Women in Argentina claim labor exploitation by Opus Dei

By DÉBORA REY

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Lucia Gimenez, from left, Alicia Torancio, and Beatriz Delgado, former Opus Dei domestic workers, pose for a photo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. The women have filed a complaint against Opus Dei to the Vatican for alleged labor exploitation, and abuses of power and of conscience. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lucía Giménez still suffers pain in her knees from the years she spent scrubbing floors in the men’s bathroom at the Opus Dei residence in Argentina’s capital for hours without pay.

Giménez, now 56, joined the conservative Catholic group in her native Paraguay at the age of 14 with the promise she would get an education. But instead of math or history, she was trained in cooking, cleaning and other household chores to serve in Opus Dei residences and retirement homes.

For 18 years she washed clothes, scrubbed bathrooms and attended to the group’s needs for 12 hours a day, with breaks only for meals and praying. Despite her hard labor, she says: “I never saw money in my hands.”

Giménez and 41 other women have filed a complaint against Opus Dei to the Vatican for alleged labor exploitation, as well as abuse of power and of conscience. The Argentine and Paraguayan citizens worked for the movement in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Italy and Kazakhstan between 1974 and 2015.

Opus Dei — Work of God in Latin — was founded by the Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá in 1928, and has 90,000 members in 70 countries. The lay group, which was greatly favored by St. John Paul II, who canonized Escrivá in 2002, has a unique status in the church and reports directly to the pope. Most members are laymen and women with secular jobs and families who strive to “sanctify ordinary life.” Other members are priests or celibate lay people.  IT IS A RIGHT WING CONSERVATIVE SECRET SOCIETY WITHIN THE CHURCH

The complaint alleges the women, often minors at the time, labored under “manifestly illegal conditions” that included working without pay for 12 hours-plus without breaks except for food or prayer, no registration in the Social Security system and other violations of basic rights.

The women are demanding financial reparations from Opus Dei and that it acknowledges the abuses and apologizes to them, as well as the punishment of those responsible.

“I was sick of the pain in my knees, of getting down on my knees to do the showers,” Giménez told The Associated Press. “They don’t give you time to think, to criticize and say that you don’t like it. You have to endure because you have to surrender totally to God.”

In a statement to the AP, Opus Dei said it had not been notified of the complaint to the Vatican but has been in contact with the women’s legal representatives to “listen to the problems and find a solution.”

The women in the complaint have one thing in common: humble origins. They were recruited and separated from their families between the ages of 12 and 16. In some cases, like Gimenez’s, they were taken to Opus Dei centers in another country, circumventing immigration controls.


They claim that Opus Dei priests and other members exercised “coercion of conscience” on the women to pressure them to serve and to frighten them with spiritual evils if they didn’t comply with the supposed will of God. They also controlled their relations with the outside world.

Most of the women asked to leave as the physical and psychological demands became intolerable. But when they finally did, they were left without money. Many also said they needed psychological treatment after leaving Opus Dei.

“The hierarchy (of Opus Dei) is aware of these practices,” said Sebastián Sal, the women’s lawyer. “It is an internal policy of Opus Dei. The search for these women is conducted the same way throughout the world. ... It is something institutional.”

The women’s complaint, filed in September with the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also points to dozens of priests affiliated with Opus Dei for their alleged “intervention, participation and knowledge in the denounced events.”

The allegations in the complaint are similar to those made by members of another conservative Catholic organization also favored by St. John Paul II, the Legion of Christ. The Legion recruited young women to become consecrated members of its lay branch, Regnum Christi, to work in Legion-run schools and other projects.

Those women alleged spiritual and psychological abuse, of being separated from family and being told their discomfort was “God’s will” and that abandoning their vocation would be tantamount to abandoning God.

Pope Francis has been cracking down on 20th-century religious movements after several religious orders and lay groups were accused of sexual and other abuses by their leaders. Opus Dei has so far avoided much of the recent controversy, though there have been cases of individual priests accused of misconduct.

“We do not have any official notification from the Vatican about the existence of a complaint of this type,” Josefina Madariaga, director of Opus Dei’s press office in Argentina, told the AP. She said the women’s lawyer informed the group last year of their complaints about the lack of contributions to Argentina’s social security system.

