PAKISTAN

No conspiracy

Editorial

Published April 24, 2022

THE National Security Committee — the country’s highest security forum — has now unequivocally stated that it does not believe there was an international conspiracy to dislodge Imran Khan from PM House. It has subsequently become clear that the former prime minister made selfish political use of a secret diplomatic communication to squeeze his way back into the running for the next general elections.

To protect his political interests, Mr Khan also engineered a series of controversies to try to discredit parliamentary processes, the judiciary as well as the security establishment for making the ‘mistake’ of not protecting his government from being ousted with a vote of no-confidence. He simultaneously cast aspersions on the loyalties of his political rivals while rebranding the PTI as the only party fighting to keep Pakistan’s foreign policy independent from interference.

Read: PTI supporters' blind devotion to Imran is further polarising society and there will be consequences

Rather than take stock of his party’s less-than-stellar performance in its three-odd years in power, the PTI chief distracted both supporters and critics by stoking moral panic over a shadowy transnational plot to take down the Pakistani government. One need only question why the PTI is frequently switching its narrative between ‘conspiracy’, ‘interference’ and ‘establishment’s mistake’ to understand that it is a smokescreen. Its real purpose is to make sure there is an early election.

In all this, the efforts of Pakistan’s erstwhile ambassador to the US stand vindicated. Two NSC meetings have confirmed that whatever he reported about his interaction with the senior US official did indeed provide cause for alarm. It is commendable that the ambassador immediately alerted the Foreign Office of the unnatural and undiplomatic language used by the US official during their interaction.

Read: Cable, conspiracy & populism

He also reportedly recommended that foreign ministry officials immediately take the matter up with both the US ambassador in Pakistan and the authorities in Washington to determine if what was discussed was indeed the official US position. The matter was serious enough that it has again been confirmed as ‘blatant interference’ in Pakistan’s affairs by the NSC. The question then arises: what prevented then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi from acting immediately on the ambassador’s advice? Why did he take weeks to bring the matter to the NSC?

It is true that the US does indeed have a history of meddling in Pakistan’s internal affairs both overtly and covertly. However, an act of interference is quite different from an act of conspiracy, and the NSC seems quite clear on this particular matter. As Pakistan’s highest security forum, its assessment has weight and cannot be contested without counter-evidence.

It is unfortunate, however, that whatever it says is unlikely to have much of an impact on the PTI and its supporters. PTI’s politics now seems to have moved to the ‘post-truth’ phase where inconvenient facts are not entertained and leaders take collective oaths of obedience from their emotionally charged followers.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2022

PAKISTAN

Battle with ‘alternative facts’

Abbas Nasir

Published April 24, 2022

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

ECONOMIC stabilisation through tough, unpopular measures such as withdrawal of the fuel subsidy or a cut in development expenditure, against the backdrop of public mobilisation by the Imran Khan-led PTI, seems a daunting challenge for a new coalition government with a wafer-thin majority.

The latest fuel subsidy was given early last month in a desperate gamble to remain in the saddle by a government facing a united opposition, desertion of allies and dissension in the ranks of its own parliamentarians as a no-confidence motion was around the corner.

Although when it announced the subsidy, instead of a regulator-recommended increase, the government said it would manage the cost of the nearly Rs400 billion subsidy till the summer from higher than expected revenues and savings in other areas.

But the widening deficit in less than two months since the subsidy was awarded is sounding alarm bells in the corridors of power as it is abundantly clear the gamble was meant to thwart a likely no-confidence move at the time, and would have been withdrawn as soon as the danger was averted.

Read: Lessons from Lanka: How can Pakistan's policymakers avoid economic pitfalls?

Two things have happened since. One, the vote was successfully carried and the prime minister, despite trying every trick in the bag, including some constitutionally questionable ones, could not stay in office, and one of his arch rivals was elected and sworn into office.

Miftah Ismail’s credentials are not in doubt; how much elbow room he has is.

Second, the former prime minister has not taken kindly to his constitutional ouster from office and has embarked on an aggressive mass mobilisation campaign, relying on incendiary, populist slogans and is threatening to take to the streets to force an immediate election.

Editorial: Imran's narrative seems to be working for him, and yet he needs to change it

This week, the government categorically said that parliament would complete its term and elections would only be held next year, but Imran Khan’s aggressive campaign, seemingly backed by some renegade elements in a key institution, continues to cast doubts about the incumbents’ longevity.

