FEUDAL POLITICS

Philippines' Manny Pacquiao to run for president in 2022

Issued on: 20/09/2021 -

'The time is now,' Pacquiao said as he accepted the nomination from his faction - 

Office of Philippine Senator Koko Pimentel/AFP

Manila (AFP)

Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao declared he will run for president in 2022, vowing to tackle poverty and corruption as he seeks to win over voters with his rags-to-riches story.

"The time is now -- we are ready to rise to the challenge of leadership," Pacquiao -- currently a senator -- said Sunday, as he accepted the nomination of a rival faction in President Rodrigo Duterte's ruling party.

The eight-division world champion and beloved national hero made the announcement weeks after losing what could be his last professional fight, against Cuban Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, who entered politics in 2010 as a congressman before being elected to the Senate, has long been expected to make a tilt for the country's highest office.

The 42-year-old is deeply admired by many in the archipelago nation for his generosity and hauling himself out of poverty to become one of the world's greatest and wealthiest boxers.

Pacquiao's star power in a country famed for its celebrity-obsessed politics will put him in a strong position in the presidential race 

Patrick T. FALLON AFP/File

But his support for Duterte's deadly drug war, and previous comments describing gay couples as "worse than animals", have earned the high school drop-out plenty of detractors.

"For those asking what are my qualifications, have you ever experienced hunger?" Pacquiao asked the national assembly held by the anti-Duterte faction of PDP-Laban.

"Have you ever experienced having nothing to eat, to borrow money from your neighbours or to wait for leftovers at a food stall? The Manny Pacquiao that is in front of you was moulded by poverty."

Pacquiao made the announcement weeks after losing what could be his last professional fight, against Yordenis Ugas 

Ethan Miller GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Pacquiao's star power in a country famed for its celebrity-obsessed politics will put him in a strong position in the presidential race.

But it will not guarantee victory.

Reaction to his announcement has been mixed, with some questioning the boxer's suitability for the presidency.

"Seriously, Manny? You're an inspiration in boxing but I can't compromise to let you run my country," said one Twitter user.

A public skirmish between Pacquiao and Duterte over the latter's handling of the South China Sea dispute with Beijing and official graft could also erode support for the boxer.

Duterte -- who is constitutionally allowed to serve only one term as president -- rivals Pacquiao in the affections of many Filipinos and declared last month he would run for the vice-presidency.

Pacquiao entered politics in 2010 as a congressman, before being elected to the Senate 

Ted ALJIBE AFP/File

A party faction loyal to Duterte also endorsed the president's close aide, Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, for the top job -- but he has so far declined the nomination.

Pacquiao would face a formidable opponent if Duterte's daughter, Sara, were to run for president, which she is tipped to do.

A recent poll showed the Davao city mayor -- who belongs to a different party to her father -- with the most voter support, well ahead of Pacquiao and other potential contenders.

The deadline for registering as a candidate for next year's elections is October 8.

- Deep divisions -

The nomination of two candidates for president from PDP-Laban showed "how deep the divisions in the ruling party are", said Eurasia Group analyst Peter Mumford.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who rivals Pacquiao in the affections of many Filipinos, declared last month he would run for the vice-presidency 

Noel CELIS AFP/File

"A key watchpoint will be whether most of the anti-Duterte camp falls in behind Pacquiao or whether it splits with multiple different presidential candidates," Mumford said.

"The former would complicate Duterte's succession plans by making victory for the eventual Duterte-backed candidate less assured."

Pacquiao, a devout evangelical Christian, was a high-profile backer of Duterte and his controversial anti-narcotics campaign.

International Criminal Court judges last week authorised a full-blown investigation into that policy, over the alleged unlawful killing of possibly tens of thousands of people.

Asked if he would protect the current president from criminal charges if he became leader, he said: "All of us are bound to the law."

© 2021 AFP

Macron seeks 'new step' towards Algerian Harki fighters

DESPITE THE CRCODILE TEARS THESE WERE REACTIONARY FASCISTS BETRAYED BY THEIR MASTER

NOT UNLIKE THEIR CHRISTIAN COUNTERPARTS 

IN LEBANON AND SPAIN; THE FALANGE

Issued on: 20/09/2021 - 

Hundreds of thousands of Algerian Muslims -- known as Harkis -- served as auxiliaries in the French army during the war for Algerian independence Jean-Marie HURON AFP/File


Paris (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday meets with Algerians who fought for France in their country's war of independence in a fresh attempt to come to grips with a dark chapter in French colonial history.