“If there is a traumatic experience or one that has left them with a wound, we want to honestly listen to them, understand what happened and from there correct what has to be corrected,” she said.

She added that all the people currently “working on site are paid,” adding that some 80 women currently work for Opus Dei in Argentina.

However, she said, “in the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s, society as a whole dealt with these issues in a more informal or family way. ... Opus Dei has made the necessary changes and modifications to accompany the law in force today.”

Beatriz Delgado, who worked for Opus Dei for 23 years in Argentina and Uruguay, said she was told “that I had to give my salary to the director and that everyone gave it. ... It was part of giving to God.”

“They convince you with the vocation, with ‘God calls you, God asks this of you, you cannot fail God.’ ... They hooked me with that,” she said.

So far, the Vatican has not ruled on the complaint and it’s not clear if it will. A Vatican spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for information.

If there is no response, the women’s legal representatives say they will initiate criminal proceedings for “human trafficking, reduction to servitude, awareness control and illegitimate deprivation of liberty” against Opus Dei in Argentina and other countries the women worked in.

Argentine law sanctions human trafficking with prison sentences of four to 15 years. The statute of limitations is 12 years after the alleged crime ceases.

“They say, ‘we are going to help poor people,’ but it’s a lie; they don’t help, they keep (the money) for themselves,” Giménez said. “It is very important to achieve some justice.”

Exclusive-Chinese embassy lobbies U.S. business to oppose China bills -sources


The flags of the United States and China fly in Boston

Michael Martina
Fri, November 12, 2021, 2:56 PM·3 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China has been pushing U.S. executives, companies and business groups in recent weeks to fight against China-related bills in the U.S. Congress, four sources familiar with the initiative told Reuters, in letters to and meetings with a wide range of actors in the business community.

Letters from China's embassy in Washington have pressed executives to urge members of Congress to alter or drop specific bills that seek to enhance U.S. competitiveness, according to the sources and the text of a letter sent by the embassy's economic and commercial office seen by Reuters.

Chinese officials warned companies they would risk losing market share or revenue in China if the legislation becomes law, according to the text of the letter.

The Chinese embassy and the head of its economic and commercial office did not return separate requests for comment.

The sources said China's request also left some individuals who received a letter concerned that they could be seen as violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) if they lobbied lawmakers on similar issues in the future.

As a result, none of the sources wanted to be identified as having received or seen the letter.

Sweeping legislation to boost U.S. competition with China and fund much-needed semiconductor production, known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), passed the Senate with bipartisan support in June. A related bill in the House of Representatives called the Eagle Act, which is more strictly policy focused, has stalled as Congress has been preoccupied with other domestic initiatives.

The language in the letters, which Reuters determined were sent separately to a wide number of people, explicitly asks companies to oppose USICA and the Eagle Act.

Beijing sees the measures, which take a hard line toward China on human rights and trade issues, as part of a U.S. effort to counter the country's growing economic and geopolitical might.

"We sincerely hope you ... will play a positive role in urging members of Congress to abandon the zero-sum mindset and ideological prejudice, stop touting negative China-related bills, delete negative provisions, so as to create favorable conditions for bilateral economic and trade cooperation before it is too late," the Chinese embassy said in one letter sent in early November.

Reuters confirmed the shared language of the letter with the four sources.

"The result of those China-related bills with negative impacts will not be that the interests of U.S. companies will be protected while those of Chinese companies will suffer. It is only going to hurt everyone," it said.

"Promoting a China-free supply chain will inevitably result in a decline in China's demand for U.S. products and American companies loss of market share and revenue in China," it said.

Two of the sources said similar messages were conveyed in meetings with staff of China's embassy.

"It's an outright ask by a foreign government," one of the sources said, highlighting the implications for FARA, which requires persons acting on behalf of a foreign power or political party to disclose those relations to the Department of Justice.

A second source said the approach appeared geared at getting companies to delay the legislative process rather than block the bills entirely.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chris Sanders and Daniel Wallis)

On the surface, it’s a 'syrupy love song.' But it's gotten under China's skin.

