Classical music under the Nazis

A forthcoming DW documentary looks into the role of classical music during the Holocaust. For Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a cellist at Auschwitz, music saved her life.


Anita Lasker-Wallfisch played in an orchestra for young girls at the Auschwitz concentration camp


When 17-year-old Anita Lasker-Wallfisch stood on the ramp to enter Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was certain that death awaited her.

It was December 1943, and she had already witnessed her parents being deported, then disappearing. "So this is now the last stop," Lasker-Wallfisch, now 96, recalls thinking during the "admission ceremony."

When an officer asked her what she used to do, she replied fearfully: "I played the cello." Moments later, she was approached by the leader of the newly founded concentration camp girls' orchestra, Alma Rose. "I was scared stiff, naked and Alma Rose asks me: 'Where and what did you study?' It was an insane conversation."
The cello saved her life

In an interview for the upcoming DW music documentary "Der Klang der Diktatur — Klassik unterm Hakenkreuz" ("The Sound of Dictatorship — Classical Music under the Swastika"), written and directed by Christian Berger, Lasker-Wallfisch recalls how the cello saved her life.

She was accepted into the 56-piece orchestra of the women's camp. "We were children and amateurs," she says.

Rose, the niece of Jewish composer Gustav Mahler, who was labeled "degenerate" by the Nazis, arranged pieces for the ragtag musical troupe herself. Marches were especially in demand; the orchestra played for the workers at the gate of the women's camp each morning and evening, even in freezing cold weather.

Although the cellist was spared from doing punitive manual labor, she did not feel safe. "They won't send us to the gas chamber only as long as they want music. It's just a reprieve!" she thought.

Lasker-Wallfisch had already experienced the disappearance of family members when she arrived at Auschwitz

But why did the Nazis even bother to play music for the prisoners they murdered? "This mentality is so perverse that it's hard to comprehend, but it's essential: Music and the arts were used as part of the murder machine," Norman Lebrecht told DW. "And the whole of the musical establishment and the music profession in Germany either turned a blind eye or collaborated."

The British music journalist has been researching the role of classical music under the Nazis for many years. "Culture was one of the ways to justify Nazi rule in Germany" — it was a sort of cover for the Nazis, Lebrecht points out. "They could say, we are a cultural nation, we are a cultural people. You couldn't possibly suspect that we're doing something that was uncultural."

Jewish musicians play for SS mass murderers

Hitler himself was aware of the power of music. "It is certain that music is to be addressed as the greatest shaper of feelings and sensations that move the mind," he said at the NSDAP Party Congress in 1938.

The cynical reality was that, though Jewish composers and musicians were ostracized and murdered, Nazis such as concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele had classical music pieces played to them by Jews including Lasker-Wallfisch in Auschwitz.

Even Hitler's private record collection is said to have included recordings by Jewish musicians.

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler made a pact with the Nazis to save himself

The new DW music documentary addresses these contradictions and, for the first time, summarizes classical music events as they related to the Third Reich in their entirety.

The film's two main characters represent musical life under the Nazis in very different ways: Star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler made a pact with the Nazis, while Lasker-Wallfisch survived thanks to her musical talent.


ANITA LASKER-WALLFISCH AND THE POWER OF MUSIC
Hope: a survival strategy
A successful cellist in Great Britain, she toured the world — but long steered clear of Germany. It was only later in her career that she traveled to the land of her birth to tell students and young people about her experiences as a Jew in the Nazi era. A survivor of the Holocaust, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch is now well known in Germany. On July 17, she celebrates her 95th birthday in London.
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This dramatic period in history is brought to life through historical film footage that has been digitally restored and carefully colorized.

The documentary includes scenes of Hitler at the Bayreuth Festival, Furtwängler's birthday concert for the Führer, composer Richard Strauss at the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, and footage of cellist Lasker-Wallfisch being interviewed by British journalists after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she was deported shortly before the end of the war.

Lasker-Wallfisch spoke about antisemitism in the Bundestag in 2018

Lasker-Wallfisch: 'Music is untouchable'

Lasker-Wallfisch can still remember the moment very well. The then 19-year-old wanted the whole world to know about the atrocities committed against Jews. "What I was trying to describe was actually unbelievable. How do you describe Bergen-Belsen? You walk on corpses. It's impossible to describe."

In 1946, the cellist emigrated to Britain. She did not visit Germany again until 1994. After decades of not speaking about what she had experienced, she has extensively discussed her experiences in recent years. In addition to giving numerous lectures, she also gave a speech on the topic of antisemitism at the German Bundestag in 2018.

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch is not bitter and does not hold a grudge. Despite the unimaginable horrors she endured, one thing was always there for her: music. "They can't destroy it! Music is music," she said. "It's untouchable."

The filming of the DW music documentary "The Sound of Dictatorship — Classical Music under the Swastika" has already begun.

This article was translated from German.

SEE  https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Nazi_Culture/_cyR3QyuSdIC?hl=en&gbpv=0

ISS crew shelters as space debris veers close by

Twice on Monday, the seven current occupants of the International Space Station had to go into a docked spaceship, fearing the possible impact of space debris.


Astronauts were forced to take emergency precautions

Fears of being hit by space debris forced the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) to go into a docked spaceship for their safety twice on Monday.

The US State Department said the debris was the result of an anti-satellite missile test Russia carried out targeting one of its own satellites, adding there was now an increased risk to astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS as well as other human space flight activities.

Cosmonaut Piotr Dubrov said the threats were over after the remains of an out-of-service satellite flew by. There were "no signs" of impact, he added.

Anton Shkaplerov, the current ISS commander, tweeted, "Friends, everything is regular with us! We continue to work according to the program."

 


There are currently seven crew members aboard the ISS.

Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, confirmed that the station was "in the green zone."

Had the threats been more dangerous, the crew would have had to quickly return to Earth in the Crew Dragon vessel.

