'Not our fight': Why the Middle East doesn't fully support Ukraine

Middle Eastern countries are still on the fence when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Their citizens are pointing out the West's double standards around conflict and refugees. Should Europe be worried?

During a demonstration in rebel-held Syria, protesters expressed support for Ukraine

At first, they were ready to go to Ukraine to join the international legion fighting there. But in the weeks following the Russian invasion, the three young Syrian men changed their minds.

"Why would we fight somebody else's war?" one of them explained last week as the trio sat around a cafe table in central Berlin. All three friends, all in their early 30s, are refugees and have been in Germany since 2015. They had discussed going to Ukraine to fight the Russians, who had ruthlessly bombed their own city, Aleppo.

But they decided against it. "We have our own problems," another of the men argued. "[Syrian dictator] Assad is still in power, the Russians still support him — and nobody cares."

None of the men wanted to put their names to these comments because they were well aware what they were saying was controversial in Europe, where most countries are fully supportive of Ukraine.

Although not everybody feels this way and there have been demonstrations of Syrian solidarity for Ukraine, the group's attitude is far from uncommon in the Middle East, or even other parts of the world. Africa and India don't necessarily see this as their fight either.

'Western hypocrisy' 

Over the past month, commentators throughout the Middle East have been quick to point out what they see as the hypocrisy of this situation. They have talked about double standards and mentioned conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine, as well as the treatment of refugees arriving in Europe.

Most Europeans support Ukraine unequivocally

The tragedies in Syria "provoked no reactions in the West remotely comparable to the solidarity shown with Ukraine," Michael Young, a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center, wrote this month on the think tank's website.

The same argument has been a popular topic for Arabic-language columnists.

"If you think that Putin is a criminal because he moved militarily against Ukraine and you do not think the same about [George] Bush Jr., [US administration officials] Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell, who occupied Iraq … your brain cells are malfunctioning," Ahmad al-Farraj, a well-known columnist with conservative Saudi daily, Al Jazirah, tweeted.

A writer for Hespress, a Moroccan publication, tracked the Arabic-speaking public's reactions on social media. He concluded that a lot of the angry arguments had more to do with anti-American sentiment than any genuine sympathy for Russia's invasion.

"This is the new image of the dirty competition between America, Russia and Europe," Mohammed Filali, a pharmacist's assistant in Rabat, Morocco, suggested to DW, reflecting this sort of opinion. "They are competing on the territory of Ukraine and the poor Ukrainian people alone are paying a heavy price."

Anti-American instead of pro-Ukraine

But perhaps this isn't surprising. Surveys show that locals have felt this way for years. The 2019-2020 Arab Opinion Index, a regular study which interviewed over 28,000 people in 13 Arab countries, asked respondents to assess the impact of different nations' foreign policies.

Over half — 58% — had a negative opinion of US foreign policy towards Arab countries. Only 41% felt that way about Russian foreign policy. The biannual survey indicates that these numbers have been about the same for over a decade.

Russia is still conducting air strikes in Syria today

The same poll offers further clues as to why Middle Easterners are determined to remain neutral when it comes to the Ukraine war.

Asked about their main priorities, a majority of citizens said these were economic in nature. Some worried about corruption and political stability but 57% talked about unemployment, inflation and poverty as the biggest challenges they faced.

Mohammed Karim, a 39-year-old Iraqi living in Baghdad, told DW this was the main reason he was following events in Ukraine. "This war has an impact on people's livelihoods here," Karim explained. "It has caused a rise in prices and a scarcity of some goods already."

Ukraine and Russia export substantial amounts of wheat and cooking oil to the Middle East and the price of these goods has increased significantly over past weeks, leading to protests in some parts of Iraq.

Russia has been expanding business and military ties in the region and these are among other explanations offered for Arabs' attitudes toward the Ukraine war.

At least 19 migrants died on the Polish-Belarussian border

Other reasons suggested by local media include an apparent admiration for autocratic Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "strongman leader" as well as Russia's approach to foreign policy in the region; unlike others, Russia sets no conditions around human rights or democratic norms.

Who cares what they think? 

But does any of this really matter? Voters in Middle Eastern nations with autocratic rulers cannot have a huge impact on foreign policy. But could this kind of public opinion have international repercussions in the long run?

During the recent United Nations vote on whether Russia should be expelled from the organization's Human Rights Council, only one Middle Eastern country, Libya, voted yes. Almost every other one abstained or was absent. This included the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq, all traditionally seen as friends of the US.

"That was the right thing for Iraq to do," argued Rami al-Saleh, a 29-year-old Iraqi journalist from Baghdad. "Any war taking place this century will affect every country and Iraq needs to retain its allies in every place, whether it's to deal with economic problems or terrorists. The axes of power are shifting," he noted.

The vote was about "countries not wanting to blow their bridges to the multipolar world order," confirmed Samuel Ramani, a tutor in international relations at Oxford University in the UK, who specializes in Russian foreign policy and Middle Eastern security. "They see Russia as one of the pillars of that [world order]."

