Do chimpanzees have the right to life?

YES

Non-human primates are self-aware. And they plan for the future. So should they get basic rights like humans? The Swiss canton of Basel, home to drug research, has voted.

Apes like the chimpanzee are close relatives of humans. Should they have similar rights to us?

In a referendum on Sunday, people in the Swiss canton of Basel voted against giving non-human primates the right to life and physical and mental integrity.

Almost 75% rejected a plan to give non-human primates similar rights to humans.

It was a contentious referendum, as referendums often are. But in this specific case the question of whether non-human primates should be given or deserve basic rights, such as human rights, was contentious because of where it took place.

Basel is the third-most populous city in Switzerland. It is also home to two large, international pharmaceutical companies, Roche and Novartis. Both have used animals in their research to develop drugs.

Neither company current works with primates, and as private companies, Roche and Novartis would have been exempt from any local law on basic rights for primates. It would only have applied to public institutions, such as hospitals and the university in town.

A world first

"It's the first time, globally, that an electorate got to vote on whether non-human primates should have basic rights," said Tamina Graber, head of the campaign for primates' rights at Sentience, the group that initiated the Basel referendum.

Speaking before the vote, Graber told DW they hoped that other cantons in Switzerland and indeed other countries would also "consider whether we humans are the only ones who can have rights."

Switzerland's animal welfare law aims to "protect the dignity and welfare of animals." But Graber said it does not offer sufficient protection to animals.

The law, Graber said, places the interest of humans, no matter how small, over the interests of non-human primates, no matter how big.

MONKEY ISLAND: HOME OF THE LIBERIAN LAB CHIMPS

Medical tests on chimpanzees

In 1974, researchers from the US nonprofit blood bank, the New York Blood Center (NYBC), opened an experimental laboratory on the west coast of Liberia. Working with the Liberia Biomedical Research Institute, they trapped wild chimpanzees and used them to conduct research and drug trials.

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That's why they are campaigning for more fundamental rights — specifically for non-human primates, apes, such as chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

"They are our closest relatives. We know the most about what they want," said Graber. "Science has taught us that they want to live, that they plan for the future and that they want to remain physically and mentally unharmed."
'Animals experience feelings'

Switzerland is not the only country where animal rights have been in the news lately.

The UK government introduced an Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill in 2021, which is still passing through Parliament. But with it, the UK would formally recognize animals as sentient beings.

That means that "any new legislation [would] have to take into account the fact that animals can experience feelings such as pain or joy," the government wrote in a press release last year.

The measures would stop most live animal exports and stop people from keeping primates as pets. But it would not ban animal testing.

Watch video 42:36 Rough ride: The cruelty of animal transports

A ban on animal testing would have disastrous consequences, said Understanding Animal Research, a British nongovernmental organization that says it advocates for the humane use of animals in research.

"A ban on using animals in research would remove the only way of deriving information that's vital for medical, veterinary and environmental science," said Chris Magee, the organization's head of policy and media.
It's not just about avoiding suffering

As for the situation in Germany, some say there's a problem with implementing the law.

Karsten Brensing, a biologist and behavioral scientist, said Germany's animal welfare laws are good.

But he said people don't fully adhere to the laws, such as in providing ethical practices in animal farming, known as husbandry.

"Biologically, adequate husbandry isn't just about avoiding pain and suffering for the animals," said Brensing. "It's about actively ensuring that the animals have joy in their lives.

Watch video 02:41 Factory farming under pressure

 

Studies on empathy in animals

Brensing said the initiative for primates' basic rights in Switzerland is "fully reasonable, scientifically speaking."

Primates have a sense of self, he said — they exhibit cognitive abilities, such as logical thinking, and they display empathy. Other animals, such as rodents, have also demonstrated care for one another.

For example, in one study, rats were given the choice of either freeing other rats from a cage or getting a chocolate treat. And the results seemed to suggest that the rats preferred helping others than treating themselves. They were even observed cuddling each other after the caged rats were freed.

"They do experience empathy," said Brensing. "And if rats have that, primates definitely have it, too."

Rats are willing to give up sweet treats in order to free other rats

Human vs. animal experiences

Some researchers question whether animals truly experience empathy or whether our observations are a case of researchers transferring their own human experiences and emotional needs onto non-human animals.

Peter Kunzmann, a professor of ethics in veterinary medicine, said it's dangerous to ascribe rights to animals based on human attributes.

Kunzmann, who teaches at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, is against initiatives like the one started by Sentience in Basel.

"I am a big defender of the principle of human dignity and of the concept that there are certain things humans deserve by sheer virtue of being human," said Kunzmann. "And I get very, very concerned when there are attempts to dilute this. Humans have rights and dignity simply because they are human."

Sentience said it's not calling for human rights as they apply to people, "but fundamental rights adjusted for non-human primates."

But he remains concerned.

"If you're consistent with this, a number of people would lose the status that grants them rights," said Kunzmann. "Newborns would have different rights from adults because they [lack] intelligence and don't have plans for the future yet. Mentally ill people could lose their rights, dementia patients would lose them, people in a coma would, too."

Kunzmann does, however, believe that animals deserve to be treated in a respectful way.

HOW ANIMALS HEAL THEMSELVES ― AND GET HIGH

Magic of zoopharmacognosy

Being sick is a drag. Animals think so, too. Many different species use remedies found in nature to take care of their wounds or get rid of parasites (or, in some cases, to get high). The process of animals healing themselves is called zoopharmacognosy. Recently, researchers observed how chimpanzees in Gabon treat their wounds.

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Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

SEE MUTUAL AID

Extreme heat and plastic pollution push oceans to brink

As world leaders meet in France to discuss ocean protection, two major studies show how burning fossil fuels and throwing away plastic waste have created unprecedented environmental catastrophes for marine life.