Hundreds of thousands of Algerian Muslims -- known as Harkis -- served as auxiliaries in the French army in the war that pitted Algerian independence fighters against their French colonial masters from 1954 to 1962.

At the end of the war -- waged on both sides with extreme brutality including widespread torture -- the French government left the Harkis to fend for themselves, despite earlier promises that it would look after them.


Trapped in Algeria, many were massacred as the country's new masters took brutal revenge.

Thousand others were placed in camps in France, often with their families, in degrading and traumatising conditions.

Successive French presidents had already begun owning up to the betrayal of the Algerian Muslim fighters.

Successive French presidents had already begun owning up to the betrayal of the Algerian Muslim fighters Jacques GREVIN INTERCONTINENTALE/AFP/File

Macron's predecessor Francois Hollande in 2016 accepted "the responsibilities of French governments in the abandonment of the Harkis".

But Macron's meeting Monday with 300 people, mostly surviving Harkis and their families, is to mark "a new step" towards a full recognition of France's responsibility for their suffering, his office said.

- 'Task of reparation' -

The meeting comes only days before national Harki day, which has been observed since 2003 -- especially in southern France where many of the surviving fighters settled after the war.

Their political sympathies often lie with the nationalist right whose leader, Marine Le Pen, is the frontrunner among Macron's rivals in France's presidential election next spring.

In a speech Monday, Macron will "start the task of reparation," his office said.

After the war thousands of Harkis were placed in camps in France, often with their families, in degrading and traumatising conditions - AFP/File

"The president believes that the work accomplished over the past 60 years is important but that a new step is necessary in terms of recognising the failures towards the Harkis, but also the failure of the French republic to live up to its own standards," Macron's office said.

The history of the Harkis could not be separated from the history of France, it said.

Authorities have in the past allowed a number of legal procedures to go ahead for the Harkis and their families to claim damages from France.

- 'Hypocrisy' -

But Harki organisations want an official recognition of their treatment to be enshrined in a law by the end of the year, they said in an open letter to Macron.

"We hope that you will be the one to end 60 years of a certain hypocrisy by which the abandoning of the Harkis is recognised in speeches, but not in the law," they said.

The associations also want approved payouts to be increased.

Macron's initiative comes over a year after he tasked historian Benjamin Stora with assessing how France has dealt with its colonial legacy in Algeria.

The report, submitted in January, made a series of recommendations including owning up to the murder of a prominent Algerian independence figure and creating a "memory and truth commission".

Macron has already spoken out on a number of France's unresolved colonial legacies, including nuclear testing in Polynesia, its role in the Rwandan genocide and war crimes in Algeria.

Before the end of his mandate he is expected to attend ceremonies marking the anniversaries of two key events still weighing on French-Algerian relations: the brutal repression of a demonstration of Algerians on October 17, 1961, by Paris police who beat protesters to death or drowned them in the river Seine, and the signing of the Evian accords on March 18, 1962, which ended the war of independence.

© 2021 AFP

IT WAS A BARBARIC MURDEROUS FRENZY

Faroe Islands will review regulations after record dolphin slaughter

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1,428 white-sided dolphins herded to beach and killed as part of traditional hunt on Sept. 12

Thomson Reuters · Posted: Sep 17, 2021 9:19 AM ET | Last Updated: September 17

In this image released by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society the carcasses of dead white-sided dolphins lay on a beach after being pulled from the blood-stained water on the island of Eysturoy, which is part of the Faroe Islands, on Sept. 12. (Sea Shepherd/The Associated Press)

The government of the Faroe Islands said on Thursday it would review regulations governing its centuries-old tradition of hunting dolphins after graphic footage of the slaughter of a record catch of hundreds prompted an outcry.

More than 1,400 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were herded into shallow waters by boats and jet-skis and killed on a beach on Sunday, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society campaign group said.

The U.S.-based organization released footage showing people turning the water red as they cut some of the dolphins with knives. It described the hunt as "brutal."

The Faroe Islands has defended its tradition — known as the grind (or Grindadrap in Faroese) — of shoring up pods of dolphins or whales and slaughtering them on beaches for decades.

But the government of the North Atlantic archipelago said in a statement on Thursday the latest catch had been "extraordinary" due to the size of the pod and that it would look into regulations around the practice.