Moving away from US dominance offers Arab nations more opportunity to assert themselves. For example, Morocco has used diplomatic language so that it can remain neutral, Mohammed al-Ghawati, a professor of political science in Rabat, explained.

Morocco "affirms the unity of the Ukrainian territory but is also working to consolidate strategic relations, especially with permanent members of the Security Council," he noted. 

Morocco was absent from both of the last UN votes on Russia's invasion and needs allies on the Security Council because of its territorial dispute over the Western Sahara .

Although there are factional differences inside countries — for example, Iraqi militias aligned with Iran have expressed support for Russia, an Egyptian politician very publicly parroted Russian disinformation — most people in the region don't have passionate opinions either way on the Ukraine conflict, Ramani agreed.

The two areas where public opinion around this might come to matter more, and eventually have an impact on government policy, are in food security and the recruitment of mercenaries in the region, he told DW.

Other than that, the way Middle Eastern states and their citizens are mostly dealing with the war in Ukraine is unlikely to involve any direct confrontation with Russia.

"They are basically either trying to strike a deal, or acknowledge that the world order is changing, or they want to be a voice of deconfliction," Ramani concluded. "So even if they are critical of Russian behavior, that doesn't mean they will be supportive of Ukraine."

With contributions from Ibrahim Saleh in Iraq and Abdessamad Jattioui in Morocco

Edited by: Andreas Illmer

Oldest person in the world, Kane Tanaka, dies at 119

A Japanese woman believed to be the oldest in the world has died at the age of 119. Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, and saw the reigns of five Japanese emperors.

Japanese authorities say Kane Tanaka, listed as the oldest person in the world, died of natural causes

Japanese authorities on Monday announced the death of the woman believed to have been the oldest living person in the world.

The local government in Fukuoka, in southwestern Japan, said Kane Tanaka had died on April 19 at the age of 119.

Guinness World Records listed Tanaka as the oldest living person in the world and paid tribute in a Twitter post.

Tanaka's secrets: Early to bed, early to rise, good food and lifelong learning

According to the organization, Tanaka was the second-oldest person ever recorded, behind Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122, although that is disputed.

Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, the same year the Wright brothers made their first successful flight.

Tanaka married at the age of 19 and would go on to have four children of her own and would adopt a fifth child.

In 1937 Tanaka's oldest son and husband went to fight in the war with China, while she remained behind and sold noodles for a living.

In addition to the two World Wars, Tanaka lived through the 1918 flu pandemic and the coronavirus pandemic.

Tanaka said eating tasty food and studying were her secrets to a long life, along with going to bed at 9 p.m. and rising at 6 a.m.

Her family said she would do sums and calligraphy each day to help stay focused.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, French nun Sister Andre, born Lucile Randon, now becomes the oldest living person on the planet, aged 118 years and 73 days.

The Gerontology Research Group says French nun Sister Andre, born Lucile Randon,

 is now the oldest person in the world

kb/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Time’s Most Influential Indigenous Activist: ‘Capitalism Destroys The Whole Planet’

Nemonte Nenquimo, lauded by Leonardo DiCaprio for her work protecting Ecuador’s Amazon, speaks about her life, activism and motherhood.

Desirée Yépez

October 05, 2020

Nemonte Nenquimo holds the Waorani people’s written demands to stop oil extraction in their territory at a February 2019 protest in Puyo, Ecuador.

 Photo Credit : COURTESY OF NEMONTE NENQUIMO

Nemonte Nenquimo wore a bright crown of blue, yellow and red macaw feathers that, for the Waorani people of Ecuador, represent the power of women in the forest. But her suntanned face looked tired.

It had been a whirlwind 48 hours since Time magazine named the 35-year-old Indigenous activist one of its 100 most influential people of 2020. Peering into her computer screen, she smiled and said this was her 26th media appearance, discussing her fight to protect 180,000 acres of virgin forest in northeast Ecuador from drilling, mining and logging.

The spotlight is uncomfortable for Nenquimo. Indigenous people, she said, aren’t used to individual appearances; they always lead collectively. Their decisions and opinions are communal. Yet now she finds herself on the global stage representing not just her people, but all Indigenous peoples fighting deforestation, genocide and destruction around the world.

Nenquimo, whose first name means “constellation,” was born into a tribe where both women and men serve as warriors. Her grandfather was a leader who defended what is now known as Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse rainforests on Earth.

HuffPost spoke to Nenquimo in Spanish about her activism. This interview, translated into English, has been edited and condensed for clarity.


How did you learn that Time was including you on its annual list?

I was working for the Coordinating Council of the Waorani Nation of Pastaza (Conconawep), which I lead. I’d been planning to have volunteers provide lectures in the territory because, during the pandemic, education has been abandoned, as there’s no internet or phone lines available for online learning. We were making plans, coordinating meetings, then I suddenly received the call.

It made me feel that it was recognition for those who are already dead, but also for those who are alive and fighting. I felt very encouraged, I felt strengthened to continue fighting. We have lived free and happy. We don’t want any more contamination or death from disease. Our message is that capitalism destroys the whole planet; it contaminates, it extracts. They don’t realize that they are leaving nothing for future generations. We, the Indigenous people, know that we have to be the keepers, and we have always done it.

