Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses receive long prison sentences

Two Jehovah's Witnesses received prison sentences of seven and eight years in Russia's far east. Russia declared Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization, outlawing it in 2017.

    

Sixty Jehovah's Witnesses are currently serving prison sentences or are under arrest in Russia

Two men who belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group received prison sentences of seven and eight years Wednesday in the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk.

Dmitry Golik, 30, and Alexei Berchuk, 43, received seven and eight-year terms in a penal colony. The US-based religious movement released a statement calling it "a new record for cruelty."

Judge Tatyana Studilko handed down a sentence that matched the prosecutor's request in the case. Berchuk received the longest sentence handed down to any Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to date.

The Jehovah's Witnesses said Berchuk's apartment was wiretapped in 2018 following a raid on seven members of the group in the city of Blagoveshchensk. Russian outlet Mediazona reported that the group alleges Berchuk and his wife have been under surveillance for six months.

An extremist group Putin says is not comprised of terrorists

Sixty Jehovah's Witnesses are currently serving time or are under arrest in Russia. In 2017, Russia outlawed the religious group, labeling it an extremist organization.

In February, two Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to prison. Alexander Ivshin, 63, was sentenced to 7.5 years by a court in Krasnodar, and Valentina Baranovskay received a two-year term.

The group was founded in the US in the last 19th century. While the Russian Orthodox Church considers the group "a destructive sect," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in 2018 that the Jehovah's Witnesses should not be considered terrorists.

Yet, members of the group continue to face persecution.

ar/sms (AFP, local media)

Generation Equality Forum gets underway in Paris

The opening of the largely virtual forum at the Elysee Palace will include remarks from Emmanuel Macron and Kamala Harris. The conference has been initiated by the UN body fighting to empower women.



Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka said the forum is focused on tackling all areas where women have been "short-changed''

Governments, companies and philanthropists vowed to invest billions of dollars to boost gender equality at an international conference convened by UN Women on Wednesday.

US Vice President Kamala Harris told those in attendance at the Generation Equality Forum, which was largely held online, that our pledges will "yield tangible results."



An initiative of UN Women marking 25 years since the 1995 Beijing women's conference, the forum was postponed last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the core aims of the forum is to fast-track programs that will help achieve gender equality and generate millions of dollars to reach that long-sought goal quickly, UN Women's Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told The Associated Press.


Watch video03:21Promoting gender equality in India by focusing on boys

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donation

Among the private donors, government officials and civil society leaders gathered, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it would spend $2.1 billion (€1.77 billion) to advance global gender equality.

The foundation said it would spend the money in the next five years on health and family planning programs, economic empowerment projects, as well as several other initiatives.

Ahead of the conference, UN Women's Mlambo-Ngcuka said the underfunding of programs "leaves a lot of women in a situation where they will never really realize their true and full potential."

What the three-day forum is about, she said, is tackling and funding all areas where women have been "short-changed."

Topics such as forced marriage, gender-based violence, education and experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change are at the heart of the conference, Mlambo-Ngcuka said.


Watch video02:04 What's the secret of Niger's women's markets?

'We know the answers'

"Many of the problems that women face in 2021, we know the answers,'' she continued. "The fact is that we are not doing what is right by women is a true reflection of people who really don't care or understand the pain that women go through."

The opening of the meeting at the Elysee Palace will include remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the presidents of South Africa and Argentina and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Watch video 04:15  'Women are having to fight their way'

Climate change boosted heat deaths by more than a third: Study
Daniel Martins 

Extreme heat events aren’t just a matter of having a few uncomfortably warm days: they’re a real and recognized threat to public health, particularly for society’s most vulnerable.


 "Rate of extreme heat deaths accelerating with climate change"

Now, with global temperatures continuing to rise, a new study says heat-related deaths over the last three decades were 37 per cent over and above what they would have been without the effects of climate change.

“Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published this month in Nature Climate Change. “Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.”

The study arrived at those figures by comparing two climate models: one factoring in global warming due to human emissions, and one without. It was based on temperature and mortality data collected from 732 locations across 43 countries over a 28-year period from 1991 to 2018.

The researchers point out that the 37 per cent estimate is an average, and the figure would vary from country to country — for parts of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America, heat-related deaths were at least 50 per cent higher than what they would have been without the effects of climate change.

Global warming has been on the rise since the industrial era, but has been accelerating in recent years. NASA says the per-decade average increase since 1880 was 0.08°C, more than doubling to 0.18°C from 1980 to the present. The 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 2005, and 2020 came within a hair’s breadth of taking the top spot from 2016.

