With civilian bombings on state TV, China’s attitude toward Russia is shifting

written by Simone Pieranni, IL MANIFESTO, ITALY

 Analysis. To call Putin a rogue or a criminal would be the same as saying that the Chinese leader has completely miscalculated. China proceeds gradually, fears the unpredictability of events and focuses on being ready for new scenarios.

• TopicChina

• Published on

  March 23, 2022

What will China do? The question has become something of a mantra ever since the Russian invasion began, and has gradually picked up volume as Russian bombings have hit civilians and as American pressure – pushing Beijing to take a clear position – has begun to instill doubts about whether China might support Russia economically and militarily (which has not happened so far, with China repeatedly saying that it has not received any request for armaments from Moscow).

In reality, if we read between the lines, Beijing has given plenty of hints that Putin’s adventure may turn into a disaster: there is no rational reason for the CCP to support such an initiative that, more than anything else, is leading to disorder and unpredictability, which is what China fears the most.

For the Chinese Communist Party and its hybrid modus operandi, between Leninism and Confucianism (at least on paper), the most important thing is order, both domestic and international, a fundamental condition for “good governance,” for “harmony,” stability, and, above all, so that business can proceed smoothly. War is the ultimate stage of disorder, chaos, an inability to continue as before. A war undermines the perception of security—while it should be noted that for Chinese Communist Party officials, “the security of China” is synonymous with “the security of the CCP.”

On the other hand, Xi Jinping himself, in his two-hour dialogue with Biden on Friday, stressed that the war, the sanctions and the return of Covid (which on Sunday claimed its first two victims in China in over a year, and set the country back two years with the closures of cities, factories and logistics hubs, with everything this will entail for the global supply chain) are very serious concerns for the leadership in Beijing. Similarly, the signals that have come from the economic front show that China is complying with the sanctions, however critical of them, and does not seem intent on changing its attitude.

All the more so because Beijing cannot sacrifice trade with the EU and the US and become isolated in order to support an economic partner of smaller proportions such as Russia, especially at a time when its economy is slowing down (the growth estimate, at 5.5%, is the lowest in 30 years), which has resulted in some reforms – on pensions and house taxes – being put aside for the moment.

So, why doesn’t China definitively disavow Putin and his war in Ukraine? There are many reasons having to do with expediency, including the fact that it was China’s number one, Xi Jinping, who invested so much in the relationship with Moscow in the first place. To call Putin a rogue or a criminal would be the same as saying that the Chinese leader, who is about to be named for a historic third term in office (in October, at the 20th Congress), has completely miscalculated. Xi Jinping, and his coterie of officials at the topmost levels of power together with him, would lose face, both internationally and domestically. Presumably, this would to cause Xi actual problems, but the goings-on of the internal clashes within the CCP are unpredictable, as well as almost always inscrutable.

China, from our Western point of view, is a land of contradictions (after all, its model is called by the Chinese “market socialism”), to which we must add yet another one at this historical moment: namely, “standing with Russia without standing with Russia.” In the West, we expect a clear answer, as per our preference, in one direction or the other; this won’t happen, at least for now, because China proceeds gradually, waits for the right moment to “discover itself,” fears the unpredictability of events and focuses on being ready for new scenarios. The possibility that Beijing could be a mediator is not on the table at this point.

As Giulia Sciorati, an analyst of Asian geopolitics at the University of Trento, explained to il manifesto after Friday’s virtual meeting between Biden and Xi: “As expected by a number of observers, there were no great steps forward in the videoconference between Biden and Xi. In fact, the point that was truly highlighted by Beijing regarding the war in Ukraine was China’s commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of the conflict, an issue on which China has begun to focus its narrative more and more after the criticism – both domestic and international – it has taken in recent weeks for maintaining a rhetoric that is, if not exactly neutral, at least too cautious. One cannot expect anything different from a meeting like this, under the spotlight of the whole world: and it is precisely on this point that one can expect Beijing’s efforts, both practical and narrative, to continue in the immediate future.”

On the alliance – the “strategic partnership,” as they call it in Beijing – with Russia, Zheng Yongnian, a Chinese political scientist, told Die Zeit that “it would be a strategic error to form an alliance with Russia. But what is a ‘friendship without borders’? Every relationship between states has boundaries; one should not take it too literally. A ‘friendship,’ unlike an alliance, is difficult to define. Remember that Mao Zedong broke with the Soviet Union in short order in the 1950s. Some now believe that Russia will become China’s vassal state. This will not happen. Russia is Russia, China is China.”

Many Chinese intellectuals have spoken out on this topic in the first days of the war, when the Chinese information ecosystem was taking clearly pro-Russian positions (in the last days, we have observed that, for example, Chinese state TV has been broadcasting images of the bombings against civilians, offering a new narrative of what is happening in Ukraine).