Actor and United Nations Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio speaks during the U.N. Climate Summit in New York Photo Credit : MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS

How have Ecuador’s Indigenous communities fared in the pandemic?

When the pandemic arrived, the Ecuadorian government didn’t respect the communities where the Waorani people live and didn’t stop the oil activities. This was the first time COVID-19 was transmitted and spread to other communities because, in Waorani culture, we are collective and collaborative. This caused the spread [of COVID-19].

Men were sick, they were unable to go out hunting, they stayed in their hammocks shivering. Women were shaking in the hammocks with the children in their arms; they couldn’t go out to look for cassava, food; it was very difficult, very hard. But with the knowledge of the plants, they began to heal. Most of the grandparents were saved. As a leader, I was worried. I said, “nobody goes in and nobody goes out into the jungle,” but the virus came.

I went to seek help, support from other organizations, because the Ministry of Public Health didn’t have that priority. In that attempt to help my people, I became infected and sick. I lost my sense of smell, I couldn’t taste, and I lost my memory. I was ill for about 14 days. I went into the jungle for eight days and came back healthy. Now my concern is the consequences of the disease.

What has been the most frustrating moment of your work so far?

The pandemic. It was something new. I had never felt weak or sick before, but I felt that I was going to die. I was breathless, had a high fever and chest pain. My throat felt swollen. I had to face the possibility of dying and not knowing who my daughter would stay with. It shattered me.


You have said that you began to fight for the Waorani future with strength and rage. What was your awakening?

When I was a child, my father used to tell me that my grandfather had a lot of love for the forest. That love was transmitted to me. The jungle has given me freedom, strength. I was shocked when I saw with my own eyes the impact of the oil companies on the territory of the Cofán and Siona brothers, and I listened to their testimonies. They didn’t know the consequences of the oil spills in the rivers; they bathed in that black water without knowing how that would affect them. I know of cases of children dying from it.

That gave me the courage to protect the 180,000 virgin acres that we have in the Waorani community of Pastaza. We don’t want a reoccurrence of the story that the northern brothers experienced.

The actor Leonardo DiCaprio nominated you for the Time list. How did you two connect?

Before becoming a leader, I founded the organization Ceibo Alliance with Indigenous people in Lago Agrio (in northern Ecuador’s Amazon), where the first contact with the oil company Chevron happened. … I was working on the creation of rainwater systems, solar panels, exchange of experiences, and made connections with other organizations that came to work in Lago Agrio. In 2017, DiCaprio invited me to a presentation by his foundation. I traveled to San Francisco, California, and I met him personally. He’s a good man, he has a good heart, and he supports us even through distance.

I’ve seen how the monster of oil extraction has come to destroy life. Leo and I have talked about how the government does not respect our right to life, there is no support, what we do is for the life of our children. I hope that soon, he’ll come to visit the territory we preserve.

Nemonte Nenquimo wearing traditional Waorani face paint. 

Photo Credit : COURTESY OF NEMONTE NENQUIMO

Without government support, who finances the struggle for the forest?

Small conservation groups have helped our organization raise money. Now we are looking for alternative ways to provide programs in the territory that focus on education and leadership. We will continue to look for resources to make alternative, sustainable economies. Most of the time, we don’t ask the government for help; when I do, they ignore us.


Has this struggle involved risks in your life?

Capitalism always wants to devour, to devastate. If we go out to defend our life, our home, it is a very dangerous risk. They realize that we go out to protect, and they can kill, discriminate. My family is very big. My grandfather had three wives, 20 children. In the territory, we are a large majority. I’m not the only one. I’m not afraid of dying. If I die, it’s for the sake of the future.


Have you been threatened?

I haven’t been threatened. But it’s a fact that women who protest have been annihilated all over the world.

How has the forest changed since you were a child? What will it be like when your daughter is an adult?

I don’t think anything has changed. Recently, I’ve seen only one change: There was a lot of rising water that has concerned me because it’s a consequence of climate change, of logging, of the imbalance of the planet. There are also very high temperatures in the Amazon, and that’s also linked to deforestation.

If we keep fighting collectively, the Earth will remain as such, full of animals, fish. If we don’t protect it, the forces of capitalism will come in and destroy us. The jungle will disappear.

This article originally appeared on : HuffPost

Lebanese Youths Seek Out A Brighter Future Abroad Amid Economic, Political Crises

Almost three years into Lebanon’s trifecta of economic, social and political crises, Lebanese youths are desperate to move abroad.
Agence France-Presse April 26, 2022

Photo: TYT

Almost three years into Lebanon’s trifecta of economic, social and political crises, Lebanese youths are desperate to move abroad. For them, leaving the country means finding better opportunities for the future. Studies show that this belief is on the rise among youth – and this, in turn, is expected to decrease their level of political involvement and engagement.

Perla was one year away from graduating with a BS in chemistry from the American University of Beirut when she was accepted into a US university. While accepting the US offer would prolong her education by an extra year, the decision to leave was not hard. In August 2021 she packed her bags and booked a ticket.