WATCH: ‘THIS SCARES US ALL IN MEDICINE,’ A LOOK INTO EXTREME HEAT IN 2100
 "Extreme heat events are on the rise, what this means for your health"


In recent years, there’ve been several instances of large amounts of excess deaths that could be plausibly linked to individual extreme heat events. In August 2003, a heat wave in Europe was responsible for around 11,000 deaths in France alone, many of them seniors. In Montreal, a 2018 heat wave killed or hastened the deaths of 66 people, many of them among people with low income or social isolation, and triggered a public health investigation.

Many cities across Canada have extreme heat event protocols that open public cooling centres and employ other methods to reduce the risk to residents, but the researchers say more concerted action will be needed in the coming century.

"We expect the proportion of heat-related deaths to continue to grow if we don't do something about climate change or adapt," one of the lead authors, Dr. Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, said in a release from the University of Bern. "So far, the average global temperature has only increased by about 1°C, which is a fraction of what we could face if emissions continue to grow unchecked."

Even with efforts to limit future temperature rise, a certain amount of global warming is baked in at this point. Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which advises governments on the science of climate change and recommends courses of action, doesn’t aspire to completely reverse the warming process: its current stated goals are to limit the warming to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and closer to 1.5°C if possible.

Canada, meanwhile, is actually warming twice as fast as the global average, and a study released last year by the Prairie Climate Centre offered a grim outlook on what that means for the kind of extended heat events that threaten public health.

The study found that, across most of Canada’s major cities, heat waves will be more frequent, last longer, and be slightly hotter on average than in previous decades, even in communities where they are relatively rare. In Ottawa, for example, heat waves could last at least 17 days by 2051–2080, up from the current average of four days. In Regina, the number of days that reach at least 34°C is expected to jump from three to at least 23 over the same period.

Thumbnail credit: David Bradley

Sky Brown to be Britain's youngest summer Olympian

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 14:44

Sky Brown, photographed here in 2020, is set to become Britain's youngest ever summer Olympian when she takes part in the skateboarding in Tokyo, aged 13

 Nick DIDLICK OIS/IOC/AFP/File

London (AFP)

Skateboarder Sky Brown will be Britain's youngest ever competitor in a summer Olympics after being named in the team for the Tokyo Games.

Brown will be 13 years and 11 days old when she competes in Japan, beating the record set by Margery Hinton, who was 31 days older when she swam in Amsterdam in 1928.

Japan-born Brown, who turns 13 on July 12, won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Sao Paolo and ranked third after a series of qualification events.

She was rushed to a California hospital by helicopter after a horrific fall in training last year that left her with skull fractures, as well as a broken wrist and hand.

Brown's mother is Japanese and her father is British, with the youngster living in Japan and the United States.

She is famous in the US for winning the 2018 reality TV show Dancing with the Stars: Juniors.

Brown will be joined by fellow British teenager Bombette Martin in the park discipline when their sport makes its Olympic debut.

Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England said: "It is incredibly exciting to announce Sky and Bombette to Team GB for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

"Not only will they both make history as Team GB's first ever skateboarders, but Sky will also make history of her own as she becomes our youngest ever summer Olympian."

Britain's youngest overall Olympian remains Cecilia Colledge, who was 11 years old when she competed in figure skating at the 1932 Winter Games.

The youngest female competitor was the Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, who competed in 1928 aged 11 years 301 days.

The youngest confirmed male Olympian was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras aged 10 years and 218 years old at Athens in 1896 but some claim an unnamed member of the Dutch men's rowing team at Paris in 1900 was younger.

The Tokyo Olympics, delayed from last year due to the coronavirus, will be held from July 23 to August 8.

© 2021 AFP

Israel PM strikes deal for settlers to leave  ILLEGAL West Bank outpost

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 
Israeli settler youths lift an Israeli flag in the newly-established wildcat outpost of Eviatar near the northern Palestinian city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank 


Jerusalem (AFP)

Israel's government has reached a deal for Jewish settlers to vacate an illegal West Bank outpost, in an early stress test for the fragile coalition led by nationalist premier Naftali Bennett.

Dozens of settler families several weeks ago started to build the Eviatar wildcat settlement in defiance of both international and Israeli law, sparking fierce protests from Palestinians in nearby villages.

The Palestinians, who claim the land as their own, harassed the settlers by burning car tyres, sounding horns and pointing laser beams at them, leading to deadly clashes with Israeli security forces.


