Russia: Novaya Gazeta suspends operations until after Ukraine war

The leading independent newspaper, whose editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, had received a second warning from state censors for violating Moscow's "foreign agent" law.

Editor Dmitry Muratov and his reporters said the decision had been difficult but necessary

Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's last remaining independent newspapers, announced on Monday that it was suspending publication "until the end of the 'special operation on Ukraine's territory.'"

The investigative newspaper, edited by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, reported that it had received its second warning from the state communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, about its reporting on the Ukraine war.

"We are suspending the publication of the newspaper on our website, social media networks and in print until the end of the 'special operation on Ukraine's territory,'" the newspaper announced on its website.

In a separate message to readers, Muratov and his reporters said the decision had been difficult but necessary. "There is no other choice," the note said. "For us, and I know, for you, it's an awful and difficult decision."

The state media regulator said it had given Novaya Gazeta the renewed warning for failing to properly identify an organization deemed a "foreign agent" by the authorities in its publications, according to comments in Russian news agencies.

Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa for their fight for free expression

Independent media in Russia

Pressure against liberal Russia media outlets has been mounting since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. Most mainstream media and state-controlled organisations stick closely to the language used by the Kremlin to describe the conflict.

Russian journalists have been to forbidden to use terms such as war, invasion and attack to describe what's happening in Ukraine, instead instructed to call it a "special military operation."

President Vladimir Putin recently signed a bill into law introducing jail terms of up to 15 years for publishing "fake" news about the Ukraine war.

The newspaper's announcement comes after one of the few remaining liberal voices in the Russian media, radio station Ekho Moskvy, closed.

Authorities have also blocked the websites of several outlets, including DW, the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Also on Monday, Russia's Justice Ministry added Deutsche Welle to a list of media organizations it has labeled as foreign agents.

fh/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Sub-Saharan Africa: Millions denied vaccines, deepening inequality and human suffering from conflicts sum up 2021

GUILLEM SARTORIO
NEWS

March 29, 2022

Wealthy states colluded with corporate giants in 2021 to dupe people with empty slogans and false promises of a fair recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic while many people from Africa were denied life-saving vaccines, in what amounts to one of the greatest betrayals of our times, said Amnesty International today, as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world.

Covid-19 should have been a decisive wake-up call to deal with inequality and poverty. Instead, we have seen deeper inequality and greater instability in Africa exacerbated by global powers, especially rich countries, who failed to ensure that big pharma distributed vaccines equally between statesDeprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

Amnesty International Report 2021/22: The State of the World’s Human Rights finds that these states, alongside corporate titans, have in fact driven deeper global inequality, with most African countries left struggling to recover from Covid-19 due to high levels of inequality, poverty and unemployment exacerbated by unequal distribution of vaccines.

“Covid-19 should have been a decisive wake-up call to deal with inequality and poverty. Instead, we have seen deeper inequality and greater instability in Africa exacerbated by global powers, especially rich countries, who failed to ensure that big pharma distributed vaccines equally between states to ensure the same level of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

“As things stand now, most African countries will take long to recover from Covid-19 due to high levels of inequality and poverty. The after-effects of Covid-19 have been most damaging to the most marginalized communities, including those on the front lines of endemic poverty from Angola to Zambia, Ethiopia to Somalia and the Central Africa Republic to Sierra Leone.”

Corporate greed and self-interested nationalism undercuts vaccination in Africa

Multiple waves of the pandemic tore through Africa, having a devastating impact on human rights. Governments’ efforts, in countries such as Somalia, South Africa, Zambia, Senegal and Sierra Leone, to stem its tide were hindered by the global vaccine inequality created by pharmaceutical companies and wealthy nations. By the year’s end, less than 8% of the continent’s 1.2 billion people had been fully vaccinated.

Nearly 9 million cases and more than 220,000 deaths were recorded during the year. South Africa remained the epicenter of the pandemic, in terms of reported cases and deaths.

Meanwhile, wealthy states such as EU member states, the UK and the USA stockpiled more doses than needed, whilst turning a blind eye as Big Pharma put profits ahead of people, refusing to share their technology to enable wider distribution of vaccines. In 2021, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna projected eye-watering profits of up to US$54 billion yet supplied less than 2% of their vaccines to low-income countries. Vaccination distribution continues to be painfully slow across the continent, igniting fears of deepening poverty and a prolonged economic recovery.

Rich and powerful countries used money and their political influence to procure hundreds of millions of doses, shutting poor countries out of the market.Samira Daoud, Amnesty International's West and Central Africa Director

“Rich and powerful countries used money and their political influence to procure hundreds of millions of doses, shutting poor countries out of the market,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Director.