Plastic that has entered the oceans is almost impossible to remove, conservationists warn

Plastic pollution now plagues almost every species living in the oceans and, at the same time, sea surface temperatures once considered extreme have now become normal.

Those are the findings of two separate studies published in February ahead of the ongoing One Ocean Summit, a conference organized by French President Emmanuel Macron to protect marine life from overfishing, climate change and pollution. Together, the research papers tell a story of an ecosystem vital to human survival that is increasingly under attack.

The first study, published in the journal Plos Climate, found heat that used to be considered rare had become normal for most of the world's oceans. "Extreme climate change is not a hypothetical future possibility," the researchers wrote, "but a past historical event that has already occurred in the global ocean."

Dead sea turtles have washed up on beaches with bags, bottle caps and other bits of plastic in their stomachs

The second study, commissioned by conservation organization WWF and conducted by scientists at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute, reviewed thousands of academic papers to find regions like the Mediterranean and East China Sea had passed critical pollution thresholds. It documented negative impacts of plastic on 88% of 297 species studied. In some cases, species ingest or become entangled in plastic, in others they "colonize" it.

The findings are shocking but cover only a fraction of the lifeforms under threat, Heike Vesper, director of WWF Germany's marine program, told DW. "It's like turning on a pocket torch in the dark."

Hotter oceans

When two ecologists from Monterey Bay Aquarium, a US conservation group, saw a marine heat wave devastate giant kelp forests off the coast of California, they decided to work out how extreme it really was. They took 150 years of sea surface temperature measurements to set a historical benchmark of extreme heat in the oceans. In the late 19th century, the researchers found such temperatures happened in about 2% of the sea area.

Then the Industrial Revolution took off.

As people began to burn fossil fuels to power machines and heat their homes, they released gases into the atmosphere that trapped sunlight and warmed the planet. That greenhouse effect has pushed global average temperatures about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher. At the same time, it has made heat waves dramatically more likely.

Burning fossil fuels like coal has raised global temperatures and endangered marine life

More than half the world's oceans experienced extreme heat in 2014, the researchers found. The area of ocean seeing such temperatures rose in each year that followed. In 2019, it reached 57% of the total ocean surface. The hotter temperatures have pushed fish out of their natural habitats and rocked entire ecosystems.

"We're not just talking about sea turtles and whales and tuna," said Kyle Van Houtan, former chief scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium and co-author of the study, adding that ocean heating was also a question of livelihoods and national security. "Three billion people on this planet every day get their primary source of protein from the ocean."

Fish is the main protein source for almost half the people on the planet

The researchers described the extreme heat as a "new normal."

Other scientists have stressed that while the climate today is not the same as it was before, it is on track to get even hotter. Because every additional ton of carbon pollution in the atmosphere heats the planet further, temperatures that are considered normal today will be considered cool in the future.

"[Calling it a] 'new normal' makes it sound like we already passed through a change and now it's done," said Scott Denning, a climate scientist at Colorado State University. "But instead we are climbing a steep slope for which there's no end in sight."
Plastic pollution

A separate pollution crisis is also threatening underwater plants and animals.

Plastic pollution is found everywhere in the oceans and is almost impossible to remove once it gets in, the WWF/Alfred Wegener study found. Even if plastic pollution were to stop today, the authors warned, the amount of microplastic in the ocean would double as bigger pieces break down.

"The most important finding is that once plastic has started to decompose into microplastic or nanoparticles, it can no longer be removed from the system," said Vesper of WWF Germany. "The ocean is the final sink for plastic waste on this planet."

Only 9% of plastic made has ever been recycled, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances in 2017. About 12% has been burned, while the rest has been thrown into landfills, dumps and nature. While some landfills are tightly secured, plastic that has been left lying around eventually gets into waterways that carry it to the sea.

Plastic waste in unsecured landfills often ends up in waterways

The study authors warned that the observed declines in marine life were hard to trace back to any single factor because the oceans are so overwhelmed with threats that range from temperature change and ocean acidification to pollution and overfishing. But an increase in plastic pollution would provide a further threat to species, the study found.

Coral reefs, for instance, as so vulnerable to warming that they would be effectively wiped out if temperatures were to rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At 1.5 Celsius — the temperature threshold to which world leaders have pledged to aim to limit global warming — about three-quarters of corals would be lost.

But on top of that, said Vesper, plastic pollution blocks out sunlight and damages corals with its abrasive edges. "The two together are a real disaster."

Protecting oceans

Conservation groups like the WWF have called for a legally binding global treaty on plastic waste with "specific, clear and universally applicable rules" for the entire life cycle of artificial products. The calls have been echoed by companies like Coca-Cola, Nestle and Unilever — which sell products like soft drinks and shampoo packaged in single-use plastic — ahead of a UN summit in February to tackle plastic pollution.

Previous global UN treaties on the environment have been criticized as ineffective for making reductions in pollution voluntary. The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, for instance, does not set binding targets for how much countries should cut their carbon pollution each year.

At the One Ocean Summit in the French port of Brest, which ends Friday, world leaders have met to discuss topics like deep sea mining, greater protection for the high seas and plans to safeguard 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.


INTO THE BLUE: CELEBRATING HEALTHY OCEANS
Protecting our blue planet
This year's World Oceans Day is committed to the goal of protecting at least 30% of the "blue planet" by 2030. Not only for safeguarding marine life that is disappearing at twice the rate of land species, the 30% goal also aims to protect oceans from climate-linked temperature rise that is bleaching coral reefs and reducing the oxygen in water required for life.
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Edited by: Jennifer Collins

Sweden: UN experts call for scrapping iron ore mine

Two independent UN human rights experts called on Sweden to scrap a planned iron ore mine. They said the mine would create a significant amount of toxic waste on land used by Sweden's indigenous Sami people


Sami herders in Jokkmokk, Sweden, site of a proposed iron ore mine

Two UN human rights experts called on Sweden to scrap plans for an iron ore mine Thursday.

