Experiment Suggests That Consciousness May Be Rooted in Quantum Physics

Is this where "consciousness begins?"

/ Hard Science/ Consciousness/ Neuroscience/ Quantum Physics


Image by Getty Images/Futurism

A decades-old and controversial theory suggesting that quantum effects in the brain could explain consciousness may hold more weight than scientists gave it credit for.

The nature of consciousness has long puzzled us. One idea, traditionally seen as far fetched, is that the unusual laws that govern the quantum world could be behind what allows us to experience consciousness, New Scientist reports.

In 1990s, physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff suggested that tiny microtubules, hollow tubes that form the “skeletons” of plant and animal cells, could allow for a breakdown in the structure of space-time that interrupts quantum superposition, the fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that posits a physical system can exist in two states at the same time.

This breakdown of superpositions then allows consciousness to exist, the theory known as Orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR) suggests.

Many scientists dismissed the idea. But the theory, according to New Scientist, has been gaining new traction lately.

In one recent experiment, it reported, a team led by Jack Tuszynski at the University of Alberta in Canada found that anesthetic drugs allow microtubules to re-emit trapped light in a much shorter time than originally thought.

They found that light caught inside an energy trap was re-emitted after a mysterious delay, a process they propose could be of quantum origin, New Scientist explains.

In the presence of an anesthetic, however, this delay was shortened considerably. In other words, the thinking goes, the process of consciousness may be behind the delay.

It’s far too early to tell if the experiment could actually explain what allows us to be conscious, and Tuszynski’s peers are understandably wary of those results.

“It is interesting,” University of Oxford quantum physicist Vlatko Vedral told New Scientist. “But this connection with consciousness is a really long shot.”

There’s also a chance that the laws of classical, not quantum, physics are behind the odd delay.

Still, the results have Tuszynski intrigued.

“We’re not at the level of interpreting this physiologically, saying ‘Yeah, this is where consciousness begins,’ but it may,” he told New Scientist.

And his peers certainly seem to be intrigued, if nothing else.

“Even if you could claim that cell division is somehow underpinned by some quantum effects, this would be a huge thing for biology,” Vedral told the magazine.

READ MORE: Quantum experiments add weight to a fringe theory of consciousness [New Scientist]

More on consciousness: Neuroscientist Ponders Whether People Remain Conscious After Having Their Heads Chopped Off

Oil gains as Libya shuts its largest oil field amid protests

Julia Fanzeres, Bloomberg News

Oil rose as the shutdown of Libya’s biggest oil field strains an already under-supplied market, overshadowing signals that China’s drastic pandemic lockdowns are weighing on economic growth.

Brent crude futures settled above US$113 a barrel for the first time since late March while West Texas Intermediate oil closed just above US$108. Global crude markets face further supply disruptions after demonstrations against Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah shut down Sharara, the country’s biggest oil field. Protesters also forced two of the North African nation’s ports to halt loadings with output halted at the El Feel field. 

Earlier, prices had been falling on bearish Chinese economic data. The world’s second-largest economy reported the biggest decline in consumer spending and its worst unemployment rate since the pandemic emerged, compounding threats to global growth.

Oil rallied above US$100 this year as Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupted an already-tight market and prompted some traders to shun Russian crude. The price surge spurred the U.S. and allies to make of millions of barrels of strategic reserves to quell inflationary pressures. Nonetheless, global supplies remain tight with the European Union considering banning Russian crude and OPEC+ standing firmly against accelerating production increases.

A key oil market indicator suggests that bullish sentiment is rising. Brent’s so-called prompt spread, the difference between its two nearest contracts, surged to US$1.15, up from 21 cents a week ago. 

Any “embargo decision by the EU would be a catalyst for even higher oil prices,” said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates Inc. “Realistically, it would not be viable to replace” all of the crude that would be disrupted from a European Union ban on Russian crude.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said last week that if more nations banned Russian energy flows, prices may “significantly exceed” historic highs. The U.S. and U.K. have moved to bar crude from the country in retaliation over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prices:

• West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose US$1.26 to settle at US$108.21 a barrel in New York.
• Brent for June settlement rose US$1.46 to US$113.16.

