Afghan musicians mourn abandoned instruments after Taliban takeover

TALIBAN PRESBYTERIANS

NO MUSIC, NO DANCING,

NO PLAYING CARDS ON SUNDAY

Issued on: 16/09/2021 -

The Taliban have occupied the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, turning its classrooms into dormitories 

WAKIL KOHSAR AFP

Kabul (AFP)

Viola player Bahar was practising at her music college in the Afghan capital, when news broke that the Taliban had reached the city.

Terrified of a return to the days when music was forbidden and women were banned from education, she and her classmates rushed home, abandoning their beloved instruments.

"We all ran away. We saved ourselves, leaving the instruments at the institute," Bahar tells AFP, using a false name to protect her identity for fear of reprisal.

"I felt like I had lost a family member."

The Taliban, who banned music outright during their brutal and oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001, swept back into power on August 15.

They have promised a more moderate brand of rule this time -- though they have made clear that they will run Afghanistan within the restrictive limits of their interpretation of sharia law.

After racing home from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), Bahar was devastated to learn that Taliban militants had occupied the campus, turning its classrooms into dormitories.

"I feel like I am no longer living. Physically, I am alive, but the Taliban have taken away my soul," she says, breaking down in tears.

The Taliban have vowed a more moderate brand of rule than their last stint in power -- but still within the limits of sharia law 

WAKIL KOHSAR AFP

- Abandoned instruments -

Bahar was introduced to the college when she was 12 years old, and she says the viola quickly became her "best friend".

"Music is food for the soul," she says, adding that she has performed in India, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Azerbaijan.

"I feel extremely peaceful when I play the viola, especially when we play together in the girls' orchestra," she adds.

During a visit by AFP to the college, no music can be heard in its corridors -- all that can be heard is the chatter and squabbling of Taliban soldiers.

Armed guards cradle Kalashnikovs in the courtyard, shaded by trees with swirling treble clefs spray-painted on to their trunks.

A mural depicting a burst of multi-coloured musical symbols stand out against the giant armoured door and a nearby guard post.

A Taliban guard shows AFP a storeroom full of intact musical instruments that were left behind, after reports that everything had been trashed.

Taliban militants at the music college say they have orders to protect the instruments WAKIL KOHSAR AFP

The caretaker says the group's leaders had ordered him to protect the instruments.

Trumpets, saxophones and flutes are stacked on shelves, opposite violins and violas in cases, while dozens of Afghan tabla drums occupy another storage unit.

Propped up on a bespoke rack in the centre of the storeroom are about a dozen traditional instruments: lute-like tamboors and single-stringed rubabs.

Abandoned practice rooms are each furnished with a keyboard or piano.

A workshop remains in the same state as when it was hurriedly vacated in mid-August -- violins are lined up waiting for new strings, a cello lays mid-repair and tools are scattered around an electric keyboard.

- A secret guitar -

Speaking to AFP in Kabul, 28-year-old guitarist Awa says his room used to be stacked with musical instruments.

But fearing the Taliban, he has now destroyed almost all traces of his musical career -- except for one favourite guitar that he has hidden away.

The Kabul University graduate and tutor at the ANIM has stopped posting to his YouTube channel where he used to upload lessons, and no longer replies to comments on his social media accounts.

He has performed with some of Afghanistan's top music stars, but he now worries for his family's safety.

"It's natural that if you were involved in music in Afghanistan you would be afraid. Sooner or later the Taliban will come after musicians," says Awa, also using a pseudonym to protect his identity.

"Since they arrived, life has been hell. We had big dreams, but now our ambitions don't exist anymore."

ANIM's founder Ahmad Sarmast, who now lives in Australia, says he fears for the future of Afghan music.

Since the takeover, he has written to the Taliban's leaders to plead for access to music -- especially for children.

Music students have, with heavy heart, abandoned their instruments at their college WAKIL KOHSAR AFP

"I hope they will allow us to continue to do our work for the best interests of the Afghan people," he says.

© 2021 AFP

'I'm alive but the Taliban took my soul': Afghan musicians mourn abandoned instruments

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 11:38


Viola player Bahar was practising at her music college in the Afghan capital, when news broke that the Taliban had reached the city. Terrified of a return to the days when music was forbidden and women were banned from education, she and her classmates rushed home, abandoning their beloved instruments. The Taliban, who banned music outright during their brutal and oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001, swept back into power on August 15.