And this element makes any possible attempt to balance the books fraught with danger. The withdrawal of the fuel subsidy will further spur the back-breaking inflation, particularly for the poor and middle classes, and the voting public will likely punish those it sees as responsible.

When your life is a relentless struggle to put food on the table, it is not surprising that the short-term, rather than the long-term memory, informs your reactions. Who will remember the PTI’s mismanagement and decisions that brought the economy to this pass?

The most likely target for the people’s wrath would be the hand that signed the withdrawal notification. That is why Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shot down the first summary for a fuel price rise. But this can’t be sustained for too long, as the widening deficit and Islamabad’s commitment to the IMF dictate a changed course.

Perhaps mindful of the consequences of raising this poisoned chalice to its lips the government may consider other options as well to reduce the deficit. And these include a cut in development expenditure.

The proponents of this course argue that roads and bridges and other infrastructure can wait and all the savings from these areas be used to provide targeted relief to the most needy. However, this path isn’t easy either.

Even if parliament is able to complete its term, it has some 16 months to go. Can the governing coalition afford to stay development expenditure in the country, including in swing constituencies, where such projects will likely deliver a political dividend and may be a determinant of who forms the next government?

Some independent economists have high hopes of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail. Even then, given the very few options at his disposal, one wonders if he can pull a rabbit out of his hat. His credentials are not in doubt; how much elbow room he has is.

If meeting these challenges was not enough, the government may have to address another issue that may be equally, or even more, important. Let me explain what I mean. In the Jan 31, 2021, issue of the Dawn’s magazine ‘Eos’ centre spread Carmen Gonzalez, my partner who has been a BBC and Instagram editor, and I covered the topic of ‘fake news’. Here are a few paras from that piece:

“In January 2017, the 45th president of the United States of America was being inaugurated in front of a crowd that — let’s say — wasn’t as large as expected. The live TV images spoke for themselves. The new president’s press secretary swiftly declared this was the ‘largest audience to ever witness an inauguration (…) on the globe’. Challenged about her blatant lie, her response was truly Orwellian. She said her views were ‘alternative facts’.

“Entering truly dystopian territory, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told an astonished Chuck Todd of NBC, ‘Truth isn’t truth!’ And to complete the Orwe­l­­lian scenario, Trump gave a speech in July 2018, where he said: ‘What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening’. Like Orwell warns in 1984, once you are told ‘to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears’, you can expect total alienation.

“The ‘alienated’ assaulted the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, provoked by Trump’s ‘alternative facts’ in a reminder of our very own 2014 ‘D’ Chowk dharna. Trump claimed to have won the November 2020 presidential election. Official data shows Joe Biden got seven million votes more than Trump, giving him 51 per cent of the vote, and 306 seats of the US Electoral College.

“But these ‘alternative facts’ resulted in five dead, dozens arrested; lawmakers’ and their aides’ children terrorised in the crèche inside the Capitol and the US legislature besieged by an inflamed mob. A recent Reuter/Ipsos poll showed 68 per cent of Republican voters still believe the election was rigged, which means a whopping 50 million Ameri­cans have no faith in their democracy anymore.”

Need I say more about what we need to tackle head-on?


abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2022

Ilhan Omar 

US lawmaker meets Afghans at vocational centre in Haripur, Pakistan

The Newspaper's Correspondent

Published April 24, 2022

HARIPUR: US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar visited the Government Technical and Vocational Centre here on Saturday and met Afghan refugees being trained.

She told them that the people of her country would continue providing every possible support for the well-being of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The US lawmaker said she, being a refugee herself, could understand the feelings of Afghans, who, despite having facilities from by the hosts or other aid agencies, desperately wanted to go home.

“On return to the US, I will explore avenues for better services for and uplift of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan,” she said.

Ms Ilhan Omar appreciated the Pakistani government, Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees, Haripur administration and aid agencies for providing education and healthcare to refugees for over four decades.

Says Americans will continue working for their well-being

The centre’s administration briefed her on vocational training programmes offered to Afghan refugees along with the children of hosting communities.

The US Congresswoman also visited the primary school set up for Afghan girls in the Panian refugee camp, where the students presented different tableaus in their native languages.

She interacted with them and asked them about their education.

Also, a group of Afghan elders met her and appreciated the initiatives of Pakistani government and INGOs for striving to improve the standard of their living.

