

Here is what we know so far:

- Who is Ghali?

Since 2016, Ghali has been head of the Polisario Front and president of the Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic, a self-declared state since 1976.

Ghali is 71, the movement says, although other sources give a different age.

The Polisario Front has long fought for the independence of Western Sahara, a desert region bigger than Britain which was a Spanish colony until 1975.

Morocco controls 80 percent of the territory, while the rest -- an area bordering Mauritania that is almost totally landlocked -- is run by the Polisario Front.

A disputed territory, the UN refers to Western Sahara as a "non-self-governing territory" whose people "have not yet attained a full measure of self-government".

After 16 years of war, Rabat and the Polisario signed a ceasefire in 1991, but a UN-backed referendum on self-determination has been constantly postponed.

Hostilities resumed in November when the Polisario, which is backed by Algeria, declared the ceasefire to be over after Morocco sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone to reopen a key road.

- Why is Ghali in Spain? -

Ghali's hospitalisation in Spain was shrouded in secrecy.

It was first revealed by French pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique then confirmed by the Polisario and Spain's foreign ministry, which called it a "humanitarian gesture".

Citing diplomatic sources, Spain's El Pais newspaper said Ghali was "critically ill" when he arrived on a medicalised Algerian government plane on April 18, bearing a diplomatic passport.

It said he was admitted to a hospital in northern Spain with a fake identity for "security reasons".

Madrid agreed to receive Ghali as a favour to Algeria, its main supplier of natural gas, El Pais said.

But the move angered Rabat which has demanded a "transparent investigation" over his arrival in Spain "with forged documents and a fake identity".

- What is Ghali accused of? -

Now "out of danger" but still in hospital, Ghali will testify by video conference in two separate investigations.

One relates to allegations of torture at Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, a town in western Algeria. The accusations were made by Polisario dissident Fadel Breika, who also holds Spanish nationality.

The second probe relates to allegations of genocide, murder, terrorism, torture and disappearances made by the Sahrawi Association for the Defence of Human Rights (ASADEDH), which is based in Spain.

Given there were no "clear indications of his involvement", a Spanish judge refused to impose any precautionary measures such as seizing Ghali's passport, court documents showed.

- What is the link with Ceuta? -

With Ghali considered a "war criminal" by Rabat, the Moroccan government decided to turn a blind eye at its shared border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, where up to 10,000 people crossed unhindered early last week.

"The real cause of the crisis is Madrid's welcoming of the separatist leader of the Polisario militia, under a false identity," Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said.

Madrid has accused Rabat of "blackmail" and summoned its ambassador, who has been recalled to Morocco for consultations where she will stay "for the duration of the crisis," the minister said.

© 2021 AFP

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M A FAMILY BUSINESS
Meltdown? Turmoil at UK steel empire stokes job fears
Issued on: 30/05/2021 -

Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel company employs 3,000 UK workers and parent company Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance has 35,000 employees around the world BEN STANSALL AFP/File

London (AFP)

Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel company -- one of the world's largest steel empires -- faces an uncertain future after announcing plans to sell three of its UK plants.

Liberty employs 3,000 UK workers and parent company Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance has 35,000 employees around the world, with metalworks and mines in Europe, the United States and Australia.

Gupta was once seen as the saviour of British steelmaking but is now fighting for survival following the collapse of its main lender Greensill Capital and fraud allegations.

The Indian-British billionaire has insisted none of his 12 UK sites will close.

Yet this week's decision to sell three plants in northern and central England plunges 1,500 jobs into uncertainty and comes after three of GFG's French auto parts factories sought bankruptcy protection last month.

Clive Royston, who represents the Community trade union at Liberty's Stocksbridge site in northern England, said he wants Liberty to be a "responsible seller" and find a buyer who will "not just strip off assets".

"We're worried and don't have any details. It's hard because they (workers) are asking questions and I can't answer," he told AFP.

- Liquidity crisis -

Supply chain finance firm Greensill contributed to GFG's expansion through short-term corporate loans and avoided the stricter regulations imposed on traditional banks.

But its abrupt collapse in March triggered a liquidity crisis at GFG as creditors sought to recall their loans.