Kimberley Chen (Gene Wang / Getty Images file)


Jennifer Jett
Fri, November 12, 2021

HONG KONG — At first, “Fragile,” a Mandarin-language song that has gone viral in Asia, might come across as a saccharine piece of pop.

Scratch the surface of the music video, however, and it is bursting with mocking references to China, its ruling Communist Party and President Xi Jinping, prompting the authoritarian government to ban the two musicians behind it, Malaysian rapper Namewee and Australian Chinese singer Kimberley Chen.

“Please be cautious if you are fragile pink,” a message at the start of the video — which has been viewed more than 29 million times as of Friday — warns in an apparent reference to “little pinks,” a disparaging term for internet-savvy Chinese nationalists who are quick to defend their country and Xi against any perceived criticism.

The video itself is awash with the color. Balloons, furniture and the outfits Namewee and Chen wear are all pink, as are their heart-shaped glasses. A character in a panda costume that features prominently throughout the video is also dressed in pink overalls.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, hurting your feelings. I hear a sound, fragile self-esteem has broken into pieces,” the pair sing as the panda dances around.

Since its release on Oct. 15, the song has been at or near the top of YouTube music charts in places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, where Chinese is spoken. It has also been trending in Australia and New Zealand.

“The first impression that anyone gets if they’re not listening closely or looking closely is, ‘Oh, this is just a syrupy love song,’” said DJ W. Hatfield, an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Musicology at National Taiwan University in Taipei. “But everyone knows Namewee is a wordsmith and he’s very funny, and he’s also politically pretty strident.”

So what is the song about?

Mostly without ever mentioning them directly, the song, which uses Chinese and Taiwanese internet slang, makes many topical references.

Taiwan: Lyrics about an “inseparable” relationship and “not lacking one bit” are seen by experts as references to China’s territorial disputes, including its claims on Taiwan. There is also a line about apples and pineapples, products that China stopped importing from the self-ruling island earlier this year. Namewee and Chen are both based in Taiwan.

Xinjiang: The song alludes to human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, as well as one of its major exports, cotton, which activists say is produced using forced labor and ends up being used by major international clothing brands. China has denied these accusations, claiming it is trying to combat extremism in the region.

Hong Kong: Some viewers see the inclusion of apples as a reference to Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong that was forced to shut down in June after police raided its offices, arrested senior editors and froze its financial accounts. Hong Kong saw months of protests and political upheaval in 2019 before Beijing imposed a national security law last year in an effort to crack down on dissent.

Xi Jinping: The song refers to Xi as Winnie the Pooh, a character that has been taboo in China for several years after Chinese internet users made lighthearted comparisons between him and the cartoon bear.

“Common prosperity”: This phrase used in the song is what Xi calls his drive to redistribute China’s wealth more evenly among the population.

“Every time I listen to it, I discover new things,” Hatfield said.

The song jokes about the consumption of wildlife such as bats and civets, a trope about China amplified during the coronavirus pandemic that has been widely criticized as contributing to anti-Asian racism in the United States and elsewhere. It also references China’s “Great Firewall” of strict internet controls and the censorship of sensitive terms — Namewee and Chen’s accounts on Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform, were removed soon after the song was released.

“It’s a song about censorship,” said Jeroen de Kloet, a professor at the University of Amsterdam who studies the cultural implications of globalization with a focus on contemporary China. “But then it’s being censored, so that only amplifies the impact of the song.”

Hatfield said many of the song’s references are easily recognizable because they echo language used in Chinese government propaganda, which often accuses foreign countries, companies and individuals of “hurting the feelings” of China’s 1.4 billion people.

“The target of the song is not really Chinese people,” he said, “but a certain sector of the Chinese government, and Sinophone and non-Sinophone people who enable the Chinese Communist Party.

Who are Namewee and Kimberley Chen?

Namewee, 38, a Malaysian national whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, is no stranger to controversy. He’s been investigated by police in the Muslim-majority country over music videos that authorities said insulted Islam, and he was almost charged with sedition over a 2007 video mocking the national anthem.