After the popularity of an analysis by Hu Wei, an advisor of the Chinese government who is critical of Putin and whose article was censored but continued to spread on WeChat, others have also expressed similar opinions. For example, Qin Hui, a former professor of history at the prestigious Tsinghua University, wrote that “We should note that while Putin condemns Lenin and the Bolsheviks, he does not say a word about Tsarist Russia’s oppression of ethnic groups or imperial expansion, and between the lines, he clearly expresses his yearning for the legacy of imperial Russia and his resentment of the Bolsheviks for destroying it. Back in the day, when Mao Zedong, in an anti-Soviet moment, famously labeled the CPSU a ‘new Tsar,’ this was perhaps not entirely appropriate, at least from an ideological point of view, but ‘emperor Putin’ can’t wait to wear this crown.” (Qin’s article has been translated from readingthechinesedream.com).

So what is the “pace” of Chinese evolution on the subject? At this point, one should remember the first statements of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, made in Munich before the invasion, when he stressed that the territorial inviolability of Ukraine was considered sacrosanct by Beijing.

However, the Chinese positions most likely cannot be understood without considering the relationship with the United States and the latest phone call between Xi and Biden. In this regard, ISPI analyst Filippo Fasulo explained to il manifesto that “both China and the US see the conflict in the light of the competition between great powers and damage to the bilateral relationship. Beijing is insisting on the humanitarian dimension because it feels the reputational risk of being associated with Russia’s violence. This should limit the possibility of military support for Russia. Beijing has noted the US media pressure and tried to ‘strike back’ by issuing statements while the meeting was still in progress and issuing a press statement shortly afterwards. We will see the effects in the coming days, just as this meeting itself took place in the aftermath of the one in Rome, but the indications to the lower tiers of negotiators to focus on being more operational in the following phases suggests that common ground has been found.”

Giulia Sciorati concurs: “While Beijing and Washington have found a common point in the willingness to facilitate a negotiated solution to the conflict in Ukraine, the differences in their approach to the international system remain many, as recalled by the same leaders in the official post-videoconference communiqué. A positive sign can be noted in the fact that both sides stressed that they wanted to extricate themselves from the ‘cold war mentality’ that began, in practical terms, with the trade war under the Trump presidency. However, as was the case with the Shanghai Communiqué 50 years ago, there is still a lot of diplomatic work to be done before a normalization of bilateral relations can be achieved.”

How A 1999 Russian Bombing Led To Putin's Rise To Power

Business Insider

David Satter is a US journalist who spent decades covering Russian politics before he was expelled from the country after claiming that President Putin and the FSB may have been involved with the deadly Russia apartment bombings in 1999. 

We talked to Satter about the bombings at PutinCon, a summit organized by the Human Rights Foundation that gathered together some of Putin's biggest critics. Following is a transcript of the video.

David Satter: You had to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see what was going on. And in particular, you had to be willfully ignorant if you didn't see the implications of the Ryazan incident.

David Satter is a US journalist and expert on Russian politics. He was expelled from Russia after claiming that Putin and the FSB were behind the apartment bombings

Satter: In the summer of 1999 the approval rating of former President Yeltsin was 2%. There appeared to be no chance whatever that Putin, who was designated by Yeltsin as his successor could possibly become the next Russian president. The apartment bombings changed everything. It was said after those buildings went up that now we're living in a completely different country.

More than 200 people were killed in the September bombings. Russia blamed Chechen militants, triggering the second Chechen War.

Satter: Putin came forward as the savior of the country. He was put in charge of a war in Chechnya. The bombings were blamed on Chechens without any evidence whatsoever, and as a result of the successful prosecution of that war, against all odds he was elected the next Russian president. The apartment bombings appear to be the keystone of a plot to confuse Russian public opinion, to create terror, to distract the Russian public, to redirect their anger away from the corruption that had flourished under Yeltsin, and toward the Chechens who had had for a number of years a semi-independent government in Chechnya and in that way create the conditions for the Russian people to vote in what they absolutely consciously did not want, which was a successor to Yeltsin who would protect Yeltsin.

There was an enormous amount of material in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta which pointed to the possibility and in fact to the likelihood that the authorities themselves blew up those buildings. At the same time a fifth bomb was discovered in the basement of an apartment building in Ryazan, which is a city southeast of Moscow. And I went to Ryazan after the bomb was discovered and diffused to talk to local residents and it was clear from those conversations that what took place was a genuine attempt to blow up a fifth building. The authorities said that this was only a training exercise, but it was nothing of the kind.

And what was most important was that three persons were arrested for putting a bomb in a building in Ryazan. They turned out to be not Chechens, not terrorists in the usual sense, but rather agents of the Federal Securities Service which is the FSB.

I asked for documents from the CIA from the FBI, from the directorate of national intelligence from the state department. I got very, very little that was of any use. But I did get a few documents from the state department which indicated that their sources of information were telling them that the apartment bombings were extremely suspicious. You had to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see what was going on. And in particular you had to be willfully ignorant if you didn't see the implications of the Ryazan incident in which three FSB agents were arrested for putting a fifth bomb in a building, even though the bomb didn't go off it was a live bomb. What was it doing in the basement of an apartment building?

Putin keeps loyalty of Russian political elite despite outcry



By AFP
Published March 22, 2022

President Vladimir Putin is for now holding on to the public loyalty of Russia’s political elite, despite the international outcry over the invasion of Ukraine and unprecedented sanctions.