Annalena Baerbock: The Green Party's candidate for chancellor represents a new generation

Annalena Baerbock is said to be tough, talented, and very ambitious. But since she was named as Germany's Green Party's candidate for chancellor, she has been struggling to fend off a barrage of attacks.


Annalena Baerbock has been sharpening her political profile

When Annalena Baerbock was named the Green Party's first-ever chancellor candidate in April she was credited for her party's remarkable rise in opinion polls in late April 2021.

But then she suffered a barrage of personal attacks, putting her on the defensive, as criticism targeted her personal credibility: Baerbock, who has never held a government office, was accused of minor inaccuracies in her official resume, of a delay in paying taxes on a sizable Christmas bonus, on plagiarizing parts of her new book, and then she used a racial slur in a quote in an interview. Each time Baerbock was quick to apologize. But her approval rates have declined.

By late August the Green Party had fallen in the polls to under 20% — which is still a remarkable increase on the 8.9% of support they won in the previous general election in 2017.

But the party's campaign has not managed to regain the positive momentum of earlier in the year and has been the prime target of targeted disinformation during election campaigning ahead of the September 26 vote.

Climate change as the core issue

Annalena Baerbock stepped into the limelight when she was elected party co-chair in 2018. The still little-known regional politician — a resident of the eastern state of Brandenburg — has since projected herself as an expert on how to tackle climate change.

In live TV debates with her two competitors for the chancellorship — Armin Laschet of the center-right Christian Democratic Union CDU/CSU and Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democrat SPD — Baerbock scored point with younger voters.

She attacked the current CDU-SPD coalition government over its dismal record on climate protection. "We are missing our climate targets, with dramatic consequences, and you have both made clear that you didn't orientate yourselves around the solutions, but just pushed the blame on each other about who was hindering what," she said.

Baerbock has been arguing in favor of phasing out coal-powered energy far earlier than the current target date of 2038. She also backs a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) on the "autobahn," as German highways are known, and limiting short-haul flights. She also supports a raise in the minimum wage to 12 euros ($14) per hour, and she opposes a hike in German defense spending.

Baerbock has also spoken out on thorny foreign policy issues, advocating a tough stance on Russia and China over human rights issues. She has also spoken on the threats posed by far-right populism and xenophobia.

The Greens are traditionally struggling to gain ground in eastern Germany. Baerbock and her family of four have long been based in the eastern city of Potsdam, where she is running against her Social Democrat competitor for the chancellory, Olaf Scholz.

Early on, Baerbock was driven by ambition. Born in 1980 in the small town of Pattensen in Lower Saxony, she was a natural athlete, placing third at Germany's national trampolining championship. She was only 16 when she went to spend a year in the United States. Later, she studied law in Hannover before going on to the London School of Economics, where she studied international law. As a result, Baerbock gives interviews in fluent English — something that even in this day and age still can't be taken for granted among German politicians.

In an interview with DW in early 2021, Annalena Baerbock welcomed President Joe Biden's decision to bring the US back into the Paris Climate Agreement.

"We Europeans, including the German government, need to take advantage of the current situation to realize the proposals that the US administration has put forward concerning climate-neutral cooperation. We need to get moving and point the way towards a European and transatlantic Green Deal."

GERMAN ELECTION 2021: GOVERNING COALITION OPTIONS
Deciphering the color code
The center-right Christian Democrat CDU and its Bavarian sister party CSU are symbolized by the color black. The center-left Social Democrat SPD is red, as is the communist Left Party. The pro-free market Free Democrats' (FDP) color is yellow. And the Greens are self-explanatory. German media refer to the color combinations and national flags using them as shorthand for political combinations. 123456

Possible coalitions

Both Baerbock and her co-party chair Robert Habeck have few inhibitions about talking to members of other parties, to seek possible common ground.

Initially, there was speculation about a possible conservative-Green coalition in Berlin after the 2021 election, but with the SPD rising in the polls, Baerbock has stressed that a center-left coalition would be her preference.

Any alliance would most likely require the participation of a third party to reach a majority, with the libertarian pro-free market Free Democrats (FDP) the most likely candidate.