His 2015 music video satirizing K-pop was also criticized as racially insensitive. Namewee’s previous Weibo account was blocked in August after he posted “suggestions” for the new Taliban government in Afghanistan that were perceived as a jab at China.

Namewee, who is ethnically Chinese, said “Fragile” was not intended to insult China.

“A song can have double meanings or even many meanings,” he said in a Facebook post in October. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, it’s just what they are willing to get from this song.”

Chen, 27, who once appeared on a girl group reality show in mainland China, grew up in the Australian city of Melbourne and became a professional singer as a teenager after moving to Taiwan.

She responded to her banishment from Chinese social media by updating the song’s lyrics.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. It doesn’t matter that my Weibo is deleted,” she sang in Mandarin in a post on Instagram and Facebook. “I hear a sound, fragile self-esteem has broken into pieces. It doesn’t matter, I still have IG and FB.”

What was the reaction in China?

Namewee’s and Chen’s Weibo accounts were blocked by Chinese censors within days of the song’s release. YouTube itself has been blocked in mainland China since 2009.

When something is deemed as “offending China,” it’s difficult to know how big the “pink army” really is, De Kloet said.

“The suggestion is very quickly that all Chinese are angry, and of course that’s not the case,” he said. “Many Chinese would also be critical of the government, many Chinese would also enjoy this song.”

Some critics on Weibo said they found the song insulting and some fans said they would stop listening to their music.

Another user lamented that Namewee’s music had been available a few days earlier “and now it’s all gone suddenly. It’s a complicated society where you need to watch what you say.”

Others made jokes about the censorship.

“Namewee’s latest song: 404,” one said.

China's top chipmaker SMIC says top executive, board members quit


: A logo of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is seen at China International Semiconductor Expo (IC China 2020) following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai

Thu, November 11, 2021

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, said its vice-chairman has resigned in a leadership reshuffle less than a year after he took the role.

Chiang, a former research director at Taiwan's TSMC, joined SMIC in late December. The company said he had resigned from his vice-chairman position as well as from the board with effect from Thursday in order to spend more time with his family.

His departure comes just two months after SMIC's chairman, Zhou Zixue, also resigned, citing health reasons.

Besides Chiang, three other members resigned from the board, including co-chief executive officer Liang Mong Song, who had threatened to quit https://www.reuters.com/article/china-smic-idCNL1N2IW04F in December last year. He would remain in his executive role, SMIC said.

The resignations were not due to any disagreements with the board and the company did not expect the moves to have a material impact on its operations, it said.

SMIC, China's largest contract chipmaker which is partly backed by a state-affiliated chip fund, is at the forefront of China's charge to catch up with Japan, South Korea and the United States in chip technology.

The company is on a U.S. blacklist that denies it advanced manufacturing equipment from U.S. suppliers due to its alleged ties to China's military, claims SMIC rejects.

The measures disrupted the company's plans to move into high-end chip making, but its financial performance has been strong as a global chip shortage has boosted demand.

Its third-quarter profit rose 22.6%.

On Friday, it said it had registered a joint venture company for a $8.87 billion deal it has to build a chip plant in Shanghai. It first announced the capacity expansion plan in early September.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates and Gerry Doyle)

TAXES PAY FOR PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
Report: Interstate bridge's crack likely dates back to 1970s

FILE - This undated photo released by the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows a crack in a steel beam on the Interstate 40 bridge, near Memphis, Tenn. The crack in a steel beam that forced the closure of the Interstate 40 bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee for three months likely began when the span was fabricated in the 1970s and went undetected for years, a report by Arkansas' Transportation Department released Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, said. (Tennessee Department of Transportation via AP, File)More

ANDREW DeMILLO
Thu, November 11, 2021

LITTLE ROCK Ark. (AP) — A crack in a steel beam that forced the closure of the Interstate 40 bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee for three months likely began when the span was fabricated in the 1970s and went undetected for years, a report by Arkansas' Transportation Department released Thursday said.

A forensic investigation by an outside firm hired by the department said the crack occurred in a weld between two plates during the bridge's fabrication. Those welds were more susceptible to cracking because of the type of steel and welding method used then, the department said.