Assistant commissioner Rao Hashim Azeem briefed her about the facilities provided by the district administration to Afghan refugees and said Hazara division hosted over 150,000 refugees and provided education and healthcare and livelihood opportunities to them for their development.

Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Mohammad Abbas Khan, who was also in attendance, informed the US lawmaker about the government’s steps for the well-being of refugees.

Earlier, the assistant commissioner and the commissioner for Afghan refugees received her on arrival at the helipad and took her to the GTVC and Afghan camp amid tight security measures.

The residents said there was a curfew-like situation in Khalabat Township and the areas housing refugee camps during the visit of the US congresswoman and that some link roads leading to those places were closed to traffic.

PROTEST: The residents of Khalabat Township on Saturday protested gas outages and warned they would agitate if the issue wasn’t resolved in two days.

Led by elders Qari Mohammad Ihjaz, Mohammad Ibrahim and Sajid Tofiq, the protesters complained about the suspension of gas supply during Iftar and Sehr time for the last few days in Mohallah Alflah, Jagal and Mohallah Ilyasi of Sector No 2 of the Khalabat Township.

They demanded the early restoration of smooth gas supply to prevent more street protests.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2022

Loyalists turn on Sri Lankan PM as protest pressure grows

AFP

Published April 24, 2022 - 

Demonstrators shout slogans against Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, near the Presidential Secretariat, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo on April 23. 

— Reuters

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down on Satu­rday, as a cabinet minister and other senior party members backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis.

Media minister Nalaka Godahewa announced his support for the thousands outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office who are demanding he and other members of his powerful family quit power.

Sri Lanka is suffering its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with months of lengthy blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials. The crisis has sparked countrywide protests, with angry demonstrators camped outside Rajapaksa’s office for more than three weeks.

Under pressure, the president dropped two of his brothers — Chamal and Basil — and nephew Namal from the cabinet this month, but protesters rejected the changes as cosmetic.

Godahewa, previously a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, said the president should sack his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — the head of the family — and allow an all-party interim government to take over.

He said the government had lost its credibility after the police killing of a protester on Tuesday. Godahewa said he had offered his resignation but President Rajap­aksa had not accepted it. “We need to restore political stability to successfully meet the economic crisis,” Godahewa said in a statement on his Facebook page.

“The entire cabinet, including the prime minister, should resign and [there should be] an interim cabinet that can win the confidence of all.”

Police and the military stepped up security in the central town of Rambukkana on Saturday, ahead of the funeral of 42-year-old Chaminda Lakshan, who was shot dead when police broke up a protest against spiralling fuel prices.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2022

'I’m exhausted': Why these nurses are preparing to strike — and others already have
2022/4/23
© The Mercury News

Mark O'Neill plays a game with his daughter Emily, 4, in their home on April 20, 2022, in Oakland, California. - Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group/TNS

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stanford nurse Mark O’Neill could have quit his job caring for desperately ill COVID and cardiac patients, joining the exodus of other health care workers seeking a reprieve from the stress of the past two years.

Instead, on Monday he’ll walk a picket line.

“I’m exhausted, but we need to push really hard to get help for the issues we’re facing,” said O’Neill, one of 5,000 nurses slated to strike next week at prestigious Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital after the collapse of three months of labor negotiations, with no future bargaining sessions scheduled. “We’re asking Stanford for a change.”

The Stanford nurses join a growing number of other U.S. health care workers with shared grievances about staffing, pay, benefits and quality of life that have mounted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Monday, 8,000 nurses across Northern California staged a one-day strike at 18 Sutter Health facilities. Recent health care strikes also occurred in Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Montana and Alabama. A massive strike of 50,000 Kaiser health care workers was narrowly averted last November.

With nurses in short supply, unions have new leverage — and have emerged as increasingly powerful voices in a tight job market. Fatigued by the pandemic, many nurses are rethinking their careers. A new McKinsey report found that the share of nurses who said they were likely to leave their positions in the coming year rose to 32%, up from 22% last February.

In preparation for Monday’s walkout, “strike nurses” from around the nation are being flown into the Bay Area and delivered by bus to Stanford’s top-ranked hospitals. Strike nurses are typically the highest compensated nurses in the industry, with agencies like HSG and U.S. Nursing paying $12,000 to $13,000 a week to the Stanford replacements.

“If you put your badge down, I’m going to pick it up,” said Aleehya Carr of San Antonio, Texas, who hopes to work the Stanford strike. “People walk out on patients that still need help…Imagine if it was your mother or your father.”