US media cited a statement by the US Space Command confirming "a debris-generating event in outer space," saying that it was looking into identifying the debris field.

Other outlets, citing unnamed officials, reported on a possible test of antisatellite weapons by Russia.

Such incidents are becoming more common as the skies fill with debris.

Last week, The New York Times reported that a piece of debris that was spawned by a Chinese anti-satellite weapon test in 2007 forced the ISS to maneuver itself to avoid it on Wednesday.

The US has long warned that the 2007 destruction of a defunct Chinese satellite by a rocket fired from Earth risked creating potentially catastrophic levels of space debris.

Astronauts Forced to Take Shelter as Debris Cloud Threatens Space Station

Unconfirmed reports suggest the debris cloud was caused by the sudden breakup of a satellite and that a Russian weapons test is responsible.

By
George Dvorsky
Today 11:28AM



The International Space Station

Image: Roscosmos

All seven astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station are having to take shelter inside their respective spacecraft owing to the sudden appearance of a debris cloud in orbit, the source of which remains unclear.

Information is slowly trickling in, but we do know that the ISS is currently functioning normally and that all seven crew members are healthy and safe. The crew had to take shelter earlier this morning due to the sudden appearance of an orbiting debris field. The unexplained breakup of the defunct Russian satellite Kosmos-1408 is currently the leading candidate for the source of the orbiting debris cloud.

NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer are sheltering inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon docked to the ISS, while Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov, and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei are inside a Soyuz capsule, reports Russian state-owned news agency TASS. The astronauts could use these spacecraft to safely return to Earth in the event the ISS is damaged by the debris.

A live feed of NASA mission control is available, allowing you to follow the events as they’re happening.

Related Stories
Space Station Will Make an Emergency Maneuver After Detection of Threatening Space Junk

The crew was instructed to close the hatches between the U.S. and Russian segments, and also the radial hatches that seal off several modules, including the ESA’s Columbus module, as CBS reports. The radial hatches might have to stay closed for an entire day.

In a tweet, Roscosmos said the crew is “routinely performing operations according to the flight program,” and that the threatening “object” has “moved away from the ISS orbit.” By “object,” the Russian space agency is referring to the debris field. The “station is in the green zone,” Roscosmos added.

“Friends, everything is regular with us!,” tweeted Shkaplerov. “We continue to work on the program.”

Despite these words of reassurance, operations aboard the ISS are most certainly not back to normal. Mission controllers are continually providing countdowns of each debris field transit (i.e. the closest approach of the debris field to the ISS). At 10:32 a.m. ET, controllers provided instructions for the NASA crew to temporarily enter into the Columbus module to perform some quick tasks and to collect personal items should they have to remain inside Dragon overnight (a possible indication that this could take a while).

The debris field transits were happening about once every 93 minutes at first, but now they’re happening about once every 30 to 40 minutes. In an email, Harvard University astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said that, assuming it’s a debris field caused by a broken-up satellite, “there will be a big error bar on whether there is risk to ISS, hence the caution.”


The source of the debris field remains unconfirmed, but its sudden appearance coincides with reports that Russia has conducted an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test. In a tweet, Gunter Krebs, a physicist and editor of Gunter’s Space Page, said the target was an “old Soviet Tselina-D SIGINT satellite called Kosmos-1408 (1982-092A) launched in 1982, which has been dead for decades,” and that ”14 debris objects have been tracked.” But Krebs cautions: “So far no confirmation from official sources.”

U.S. Space Force “is aware of a debris-generating event in outer space” and is “working to characterize the debris field and will continue to ensure all space-faring nations have the information necessary to maneuver satellites if impacted,” tweeted space reporter Joey Roulette from the New York Times.

Today’s incident comes less than a week after the ISS had to make an emergency maneuver to evade potentially threatening space junk. In that case, it was a remnant of the Fengyun-1C weather satellite, which China deliberately destroyed in 2007 as part of an anti-satellite missile test. India did something similar in 2019, joining the United States, Russia, and China as countries that have tested anti-satellite weapons. Currently, the use of ASATs “occupy a gray zone” when it comes to international arms control, writes Talia M. Blatt from Harvard University.

Russia destroys satellite in ASAT test

by Jeff Foust — November 15, 2021

The Russian ASAT test destroying Cosmos-1408 drew comparisons to a 2007 Chinese ASAT test that created thousands of pieces of debris still being tracked today. 

Credit: AGI

LAS VEGAS — A Russian satellite broke up in low Earth orbit in a deliberate test of a Russian antisatellite device that created thousands of pieces of debris.

The satellite, Cosmos-1408, appears to have broken up late Nov. 14 or early Nov. 15 Eastern time, based on commercial and government tracking data. The satellite, weighing about 2,000 kilograms, was launched in 1982 and, now defunct, was last tracked in an orbit about 485 kilometers high.

State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed the satellite was destroyed by an ASAT. “The Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive satellite test of a direct-ascent antisatellite missile against one of its own satellites,” he said at a Nov. 15 State Department briefing. “The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that now threaten the interests of all nations.”

He added that the test “will significantly increase the risk to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station, as well as to other human spaceflight activities.”

Early Nov. 15, the seven people on the ISS were instructed to shelter in their Crew Dragon and Soyuz vehicles because of a “debris cloud.” That debris cloud has since made several other close approaches to the station, although no damage was reported. The station’s crew resumed some operations later in the day although parts of the station remain sealed off as a precaution against any impacts.

“Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of outer space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical,” Price said.

Asked later if the United States would file a formal diplomatic protest, Price said the U.S. has “spoken to senior Russian officials multiple times to warn them of the irresponsibility and dangerousness of such a test.” He declined to comment on any “specific measures” the United States government or those of allies would take in response to the test.