Russian artists and heavyweight media figures have spoken out against the war and even billionaire oligarchs have offered veiled criticism.

But after almost a month of fighting, there has been no apparent outbreak of dissent from within Putin’s inner circle or among political heavyweights inside the country.

“There has been no sign of a split” within the ruling class, said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik political analysis firm.

“There is a full consensus, albeit possibly with differences on tactics,” she added.

She said a distinction had to be drawn between having reservations about the invasion and being ready to act.

“People are in shock and many believe this is a mistake. But no-one is able to act. Everyone is focused on their own survival.”

Western diplomatic sources say despite the crushing impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, there is no sign yet that this will translate into political change.

The main domestic criticism of the invasion, according to Stanovaya, comes from “peripheral” forces on the radical right who think it is not proceeding aggressively enough.

– ‘Cultivated a system’ –

Russian state television dominates the narrative, presenting what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine as a heroic mission against Western aggression.

The liberal opposition has evaporated, the parties represented in parliament almost always toe the Kremlin line on all issues and Putin’s most potent foe, Alexei Navalny, is in jail.

“It’s no real surprise that we haven’t yet seen dramatic, public splits within the ruling elite,” said Ben Noble, associate professor of Russian politics at University College London and co-author of a recent book “Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future?”.

“Vladimir Putin has cultivated a system in which he is surrounded by super-loyalists who share his world view of a West out to destroy Russia, or those who are too afraid to voice their dissent,” he said.

On February 21, three days before launching the invasion, Putin summoned the political leadership to the Kremlin for a security council to discuss recognising pro-Moscow breakaway regions in Ukraine as independent.

One by one, in a theatrical show of unity, the 12 men and one woman lined up to back the move to recognise the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as independent, a move now seen as heralding the war.

– ‘Fifth column’ –

Those present at the meeting included the three men who Western security sources believe make up Putin’s tightest inner circle — Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov.

There has not been the slightest murmur of dissent from those who attended or even from more low-ranking officials.

Putin on March 16 issued a chilling warning against disobeying the Kremlin line, saying the West was betting “on a fifth column, on traitors to the nation” to weaken Russia.

Virtually the only current or former insider to have broken ranks is the former Kremlin aide and ex-deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich — also head of the main world chess body.

He came out against the war in a US magazine interview and stepped down from his post leading an entrepreneurship foundation.

From other liberal leaning ex-Kremlin figures — like the former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, who is now head of Russia’s audit chamber — there has simply been silence.

– ‘Decision-making’ –

There was speculation over the future of central bank head Elvira Nabiullina, an economist at the helm of the Bank Rossii since 2013.

She was photographed looking dejected at a Kremlin meeting and posted a cryptic video, in which she acknowledged the Russian economy was in an “extreme” situation and said, “We all very much would have liked this not to have happened.”

But Putin this week asked parliament to nominate her for another term, apparently scotching rumours she could resign in protest at the war.

There have been murmurs of concern from oligarchs who stand to lose massively from the invasion, such as the magnates Oleg Deripaska and Mikhail Fridman, who have both made cautious comments promoting peace.

On March 3, the board of Russia’s largest privately-owned energy company, oil giant Lukoil, also called for an end to the conflict.

Noble added that many members of the elite were shocked by the invasion, as the vast majority “had not been involved in the decision-making process” and believed Putin was planning brinkmanship rather than invasion.

“However, it’s one thing to call for peace; it’s quite another to criticise Putin directly,” he said.

How Putin is weaponizing ‘traditional values’ to defend Russian aggression in Ukraine

By Anthony Faiola

WASHINGTON POST

Columnist
March 23, 2022 

A sign excoriating Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine is seen outside a partially destroyed church in Malyn, Ukraine, on March 22. (Nuno Veiga/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

In the dark recesses of Gab.com, a social-media site popular with the far right in the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin is glorified as a conservative lion.

Users post under names such as “Rutin 4 Putin” and “Call of Putin: Slavic Warfare.” One of them who identifies himself as “an unvaccinated, pure blooded, non-complying, God fearing, gun owning, and liberty defending patriotic man” who believes in “2 genders and only one God” wrote that “there is more truth coming from Putin than from all of the leaders of western world countries combined.”

That rightist strain of support is built on one of the Russian leader’s lesser-known war tactics: His casting of a Christian catchall — “traditional values” — as a weapon. To defend Russian aggression in Ukraine, he has lobbed disproved claims of U.S.-funded bioweapons labs and a neo-Nazi takeover of the government in Kyiv (both of which have found homes on gab.com as well). But even as Russian bombs kill scores of civilians, Putin has also sought to portray his war as righteous — describing Ukraine as a microcosm of the greater global tug of war between liberal and conservative thought.

His parlance speaks to the rise of Putin as a global touchstone of the far right. Building for years, his crafted image as a right-wing Christian leader is finding its most potent outlet in the horrific war in Ukraine. For the Christian right in the United States and Europe, Putin’s messaging is not so much a dog whistle as a blaring siren. The U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson has said that the Russian leader was “compelled by God” to invade Ukraine. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke this month at a White nationalist event where the crowd was earlier heard chanting “Putin! Putin! Putin!”