Government, Opposition both defend sustainability of hunt

"We take this matter very seriously. Although these hunts are considered sustainable, we will be looking closely at the dolphin hunts, and what part they should play in Faroese society," Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen said.

Meat from the hunt is traditionally divided among the islanders.

Hogni Hoydal, leader of the opposition Republican Party and a former fishery minister who co-created the current whaling legislation, told Reuters he got around 50 kilos of the delicate and lean dolphin meat delivered to him on Monday.

"My claim is that the Faroese whale and dolphin killing, as long as the population is not threatened, is probably the most sustainable use of natural resources that we see in the modern world," Hoydal said.

"But I do understand that some react to the number [of slaughtered dolphins] and that it is obviously a bloody affair."

Around 4,000 to 5,000 residents have collected their share of the catch, all of which was given away for free, Hoydal said.

Sunday's catch was a record, the government said. On average, around 250 dolphins and 600 pilot whales are caught every year in Faroese waters, it added.

FUCK TRADITION

Faroe Islands mass dolphin slaughter casts

 shadow over tradition


Issued on: 20/09/2021 - 

The 'grind' hunt in Torshavn, Faroe Islands, on May 29, 2019 Andrija ILIC, Andrija ILIC AFP/File

THEY ARE DEAF TO THE SCREAMS OF THOSE THEY ARE KILLING


Copenhagen (AFP)

Every summer in the Faroe Islands hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in drive hunts known as the "grind" that residents defend as a long-held tradition.

The hunt always sparks fierce criticism abroad, but never so much as last week when a particularly bountiful catch saw 1,428 dolphins massacred in one day, raising questions on the island itself about a practice that activists have long deemed cruel.

Images of hundreds upon hundreds of dolphins lined up on the sand, some of them hacked up by what appeared to be propellers, the water red with blood, shocked some of the staunchest supporters of the "grind" and raised concern in the archipelago's crucial fishing industry.

For the first time, the local government of the autonomous Danish archipelago located in the depths of the North Atlantic said it would re-evaluate regulations surrounding the killing of dolphins specifically, without considering an outright ban on the tradition.

"I had never seen anything like it before. This is the biggest catch in the Faroes," Jens Mortan Rasmussen, one of the hunter-fishermen present at the scene in the village of Skala, told AFP.

- Open-air slaughterhouse -

While used to criticism, he said this time round it was "a little different".

"Fish exporters are getting quite a lot of furious phone calls from their clients and the salmon industry has NOW mobilised against dolphin-hunting. It's a first."

The meat of pilot whales and dolphins is only eaten by the fishermen themselves, but there is concern that news of the massacre will hit the reputation of an archipelago that relies considerably on exporting other fish including salmon.

Traditionally, the Faroe Islands -- which have a population of 50,000 -- hunt pilot whales in a practice known as "grindadrap," or the "grind."

The people of Torshavn have long defended the Faroe Islands summer tradition of hunting pilot whales and dolphins Andrija ILIC AFP/File

Hunters first surround the whales with a wide semi-circle of fishing boats and then drive them into a bay to be beached and slaughtered by fishermen on the beach.

Normally, around 600 pilot whales are hunted every year in this way, while fewer dolphins also get caught.

Defending the hunt, the Faroese point to the abundance of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in their waters (over 100,000, or two per capita).

They see it as an open-air slaughterhouse that isn't that different to the millions of animals killed behind closed doors all over the world, said Vincent Kelner, the director of a documentary on the "grind".

And it's of historical significance for the Faroe Islanders: without this meat from the sea, their people would have disappeared.

- 'Overwhelmed' -

But still, on September 12, the magnitude of the catch in the large fjord came as a shock as fishermen targeted a particularly big school of dolphins.

The sheer number of the mammals that beached slowed down the slaughter which "lasted a lot longer than a normal grind", said Rasmussen.

"When the dolphins reach the beach, it's very difficult to send them back to sea, they tend to always return to the beach."

Kelner said the fishermen were "overwhelmed".

"It hits their pride because it questions the professionalism they wanted to put in place," he added.

While defending the practice as sustainable, Bardur a Steig Nielsen, the archipelago's prime minister, said Thursday the government would re-evaluate "dolphin hunts, and what part they should play in Faroese society."

Critics say that the Faroese can no longer put forward the argument of sustenance when killing whales and dolphins.