The independent experts, Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, a special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, and David Boyd, the special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, asked Sweden's government to withhold a license for the proposed project.

They said the mine would create a significant amount of toxic waste and other contaminants and would cause "irreversible risks" to land used by Sweden's indigenous Sami people.

The British company Beowulf Mining and Swedish subsidiary Jokkmokk Iron Mines AB are seeking permission from the Swedish state to go forward with plans for the iron ore mine.

The Sami have expressed concerns over the proposed mine and said it would disrupt reindeer herding, as well as hunting and fishing, and destroy the land.

Sweden's Sami fight for their rights

Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg joined a protest organized by the Sami people against the proposed mine over the weekend.

"The future of humanity should be prioritized above the short-term profit of a company," Thunberg said in a statement.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined Indigenous activists over the weekend at a protest against the proposed mine

What concerns do the UN experts have?

The mine, proposed for the Gallok region, has gone forward without the "free, prior and informed consent" of the indigenous Sami people, the UN's independent experts charged.

The rights experts said the proposed open-pit mine could endanger the lives and livelihoods of Sami people, as well as interrupt the migration of reindeer that the Sami herd for sustenance.

The experts pointed to a law passed by the Swedish authorities on January 27, which has yet to go into effect but states that the government is required to consult with the Sami people over actions that concern them.

In a statement, the experts noted: "There has been insufficient assessment and recognition of the environmental damage the mine will cause."

UN rapporteurs work on a voluntary basis with a mandate from the UN-backed Human Rights Council. They do not represent the UN in an official capacity.
Who are the Sami people?

The Sami are indigenous to the Sampi region of a part of Sweden historically known as Lapland.

An estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Sami people live in Sweden, of an approximate total of 100,000 Sami residing in Sweden and in the vast Arctic wilderness of northern Finland, Norway and the Kola peninsula in Russia.

Their lifestyle is at risk because of industrial mining and forestry, which encroach on their grazing lands.

For much of the 20th century, the Sami people were targeted by state policies that treated their culture as inferior.

In recent years, the governments of Finland, Norway and Sweden — but not Russia — have moved to atone for a brutal past by returning artifacts stolen from the Sami people and stepping up efforts to examine past policies against them.

The Sami people maintain that their rights go unrecognized and their lands remain vulnerable to exploitation as governments court foreign mining companies.

ar/sms (AFP, AP)

Tunisia: Protests after president tightens grip on judiciary

Thousands of Tunisians have demonstrated in the capital after President Kais Saied granted himself new judicial powers in a decree. Saied can now unilaterally fire and block appointments of judges.


Some Tunisians believe President Kais Saied's latest moves are endangering the country's nascent democracy

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tunisia on Sunday, following a controversial presidential decree published in the early hours.

President Kais Saied has given himself powers over the judiciary by establishing a new judicial watchdog which allows him to fire judges and block promotions and appointments.

Protesters demand judicial independence

Around 2000 people demonstrated in the capital Tunis after the president's order, with many waving flags and shouting slogans.

Protesters carried signs with one reading "don't touch the judiciary!" while another read "save our democracy!"

Youssef Bouzakher, who is head of the now-defunct Supreme Council, described the decree as "unconstitutional that ends guarantees of the independence of the judiciary."

Saied said Thursday that he would issue the decree which effectively dissolves the Superior Council of the Judiciary. This is the main legal body overseeing judges and one of the last remaining institutions working independently of Saied.

The announcement led to judges and lawyers protesting outside the Palace of Justice. The new decree also bars members of the judiciary from taking part in protest action.

The decree effectively dissolves the main legal body that has oversight of the judiciary, a move that brought judges and lawyers onto the streets to protest earlier in the week

Decree could 'end democratic experiment'

A "Temporary Supreme Judicial Council" consisting of 21 members will be established. Nine of the members must be appointed by the president, and they will have to swear "to preserve the independence of the judiciary."

Said Benarbia, the regional director of the International Commission of Jurists, told AFP news agency that the decree "enshrines the subordination of the judiciary to the executive".

"If implemented, it would effectively end judicial independence and the separation of powers in Tunisia, and with it, the democratic experiment in the country," Bernabia said.

Last July, Tunisia was plunged into a constitutional crisis when Saied suspended the country's parliament, dismissed the sitting prime minister and granted himself executive powers.

He said that the "exceptional measures" were intended to save Tunisia from collapse.
Supporters welcomed his moves, describing Tunisia's whole political system as corrupt. Critics say he is leading the country toward authoritarian rule.

kb/wd (AFP, Reuters)

Russia-Ukraine crisis: Who supplies weapons to Kyiv?

Germany has repeatedly rejected delivering arms to Ukraine. But in the face of the continuing Russian military buildup, NATO countries have sent thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition to Kyiv.


Almost every day, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov posts new pictures on his Twitter account, invariably showing large transport planes crammed with huge heavy crates. Inside the crates are weapons and ammunition that the US and UK are sending to Ukraine.

The purpose is to strengthen Ukraine in the face of the massive Russian troop buildup on its border. According to the Ukrainian government, Western partners have already provided Kyiv with $1.5 billion in military aid. Germany has so far rejected arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Javelin and NLAW: Anti-tank missiles from the US and UK

Some of the planes Resnikov welcomed on Twitter transported Javelin and NLAW missiles to Kyiv. As part of the "Blizzard 2022" military drill that has just begun, many Ukrainian soldiers will probably shoulder these freshly delivered anti-tank weapons for the first time. After being launched from the shoulder, the "fire and forget" system does not require further guidance. Their small size and light weight make these weapons highly mobile.

Since 2019, the US has provided Ukraine with the Javelin system of launchers and actual missiles. Information on the exact number varies, but hundreds of the missiles have likely been delivered to Ukraine since the fall of 2021 alone. The US government has also given permission to the Baltic states to transfer Javelin missiles from their stockpiles to Ukraine.