Even if not embracing Putin the man, others seem to share a certain synergy with his causes. In Republican-dominated Florida, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed this month carries overtones of Russia’s 2013 law banning “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors.

In the world view he espouses, Ukraine’s push to link up with NATO and the European Union is not just a military threat but also a moral one. His war is a holy mission, one meant to stop a brother nation from moving too close to the vice-ridden, atheistic, LBGT-supporting, gender-rights loving West that wants to corrupt Orthodox, conservative Christian mores.

“They sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values that would erode us, our people from within, the attitudes they have been aggressively imposing on their countries, attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature,” Putin said in his prelude to war on Feb. 24. “This is not going to happen. No one has ever succeeded in doing this, nor will they succeed now.”

Within Russia, now swirling with the Orwellian propaganda of state media and a law that criminalizes even calling the invasion a “war,” the Kremlin is partly harking back to Soviet portrayals of the decadent West and the dangers of its sinful prescripts. Russian parents, Al Jazeera reported, have recently received letters from schools warning them to watch their children’s use of social media — not only to ensure that they are not lured to “unsafe” antiwar protests, but to also make sure they are not exposed to “detailed instructions on gender reassignment, and promotion of same-sex relationships.”

In Moscow, Putin appears to have coordinated the public selling of the war with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kirill, according to Religion News Service (RNS), spoke to Russian military leaders just hours before the assault on Ukraine began, and hailed Putin for his “high and responsible service to the people of Russia.”

“This religious ramp-up to war was the culmination of a decade-long effort to wrap Russia’s geopolitical ambitions in faith — specifically, the flowing vestments of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the RNS’s Jack Jenkins wrote. “Fusing religion, nationalism, a defense of conservative values that likens same-sex marriage to Nazism, and a version of history that seeks to define Ukraine and other nearby nations as mere subsets of a greater “Russkiy mir,” or Russian world, the partnership of Putin and Kirill laid the ideological and theological groundwork for the invasion.”

Putin’s gradual move to cloak himself in religion and traditional values goes back to at least the mid-2000s, said Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

“After the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, he tried to present himself as the alternative to the liberal and progress West, with Russia as the fortress for supposedly traditional family values,” Lutsevych said. “He was fascinated by Orthodox veneration, and he wanted to create his own system of veneration built on his personality and his preaching of conservative values.”

In Ukraine, she added, Putin’s pull didn’t work. “Compared to Russia, Ukraine is super liberal,” she said. “There is a certain mobilization of the right. But over the last 15 years, it has established quite pluralistic rights for minorities, who are protected by law.”

Still, like many of his ilk, Putin’s message can be what the Atlantic Council’s Lukas Andriukaitis described to me as “schizophrenic.” He alternately rails against progressive thought, while leaving pragmatic room for Russian elites who embrace the decadent Wst to still be accepted — as long as they remain unquestionably loyal.

In his recent tirade against the Russian “scum” and “traitors” who do not support his war, Putin said he was not there to judge his countrymen who “cannot live without foie gras and mussels or so-called gender-based rights.” That is, as long as they are “mentally” with Mother Russia.

“The problem does not lie in this, but I repeat, the fact that many of these people inherently, mentally live elsewhere and not here with us, with our people, with Russia,” Putin said.


By Anthony Faiola is a columnist on The Post’s foreign desk, where he is interim anchor of the Today's WorldView newsletter and column. He has stepped away from his role as South America/Caribbean bureau chief through April 2022. Since joining the paper in 1994, he has served as bureau chief in Berlin, London, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and New York. Twitter

Sri Lanka sends troops to fuel stations amid worsening economic crisis


Story by Reuters
Wed March 23, 2022

AN UNARMED soldier guards a fuel station in Colombo on March 22, 2022.

Sri Lanka posted soldiers at hundreds of state-run gas stations on Tuesday to help distribute fuel after a sudden rise in prices of key commodities and accompanying shortages forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours.

The Indian Ocean nation is battling a foreign exchange crisis that forced a currency devaluation and hit payments for essential imports such as food, medicine and fuel, prompting it to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help.

"The government has to provide solutions," said Seetha Gunasekera, 36, who lives with her husband and two children in Colombo, the capital.

"There is too much hardship and suffering," added Gunasekera, who said she was spending more time in fuel queues than doing anything else.

"Prices of everything have increased and we are barely able to manage with what we earn daily."

The decision to deploy troops near petrol pumps and kerosene supply points came after three elderly people dropped dead during their wait in long queues, officials said.
It was a response to complaints of stockpiling and inefficient distribution, said government spokesman Ramesh Pathirana.

"The military has been deployed to help the public, not to curtail their human rights," he added.

Two soldiers at each pump

Military spokesman Nilantha Premaratne told Reuters at least two army personnel would be stationed at every fuel pump to help organize fuel distribution, but the soldiers would not be involved in crowd control.

Tension over the scarcity of supplies has fed sporadic violence among those scrambling to buy fuel and other essential items.