It has been reported that Greensill had £3.5 billion ($5 billion, 4.1 billion euros) of exposure with GFG.

Greensill's lawyers claimed its demise could threaten 50,000 jobs worldwide.

Liberty has reportedly not repaid an £18-million loan to Metro Bank, which accuses it of breaching "covenants and restrictions". Liberty denies the claims.

Negotiations with Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, which had 10 billion euros of exposure with Greensill, continue.

The UK government rebuffed Liberty's request for a £170-million bailout due to concerns over opaque corporate structure and governance.

- 'Red Flag' -

The risky nature of supporting distressed companies means investors either make huge profits or lose their whole investment, said Dirk Jenter, of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

As sustaining firms can be investors' best way to recoup their loans, "they (Liberty) are scrambling for money and trying to sell their most liquid assets. It's an attempt to buy time to keep the company alive," he added.

Gupta was the majority owner of the indebted Wyelands Bank, which was probed by the Bank of England in 2019 and wound down in March amid allegations of favouring Gupta's associates.

This month, the UK's Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation against GFG for alleged fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering, including its financing activities with Greensill.

Jenter said this investigation and allegations of providing fake invoices would deter potential investors and compound Liberty's financial woes.

"It's a red flag. It would take an extraordinarily courageous investor to rely on the numbers provided by Liberty. It makes risking equity almost impossible," he told AFP.

- 'A foundational industry' -

Union representative Royston said coronavirus "crippled" Stocksbridge, which supplies the hard-hit aerospace sector, and stressed the need to protect jobs that have defined the region despite several ownership changes over the years.

"There's not much industry around us. Stocksbridge has been built around the plant. As a lad, you follow your father into the steelworks," he added.

David Bailey, from the University of Birmingham business school, said all British steel manufacturers faced broader challenges, including higher electricity prices and business rates.

A longstanding glut in the global steel market and Chinese dumping have also undercut British steelmakers.

"You might have a period where companies are successful for a while, then these problems raise their heads again. Liberty ran into issues that are more structural," he said.

"They were far too reliant on Greensill when it went under and left themselves too exposed."

Bailey believes the British government should intervene with an American-style conservatorship -- whereby the state runs and reforms companies before returning them to the private sector -- to improve competitiveness and prevent damage to related industries.

"There's a big threat to jobs and this is a foundational industry. We should be doing more to preserve it," he said.

UK business minister Kwasi Kwarteng recently told lawmakers nationalisation was "unlikely".

Government support for steelmakers is linked with decarbonisation as the sector pursues an 80-percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2035.

Liberty has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 by using more scrap metal and electric arc furnaces powered by renewable energy sources.

© 2021 AFP

South Korean firm to develop liability insurance for AI robots

By Ju Hyun-woong & Kim Tae-gyu, UPI News Korea

A group of AvatarMind iPAL robots perform a dance routine for attendees during the 2019 International CES in Las Vegas in 2019. A South Korean insurance firm is developing liability coverage for robots and AI devices. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, May 27 (UPI) -- South Korean telecom giant KT is developing an insurance program covering artificial intelligence-based robotics services for the first time.

KT, the country's leading telecom operator, and DB Insurance said they signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday in Seoul.

The two companies plan to come up with an insurance product next month to offer fixed liability coverage for when service robots may cause damages.

After operating under DB's liability coverage program for the next year, KT will strive to collaborate to introduce other products dedicated to AI robots.

RELATED LG strives to build general-purpose AI

"At a time when AI service robots are expanding, cooperation with DB Insurance will be the first step toward providing satisfaction to customers," KT Executive Vice President Song Jae-ho said in a statement.

"The two companies agreed upon the necessity to create future cash cows," he said.

Observers have pointed out that innovative products will continue to enter the arena around AI and robotics services.

"A rising number of novel products related to AI and robotics will come to light. The KT-DB partnership is just the very beginning"" Kim Dong-jin, a commentator specializing in AI, told UPI News Korea.

"The whole financial industry will have to be ready to embrace the fast changes in AI and robotics," said Kim, who also heads JM Robotics in South Korea.

On April 29, South Korea's Economy and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki presided over a meeting to discuss measures looking ahead to the robotics era. One of the top issues involved insurance products that protect people from the risks posed by service robots.