Javelin is considered the most advanced anti-tank weapon in the world; it can engage targets such as armored vehicles or bunkers from more than 2,000 meters (approx. 6,500 ft). Javelin can also destroy heavy tanks with a "top-attack" on their roof, where there is the least armor protection.

This also applies to the similarly functioning NLAW missiles from British stocks, which, however, have a shorter range. London most recently provided Ukraine with about 2,000 NLAW missiles.

"These systems are precisely what we need most," says Mykola Bielieskov of the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, an institution that advises the Ukrainian president on security issues. "They are very easy to integrate into our army arsenal and soldiers can learn how to fire them very quickly," Bielieskov told DW. "In the event of a Russian attack, their mass employment would be very effective. That is why we need more of them."

Ukrainian soldiers training with NLAW military materiel 

during a drill in western Ukraine

Russian air superiority

In terms of numbers and weaponry, the Russian army is clearly superior to Ukraine's. That is especially true for its air force. "In the event of an attack, the Russians could achieve air superiority within two to three days by completely eliminating the Ukrainian air force and knocking down air defenses," says Gustav Gressel, a security policy expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. Russia not only has many more fighter jets than does Ukraine, but its military is also capable of monitoring radio and radar of Ukrainian aircraft and air defense, since the technology is Soviet-made. In addition, Gressel said, Ukrainian pilots have logged fewer flight hours than Russian pilots because the aircraft are being kept on the ground due to a shortage of spare parts.

"All this makes the Russian air force superior," Gressel told DW. "And once Russia has air superiority, it has free play to attack ground forces. Then it can also use drones in Ukrainian airspace to locate Ukrainian formations, and order artillery strikes on them. That is how you can wear down an adversary even before you actually enter into ground combat with them."

Stinger and GROM: anti-aircraft missiles from US, Poland

From Ukraine's point of view, therefore, an upgrade of air defense is particularly crucial. But that is hardly possible in the short term, Gressel says. "If I were to put more complex air defense missiles in the Ukrainians' backyard, such as the Patriot system or, for example, the German IRIS-T SL, that would provide a real boost." But training on such systems takes a lot of time, he said. "I would take several months before they could operate these systems successfully. And we just don't have several months."

So here, too, the focus is now on one-man missiles known as Man Portable Air Defense Systems or MANPADS. US-made Stinger missiles will be delivered to Ukraine from Lithuania in the coming days, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte announced Thursday. In addition, Poland is supplying Kyiv with the GROM, a similar heat-guided weapon that can engage aircraft from up to three kilometers away. Since the Ukrainian army already has similar weapons in its arsenal, training requirements for the GROM and Stinger should be low.


The US, UK and other NATO member states have sent numerous weapons and military hardware to Ukraine in recent days

"These MANPADS are very useful because they make Russian air strikes less effective," said analyst Bielieskov. "If you deploy them in large numbers, you certainly won't shoot down every Russian jet and helicopter. But Russia would have to pay a steep price for an attack."

Bayraktar: Drones from Turkey

Ukraine has purchased at least 20 Bayraktar TB2 drones from NATO country Turkey in recent years. The unmanned aircraft can be equipped with Ukrainian-made engines. Ukraine has also acquired a license to manufacture Bayraktar drones. The construction of a factory for that purpose was announced by Defense Minister Resnikov last week.

The Turkish Bayraktar can be used for reconnaissance and can be equipped with laser-guided bombs and missiles. In late October, a Ukrainian Army Bayraktar destroyed an artillery piece of pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.


A Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile is launched by Ukrainian Armed Forces during drills in late January

Drones such as Bayraktar offer militarily inferior armies the ability to inflict losses on a stronger opponent. During the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Soviet-era air defense systems were shown to be largely ineffective against modern drones like the Bayraktar. However, whether the same is true for newer Russian-made surface-to-air defense systems such as the Panzir S1 is debatable.

Bayraktar drones will also be used in the "Blizzard 2022" military drills that started on Thursday, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Ammunition: Poland, Czech Republic and more

In addition to one-man missiles and protective equipment such as helmets and vests, the crates that are currently landing at Kyiv airport on transport planes contain mostly ammunition. The ammunition comes from different countries including the Czech Republic and Poland, a country that also feels threatened by Russia and has been transferring weapons to Ukraine for years.

In addition to the countries mentioned so far, NATO countries Canada and France have also supplied weapons to Ukraine since 2014, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute SIPRI. In recent weeks, deliveries from the United Kingdom and the United States in particular have increased sharply. According to Defense Minister Resnikov, 1,300 tons of weapons have already been shipped to Ukraine from the US alone.

German reticence to send weapons

"This will make little difference to the Russian president's military calculations," says security expert Gressel. "But politically it could have some effect. After all, Russia must also reckon with sanctions in the event of an attack. And the credibility of sanctions threats is underlined with these arms deliveries." After all, a parliament that decided to supply weapons would probably not be hesitant to impose sanctions in the event of an emergency. "In this respect, the growing number of European states supplying Ukraine with weapons, even if it's just old artillery ammunition, is also a political sign for Moscow."

The fact that the German government does not want to go along with this and is obstructing, for example, the Estonian delivery of nine howitzers is "illogical," says defense expert Bielieskov. This will be remembered in Kyiv, he added. The German government, however, has repeatedly stressed that Germany generally refrained from sending weapons to crisis regions.

DOWN WITH KING!HE IS A RENTIER
Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn under political and tax scrutiny in Germany

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is under fresh scrutiny for questions over whether he paid the correct property and inheritance taxes.



The Thai king spends most of his time in Germany

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is facing fresh controversy in Germany as local investigators are reportedly looking into whether he has paid the correct property and inheritance taxes in Bavaria, where the Southeast Asian monarch spends much of his time.