“I was willing to do an extra year of studying abroad rather than take the risk of staying in Lebanon and facing the unknown,” she told FRANCE 24. “I would return to Lebanon in a heartbeat if I could, but I plan to go to medical school and the path is long. I would rather start the journey where my future is clearer.”

Perla is one of many Lebanese youths who have either left or are attempting to leave the crisis-hit country. In a study led by Suzanne Menhem, assistant professor and researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, 75.6 percent of 1,023 Lebanese youths between 18 and 29 reported that they hope to leave Lebanon. Of these, 26.7 percent have, or are in the process of, preparing their immigration papers.

“The crises Lebanon is facing did not only affect the youths,” Menhem told FRANCE 24. “We did see other subgroups of the population – such as doctors, lawyers and academics – also leave the country. However, the high percentage of youths looking to migrate not only threatens particular sectors, but the entire future of Lebanon. The more who leave, the more Lebanon loses its talent pool and the key future players in the decision-making process.”

The data for the study, which is set to be published in an academic journal in the next two months, was collected in March and April of 2021. But Menhem said that if the data were to be collected today the numbers would either be the same or even higher, given that the situation continues to deteriorate.

According to Joseph Bahout, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, it has long been common for Lebanese youths to leave after their first degree to build a career abroad. However, he said, this phenomenon is even more common today and it is probably “much truer that [those who are leaving] don’t want to look back”.

“The reasons are clear. The prospects of things getting better were stronger before,” he told FRANCE 24. “Today there is an entrenched impression that the country is doomed – not only politically, but also socially and economically.”

Menhem said 90 percent of those surveyed said the main reason for leaving is the economic crisis followed by 67.5 percent who wanted to leave due to the political crisis.

Lana, 19, said the main reason she decided to leave was the slim hope for change in the near future.

“I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. I moved back to Lebanon in 2019, right when the problems started,” she said. “My experience in the country went well for the first two months and then everything went downhill. It was then that I realised I wasn’t comfortable living in Lebanon anymore and decided to pursue my BA in the UK.”

The 2019 protests and a decrease in hope

Jana, 24, was among the thousands of young people who participated in the 2019 protests demandingthe resignation of the government, accountability and early elections, among other things. Yet, as the 2022 parliamentary election approaches, Jana is not sure whether she still wants to vote.

“The uprising was a reality, but its promises were an illusion. I always knew Lebanon wasn’t stable, but I never wanted to really leave. Today, I fear not being able to do so,” she said. She has been accepted to pursue a master’s degree abroad and is waiting for her visa to travel in August. “Why would I vote and for whom? Even the alternative groups that saw light as a result of the uprising couldn’t form a unified electoral list for the elections. Corruption is rooted in the system and its people.”

According to Bahout, the excitement and hope that young people and other protesters displayed in 2019 no longer exist today. This, in turn, influences people’s level of political involvement and engagement.

“Some ask why people don’t revolt like they did in 2019, given that the situation today is much worse than it was back then,” Bahout said. “But as long as you’re not stuck in the system [and can leave], you’re not willing to pay a high price to change it.”

In 2021, some 79,134 people left Lebanon, the highest number of migrations the country has witnessed in five years, according to Information International Sal, an independent research and consultancy firm based in Beirut.

“The numbers say that commitment to the country has decreased and that Lebanon is seeing a dearth of skilled labour and young workers,” Bahout said. “In the long run, if we assume that those leaving are from the middle classes, this exodus could deplete democratic institutions and weaken the liberal social order.”

P.E.I. volunteer firefighter takes off his turban to save lives

THE RELATIONS OF SOCIAL REPRODUCTION

Mon, April 25, 2022

Gurpreet Singh started volunteering for the Cross Roads Fire Department last December. 

(Thinh Nguyen/CBC - image credit)

Gurpreet Singh had the idea of applying to become a volunteer firefighter with the Cross Roads Fire Department in Stratford last December, but he was a bit hesitant.

Being a follower of Sikhism, he wears a turban, and he wondered how that would work with the firefighter's helmet. And he has a beard — firefighters often have to be clean shaven for safety reasons.

But he applied anyway. Becoming a volunteer firefighter is a reflection of his faith, Singh said.

"In Sikhism, one of the basic principles is sewa which means selfless service for the community. So I am proud that I am doing my part being a Sikh working for the community, for the betterment of community," he said.

Singh has been with the fire department for about five months. He has taken off his turban many times to wear his helmet during training with the P.E.I. Firefighters Association. He has shaven off his lower beard, so he can wear a breathing apparatus.

'A memory I will remember my whole life'

Singh got a job last February as a utility supervisor with the Town of Stratford. Without friends or family, he arrived in P.E.I., not knowing a thing about the Island.

Submitted by Gurpreet Singh

After the 14-day COVID-19 isolation period, he was excited to get out, make some connections with Islanders and explore Island culture.

"But everybody is wearing masks, and you can't socialize, you can't go to places. There were many places which were closed. There were social gathering limits," he said when thinking back to his first days on P.E.I.