RELATED Domino's testing pizza delivery robot in Texas

According to industry tracker BCG Publication, the global service robot market grew 13 percent last year compared to 2019. Its market size is expected to surpass that of industrial robots in 2025.

North Korea's population lacking food, trading valuables at border, analysts say


North Korea closed its border with China in January 2020, allowing few essential goods to pass checkpoints before sealing off those areas in late 2020. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

May 28 (UPI) -- North Korea's economy could be susceptible to collapse because of the prolonged suspension of trade with China, according to a recent press report.

Deutsche Welle reported Thursday analysts are in agreement about the adverse impact North Korea's border shutdown is having on the general population. Sources also said COVID-19 quarantine restrictions have been used to tighten control over daily life.


Lina Yoon, a North Korea specialist at Human Rights Watch, told DW that based on personal accounts and other uncorroborated evidence, the situation in the isolated country could be reaching a breaking point.

"I have been hearing that the situation is dire. Food accessibility is limited and people are having a hard time accessing daily necessities," Yoon said.

North Korea closed its border with China in January 2020, allowing few essential goods to pass checkpoints before sealing off those areas in late 2020.

Nearly all of North Korea's trade is conducted with China. With the extended shutdown, even North Korean elites could be hurting, according to Michael Madden, a 38 North contributor.

Madden said there have been "credible reports" of North Korean elites being "caught illegally trying to sell their assets," including gold or aluminum at the border with China.

"These are elite people looking out for their future," Madden said, according to DW.

The analyst also said North Korea has used COVID-19 as a pretext to tighten social controls. Ordinary North Koreans could be eating fewer meals a day, he said.

Kim Jong Un said at North Korea's Eighth Party Congress in January that the regime's past five-year plan had failed.

Kim's new five-year plan is being promoted in state media.

STALINISM IN ONE COUNTRY

KCNA reported Thursday Kim said in a letter to the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea that self-sufficiency should be the key to realizing the plan's goals.

Workers should work "through our own efforts and by own technology," and "resolutely reject proclivity to import and reliance on others," Kim said, according to state media.

upi.com/7100713

Hunger stalks India's poor in pandemic double blow

Issued on: 30/05/2021 - 

A devastating coronavirus wave has pushed millions of Indian families into poverty and hunger Prakash SINGH AFP

New Delhi (AFP)

Rasheeda Jaleel lives in fear that she may not be able to feed her seven children as millions of Indian families are forced into poverty by a devastating new coronavirus wave.

The 40-year-old, her husband Abdul Jaleel, 65, and the children already survive on just one meal a day.

"When we are hungry and thirsty, I feel very helpless and worry, 'How am I going to survive like this?'" Jaleel told AFP as she made roti -- flatbread -- for the solitary meal in their tiny New Delhi flat.

"We manage with whatever my husband is able to earn. If it's not enough, I stay hungry so I can feed my children."

The coronavirus has killed 160,000 in eight weeks, overwhelmed hospitals and shut many businesses in India. Experts warn that another crisis is looming, with rising levels of hunger among poor Indians already reeling from a first lockdown last year.#photo1

"It's a double crisis that the poor in the country are facing –- there is the health crisis and there is also an income economic crisis," Anjali Bhardwaj from the Right to Food Campaign told AFP.

"We have had a huge health crisis unfolding... and many have had to spend their life savings on trying to provide medical aid to their families."

About 230 million Indians fell into poverty -- defined as living on less than 375 rupees ($5) per day -- in the first year of the pandemic, according to a study by Bangalore's Azim Premji University.

- 'We have no choice' -

More than 7.3 million jobs were lost in April alone, according to the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy. That means more pain in a country where 90 percent of the workforce is in the informal sector with no social safety net, and where millions do not qualify for emergency government rations.

"A lot of people went into poverty last year, they went into debt, and... they had to cut back on food consumption," Associate Professor Amit Basole, one of the university study's authors, told AFP.#photo2

"So the second wave is coming on top of a very precarious, stressed situation."

Abdul Jaleel turned to peddling a rickshaw to feed his family after his construction work dried up during a fresh Delhi lockdown.