The hilltop area where the settlers have established their settlement of trailer homes and tents lies near Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

The dispute around the flashpoint site put an early strain on Bennett's diverse eight-party coalition, that includes his right-wing nationalist Yamina party as well as left-wing groups and Arab-Israeli lawmakers.

The deal the government reached with the settlers late on Wednesday temporarily calms that dispute -- even as Palestinians and Israeli peace activists strongly rejected it.#photo1

Under the terms seen by AFP, the settlers will leave by 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) Friday, but their temporary homes will remain and the Israeli army will establish a presence in the area.

The defence ministry will then assess the area to possibly declare it as state land, where Israel allows settlers to build. Should this happen, the military would then allow a community with a religious school to be built.

- 'Protest will continue' -

Palestinians in the nearby village of Beita have categorically rejected any outcome other than a permanent evacuation of the settlers.#photo2

"This agreement was made between settlers and the army and we have nothing to do with it," Beita's deputy mayor Mussa Hamayel told AFP.

"Obviously, as long as any settler, or any soldier, remains on our land, clashes and protests will continue."

Anti-settlement group Peace Now also blasted the Eviatar arrangement.

"Politically, this agreement means that the new government doesn't want to confront even a small (albeit loud and forceful) minority," it said in a statement. "Settlers can still do as they please."

While the wider dispute remains unresolved, the temporary solution did show that Bennett's coalition government is able to function despite the deep ideological differences between its members, analysts said.

Tamar Hermann, at the Israel Democracy Institute, told AFP the deal marked "a positive sign for the ability of the government to reach solutions".

"Nobody got up and left the coalition," she said. "There are challenges all the time to the government, and in fact it's not crumbling, despite people saying it would after a week."

The Eviatar fracas had caused deep tensions within the coalition formed in mid-June. While its premier Bennett once helped lead the settler movement, its critics hold key posts in his government.#photo3

When details of the agreement emerged this week, lawmaker Yair Golan of the dovish Meretz party told AFP that the government "can't give in to the settlers, because what they're doing is illegal".

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a pro-settler member of Yamina, tweeted Wednesday that the Eviatar deal was "an important achievement" for Israel, while praising the settlers as "pioneers" devoted to Zionism.

- 'With tears' -

All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by most of the international community.#photo4

But settlement expansion has proliferated in recent years, with some 475,000 Jewish Israelis now living in the West Bank alongside roughly 2.8 million Palestinians.

Four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in unrest over Eviatar, which lies deep in the West Bank, surrounded by Palestinian communities although a short distance from several hardline Jewish settlements.

Further pressures may emerge as the settlers agitate for a return to the site where, in a matter of weeks, they paved asphalt roads and connected some 50 trailers to electricity and plumbing.

In the days before the scheduled evacuation, Eviatar hummed with activity as teenagers used pickaxes to plant trees and children played on an inflatable slide.

Ayelet Schlissel, 36, who moved to Eviatar with her husband and five daughters, boasted that the community had "built a town" within two months.#photo5

Tzvi Succot, a leader of the outpost, said Thursday that he agreed "with tears" to leave but saw the agreement as a step towards victory.

"We believe that the government will honour the agreement and the Eviatar settlement will be built," he said.

© 2021 AFP

Wars, bankruptcy, pandemics: Asia's oldest paper still going strong

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Mumbai Samachar, Asia's oldest newspaper still in print, has entered its 200th year 

Indranil MUKHERJEE AFP

Mumbai (AFP)

It has survived two world wars, the fight against colonialism, global financial slumps and on Thursday, Mumbai Samachar, Asia's oldest newspaper still in print, entered its 200th year confident of beating the pandemic-driven decline that has hit many rivals.

Printed in a British-era building in Mumbai's financial district, the Gujarati-language daily was founded on July 1, 1822. It originally served as a weekly for businessmen living in the key port city.

Mumbai Samachar -- which means "Mumbai News" in Hindi -- published ship departure times, property listings, government appointments, the price of opium in China and news from other British outposts.

"The newspaper was started for traders and still today, traders are our first readers," Nilesh Dave, the paper's editor for the last nine years, told AFP.#photo1

"We call it the 'trader's newspaper'."

It also attracted the attention of luminaries like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, whose letters to the editor are treasured in the archives.

Over the years, it evolved into a daily broadsheet covering politics, business and general news for Gujarati readers across twelve Indian states.

It claims a daily circulation of over 150,000 -- and the paper's fiercely loyal readership has helped it survive an industry-wide decline.

Many have stuck with the paper since childhood, Dave said.