"It's really difficult when you don't know anybody."

Then, Singh heard from his boss about the Cross Roads Fire Department looking for volunteers. He attended its open house night last fall before signing up.

During the interview, discussions came up about his turban and his beard.

Singh told people at the fire department he's committed to putting safety first. While the turban is the symbol of his faith, he's willing to take it off to put on the firefighter's helmet when going on fire calls, Singh said.

"Not everybody will understand the reason. There are some who will say, 'No, it's not good.' But I believe since my religion taught me that I have to serve the community. And it's a selfless service," he said.

"I'm doing this volunteering with the fire department to save lives and the property damage of the residents. And for them, if I'm wearing my gear, I believe I should do it properly."

In Sikhism, one of the basic principles is sewa which means selfless service for the community. So I am proud that I am doing my part being a Sikh working for the community.

— Gurpreet Singh

And the day came when he heard back from the department.

"Once they told me that I'm selected, that was a memory I will remember my whole life."

Singh is one of the two newcomers who joined the department, the first time it has had newcomers volunteering as firefighters said Cross Roads Fire Chief Kevin Reynolds.

Reynolds hopes to see more newcomers taking on the role in the future.

"We're very, very pleased to have them in our group and they bring a different perspective sometimes and a different culture," he said. "And it's a great learning opportunity for people to learn new things from these individuals."

'It's like being a part of a new family'

Singh has been enjoying his probation period, which gives him an opportunity to try being a volunteer firefighter. He attended training at the P.E.I. Firefighters Association, where he experienced field training including live fire exercises, and learned rescue techniques.

Thinh Nguyen/CBC

He meets with other members of the department every Tuesday. Beside doing training exercises, they share about their lives and chat about what's happening in town.

Thanks to this, Singh is learning about things he wouldn't otherwise, like the current fishing season and the upcoming lobster season, he said.

"I always look up to the Tuesday night now. It's become a habit that Tuesday night is for the fire hall," Singh said.

"We work together. We train together. If somebody needs some help, we step up and help each other out as well. So, it's like being a part of a new family here."

Singh hopes to finish his probation by Christmas. He will need to pass a written exam and then he can get his certification as level-one firefighter.

"It will be a beautiful Christmas when I clear it," he said.

Mentally disabled man set for Singapore execution as appeal fails


Supporters hold a vigil for Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam at Speakers' Corner in Singapore 

(AFP/Roslan RAHMAN)

Martin Abbugao
Tue, April 26, 2022, 

Relatives of a mentally disabled Malaysian man set to be hanged in Singapore sobbed in court Tuesday and held his hand, as a desperate final bid to halt his execution failed.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world's toughest drugs laws, and handed a death sentence the following year.

The plan to hang him sparked widespread criticism due to concerns about his intellectual disabilities, with the European Union and British billionaire Richard Branson among those condemning it.

After exhausting all usual avenues of appeal, authorities scheduled his execution for Wednesday.

But his mother mounted a last-ditch effort Tuesday to persuade a court to halt his hanging.

"I want my son back alive, that's why I am here. We are in dire straits," Panchalai Supermaniam told the Court of Appeal through an interpreter.

She argued there was a conflict of interest, as Singapore's chief justice, who presided over and dismissed her son's previous appeal, had been the country's attorney-general when he was convicted.

But Judge Andrew Phang, heading a three-judge panel, swiftly dismissed the challenge, describing it as "frivolous" and a "calibrated attempt" to delay the hanging.

Several of Nagaenthran's relatives were present in court for the hearing. They wept and grasped his hand through a tiny opening in a glass screen at the dock where he was sitting.

Nagaenthran, 34, looked composed and sought to console them, before requesting time alone with his family.

He was originally scheduled to be executed in November but the hanging was delayed as he sought to appeal on the grounds that executing someone with mental disabilities contravenes international law.

He was arrested aged 21 as he tried to enter Singapore with a bundle of heroin weighing about 43 grams (one and a half ounces) -- equivalent to about three tablespoons.

Supporters say he has an IQ of 69, a level recognised as a disability, and was coerced into committing the crime.

But authorities have defended his conviction, saying that legal rulings found he knew what he was doing at the time of the offence.

In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, Branson urged Singapore's President Halimah Yacob to grant Nagaenthran clemency, calling the death penalty "inhumane".

Singapore resumed executions last month after a hiatus of more than two years, and activists fear authorities are set to embark on a wave of hangings.

mba-sr/axn

Branson urges Singapore not to execute disabled man


British tycoon Richard Branson has said it would be 'inhumane' for Singapore to execute Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam

 (AFP/Daniel LEAL) 

Sam Reeves
Mon, April 25, 2022

British tycoon Richard Branson on Tuesday urged Singapore to spare the life of a mentally disabled Malaysian facing execution, telling AFP the death penalty was a "horrible blotch" on the city-state's reputation.

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, convicted of trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore, is due to be hanged on Wednesday after more than a decade on death row.

The planned execution has sparked an international outcry, with the United Nations and European Union among those condemning a punishment they say is cruel and ineffective as a deterrent.