"For such a hunt to take place in 2021 in a very wealthy European island community... with no need or use for such a vast quantity of contaminated meat is outrageous," said Rob Read, chief operating officer at marine conservation NGO Sea Shepherd, referring to high levels of mercury in dolphin meat.

The NGO claims the hunt also broke several laws.

"The Grind foreman for the district was never informed and therefore never authorised the hunt," it said in a statement.

It also claims that many participants had no licence, "which is required in the Faroe Islands, since it involves specific training in how to quickly kill the pilot whales and dolphins."

And "photos show many of the dolphins had been run over by motorboats, essentially hacked by propellers, which would have resulted in a slow and painful death."

Faroese journalist Hallur av Rana said that while a large majority of islanders defend the "grind" itself, 53 percent are opposed to killing dolphins.

© 2021 AFP

Ukraine: Thousands march for LGBTQ rights

Kyiv's annual gay Pride parade returned after missing a year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite recent progress, homophobia and opposition to same-sex partnerships remain high in Ukraine.

    

Around 7,000 people joined the Kyiv Pride parade, including diplomats and Ukrainian soldiers

Some 7,000 people gathered in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Sunday for the annual March for Equality to support the rights of the country's LGBTQ community.

The Pride parade passed off without incident despite concerns about violence as a group of a few hundred far-right protesters staged a counter-demonstration in a nearby park.

The March for Equality organizers said attendance was down slightly compared to the last march in 2019, which saw the biggest turnout since the event was initiated a decade ago despite opposition from religious and nationalist groups.

Last year's Pride parade was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is already the 10th Pride, it was successful, it went off calmly," Leni Emson, director of the KyivPride non-government organization, told journalists.

The march was guarded by police, who sought to prevent clashes with far-right groups that attempt to

 disrupt the event every year

Protesters made several demands

Wearing colorful costumes and rainbow flags, some protesters carried banners that read "Fight for right!" — a reference to eight demands that were made to Ukrainian authorities, including the legalization of civil partnerships for LGBTQ people and the creation of laws against hate crimes.

The government has increased support for LGBTQ rights since Western-backed leaders came to power in 2014. The country's labor laws were amended a year later to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace.

However, homophobia remains widespread, according to a survey by the sociological group "Rating" published in August, which said 47% of respondents had a negative view of the LGBTQ community.

Kyiv's Pride parade was a colorful affair with many attendees wearing outlandish costumes

Rights groups say police reforms are needed

LGBTQ rights groups say Ukrainian police often ignore homophobic or transphobic motives of attacks, classifying them as hooliganism.

"We've grown tired of waiting for change and enduring systematic intimidation, pressure, disruption of peaceful events, attacks on activists and the LGBTQ community,'' the marchers said in a statement.

"We demand changes here and now, as we want to live freely in our own country."

Despite the progress, conservative groups in the largely Orthodox Christian country oppose LGBTQ rights and members of far-right organizations regularly attack groups and events linked to the gay community.

Ukraine ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova on Sunday called on radical groups to refrain from violence, writing on Facebook that the constitution recognizes all people "equal in their rights from birth, regardless of any characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity."

mm/jlw (AP, Reuters)

 Greece: Major fire breaks out at soon-to-be-closed migrant camp

The Vathy camp was overtaken by a major fire on the eve of migrants being transferred out. Many are headed to a new €43 million ($50 millon) "closed" high-tech secure facility.

Makeshift tents are seen burning at the reception and identification center for migrants and refugees in the town of Vathy, on the island of Samos, on September 19, 2021 LOUISA GOULIAMAKI AFP

    

Firefighters try to extinguish the flames at makeshift tents outside the perimeter of the overcrowded 

refugee camp at the port of Vathy

The Greek Ministry of Migration said Sunday a major fire had overtaken the Vathy migrant camp on the island of Samos before being brought under control.

"There is no danger for those who are still there because the fire broke out in abandoned sheds in the western side of the camp," the ministry said, adding all asylum-seekers had been evacuated to an empty space near the entrance to the camp.

Samos is one of the Aegean islands where migrants traveling through nearby Turkey arrive.

Samos mayor Girgos Stantzos told news agency AFP the entire site had been evacuated.

Several migrants, including crying children, were gathered in a parking lot near the Vathy camp.

Human rights groups has long decried the conditions at the Vathy camp, which is set to close at the end 

of this month

The fire brigade said 13 firefighters and six engines were fighting the blaze and there were no reports of any injuries.