In a weekend phone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave a “positive assessment” of their efforts to stabilize the oil market, suggesting that no change in production policy is likely. The two nations lead the alliance that groups the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, known as OPEC+.

Oil’s surge this year has been part of a wider advance in energy commodities that’s seen prices extend gains even as the outlook for global economic growth dims. On Monday, U.S. natural gas prices hit the highest level in more than 13 years as robust demand tests drillers’ ability to expand supplies.   

Sri Lankan town under curfew after police kill protester

AFP , Wednesday 20 Apr 2022

Police enforced a curfew on Wednesday in a Sri Lankan town where an anti-government demonstrator was killed, a death that triggered international condemnation just as the crisis-hit country seeks an IMF bailout.

Sri Lankans hold up their mobile phone torches during a vigil condemning police shooting at protesters in Rambukkana, 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Colombo, at a protest outside the president s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. AP 

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Regular blackouts and acute shortages of food and fuel have sparked increasing public discontent in the island nation, which is dealing with its worst economic downturn since independence in 1948.

Huge protests have demanded the government's resignation, including the Tuesday blockade of a key highway and railway line on the day Sri Lanka's main petrol retailer announced another sudden price rise.

Police dispersed the crowd in the town of Rambukkana with tear gas and a volley of live rounds that left a 42-year-old father of two dead, with nearly 30 others wounded in the confrontation.

"I was hit with a baton on my leg and hand," Vasantha Kumara, a local chef, told AFP on Wednesday. "I begged the cops not to beat me, but they didn't listen."

"People are angry. We are all poor people fighting for basics."

Authorities extended the curfew in Rambukkana, around 95 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital Colombo, into Wednesday with shops closed through the morning.

Spent bullet cartridges littered the road hours after the previous evening's protest, which saw thousands of people blocking rail tracks and the highway to the central city of Kandy.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he was "deeply saddened" by the police shooting and promised the public's right to peacefully protest against his government would not be hindered.

Sri Lanka's police force "will carry out an impartial and transparent inquiry", he wrote on Twitter.

Police said they were forced to act when the crowd was about to set alight a fuel tanker -- a claim dismissed by Sri Lanka's political opposition.

"These people are not suicidal to burn a tanker and get killed in the process," lawmaker Rohini Kumari Wijerathna said in parliament.

International concern

Tuesday's incident was the first fatal clash since widespread anti-government protests began this month.

At least 29 people, including 11 police officers, were wounded in Rambukkana, according to official figures.

Later that night, police fired tear gas to break up another protest in Sri Lanka's south, one of the dozens of demonstrations staged simultaneously across the country.

Colombo-based diplomats have expressed concern over the police shooting.

"A full, transparent investigation is essential and the people's right to peaceful protest must be upheld," US ambassador Julie Chung said.

British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton condemned the violence and "call[ed] for restraint."

IMF talks

Sri Lanka opened talks with the International Monetary Fund in Washington this week after announcing an unprecedented default on the government's $51 billion foreign debt.

The IMF said it had asked Sri Lanka to restructure its borrowings before the lender finalises a bailout programme.

Talks with Sri Lanka were still at an "early stage", the IMF said, expressing concern over the hardships suffered by the country's people.

Sri Lanka's economic meltdown began after the coronavirus pandemic torpedoed vital revenue from tourism and remittances.

The country is short of dollars to finance even the most important essentials, including food, fuel and medicines. Runaway inflation has worsened the population's hardships.

The Colombo Stock Exchange has suspended trading to prevent an anticipated market collapse and the government has urged citizens abroad to donate money to help pay for desperately needed essentials.

A large crowd has been camped outside President Rajapaksa's seafront office in Colombo since April 9, demanding the leader step down.

Rajapaksa has acknowledged public anger over the ruling family's mismanagement and appointed a new cabinet to navigate the country out of the crisis, but has refused to entertain calls for his resignation.

3 reasons why there is still no universal vaccine for dengue

Researchers face challenges in developing a treatment for dengue. 

ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

Timothy Goh
Health Correspondent

SINGAPORE - Dengue continues to infect hundreds of millions of people and across the globe a year, and takes thousands of lives.

But although the disease has been around for decades - if not centuries, and a vaccine has been created for a specific group of people, there is still no universal dengue vaccine which works for everyone, and no specific treatment for it.

Experts say there are several reasons for this.

Singapore is currently experiencing a surge in dengue cases, with 736 cases reported in the week of April 10 to 16 - the highest figure since the week of Aug 30 to Sept 5, 2020.

Associate Professor Kevin Tan, head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, noted on Tuesday (April 19) that dengue is endemic in over 100 countries worldwide.

"We have about 100 million cases annually, and Asia represents 70 per cent of the global dengue burden," said Prof Tan, who was speaking at a webinar on dengue organised by the school.

He added: "There's a lack of approved vaccines... and therapeutics against dengue. (This) results in a huge burden on public health infrastructure."

Prof Tan's colleague, Associate Professor Justin Chu, said there are three main reasons why it is difficult to develop an antiviral treatment for dengue.

First, the dengue virus comes in four serotypes, and it is difficult to come up with an antiviral treatment which can target all four.

Second, as the people most susceptible to dengue are those from vulnerable groups - young children, the elderly and the immunocompromised - scientists must take the time to ensure that any antiviral treatment that is developed is safe for them.

Third, as dengue is an acute viral infection, antiviral treatments must be given at the early stages of the infection in order to be effective.

"This could be another challenge since most dengue patients may not seek medical attention until the third or fourth day of illness," said Prof Chu, who is also a joint senior principal investigator at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*Star) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.

Meanwhile, challenges are also faced by those trying to develop a vaccine for dengue - a process that has been going on for decades, said Dr Ruklanthi de Alwis, senior research fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School's Programme of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Dr de Alwis, who is also a senior research fellow at the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre at SingHealth Duke-NUS, said one complication is posed by the human body's response to dengue.

There are many different types of antibodies, all of which wane at different rates depending on when a person was infected, she said.

"Because of this complexity, we don't necessarily have official correlates of protection... (We can't) quickly draw a bit of blood, run an assay, and say this person is going to be protected," she said.

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There is a further risk of a vaccine actually making the infection worse for some people. This was the case with Dengvaxia, a dengue vaccine that is used only for specific groups of individuals here.

Dr de Alwis noted that while some groups were protected, people who were jabbed with Dengvaxia but had never been infected before were found to be at an increased risk of infection than those who had never been infected, and did not take the jab.

Nevertheless, she said that researchers have learnt their lessons from Dengvaxia, and that new techniques are being used to develop vaccines these days.

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Another challenge, she added, is that animal models - laboratory animals used in the research of human disease and testing of vaccine efficacy - do not reflect the progression of dengue in humans very accurately.

"Dengue doesn't naturally infect rodents," she explained, adding that in some other animal models, dengue does not cause as strong of a disease as it does in humans.

Still, there are two promising dengue vaccines that are currently being developed: TAK-003, by Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda, and TV003/TV005 by the United States' National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr de Alwis said.

"We should be optimistic, there is good news in the future, but we should be cautious about it, because of lessons we've learnt from the past."

HOW ARE THOSE SANCTIONS DOING

Egypt, Russia to Activate Contracts for Buying Nuclear Fuel

Tuesday, 19 April, 2022

A Russian delegation visits Egypt to follow up on the nuclear project.

 (Nuclear Power Plants Authority)

Cairo - Mohammed Abdo Hassanein

Egyptian and Russian officials discussed on Monday activating contracts to purchase the nuclear fuel needed to operate Egypt’s Second Research Reactor (ETRR-2) by 2030.

Chairman of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) Amr El-Hag held talks with a Russian delegation from the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP) and TVEL Fuel Company of the state-owned Rosatom.

Talks tackled the implementation of the contracts inked between the two sides in 2017.

Under the contracts, Russia will supply another batch of uranium components and products made of the aluminum alloy and aluminum powder for the ETRR-2 and extend needed nuclear fuel for operating the reactor by 2030.