In an interview with AFP, Branson, a long-time campaigner against the death penalty, urged Singaporean President Halimah Yacob to grant Nagaenthran clemency.

"I really just hope that on Wednesday evening, she does not have this young man's death on her hands," said the billionaire founder of Virgin Group.

Branson, who is part of a group with other business leaders that campaigns against capital punishment, said they were urging the president to pardon Nagaenthran.

"We just beg her to grant him clemency. We beg her to reconsider whether in this day and age Singapore should... be in the business of hanging people.

"It's just so inhumane".

"I don't think civilised countries should be in the business of killing their own people, or killing anybody," he added.

While the president’s role is largely ceremonial in Singapore, Halimah has the power to grant clemency, which is effectively Nagaenthran’s last chance to be spared after exhausting the usual appeals process.

- 'Abolish the death penalty' -

Branson said he had "enormous respect" for the financial hub, but that capital punishment was the one aspect of Singapore that was "really negative".

"It's the one horrible blotch on its reputation," the 71-year-old said, speaking via video call from his home in the British Virgin Islands.

He urged the city-state to "abolish the death penalty altogether" and "do what most other civilised countries have done".

Nagaenthran, 34, was originally scheduled to be executed in November but lodged an appeal that was finally rejected by Singapore's top court last month.

He was arrested aged 21 as he tried to enter Singapore with a bundle of heroin weighing about 43 grams (one and a half ounces) -- equivalent to about three tablespoons.

Supporters say he has an IQ of 69, a level recognised as a disability, and was coerced into committing the crime.

But authorities have defended his conviction, saying that legal rulings found he knew what he was doing at the time of the offence.

His mother will mount a further legal challenge at Singapore's Court of Appeal later Tuesday.

Chances of success look slim, but Branson urged the judge hearing the case to "have some humanity for the mother of this young man".

Nagaenthran's case has also generated some concern in Singapore, and hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil at a downtown park late Monday to protest the looming execution.

After a hiatus of more than two years, Singapore resumed executions last month when it put a drug trafficker to death.

Activists fear authorities are now set to embark on a wave of executions -- another Malaysian convicted of drugs offences is scheduled to be hanged Friday, while several other death row convicts recently had appeals rejected.

Singapore defends its use of the death penalty, which it maintains for several offences. Authorities insist that it has helped keep the city-state one of Asia's safest places.

sr/cwl

Climate change has led to warming of lochs and reservoirs in Scotland, report finds

Water in lochs and reservoirs in Scotland have undergone "rapid and extensive climate change driven warming" in recent years, a new report has revealed.

© PA The water temperature in lochs in Scotland has risen over the recent years

Peter Davidson 1 hour ago

The report by Centre of Expertise for Waters (Crew) found that 97 per cent of monitored lochs and reservoirs had increased in temperature over a four-year period from 2015 to 2019.

The majority warmed by up to 1C per year during the period while nine per cent rose by more, and some by up to 1.3C.

Changes to the temperature risk harmful algal blooms developing, which could restrict their use for recreation and water supply, and as a safe habitat for wildlife, researchers claim.

It is expected that waters in the south and east of Scotland are expected to warm the most at first, but this climate-related impact will reach all parts of the country by 2040.

Mairi McAllan, Environment Minister, said: "This important research provides yet more worrying evidence of the risks of harm from climate change on Scotland’s water environment.

"It is vital that we do more to mitigate those impacts, to seek to reduce the pace of warming but also to adapt to it.

"We have committed £243 million since 2015 through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to support land management practices which protect and enhance Scotland’s natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

"Research like this will be hugely valuable in informing the development of policy solutions and measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and also protect, restore and enhance these vital natural assets."

So-called Lake heatwaves, short periods of extremely high water temperatures, are likely to increase over time, according to he report.

A rise in heatwaves is "likely to push aquatic ecosystems beyond the limits of their resilience, posing a threat to their biodiversity and related benefits they provide to society."

The study says that average April to September air temperatures are projected to rise by about 2.5C between 2020 and 2080.

Dr Linda May, a freshwater ecologist from UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and lead author of the report, said: "This research has shown, for the first time, that climate change is already warming our lochs and reservoirs in Scotland, and that this trend is likely to continue.

"It provides early warning of the potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity, water supply and recreational use, and highlights the need for mitigation measures to be put in place as quickly as possible."

The Crew report makes a number of recommendations to address the impacts of warming in the immediate term.

These include reducing the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen entering lochs and reservoirs from their catchments, because these are the main driver of algal blooms.

Sources of these plant nutrients, present in synthetic fertilisers as well as human and animal waste, include farm runoff and waste water discharges.

Actions such as the creation of buffer strips and constructed wetlands, are already under way in many catchments across Scotland aimed at reducing nutrient inputs.

NatureScot Freshwater and Wetlands Advice Manager, Iain Sime, said: "Scotland, like the rest of the world, is facing an unprecedented climate emergency. The findings of this comprehensive review are stark, demonstrating the impact that climate change is already having on our freshwater lochs and reservoirs, and their biodiversity.