“The result was inequitable distribution of these much-needed vaccines, meaning that most people in low-income countries would become the last to be inoculated, as if one’s financial status or nationality was the qualifying criteria to get vaccinated.”

Pandemic lays bare poor healthcare infrastructure, and inequality, while gender-based violence continued to increase across Africa

The devastating consequences of collusion between corporate giants and western governments was compounded by health systems and economic and social support crumbling under the weight of decades of neglect. The result was rising poverty, inequality and food insecurity. Nowhere was this felt more clearly and cruelly than in Africa, which is why Amnesty International launches its report today from South Africa.

With less than 8% of the continent’s population fully vaccinated by the end of 2021, it holds the lowest vaccination rate in the world, beleaguered by insufficient supplies provided to the COVAX facility, the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust and through bilateral donations.

Too often, supplies were insufficient, or their arrival times unpredictable, making it hard for governments to build trust among their populations and structure effective roll out campaigns. In countries like DRC, Malawi and South Sudan vaccine deliveries arrived with short expiry dates forcing authorities to destroy supplies or return the bulk for reallocation to other countries.

The Covid-19 pandemic also highlighted the region’s chronic lack of investment in health sectors over many decades. The already inadequate healthcare systems in most countries were severely strained, especially during the pandemic’s third wave. In Somalia, only one hospital in Mogadishu, the capital, handled all Covid-19-related cases across south central regions for much of the year. Allegations of corruption, including in relation to Covid-19 funds, further undermined health sectors in many countries, including Cameroon and South Africa.

The pandemic has also resulted in many people across Africa left behind in terms of education, including Uganda, which will result in cementing inequality going forward. In South Africa, approximately 750,000 children had dropped out of school by May, over three times the pre-pandemic number.

Gender discrimination and inequality remained entrenched in African countries. Major concerns documented in the region included spikes in gender-based violence, limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, the persistence of early and forced marriage, and the exclusion of pregnant girls from schools.

Conflict continues across Africa amidst weak regional and international response

The global failure to build a global response to the pandemic mirrored the global and African Union’s failure to address human rights violations in conflicts on the African continent.

Human rights abuses in the conflicts on the continent continued unabated in 2021 partly because of the inaction of the African Union Peace and Security Council. Its failure to act on atrocities was most evident in relation to the conflicts in Ethiopia and Mozambique. Despite harrowing accounts of human rights violations that continuously emerged from the conflicts in the two countries, the Peace and Security Council remained disturbingly silent.

New and unresolved conflicts erupted or persisted in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Mozambique, with warring parties violating international human rights and humanitarian law. In their wake, civilians were made collateral damage, millions were displaced, thousands killed, hundreds subjected to sexual violence, and already fragile healthcare and economic systems were brought to the brink.

In the conflict in northern Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government forces alongside the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), and the Amhara police and militia continued to fight against the Tigrayan forces in a conflict that started in November 2020, affecting millions. During the conflict, members of the EDF, as well as Ethiopian security forces and militia, committed serious human rights violations, including sexual violence against women, unlawful killings, and forced displacement. Tigrayan forces also were responsible for serious violations, including unlawful killings, rape and other sexual violence constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Humanitarian aid was denied to millions of people in Tigray, resulting in many facing life-threatening conditions. Detainees in West Tigray were subjected to torture, extrajudicial execution, starvation, and denial of medical care.

In Mozambique, civilians continued to be caught between three armed forces in the conflict in Cabo Delgado, in which more than 3,000 people have died since the conflict began in October 2017. Nearly 1 million people (primarily women, children and older people) were internally displaced as a result of the war.

In Central African Republic, unlawful attacks, including killings and other violations and abuses of international humanitarian and human rights law, some of which amount to war crimes, were committed by all parties to the conflict. According to the UN, members of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) attacked and looted health centres in Mbomou prefecture in January.

In Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, hundreds of civilians were killed by various armed groups.

Governments hiding behind security and Covid-19 to stifle dissent

Global trends to stifle independent and critical voices gathered steam in 2021 across Sub-Saharan Africa as governments deployed a widening gamut of tools and tactics.

Measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 provided additional pretext for the repression of peaceful dissent across the region, with the first instinct of many governments to ban peaceful protests, citing health and safety concerns, including in Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.Amnesty International

Measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 provided additional pretext for the repression of peaceful dissent across the region, with the first instinct of many governments to ban peaceful protests, citing health and safety concerns, including in Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, in countries like Eswatini and South Sudan, organizers were arrested, and the internet disrupted to derail planned protests. Security forces used excessive force to break up peaceful protests of hundreds or thousands of people who defied bans. In over 12 countries, including Angola, Benin, Senegal, Chad, Eswatini, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Sudan, many people died when security forces fired live ammunition. In Eswatini, the violent dispersal of pro-democracy protests resulted in 80 deaths and more than 200 injuries over five months. In Sudan, at least 53 people died when security forces used live ammunition to disperse protests against the October military coup.