"There is a saying in Gujarati: 'If it is published in Mumbai Samachar then it is true'," Dave said. "This is the confidence of our readers."

A series of "mother tongue initiatives" including Gujarati book fairs, theatrical performances and essay competitions have helped engage new readers and boosted circulation, he added.#photo2

While in recent years Indian newspaper circulation has declined slower than other countries where digital news has undermined sales, the industry has been clobbered by Covid-19, with newspapers laying off staff in droves and some closing. But Mumbai Samachar has refused to lower prices or order redundancies.

It actually hiked its cover price during the pandemic, from seven rupees to ten rupees (nine to 13 cents), making it one of the most expensive dailies in the country and double the cost of its closest competitor.

As for layoffs, the newspaper does not even have a compulsory retirement age for its 200 staff.

"One of our employees is 87 years old and still writing... He joined Mumbai Samachar at the age of 18," said Dave.

The newspaper has been owned by the Cama family since 1933, when they took over the then-bankrupt publication.#photo3

Today, Dave says the newspaper is profitable, but declined to share revenue details.

He said has no doubts about the paper's future, pandemic or not.

"Definitely we will survive. My newspaper is going to complete another 500 years."

© 2021 AFP

THE LAST  CITY STATE 

Triad tour shines light on Singapore's gangland past

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 
Now known for its clockwork orderliness and having one of the world's lowest crime rates, Singapore was once a gritty port plagued by rival mobsters Roslan RAHMAN AFP
4 min
ADVERTISING


Singapore (AFP)

A reformed gang member points out what were once opium dens and brothels on a tour of Singapore's financial district that explores the squeaky-clean Asian business hub's seedy criminal past.

Now known for its clockwork orderliness and having one of the world's lowest crime rates, the city-state was once a gritty port plagued by rival mobsters.

"This was the headquarters of the biggest gang in Singapore," says tour guide Bruce Mathieu, gesturing at a quiet street now housing restaurants, a hair salon and brightly-coloured murals.


He recalled wandering the area as a child during the 1970s, among street food vendors pushing carts, gambling halls, and the distinctive smell of opium wafting down to the street from illicit upper-floor dens.

Singapore's gangland history traces its roots to so-called "secret societies" formed by Chinese immigrants when they flocked to work in Singapore after it became a key British trading post in the 1800s.

The massive influx from China swelled the city's population, and their descendants now form the bulk of its citizens.#photo1

The groups played an important role by providing the army of newcomers with a social network, help finding jobs -- and protection.

"When secret societies, or triads, first started locally in the 1800s, it was more for survival than anything else," said Mathieu, a Singaporean whose mother is from the city-state but whose father is of French descent.

Chinese immigrants had to join secret societies to avoid "getting bullied, getting robbed, getting killed", he added.

The societies were a "prominent feature of life" for the Chinese immigrants, but they also became associated with human trafficking, prostitution, kidnappings, the opium trade, and waves of violent riots, said Jean Abshire, author of "The History of Singapore".

Despite their description, they were far from secret and drew huge followings -- at the end of 1889 they had around 68,000 members, according to a history published by the National Heritage Board.

- Life of crime -

In the following decades, crackdowns and new laws -- including one that in 1958 gave authorities the power to detain suspected criminals without trial -- cleaned up the city and diminished the gangs' influence.

Since Singapore's independence in 1965, it has undergone a dramatic transformation into a wealthy society and leading financial hub.

Remnants of the gangs live on and criminal cases are still regularly linked to them -- but nowhere near the scale of the past.#photo2

Besides sharing historical tidbits, Mathieu candidly recounts his life of crime and drug addiction in the hope it will keep others from making the same mistakes.

The ex-gang member has spent about 20 years in prison for drug possession, robbery, assault, stabbing, theft and forgery.

Corporal punishment is still used to punish some offences in Singapore, and Mathieu also endured 21 strokes of the cane for his crimes.

- 'Machete on my neck' -

Members of the tour gasped as the 51-year-old recalled his first gang fight at the age of 12 -- after his friend was stabbed, he ran over to try to stop the bleeding with his t-shirt.

He shied away from specifics about his former gang's activities, but vividly described his initiation ritual to the group.

"I'm kneeling down, there's a guy with a machete on my neck. At any point in time, if I get nervous and recite (a loyalty oath) wrongly... I kid you not, the machete would be brought down."

During his last stint in prison, which ended five years ago, the pain of being separated from his young daughter motivated him to quit drugs and leave his gang.