The British government also spoke out against the test. “This destructive anti-satellite missile test by Russia shows a complete disregard for the security, safety and sustainability of space,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in a statement. “The debris resulting from this test will remain in orbit putting satellites and human spaceflight at risk for years to come.”

Before the State Department statement, there was widespread speculation that Cosmos-1408 was the victim of an ASAT test, particularly given notices to airmen filed by Russians for a rocket launch from Plesetsk consistent with a direct-ascent ASAT test.

“We are tracking this Cosmos-1408 event. Where there used to be one satellite, we now see six radar detections, which could be individual objects, debris or clouds of debris,” said Dan Ceperley, chief executive of LeoLabs, a few hours before the State Department statement. The company later said it was seeing at least 30 distinct objects.

He later said that his company’s ground-based radars had been tracking Cosmos-1408 as a single object three times a day until detecting multiple objects at 11:20 a.m. Eastern Nov. 15, suggesting that the object broke up within the last day.

Ceperley was speaking on a panel about space domain awareness at the ASCEND conference by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics here Nov. 15. Other panelists also weighed in, calling the incident “unfortunate” by increasing the population of debris in LEO.

“We had the Chinese ASAT in 2007. That’s been our nemesis for an extended period of time. It looks like now we have another one of these. This is not what we need to do,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX and the former longtime head of NASA’s human spaceflight programs.

That 2007 Chinese ASAT test created debris that continues to be a hazard for the satellites and the International Space Station. Last week, the station performed a debris avoidance maneuver when one piece of debris from that test showed a risk of passing close to the station. While the risk diminished before the time of closest approach, NASA and the other ISS partners elected to go ahead with the maneuver in place of a reboost maneuver originally planned for later this month.

US slams Russia for 'irresponsible' space missile test that sparked debris


By AFP
Published November 15, 2021

The United States denounced Russia Monday for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible” missile test that blew up one of its own satellites, creating a debris cloud that forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive action.

“Earlier today, the Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive satellite test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its own satellites,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing.

“The test has so far generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that now threaten the interests of all nations.”

The crew aboard the orbital outpost — currently four Americans, a German and two Russians — had to take shelter in their return ships, which is standard procedure in the event of an emergency that might force evacuation.

Russian space agency Roscosmos downplayed the incident.

“The orbit of the object, which forced the crew today to move into spacecraft according to standard procedures, has moved away from the ISS orbit. The station is in the green zone,” the agency tweeted.

But in his strongly-worded prepared remarks, Price said the danger was far from over.

“This test will significantly increase the risk to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station, as well as to other human spaceflight activities,” he said.

“Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long term sustainability of outer space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical.

“United States will work with our allies and partners to respond to Russia’s irresponsible act,” he added, while declining to comment on specific measures.

Washington and Moscow have maintained strong space ties since the end of the Cold War, despite increasing political tensions in recent years.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also briefed reporters, in a sign of the incident’s strategic significance, and stressed that Russia did not give Washington advance warning of the missile.

“We watch closely the kinds of capabilities that Russia has seemed to want to develop, which could pose a threat not just to our national security interests, but the security incentives of other spacefaring nations,” he said.

“We’ve been very clear, we would like to see norms for space so that it can be used responsibly by all spacefaring nations.”

Industry looks to simplify policy challenges of orbital debris removal

by Jeff Foust — November 14, 2021

Policy challenges associated with active debris removal led ESA to devote its initial efforts on European debris only. Credit: ClearSpace SA Credit: EPFL/J.Caillet

WASHINGTON — Policy issues regarding active debris removal are not as difficult to overcome as many believe, industry officials say, but acknowledge that those challenges may hinder efforts to remove the most dangerous pieces of debris in orbit.

While much of the focus on active debris removal (ADR) involves the technologies needed to capture objects and remove them from orbit, policy challenges may be more significant. For example, removing a derelict satellite or upper stage requires permission of the owner, which can be difficult if the owner is another country.

“When someone looked at the policy and legal feasibility of active debris removal, often the conclusion was that this is too hard, there are so many insurmountable roadblocks. The only conclusion is that we need to have an international institution or an international treaty that is handling active debris removal,” said Josef Koller, co-lead of the Space Safety Institute at The Aerospace Corporation, during a Nov. 9 panel at the ASCEND conference by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He disagreed. “I don’t think we can wait for an international treaty of an international institution,” he said. He published a paper that took a “bottoms-up” approach to the issue to find cases where active debris removal would be feasible from a policy perspective.

There are many scenarios where active debris removal is legally feasible, he said. Those scenarios involve consent between the debris owner and the ADR service provider, regulatory approval and contractual agreement between the parties that addresses liability and related issues.

Charity Weeden, vice president of global space policy for Astroscale U.S., endorsed the approach outlined by Koller in his paper. “We can’t be overwhelmed with, ‘it’s too hard, it’s too expensive,’” she said. “We need to break it down, and there are things that we can do today.”

Active debris removal systems would likely start first with the largest objects, including upper stages and large satellites left behind in orbit. Those objects present the greatest risk of producing large amounts of debris if they break up, either in a collision or on their own.

“If one of them gets involved in either a collision or a breakup, that will immediately produce hundreds of thousands of small ones,” said Holger Krag, head of the European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office. “Large objects are the source of small ones, and we need to tackle the source of debris. That means all our efforts should concentrate on removing large objects.”

One problem with that approach is that many of those objects are Russian or Chinese. A study last year found that the 20 “statistically most concerning” debris objects in orbit were all the same class of Zenit upper stages. Overall, 78% of the top 50 most dangerous objects are upper stages.

“That is one of those harder cases,” Koller acknowledged, but argued it would still be possible to work out an agreement that could allow an American active debris removal system to deorbit a Russian upper stage.

One additional obstacle would be export control regulations, given the sensitivity of ADR technologies. “I think it depends on the technology that is being used for removing that piece of debris,” he said. A net, for example, might pose fewer challenges than a robotic arm or docking mechanism.