But with the conservatives experiencing a fall in the polls, they have taken to conjuring the specter of a far-left coalition with the communist Left Party that would upend German politics.

Germany needs a new beginning, 40-year-old Baerbock stressed in the debate with her two competitors, who are both in their early sixties. "That can only happen with Greens in a leading role," she said, stressing that all democratic parties would have to talk to each other. In doing so, she included the Left Party. She warned strongly against equating the Left with the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD).

'We only have each other': Bangladesh's trans entrepreneurs create safe work spaces

Issued on: 16/09/2021

Munir Uz zaman AFP

Dhaka (AFP)

Simran Snigdha was begging when a chance encounter helped get her off Bangladesh's streets and realise her artistic dreams -- one of a growing number of trans people securing formal employment as the government boosts support for the marginalised community.

The conservative Muslim-majority country's roughly 1.5 million transgender people have long faced discrimination and violence.

Kicked out from homes and communities, cut off from education, and shunned by many employers, they often turn to begging, the sex trade, or crime.

"I didn't get the opportunity -- I had to extort people... and did prostitution," Snigdha told AFP at a garment factory in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.

But in recent years the government has implemented new laws, such as tax breaks for firms hiring transgender people, helping pave the way for their integration into society.

There are roughly 1.5 million transgender people in Bangladesh - and many have long faced discrimination and violence in the conservative Muslim-majority country 

Munir Uz zaman AFP

Snigdha now works for a firm owned and run by another transgender woman, while pursuing her dreams of being a painter.

"I can now pursue my favourite work," the 32-year-old said as she painted.

While she has found safety, Snigdha said there were scores more transgender artists in need of help.

"I pray they don't go back to begging even for another day."

- Working on the streets -

Like many of her peers, Snigdha fled her rural home in central Bangladesh for a transgender commune in Dhaka at 15 after facing abuse and rejection.

She lived under the protection of a "guruma" -- a politically and socially connected transgender person who grants some economic security, but who can force residents into the sex trade, extortion, or prevent them from getting an education.

Snigdha's life changed in 2019 when she peered into a car window at a road crossing.

The government in Bangladesh has implemented new laws, such as tax breaks for firms hiring transgender people, helping pave the way for their integration into society 

Munir Uz zaman AFP

Staring back was transgender factory owner Siddik Bhuyan Synthia -- who asked her to join the business.

"In the past... bullying (of transgender people) was the order," Synthia told AFP.

"But [the] majority of the society are now our well-wishers."

"The trans workers in my factory are very ordinary people. They don't want to go to the dark businesses," the 38-year-old said.

"They prefer to have a social life just like any of us."

And under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a growing tolerance for the rights of sexual minorities has seen a raft of new laws.

In 2013, transgender people were officially identified as a separate gender, and in 2018 they were allowed to register to vote as a third gender.

The government has also unveiled affirmative action schemes and a series of benefits.

As a result, several transgender-owned and run businesses -- mostly beauty salons, but also small factories -- have started popping up across Dhaka in the last few years.

- Prove them wrong -

Such firms were "unthinkable even a few years back," Shale Ahmed, executive director of sexual minorities charity Bondhu, told AFP.

Apon Akhter is one of those changing that expectation.

At her garment factory in Dhaka, she employs only transgender people.

"When I started... people mocked me saying transgender people won't be able to do productive work," the 32-year-old guruma said.

"They said we belong to the streets. I promised myself I'd prove them wrong."

In Bangladesh, transgender people were officially identified as a separate gender in 2013 Munir Uz zaman AFP

While Akhter acknowledges that her 25 employees' salaries are not high, they are still studying -- knocking down another barrier that the trans community faces.

"Once you are out of homes, you end up without education. And lack of education means there is no way a company can employ you in a high-paying job," explained Rafid Saumik from charity TransEnd.

Akhter said many of her employees came to her after suffering and barely surviving for years, and her factory gives them a chance to pursue their educations.

"I strongly want them to see the light they've been looking for in life," she said. "Because we only have each other."

© 2021 AFP

Cuba seeks WHO approval of its Covid-19 vaccines

Issued on: 15/09/2021

Cuba is seeking World Health Organization approval for two home-grown coronavirus vaccines, Abdala and Soberana 2, which the country is using domestically but aims to distribute to other nations too

 YAMIL LAGE AFP/File

Havana (AFP)

Cuba said Wednesday it would seek World Health Organization approval for two home-grown coronavirus vaccines it hopes to commercialize widely.