Police said a man was stabbed to death on Monday in an argument with the driver of a three-wheeled vehicle, while last week three elderly men died queueing for fuel in sweltering heat.

The rapid drain of Sri Lanka's dollars has left it struggling to pay for critical imports as currency reserves have slumped 70% in the last two years to $2.31 billion.

But Sri Lanka has to repay about $4 billion in debt in the rest of this year, including a $1-billion international sovereign bond that matures in July.

Ahead of IMF talks in Washington in April, the government said it would hire a global law firm to provide technical assistance on debt restructuring to fight the crisis.

CREEPY CHRISTIAN PERVERT

Hillsong Founder Brian Houston Resigns After Misconduct Probe

The board of the global megachurch apologized to two women who made complaints against Houston.

By Josephine Harvey
Mar. 23, 2022

Brian Houston, founder of Hillsong, resigned after the megachurch revealed he had acted inappropriately towards two women in 2013 and 2019.
MARCUS INGRAM VIA GETTY IMAGES

The founder of Hillsong, the global megachurch that has attracted celebrities and young people, has resigned after an internal investigation determined he behaved inappropriately towards two women.

Brian Houston, the Australian pastor who co-founded the Sydney-based church with his wife Bobbie, had already stepped down as the director of all Hillsong boards in January. Houston said he needed time to defend a criminal charge that he concealed child sexual abuse by his father, who was also a pastor.

However, on Friday, the global board of the church stated that it had also been dealing with complaints from two women about Houston. An internal investigation determined that he had breached the church’s code of conduct.

The acting head of the church, Pastor Phil Dooley, announced at an emergency all-staff meeting Wednesday that Houston had resigned as global senior pastor of Hillsong and the board had accepted it, Australian media reported.

The church issued a statement online, saying it had committed to an independent review of its governance structure.

“Hillsong Church was birthed out of Brian and Bobbie’s obedience and commitment to the call of God and we are extremely grateful for all that Brian and Bobbie have given to build His house,” it stated. “We ask that you continue to pray for them, and the entire Houston family, during this challenging time.”

The church also apologized for Houston’s actions.

“We apologize unreservedly to the people affected by Pastor Brian’s actions and commit to being available for any further assistance we can provide,” it stated.

People pray during a service at Hillsong Church on Oct. 22, 2017, in New York.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

The first incident the church investigated, from 2013, involved “inappropriate text messages” sent to a female staff member that resulted in her resigning, the statement said.

“At the time, Pastor Brian was under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence,” the statement continued. “He immediately apologized to the person. We also worked closely with Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help to eliminate his dependency on this medication, and this was achieved successfully.”

The second complaint was received in 2019. In that instance, the board said Houston became disoriented after consuming anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose and mixing it with alcohol.

“This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant,” the statement said.

Although Dooley said the woman reported “no sexual activity,” Houston spent 40 minutes in her room. And he was “extremely remorseful,” the church stated.

The scandal was yet another blow to the reputation of the church, which has faced a string of controversies involving its pastors, including accusations of racist and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and exploitative behavior towards volunteers.

According to its website, Hillsong has churches in 30 countries and on six continents. It’s famous for appealing to young people with its upbeat atmosphere and music. According to the church, its worship tunes are sung by an estimated 50 million people in 60 languages.

The church has also attracted celebrity worshippers, like Justin and Hailey Bieber, Chris Pratt and Vanessa Hudgens.

Hillsong’s Brian Houston resigns from megachurch

Resignation comes after internal investigations found Houston engaged in inappropriate conduct ‘of serious concern’

Founder of the Hillsong Church, Pastor Brian Houston, has resigned. 

Photograph: Paul Miller/AAP

Anne Davies
THE GUARDIAN

Wed 23 Mar 2022

Hillsong’s founding pastor, Brian Houston, has resigned from the megachurch he founded in Sydney two decades ago after internal investigations found he had engaged in inappropriate conduct of “serious concern” with two women.

Houston stood down last Friday, but following another emergency staff meeting on Wednesday the Sydney-based church issued a brief statement announcing his resignation.

“We would like to advise you that Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church and the board has accepted his resignation.

Hillsong church apologises after investigations find Brian Houston engaged in ‘inappropriate’ behaviour

“We understand there will be much emotion at this news, and we all share these feelings. Irrespective of the circumstances around this, we can all agree that Brian and Bobbie have served God faithfully over many decades and that their ministry has resulted in millions of people across the world being impacted by the power, grace, and love of Jesus Christ.”

Over two decades, Hillsong grew from a small church in Sydney to a global brand with over 150,000 weekly attendees at its churches in 25 countries. Its brand of Christianity, which focused on rock concert-type services and attracting celebrity parishioners, proved enormously popular.
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Wednesday’s statement noted that Hillsong Church “was birthed” out of Brian and and his wife, Bobbie’s “commitment to the call of God” and asked congregants to pray for the entire Houston family “during this challenging time”.

Last week Hillsong confirmed in a statement and in an extraordinary meeting involving 800 staff members that it was investigating two complaints about inappropriate conduct involving Houston, one from a decade ago and another from 2019.