In Chad, at least 700 people protesting against the electoral process and later against the establishment of the transitional government were arrested. In DRC, three activists arrested in North Kivu for organizing a peaceful sit-in to protest mismanagement in a local healthcare administration remained in detention. In Eswatini, at least 1,000 pro-democracy protesters, including 38 children, were arbitrarily arrested.

“Instead of providing room for discussion and debate so sorely needed on how best to meet the challenges of 2021, many states redoubled efforts to muzzle critical voices.”

Human rights wins against all odds

Nevertheless, 2021 was not all doom and gloom. Some key human rights wins were recorded across Sub-Saharan Africa after persistent campaigning for freedoms.

In 2022, if governments are intent on building back broken – then we are left with little option. We must fight their every attempt to muzzle our voices and we must stand up to their every betrayal.Amnesty International

Following months of relentless pro-democracy protests by the people of Eswatini, King Mswati conceded to calls for dialogue to negotiate the future of the country with pro-democracy protesters. This offers new hope for a country where political reforms were not up for negotiations with the monarch.

In Sudan, we saw people’s power in full display when civilians took to the streets in October to reject a military takeover of power by soldiers and reversals of human rights gains during the transitional period.

In Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, dozens of members or sympathizers of opposition parties as well as members of civil society organizations who were arbitrary arrested for having simply exercised their freedoms of expression or peaceful assembly were released.

Reclaiming our freedoms

In 2022, if governments are intent on building back broken – then we are left with little option. We must fight their every attempt to muzzle our voices and we must stand up to their every betrayal. It is why, in the coming weeks, we are launching a global campaign of solidarity with people’s movements, a campaign demanding respect for the right to protest. We must build and harness global solidarity, even if our leaders won’t.

Sorrow and regret are not enough. Britain must finally pay reparations for slavery


In Jamaica last week, Prince William trotted out the same tired platitudes the UK has parroted for years. Now it’s time to pay

Protesters call for slavery reparations at the British High Commission in Kingston, Jamaica, last week during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal tour. 

Photograph: Ricardo Makyn/AFP/Getty Images

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About this content

Kenneth Mohammed
Tue 29 Mar 2022 

When Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, announced to Prince William last week that Jamaica was “moving on”, the irony of his statement was lost on most. Visiting the country in 2015, Britain’s then PM, David Cameron, told Jamaican politicians making the case for reparations to “move on”.

Republican ideology has been given renewed energy since 2021 when Barbados, led by Mia Mottley, became the latest Caribbean island to remove the Queen as head of state, replacing her with a female president.

Mottley had strongly opined that the Caribbean had won political independence but was denied any developmental compact. Outlining the strides the Caribbean had made in reversing legal inequalities, she made the case that only reparations could help tackle the psychological, sociological and economic inequalities that still exist within Caribbean countries and between them and their former colonisers.

Reparation seems a dirty word whenever Caribbean leaders utter it, and talks have taken on a farcical narrative. In 1834, reparations of over £20m were paid, not to the slaves but to the plantation owners, in compensation for their loss of free labour after emancipation.

Talks over the last 60 years or so, since independence began, have offered no cause for celebration. Britain has been remorseful in words but not emphatic in action. In August 2020, the UK government’s response was: “The UK deplores the human suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade. They are among the most abhorrent chapters in the history of humanity.”

Sound familiar? Prince William reiterated this in Jamaica. The statement went on: “While reparations are not part of the government’s approach, we feel deep sorrow for the transatlantic slave trade, and fully recognise the strong sense of injustice and the legacy of slavery in the most affected parts of the world. We also believe that we have much to do today and in the future to address the reality of slavery in the UK and around the world.”

But hey, let’s move on! Reparations are not part of our approach and neither is a formal apology or, worse yet, making things economically right.
One has only to look at how the Windrush generation has been treated to understanding the Caribbean’s plight, how much it has given and how little it has had in return

I wonder if William knew he was making his statement on the eve of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which passed almost unnoticed on 25 March. The day honours the more than 12 million men, women and children brutalised under a slavery system that endured for more than 400 years. The large population of people of African descent in the Caribbean remains the legacy of the inhuman enforced migration which broke the ladder of generational wealth of these displaced people.

In June 2020, the UK prime minister pledged to establish a new commission on ethnic disparities to “examine all aspects of continuing racial and ethnic inequalities in Britain”. This will have no meaningful impact for the ordinary person on the streets of Kingston, Port of Spain or Bridgetown.