Hag stressed that the EAEA has qualified human cadres, laboratories and various research activities in the fields of peaceful uses of atomic energy.

He pointed to its expertise in manufacturing nuclear fuel for ETRR-2, which produces radioactive isotopes and covers the Egyptian local market.

Egypt’s second nuclear reactor is located at the Atomic Research Center in Inshas, ​​60 km northeast of Cairo.

It is used to conduct studies on particle physics research and matter and produce radioactive isotopes.

Egypt and Rosatom signed on December 11, 2017 several documents to put into force the commercial contracts for the construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant.

The plant consists of four nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts.

They stipulate that Rosatom will build the El-Dabaa NPP on the Mediterranean coast, conduct personnel training and assist its Egyptian partners in the operation and maintenance of the plant for the first 10 years of its operation.

Russia is also contracted to build a special storage facility and supply containers for storing used nuclear fuel.

Anti-racism, anti-discrimination

Rafia Zakaria – feminism is not only white

Pakistani-American author and lawyer Rafia Zakaria advocates for a broad-based feminism that doesn't just address the concerns of white women. By Christine Lehne

Rafia Zakaria has followed a life path that may seem unusual for a U.S. feminist: born and raised in Pakistan, she seized an opportunity to emigrate to the States aged 17 through an arranged marriage.

"One night after dinner, sitting on the edge of my bed in mid-1990s Karachi, I agreed to an arranged marriage," she writes in the opening pages of her book, Against White Feminism. Her motivation? She wanted to go to college. "My life until then had been restricted in all sorts of ways, hardly extending beyond the walls that surrounded our home. I had never experienced freedom, and so I gladly signed it away," she continued.

Zakaria begins her celebrated book with this confession, before recounting how she went on to study law against her husband's wishes. She eventually left him and became an expert in immigration law. But this is background to the main story: how Western feminism is shaped by the dominant priorities of white women.

Western feminism is shaped by the dominant priorities of white women: white, affluent, often university-educated women determine what feminism should be – and its political goals. Black women, on the other hand, should only appear as victims, cowering in women's shelters or toiling in factories. Zakaria says that some white feminists cannot conceive that Women of Colour might have different political goals than white women

What is 'white' feminism?

In Rafia Zakaria's life, feminism is not abstract theory, but sheer necessity. If there had been no women's shelters, she might not have been able to leave her husband. If women were still denied access to universities, Zakaria might not have been able to study law.

Contrary to the provocative title, it is a sensitive, delicate, precise observation of the weaknesses of U.S. feminism. But while the book lauds feminism's achievements, Zakaria's personal experiences also reveal its failings in her adopted home.

Zakaria recounts being invited to give a talk on the status of women in Pakistan. On arrival, she learns that she is not to stand on a stage in front of a microphone, but behind a table with printed pictures of rural Pakistani women in traditional dress and a table of small handicrafts – which could be bought from her to raise money for projects abroad.

The organiser was appalled when Zakaria didn't show up in her "traditional" garb like some other Nepal women in attendance. Zakaria says she felt like an animal in a zoo.

Her point is that white, affluent, often university-educated women determine what feminism should be – and its political goals. Black women, on the other hand, should only appear as victims, cowering in women's shelters or toiling in factories. She says that some white feminists cannot conceive that Women of Colour might have different political goals than white women.

Zakaria cites the example of a western NGO encouraging Indian rural women – so they would have more time to seek waged labour outside the home – to use more efficient "clean-cook stoves", which they neither needed nor wanted, in part because they could not repair the stoves locally. Many of the women simply "rejected the notion that the path to empowerment was to make themselves available for wage labour".

What's more, she draws attention to the way white feminists co-opted the war in Afghanistan in the name of feminism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Feminists from the U.S. such as Gloria Steinem and Hollywood actors Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep signed letters that promised to liberate Afghani women from the Taliban.