A vetting process will start Thursday with WHO experts examining the nation's Abdala and Soberana 02 jabs, said Rolando Perez of state pharma group BioCubaFarma.

Perez said the experts would examine the vaccines' "safety, immunogenicity (the ability of a vaccine to provoke an immune response) and efficacy."

The WHO's representative in Cuba, Jose Moya, told AFP there would be "a first virtual meeting" Thursday between experts in Havana, Geneva and Washington.

Cuba has been using domestically-produced vaccines in its Covid-19 inoculation campaign, including for children.

The vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, have yet to undergo international, scientific peer review.

They are based on recombinant protein technology -- the same used by the United States' Novavax and France's Sanofi jabs.

Unlike many other shots in use, recombinant vaccines do not require extreme refrigeration.

Perez said Cuba's ability to sell its vaccines to other countries does not depend on WHO approval, as this is a decision for national health authorities.

But it would "facilitate (the vaccines') entry into the market in other nations, once the island's needs are covered."

Several countries including Argentina and Mexico have shown interest in acquiring the Cuban jabs, Venezuela has already signed a purchase contract, and Iran is producing Soberana 02 on home soil.

Under American sanctions since 1962, communist Cuba has a long tradition of making its own vaccines, dating back to the 1980s.

Nearly 80 percent of its inoculations are produced locally.

Cuban scientists say the Abdala and Soberana 02 jabs have been shown to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 cases.

The island of 11.2 million people has fully vaccinated about 38.5 percent of its population, also using China's Sinopharm inoculation.

The country has registered 768,497 Covid cases and 6,523 deaths.

© 2021 AFP

Salvadorans march against bitcoin and 'dictatorship'

Issued on: 15/09/2021 -

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has long been accused of authoritarian tendencies MARVIN RECINOS AFP


San Salvador (AFP)

Thousands of Salvadorans protested Wednesday against the government's introduction of bitcoin as legal tender in the impoverished country as well as against judicial reforms that critics say threaten democracy.

Last week, El Salvador became the first country to use the cryptocurrency as legal tender, alongside the US dollar. The move by President Nayib Bukele was met with a mix of curiosity and concern.

On the day that Central America marks the bicentennial of its independence from Spanish rule, protesters burnt a bitcoin automatic teller machine in San Salvador, one of about 200 ATMs that have been installed throughout the country as part of the reform.

Protesters on a central square in the capital held aloft placards denouncing a "dictatorship" and signs reading "Respect the Constitution," and "No to bitcoin."

Joining the protests were judges, in suits and ties, who came out to demonstrate against a law passed recently by the Bukele-controlled legislature. The law calls for laying off all judges over 60 or those with more than 30 years of service, a move that will affect about a third of all serving judges.

"We came out on the streets because we are headed in the direction of authoritarianism... of dictatorship," said Esli Carrillo, 48-year-old judge.

Protesters fear El Salvador is steering towards a dictatorship 

MARVIN RECINOS AFP

The law, said another protester, judge Luciano Lovato, 55, threatens judicial independence and "the rule of law that we have worked so hard for."

- Republic 'in peril' -

The protesters also oppose a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, populated by judges appointed by Bukele, that gives the president the right to seek a second successive term despite a constitutional limit of a single term.

"The Republic is in peril, that is why we are demanding respect for the independence of powers," said Zaira Navas, an activist with the rights group Cristosal.

Bukele's allies now hold a majority in congress, but his policies have not found favour everywhere 

MARVIN RECINOS AFP

Peasants, workers and union activists also turned out to protest.

"We march because we don’t want that bitcoin law because it does not favor us," said Natalia Belloso, 41, who wore a white T-shirt with the emblem "No to bitcoin." "It (the currency) is very volatile."

Experts and regulators have highlighted concerns about the cryptocurrency's notorious volatility, its potential impact on price inflation in a country with high poverty and unemployment, and the lack of protection for users.

Elected in 2019, Bukele enjoys broad support in El Salvador over his promises to fight organized crime and improve security in the violence-wracked country, and his allies now hold a large majority in parliament.