He now works as a motivational speaker and helps lead the popular "Triad Trails" tour to fight stereotypes about ex-offenders, an initiative partly organised by a non-profit group supporting former inmates.

"My favourite thing is actually the conversation with Bruce," said Gabriel Neo, a 31-year-old banker on the tour.

"How he managed to pick himself up from the lowest point of his life... is a very valuable lesson that I can learn from."

© 2021 AFP

Xi says no more 'bullying' China at celebration for centenary of Communist Party

FROM WAR COMMUNISM TO STALINISM THEN STATE CAPITALISM

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 04:27

Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a giant screen as he delivers a speech at the event marking the 100th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China, on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China July 1, 2021. © REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

President Xi Jinping hailed China's "irreversible" course from humiliated colony to great power at the centenary celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday, in a speech reaching deep into history to remind patriots at home and rivals abroad of his nation's -- and his own -- ascendancy.

Speaking above the giant portrait of Mao Zedong, which dominates Tiananmen Square, from the podium where the famous chairman proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xi said the "era of China being bullied is gone forever" praising the party for uplifting incomes and restoring national pride.

Drawing a line from the subjugation of the Opium Wars to the struggle to establish a socialist revolution in China, Xi said the party has brought about "national rejuvenation" lifting tens of millions from poverty and "altered the landscape of world development."

Xi, wearing a 'Mao-style' jacket, added the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical course" and vowed to continue to build a "world-class" military to defend national interests.

In the summer of 1921 Mao and a clutch of Marxist-Leninist thinkers in Shanghai founded the party which has since morphed into one of the world's most powerful political organisations.

It now counts around 95 million members, garnered over a century of war, famine and turmoil, and more recently a surge to superpower status butting up against western rivals, led by the US.

In a ceremony of pomp and patriotism, thousands of singers, backed by a marching band, belted out stirring choruses including "We Are the Heirs of Communism" and "Without the Communist Party there would be no New China" as maskless invitees cheered and waved flags in a packed Tiananmen Square.

A fly-by of helicopters in formation spelling '100' -- a giant hammer and sickle flag trailing -- and a 100-gun salute followed, while young communists in unison pledged allegiance to the party.

Power, popularity and purges

Xi, whose speech braided the economic miracle of China with the longevity of the party, has cemented his eight-year rule through a personality cult, ending term limits and declining to anoint a successor.

He has purged rivals and crushed dissent -- from Uyghur Muslims and online critics to pro-democracy protests on Hong Kong's streets.

The party has pivoted to new challenges; using tech to renew its appeal for younger generations -- 12.55 million members are now aged 30 or younger -- while giving a communist finish to a consumer economy decorated by billionaire entrepreneurs.

On Beijing's streets, praise for the party was effusive from those willing to speak to foreign media.

"We should thank the party and the motherland," said Li Luhao, 19, a student at Beihang University performing in the celebration.

A man surnamed Wang, 42, said: "When I was a child there was a blackout for one hour every night and electricity shortages."

"Now the streets are full of light. Food, clothes, education, traffic are all better."

Xi has presented a defiant face to overseas rivals led by the US, revving up nationalist sentiment, batting back criticism of his government's actions in Hong Kong, towards Taiwan and the treatment of the Uyghurs.

"The Chinese people will never allow any foreign forces to bully, oppress, or enslave us," Xi said in his speech to great applause.

"Whoever wants to do so will face bloodshed in front of a Great Wall of steel built by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people."

Party time?

In its 100th year, the party has delivered a selective version of history through films, 'Red' tourism campaigns and books, which dance over the mass violence of the Cultural Revolution, famines and the Tiananmen Square student crackdown.

Instead, it has driven attention to China's rebound from Covid-19, which first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, but has been virtually extinguished inside the country.

But reminders linger of the risks to stability.

Thursday also marks the 24th anniversary of the handover of former British colony Hong Kong to China, a date once met with mass demonstrations against Beijing.

One year ago, China imposed a draconian national security law on the city in response to huge -- often violent -- protests.

The measure has seen more than 64 activists charged, anti-China slogans criminalised and even the closure of a critical newspaper as the law sinks the once freewheeling city into what Amnesty International calls a "human rights emergency".

Police have denied requests for demonstrations in the city, although several pro-democracy groups have vowed to defy a 10,000-strong police presence on the streets.

"The CCP can go to hell," a Hong Konger who gave his name only as Ken told AFP.

"Anything that's worthwhile, they destroy."