But the regular nurses have their own set of frustrations toward the highly-paid temps. That tension played out at Sutter Health this past week, when nurses staged a one-day walkout but were replaced for the whole week by contract nurses.

“They’re getting housed, they’re getting transported to the hospital, they’re getting fed, they have extra lab people and clerks — all the things that we want,” said Carol Hawthorne-Johnson, a registered nurse who has worked in Eden’s intensive care unit in Castro Valley for 30 years. “They’re also getting different salaries and that’s what’s encouraging nurses to come out here.”

During the pandemic nursing shortage, hospitals have increasingly turned to high-paid travel nurses to fill the gaps, fostering resentment year-round.

To reduce its workload next week and ensure it can provide critical and emergency care, Stanford may reschedule some elective procedures, said spokesperson Julie Greicius. But the larger issue looms.

There are several reasons why nurses have chosen this moment to push for change, said Joanne Spetz, director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco.

For one, contracts have expired, so it’s time to re-negotiate. Nurses have seen profits rise at Stanford and other large health systems, even as COVID cases soared. According to the university’s 2021 annual report, revenues at the two hospitals exceeded expenses by $845 million, compared to $107 million in 2020 — although some of that was due to one-time federal relief grants.

Nurses also know they are harder to replace – and want their contributions acknowledged in the form of improved working conditions, protected vacation time, higher wages and better benefits.

“Nurses have given so much during this pandemic,” Spetz said.

On a relative basis, nursing is a lucrative profession, and not just for the strike replacements. But throughout the country, nurses say they’re depleted by long hours and short staffing, and traumatized by the magnitude of death. Through surge after surge, they risked infection. They responded to repeated appeals to work overtime shifts. They missed family dinners and canceled vacations. They helped dying patients say goodbye to their families on video calls. They cried in their cars and fought deep fatigue on their long drives home.

“Nurses are fed up,” said Diana Mason, professor with the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University School of Nursing.

“When you are working short staffed, there’s moral distress,” she said. “You know that patients are getting complications that they should not have gotten, because you couldn’t be there for them.”

To be sure, hospitals must meet legal nurse-to-patient ratios. But that just sets the bare minimum, said Mason and Spetz. Few hospitals have solid strategies to adjust these staffing ratios in response to very sick patients.

Stanford nurses are asking for annual wage increases of 7% for each of the next two years and 6% in the final year of their contract, with $3,000 bonuses and ongoing mental health counseling.

This will boost staffing levels, they say, because it will be easier to recruit and retain workers.

Stanford is offering wage increases — 5%, 4% and 3%, plus ratification and retention bonuses. In the first year, annual base salaries for entry level nurses would start at $143,000 and climb to $211,500 for nurses at the top of the pay scale.

With so many nurses out on quarantine during the pandemic, Stanford boosted ranks by bringing on traveling nurses who work on a contract basis. Stanford would not provide a count of these traveling nurses, but the union says it can approach 25% in some sites, such as the Intensive Care Unit.

But veteran nurses say it’s challenging to work with a rotating cast of newcomers, who earn much more than they do. Because these traveling nurses aren’t allowed to work on the very sickest patients, they say, the toughest work gets shifted to the lower-paid veterans.

Despite the influx of traveling nurses, there still isn’t enough staff, they say.

When working overtime shifts in the ICU and later the post-anesthesia care unit, Kathy Stormberg recalled times at home when “there weren’t enough hours in a row to get a load of laundry washed, dried and folded….I cancelled going places, and seeing friends. I cancelled eating dinner with my family.”

For O’Neill, who lived in hotels during the first three months of the pandemic, “the hardest part was the time that has been spent away from my family,” missing his young daughter’s new vocabulary and sense of humor. “FaceTime calls aren’t the same as a hug or kiss.”

And the pleas for overtime shifts are constant, he said. “You’ll be working a 12-hour shift, and be asked to stay over for another four hours. On a daily basis, we’ll get at least one text message saying the unit is short-staffed, asking ‘can I come in to work overtime?’ ”

“Nurses can’t even relax on their day off, because they keep getting these texts,” said Stormberg.

Stanford warns that the strike will be unsettling for patients and highly divisive to its care teams. “The impact can be deep and long lasting and should not be taken lightly,” it cautioned.

But it could fundamentally change the standing of many veteran workers, said Spetz.