Voicing “sorrow and regret” is indeed a start but money talks far more than platitudes. One has only to look at how the Windrush generation has been treated to understanding the Caribbean’s plight, how much it has given and how little it has had in return. Today, black and minority ethnic (BME) politics seems to be only about scholarships for black students to British universities and, in the workplace, painting the diversity picture and checking that box. Admittedly, this is important and a step in the right direction, but not enough.

Former British colonies should not be treated like the French have treated Haiti. In 1791, after the world’s largest slave revolt, Haiti became the first nation to dismantle slavery. However, it was held to political ransom, forced to succumb to France’s reparation demands in order to secure independence in 1804. The terms were cruel, as the infant nation entered into debt with exorbitant interest rates imposed by the French. Haiti paid French slaveholders and their descendants the equivalent today of $30bn, taking 122 years to pay it off, and severely damaging the newly independent country’s ability to prosper.

Here’s how to repay developing nations for colonialism – and fight the climate crisis

Citizens of Belize and Jamaica protested during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit. A petition proclaimed that there was absolutely nothing to rejoice over for the last 70 years of the Queen’s role in Jamaica.

As part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee, other tours are planned. In April, Edward and Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, will travel to Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Some of the last significant bastions of the British empire lie in Caribbean waters. These tiny island paradises, thousands of miles away yet still tied to the British empire, have been plagued by natural disasters which have impacted infrastructure and economies.

Two years of the pandemic have severed any hope of a quick recovery. In addition, there is political corruption by captured states, and the inertia of successive governments that seem hellbent on destroying their economies and enriching themselves, moving their ill-gotten gains through British tax-haven territories, with the final destination being London, to be hidden in real estate and other investments.

Caribbean politicians and officials continue to be naive towards what reparations would mean to Britain. They fool themselves that they possess leverage if they remain in the Commonwealth. Maybe a clue lies in recent articles and interviews on reparation issues between Namibia and its German ex-colonisers, which reveal exactly how the west views reparations.
Reparations become masked as ‘developmental aid’, suggesting a handout, and a means for the west to appear as saviours

Namibia was known as “German South West Africa” from 1884 to 1915. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces brutally suppressed anti-colonial uprisings by the Herero and Nama people, forcing many into the desert to starve. They killed tens of thousands, confiscating land and livestock.

In 1988, the South African government finally agreed to give up control of Namibia and it was granted independence in 1990. The German government has acknowledged responsibility for genocide in Namibia but “reparation” is feared as a legal term by German negotiators concerned at setting any expensive precedent. Reparations therefore become masked as “developmental aid”, suggesting a handout, and a means by which the west can appear as saviours. It is not restorative justice.

Reparations to bring real, impactful development initiatives in infrastructure, education, health and transportation could change the destiny of the descendants of slavery in the Caribbean. The fight for reparations must continue and must unite the ethnic majority of the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa.

In addition, the Caribbean countries, having taken their destiny into their own hands, must break the chains of political corruption and corporate capture which continue to smother and retard their economic and social development.

Kenneth Mohammed is a Caribbean analyst and senior adviser at Intelligent Sanctuary

 GM keeps up Shanghai output with workers sleeping on factory floor -sources

Mar 29, 2022 

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The new GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., March 16, 2021. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors (NYSE:GM)' joint venture in Shanghai has maintained production amid the city's lockdown by asking workers to sleep on factory floors and getting passes for trucks to continue deliveries, two people familiar with the matter said.

Such measures equate to a "closed-loop" management process, which China's financial hub has asked companies to adopt to stay open during a two-stage lockdown to battle its COVID outbreak.

In the bubble-like arrangement, which workers sleep, live and work in isolation from the rest of the world to prevent virus transmission. A similar system was used at the Winter Olympics in Beijing to seal event personnel off from the public.

The facilities, which GM runs as part of a joint venture with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp that produces Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles, are in areas east of Shanghai's Huangpu river that have been locked down from Monday to Friday.

GM, which said on Monday that its Shanghai JV was producing normally, declined to comment on the arrangements at its factory. A spokesperson said the company and its joint ventures had developed and were executing contingency plans with their suppliers to mitigate uncertainty related to COVID-19.

GM's ability to keep its Shanghai production lines running contrasts with that of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which Reuters reported has suspended production for the four-day period. It was unable to secure sufficient provisions for its workers to achieve closed-loop management, one source said.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier Foxconn, TCL Corp, and Apple supplier Shenzhen Deren Electronic Co Ltd managed to keep production going in southern China this month with closed-loop management after manufacturing hubs such as Shenzhen and Dongguan were hit by similar lockdown measures.

Dozens march in Mexico to protest hate speech against trans people

Online News EditorMarch 29, 2022

Mexico City, Mar 28 (EFE).- Dozens of people marched Monday in Mexico City calling for the end of hate speech in the country.