King Vajiralongkorn, a controversial figure at home in Thailand, came under attack from Berlin in October 2020 when Germany's then-Foreign Minister Heiko Maas publicly warned the king that "politics concerning Thailand is not to be done from German soil." He added that Germany "would always oppose having guests in our country who run their state affairs from here."

Afterwards, the German government said it was satisfied by assurances that King Vajiralongkorn was not conducting official Thai business in Germany, and tempers were somewhat calmed as the monarch stayed away from Germany throughout much of 2021. But attention to the king's activity has been back on the table ever since was spotted in Germany last November.
Interest renewed after return to Germany

"It is simply naive for the German government to assume that King Vajiralongkorn, who spends much of the year in Germany, is not conducting political affairs from here," said Sevim Dagdelen, member of the Left Party and part of the German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock must declare the Thai king a persona non grata if she wants to prevent him from continuing to order massive human rights violations in Thailand while in Germany," she told DW.

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn has spent extensive time in the luxury Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in the Bavarian Alps

The Thai king owns a purported €10 million ($11.3 million) home in the lakeside town of Tutzing, and spends much of his time at the glitzy Sonnenbichl Hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His extended absences have been a source of much controversy back home.

In early 2020, mass pro-democracy protests against the country's government, composed of the military generals who took power in a 2014 coup, erupted in the capital Bangkok. Even through criticising the monarchy is punishable by decades in jail, demonstrators began to also call for reforms to the monarchy, breaking a very-old taboo.

Hundreds of people were arrested and Thailand's constitutional court said the protestors were attempting to overthrow the monarchy, whereas most were simply demanding limits on it.

Unlike his father — the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned from 1946 until his death in 2016 — Vajiralongkorn cuts a controversial figure. Since taking the throne, he has assumed greater powers for the monarchy, been far more engaged in politics, and has struggled to connect with ordinary Thais.

Photos of him scantily-clad and surrounded by his vast harem of women have spread on social media, and many of the photos were taken of him while in Germany.
'Things are pretty much the same'

"Thais are frustrated but the king doesn't care. Things are pretty much the same now as before the protests," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

"He simply rather stays in Germany; that's his personal liking," Pavin explained. "He can still travel as much as he wishes, and he has been in and out of Germany. Sometimes, he has just done a one-day visit to Bangkok and then returned to Germany."

King Vajiralongkorn was spotted back in Germany last November after a 13-month stint away from the country following the warning by the German foreign ministry. And yet, there are fresh controversies around the Thai monarch. "The German media has continued to hunt him down, reporting regularly on his activities in Germany," said Pavin.

Just this week, German media outlets reported on King Vajiralongkorn purchasing a new luxury $375 million (€332 million) aircraft, and Germany will reportedly be the destination for the maiden flight. Late last year, German tabloid Bild speculated that the king has sent many of his most prized and valuable possessions to Germany for safekeeping.

German Foreign Minister Baerbock, who took office last December, has echoed her predecessor by stating that Berlin expected the monarch not to conduct affairs relating to Thailand while in Germany.
'No decisions will be made on German soil'

"We have clearly communicated our position to the government of Thailand," an official source in the German foreign ministry told DW. "We assume that no decisions will be made on German soil by their representatives that contradict the German legal system, international law, or internationally guaranteed human rights."

"The Thai government has assured us that it will accept this requirement and act accordingly," they added.

However, another source in the German foreign ministry, who requested anonymity, said they are continually assessing the situation and could alter their stance if any new information was to come to light. Pressure from politicians and civil-society actors in Germany for a change of government policy continues.

Junya Yimprasert, a European-based Thai activist who runs the organization Act4Dem, has been campaigning for years for the Berlin government to get tough on King Vajiralongkorn. During the protests in Bangkok in 2020, Junya and her organization projected slogans critical of him across buildings in Germany, including the country's parliament and the Sonnenbichl Hotel.

"We would be grateful if the German government removed the immunity of the Thai King and opened the pathway for criminal procedure under the German law to proceed," she said.

It is believed that local investigators are now looking into the monarch's tax affairs on his second-home in Tutzing, which he reportedly purchased for €10 million several years ago. There are also questions over whether he should have paid inheritance tax in Germany following the death of his father, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

King Vajiralongkorn reportedly received an estimated $10.6 billion in inheritance from his father. Under German law, inheritance tax is 30%, meaning the king could owe the German state nearly $3 billion.

The Bavarian state tax office refused to comment due to tax privacy laws.

"It is a scandal that a multi-billionaire apparently does not pay inheritance tax in Bavaria, although immunity under international law does not provide for any exemption from this," Dagdelen said. "The king's privileged treatment must end."

Edited by: Leah Carter

IAEA reviews Japan's plan to release Fukushima water into ocean

Japan hopes the nuclear watchdog's visit will raise confidence for its plans to release more than 1 million tons of water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.


Environmental activists have long expressed their opposition to releasing the water into the ocean


A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Japan on Monday to review a plan to release treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

Japan hoped the visit would help it push through the plan, which is opposed by the local fishing industry and neighboring countries.

The wastewater has been kept in massive tanks since the plant went into meltdown in 2011, and storage space is running out.

The IAEA team would evaluate the safety and radiation effects on humans and the sea.

The IAEA's Gustavo Caruso (left) is leading a team evaluating Japan's plan to discharge the treated water

"This week, we will conduct a mission to review the action, plans, data, and relevant documents, to assess their compliance against the provisions included in international safety standards," said Gustavo Caruso, director and coordinator of the IAEA's nuclear safety and security department.
How safe is this water?

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant's cooling systems.

Three reactors melted down, and more than a million tons of water was used to cool the melted reactors.

Japan's government said the water has been treated to remove dangerous isotopes. Some observers, however, note that the water would still have elevated levels of radioactive tritium. Others argue that a gradual release of wastewater, diluted with seawater, would render it harmless.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, plans to gradually release the water in a process expected to last decades.