"White" feminism – past and present

Zakaria also sheds light on historical cases in her compelling book: as early as the 19th century, British suffragettes demanded that women in colonial India campaign for women's suffrage. When Indian feminists did not comply, white suffragettes wanted to fight for Indian women's suffrage but did not attempt to liberate them from colonial subjugation. "Indian women wanted the vote, but in a country that was no longer under the colonial rule of the British," Zakaria writes. "What power did a vote have in an enslaved country?"

Zakaria's 250-page analysis of white feminism is as precise as it is empathetic. Its consequences, says Rafia Zakaria in interview, can be observed in many places today, including Afghanistan. "The U.S. used feminism as a cover when it invaded Afghanistan, so women's rights in Afghanistan are no longer considered legitimate, but a sign of pro-Western collaborators," she said. "This deeply saddens me." The U.S. knew from the beginning that it would leave the country again, she added, but did nothing to protect women afterwards.

Young feminism in Bangladesh: What does feminism mean to you?

Which topics really matter to Generation X and young millennials? Seven women and a man, participants in a DW Academy/Goethe-Institut Bangladesh project, explain what feminism means to them. By Author: Priya Esselborn and Nina Molter

123456789

Arifur Rahman, independent filmmaker: Arifur became interested in filmmaking while studying anthropology at Jahangirnagar University. His projects have been featured at various film festivals, including the ones in Berlin, Venice, Busan, Seattle, Locarno, Singapore and Shanghai. “I want to discuss the idea of feminism in my films because I believe that film is a strong medium that can impact people’s lives and leave a positive mark"

From rights to political mobilisation

Ciani-Sophia Hoeder, journalist and author of the book "Wut und Böse" (Rage and Evil), published in 2021, says that the feminist movement in Germany is also shaped by the views of white women. She refers to white feminism's "exclusionary criteria" and says she is not drawn to participate in "feminist issues that do not correspond with my everyday life," Hoeder admitted in interview. Questions about women's work almost never refer to the precarious work of migrant women. "German feminism is about bringing white, affluent women forward," she said.

But Rafia Zakaria professes to be hopeful about the future: she believes in the power of feminism. What matters now, she says, is listening to each other and getting involved politically. "It's nice to have rights," said Zakaria. "But we can't keep our rights if we don't organise politically – otherwise our rights will just be taken away again by new governments."

Christine Lehnen

© Deutsche Welle 2022

Tunisia’s Navy Leads Operations to Avoid Environmental Disaster Off Gabes

Tuesday, 19 April, 2022 -

Men stand next to a boat on a beach as a military boat is seen in the background off the coast of Gabes, where a merchant fuel ship sank. 

[Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters]

Tunis - Mongi Saidani

A team of divers from the Tunisian navy completed inspecting the hull of a tanker loaded with 750 tons of fuel that sank off southeast Tunisia, the presidency said in a statement on Monday.

It was able to determine the areas that require rapid intervention and ensured the fuel shipment is still sealed, the statement added.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with all relevant authorities, especially the ministries of environment and transportation, as well as local authorities in Gabes.

The statement affirmed that the leaked fuel observed on the surface of the waters off the Tunisian coast came from the engines of the ship that sunk on Friday and was in limited quantity.

Meanwhile, local suspicions are growing about the procrastination in leaving Tunisia’s coast and exposing the ship to sink to obtain compensation from insurance companies.

Former Minister of State Property Mabrouk Kourchid said this ship appeared to be sailing with forged documents after preliminary investigations revealed it does not have a shipping certificate.

Kourchid further pointed that it changed the flag of the African country it raised upon sailing.

“Evidence shows that it is a fuel smuggling operation, and the smugglers sank it.”

He said the Tunisian authorities will be held partly responsible for allowing “a rogue ship without legal documents to enter its territorial waters.”

Meanwhile, Tunisia said some countries have offered to help it prevent damage to the environment.

Italy announced sending two ships, helicopters and an underwater drone to help Tunisia.

The Italian army sent the equipment to monitor and control any oil leakage, Italy’s official news agency reported.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo began taking water around seven kilometers (over four miles) offshore in the Gulf of Gabes and the engine room was engulfed, according to a Tunisian environment ministry statement.

Tunisian authorities rescued the seven-member crew, who received first aid and were being accommodated in a hotel.