The march was convened after a forum by a center attached to the National Autonomous University of Mexico in which, protesters claimed, people who made transphobic comments were included.

“We condemn the fact that a (university) space has been used to generate a false debate. Did (the university) release any public funds for this forum? (…) If so, the dean has to clarify why it happened,” trans activist Gloria Virginia Davenport said during the protest.

The demonstrators marched from the iconic Monument to the Revolution to the Benito Juarez Hemicycle, in the heart of the capital, where several activists and politicians took the stage to show their support for the trans community and repudiation of what had transpired.

The “necessary clarifications on sex and gender categories” forum was convened by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Sciences and Humanities (Ceiich) on Mar. 24.

Several civil organizations and people from the LGBT community claimed that some of the speakers, including Marcela Lagarde and Amelia Valcarcel, made “transphobic” speeches at the event.

“We request in the most attentive and respectful way that a dialog be opened with trans women,” the groups said.

After the march and the rally, several groups and artists performed to convey a message of unity and respect for the trans community.

Dozens of people also demonstrated in Ciudad Universitaria, the main university campus, where they made graffiti, chanted slogans such as “here is the trans resistance” and asked the university for explanations and to take measures.

Hundreds of groups, organizations, students, professors and university employees signed a statement demanding a strong position against transphobia.

Mexico has the second highest number of violent incidents related to homophobia and transphobia in Latin America, after Brazil, according to the National Observatory of Hate Crimes against LGBT Persons in Mexico by the Rainbow Foundation. EFE

ia/pd/lds

War creates an opportunity for Indian wheat growers

Tightening supply and rising prices for grain from major exporting countries have made Indian wheat competitive.

India has a huge exportable surplus of wheat 

[File: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg]

By Pratik Parija and Ruchi BhatiaBloomberg
Published On 29 Mar 2022

In a world where people are worrying more than ever about food shortages and rising inflation, India’s warehouses are brimming over with grain and the country’s farmers are gearing up for yet another record harvest.

The country is the top global producer of wheat after China and has the potential to ship 12 million tons to the world market in the 2022-23 year, the most on record, according to the median of five estimates in a Bloomberg survey of traders, millers and analysts. That compares with shipments of 8.5 million tons in 2021-22, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

Prices of farm commodities were already on a tear before the Russian invasion of Ukraine as drought shriveled global harvests and demand increased, helping send world food costs to the highest on record. The war made matters even worse because it has choked shipments from one of the planet’s top producing regions, cutting off more than a quarter of the world’s wheat supplies.



“Indian wheat exports help the market in a tight world supply situation,” said Vijay Iyengar, chairman and managing director of Singapore-based Agrocorp International, which trades about 12 million tons of grain annually. “It helps to keep a lid on global prices as well. If India wasn’t exporting wheat in large quantities, prices would have probably escalated further.”

Benchmark wheat prices in Chicago surged to an all-time high of $13.635 a bushel this month after the Russian invasion, compared with an average of only around $5.50 a bushel in the five years through the day preceding the attack.

Tightening supply and rising prices for grain from major exporting countries have made Indian wheat competitive for the first time in years. With ballooning inventories after five straight record crops, India has a huge exportable surplus. That will be crucial for importers in North Africa and the Middle East where soaring food prices sparked violent uprisings more than a decade ago.

While India has tended to ship wheat mostly to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh and to some Middle Eastern markets, exporters are now likely to find buyers across Africa and in other areas of the Middle Eastern region.

Market frenzy

“Practically every market needs to consider Indian wheat now, particularly in the vicinity of Asia, Africa and the Middle East,” said Iyengar, who has traded commodities for more than three decades. “We have not seen this kind of frenzy for Indian wheat in the global market before.”

India is in final talks to start wheat shipments to Egypt, the world’s top buyer, while discussions are in progress with countries such as China, Turkey, Bosnia, Sudan, Nigeria and Iran, the commerce ministry said this month. Wheat exports from India were already up more than fourfold to about 6 million tons in the 10 months through January from a year earlier, government data show.

Shipping times to the Middle East will be longer than from traditional Black Sea exporters Ukraine and Russia, but India is well positioned to step in as a low-cost wheat supplier, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

Australia, one of the world’s top exporters, is already feeling the heat. Australian wheat is competitively priced, said Jason Craig, chief marketing and trading officer at CBH Group, the biggest shipper. “But Indian wheat is certainly at a lower value,” and “we’re starting to see that compete against Australian wheat in some of our traditional markets,” like Indonesia, he said.