“Those 50 bodies are the harder ones. You don’t necessarily have to start there,” he said. “You can start with pilot projects, with objects in the same nation.”

Krag was more skeptical. “There’s technical consensus in the community that these upper stages are the most crucial to be removed,” he said of that top-50 list. “However, my prediction is that we will not see them removed in the near future. There are several legal hurdles to overcome, in particular across national boundaries.” That was a key reason that ESA’s project to remove an upper stage focused on a European one.

Another major emphasis for ADR, he said, was for satellites not yet launched, such as those in megaconstellations that are unable to deorbit themselves. “We will see, hopefully, in the future tighter national guidelines and space laws that mandate a ‘zero debris’ policy,” he said. “That means that an object that is not removed by own means will have to be removed by using these services.”

“These are hard problems, but we can do hard,” said Weeden. “If we developed a COVID vaccine within a year, I think we can tackle the ADR problem.”

WW3.0

India hastens to build strategic Ladakh tunnel amid China conflict

Hundreds of workers are racing to finish what officials say will be India's longest and highest tunnel connecting Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, which shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China.


The tunnel is expected to open to the public on January 25, the eve of India's Republic Day, in 2024

India is ramping up efforts to build the strategic Zojila tunnel in Indian-administered Kashmir, aiming to reduce travel time to Ladakh, where China is increasingly pushing its territorial claims along the so-called Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India has developed a network of tunnels, bridges and roads in Ladakh to allow for a rapid mobilization of troops in the hostile high-altitude region — where temperatures dip as low as -45 degrees Celsius (-49 F).

The tunnel, the mass infrastructure project's last, will pass through Zojila in Indian-administered Kashmir to Sonamarg, which marks the end of conifer-clad mountains before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass.

Officials say the Zojila tunnel, expected to cost $932 million (€815 million), will be India’s longest and highest tunnel, at 11,500 feet (3,485 meters).

The tunnel would not only allow the Indian Army more flexibility in handling logistics — it would also reduce the travel time on Zojila Pass from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes.

The horseshoe-shaped, single-tube bidirectional tunnel would also decrease the distance from Baltal to Minamarg from 40 kilometers (25 miles) to 13 kilometers, said P Arun, deputy general manager execution of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited, which is tasked with building the tunnel.

"It is an engineering marvel. It involves great skill, not just blasting mountains," Arun told DW.

The cutoff time for the completion of the tunnel has been reduced by almost three years, to December 2023. Officials said they hoped that the tunnel would open to the public in 2024 on January 25, the eve of India's Republic Day.

How will Zojila improve livelihoods?

The Zojila Pass, which connects Kashmir's capital city, Srinagar, to Ladakh, an Indian union territory that constitutes part of the larger Kashmir region, is at present accessible about six months per year because of heavy snowing in winter.

Ladakh depends on Kashmir valley for most basic necessities, from vegetables to fuel to medicine. Most essentials must come through the Zojila pass, making life difficult for locals, who are forced to stockpile items for half of the year.

Indian officials are also optimistic that the Zojila tunnel might open up Ladakh to tourists year-round and help facilitate easier delivery of health care products and other basic amenities for the locals.

Asghar Ali, a shopkeeper in Kargil, a city in Ladakh, told DW that much of the produce he purchases for his store in bulk every year typically expires by the time summer arrives.

He said the tunnel would provide him with the luxury to sell as per the daily requirements of the local population.

"It will be a big relief," he said. "It will hopefully change our lives for good."

Asgar Ali Karbalai, a former legislator from Kargil, told DW that Ladakh's isolation from the outside world has a strong impact on the mental health of residents.

"Every winter brings the feeling as if we are being caged. We remain disconnected from the outside world, and it adversely affects our mental health," Karbalai said.

To gain access to the outside world, the people of Kargil have to travel nearly 250 kilometer to Leh airbase — an aerial route to escape the region during winters.

Karbalai said the new tunnel could boost winter sports and tourism in Drass, Zanskar, and other parts of Ladakh.

Many students have welcomed the construction of the tunnel as past closures of the road resulted in missed national university entrance examinations.

Hakeema Bano in Kargil missed her entrance examination for a postgraduate course at Jamia Milia University three years ago in New Delhi after Zojila Pass was closed because of a landslide. She had to wait one year to obtain admission in a postgraduate course later at the Central University of Kashmir.

"Zojila tunnel has discouraged scores of our students to take up higher education because they either miss entrance examinations conducted at national level after paying the fee or can't travel back home for a long time," Bano said.

Countering China and Pakistan

Security analyst Rigzin Spalbar told DW that the Zojila tunnel will be of great importance to India's defense, as military activities increase at the borders in the Ladakh, Gilgit and Baltistan regions.

Both India and China have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers in those areas, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

"The tunnel will provide logistics flexibility to the military and give it operational and strategic mobility. In emergencies, we can quickly make the movement of troops and weaponry to Ladakh through the tunnel," Spalbar said.

India-China tensions have spiked in recent years as New Delhi accused Beijing of sending troops to the borders.

In June last year, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese forces in Ladakh, Indian officials say, marking the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years.

The 13th round of talks between Beijing and Delhi in October to resolve the disputed Himalayan border broke down, with the sides blaming each other for the failure to make progress.

Instead of removing troops from the border over the harsh winter, as many as 50,000 Indian soldiers will stay on the line for a second consecutive year.

Spalbar also pointed out that the alternative routes between Srinagar and Leh are not only long and hazardous in winters, but located close to India's borders with Pakistan and China.

The need for such a tunnel was first felt during the 1999 India-Pakistan Kargil war, and now the recent incursions by China are making it an "urgent necessity," he said.

With China-Pakistan military cooperation becoming stronger in the region, India must speed up work on the tunnel to make Ladakh accessible to the Indian Army by road, Spalbar added.