But Bukele has long been accused of authoritarian tendencies.

© 2021 AFP

'Nothing to celebrate': Indigenous Guatemalans protest

Issued on: 15/09/2021 - 

Guatemala's indigenous peoples claim they are the victims of discrimination 

Johan ORDONEZ AFP

Guatemala City (AFP)

Thousands of indigenous people protested in Guatemala Wednesday -- the bicentennial of Central American independence -- denounce their exclusion from political and social life as well as government corruption.

"There is nothing to celebrate," indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, a former presidential candidate, said at a rally in the southern Retalhuleu province.

"It has been 200 years of calamity, corruption, looting and theft here in Guatemala," she added

The demonstrations were organized by the Codeca peasants movement to highlight the racism it says is directed at the Maya, Xinca and Garifuna peoples of Guatemala.

The government of Alejandro Giammattei had cancelled large public celebrations of the bicentennial due to the coronavirus epidemic.

But on Tuesday, it hosted a private event at the presidential palace, with a military air parade.

Many Guatemalans are angry about the money spent on these events during a global health crisis and in a country where poverty affects nearly 60 percent of the population.

In indigenous communities, the figure is even higher.

Dozens gathered in Guatemala City Wednesday, outside the palace, to denounce the government.

"The Giammattei government is a nefarious government," said march leader Carlos Chon at a protest in Coban in Guatemala's north.

Giammattei, 65, has been the target of repeated protests to call for his resignation by opponents claiming corruption, mismanagement and poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

With about 17 million inhabitants, Guatemala has recorded over 515,000 cases of Covid-19 and almost 13,000 deaths.

© 2021 AFP

Mexican city becomes 'prison' for thousands of migrants


Issued on: 16/09/2021 - 

Migrants queue outside banks to collect money sent by relatives in the city of Tapachula in southern Mexico 

CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

Tapachula (Mexico) (AFP)

Tens of thousands of US-bound migrants stranded in an overcrowded city in southern Mexico are desperate to escape what they say feels like a huge open-air prison.

"It's horrible here. You're trapped with no way out," said Fanfant Filmonor, a Haitian who arrived in Tapachula two weeks ago from Brazil, where he spent three years until losing his job.

The migrants need permits so they can avoid being deported and continue their journey, but some have been waiting for months and despair is growing.

Mexican authorities have arrested more than 147,000 undocumented migrants already this year -- three times more than in the same period of 2020, according to the National Migration Institute.

Migrants keep pouring over the border from Guatemala, particularly since US President Joe Biden took office with a promise of a more humane approach to immigration.

But many reach a dead end in Tapachula, which rights activist Luis Garcia of the Center for Human Dignification called "the largest immigration prison in the Americas."

- 'I can't stay' -

Filmonor has already traveled through 10 countries to reach Mexico and he is not ready to give up yet.

Tens of thousands of migrants are stranded in Tapachula, which they say feels like a giant open-air prison

 CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

"I can't stay here. I don't have a job or documents. They won't accept me here. No one will be able to stop me," the 30-year-old told AFP.

He has a bus ticket to the northern city of Monterrey and plans to try to cross the border -- if he is not arrested along the way.

The police and military monitor the entrances and exits of Tapachula, located in the state of Chiapas, making it almost impossible for the undocumented foreigners to leave.

Migrants crowd the city's main square, the money transfer offices where they collect funds sent by relatives, sidewalks or wherever they can find respite from the suffocating heat.

Domingue Paul, a 40-year-old Haitian who arrived a month ago from Chile where he lived for five years, said he hoped to join a sister living in the United States.

"But if I find a job, I'll stay here," he said.

After a catastrophic earthquake killed around 200,000 people in their country in 2010, many Haitians were welcomed by South American nations.

However, finding work and renewing their residence permits became difficult for those migrants who are now chasing the American dream instead.

Paul, his partner and two small children are surviving on money sent by his sister while he struggles to get an appointment with the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance.

The Mexican government says that it will continue to contain the migrants in the south despite criticism

 CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

The organization is overwhelmed by a deluge of requests for documents.

So far this year it has arranged about 77,559 permits for migrants, compared with 70,400 for all of 2019.