“This is really an opportunity to draw attention to the fact that nursing is a highly respected profession that requires a lot of skill and knowledge to do it well,” she said. “And often it is overlooked.”

2 homeless camps removed ahead of President Biden's Seattle visit

2022/4/23 
© The Seattle Times

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on Earth Day at Seward Park in Seattle on April 22, 2022. -

 MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images North America/TNS

SEATTLE — The city of Seattle cleared two homeless encampments within a few blocks of the Westin Seattle this week in anticipation of President Joe Biden's visit.

Biden visited Seattle on Earth Day, in part to sign an executive order at Seward Park aimed at protecting old-growth forests from the ravages of wildfires. He also touched on ever-rising health care and prescription drug costs as a driver of booming inflation in a speech at Green River College in Auburn.

His visit caused traffic snarls around the county and large gatherings of people who wanted to see or protest the president.

It also spurred Mayor Bruce Harrell to remove about 15 people from the two downtown encampments where they had been living, according to Jamie Housen, spokesperson for the mayor's office.

Housen said that the people living there were to leave so that the city could close the streets and limit access to sidewalks to ensure the safety of the president. The mayor's office said that staff were unaware of Biden's exact travel routes and timing.

Seattle Parks and Recreation staff gave two days' notice that any remaining belongings must be removed by Thursday.

Housen said that nine tents and shelter structures were removed from Virginia Street to Olive Way between Sixth and Fifth avenues. Three people staying there left on their own and four others were referred to shelter by the city's encampment outreach team.

Four tents were removed between Lenora and Virginia streets, from Fifth Avenue to Fourth Avenue. Four people there left voluntarily and two others were referred to shelters.

Several other encampments were also cleared this week, including one at Thorndyke Park. Housen said those were unrelated to Biden's visit.

However, the reduced visibility of one of the region's top issues rubbed some the wrong way.

Executive director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Alison Eisinger denounced the city's decision to remove the camps.

She said the city needs a "better planned" and "genuinely helpful" approach to addressing encampments, and criticized Harrell's approach. She said that residents of camps should be given more forewarning that the city plans to make them move, and that it disrupts homeless people's ability to stay connected to social services.

"Attempting to justify these harmful actions because of a presidential visit is shameful," Eisinger said.

Oh, the irony: Boris Johnson slams ‘misogynistic abuse’ of Angela Rayner

Boris Johnson condemned the 'misogynistic' article directed at Angela Rayner on Sunday - turning a mirror towards his own 'sexist language'.

 by Tom Head
2022-04-24 

22/04/2022. Delhi, India. Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives 

Hyderabad House with Prime Minister Modi. 

Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to a vile report in the Daily Mail, which claimed that Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner tried to distract him by ‘showing off her legs’. This playground behaviour has been slammed by BoJo, but he’s perhaps not one to talk…

Boris Johnson slams ‘misogynistic abuse’ – for a change…

In a Tweet posted on Sunday morning, Johnson felt the need to distance himself from Rayner’s political views before offering her some very basic human decency. He rejected the offending Mail on Sunday article as ‘deplorable’ and ‘misogynistic’.

“As much as I disagree with Angela Rayner on almost every political issue, I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”Boris Johnson

Angela Rayner fights back in row with Mail on Sunday

Rayner herself has responded to the bizarre – and downright weird – claims made by The Mail. Although she thanked Johnson for his show of support, the firebrand politician still slammed the PM for ‘dragging his party into the sewer’. Ouch…

“Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. It is the PM who is dragging the Conservative Party into the sewer – and the anonymous Tory MPs doing his bidding are complicit.”Angela Rayner

A brief history of misogyny staring Boris Johnson!

Meanwhile, many social media users have been keen to point out that Boris Johnson *maybe* isn’t the best person to call out the use of misogynistic language. After all, Boris is very well versed in his own use of sexist terms…

We’re talking about the same bloke who once said the best way to manage a female colleague was to “pat her on the bottom and send her on her way” – a remark that even drew condemnation from Priti Patel.

In his journalistic days, Boris was previously scathing of single mothers, and even made reference to a ‘tottymeter’ in one of his columns. His time in politics hasn’t been much better. During a 2005 election campaign, her argued that voting Tory would ‘make your wife’s breasts larger’. And it doesn’t end there…

‘Girly swots’, ‘women volleyball players glistening like wet otters‘, and ‘big girl’s blouse’ are all terms used by the Prime Minister during his career in public service. All that, without mentioning his sincere belief that misogyny shouldn’t be classed as a hate crime.