“In all likelihood the cracking in the weld occurred within hours of its completion but was not detected by any post-weld repair fabrication testing and remained unchanged for a number of years," the department's report said.

The crack had been visible in 2016, and an inspector who had missed it was fired by the department in May. The report said the weld fracture initially was not visible by conventional inspection and was not caught by an ultrasonic inspection in 1982.

The I-40 bridge spanning the Mississippi River was shut down May 11 after inspectors found the crack in one of two 900-foot (275-meter) horizontal steel beams critical to the bridge’s structural integrity. Road traffic had been diverted to the nearby Interstate 55 bridge — about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the I-40 bridge — during the I-40 bridge’s repairs. The bridge fully reopened in August.

The department released the forensic investigation, its review of the crack and a review conducted by the Federal Highway Administration as it announced changes to its bridge inspection program. The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general is also conducting an investigation and has interviewed Arkansas bridge inspection employees.

“We will now move forward with confidence and make the changes necessary to improve our program so that the past will not be repeated," Arkansas DOT Director Lorie Tudor said in a statement.

The problems with the weld were not detected when ultrasonic testing was performed on the bridge’s girder welds in 1982 because of defects found with similar bridges. The initial fracture occurred on the interior face of the box where it was not visible by conventional inspection. The report said the fracture spread in phases, starting with the weld, until it was discovered in May.

A department spokesman said two officials with the inspection program — state heavy bridge maintenance engineer Michael Hill and staff engineer Stewart Linz — retired Wednesday. The department said it was placing its heavy bridge maintenance section under new management and is reorganizing the inspection program.

The reports and the retirements were first reported Thursday by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The fired inspector had missed the crack in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Another inspector who had missed the crack in 2018 had never inspected that portion of the bridge before, and the department said he has been “verbally counselled" and will receive additional training.

The department's report said the agency's failure to adequately respond to employees concerned with the fired inspector's job performance “perpetuated a culture where team members did not feel they had the authority or support to question a lead inspector’s procedures or thoroughness."

The department also said under its changes that “fracture critical" bridges like the I-40 span will not be inspected by the same person consecutively.

I-40 runs from North Carolina to California. Manufacturers and shippers rely on the interstate to move products and materials across the Mississippi River. About 50,000 vehicles typically travel across the bridge in a day. Arkansas is responsible for the bridge's inspections and Tennessee is responsible for maintenance and repairs.

The closure was expensive for the trucking industry, with the Arkansas Trucking Association at one point saying the closure cost the industry about $2 million a day.

Arkansas said the repairs to the bridge and inspections following the closure cost $10 million.

The Arkansas report said it was “highly unlikely" that a similar crack would occur on the bridge, but said the bridge's welds will continue to be inspected at arm's length and that ultrasonic testing should be done periodically.

Surprise entries create chaos in race to succeed Philippines' Duterte





Surprise entries create chaos in race to succeed Philippines' Duterte

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte runs for vice president


Fri, November 12, 2021
By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' presidential race got more crowded with the last-minute entry of Rodrigo Duterte's long-time aide, in another twist to an election likely to be dominated by powerful family dynasties rather than reforms.

Duterte loyalist, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, registered to run for president after withdrawing his application to run for the No. 2 post, pitting himself against several rivals, including the son of late Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Go admitted he didn't want to run against Duterte's daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who made a surprise move earlier on Saturday by filing her candidacy for the vice presidency, ending months-long speculation about her 2022 election plans.

But with the deadline to switch candidates for the May 2022 polls two days away, political analysts suspect there could be more surprises and even changes in alliances in what is becoming an unpredictable election.

Duterte's communication secretary, Martin Andanar confirmed media reports that the 76-year old leader, who last month promised to retire from politics, would officially throw his hat in the vice presidential ring on Monday and run against his daughter.

"That is his plan, we don't know if that is going to change," Andanar told Reuters.

Duterte is barred by the Constitution from seeking a second six-year term, but nothing is stopping him from vying for another post.

In the Philippines, the president and the largely ceremonial position of vice president are elected separately.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the only son of the late dictator who ruled the Philippines for almost two decades until his 1986 overthrow, has adopted Duterte-Carpio, eldest daughter of the autocratic and capricious Duterte, to be his running mate.