Without the documents, migrants cannot work, leaving them with no choice but to live on the streets of Tapachula or crammed into cheap hotel rooms and shared apartments.

They gather in doorways, around food stalls and street stands, some with babies in their arms.

Around 40,000 migrants stuck in the city of 350,000 face overcrowding, inadequate healthcare and the risk of coronavirus infection, medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said last week.

-'Humanitarian crisis' -

Some people in Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state, have stopped treating the arrivals with empathy and now view them with weariness and suspicion.

"It has affected us in many ways, both economically and in terms of health, crime, drug addiction, armed robberies, murders," said Carmen Mijangos, who owns a food outlet.

The Mexican government, under pressure from the United States to stem flows of migrants, says that it will maintain its policy of containing them in the south despite criticism.

Migrants crowd Tapachula's square, banks, sidewalks or wherever they can find respite from the suffocating heat 

CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP

Security forces have recently broken up several migrant caravans attempting the journey from Tapachula to the United States, and two immigration agents were suspended for mistreating a Haitian.

Rights activists are seeking a court order that would allow 7,000 migrants to leave the south.

"It's not fair on Tapachula either to impose an entire humanitarian crisis on a single city," said Irineo Mujica of migrant rights group Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders).

After the recent crackdown, many migrants fear they will be beaten, detained and deported to Guatemala if they go back on the road.

"It's not that I don't want to go -- I don't want to be here anymore," said 28-year-old Norma Villanueva from Honduras who arrived two months ago with her husband and four children.

© 2021 AFP

Wheels up: Bangkok protesters skate for democracy

Issued on: 16/09/2021 - 

Kickflipping Thai skateboarders are flipping the bird at authorities, joining pro-democracy rallies in Bangkok to vent their anger

 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Bangkok (AFP)

Kickflipping Thai skateboarders are flipping the bird at authorities, joining pro-democracy rallies in Bangkok to vent their anger over a lack of respect and dedicated public space for extreme sports in the kingdom.

A youth-led pro-democracy movement kicked off in Thailand in July last year, demanding reforms to the monarchy, a rewrite of the military-scripted constitution and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-cha.

A deadly third coronavirus wave and the detention of protest leaders sucked much momentum from the movement this year, but there have been near-daily small-scale rallies since June.

ADVERTISING


The sluggish rollout of Thailand's vaccination programme, and the financial pain from restrictions has heaped political pressure on Prayut's government.

Most skateboarders are working-class youngsters whose families have been hit hardest by the pandemic and restrictions 

Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

During a recent demonstration at the Democracy Monument -- a major intersection in Bangkok -- groups of skaters slid over metal bars and benches while others scaled the central part of the monument to drape a giant cloth banner with anti-government messages.

Nattakarn Tewarit, 17, says he and his fellow skaters are unfairly maligned as troublemakers and deserve greater respect after the sport was included in the recent Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time.

"We see skateboarders being shooed away by police and security guards," he told AFP, adding that building new skateparks would mean fewer collisions with pedestrians in public spaces.

A skateboarder rides with a flag that reads, 'Prayut Get Out' during an anti-government protest in Bangkok 

Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

"Normal protesters use their voices as a tool against the government but we use skateboards -- they are our weapon."

Fellow skater Thana, 19, is upset about the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak and says most skateboarders are working-class youngsters whose families have been hit hardest by the pandemic and restrictions.

New cases on Wednesday tallied close to 12,000 after hitting a peak of 23,000 infections a day last month -- but testing rates have also declined.

"It's where lost souls come together," Thana told AFP, adding the hobby had helped many of his friends cope with depression.

"It's more than just a sport."

Ice, 18, says the protest allows her friends to express their creativity.

"When we skate across the mock-up dead bodies with the face of General Prayut... we want to express our anger and disapproval against the government," she told AFP.

© 2021 AF

Tech giants used 'loopholes' to duck merger reviews, FTC says

by David McLaughlin, Bloomberg News

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Hundreds of deals by U.S. technology giants flew under the radar of merger watchdogs, fueling the companies' unchecked growth in the digital economy, according to a Federal Trade Commission study.

The data on acquisitions by Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google, and Microsoft Corp. show that antitrust enforcers must be more aggressive in making sure companies aren't taking advantage of "loopholes" to avoid reporting deals to regulators, FTC Chair Lina Khan said Wednesday.