The statement revealed that alcohol and prescription drugs had also been implicated in the behaviour.

“We have sadly been dealing with two complaints made against Pastor Brian over the last 10 years,” the board said last week.

At the time Houston had already stepped down from the board and from the ministry, citing unrelated reasons.

In a statement on Saturday, the church said the first incident “involved inappropriate text messages” sent to a female member of staff. The woman subsequently resigned.

“At the time, Pastor Brian was under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence. He immediately apologised to the person. We also worked closely with Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help to eliminate his dependency on this medication, and this was achieved successfully.”

According to the statement the second issue involved a complaint received in 2019. Following an in-depth investigation, it was found that Houston became disoriented after a session at the Hillsong conference following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose along with alcohol. This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant.

“The investigation by the integrity unit appointed by the global board found that although all parts of the complaint were unable to be sustained, important elements of the complaint were sustained and the conduct was of serious concern,” the board said

“Ultimately, the board found that Brian had breached the Hillsong Pastor’s Code of Conduct. We apologise unreservedly to the people affected by Pastor Brian’s actions and commit to being available for any further assistance we can provide.”

Houston was a close friend and spiritual guide to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, a fellow pentecostal. Morrison thanked Houston in his maiden speech to parliament and more recently was asked about whether he tried to get Houston an invitation to a White House dinner while he was in Washington.

Wednesday’s statement said Hillsong had committed to an independent review of its governance and structure and processes.

The statement said the church was praying for Houston.

Comment is being sought from Houston.

Anne Frank: Dutch publisher recalls book on diarist’s betrayal after critical report


The book named a Jewish notary as a main suspect in exposing the family’s hideout to the Nazis, prompting widespread backlash

The Dutch publisher of The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation said it would recall the book after a critical report on its findings. Photograph: Sem van der Wal/EPA

Reuters
Wed 23 Mar 2022

The Dutch publisher of a discredited cold case investigation into the betrayal of teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank said it was recalling the book following a critical report on its findings.

The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Canadian bestselling author Rosemary Sullivan has been widely criticised by experts since its release in January.

The book named a Jewish notary, Arnold van den Bergh, as the main suspect in exposing the family’s hideout to the Nazis.

There was a backlash by Jewish groups, historians and independent researchers who subsequently criticised the cold case team’s conclusion.

Last month, the main umbrella group for Europe’s national Jewish communities urged HarperCollins to pull the English edition, saying it had tarnished Anne Frank’s memory and the dignity of Holocaust survivors.


Anne Frank: the real story of the girl behind the diary

On Tuesday, a counter-report by the second world war experts and historians was released in the Netherlands, saying the conclusions of the cold case team, led by a retired US FBI investigator, did not withstand professional scrutiny.

“There is not any serious evidence for this grave accusation,” the experts found.

In response, Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos said: “Based on the conclusions of this report, we have decided that effective immediately, the book will no longer be available. We will call upon bookstores to return their stock.“

The English edition of the book was published by HarperCollins. HarperCollins did not respond to a request for comment.

Anne’s diary about life in hiding has been translated into 60 languages.

She and seven other Jews were discovered in August 1944 after they had evaded capture for nearly two years in a secret annexe above a canalside warehouse in Amsterdam. All were deported and Anne died in the Bergen Belsen camp at age 15.

Women's campaigner Maliha Abidi is the ultimate breakthrough activist

A lack of representation prompted the Pakistan-born artist to dedicate years to writing and illustrating compilations of extraordinary women of colour - disconcertingly earning herself a place on just such a list


Maliha Abidi, 26, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. It was always a hobby but, at 14, became her 'coping mechanism'. Photo: Syed Askari
Tahira Yaqoob

Mar 04, 2022

While studying at university in the UK, Maliha Abidi would flick through the pages of books in her local Waterstones store, only to realise there were no characters who resembled her.

The closest match was Malala Yousafzai and, says Abidi, while she is “brilliant and an incredible human being, one person is not enough representation”.

So the Pakistani artist took it upon herself to set the record straight. She created a book to honour the outstanding women of her homeland, illustrating, researching and writing the text herself.

Pakistan for Women’s 50 profiles included well-known high achievers such as Yousafzai, Oscar-winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as well as women who were not as renowned beyond the country’s borders, such as human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir and anti-slavery campaigner Veeru Kohli.

When she failed to persuade publishers of its value, Abidi launched a Kickstarter fund, raising more than $11,500 and publishing it herself, after seeking out a printing workshop in the backstreets of Karachi’s crowded markets.

“There was a table, a chair and a printing machine,” she says, laughing at the recollection. “My father found the place and we sat with the printers, working on the design and watching the book come off the presses.”

Maliha Abidi's book 'Rise: Extraordinary Women of Colour Who Changed the World' features profiles of 100 entrepreneurs, entertainers, activists, scientists and athletes from 40 countries, including Negin Khpalwak, above, Afghanistan's first female conductor. Photo: Folk

That was exactly three years ago today. Pakistan for Women became an unexpected success, selling in more than 60 countries – and has since sparked three more books, each aiming to redress the balance and herald the achievements of people of colour.