A senior UK Conservative has claimed that the House of Commons is a safe place to be a woman despite more than 50 MPs being subject to sexual misconduct allegations.'

Row over claims Angela Rayner distracted Boris Johnson by “crossing and uncrossing her legs”

Angela Rayner has accused Tory MPs of using anonymous briefings to spread “desperate, perverted smears” about her by claiming she has sought to distract the Prime Minister provocatively in the Commons.

By The Newsroom

Sunday, 24th April 2022,

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner who has accused Tory MPs of using anonymous briefings to spread "desperate, perverted smears" about her by claiming she has sought to distract the Prime Minister provocatively in the Commons. Boris Johnson, in a show of support for the deputy Labour leader, said he "deplored the misogyny directed at her anonymously"

Boris Johnson, in a show of support for the deputy Labour leader, said he “deplored the misogyny directed at her anonymously”.

The Mail On Sunday (MoS) reported that Conservatives had claimed Ms Rayner enjoyed attempting to put Mr Johnson “off his stride” during Prime Minister’s Questions by “crossing and uncrossing her legs”.

Ms Rayner often sits next to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and opposite the Prime Minister during the weekly Commons clashes.

In a series of tweets, Ms Rayner lashed out at the “lies” being briefed about her.

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP said: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin.

“They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.”

She said Mr Johnson and his backers “clearly have a big problem with women in public life” and that they “should be ashamed of themselves”.

“I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail,” Ms Rayner added.

Sir Keir said the sexism displayed by those briefing the Sunday paper was a “disgraceful new low from a party mired in scandal and chaos”.

Tulip Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said the accusations were “disgraceful”.

The Labour politician told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “At the end of the day, Angela Rayner is an MP who was elected on merit.

“To talk about the fact she is using her legs or her posture to manipulate the Prime Minister is ridiculous and I’m really upset about it.”

One Tory MP is said to have told the MoS: “She (Ms Rayner) knows she can’t compete with Boris’s Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks.

“She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the (Commons) terrace.”

Mr Johnson tweeted: “As much as I disagree with Angela Rayner on almost every political issue, I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”

Ms Rayner thanked the Conservative Party leader for standing up for her.

When asked on Sophy Ridge about the coverage, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said he did not recognise the claims attributed to his party’s MPs.

Former Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said she agreed with Ms Rayner’s assessment that she had been targeted for being a woman.

“Really sorry Angela. Totally unacceptable comments,” the Tory MP tweeted.

RSF launches new #FreeAssange petition as UK’s Home Secretary considers extradition order

By APR editor -

April 24, 2022
Reporters Without Borders ... a new petition to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Image: RSF
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

Following a district court order referring the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back to the United Kingdom’s Home Office, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has launched a new petition calling on Home Secretary Priti Patel to reject Assange’s extradition to the United States.

RSF urges supporters to join the call on the Home Secretary to #FreeAssange by signing and sharing the petition before May 18.

On April 20, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court issued an order referring Julian Assange’s extradition back to the Home Office, reports RSF.

READ MORE: Other reports on the Julian Assange case

Following a four-week period that will now be given to the defence for representations, Home Secretary Priti Patel must approve or reject the US government’s extradition request.

As Assange’s fate has again become a political decision, RSF has launched a new #FreeAssange petition, urging supporters to sign before May 18 to call on the Home Secretary to protect journalism and press freedom by rejecting Assange’s extradition to the US and ensuring his release without further delay.

“The next four weeks will prove crucial in the fight to block extradition and secure the release of Julian Assange,” said RSF’s director of operations and campaigns Rebecca Vincent, who monitored proceedings on RSF’s behalf.


“Through this petition, we are seeking to unite those who care about journalism and press freedom to hold the UK government to account.

“The Home Secretary must act now to protect journalism and adhere to the UK’s commitment to media freedom by rejecting the extradition order and releasing Assange.”

Patel’s predecessor, former Home Secretary Sajid Javid initially greenlit the extradition request in June 2019, initiating more than two years of proceedings in UK courts.

This resulted in a district court decision barring extradition on mental health grounds in January 2021; a High Court ruling overturning that ruling in December 2021; and finally, refusal by the Supreme Court to consider the case in March 2022.