(AFP)

Doves and fighter jets: China's Communists mark their centenary

Issued on: 01/07/2021 -

In China's immense Tiananmen Square, tens of thousands of handpicked spectators cheered, sang, and waved flags WANG Zhao AFP

Beijing (AFP)

As a red flag bearing the sickle and hammer cut through the early-morning Beijing sky, the message was clear: as it marks its centenary, the Communist Party is determined that only it will continue to rule China.

In the capital's immense Tiananmen Square, tens of thousands of handpicked spectators cheered, sang, and waved flags.

To mark the 100th anniversary ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the crowd was bussed in throughout the night to pass through rigorous security and health checks.


Organisers were leaving nothing to chance to disrupt a triumphant show of success for the ruling party, beefing up security across the city and carefully coordinating the neatly choreographed crowd.

"I didn't sleep last night," said 19-year-old Li Luhao, a university student taking part in the celebrations, explaining he had been preparing throughout the night.

"I'm also rather excited... after all, participating in such an activity is an honour."

After the flag procession, helicopters formed the number "100" in the sky, followed by fighter planes and an acrobatic patrol that left a multicoloured trail in the skies over the Chinese capital.#photo1

The event was a chance for the CCP to display its achievements since its founding in secret in July 1921 in Shanghai -- skipping over the tens of millions of victims of the regime, including the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the same square three decades earlier.

There was no military parade -- often expected in China on grand occasions -- but there was a flag-raising ceremony, a 100-gun salute, and promises to build the country's army into a world-class military force.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping took to the podium, he pledged China will never again allow itself to be oppressed by other nations.

Instead he reiterated that the strength of the party was needed for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" -- including the reunification with Taiwan, the self-ruled island which China sees as part of its own territory, and "stability" in the southern financial hub of Hong Kong.

"No one should underestimate the Chinese people's determination, firm will, and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Xi said.#photo2

The crowd, oblivious to the first spots of drizzle, took to their feet to clap and roar approval, under Chairman Mao's portrait.

Flanked by high-ranking officials, Xi was dressed in the same grey 'Mao suit' as the country's first leader, and name-checked a number of other Communist leaders.

"Long live the great, glorious and righteous Communist Party of China! Long live the great, glorious and heroic Chinese people!" he said as he wrapped up the speech, before the band played socialist anthem "The Internationale" and 100,000 white doves were released into the sky.

A 25-year-old Party member, who refused to say his name, told AFP he was thrilled to have been part of the ceremony.

"It's a great honour for me to live in such an era," he said.

'Gone to hell': The battle to save Europe's oldest lake

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Lake Ohrid formed more than 1.3 million years ago and is home to dozens of unique species Robert ATANASOVSKI AFP

Ohrid (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP)

Dimitar Pendoski marches to the end of a rickety walkway, skips around sunbathing youngsters and sweeps back a tarpaulin protecting his empty lakeside restaurant, recently closed by officials under pressure from UNESCO.

North Macedonia's government is scrambling to enforce environmental protection rules and shut down places like Pendoski's self-built restaurant, to save Lake Ohrid from being placed on the UN culture agency's list of endangered world heritage sites.

"This way, everybody loses -- the employees, the local economy, and of course the tourists because they have no place to go on the beach," Pendoski tells AFP, a point hotly contested by environmentalists.

Thanks to its unique animal and plant life, prehistoric ruins and Byzantine churches, Lake Ohrid and its surroundings have enjoyed four decades as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Only a few dozen places around the world have won the status for both their nature and their culture, a source of prestige for Lake Ohrid -- and a major bonus in marketing the area to tourists.

But the UN body has said the Ohrid region will be put on the "in danger" list during a high-level meeting later in July because of concerns over uncontrolled urbanisation and pollution.

Unless North Macedonia can perform diplomatic miracles, the lake will be cited along with such marvels as Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Ohrid city mayor Konstantin Georgieski is at the centre of a tangle of local and national government bodies tasked with addressing the problems.

His mission is complicated by the international dimension -- part of the lake is in Albania, and their officials are also taking part in discussions with UNESCO.

But Georgieski is not panicking.

"It is not going to mean the end of the world," he says of the UNESCO's decision, pointing out that the heritage status does not bring any funding.

"After 30 years of negligence, it's normal that they (UNESCO) are losing patience."

- 'Cancer of the lake' -

UNESCO first added the Macedonian side of the lake to its world heritage list in 1979, expanding the entry to include the Albanian side only in 2019.

During the time of Yugoslavia, Ohrid was a sleepy settlement known mostly for its hospitals and as a training post for sports teams.