"The need for urgent action is clear, and at NatureScot we are using the £65 million Nature Restoration Fund to prioritise efforts that support the conservation of our lochs and ponds."

Asian Buyers Trying to Back Out of Purchases of Russian Oil Grade



Serene Cheong, Sharon Cho and Debjit Chakraborty
Mon, April 25, 2022, 

(Bloomberg) -- Asian oil refiners are shunning a major export grade from the Russian Far East due to sanctions on a tanker company that ships the cargoes.

Buyers are now trying to back out of purchases of Sokol, which was sold out for May-loading two weeks ago, said people with knowledge of the matter. At least one shipment of the variety for loading in end-May has been canceled, with several other refiners trying to wind back purchases for June, said the people who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the information.

Sokol is being avoided due to the involvement of Sovcomflot PJSC, a Russian state-controlled firm that transports the crude produced at the Sakhalin-I project from the De-Kastri export terminal to customers in North Asia. The company’s tankers are struggling to get insurance from international firms after it was added to a list of U.K.-sanctioned entities, the people said.

While many Asian refiners have stepped in to buy Russian oil after it was shunned due to the invasion of Ukraine, the episode illustrates they still need to be careful. Marine insurance is critical for the buyer as well as other shipowners as it provides protection from legal liabilities such as damage to cargoes, collisions and oil spills. A lack of coverage could lead to lawsuits and subject counterparties to hefty losses in the event of an accident.

Exxon Mobil Corp., which operates Sakhalin-I on behalf of an international consortium of Japanese, Indian and Russian companies, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The U.S. oil major is seeking to exit the project. A Sovcomflot spokesperson declined to comment.

It’s unclear what will happen to the canceled cargoes. They could be re-offered via closed tenders or stored in onshore tanks. Sokol shipments scheduled for loading in May were sold to buyers across China, South Korea, Japan and India. Russia’s biggest state oil producer Rosneft PJSC failed to award a tender to sell millions of barrels of Urals crude this week.

The Sakhalin-I Sokol stream is one of Russia’s main export grades alongside Urals and ESPO. The variety is popular with refiners in North Asia, Hawaii and even Australia as it produces large quantities of diesel when refined. The crude can travel from De-Kastri to major refining hubs in China and South Korea in just three to five days.

Sovcomflot provides tankers for the Sakhalin-I project as part of a long-term agreement. The shipowner’s vessels load the crude from De-Kastri and carry it to destinations in North Asia. Buyers from further afield need to charter other tankers, which conduct ship-to-ship transfers off South Korea.

The trading of Russian oil is becoming more clandestine due to restrictions over the war in Ukraine. Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, has said that it will stop dealing with Russian crude by the end of the year, while majors such as Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. are working on divesting their investments and withdrawing from the country.

Why did women vote for Hitler? Long-forgotten essays hold some answers



Nathan Stoltzfus, Dorothy and Jonathan Rintels 

Professors of Holocaust Studies, Florida State University,

 Sarah R. Warren, Ph.D. student, Florida State University, 

Daniel Maier-Katkin, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University

Sun, April 24, 2022,

Adolf Hitler surrounded by German supporters in 1937. De Agostini Editorial

The rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1930s came on the back of votes from millions of ordinary Germans – both men and women.

But aside from a few high-profile figures, such as concentration camp guard Irma Grese and “concentration camp murderess” Ilse Koch, little is known about the everyday women who embraced the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, known more commonly as the Nazi Party. What little data we do have on ordinary Nazi women has been largely underused, forgotten or ignored. It has left us with a half-formed understanding of the rise of the Nazi movement, one that is almost exclusively focused on male party members.

And yet more than 30 essays on the subject “Why I became a Nazi” written by German women in 1934 have been lying fallow in the archives of the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto for decades. These essays were only unearthed three years ago when three Florida State University professors arranged to have them transcribed and translated. They have since been made available digitally, but have not received widespread attention.

Not all Cabaret

As scholars of Holocaust studies, crimes against humanity and political behavior, we believe the accounts of these women give an insight into the role of women in the rise of the Nazi party. They also point to the extent to which women’s attitudes on feminism differed after the Great War – a time when women were making gains in independence, education, economic opportunity and sexual freedom.

The German women’s movement had been among the most powerful and significant in the world for half a century before the Nazis came to power in 1933. Top-quality high schools for girls had existed since the 1870s, and German universities were opened to women at the beginning of the 20th century. Many German women became teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists and novelists. In 1919, German women got the vote. By 1933, women, of whom there were millions more than men – Berlin had 1,116 women for every 1,000 men – voted in roughly the same percentages as men for Hitler and National Socialist candidates.

‘Everyone was everyone’s enemy’

The essays unearthed at the Hoover Institution give an insight as to why some of them did.