RSF’s prior petition calling on the UK government not to comply with the US extradition request gathered more than 90,000 signatures (108,000 including additional signatures on a German version of the petition), and was delivered to Downing Street, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ahead of the historic first-instance decision in the case on 4 January 2021.

The UK is ranked 33rd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Pacific Media Watch collaborates with RSF.

KJK: Revolutionary people's war must be expanded

KJK denounced the Turkish attacks in South Kurdistan, saying “Our people, women, youth and the friends of our people should unite around the guerrilla resistance. The revolutionary people's war must be expanded in the face of this genocide."


ANF
BEHDINAN
Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022, 17:22

The Community of Women of Kurdistan (KJK) released a statement regarding the latest wave of invasion attacks by the Turkish army against southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

The KJK statement released on Wednesday includes the following:

“Driven by the neo-Ottoman ideology, the fascist Turkish state is escalating attacks on Kurdistan in an attempt to occupy it. The anti-Kurdish fascist AKP-MHP government has started an all-out war. This war is being waged as a continuation of the international conspiracy against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, as well as the plan to 'bring the people to their knees'. The military offensive which was launched on April 17 is the continuation of this plan.

'GUERILLA IS LEADING STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM'

The AKP-MHP fascism, which has been targeting our people, our freedom movement and women for years, knows no boundaries anymore. The invasion attacks against Medya Defense Zones, which started in Xakurk in the spring of 2019, continued in Heftanîn, Gare, Metina, Zap and Zagros areas. The April 17 attack is a continuation of the invasion plan. The guerrilla forces are the targets of attacks since they resist, protect the gains in Kurdistan and lead the freedom struggle.

'RESISTANCE SHOULD BE EXPANDED'

Motivated by a struggle for power and family-tribal interests, the KDP is giving way to the occupation forces. It not only paves the way for the Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan, but also offers all the resources and wealth of Kurdistan to Turkey. The KDP’s betrayal and its cooperation with the fascist anti-Kurdish Turkish state are now seen by everyone. If the KDP was not involved in this plan, the Turkish state could not have attempted to invade South Kurdistan. This betrayal of the KDP is in no way accepted by the Kurdish people. Our people and women manifested strong reactions to betrayal and occupation. The Kurdish resistance should be developed and displayed more actively.

'SHENGAL ATTACK AND ISIS GENOCIDE'

The attack of the Iraqi army against Shengal Defence Forces which was carried out in parallel with the attacks against the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas during the Yazidi feast Çarşema Serê Nisanê is not a coincidence. In cooperation with the KDP and Iraq, the occupying Turkish state is completing the Yazidi genocide, which ISIS could not realize in Shengal in 2014. The Iraqi state and the KDP did not protect the Yazidi community in 2014, leaving them face to face with genocide. The Yazidi community, which defends itself with its own forces today, is being attacked by the Turkish state, the KDP and the Iraqi army during its holiest day. This shows that the plans directed at the Yazidi community are not independent from the genocide committed by ISIS. The Yazidi massacre that took place in 2014 was recognized as a genocide by some institutions and states. The genocide has left a black mark in the history of Iraq. This black mark should not be repeated once again. The state and institutions, which recognize the massacre that took place in 2014 as a genocide, should also display a clear stance against the recent attacks if they are sincere.

'ATTACKS ARE NOT ORDINARY, AND RESISTANCE SHOULD NOT BE ORDINARY, EITHER'

We, the freedom movement and the people, are in a difficult period of struggle. Dirty plans are being introduced to target the gains of our struggle. If these plans are not prevented, the Kurdish people will face serious dangers. We must expand the struggle and resistance against this war of aggression and genocide. Since these simultaneous and multiple attacks are not ordinary, the resistance and struggle against these attacks should not be ordinary, either.

'EVERYWHERE SHOULD BE AN AREA OF RESISTANCE’

With a fighting spirit inspired by Kurdish leader Öcalan, the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas protect our values ​​and the lands of Kurdistan. The defense of our country is the duty of all Kurds. Thus, our people, especially women and young people, should contribute to the struggle everywhere. In order to increase the fears of the AKP-MHP fascism, North, South, Rojava, East Kurdistan, Shengal, Maxmur and every land where Kurds live must be turned into an area of ​​total resistance. Just as the resistance line of the peoples succeeded in the past, the resistance of our people against the fascist and genocidal Turkish state will also succeed.