Edited by: Sou-Jie van Brunnersum

FOR A SECOND TIME

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones found guilty in Sandy Hook defamation cases

Alex Jones was found guilty in four cases brought against him by parents of children killed at Sandy Hook elementary. The American conspiracy theorist has for years claimed the mass shooting was a hoax.


Jones has persistently called the Sandy Hook shooting a hoax

American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was found guilty by default in four defamation cases on Monday.

The cases were brought against him by the families of children killed at Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting. Jones has repeatedly and wrongly claimed the shooting was a hoax.

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families said Jones and his companies, Infowars and Free Speech Systems, violated judicial procedure by not disclosing documents showing how he profited from his portrayal of Sandy Hook and other similar incidents of mass shootings.

Twenty first-grade children were killed at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, during a mass shooting in 2012.

For years, Jones cajoled his listeners on his popular conspiracy theory show into a campaign of targeted harassment against the families of the children killed there.

As the cases against him from families piled up, Jones pivoted and said the Sandy Hook mass shooting was not a hoax.

'Failure to produce' leads to default judgement

Judge Barbara Bellis made the decision to find him guilty by default. She cited Jones and his company's "failure to produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims" in making the rare move.

In a brief in July, the lawyers for the Sandy Hook parents wrote that Jones' "pattern of defying and ignoring court orders to produce responsive information is well established."

Lawyers for Jones responded by denying that they had defied the court's rulings and called for Bellis to be removed, alleging that she was not impartial.

In defaulting judgment to the Sandy Hook families, Bellis will hold a hearing to determine how much Jones must pay the families in damages.
Not Jones' first defamation judgment

In Texas, a judge came to a similar conclusion recently in three defamation lawsuits brought by Sandy Hook families for which Jones failed to produce documents. Jones was held liable for damages, and a hearing has been ordered.

Kiev crematorium doubles cremations as Covid virus deaths soar


Issued on: 15/11/2021 

Smoke rises from the crematorium of a Kiev cemetery, amid high Covid death figures in Ukraine Sergei SUPINSKY AFP

Kiev (AFP) – The Kiev crematorium has been carrying out up to double the number of cremations compared to the summer months, its spokesman told AFP, as Ukraine battles a devastating new wave of coronavirus infections and low vaccination rates.

One of Europe's poorest countries, Ukraine recently reported record numbers of daily Covid-19 deaths and cases, resulting in a significant increase in burials and, in particular, cremations.

"To date, compared to the summer period, the number of processions has doubled," Andriy Yashchenko, a spokesman for the Kiev crematorium, told AFP.

"If during the summer there was on average 60 processions per day, now there are between 100 and 120," he said.

Ukraine reported 442 daily coronavirus fatalities on Monday, the second-highest number in the world after Russia.

Ukrainian authorities initially struggled to source vaccine doses and have since fought to convince vaccine-sceptic Ukrainians to get inoculated.

But new restrictions requiring vaccinations have seen people across the country flock to vaccine centres.

The crematorium -- one of three such facilities in the ex-Soviet country -- is part of one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Kiev.

Yashchenko said the facility has stayed open for hours more than usual in recent weeks, and has sometimes been operating until midnight.

He added that the cremation of coronavirus victims is different as indoor services and open caskets are prohibited.

On Monday, an AFP correspondent saw two processions that followed the cremations of coronavirus victims.

Relatives of the victims distributed candles outside the building, and a priest read a prayer before the closed coffins were taken away for cremation.

Yashchenko said that in October the facility cremated over 2,800 people, compared to 1,400 in August.

Since the start of the pandemic, Ukraine has recorded more than three million coronavirus cases and 77,000 deaths.

video-dg/oc/pvh

© 2021 AFP

Al Jazeera says its chief in Sudan taken to prison


By AFP
November 15, 2021


A man stands waving a Sudanese national flag as people protest against an army power grab on November 13, 2021 - Copyright AFP/File -

Sudanese security forces have taken the bureau chief of Qatari-based Al Jazeera TV to prison even though the prosecution ordered him freed, the broadcaster said Monday.

Al Jazeera journalist Al-Musalami al-Kabbashi, a Sudanese national, was arrested from his home on Sunday, the latest in hundreds of arrests since a military coup three weeks ago.

Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25 declared a state of emergency, ousted the government and detained the civilian leadership.

The army’s power grab has derailed a transition to full civilian rule, sparked international condemnation and provoked regular protests.

Burhan insists the military’s move on October 25 “was not a coup” but a push to “rectify the course of the transition”.

Al Jazeera, which said it “holds the Sudanese military authority responsible for the safety of all its employees”, denounced the detention of Kabbashi, saying that “the prosecution had ordered his release”.

Al Jazeera has given prominent coverage to the recent demonstrations, but has also aired a detailed interview with Burhan.

Other media outlets besides Al Jazeera have also been targeted. Before the coup, Sudan was already ranked 159 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index by the NGO Reporters Without Borders.

It’s not the first time judicial decisions have been disregarded by the coup authorities.

Sudan has continued to remain largely offline even after a court ruled last week that internet services be restored. Judges also ordered the release of detainees arrested during nationwide anti-coup rallies on Saturday but “police took them to an unknown location,” a lawyer, Enaam Attik, told AFP.

Earlier on Monday, medics said the death toll from the weekend protests had risen to eight, bringing the total number killed since last month’s military takeover to 23.

The union named all eight people killed, including a 13-year-old girl who it said had suffered “a shot to the head outside her home”.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee is in Sudan until Tuesday seeking “release from detention of Sudanese political and civilian leaders, the return of Prime Minister Hamdok to office, and the restoration of a civilian-led transitional government.”

Sudan has a long history of military coups, enjoying only rare interludes of democratic rule since independence in 1956.

PEN decries persecution of authors worldwide

On the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, the international writers association highlights the fates of persecuted authors and journalists.