It also cast Abidi in the role of activist campaigning for women’s rights, equality in education and proper care for mental health – as much to her surprise as anyone else’s.

“I just thought there was a huge lack of representation, especially from the part of the world that I come from,” she says.

“Usually the same one or two names come up, but they cannot be representative of the whole of South Asia.

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“That was how it began but then I wanted to go global and celebrate all women of colour from around the world.”

In 2020, Abidi ended up on the sort of list she has spent years compiling when she was named one of 20 Muslim women to watch by the ezine Muslimgirl.com, which praised her “powerful artistry and feminist writing”.

“I don’t think I deserve to be on that list,” she says. “I am just grateful to do the work I do.”

Despite her modesty, Abidi’s work is creating ripples globally. Her second book Rise: Extraordinary Women of Colour Who Changed the World, featured profiles of 100 entrepreneurs, entertainers, activists, scientists and athletes from 40 countries, from Beyonce Knowles to actress Deepika Padukone and gymnast Simone Biles, all illustrated with Abidi’s own artwork.

She is also the creator of Women Rise, a collection of 10,000 NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which aims to raise millions for girls’ education charities, including the Malala Fund and the Girl Effect.

It is, perhaps, little surprise that the Rise book cover carries a message from Yousafzai. Like Malala, whose father Ziauddin is emphatic on the importance of girls’ education, Abidi’s father, Jawaid Abbas, was hugely influential in her upbringing and encouraged her endeavours from a young age.

Born in Karachi, the artist was brought up by her engineer father and paternal grandparents in Hyderabad, an 18th-century fort city where, she recalls, it was normal to see donkey carts, rickshaws and ice-cream sellers on the streets.

It was an idyllic childhood: “I was an only child but surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles. It was lovely.”

Her life was upturned, however, when she moved to live with family in San Diego in the US at the age of 14, and her father’s visa was delayed. It was an isolating experience and drove her to a near-breakdown, although she was never formally diagnosed with depression.

“It’s a beautiful place but my mental health suffered,” she says. “It was a culture shock and I wasn’t able to make friends because they saw me as different.

“My classmates would ask if I was a refugee, and when they showed a film about the Taliban at school, they asked if that was why I moved there.”

Art and her faith became her salvation. She had drawn since she was five years old – with her father critiquing her work as if she were a professional artist – but, in California, it became her refuge.

“I used to go to the library and sit for hours, crying and drawing,” she recalls. “It got me through.

“I have been drawing for as long as I can remember but it was always a hobby. At 14, it became my coping mechanism.”

Independence and greater happiness came with her Nikah (Muslim marriage) to Askari Hassan in Pakistan at the age of 19, followed by a civil ceremony in the UK at 21. Introduced by their families, "Aski", eight years her senior, is a diehard feminist and has, Abidi says, been one of her greatest supporters.

Maliha Abidi says that her husband, Askari Hassan, is her greatest supporter and a diehard feminist who insisted on renting a flat bigger than they could afford so that she could have an art studio at home. Photo: Syed Askari

Despite having little money between them when they married, the chartered accountant insisted on renting a bigger flat so his wife could have a studio at home.

The couple moved to England and she embarked on a degree in medical neuroscience at the University of Sussex, although Abidi has since transferred her studies online to California in the US.

She says the subject and her own experiences will help her “create an organisation focused on mental health and art. I wanted to come at it from an academic perspective.”

As well as two more book projects, both focusing on migration, Abidi, now 26, continues to contribute artwork to campaigns by organisations such as the United Nations, and is advocating for more women to enter Web3 industries and the digital space.

And with the money raised from selling her work, she has donated $16,000 to the Malala Fund – a way of things coming full circle, she says, as Ziauddin Yousafzai contributed personally to the fundraising that paid for Abidi's studies.

She is hoping to begin her own family soon, but, whether first blessed with a boy or girl, she is sure of one thing: “I am going to try to raise him or her as a feminist and make sure I teach them to be empathetic.”

After a pause, she adds: “If it’s a girl, I’ll teach her to be free and confident in her own skin. And if it’s a boy, I might hold him more accountable and teach him to check his privilege.”

Updated: March 16, 2022, 

GERMAN GIGAFACTORY

Elon Musk hands over first 'made in Germany' Teslas

Tesla's focus on Europe comes as the continent grapples with sky-high energy costs.

By Florian Cazeres

March 23, 2022 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk danced for joy at the inauguration of his "gigafactory" electric car plant near Berlin on Tuesday, shrugging off two years of bureaucracy and delays to watch customers drive off with the first Model Y vehicles made in Europe.

"Danke Deutschland!" (Thank you, Germany) Musk tweeted after the red ribbon ceremony, where he joined workers in applauding the first 30 drivers to get behind the wheel of their new cars.

The US billionaire even broke into a little dance during the handovers, reviving memories of the slightly awkward jig he did at a launch event in Shanghai in 2020 that lit up the internet.