Union drive at Manhattan roastery shows spirit of Starbucks workers

Since the first winning drive in Buffalo, 18 US locations have unionized – including at the chichi New York ‘reserve’

Workers at more than 200 Starbucks chains around the US have filed for union election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board.

 Photograph: Joshua Bessex/AP


Michael Sainato

Tue 19 Apr 2022 

When Starbucks opened it flagship reserve roastery in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan in late 2018, the “sleek, inspiring, coffee extravaganza” was supposed to show the world a new, more sophisticated side of the coffee chain.

A 10ft, 2,000lb copper sculpture of the Starbucks siren logo presides over the space, which includes a coffee roasting manufacturing plant, a terrarium based on Starbucks’ coffee farm in Costa Rica, a mixology bar that offers cocktails, an on-site bakery, a coffee roastery scoop bar, and full dine-in service.



Wave of union victories suggests union-busting consultants may have lost their sway

Now the site is also emblematic of another big trend at Starbucks – unionization. The roastery is the site of the first unionized Starbucks location in New York City, and the first Starbucks reserve roastery to unionize, after workers voted in favor of a union on 1 April, with 46 votes in favor and 36 against.
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Sam LaGow, who has worked at Starbucks for about six years and at the reserve roastery in Manhattan since 2019, said the union organizing effort developed from conversations between workers in the wake of the first Starbucks’ union victory in Buffalo in December.

“There was plenty of impetus for it, both in terms of frustrations about working conditions and thoughts about why we like the idea of a democratized workplace,” said LaGow.

He said workers at the reserve roastery face constant problems with staffing and day-to-day operations that accommodate customers far more than Starbucks employees, adding that working conditions worsened throughout the pandemic.

“Since Covid, we’ve seen an almost exponential increase in our responsibilities at the roastery, and with this has come no commensurate compensation for it,” said LaGow.

“Life in New York and the world at large has grown more expensive in the last year or two. Tt has everyone wondering what they the hell they’re still doing here if it’s going to get more demanding, being asked to do more for customers and management, and really only seeing often decent, but sometimes inadequate annual pay increases.”

LaGow also said even some of Starbucks’ benefits, such as healthcare, are too expensive and inaccessible for workers to afford.

Now that LaGow and his co-workers have won their union election, they face the daunting task of negotiating their first union agreement with the company. Organizers are circulating a bargaining survey to establish the priorities and issues workers would like to focus on in in negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement with Starbucks.

“We understand just what a monumental task we have before us. But we’ve sort of come this far, and I don’t feel any less encouraged to do what I’m doing,” said LaGow. “When you put so much of your life and energy into a company, you expect something commensurate to come out of that, and not for many years has that been the case in any part of the service sector in America. That is what we’re looking to change.”

Since the first union election victory in the US at a Starbucks corporate store location in Buffalo in December, workers at more than 200 Starbucks chains around the US have filed for union election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board, and 18 stores have officially won their union elections, as of 13 April.

As the wave of Starbucks workers continues to expand their union organizing efforts, Starbucks senior management has remained steadfast in their aggressive opposition to unions. Starbucks’ chief executive, the billionaire Howard Schultz, who recently returned to the helm of the company, claimed the company is being “assaulted” by the threat of unionization.

“Going forward, it will be important for all of you to recognize that outside labor unions are attempting to sell a very different view of what Starbucks should be,” said Schultz in a letter dated 10 April.

Workers have filed dozens of unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks since the union organizing campaign took off in Buffalo, and workers in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kansas and Arizona have alleged they were fired in retaliation for union organizing. Workers at stores in Washington, New York, Kansas, North Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, have gone on strike over working conditions or held protest rallies in support of fired workers.

A spokesperson for Starbucks said all allegations of retaliation are “categorically false”.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued two complaints against Starbucks for retaliation against workers in Arizona, and prosecutors with the board plan to declare the firing of seven workers in Memphis illegal unless the company settles the case.