On the "Day of the Imprisoned Writer," International PEN draws special attention to five cases of persecuted authors


Every year on November 15, London-based PEN International launches its Day of the Imprisoned Writer campaign, drawing attention to the fates of imprisoned or persecuted authors. Observed over a period of four days, this campaign also commemorates those who have died as a result of exercising their right to freedom of expression.

On the 40th anniversary of the campaign this year, PEN is drawing particular attention to the fates of four imprisoned authors: Rahile Dawut (China/Xinjiang), Selahattin Demirtas (Turkey), Mohammed Al-Roken (United Arab Emirates), Maykel Osorbo (Cuba), as well as a collective case of 12 Eritrean writers.

"Worldwide, the threat to authors and female writers has unfortunately not diminished," explained Ralf Nestmeyer, PEN Germany's vice president and coordinator for the Writers in Prison program. "We are greatly concerned by the situation in all those countries where freedom of expression is suppressed, and intellectuals are imprisoned."
Gloomy picture of freedom of expression

According to PEN's research on the Uyghur minority, the scientist Rahile Dawut is presumably interned in the People's Republic of China.

Selahattin Demirtas is former deputy chairman of a pro-minority political party in Turkey, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)

The Turkish politician, lawyer, and writer Selahattin Demirtas has been behind bars since 2016. In one trial, he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for supposed terror propaganda. Demirtas, who is an honorary member of PEN Germany, is facing other pending legal proceedings.

In the United Arab Emirates, human rights lawyer Mohammed Al-Roken has been in prison since 2012. He is accused of founding a secret organization to overthrow the government.

Cuban rapper Maykel Osorbo has been imprisoned in Pinar del Rio Prison since May 2021 on charges of "public disorder" and "resisting police officers."

The situation is worsening for writers

PEN International's Writers-in-Prison Committee in London has painted a grim picture of the state of freedom of expression. In addition to new cases, this year's statistics also list the fates of acutely threatened writers who have faced decades of judicial arbitrariness.

In Turkey, for example, trials are still underway against several authors and more than 40 journalists who were arrested between 2009 and 2010 and were only released on parole years later. There is no end in sight to these trials, PEN said. In Eritrea, five writers have been imprisoned since 2001 and their whereabouts are unknown.
Many journalists murdered

PEN has also condemned the murders of journalists, referring to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). According to this, 22 media workers were killed because of their reporting — twice as many as in 2020. Mexico and Afghanistan are among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

In addition, 44 women writers have been imprisoned, tried, attacked or threatened for protesting human rights abuses, exposing corruption, criticizing their governments or defending the rights of minorities, the research states.

For example, the writer and human rights activist Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee has been imprisoned in deplorable conditions in Iran for describing the stoning of a woman in an unpublished short story.

In Turkey, according to the latest reports, Nobel Prize winner for literature Orhan Pamuk is again facing trial for allegedly insulting the Turkish state founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the Turkish flag in his novel "Nights of Plague" published in March this year.
Hermann Kesten Prize for Irena Brezna

In Brazil, the writer Patricia Campos Mello had investigated the possible illegal financing of President Jair Bolsonaro's election campaign, which led to the latter making degrading comments about her. Campos Mello later brought legal action against him, and the Brazilian president was eventually found guilty of damaging her honor and was forced to pay her compensation.

Feminist artist collective LasTesis from Chile faced accusations of violence after collaborating with Russian punk band Pussy Riot for a video production. In it, they denounce police violence, the increase in domestic violence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and social inequality.

Supporters of jailed WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, are calling for the investigative journalist's release

The German PEN Center is also now campaigning for Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks disclosure platform, who is imprisoned in London. The writers' association demands that the investigative journalist not be extradited to the US, and recently named Assange its honorary member.

On November 18, German PEN will present this year's Hermann Kesten Prize to author Irena Brezna in Darmstadt. The €10,000 ($11,500) award honors personalities who, in the spirit of the charter of the PEN International, have shown special commitment to persecuted and imprisoned writers and journalists.

Deutsche Welle also provides information on the fate of writers, publishers, bloggers, and journalists on its special page dw.com/freedomofspeech.

This article was translated from German.

'I'm willing' to run for Brazil president, says Lula

AFP , Monday 15 Nov 2021

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday he is ready to stand for election to take back the reins from his far-right successor, Jair Bolsonaro.

An electronic billboard installed at a gas station reads Sao Felix do Xingu repudiates this criminal , in reference to former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the city of Sao Felix do Xingu, Para state, Brazil, on September 23, 2021. AFP

But while declaring "I'm willing, I'm motivated, I'm in good health" to be a candidate, Lula said he would only make his decision early next year, months before the October 2022 election.

Related

 Brazil's Lula could beat Bolsonaro in first-round 2022 vote, poll shows

 Brazil tops 500,000 Covid-19 deaths: Minister

 Brazil’s Bolsonaro says military would follow his orders to take the streets

Speaking in Brussels at a media conference in the European Parliament, alongside the head of the legislature's Socialists and Democrats grouping, Lula, 76, made his opinion of Bolsonaro clear.

"Bolsonaro is a copy of Trump," Lula said, disparaging the former US leader, Donald Trump.

"He's a poor copy of Trump. But Bolsonaro doesn't think, he doesn't have any ideas," Lula said, accusing his successor of ensuring that all the beneficial legacies from Lula's era in power were "torn down".

Lula, a former trade union leader who was president between 2003 and 2010, is credited with a hefty lead way ahead of Bolsonaro in voter intention polls.

In Brussels, he again dismissed as "persecution" graft charges that landed him in prison during the last election, in 2018, but which were overturned this year by Brazil's supreme court.

Since being freed, Lula has cut a figure as a presidential candidate-in-waiting for next year's polls.

He said of his Workers Party: "We need to have someone who stands, we need to win the elections. And at the same time, we have to rebuild Brazil."