Camp was long criticized for poor conditions

While Vathy is soon to be closed at the end of the month, it is still housing at least 300 people who are awaiting transfer on Monday to one of the new "closed" camps with high-tech security on Samos.

The new facility is the first of five planned. It was opened over the weekend by Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi.

In opening the new facility, he conceded conditions at Vathy had been squalid in the past.

Human rights campaigners had long denounced conditions at Vathy. A facility initially built for 680 people, during the peak of arrivals of refugees and asylum-seekers in 2015 and 2016, the Vathy camp housed 7,000.

The new camps are also opposed by rights groups. They say the new camps are too restrictive, too much like a prison.

The new 12,000 square meter (39,000 square feet) camp is equipped with surveillance cameras, x-ray scanners and magnetic doors as well as a barbed wire fence around it.

The structure also includes a detention center for migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected who will be sent back to Turkey.

ar/rs (AFP, AP)

Greece opens new holding camp to house 3,000 migrants as it prepares for a wave of Afghan refugees

September 19, 2021 

Greece has opened a new migrant camp capable of housing 3,000 people as preparations begin for the Afghan refugee scramble from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The EU-funded holding camp, which opened on Saturday on the island of Samos, near to Turkey, was the first of five new border control facilities set to open across Greek islands coming months. 

Private security forces will patrol the reception and identification centre’s perimeter – which is also protected by steel fencing topped with barbed wire.

Campaigners have criticised the new Samos asylum seeker camp and compared its barbed wire fencing and heavy security as being akin to a prison facility.

Despite questions over its exterior, thousands of refugees will be housed in rooms featuring six bunk beds and will be able to use amenities including a park with a slide and a basketball court.  

The first 450 asylum-seekers who currently reside at another camp will move into the new facility on Monday, as Greek ministers praised their ‘modern’ and ‘safe’ closed camp. 

More than 42,000 asylum seekers entered Greece in August, roughly half the number recorded at the same time last year.

But recent developments in Afghanistan, which saw Kabul fall to the violent second-coming of the Taliban, have sparked fears of a new humanitarian crisis with upwards of 500,000 Afghanistan refugees expected by the end of 2021.  

Greece has opened a new closed migrant camp on the island of Samos (pictured above) capable of housing 3,000 people

The multi-purpose reception and identification centre will open for the first 450 asylum-seekers on Monday

The EU-funded holding camp, which opened on Saturday on the island of Samos, near to Turkey, was the first of five new border control facilities set to open across Greek islands coming months

‘We have created a modern and safe new closed, controlled access centre… that will give back the lost dignity to people seeking international protection,’ Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said inaugurating the new camp. 

Alongside the new structure, a 25 mile long fence has been erected in the Evros region that borders Turkey to prevent a fresh flood of migrants turning Greece into the ‘gateway to Europe’ again.

Mitarachi said the new Samos camp, which can accommodate 3,000 people, would also hold illegal migrants to be returned or deported. He said two other centres would be ready on the islands of Kos and Leros in a few months.

‘For us it’s a jail,’ Iorgos Karagiannis, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said of the new camp.

‘It’s a declaration of harmful policies that are preferred by EU leaders rather than the care, the induction and ensured asylum.’

The EU has committed £235 million (€276m) for new facilities on Greece’s five Aegean islands – Leros, Lesbos, Kos, Chios and Samos. 

Inside, refugees will be able to use amenities including a basketball court (left) and park with slide (right)

Campaigners have criticised the new Samos asylum seeker camp and compared its barbed wire fencing and heavy security as being akin to a prison facility

A view of a room inside the new multi-purpose reception and identification migrant centre which was constructed near Vathy town, on the eastern Aegean island of Samos, Greece

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi smiles to one of his associates during the inauguration of a closed-type migrant camp on the island of Samos, Greece

Greece was at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015-16, and dubbed the ‘gateway to Europe’ as millions of refugees fled war and poverty in the Middle East

The Mediterranean country was at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 and 2016 when a million refugees fleeing war and poverty from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived, mainly via Turkey.

The number of arrivals has fallen since then, but with tens of thousands of asylum-seekers still stranded in Greece, the conservative government that took power in 2019 has toughened its stance on migration.

Under a 2016 deal, Turkey agreed to stem the tide of refugees to Europe in return for financial aid. It has since protested that the EU has failed to honour the agreement.