"We hope to further improve the objectivity and transparency of this process through this review," said TEPCO's chief officer for the treated water management, Junichi Matsumoto.

The IAEA plans to review details of the water, the safety of the discharge, sampling methods and the environmental impact during their five-day visit.

It hoped the mission "in an objective, credible and science-based manner will help send messages of transparency and confidence for the people in Japan and beyond," Caruso said.
Who is opposing the plan?

The 15-member team includes experts from several countries, including South Korea and China. Both neighboring countries have strongly opposed Japan's plan.

In Japan, local fishers feared it would undermine years of work to restore confidence in their seafood.

Japanese authorities regularly conduct extensive testing on food and fish from Fukushima to ensure safety. Tokyo and the IAEA have agreed to compile an interim report on the review later this year.

lo/dj (AP, AFP)

Many faith leaders wary of religious exemptions for vaccine

By DAVID CRARY and PETER SMITH

February 12, 2022

 Pope Francis delivers the Angelus noon prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Although some Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Francis has defended the vaccines as “the most reasonable solution to the pandemic.” (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

By the thousands, Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but generally they are doing so without the encouragement of major denominations and prominent religious leaders.

From the Vatican, Pope Francis has defended the vaccines as “the most reasonable solution to the pandemic.” The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America declared categorically that its followers would not be offered religious exemptions. Robert Jeffress, the conservative pastor of a Baptist megachurch in Dallas, voiced similar sentiments.

“Since there is no credible biblical argument against vaccines, we have refused to offer exemptions to the handful of people who have requested them,” Jeffress told The Associated Press via email. “People may have strong medical or political objections to government-mandated vaccines, but just because those objections are strongly felt does not elevate them to a religious belief that should be accommodated.”

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar of The Shul of Bal Harbour, an Orthodox synagogue in Surfside, Florida, says he tells congregation members that vaccination should be a matter of free choice.

“But I always recommend that they get a medical opinion from a competent professional,” he added. “In a serious matter, they should get two concurring medical opinions.”

Within the U.S. Catholic Church, there are divisions – even though Pope Francis has been clear in his support for vaccinations. While some bishops have forbidden their priests from assisting in seeking exemptions, other bishops and priests have provided template letters for people claiming conscientious objections from the vaccines on Catholic grounds.

“We have had many requests and have helped quite a number process their letter/request,” the Rev. Bob Stec of St. Ambrose Catholic Parish in Brunswick, Ohio, said via email.

“Vaccination is not a universal obligation and a person must obey the judgment of his or her own informed and certain God-given conscience,” says one of the letters provided by Stec. “If a Catholic comes to an informed and sure judgment in conscience that he or she should not receive a vaccine, then the Catholic Church acknowledges that the person … has the right to refuse the vaccine.”

It’s different in New Jersey’s Archdiocese of Newark, which has advised its priests not to support religious exemptions for their parishioners.

“I have been asked about six times and have declined,” said the Rev. Alexander Santora, pastor of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph Parish in Hoboken.

Candice Buchbinder, a spokesperson for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said the denomination is currently studying the question of religious exemptions. She noted that previous ELCA documents opposed broad religious exemptions and viewed medicine as “a gift of God for the good of the community.”

Even before the pandemic, the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council made clear its stance – adopting a resolution in June 2019 calling for stronger government vaccination mandates.

“The Executive Council recognizes no claim of theological or religious exemption from vaccination for our members,” the resolution said.

However, someone from a denomination that encourages vaccines can still seek an exemption based on individual conscience, said Bruce Ledewitz, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Ledewitz said he would advise a client wanting a religious exemption to say simply, “I have prayed about this, and I have come to the conclusion that God does not want me to take this vaccine.”

Employers have adopted widely varying approaches to such arguments – some granting many exemptions while others, including the U.S. military services, have granted very few.

While reasons for seeking religious exemptions vary, many Christians have cited the COVID-19 vaccines’ remote connection to past abortions. Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used to test the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and to grow viruses used to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. None of those vaccines contain fetal cells.

The Vatican has stated that receiving these COVID-19 vaccines is morally acceptable. While it opposes abortion-related research, it said any vaccine recipient is not culpable for involvement in it, given how remote they are from the abortions involved.

While the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has echoed the Vatican teaching, several bishops have assisted people seeking religious exemptions. So has the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a think tank with prominent bishops on its board.

The center’s template letter says individual Catholics may interpret church teachings to conclude that it’s wrong for them to accept any medical product with a connection to abortion.

The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, ethicist and director of education at the center, noted that the Vatican specifies that vaccines “must be voluntary.”

The church “strongly encourages the safeguarding of conscience rights” he said in a statement, criticizing a “one size fits all” approach to employer mandates.

“Such decisions properly belong in the hands of the individual patient, who can assess his or her on-the-ground situation more meaningfully than any federal agency, politician or employer,” he said. “Conscience exemptions to vaccine mandates need to be liberally available not only to Catholics but to all individuals.”

The claiming of religious exemptions frustrates some who suspect there are non-religious motivations.

“There is no distinctively Catholic objection to receiving any of the COVID-19 vaccines available,” said Michael Deem, assistant professor of bioethics and human genetics at the University of Pittsburgh.

He said the Vatican has provided detailed moral guidance on the vaccines’ acceptability — considering such things as the lack of alternative vaccines and the benefits of corralling a deadly pandemic.

The relatively low vaccination rate among white evangelicals frustrates Curtis Chang, a theologian whose Redeeming Babel organization launched a Christians and the Vaccine project with evangelical and health-care groups, promoting the COVID-19 vaccines on biblical principles.

Seeking religious exemptions for many “is a hijacking of religion to justify political or cultural stances, and that’s very dangerous,” Chang said. “There is no genuine religious reason for seeking an exemption, especially from employer mandates.”

He knows of pastors who favor vaccines but are pressured by congregants to give them letters justifying their vaccine refusal on religious grounds. “I’m encouraging pastors not to give in to that.”