He added that, "in February or March, I will decide whether I stand or not. It depends on whether the party wants me to be a candidate."

Brazil Ex-Leader Lula Gets a Warm EU Welcome, Unlike Bolsonaro

Samy Adghirni, Bloomberg News

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's former president, during a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil, on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. Lula said that he is not yet discussing political composition for the 2022 elections and that he has not yet decided on names to become vice president or Economy Minister. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Former Brazilan President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is leading the polls ahead of next year’s election. He’s also getting a warm reception as he tours Europe, in stark contrast with the country’s current leader, Jair Bolsonaro. 

Only days after Bolsonaro appeared isolated at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Rome, Lula managed to secure a number of high profile meetings with European officials. 

Lula On Sunday, met the European Union’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, who said on Twitter that they had “good exchange” on EU-Latin American relations. 

On Tuesday, Lula will be greeted by Paris mayor and presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo. And Last week, he was hosted by Germany’s Chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz. “I am delighted by our good discussions and look forward to continue our dialogue!” Scholz said. 

The two Brazilian leaders couldn’t be more different. Lula is a former union-leader who ran the country between 2003 and 2010 on an income redistribution platform fueled by higher commodity prices. He saw his star power fade after a massive corruption probe that landed him in jail until 2019. A Supreme Court justice eventually annulled Lula’s convictions, clearing the way for him to run for office again.

Bolsonaro, meanwhile, is a far-right ex-Army captain with a liking for guns who was elected in 2018 on a promise to fight corruption and defend traditional family values. His mandate has been marred by his poor handling of the coronavirus and a sluggish economy. He’s also been skeptical of climate-change.

Lula would win a runoff Bolsonaro, according to polls. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

LULA BEGINS TOUR TO MEET WITH EUROPEAN LEFTIST LEADERS

Entornointeligente.com / Among the countries to be visited by the leader of the Workers’ Party are Germany, Belgium, France and Spain.

The former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, begins a tour of four European countries this Thursday. He will hold meetings with political and social leaders to strengthen ties with the European left.

In Germany, Belgium, France and Spain, da Silva will discuss the world scenario and current affairs in Latin America. In Berlin, he will meet with the former leader of the German Social Democratic Party (SDP), the political group that won the last elections, Martin Schulz.

According to local media, the Workers’ Party (PT) leader has a previous relationship with the also former president of the European Parliament, and Shulz traveled to Brazil in 2018 to visit him in prison.

After his release, in March 2020, Lula returned to Berlin, an auspicious moment to meet with party president Norbert Walter-Borjans.

Meanwhile, in Belgium, he will join a debate in the European Parliament and dialogue with Social Democratic leaders.

Já em solo europeu para uma série de compromissos nos próximos dias. Na agenda: diálogos pela Alemanha, Bélgica, França e Espanha. Começamos hoje por Berlim com uma intensa rodada de encontros. Outro Brasil é possível. E vamos lembrar o mundo disso.

 @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/snCWgvP56m

— Lula (@LulaOficial) November 11, 2021 “Already on European soil for a series of engagements in the coming days. On the agenda: dialogues in Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. We start today in Berlin with an intense round of meetings. Another Brazil is possible. And we will remind the world of this.”

Also, in France, he will attend a conference on Brazil at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences Po). The meeting takes place in the framework of the tenth anniversary of Lula being the first Latin American leader in receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the institution, one of the most respected in the world.

On November 17, the former president will receive the Political Courage Award 2021, granted by the magazine Politique Internationale for his “desire to promote equality” during his term as president.

In Paris, the leader of the South American giant will meet with Mayor Anne Hidalgo, presidential pre-candidate, and while in Spain, he will add to his European tour with other high-level meetings.

Lula will be accompanied on his travels by PT leaders, former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Pernambuco Senator Humberto Costa.

LINK ORIGINAL: Telesurtvi

Entornointeligente.com

THE INTERVIEW: LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA

REPORT
10 November 2021
Brazil

Brazil’s former leader is the frontrunner in polls for the 2022 presidential election, well ahead of Jair Bolsonaro. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would have run in 2018 had he not had his political rights withdrawn and been imprisoned for 580 days. This year, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that the lawsuits that led to his conviction were illegal and that former judge Sergio Moro had been biased in the way he oversaw Lula’s corruption trial. In an exclusive interview with Leonardo Sakamoto for New Internationalist, Lula talks about the most urgent issues of the day, what kept him going through his darkest hours, and his plans for the future.

RICARDO STUCKERT/INSTITUTO LULA

Joe Biden has made climate change a priority. Would a new PT (Workers’ Party) government do the same, considering that this would mean changing the Brazilian industrial framework?

Under the PT – and back in 2009 during COP-15 in Copenhagen – Brazil set out to meet ambitious carbon reduction targets. We reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 80 per cent, while the United States hadn’t even signed the Kyoto Protocol. So, I congratulate the US on reviewing the stance it has taken on this issue.

Brazil’s development cannot be dissociated from an environmental agenda that includes: watershed recovery, sustainable agribusiness, recycling co-operatives in cities, forest preservation, the situation of nut gatherers, rubber tappers, and fishers in the Amazon. Also, the carbon compensation market and decentralized clean energy generation.

[There are] opportunities for biotechnology, for preserving the forest, for investing in solar and wind energy, particularly in the northeast. [These are] central to the future the country needs to rebuild, to create jobs, income and quality of life for its population.

In your government there was conflict between the environmental agenda and the development agenda, environment minister Marina Silva clashing with mining and energy minister Dilma Rousseff. How can Brazil’s international environmental credibility be restored, especially after Bolsonaro, while holding on to economic growth?

There was no conflict. There was debate. What happened in my government was that we combined the largest environmental and indigenous reserves ever created in the country’s history, deforestation reduction, advances in waste treatment and environmental regulation with economic development and social inclusion. We reduced unemployment and eliminated hunger while strengthening environmental agencies and agendas. We had credibility in both areas because we were serious and talked to everyone. That’s not conflict; it’s debate, it’s democracy, where disagreement is just natural on some issues. Debate creates improvement.