Since then, daily clashes between border police and asylum-seekers have broken out at the land border. 

But Greece has still deported, returned and relocated thousands of migrants and refugees who have been stranded for years, mainly on its outlying islands in the Aegean Sea.

The number of asylum-seekers was 42,000 in August, about half the number a year ago, migration ministry data showed.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has fuelled fears of a new wave of refugees.

 Greece says it will not allow a replay of the 2015 migrant crisis and has demanded a joint European response.

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German election: Annalena Baerbock calls for a 'climate protection government'

After an election campaign with many lows, the Greens are meeting for a small party conference in Berlin to lick their wounds and gain momentum for the last days before the election.



Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock rallied party members to give it their all on the final stretch

The Green Party's candidate for chancellor kept the photographers and cameramen waiting for over half an hour on Sunday morning. Then Annalena Baerbock made a grand entrance withparty co-chair Robert Habeck and other party colleagues to kick off a "small party conference" in Berlin, one week before the general election. The 100 delegates wanted to send a "strong signal for the final spurt" in the election campaign.

The Green Party and its 40-year-old candidate have had a difficult few weeks: They made headlines over false information in Baerbock's official CV and plagiarism allegations centering on her most recent book.

It was only late in the campaign that Baerbock managed to get back on track and talk about her central policy issue, climate protection. By then, however, the Greens had already slipped in the polls — from a spectacular 26% in May to currently 15 to 17% percent. In the last general election in 2017, they came in at only 8.9%.

Watch video12:31 Reporter - German election: Rejuvenating politics

Shattered dreams

That Baerbock will win the chancellorship now seems highly unlikely; the environmentalist party is in third place in the polls behind the center-left Social Democrat (SPD) and the center-right bloc made up of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Right at the beginning of her speech on Sunday, Baerbock went on the offensive: "Yes, the last few weeks have been turbulent. But now we feel confidence again," she said. "One in three voters is still undecided, that's 20 million people, that's a lot," she continued, encouraging her audience to use the coming week to fight for every single vote.

The Greens are on edge and feel they have been targeted unfairly. National executive Michael Kellner made that clear in his speech when he said "75% of all the lies spread on the net" had been directed against the Greens during the election campaign.

GERMANY'S GREEN PARTY: HOW IT EVOLVED

1980: Unifying protest movements

The Green party was founded in 1980, unifying a whole array of regional movements made up of people frustrated by mainstream politics. It brought together feminists, environmental, peace and human rights activists. Many felt that those in power were ignoring environmental issues, as well as the dangers of nuclear power.

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Campaigning for climate protection

Now the Greens want to focus once again on the issue of climate protection — and they want to allay voters' fears that this might mean a loss of prosperity and too many restrictions in everyday life. In the six-page draft of the "Social Pact for Climate-Friendly Prosperity," which Sunday's party conference adopted, there is the promise to partly compensate people if gasoline prices continue to rise because of climate protection policies.

Baerbock called out to the delegates, "Now, at this moment, when a large part of the German economy says yes to protecting the climate, then this issue must become a matter for the boss."

Co-party leader Robert Habeck accused the "grand coalition" of CDU/CSU and SPD, which has been in power for the last eight years, of failing to provide answers on how to achieve the climate targets. Instead, he said, the conservatives had been conjuring up a "stupid contrast" between economic growth and climate protection as well as justice and climate protection in the election campaign, he said, whereas these issues were absolutely reconcilable.

The Greens also promise to focus on equality issues — should they be part of the next government, they stressed, one of their first acts would be to raise the minimum wage to twelve euros ($14). Another priority is to introduce a basic child benefit to overcome child poverty. Baerbock again called it unacceptable that Germany is one of the richest countries and yet every fifth child here lives in relative poverty.

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.

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Commitment to an alliance with the SPD

The mood among the delegates was defiantly optimistic. Claudia Roth, a Green Party veteran and vice president of the Bundestag, told DW on the sidelines of the meeting that one reason was that more than 2,000 people had attended an election event with Annalena Baerbock in Augsburg, Bavaria, while only about 400 people had attended the campaign event of CDU candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet.

Although the Green Party is in coalition governments with the CDU and the SPD in several German states, most speakers on Sunday spoke out in favor of joining forces with the SPD. Baerbock herself again indicated this preference in an interview with the "Handelsblatt" before the party conference where she said that the CDU/CSU stood for "standstill in our country."