'LET'S SUPPORT THE GUERILLAS'

On this basis, our people, women, young people and the friends of our people should unite around the guerrilla resistance. The revolutionary people's war must be expanded in the face of this genocide. The resistance of the guerrillas will succeed through total social resistance. In 2014, the Kurdish people in Kobanê did not accept any option other than victory against the Turkish state and its mercenaries. They considered self-defence as the core value of a dignified life. This stance brought us victory. The people of Kurdistan, the youth and women must revolt against the occupation and destroy fascism.”

Stop the Turkish war of occupation in Kurdistan!

“Stand against the war in Kurdistan! Stand for a world in which all people can live together in solidarity and equality,” said Women Defend Rojava in an appeal against the Turkish war of occupation in Kurdistan.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Friday, 22 Apr 2022, 13:13

The alliance Women Defend Rojava released a statement calling for urgent action to stop Turkey’s genocidal campaign against the Kurds in Kurdistan territory.

The appeal released on Friday includes the following:

“Throughout Kurdistan, the situation is currently escalating and the Turkish war is intensifying immensely. Time and again it has been announced that Erdoğan could expand his war of occupation in the shadow of the war in Ukraine. Where the war in Kurdistan was already taking place before everyone’s eyes anyway, but nevertheless undisturbed, there is now a total lack of attention. Following the recent publication of plans for a new major offensive, the Turkish state has now launched its air and ground attacks against civilians and the guerilla in the Medya defence areas in Southern Kurdistan through artillery, bombardments and fighter jets on the night of April 17. Turkey’s large-scale invasion in collaboration with the PDK in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) has been in sight for a long time and has now begun. On Friday, April 15, the Prime Minister of the PDK party ruling in Southern Kurdistan met with Erdoğan and the head of the Turkish intelligence service MİT. Now it is reported that Turkish war planes are taking off from military bases in Southern Kurdistan, which only further confirms the cooperation of the Turkish state and the PDK. Together with Turkey’s war, a long feared internal Kurdish war is now looming.

Meanwhile, the attacks in Northeastern Syria are intensifying. The Turkish army is attacking the community of Zirgan and villages in the mainly Christian region of Til Temir with massive artillery attacks. Numerous homes and other buildings, such as the church in the Assyrian village of Til Tawil, have already been destroyed as a result and drones are still flying over the region.

Parallel to the renewed Turkish military offensive in Southern Kurdistan and the intensified attacks on Northeastern Syria, the situation in Şengal is also escalating. The Iraqi army has attacked several positions of the local Ezidi defence forces and fierce fighting has ensued. The people of Şengal, where IS committed a genocide in August 2014, killing tens of thousands of Ezidis and enslaving women and children, are now facing renewed danger. With the construction of a 250-kilometre long wall along the border with Rojava and the reinforcement of Iraqi military bases in the region, the situation there is also coming to a head.

In Turkey itself, the Erdogan regime continues its fascist policies. Civil society associations, such as the platform “We will stop femicides”, which does public relations work against femicide in Turkey and accompanies women experiencing violence during trials, are to be banned. In Turkish prisons, isolation and systematic torture, including fatalities, are daily realities for political prisoners. Nevertheless, the international community remains silent about all this, supports and approves the attacks and once again makes itself complicit in the fascist policy and Turkey‘s war, which is against international law.

However, we will not remain silent! The achievements of the revolution in Kurdistan, which places the liberation of women at the centre of its struggles, is a thorn in the side of the authorities. It is our responsibility to oppose this war and to defend the women’s revolution wherever we are. We oppose the Turkish war! We know that we have the power to stop this war and to change the world with our common struggle for dignity. We stand side by side with the people of Kurdistan and their right to self-determination! Defending Kurdistan means becoming aware of the responsibility here. Let’s make resistance visible everywhere!

Therefore, we as Women Defend Rojava call for action against colonialism, fascism, patriarchy and femicide and all forms of oppression. Let us protest in creative forms and actions, take our resistance against the Turkish war of occupation to the public and fight together for a life in dignity and freedom! There are many ways to draw attention to Turkey‘s war, be it on social media platforms, through banners, solidarity photos in defence of Kurdistan, distribution of flyers or other actions in public spaces. Join the call and share it!

It is time to get active against this war, to resist and to take to the streets and squares with our feminist protest! Together we defend the women’s revolution! Stand against the war in Kurdistan! Stand for a world in which all people can live together in solidarity and equality!”