Bolsonaro evoked nationalism to support his disastrous approach to the environment. How are you going to convince Brazilians that a large part of the Amazon may belong to Brazil but it does not exist simply to be destroyed by Brazilians?


I don’t need to convince Brazilians of that because that’s what Brazilians already think. The vast majority of Brazilians want the forest to remain. We must not mistake Bolsonaro for Brazil or mistake some outlaw landgrabbers, a backward minority of landowners, for Brazilians in general.

Do you regret your previous relationship with big business and economic power?

I don’t regret it because my relationship with businesses – Brazilian or foreign – has always been republican, legal and focused on creating jobs and development for Brazil. [The ‘Car Wash’ anti-bribery prosecutors] investigated my life from top to bottom and found nothing. They had to invent a conviction for ‘indeterminate acts’. Even Moro could find no wrongdoing. If business people break the law, they’ll have to pay, lose control of their companies, go to jail, but jobs and development projects have to be preserved. Today, those who overthrew [former President] Dilma [Rousseff], promising paradise and then destroying the country in the process, are the ones with a credibility problem.
The future of Brazil cannot be separated from an environmental agenda

How will you reconnect with your base and other people who supported the PT in the early days but may have lost faith since?

There is a younger generation that got to know Brazil under the PT. They didn’t know what it had been like before that. Today they see Brazil as similar to what it used to be [like] before my government. Now these young people are understanding the struggle of my generation, and the PT, for democracy; for workers’ rights and against extreme poverty and social inequalities.

Critics of your foreign policy claim that while it was proactive, it did not consolidate its achievements. They mention UNUSUR (the Union of South American Nations) and ASPA (the Summit of South American-Arab Countries).

It takes time to build – which was what we were doing. Demolishing is quick. Those who came later to destroy South American integration and South-South co-operation, in Brazil and other countries, [could] only restore an almost colonial order in international relations. The resulting disaster is in plain sight. Many countries are already starting to build a multilateral and integration-oriented policy in the region, which will be strengthened when Brazil returns to a more humane path.

Containing China’s advance is a growing concern in some quarters. Do you think there will be a new Cold War, between China and the West?

I think it would be a mistake. The world no longer has room for a Cold War. We need co-operation to tackle global problems – problems that are common to everyone, such as climate change, hunger, poverty and pandemics. The world wastes too much time and resources on conflicts.

President Biden is pushing public spending to previously unthinkable levels and strengthening the role of the State. The opposite is being done in Brazil. Did we swap positions with the US?

The Biden administration has taken correct measures at a domestic level to restore the economy, the population’s standard of living and purchasing power, and the role of labour unions. Developed countries often adopt policies internally and then, through international organizations, oppose the same measures in developing countries.

After the 2016 coup [in Brazil], a series of absurd measures to dismantle the state, labour and environmental legislation, education and public health, were introduced. Public spending was to be frozen for 20 years. Of course, in practice they had to approve special spending to address the Covid-19 pandemic. A country’s life cannot be frozen for 20 years.

You have personally suffered in recent years with the obstruction of your candidacy, your imprisonment for 580 days, the loss of your grandson and your wife. How has this changed you? What kept you going in your darkest hours?

What kept me going even in the most difficult times was the certainty of my innocence, my faith in God, and solidarity from so many people. The people who were at the vigil [outside the prison], who stayed there for 580 days... Many people who didn’t even agree with me politically but made a point of defending truth and justice against the absurd and politically motivated conviction I suffered.

I know that what [was done against] me was against a political alternative for millions of Brazilians who had always been ignored by the state. I can’t reverse the time I lost or my sadness at the loss of loved ones. But I’m not interested in wasting time feeling hatred and resentment. I left [prison] cherishing every moment even more, every little thing I could do to build a better Brazil and a better world.

This article is from the September-October 2021 issue of New Internationalist.

| ENGLISH ENGLISH

President of Cuba congratulated Lula da Silva on his 76th birthday

by Prensa Latinaoctober 28, 2021

President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, sent a message of congratulations to ex-president of Brazil (2003-2010) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the occasion of his 76th birthday.

In a message on Twitter, the president recalled the birthday of the Brazilian leader celebrated yesterday, and expressed the Cuban people's admiration for him.

'Happy birthday and all days of struggle that lie ahead, dear brother @LulaOficial, Victor over hatred and political traps. Hugs from #Cuba that admires you, for you and your beloved #Brasil', he wrote.

Happy this and all the days of struggle that you have ahead, dear brother @LulaOficial, victor of hatred and political traps. A hug from #Cuba who admires you, for you and your beloved #Brasil pic.twitter.com/5cya5ia72E

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) October 28, 2021

Lula also received congratulations from the 'Partido de los trabajadores' PT (Workers' Party) of which he is a founding member and honorary president, and considered him the hope for a better Brazil.

According to a note published on the PT's official website, 'this anniversary has a special taste' because it is the first since Lula, 'as he promised, proved his innocence and showed he had been the victim of judicial persecution that tried to do away with his political leadership'.

The failed attempt took him out of the 2018 elections and kept him in prison for 580 days, but 'it did not get any close to erasing the brilliance of this Brazilian giant', the message said.

President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, also celebrated on Twitter the story of the struggle for the leader's people and wished him many more years of success.

Politicians, intellectuals, artists, students and workers from various parts of the world joined in the congratulations and turned hashtags #LulaDay and #ParabensPresidenteLula into the most commented ones on Twitter.

During his mandate, Lula achieved economic success for his country, mostly in reducing poverty, with social programs such as Zero Hunger or Bolsa Familiar (Family Fund), which helped bring some 30 million people out of poverty in less than a decade.