The move for such exemptions is “a danger ultimately to the long-term cause of religious liberty,” he said, because employers and courts may discount the sincerity of employees when they face genuine situations where their faith needs to be accommodated.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

HOW A LITTLE TRADE UNION IN MEXICO ‘DEFEATED A MANY-HEADED MONSTER’

Workers at the giant General Motors plant in Silao, Mexico, faced tremendous odds in their years-long fight for a more democratic and transparent union. This is how they won.

BY MEIZHU LUIFEBRUARY 14, 2022

Workers gather outside the General Motors pickup truck plant after voting to elect a new union under a labor reform that underpins a new trade deal with Canada and the United States, in Silao, Mexico, Feb. 1, 2022. REUTERS/Sergio Maldonado




This story originally appeared in the Mexico Solidarity Bulletin, the weekly newsletter of the Mexico Solidarity Project, on Feb. 9, 2022. It is shared here with permission.

In 1930, early in US Great Depression, a newly published children’s book—The Little Engine that Could—began charming families the nation over with its tale of a train trying to carry Christmas toys to kids over on the other side of a mountain. The train had lost its engine, and other big arrogant engines refused to help. Finally, a little engine with a woman’s self-deprecating humility agrees to pull that heavy load. She pulls well beyond her small capacity, bringing joy to the awaiting children. Her mantra, “I think I can, I think I can,” would go on to become an American childhood catchphrase for generations.

SINTTIA had last summer led a campaign that voted out a contract that legitimized the oppression of the plant’s workers. In voting last week, those workers overwhelmingly chose SINTTIA to replace the corrupt union that had put that contract into effect.

I thought of that plucky blue engine as a newly formed independent auto workers union in central México—led by an activist rank-and-filer woman, Alejandra Morales Reynoso—last week chugged up the steep mountain to official bargaining recognition at GM’s huge Silao plant. That union, SINTTIA, had last summer led a campaign that voted out a contract that legitimized the oppression of the plant’s workers. In voting last week, those workers overwhelmingly chose SINTTIA to replace the corrupt union that had put that contract into effect. The SINTTIA activists thought they could, they thought they could—and they did!

SINTTIA, as union organizer Israel Cervantes notes, is hoping its stunning achievement will have a domino effect on workers all across México as word spreads about it. And the Silao workers’ battle to raise their current pay—just a tenth of what US auto workers make—will also help US workers. As Jeff Hermanson, the Mexican rep of the AFL-CIO-backed Solidarity Center puts it: “If you’ve got a race to the bottom, you’ve got to raise the bottom, and then maybe the race will slow down a little bit.”

In our interview this week, the Morena activist Javier Bravo reflects upon the joy that’s coming to the Silao plant GM workers and their families as SINTTIA moves closer to arriving at its ultimate destination: a contract that finally allows workers to live with dignity. And maybe buy a few toys too!
SI, SE PUEDE! A STUNNING VICTORY AT GM SILAO

Javier Bravo, a founder of the México Solidarity Project who teaches history at the University of Guanajuato, lives just 20 minutes from the mammoth GM plant in Silao. A friend and admirer of the SINTTIA union stalwarts Israel Cervantes and Alejandra Morales Reynoso, Bravo stood by their side right before last week’s landmark vote that replaced the dictatorial rule of the plant’s former bargaining agent, an affiliate of México’s corrupt CTM union confederation.

How did SINTTIA pull off this huge victory — with almost no resources?

It is a huge victory! In this conservative state of Guanajuato, still governed by the conservative PRI and PAN, a tiny group of workers took on the enormous, well-oiled machinery of these two political parties, local government, the corrupt CTM union—and the mega corporate empire of General Motors. They defeated a many-headed monster!

How did they do it? As GM workers themselves, they won the respect of other workers on the job, and they organized an in-plant organization that was named—with irony—“GM,” for Generando Movimiento, Generating Movement.

Almost three years ago, General Motors fired one of the leaders of that movement, Israel Cervantes, on fake grounds. The timing could hardly have been more suspicious: right after Israel led an action in solidarity with striking UAW GM workers in the US. Last week, international union representatives from Brazil, Canada, and the US, among other countries, repaid that kind of international solidarity. They traveled to México to ensure, as observers, a fair election during the February 1 and 2 balloting.

Before the balloting, during most of the campaign, SINTTIA didn’t even have a printer. Just recently a friend of mine, a local Morena representative, bought one for them. But the SINTTIA activists used social media—WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram—very effectively.

Their movement organized first against the old CTM contract. Last August, after the uncovering of fraud by the CTM in a contract ratification vote and the ordering of a revote, SINTTIA succeeded in getting a majority to reject that phony charro contract.

This first win gave the workers hope—and both support for SINTTIA and worker participation increased. In last week’s voting, 78% of the Silao plant’s workers choose SINTTIA, and 88% of the Silao workers overall cast votes. What a mandate! The SINTTIA worker struggle for labor justice is radiating a powerful symbolism, the start of our own “Working Class Spring” here in México.

Just a few days before this election, three strangers showed up at the home of SINTTIA general secretary Alejandra Morales and told her not to show up at the plant “or else.” Did General Motors or the local government take any action to protect her?

No. But other workers are keeping watch over her, her child, and her home. Alejandra refused to be intimidated and instead spoke out. The threat backfired. Anger at her intimidation built support for SINTTIA. And now that SINTTIA has won, I believe she’s safer. The federal and local governments and GM management have all validated the vote. The margin of victory was far too big to be challenged, and now many eyes are watching her.

How has the general public in the communities around Silao responded to this victory?

Unfortunately, I see little visible public enthusiasm for this victory. In the large nearby city of Léon, a proletarian city with Coca-Cola, shoe manufacturers, and other factories, one third of local workers go without any contracts at all. Millions of Mexicans would be happy about the Silao vote, but simply don’t know anything about this decisive moment for independent unionism.