Duterte-Carpio, 43, who belongs to a political party controlled by former president Gloria Arroyo, another dominant force in Philippine politics, will release a statement soon, her spokesperson, Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco said.

"The rivalries of the political families have really been dramatised in this case," said political analyst Temario Rivera. "It looks like they are the only ones deciding on the country's fate. It is infuriating because they are making a fool of the Filipino people."

The Southeast Asian nation of 110 million people holds elections in May 2022 for positions from president down to governors, mayors and local officials. The next government faces the uphill task of reviving a pandemic-battered economy.

Before announcing her vice presidential bid, Duterte-Carpio, in an opinion poll remained the most preferred candidate to succeed Duterte, and placing second was Marcos.

Political analyst Edmund Tayao said a possible team up of Marcos and Duterte-Caprio, two powerful political families in the Philippines, could be a "game changer."

"Both of them are very popular. It is easy to assume they are the team to beat," Tayao said.

But the prospect of a Marcos-Duterte-Carpio team taking the reins of government next year has stirred anger in the human rights community.

"What is in the offing are dire threats to democracy and freedoms in the country," rights group Karapatan said.

Marcos and Go are up against other presidential aspirants, including former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, vice president Leni Robredo, Manila mayor Francisco Domagoso, and senator Panfilo Lacson.

Duterte's former police chief turned senator Ronald dela Rosa quit the presidential race on Saturday to give way for Go.

Analysts said a loyalist successor to Duterte could insulate him from potential legal action at home or by the International Criminal Court, which is investigating thousands of killings since 2016 during his war on drugs.

His government has denied wrongdoing and has said it will not cooperate with the ICC.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Lincoln Feast and Christina Fincher)

Muslim mayor, all-Muslim city council elected in Michigan in national first



Carl Samson
Thu, November 11, 2021

A city in Michigan made history last week after it elected the U.S.’ first-ever all-Muslim city council led by a Muslim mayor.

Who they are: Adam Albarmaki, Amanda Jaczkowski and Khalil Refai won Hamtramck’s City Council election on Nov. 2. They will join current council members Nayeem Choudhury, Mohammed Hassan and Mohammed Alsomiri. All six individuals identify as Muslims. Amer Ghalib, who was elected mayor, is also Muslim.

Five of the new set of councilmembers are immigrants, while one is a Muslim convert with ancestors who came from eastern Europe, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which claims to be the country’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, told Axios that Hamtramck is likely to be the first city in the nation to elect both an all-Muslim city council and a Muslim mayor.

While they are all Muslims, the councilmembers stressed that religion will not influence their decisions. “We will all take an oath ... to protect the Constitution of the United States, and that includes the concept of separation of church and state,” Jaczkowski told the Detroit Free Press.

The big picture: Hamtramck was once known as an enclave for Polish Catholic immigrants. Today, nearly half of its 29,000 residents are believed to be Muslims, as per census ancestry data.

The city is also now home to other immigrants. “This City Council truly represents all the elements of Hamtramck history, whether they are Arabs, South Asian or European descendants,” M. Baqir Mohie El-Deen, policy program manager at the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), told NBC News.

A total of 110 Muslim American candidates ran for the general election across 24 states and Washington, D.C. in 2020, according to a report by CAIR, Jetpac and MPower Change. The groups said it was the highest number they have seen since they started mapping the electoral progress of Muslim politicians.

The number of registered Muslim voters has also increased. In 2020, 78% of eligible voters registered to vote, up from just 60% in 2016, according to a study from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU).


Aside from Hamtramck, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights also elected Muslim mayors for the first time, the Free Press noted. They will each have three Muslim members in their City Councils as well.

Featured Image via Khalil Refai (left), Amer Ghalib (center) and Adam Albarmaki (right)

Crikey! American crocodile lives at this Palm Beach County golf course — and is there to stay


Katherine Kokal, Palm Beach Post
Thu, November 11, 2021,

NORTH PALM BEACH — Golfers and residents in North Palm Beach have a new, permanent neighbor: a 7-foot American Crocodile.