State-run warehouses in India held more than 23 million tons of wheat at the beginning of March, about three times the level required by the government for this time of year, Food Corp. of India data show.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

#DECRIMINALIZEDRUGS  #ABOLISHDEATHPENALTY

Singapore court rejects intellectually disabled man's final appeal against execution for drug smuggling

By Helen Regan, CNN
Tue March 29, 2022

Activists hold posters displaying messages against the execution of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin into Singapore, outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on March 9.

(CNN)A Singapore court on Tuesday rejected a final appeal by a man sentenced to death for drug trafficking, following a campaign by his lawyers who said the trial violated international laws as the man has intellectual disabilities.

The ruling ends all legal avenues to stop his execution and supporters say he could be hanged within days.

The case has drawn international attention -- including from the United Nations, Malaysia's Prime Minister and British billionaire Richard Branson -- and put the city-state's zero-tolerance drug laws back under scrutiny.

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a 34-year-old Malaysian citizen, was arrested in 2009 for bringing 42.7 grams (1.5 ounces) of heroin into Singapore. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2010.

He appealed on the basis of mental disability and for his lawyers to start judicial review proceedings to halt the death sentence.

"The Court of Appeal has just dismissed the application and considered the appeal an abuse of process and that international law does not apply. Nagaenthran who is mentally disabled is due to be hanged possibly in the next few days," said M. Ravi, who was part of Dharmalingam's legal team, in a Facebook post Tuesday.

In his ruling, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said there was "no admissible evidence showing any decline in the appellant's mental condition after the commission of the offense."

"The case mounted by the appellant's counsel was baseless and without merit, both as a matter of fact and of law," Menon said, according to court documents.

Campaigners make last effort to save man with intellectual disabilities from execution in Singapore

The court also dismissed a request for Dharmalingam to be assessed by an independent panel of psychiatrists.

After his family were notified of his impending execution in October 2021, Dharmalingam's lawyers launched a last-minute constitutional challenge. The High Court dismissed their bid in November but granted a stay of execution so the decision could be appealed.

That appeal hearing was then postponed because Dharmalingam contracted Covid-19. Tuesday's verdict on the appeal exhausts Dharmalingam's legal options.

Anti-death penalty group Reprieve said Dharmalingam is facing imminent execution unless he is pardoned by Singapore's President Halimah Yacob.

"We are extremely concerned about rushed hearings and decisions in this case, in violation of Nagaenthran's fair trial rights. Nagaenthran should be protected from the death penalty because of his intellectual disability," Reprieve director Maya Foa said in a statement.

"The heart-wrenching fact that he believes he is going home to his family and talks about sharing home-cooked meals with them shows that he does not fully understand he faces execution and lacks the mental competency to be executed."

Death sentence
Singapore has some of the strictest drug laws in the world.

Trafficking a certain amount of drugs -- for example, 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin -- results in a mandatory death sentence under the Misuse of Drugs Act. It was only recently -- and after Dharmalingam's case began -- that the law was amended to allow for a convicted person to escape the death penalty in certain circumstances.

Dharmalingam's lawyers argued he should not have been sentenced to death under Singaporean law because he was incapable of understanding his actions.

They said a psychologist assessed his IQ to be 69, which is internationally recognized as an intellectual disability. At his trial, the defense also argued he had severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), borderline intellectual functioning, and severe alcohol use disorder.

Dharmalingam has spent a decade on death row and during that time his condition further deteriorated, his lawyers said.

"He has not a very good sense of what is happening around him," N. Surendran, a Malaysian lawyer who is representing Dharmalingam's family, and adviser to Malaysian NGO Lawyers for Liberty, said in November. "He is disoriented. He's got no real clue of what is going to happen to him."

Surendran said executing Dharmalingam "would be tantamount to executing a child."
The court on Tuesday, however, said there was no admissible evidence showing any decline in Dharmalingam's mental condition.

The judge ruled the lawyers' assertions of Dharmalingam's mental decline were "self-serving" and "not supported by anything at all." Menon, the chief justice, said the defense proceedings were carried in a way intended to delay the execution, according to court documents.

In January, rights group Amnesty International called the trial "a travesty of justice" and "unlawful under international law."

"This includes the fact his sentence was imposed as a mandatory punishment and for an offense that does not meet the threshold of the 'most serious crimes' to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law," Amnesty said.

CNN's Caitlin McGee contributed reporting.

Amnesty International: 2021 was the year of broken promises

The human rights monitor looks back on civil and human rights in 2021, a year of dashed hopes. According to Amnesty International, the digital sphere is increasingly becoming a space for activism — and repression.


Amnesty's annual report follows developments and protest movements worldwide

Every year, Amnesty International looks at developments around the world and compiles an analysis of the most important global trends in human and civil rights. In its latest annual report, released Tuesday, Amnesty Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director Philip Luth says: "2021 was a year of really quite significant promises. ... The reality was completely otherwise."