Miguel Perez Glassner, a Starbucks employee at the reserve roastery since October, said he had always been supportive of labor unions, but the idea began to take hold after the first Starbucks union win in Buffalo, when workers at the reserve roastery in New York City were working during a surge of Omicron cases.

Several of his co-workers became ill during that surge, and Perez Glassner said it was stressful waiting for management to react and make decisions. They initially planned to switch to a to-go model, but at the last minute opted to shut down the store for three days.

“There was this horrible suspense of waiting for them to decide our fate,” said Perez Glassner. “That was the moment where I realized there needs to be some kind of better system that can address our concerns for our health and our ability to staff well.”

In mid-February, workers went public with their union organizing campaign at the reserve roastery in filing for a union election petition. At that point, management began pushing for workers to vote no. The company tried to use the manufacturing workers at the roastery – who pulled their union election petition before the election was held – to try to entice other workers to reject the union, claiming the union had abandoned those workers, though the workers themselves had made that decision.

“Our management on the retail side of the roastery put up this letter about how Starbucks Workers United has abandoned the roasting team,” said Perez Glassner.

“It’s funny to me how management had been demanding that we be respectful, but it didn’t seem very respectful in misrepresenting what was going on there. It was very misleading.”

A spokesperson for Starbucks said stores throughout the company have adjusted hours and levels of operations through Covid-19 surges, including Omicron surges this winter.

“We took a great deal of pride in not only communicating clearly with our partners, for making those adjustments based off the staffing levels,” they said.

Libya: The LAAF is ‘brutally crushing’ freedom of expression and peaceful assembly


(Photo by Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

NEWS

April 19, 2022

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

The Internal Security Agency (ISA), a collection of powerful armed groups operating in areas under the control of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), is arbitrarily detaining at least nine peaceful protesters and a journalist incommunicado after they participated in a demonstration in Sirte, Amnesty International said today.

On 19 March, around 30 people took part in the protest in Sirte, which called on the international community and local authorities to provide compensation for victims of the 2011 NATO airstrikes. Examination of three videos of the protest and eyewitness testimony indicate that the protest was peaceful. Within the next week, one journalist and at least 10 protesters were seized by armed men.

“The arbitrary detention of these peaceful protesters for demanding justice and reparation in connection to the 2011 armed conflict shows just how intolerant LAAF and affiliated armed groups are of any independent activism, even if not critical of their rule. The LAAF must immediately ensure the release of all those detained simply for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and expression,” said Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“The LAAF and its affiliated armed groups have tightened their grip over territory under their control. In the past few years, suspected opponents and critics have either been gunned down in the street, forcibly disappeared or are languishing in jail. Yet, ISA in eastern Libya continues to be on the government payroll, instead of being held to account.”

On the night of the protest and throughout the following week, armed men affiliated with the ISA arrested 10 members of the Gadadfa tribe, who make up the majority of the population of Sirte, the hometown of Libya’s former ruler Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi, for participating in the demonstration, before detaining them at an undisclosed location, according to eyewitnesses and relatives of detainees.

Sources told Amnesty International how ISA armed men seized men from homes and public places, in some cases covering their heads, beating them and taking them to unmarked cars. The ISA released one detainee a few days after the protest, citing health reasons.

Ali al-Refawi, a reporter who was covering the protest for Libyan TV channel 218, is among those currently detained. He was arrested by armed men on 26 March and taken to an undisclosed location.

The ISA also summoned and questioned other protesters, including women, over their involvement in the protest. A member of the Gadadfa tribe said the ISA told him they had received orders from the LAAF to crack down on the protest.

This is the third wave of arrests against residents of Sirte since the LAAF takeover in 2020. In November 2021, the ISA arrested at least 13 men over their alleged participation in a protest in support of Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi’s candidacy in the now indefinitely postponed presidential elections. They were released on 19 November. In January 2020, the LAAF arrested several protesters following demonstrations against LAAF commander Khalifa Heftar.

The arbitrary detention of these peaceful protesters for demanding justice and reparation in connection to the 2011 armed conflict shows just how intolerant LAAF and affiliated armed groups are of any independent activism, even if not critical of their rule.Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International

Sirte residents also voiced concerns to Amnesty International about reprisals from the ISA for speaking to international organizations. Others refused to speak, citing surveillance fears.