The factory opening caps an arduous two-year approval and construction process that saw Tesla run into a series of administrative and legal hurdles, including complaints from locals about the site's environmental impact.

Elon Musk tweet "Danke Deutschland!" (Thank you, Germany) after inaugurating Tesla's first production site in Europe Photo: dpa-Zentralbild POOL via AFP / Patrick Pleul

Having started construction at its own risk, Tesla finally won the formal go-ahead from regional authorities to begin production earlier this month.

The "gigafactory" in Gruenheide, in Germany's eastern state of Brandenburg, is Tesla's first production site in Europe and local officials are hoping it will help the region position itself as a hub for electric vehicle production.

The Californian company aims eventually to employ some 12,000 workers at the site who will churn out around 500,000 Model Y cars annually, the firm's all-electric, compact SUVs.

"We are extremely confident that the world can transition to a sustainable energy future with the combination of solar, wind, plus battery storage and electric vehicles," Musk said in a speech at the ceremony.

Tesla aims to eventually employ some 12,000 workers at its new German gigafactory who will churn out around 500,000 Model Y cars annually 

Photo: POOL via AFP / Patrick Pleul

"I really want to assure everyone that you can have hope in the future, you should have hope in the future," he added.

Tesla's arrival is expected to jolt Germany's flagship car industry, setting the stage for fierce competition with rivals Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz as they pivot from traditional engines to cleaner electric vehicles.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the inauguration of Tesla's first European factory

 Photo: POOL via AFP / Patrick Pleul

"The new era in the auto industry has now arrived in Germany," said analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer from the Center for Automotive Research.

Tesla's focus on Europe comes as the continent grapples with sky-high energy costs that have sent petrol prices soaring, prompting some drivers to take a closer look at electric alternatives.

The "Giga Berlin-Brandenburg" is "one of the biggest strategic endeavours for Tesla over the last decade and should further vault its market share within Europe over the coming years as more consumers aggressively head down the EV path," analysts at investment firm Wedbush said.

But Tesla has not been spared the pain from shortages of key materials and supply chain disruptions, linked in part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that are also plaguing other carmakers.

Musk tweeted last week that the company was seeing "significant recent inflation pressure" in raw materials and logistics.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who attended Tuesday's inauguration along with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said it was "a special day for Germany's mobility transformation".

In a nod to efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy, Habeck said electric cars took Germany "one step further away from oil imports".

He also called for more "Tesla speed" in other infrastructure projects, including the expansion of renewable energies.

Although Musk was frequently frustrated by the red tape that slowed down his Gruenheide plans, by German standards the factory was up and running in record time.

The inauguration was not universally welcomed, however, with environmental campaigners protesting near the site.

Among their demands was a call for better and free public transport instead of "yet more cars", said spokeswoman Lou Winters from the Sand in the Gears environmental group.

© Copyright AFP 2022. All rights reserved.

US, UK end Trump-era tariff dispute

New deal allows UK steel and aluminum products to enter US market duty-free and remove UK's retaliatory tariffs on American products.

Britain will lift retaliatory tariffs it imposed on $500 million in American imports, including alcohol and consumer goods. (AP)

The United States has announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed by former president Donald Trump in 2018 on national security grounds.

"By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminium from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement on Tuesday.

"And by removing the UK's retaliatory tariffs, we reopen the British market to beloved American products."

The deal was the latest in a series of efforts by President Joe Biden to settle trade spats with US allies, some of which were long-running and others started under the Trump administration.

Washington and London in January announced the start of negotiations to end the dispute, which began when Trump imposed levies of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium imports from Britain, and other nations to protect US industry, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Britain will lift retaliatory tariffs it imposed on $500 million in American imports, including alcohol and consumer goods, the statement said.



Ending retaliation

It also stipulates that any British steel company "owned by a Chinese entity must undertake an audit of their financial records to assess influence from the People's Republic of China government," the results of which will be shared with the United States, the Commerce Department said.

The agreement followed two days of talks between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and British International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan in the port city of Baltimore on the broader trade relationship.

Trevelyan also met with Raimondo to finalise the metals deal.

In a statement, Tai said the agreement "delivers on President Biden's vision to repair relationships with our allies while also helping to ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminium industries."

US industry was more cautious in its praise, noting the benefits the tariffs provided to aluminum and steel manufacturers.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine should remind us all just how critical the domestic steel industry is to our national and economic security," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

"Section 232 quotas and tariffs have permitted the American steel industry to recover, invest, hire, and contribute robustly to our national defense," he said, calling for a pause in more such deals to allow the industry to adjust.

Free trade deal?

Trevalyan and Tai said they would continue their talks next month in Scotland.

"Hopefully we can now move forward and focus on deepening our thriving trading relationship with the US," the British official said.

However, there was no indication of progress towards a free trade agreement between the two countries –– a priority of Britain following its departure from the European Union.

Marjorie Chorlins, senior vice president for European Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, who took part in discussions in Baltimore on Monday, said a trade pact is not likely "at least not anytime soon."

Trump officials seemed ready to make a new bilateral arrangement with London and had even opened negotiations, but the Biden administration has shown little indication of wanting to continue them.