There had been hope that the world might emerge from the pandemic equitably, Luther told DW, but richer countries in particular have prevented the widespread manufacture and distribution of vaccines. The annual report cites the facts: Fewer than 8% of the 1.2 billion people in Africa were fully vaccinated at the end of 2021 — the lowest rate in the world and far from the WHO's 40% vaccination target.

Luther said governments used the pandemic as a "smoke screen" to restrict expression

The distribution of vaccines was just one of the disappointments of 2021. The study found that many governments have used the pandemic to suppress opposition and civil society. "It's across regions and that's one of the reasons we highlighted it in our global analysis," Luther said. "Some governments very specifically used the smoke screen of the pandemic to restrict freedom of expression." Examples of countries where protests have been broken up and human rights defenders are at risk include Cambodia, Russia, China and others.

According to Amnesty and other international organizations, the pandemic is also having an effect on civil society. "There are various strategies that are making it increasingly difficult for civil society to operate in different regions of the world," Silke Pfeiffer, head of the department for human rights and peace at the the Christian-affiliated aid organization Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World), told DW. "This is quite specifically directed at individual activists, who are discriminated against, threatened, persecuted and in some cases murdered." In many countries, Pfeiffer said, governments cultivate a hostile environment. "It becomes increasingly difficult for civil society organizations to work," she said. "That goes as far as the closure of NGOs; we see that again and again."

To cite just one example: In late March, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had 25 nongovernmental organizations closed. One of them is the Nicaraguan partner organization to Brot für die Welt.

A 'double-edged sword'

Governments and NGOs are increasingly doing their work online. Luther describes the development as a "double-edged sword." Authorities clandestinely use technology in ways that have a negative impact on people's human rights, he said: "Governments in many cases were also then trying to shut down and disrupt tools that enable civil society to better communicate with each other and spread information."

Amnesty International's annual report cites multiple examples of this: the internet shutdown from August 4, 2019, to February 5, 2021, in the India-controlled regions of Jammu and Kashmir; the use of facial recognition technology at protests in Moscow; and the use of Israel's Pegasus spyware against journalists, opposition figures and human rights activists. Pfeiffer said the internet was an important way for civil society to organize and mobilize. But she added that, around the world, "governments and other actors have completely upgraded digitally and are now also taking very strong action against freedom on the internet — through censorship, by shutting down internet services, through mass surveillance."

Across the world, Amnesty noted, people took to the streets to fight for their rights and the rights of others in 2021 — in Russia, India, Colombia, Sudan, Lebanon and at least 75 other countries.

This article was originally written in German.

MACHO MAN 

Oscars slap: Will Smith faces backlash online

The Oscar winner's slapping of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards has triggered heated debate on social media. Almost everyone agrees, however, that violence is no answer to a poor joke.

In a shocking turn of events, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock live onstage

Will Smith's win as best actor for his performance in "King Richard" is not what will go down in Oscars history. 

Instead, everyone is talking about how he went onstage to slap presenter Chris Rock in the face after taking offense at a joke made by the latter, which referenced the hairstyle of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

While presenting the award for best documentary, Rock began by cracking a few jokes about members of the audience, including Pinkett Smith.

Calling her "G.I. Jane" for her buzz cut — in reference to Demi Moore's role and hairdo in the 1997 film of the same name — the camera initially captured Smith laughing uncomfortably while Pinkett Smith reacted with an angry eye roll. She had revealed her battle with alopecia in 2018,  a condition that causes hair loss.

Jada Pinkett Smith publicly opened up about her alopecia-related hair loss in 2018

Despite some disapproving groans from the crowd, Rock then continued, "That was a nice one!", which then prompted Smith to storm onstage and slap him.

Both the live audience and viewers worldwide, including Daily Show host Trevor Noah, were caught unawares, with some initially assuming that it was a planned stunt.

Smith then returned to his seat and shouted, "Keep my wife's name out of your f**ing mouth," which had everyone realize the actor was not joking.

The actor repeated himself from his seat, to which the visibly stunned Rock responded, "Wow, dude. It was a 'G.I. Jane' joke." Pausing briefly to compose himself, Rock then told the audience, "That was the greatest night in the history of television."

First onstage hit at the Oscars

Following Smith's slap, social media has been awash with tweets and memes commenting on the turn of events.

Many expressed empathy with Smith for wanting to protect his wife from a cruel joke, but most have underscored that resorting to violence isn't the way to go about it. 

Without naming Smith, the Academy indirectly reacted to the exchange, saying in a tweet that it "does not condone violence of any form."

Upon confirmation from an Academy librarian, Vanity Fair has reported that this was likely the first occurrence of real violence onstage at an Oscar ceremony

.