After Macedonia's secession and Yugoslavia's chaotic disintegration in the 1990s, however, tourist developments began expanding along the lakeshore.#photo1

Esplanades, five-storey hotels, restaurants and bars have sprung up -- and with them came apartment blocks amounting to a satellite of the old town.

Entrepreneurs exploited legal loopholes to build on protected land, often without even connecting to the sewerage system.

UNESCO estimates one third of buildings in the wider Ohrid region pump waste directly into the lake.

"Everything has gone to hell," says Nikola Paskali, an archaeologist who has spent two decades diving on the lake.

Sometimes he searches for Bronze Age relics but sometimes he hunts out junk -- TVs, toilets and even a full-size bathtub are among the items he has pulled from the deep.

"Litter is the cancer of the lake," he says, accusing the government of doing little to protect biodiversity in a lake that formed more than 1.3 million years ago and is home to dozens of unique species.

UNESCO has highlighted problems from illegal buildings, logging and fish farms, to river diversions and haphazard road construction.#photo2

Much of this is underpinned by the region's desire to become a centre for tourism.

"If we started now, it would take years and years to repair the damage we have done," says Katarina Vasileska from grassroots environmental group SOS Ohrid.

- 'This is not Ibiza' -

But cleaning up the lake comes with risks.

Mayor Georgieski recently ordered the destruction of several structures built over the lake that served as makeshift nightclubs and restaurants.

"It's difficult to destroy someone's property in a small town like ours," he says. "I'm a personal enemy of these people now."

But he reflects that business owners need to change their mindset, adding: "This is not Ibiza."

Georgieski envisages a town that welcomes sustainable levels of tourists attracted by culture and nature rather than partying.

But UNESCO said in its most recent report that restoration work had damaged the "authenticity" of some churches, and that the unique wood-beamed buildings of the old town were at risk from uncontrolled development.#photo3

Restaurateur Pendoski does not disagree with UNESCO or the mayor, but he claims he was closed down despite having received all the necessary permits.

"We all share the goal of having more guests while protecting the lake and nature, but there has to be some local economic development," he says.

Environmentalists argue, however, that pitting economic development against ecological concerns is a false debate.

"We have to keep the lake clean because otherwise we will lose everything, we will lose tourism," says diver Paskali.

Activist Vasileska also points out that receiving permits is not a green light for pollution.

"You may employ 30 people," she says, "but you pollute the lake for 50,000."

© 2021 AFP

Afghans who worked for France get a chance at asylum – and spark an exodus



Issued on: 30/06/2021 

Armed men at a gathering to announce their support for Afghan security forces and the anti-Taliban fight on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 23, 2021.

 © REUTERS
Text by: Bahar MAKOOI


Anxiety is mounting in Afghanistan ahead of the September 11, 2021, withdrawal of US troops and as a fresh Taliban offensive makes sweeping territorial gains. A French foreign ministry initiative to grant asylum to Afghans who worked for French governmental and non-governmental organisations has sparked an exodus – as well as criticisms for sending the wrong signal at a critical time.

The French NGO Afrane was founded shortly after the 1979 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and, for more than 40 years, the organisation has worked on the ground, providing Afghans access to education.

But today, officials and volunteers at Afrane (Amitié franco-afghane, or Franco-Afghan friendship) are anxious about their operations in Afghanistan.

"The situation in Afghanistan has become extremely worrying," said the NGO's vice-president, Étienne Gille. "The departure of Afrane’s Afghan staff is imminent."

In a matter of a few weeks, the NGO lost almost all of its 23 Afghan employees, who are about to leave the country under a French foreign ministry operation that enables Afghans who have worked for France and their families to obtain asylum.


The vast operation, launched in early May, concerns around 600 Afghans. Afrane’s employees and their families account for around 80 of the overall figure.

Just months before President Joe Biden’s September 11 deadline for a US troop pullout, the Taliban have intensified their offensives on the ground.

The Islamist movement is now present in almost every province and is encircling several major cities in what looks like a repeat of their 1990s takeover and the establishment of a draconian Islamist regime. More than 50 of the country’s 370 districts have fallen into Taliban hands since Biden announced the withdrawal of US troops in May, according to the UN.

The Taliban’s recent blistering assault on the strategic northern city of Kunduz and the fall of districts surrounding the city, effectively laying siege to the provincial capital, has underscored Afghanistan’s grave security concerns.

“Most districts that have been taken surround provincial capitals, suggesting that the Taliban are positioning themselves to try and take these capitals once foreign forces are fully withdrawn,” UN special envoy for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council last week.