Previously up to 500 rupees ($7) a day, his income is now as little as 100 rupees.

"And on some days, I don't make anything," he said.

"As parents, we will have to make ends meet somehow, whether we beg, borrow or steal. We have no choice."

- 'Helpless and hungry' -

In last year's lockdown, about 100 million people lost their jobs in India. After restrictions were lifted, around 15 percent failed to find employment by the end of 2020 -- including 47 percent of female workers, the Azim Premji University study found.

Many who returned to work had to settle for lower pay, leaving them more vulnerable when the second wave hit.#photo3

Meanwhile an estimated 100 million Indians, including the Jaleels, have no ration cards to give them access to government food aid, Bhardwaj said.

The Right to Food organisation has been campaigning for emergency food supplies to be given to the needy, even if they do not have ration cards.

With the pandemic unravelling years of poverty reduction, experts warn that many could remain trapped in a vicious cycle of hardship even after lockdowns are lifted.

"The fear is that we... get locked into a longish-term depressed economy where there is low aggregate demand because people's jobs and incomes are not coming back. And because they are not coming back, it... perpetuates its own cycle," Basole said.#photo4

Bhupinder Singh, a micro-financier who has distributed food to the needy during the two lockdowns, has seen desperation rise among hundreds of unemployed men sleeping rough beside a busy Delhi highway.

When he arrives with food packets, a cry of excitement goes up and men run to the back of his car and form a long queue.

"People are stuck here out of helplessness," Sunil Thakur, 50, who lost his job as a hotel waiter during the lockdown, told AFP.

"If they come with food, we get to eat... If they don't come, we'll stay hungry."

Horses starve to death as pandemic hits Bangladesh tourism

Issued on: 30/05/2021 - 

Horses are often used for tourist rides at Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar beach - AFP/File

Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) (AFP)

More than 20 horses have died of starvation in just one month at Bangladesh's most popular resort district, the animals' owners said Sunday, as the country's tourism industry reels from the pandemic's economic fallout.

The South Asian nation of 168 million people is battling a fresh wave of coronavirus infections that has stretched its healthcare system and triggered a nationwide lockdown.

The horses' owners said they were struggling to afford fodder for their animals, which are used for tourist rides at Cox's Bazar beach -- one of the world's longest.

"Once coronavirus hit, tourist numbers... sharply dropped to a trickle," Farida Begum, spokesperson of the Cox's Bazar Horse Owners Association, told AFP.

"We are struggling to make ends meet. How can we feed the horses?"

Tourists had briefly returned to the district from December to February when infections slowed, but visits dried up under the fresh lockdown imposed from April 14.

At least 21 horses out of up to 90 used for tourists at the beach died over the past month while others were emaciated, Begum said.

During last year's lockdown, 41 horses -- including eight of Begum's own -- died, she added.

Some owners have set their horses free, hoping they can survive by eating grass or foraging for food.

The horse owners say they have been struggling to feed their own families, with many taking out loans from microlenders just to make ends meet.

"Officials from the microlender come to my home every week and badger me to pay back the loan in instalments. But unless the tourists start arriving in Cox's Bazar, I can't pay back the money," Begum said, adding that she had borrowed 100,000 taka ($1,200).

Dozens of horse handlers usually hired by the owners to help tourists with the rides have switched to driving rickshaws or construction work.

- 'No tourists means no income' -

The resort town usually attracts more than two million mostly domestic tourists every year.

But under the nationwide lockdown, offices and markets are shut and public transport has been halted.

Horse owner Sarwar Azam told AFP that one of his animals died last week and the second was also going hungry.

The head of a local horse owners' organisation, Nishan Ahsan -- whose four animals died during last year's lockdown -- said his members had received limited aid from the government.

"During the peak tourism time, a horse can earn up to 2,000 taka ($23) a day. We would set aside a slice of that income for the horses' food, which is expensive," Ahsan told AFP.

"But no tourists means no income for us."

The government administrator for Cox's Bazar, Sumaiya Akter, said she had only heard of four to five horses dying in the past eight months.

She added that the government had given the owners 146 sacks of husks and 20 cans of molasses since May 9.