In my city of Guanajuato close to Silao, the media carried no news about the Silao voting, no mention of SINTTIA, even a few days before the election. Workers here only see papers like the AM Express that feature blurred fotos of headless torsos, crime, and, of course, daily centerfolds of barely clothed women. It’s shameful. But even the AM Express finally had to cover the SINTTIA victory!

So we have much that needs to be done. The SINTTIA victory can be a lighthouse for us, and all of us must make sure that light shines throughout the country.

What strikes you the most about this victory?

I was crying with happiness after I heard the news! I’m happy mostly for the auto worker families. I visited their homes. They live in insulting conditions. Poor lighting and ventilation, lack of sanitation, deteriorated furniture, nothing of beauty. They can’t afford cars. It’s like working in a diamond mine: You know the immense value of what you produce, but you cannot dream of actually owning something that you make.

But this election marks the beginning of a new day, and now onto the contract talks. I expect that SINTTIA will be fighting to win more time for workers to spend with their families. Right now, they work 12-hour shifts that benefit only GM’s production schedule. Being poor is like being half-dead. I hope the GM workers will finally be able to live with dignity. With SINTTIA, these workers have the flag of history in their hands.

Fed Rush to Catch Up on Inflation Raises U.S. Recession Risks

Rich Miller, Bloomberg News

A worker uses a forklift to move pallets at the Food Bank for the Heartland distribution warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. Kids in the world’s biggest economy are so seized by hunger and malnourishment that safety-net clinics treating the nation’s poorest are sounding the alarm as pandemic-relief programs run out. Photographer: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve faces a growing risk of making a policy mistake, tipping the economy into a recession, as it confronts decades-high inflation that’s proving more persistent and broad-based than policy makers expected.

After holding interest rates near zero since the start of the pandemic, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are poised to embark on a credit-tightening campaign next month, with some economists forecasting an outsized half percentage-point increase to start the cycle.

The danger is that, with price gains far above its 2% target, the Fed will be pressured into overdoing it -- pushing the economy into a downturn by rapidly raising borrowing costs for consumers and companies, and cratering financial markets that have grown used to its ultra-expansionary monetary policy.

At the same time, fiscal policy also will be acting as a damper on growth. As prices for everything from gasoline to rent have surged, support has waned for President Joe Biden’s push to reshape the economy by strengthening social investments, with his poll numbers sliding.

Economists from both sides of the political spectrum see rising risks of a recession. Former Fed Governor Lawrence Lindsey, who served in the White House under Republican President George W. Bush, puts the odds of a downturn by the end of next year at above 50% -- triggered by a meltdown on Wall Street.

“When you’re wrong in one direction and you’re painfully wrong, you’re going to have to end up with too much heavy lifting to go in the other direction,” Lindsey, who now heads his own consulting firm, said of what he sees as the Fed’s delay in recognizing and responding to the budding inflation problem.

Ex-Treasury Secretary and Democrat Lawrence Summers agreed. “The Fed has allowed itself to get far further behind the curve” in battling inflation, Summers, who is a paid Bloomberg contributor, said. “The risk a recession will start in the next 30 months is certainly 50%.”

Six Hikes

Traders in the money markets are wagering on roughly six quarter percentage-point increases by the Fed this year. Layered on top of those hikes will be a yet-to-be-specified reduction in the Fed’s balance sheet, which now stands at $8.9 trillion. That will take liquidity out of the financial system -- potentially unsettling bond and stock markets.

“I don’t think we’ve priced in balance-sheet tightening really in the equity market at all,” Bloomberg Intelligence chief equity market strategist Gina Martin Adams said. “We’ve just barely started talking about it.”

For his part, Powell is betting that a judicious tightening of monetary policy, combined with an easing of supply-chain bottlenecks and the winding down of the federal government’s pandemic-relief programs, will help rein in inflation without upending the economic expansion.

But he’s acknowledged that he’s been surprised by the potency of the price pressures, and he’s vowed the Fed will do what it takes to prevent elevated inflation from becoming embedded in the economy.

What’s caught the Fed on the hop is not just how much inflation has accelerated: Consumer prices soared at a 7.5% year-on-year rate in January, the fastest in four decades.

It’s also been the breadth of the price increases. About 90% of the components that make up the consumer price index are running above 2% -- the Fed’s official inflation target, according to calculations by Bloomberg Economics.

That’s “a cause for somewhat greater concern,” said former Fed official David Wilcox, who is now director of U.S. economic research at Bloomberg Economics. “That gives rise for more of an inflationary psychology to become entrenched.”

In a sign of the widening inflationary pressures, home and car insurer Allstate Corp. has boosted rates by an average 7.1% across 25 states, and is planning further increases.

“We are continuing to go at a very fast pace across other states,” senior Allstate executive Glenn Shapiro told Wall Street analysts in a Feb. 3 conference call. “And even in some cases, the same states again with rate increases, as we get new data and new trends.”

Powell has also flagged stepped-up wage increases as something to watch.

“We are attentive to the risks that persistent real wage growth in excess of productivity could put upward pressure on inflation.” he told reporters on Jan. 26. 

The tight labor market -- at 4%, the unemployment rate is below the level that prevailed for much of the previous expansion -- has led employers to bid up wages in an attempt to fill millions of job openings and to retain workers. Last year, compensation costs surged by the most in two decades.

“As you go into this year, we are expecting that there is going to continue to be pressure on wages,” McDonald’s Corp. Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said in a Jan. 27 earnings call. “Certainly, as we’re thinking about our pricing, we’re thinking about how do we put pricing that can anticipate that.” 

The trouble for Powell and the Fed is that the central bank will be tightening policy to slow the economy and reduce inflation just as the expansion will be downshifting on its own, after growth last year clocked in at the fastest since 1984. 

“The Fed is tightening into a slowdown,” Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, said. “That does point to some risks around if they go too fast.” 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.