An alliance with the SPD alone, however, would not have a majority according to current polls. The Greens and the SPD would need a third coalition partner. And for this, both the Free Democrats and the Left Party might be an option.

Only one thing seems clear: The parties will have a difficult time forming a coalition following the vote on September 26.

This article has been translated from German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year's elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.

Social media's love of rare plants has created a black market boom

Kristin Palitza, Denis Duettmann and Andrea Sosa

 Sep 13, 2021

© Janine Stephen/dpa

Succulents and other exotic plants are trending of late, not least for their geometric shapes and popularity on Instagram. However, the high demand has resulted in rare species being poached and traded illegally, leaving some even at risk of going extinct.

Berlin (dpa) -  A photo of a rare, unusual-looking plant is shared more than 10,000 times on social media. Under the entry, the comments rapidly pile up. "I'd love to have one of those!" and "Where can I get one?" A few weeks later, smugglers in South Africa are caught with the endangered plant species, whose trade is illegal.

"We receive a new report of plant poaching almost every day," complains Pieter van Wyk, a botanist who works closely with the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

South Africa is home to almost a third of the world's succulents, many of which are protected by law.

Boosted by social media, the illegal plant trade has taken on proportions comparable to rhino poaching, with international criminal networks now getting involved, van Wyk explains.

It's easy to see what potential for profit there is too; the hashtag #PlantTikTok has 3.5 billion views, while on Instagram there are 12.3 million posts with the hashtag #succulents.

It may all appear to be about plant love, plant care and pretty pictures, but lurking underneath is always the black market trade of some of the world's rarest plants.

The more endangered a plant, the higher its demand and thus its price. A plant that cost the equivalent of 1 euro two years ago now trades for 17,00 euros, says van Wyck. "It's almost like Bitcoin, an artificially created market that has taken on a disproportionate size."

The succulents, which often grow in pretty geometric patterns or unusual shapes, are particularly sought after in Asia, Europe and North America, he says.

Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, are now developing AI algorithms to help scour the internet for information about the illegal trade in endangered plants.

The idea is to use a combination of botanical expertise, criminology and communications technology to analyze online behaviour and uncover the locations of poachers and traders.

It's a global race against time. In Chile, the illegal trade in particularly rare cacti has become one of the most lucrative criminal activities in the country. "Between 5 billion and 23 billion dollars are realized every year," explains botanist Pablo Guerrero from Chile's University of Concepcion.

For collectors, it is particularly attractive to own cacti that only exist in a certain region, says the director of the Antofagasta forestry department, Cristian Salas.

A year ago, police officers discovered cacti from Chile's Atacama Desert during a raid in the Italian province of Ancona. "About 1,000 plants were confiscated, some of which were sold for 2,000 to 5,000 dollars each," said Simone Checchini of Italy's Carabinieri.

Most of the confiscated plants were cacti of the genus Copiapoa, which are only found in the extremely dry Atacama.

"This region has been heavily plundered by illegal collectors in recent years, which has contributed to the rapid decline in the populations of these species," said a statement from the World Conservation Union.

Mexico has also been severely affected by cactus smuggling.

According to local environmental authorities, a total of 518 of the 1,400 or so species that exist worldwide are endemic there.

The giant cacti of the Sonora Desert and the nopal (prickly pear) with its red fruit - which can also be found on the country's flag - are probably the best-known species from Mexico. But a variety of other cacti are in demand among collectors. However, the illegal plant trade is a "silent problem" whose importance is often overlooked, the organization InSight Crime wrote in a report.

In South Africa's south-western Cape Floral Region, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as in the Namaqualand district further north, which is famous for its biodiversity, dozens of plant species grow that cannot be found in the wild anywhere else in the world.

Smugglers remain indifferent to the damage they are doing to the region's natural wealth, however, and last year, the authorities confiscated nearly 150 kilos of protected plans, according to Cape Nature. "What we are seeing at the moment is the rapid and complete loss of entire species," van Wyk warns.

In Namaqualand, a police sting operation in mid-2020 caught four poachers red-handed as they attempted to sell protected plants worth the equivalent of 134,000 dollars on the side of a country road.

While the plants were confiscated, once removed from the ground, they can only survive in botanical nurseries, tended by trained staff.

"This is the great tragedy," police captain Karel du Toit, who heads a special unit to combat plant smuggling, told radio station Cape Talk. "For the wild, they are lost forever."