Bangladesh has recorded nearly 800,000 coronavirus infections and more than 12,300 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but experts say the actual numbers are likely to be much higher.

Just over six percent of the population has received the first vaccine dose, while the government has said it is running out of jabs as it tries to combat the latest devastating virus wave.

© 2021 AFP

Sri Lanka to sue owners of burning ship that caused pollution crisis

Issued on: 30/05/2021 - 

This handout photograph taken and released by the Sri Lanka Air Force on May 30, 2021 shows smoke billowing from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which has been burning for the eleventh consecutive day as vessels try to douse off the fire, in the sea off Sri Lanka's Colombo Harbour, in Colombo. © AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Sri Lankan authorities Sunday said they will sue the owners of a Singapore-registered cargo carrier which has burned for 11 straight days off the island's west coast and caused some of its worst-ever marine pollution.

Police said a criminal investigation was also launched into the blaze aboard the MV X-Press Pearl, which was carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid and a huge amount of plastic raw materials.

The intense fire, still burning at the rear of the 186 metre (610 feet) vessel, has destroyed much of the cargo, some of which also fell into the Indian Ocean.

Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian nation's famed beaches, forcing a fishing ban and sparking fears of ecological devastation.

Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority said it met with attorney general Sanjaya Rajaratnam on Sunday to plan legal action against the owners of the vessel, its crew, as well as insurers.

"We have gone through the details and will be taking action against those responsible," MEPA Chairman Dharshani Lahandapura told reporters in Colombo.

She said they were, however, yet to make an assessment of the environmental damage, but she believed it was the "worst marine pollution" Sri Lanka has ever suffered.

Fire under control

Sri Lanka's navy chief, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, who was also at Sunday's talks with the island's chief prosecutor, said the X-Press Pearl was still on fire, but the blaze was now under control.

"It will take a few more days to completely extinguish the fire," Ulugetenne said, adding that his assessment was that there was no danger of the vessel breaking up.

But he ruled out towing it away from Sri Lankan waters until the fire was completely put out and experts examined the vessel for any structural weaknesses.

International salvage firm SMIT is leading efforts to douse the flames and is being assisted by Sri Lanka's navy and the Indian coastguard.

The three-month-old ship was heading to Colombo from Gujarat, India. It had previously visited Qatar and Dubai and was due to go to Malaysia and Singapore after calling at Colombo.

The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday, police said.

Authorities said last week they believed the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak that the crew had been aware of since May 11.

"The captain and the crew were in quarantine, but health authorities have told us that we can question them from tomorrow," Ajith Rohana, a police spokesperson, told AFP.

"We have already sent samples of polluted seawater and burnt debris from the vessel for a forensic report."

The ship's owners, X-Press Feeders, said the vessel's hull remained intact and there was no damage to its fuel tanks.

Fishermen have been banned from the 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of coast, where tonnes of plastic pellets have washed up, sparking a massive clean-up effort.

Fisheries minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the government would compensate them for their expected losses.

At least 4,500 fishermen were affected at the fishing and tourist resort of Negombo, officials from the Roman Catholic church in the area said Saturday as they pleaded for financial aid.

Priest Sujeewa Athukorale told AFP on Saturday that there were also fears of reduced demand for seafood from the area over contamination fears.


Sri Lanka launches probe after burning ship leads to pollution crisis

Issued on: 30/05/2021 

Tonnes of microplastic granules from a burning container ship have inundated Sri Lanka's west coast LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI AFP

Negombo (Sri Lanka) (AFP)

Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a massive container ship fire that has swamped the island nation's coast with plastic pollution in an unprecedented marine disaster.

Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country's famed beaches, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage.

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been smouldering on the horizon for 11 days after a blaze broke out as it was heading to Colombo from Gujarat, India.

The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday after a complaint was lodged by Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority, police said.

Last week, authorities said they believed the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak that the crew had been aware of since May 11.

"The captain and the crew were in quarantine, but health authorities have told us that we can question them from tomorrow," Ajith Rohana, a police spokesperson, told AFP.

"We have already sent samples of polluted seawater and burnt debris from the vessel for a forensic report."

Authorities and the operators of the container ship say the fire has continued to burn, though it has been brought under control.

© 2021 AFP