The Village of North Palm Beach notified residents of a crocodile that is living in the ponds of the North Palm Beach Country Club golf course. Since crocodiles are a threatened species, federal law does not allow the village to remove the animal.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has posted a sign on the golf course to warn golfers and others. Photos and videos show the crocodile lurking in the water and coming up to the fairway.

The animal appears to be between 7 and 8 feet long, according to pro shop staff at the country club. Staff said the crocodile is seen sunning itself around the eighth hole — north and east of Country Club Drive — nearly every day and eating fish in the pond there at night.

Crocodiles rarely interact with humans because of their shy, reclusive nature, according to FWC. However, as with any predatory animal, people should use caution when near them.

A crocodile spotted on the North Palm Beach Country Club golf course. The village has advised golfers it cannot remove the animal because it is a threatened species.

How to tell the difference: Alligators and Crocodiles

Although they may look similar, alligators and crocodiles in Florida have a few distinct differences.

Here's how to identify a crocodile:

Color: Grayish green on its back.

Stripes: Dark stripes on tail and body.

Exposed teeth: Fourth tooth on lower jaw exposed when mouth is closed.

Snout shape: Narrow and tapered.

Habitat: Crocodiles are primarily are found living in brackish and saltwater habitats such as ponds, coves and creeks of mangrove swamps.

Here's how to identify an alligator:

Color: Black coloring on its back.

Stripes: Light stripes on tail and body.

No exposed teeth when the mouth is closed .

Snout shape: Broad and rounded.

Habitat: Alligators are mostly freshwater animals, they can survive in salt or brackish water for several hours or even days, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration.

Crocodile safety

South Florida is the native home of American alligators and crocodiles. Here are some tips to stay safe:

Swim only in posted swimming areas, and only swim during the daytime. Crocodiles are most active between dusk and dawn.

Scan the edges of lagoons for crocodile and alligator activity. Steer clear, no matter how big the animal.

Never, ever feed an alligator or crocodile. They are more likely to approach people if they’ve been fed before, according to FWC.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: American Crocodile spotted at South Florida country club golf course

Glencore ready to enter Chad debt talks, paving way for IMF program -sources


The logo of commodities trader Glencore in front of the company's Swiss headquarters

Karin Strohecker and Andrea Shalal
Thu, November 11, 2021

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Glencore is ready to enter into negotiations on restructuring Chad's more than $1 billion of commercial debt, paving the way for the IMF to move forward with a lending program, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Chad had received support for a restructuring from its official creditors in June https://clubdeparis.org/en/communications/communique-presse/4th-meeting-of-the-creditor-committee-for-chad-under-the-common but until now had not been given a so-called letters of assurance on entering negotiations in good faith by mining group Glencore and other private lenders.


The restructuring of Chad's total debt, which the International Monetary Fund has described as unsustainable, is a prerequisite for the Central African country to benefit from further financial support.

The African country has previously said that Glencore accounts for more than 98% of its commercial debt, most of it in oil-for-cash deals dating back to 2013 and 2014.

In January, Chad became the first country to request a restructuring of its external debt of $3 billion under a common framework agreed last year by China and other Group of 20 members and the Paris Club of major creditor countries.

And while Chad's state creditors and the IMF have agreed on a restructuring, they had insisted that it also reach comparable terms with other bilateral and private creditors.

In a letter dated November 10 and seen by Reuters, Glencore confirmed that it, together with the group of lenders made up of 16 institutions, "are committed to good faith discussions" with the country’s government and its state oil firm SHT.

Any renegotiation of its contracts with Chad "would need to be on the basis of fair burden sharing, which would need to take into account the concessions granted by Glencore and the Lenders in the past restructurings," the letter added.

Glencore also said it acknowledged the aim of concluding any overhaul before the first review of an IMF programme, which was expected at the earliest in May 2022.

Glencore declined to comment on Friday.

In a separate statement, the IMF said late on Thursday it was working with Chadian authorities to bring a new lending program to the IMF's board for approval after the country's main private sector creditor committed to engaging in "good faith discussions" about restructuring the country's debt.

It did not name Glencore specifically.

Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the IMF's African department, said IMF staff aimed to submit a new Extended Credit Facility for Chad to the board for its consideration "as soon as possible," but gave no specific timetable or additional details.

One of the sources said the goal was to complete work on the new arrangement by the end of the year.

Chad, Zambia and Ethiopia are the only countries that have sought debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework.

Progress with Chad could help encourage others to seek help under the G20 program, IMF and World Bank officials have said.

Glencore and a consortium of banks began talks with Chad over restructuring its commercial debt in October.

Chad was thrown into political turmoil in April after the battlefield death of former President Idriss Deby, and its economic outlook has worsened due to the coronavirus pandemic, attacks by rebels in the north, and delays in financial support.

Its debt has already been restructured twice, in 2015 and 2018.

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Julia Payne in London, Andrea Shalal in Washington and Madjiasra Nako in N'Djamena; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Chang and Alexander Smith)

Africa has sights set on hydrocarbon haul despite global shift

Yousef Saba and Raya Jalabi
Fri, November 12, 2021

DUBAI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Several African countries plan to exploit their oil and gas reserves to tackle poverty and energy shortages, representatives gathered in Dubai said this week in the face of pressure to end fossil fuel extraction to curb global warming.

Officials and industry executives stressed that Africa as a whole has a relatively small carbon footprint, which Statista estimated accounted for 3.7% of global CO2 emissions in 2020.

"We want to develop our resources as Africa, just as our brothers in the West have done," John Munyes, Kenya's minister of petroleum and mining, told the Africa Oil Week conference in Dubai, which coincided with the second week of the United Nations COP26 climate summit https://www.reuters.com/business/cop in Glasgow, Scotland.

"Much of Kenya is renewables, we just want to tap into what God has given us: hydrocarbons," he added.

Across the African continent, where some 600 million people lack electricity, both well-established and emerging producers are seeking to accelerate hydrocarbon extraction.

"We understand that we have to mitigate the damage to the planet. That's why we have signed up to the energy transition," Thomas Camara, Ivory Coast's minister of mines, petroleum and energy, said.

"But for our African nations, we have to ensure that our populations have access to energy … We will not turn our back to oil and energy companies so we can ensure the happiness - and even the existence - of our populations."

Some two dozen African countries pitched their energy sectors to investors during the event in Dubai.

OPEC member Angola, where production peaked in 2008 and has been steadily declining for the past half-decade, plans to develop more fields including through licensing rounds for onshore blocks in 2023 and offshore blocks in 2025.

Output in 2031 is projected to slightly exceed last year's roughly 1.3 million barrels a day.

Ghana, which discovered oil in 2007 and began extraction at the end of 2010, will channel investments to oil and gas development to then use the proceeds to invest in infrastructure and social welfare such as healthcare and education, its deputy energy minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, said.

"We believe strongly in oil and gas, and in particular gas" to ensure reliable energy baseloads, he added.

CLOCK TICKING

Western oil and gas companies looking to develop deposits in Africa face growing pressure over environmental concerns, which are leading them to accelerate plans as the world transitions to renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind.

"We have to come up with processes that enable us to convert a discovery into production as quickly as we can, because the clock is ticking. The clock is ticking in terms of the energy transition," said Paul McCafferty, senior vice president Africa at Norwegian energy major Equinor.

Industry executives said among the challenges they now face was securing sufficient capital for hydrocarbon projects.

Top oil exporters Angola, and to a lesser extent Nigeria, are facing crude production declines due to lack of investment in expensive deepwater oil fields, partly because oil companies are allotting less funding to fossil fuels.

Africa Oil Corp CEO Keith Hill said the energy transition process needs to be balanced and that it was more of a 30-year process than a five or 10-year one.

For Uganda, hydrocarbons are necessary to reshape the economy, its energy minister said, and it is counting on a pipeline through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean coast that will help Uganda export its crude.

"We have a duty to provide jobs for our people. We have a duty to make sure that the distribution of electricity goes to the last person," Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said.


(Reporting by Yousef Saba and Raya Jalabi; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous and Yousef Saba; Editing by Alexander Smith)