"This study highlights the systemic nature of their acquisition strategy," Khan said about the tech companies during an FTC public meeting. "Digital markets in particular reveal how smaller transactions invite vigilance."

The findings could bolster arguments that competition cops need to step up scrutiny of acquisitions by tech platforms to curb their power. In July, President Joe Biden vowed tougher merger enforcement of tech companies, saying the industry's biggest players have used deals to shut down emerging threats to their businesses.

"Too often, federal agencies have not blocked, conditioned, or, in some cases, meaningfully examined these acquisitions," the administration said.

The data comes from a study the FTC announced last year to examine deals between 2010 and 2019 by the five tech giants to better understand whether acquisitions occurring outside the view of antitrust enforcers could be undermining competition.

The FTC issued orders to the five companies requiring them to provide information about past acquisitions that weren't reported to antitrust agencies. The companies identified 819 such transactions, including acquisitions of voting control of companies, partial investments, patent acquisitions, and what the FTC called "hiring events" in which a group of employees were hired from another company.

Although the FTC didn't identify specific transactions by companies, one example is Facebook's acquisition last year of image library Giphy for about $400 million. Bloomberg News reported last month that before the takeover, Giphy paid a dividend to investors. While perfectly legal, the payment lowered the value of Giphy's assets so that antitrust officials didn't have to be notified of the deal under the reporting thresholds at the time.

Antitrust enforcers look at only a fraction of deals that occur every year. Slightly more than 2,000 deals were filed to the government between October 2018 and September 2019, the most recent period reported by the FTC and the Justice Department, which share antitrust duties. The government reviews account for about 10% of almost 22,000 deals announced in that period involving a U.S. company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The U.S. system for screening mergers was created by the 1976 law known as the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The law requires companies to notify antitrust officials about deals that meet annually adjusted thresholds. Transactions valued at $92 million or less don't have to be reported, while those over $368 million do. For deals between $92 million and $368 million, filing requirements are based on assets and sales of the buyer and seller.

Those levels are far below the multibillion-dollar deals that typically garner the most attention. The thinking behind the cutoffs is that small deals don't raise antitrust concerns and looking at every transaction would be a waste of resources.

Reviewing more deals, however, could strain resources at the Justice Department and the FTC. The FTC has said it's struggling to handle this year's record merger levels and has warned that it may extend merger reviews that can't be completed during an initial 30-day period.

Khan said the study shows that tech companies are devoting resources to acquiring startups, patent portfolios and engineering talent outside the purview of antitrust enforcers. She said the FTC may be "unjustifiably" allowing companies to make acquisitions without any scrutiny.

"While broader reforms to HSR may be overdue, the antitrust agencies must also guard against unduly permissive interpretations that handicap us," Khan said, referring to the current law.

Big Tech acquisitions over past decade to face fresh US review

©2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

• 
  

FIRST JEWISH GOVENOR OF COLORADO

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, marries his longtime partner Marlon Reis

The couple wed at a small, traditional Jewish ceremony that was held outdoors with family and friends present

Jesse Paul
Sep 15, 2021

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis marries his longtime partner Marlon Reis. (Jocelyn Augustino photo)

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis married his longtime partner, Marlon Reis, on Wednesday afternoon.

The couple wed at a small, traditional Jewish ceremony that was held outdoors with family and friends present, according to the governor’s office. Rabbi Tirzah Firestone officiated.

The governor’s office said every guest was required to test negative for COVID-19.

“The greatest lesson we have learned over the past eighteen months is that life as we know it can change in an instant,” Polis and Reis said in a join statement. “We are thankful for the health and wellbeing of our family and friends, and the opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple. After 18 years, we couldn’t be happier to be married at last.”

The couple got engaged in December as Polis was preparing to take Reis to a hospital to be treated for a COVID-19 infection.

“It was the absolute perfect time,” Reis told The Colorado Sun earlier this year. “I said to him, ‘I couldn’t breathe before. Now I really can’t breathe.’”

Gov. Jared Polis and First Gentleman Marlon Reis show off their engagement rings. (Provided photo)

Reis and Polis have two children, a 9-year-old boy and a 7-year-old daughter.

Polis, 46, is the nation’s first openly gay elected governor.