Operations shut, European allies displeased

The Taliban’s lightning offensive is causing anguish among Afghans who have worked with French NGOs on projects across the country. The foreign ministry’s offer for Afghans who have worked for France to obtain asylum has sparked an exodus.

If the project is completed by mid-July, only French staff will remain at the embassy in Kabul and its satellites across the country will be virtually closed as they will not be able to function, according to a report in the French daily Le Monde.

While the operation displays France’s commitment to Afghans who have worked on French governmental and non-governmental projects, it also risks being perceived by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government as a sign that Paris has concluded the government in Kabul will not be able to face the pressure of the Taliban and that the Islamists' eventual victory is certain, noted Le Monde.

Some of France’s European partners have also expressed their embarrassment over a decision they consider “precipitous and uncoordinated”, Le Monde noted. The German embassy in Kabul, for instance, considers itself bound by cooperation agreements that France has also signed. Berlin intends to continue its activities on the ground, a German diplomat who declined to be named told the newspaper, noting, "We do not cooperate with a regime, but with a country.”

‘Unilateral decision’ contrary to ‘Afghanistan’s interests’

The French initiative has also drawn criticism from NGOs on the ground.

In early June, an umbrella group of French NGOs, COFA (Collective of French NGOs in Afghanistan) – of which Afrane is a member – wrote a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denouncing a “unilateral decision that is contrary to Afghanistan’s interests”.

Gille is among the NGO officials who believe the massive exodus of Afghans who have worked with the French plays into the Taliban’s narrative and amounts to abandoning the country.

Afrane has built a substantial network of Afghan teachers since the 2001 US-led mission in Afghanistan, supporting 48 schools with 96,000 students spread over four provinces. A number of maths, science and local language teachers were enrolled in a teachers’ training programme, and the mass exodus jeopardises the organisation’s activities.

"This is an unprecedented situation for us, which reveals the population’s anguish. We understand that our employees want to take advantage of this opportunity, presented by France as a 'now or never' offer," explained Gille.

But he also mourned the country’s loss of skilled human capital: "Afghanistan will lose peaceful and open-minded people. At the moment, the most educated are looking to leave, the intellectual core of the country is being drained and this risks impoverishing Afghanistan."

Despite these setbacks, Afrane plans to stay in Afghanistan and to recruit and train new teachers in order to resume its educational activities with Afghan students as soon as possible.

"We are determined to continue our projects as long as the situation allows it, because it is our very essence, as humanitarians, to act when conditions are difficult – and I would even say especially when conditions are difficult," Gille insisted.

‘Expect a very difficult period’

The Taliban’s resurgence risks plunging Afghanistan into a brutal civil war, one which criminal gangs and Islamic State (IS) group affiliates could exploit to kidnap foreigners.

At Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the situation on the ground is "reassessed on a daily basis, as it has been for the past 40 years of our presence in Afghanistan", said a press officer.

The NGO has paid a heavy human price for its Afghan operations in recent years. In 2015, a US air strike hit an MSF hospital in Kunduz, killing 42 people including 14 staffers. Last year, an attack on an MSF maternity hospital in Kabul’s Shiite-dominated Dasht-e-Barchi district killed at least 16 patients. Following the attack, MSF withdrew from Dasht-e-Barchi, the NGO's last operation in the Afghan capital.

"These tragic events show that MSF's presence in Afghanistan as a humanitarian medical actor with the population cannot be taken for granted,” noted Emmanuel Tronc, who led MSF missions in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2016.

"With the departure of the Americans, we must expect a very difficult period."

The recent fighting in Kunduz province has forced MSF to reduce its team in the provincial capital. "After the 2015 bombing, the hospital is being rebuilt in Kunduz, a whole part of it has already been opened for patients,” explained Sarah Chateau, MSF’s Afghanistan programme manager.

But about 20 expatriate staff and their Afghan colleagues have been "placed in hibernation" due to the security situation. "We were surprised by the intensity of the bombing in Kunduz. We are in the process of setting up a team specialised in emergencies, with a surgeon and an anesthetist,” said Chateau.

MSF is currently preparing for emergency care response scenarios, readying its medical teams to treat the wounded.

Meanwhile, the number of Afghans fleeing their country is increasing, particularly towards the Iranian border, according to Chateau. "Our MSF colleagues in Iran have been summoned by the Iranian authorities, who have noted the arrival of 12,000 to 20,000 Afghans in a few weeks in Iran. They are expecting an influx and are talking about 50,000 to 150,000 migrants who could arrive soon."

This article has been translated from the original in French.