On 20 February 2022, an Amnesty International delegation visited Sirte. Mokhtar al-Ma’dani, the mayor of Sirte, flanked by several plainclothes ISA and other Libyan intelligence agents, told the organization’s delegates shorty after their arrival that local authorities would not allow them to meet with or speak to residents in private. For the entire duration of the delegation’s visit, they were accompanied by numerous plainclothes members of the ISA and intelligence agents, who harassed them and prevented them from speaking to anyone privately.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, established by the Human Rights Council to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed in Libya since 2016, released its second report on 28 March 2022, which outlined a litany of human rights abuses committed across the country with impunity, including restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, citing the arrests in Sirte.

“The reality in Sirte offers just a frightening glimpse of life under LAAF and affiliated armed groups, which have brutally crushed the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and silenced all dissenting voices. The international community must extend the UN’s Fact-Finding Mission beyond June 2022 so it can continue to investigate such abuses,” said Diana Eltahawy.

Background

Since the uprising against former leader Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, Sirte has witnessed multiple armed conflicts including against the so-called Islamic State armed group.

The LAAF and affiliated armed groups took control of Sirte in January 2020 and have since exercised effective control over the city.

A separate entity also named ISA, led by Lotfi al-Hararinominally under the authority of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Prime Minister, operates in western Libya.

After the Libyan authorities failed to organize elections in December 2021, Libya’s parliament voted on 1 March to bring in a new government led by Fathi Bashagha, amid controversies surrounding the voting process. However, the Tripoli-based GNU Prime Minister, Abdelhamid al-Debibah, remains in office and promised to organize elections in 2022.

Watchdog warned UK government of spyware infections inside 10 Downing Street
2022/4/19 
© Reuters


By Christopher Bing

(Reuters) -Digital rights watchdog group Citizen Lab said on Monday it had warned British officials that electronic devices connected to government networks, including some inside the prime minister's office and foreign ministry, appeared to be infected with Israeli-made spy software.

The spy software is known as Pegasus, a product of Israeli cyberarms dealer NSO Group, according to a blog post https://citizenlab.ca/2022/04/uk-government-officials-targeted-pegasus published by Citizen Lab.

"We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we observed and notified the government of the United Kingdom of multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections within official UK networks," the blog post reads.

An NSO spokesperson said the allegations are "false and could not be related to NSO products for technological and contractual reasons".

A British government spokesperson said "we do not routinely comment on security matters".

Citizen Lab said it believed the targeting connected to the prime minister's office was done by NSO clients in the United Arab Emirates while the British foreign ministry hacking came from other countries, including Cyprus, Jordan and India.

Cyprus authorities "categorically deny" any involvement in the matter, government spokesperson Marios Pelekanos told Reuters.

"However, to avoid any further speculations on a Cyprus link, we note that the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, which enjoys excellent relations with the British Government in all fields, has never been approached with any sort of inquiry on the subject at large by the relevant British authorities," he said in an emailed statement.

Government spokespeople for the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and India did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pegasus can be used to remotely break into iPhones, giving clients deep access into a targeted phone's memory or turning them into recording devices.

Citizen Lab found evidence of the compromised UK devices by monitoring internet traffic and other digital signals to spy servers that control Pegasus for various NSO clients.

"We identified infections emanating from those UK networks based on a variety of network scanning methods we use, and notified the relevant UK authorities of our suspicions at the time for them to follow up," Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert wrote in the blog post. "We did not have access to any devices, and do not have any information on specific victims."

Citizen Lab is known as one of the leading research groups on mercenary spyware within the cybersecurity industry.

The hacking activity connected to the British prime minister's office was investigated by the UK National Cyber Security Centre, where technicians tested multiple phones to find malware, according to a New Yorker article https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/how-democracies-spy-on-their-citizens about NSO Group also published on Monday, but the findings were inconclusive.

(Reporting by Christopher Bing; additional reporting by Michele Kambas; editing by Howard Goller and Jason Neely)