Reactions then came hard and fast on this unscripted altercation, with actor Mark Hamill using the hashtag #UgliestOscarMoment_Ever. Smith's son, Jaden Smith, simply tweeted, "And That's How We Do It."

Scott Feinberg of the The Hollywood Reporter reported that a tearful Smith needed to be "pulled aside and comforted" by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry during a commercial break following the incident.

Smith later picked up his first Oscar for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in "King Richard." In his tearful award acceptance speech, he revealed Washington's words of advice to him: "At your highest moment, be careful; that's when the devil comes for you." 

Smith referred to the chaotic incident, saying, "I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things," he added.

He also apologized to the Academy and his fellow nominees, without however apologizing to Rock. "I'm hoping the Academy invites me back," he added.

Smith's Oscar win has been clouded by the infamous slap

'Toxic masculinity'

However, Smith was criticized by many for exhibiting toxic masculinity for the assault.

Janai Nelson, president of the civil and human rights law organization, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, noted that "the way casual violence was normalized tonight by a collective national audience will have consequences that we can’t even fathom in the moment."

While the Los Angeles Police Department reported that Rock had declined to bring assault charges against Smith, others questioned the actor being able to get away with it — and receiving a standing ovation when he picked up his golden statuette a short time later.

Maria Shriver, ex-wife of actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, also condemned Smith's use of the word "love" in his speech.

Others have noted that Rock and Smith have had an ongoing feud for several years, with Rock already joking about the actor's wife at the 2016 Oscars. Actor and activist Sophia Bush also called out Rock's insensitivity in making a joke of Pinkett Smith's autoimmune disease, but nevertheless underscored that violence is still not the answer: 

Some observers have also pointed out that Smith experienced domestic violence as a child.

In "Will," his autobiography published last November, Smith writes about how his father would hit his mother: "When I was nine years old, I watched my father punch my mother in the side of the head so hard that she collapsed," he wrote, adding that he sees himself as "a coward" for having "failed to stand up to my father" as a child, and that his entire career is an attempt to make up for his inaction at the time. 

Opinion: Onstage altercation is a new low

 

for the Oscars

A slap onstage overshadows the 94th Academy Awards. Sunday's gala, which was supposed to be a turning point in the history of the US film awards, has instead brought the Oscars to their nadir, DW's Stefan Dege writes.


Actor Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock on Sunday


This year's Oscars could have been so enjoyable. Three awards, including best picture, went to the touching tragicomedy "Coda." Two Germans won Oscars. The presenters' show, ranging from audacious to emotional, along with its musical interludes, gave hope.

Then, along came Will Smith. By slapping the comedian Chris Rock in the face, the actor caused the night's scandal. O, Oscars, to what depths can you sink?

What a low point at the Oscars, says DW's Stefan Dege

Smith was reacting to an offensive joke about his wife's autoimmune disorder. He demystified the glitz and glamour show in one fell swoop, even before he received the Oscar for Best Actor for the biographical film "King Richard." For many, Oscars night was over, and Smith stole the show from of his colleagues.

It remains to be seen whether he will have to return his award or whether the academy will revoke it. Smith's outburst not only harmed himself, but even more so the Oscars. The most American of cinema ceremonies and in existence since 1929, the Academy Awards were just emerging from crisis. Now the 94th award ceremony in 2022 will go down in Hollywood history as the "slap-in-the-face-Oscars." It is not the hoped-for comeback!

In recent years, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has faced the criticism that the Oscars are too white and too male. Too few female directors and screenwriters were nominated or received Oscars, as well as too few filmmakers of color. Facts and figures have shown that diversity was long a foreign concept in Hollywood. Audiences were noticeably turning away. That forced the academy to think things over.

Night of firsts

The results were visible at last night's ceremony: The trio of presenters — comedians Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes — were entertaining. The attention on "Coda," Sian Heder's story about a hearing girl who grows up in a deaf fishing family, generated empathy. Incidentally, it was also a first for a film from a streaming service to win the Oscar for best picture.

For many film fans, an Academy Award is still considered the most important cinema prize in the world. But the Oscars remain focused on the United States. World cinema is quite something else — more diverse, more realistic, more international. The innovative filmmakers on other continents and in other nations are not celebrated with awards at the Oscars, but with the Palme d'Or in Cannes or the Golden Lion in Venice.

Before he died in 2020, DW film editor Jochen Kürten called the Academy Awards "misinterpreted in artistic terms and hopelessly overrated." That may be why many viewers initially believed the slap to have been part of the show by Hollywood's dream factory. Instead, it was a low point in the history of the Oscars. Now, things can only get better.

This article was originally written in German.

Academy Awards producers hoping to make

show more immersive

SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THE SLAP