Dissatisfaction with the attitudes of the Weimar era, the period between the end of World War I and Hitler’s rise to power, is clear in the women’s writing. Most of the essay writers express distaste with some aspect of the political system. One calls women’s voting rights “a disadvantage for Germany,” while another describes the political climate as “haywire,” and “everyone was everyone’s enemy.” Margarethe Schrimpff, a 54-year-old woman living just outside of Berlin, describes her experience:

“I attended the meetings of all … parties, from the communists to the nationalists; at one of the democratic meetings in Friedenau [Berlin], where the former Colonial Minister, a Jew by the name of Dernburg, was speaking, I experienced the following: this Jew had the audacity to say, among other things: ‘What are the Germans actually capable of; maybe breeding rabbits.’

"Dear readers, do not think that the heavily represented stronger sex jumped up and told this Jew where to go. Far from it. Not one man made a sound, they stayed dead quiet. However, a miserable, frail little woman from the so-called ‘weaker sex’ raised her hand and forcefully rejected the Jew’s brazen remarks; he had in the meantime allegedly disappeared to attend another meeting.”

These essays were originally collected by an assistant professor at Columbia University, Theodore Abel, who organized an essay contest with generous prizes with the cooperation of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. Of nearly 650 essays, roughly 30 were written by women, and Abel set them aside, explaining in a footnote that he intended to examine them separately. But he never did. The men’s essays formed the basis for his book, “Why Hitler Came To Power,” published in 1938, which remains an important source in the global discourse about the Nazi rise to power.

Summarizing Abel’s findings, historian Ian Kershaw wrote in his book on Hitler’s rise to power that they showed that the “appeal of Hitler and his movement was not based on any distinctive doctrine.” He concluded that almost a third of the men were attracted by the indivisible “national community” – Volksgemeinschaft – ideology of the Nazis, and a similar proportion were swayed by nationalist, super-patriotic and German-romantic notions. In only about an eighth of the cases was anti-Semitism the prime ideological concern, although two-thirds of the essays revealed some form of dislike of Jews. Almost a fifth were motivated by the Hitler cult alone, attracted by the man himself, but the essays reveal differences between men and women in the reason for the enthrallment with the Nazi leader.

The cult of Hitler

For men, the cult of personality appears to center around Hitler as a strong leader charging toward a Germany which defined itself by those it excluded. It’s not surprising that women, on the cusp of exclusion themselves, were less captivated by this component of Nazism. Rather, the women’s essays tend to refer to religious imagery and sentiment conflating piety with the Hitler cult. The women appear to be moved more by Nazism’s proposed solutions to problems such as poverty rather than the supposed grandeur of Nazi ideology in the abstract.

In her essay, Helene Radtke, a 38-year-old wife of a German soldier, describes her “divine duty to forget about all my household chores and to perform my service to my homeland.”

Agnes Molster-Surm, a housewife and private tutor, calls Hitler her “God-given Führer and savior, Adolf Hitler, for Germany’s honor, Germany’s fortune and Germany’s freedom!”

Another woman replaced the star on her Christmas tree with a photograph of Hitler surrounded by a halo of candles. These men and women shared the message of National Socialism as if it was gospel and refer to new party members as “converts.” One such woman describes early efforts to “convert” her family to Nazism as falling “on stony soil and not even the slightest little green sapling of understanding sprouted.” She was later “converted” through conversations with her mailman.

The essays do not only serve as historical curios, but as a warning as to how ordinary people can be attracted to extremist ideology at a time of social distress. Similar language has been used to describe the current political climate in the United States and other countries. Perhaps, as some do today, these women believed all their society’s ills could be solved by the restoration of their nation to a perceived state of former glory, no matter the cost.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Sarah R. Warren, Florida State University; Daniel Maier-Katkin, Florida State University, and Nathan Stoltzfus, Florida State University.

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Hitler at home: How the Nazi PR machine remade the Führer’s domestic image and duped the world


Auschwitz: Women used different survival and sabotage strategies than men at Nazi death camp

Sarah R. Warren received funding for a portion of this work from the Florida State University Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement.

Daniel Maier-Katkin receives funding from National Science Fondation, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of State

Nathan Stoltzfus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Aliens Created Our Universe in a Lab, Scientist Suggests


Jennifer Leman
Mon, April 25, 2022,

Photo credit: VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - Getty Images


Avi Loeb, astronomy’s resident bad boy, suggests the universe may have been created in a laboratory.


Our supposed creators, Loeb writes in an op-ed published in Scientific American last year, may have developed the technology needed to construct “baby universes” capable of producing life.


He also introduces a new classification system for advanced civilizations.

Could our universe have been created in a petri dish? Avi Loeb seems to think so. The Harvard astronomer posits that a higher “class” of civilization may have conjured up our universe in a laboratory far, far away.

“Since our universe has a flat geometry with a zero net energy, an advanced civilization could have developed a technology that created a baby universe out of nothing through quantum tunneling,” Loeb writes in an op-ed published by Scientific American last year.

This theory, he suggests, would unite two seemingly opposite notions: the idea that a higher power might be driving our fate, and the secular concept of quantum gravity (a field of physics that seeks to work gravity into the theory of quantum mechanics—something that, to the bane of physicists everywhere, we haven’t been able to do yet on Earth). Primarily, this theory hinges on a far-off advanced civilization’s ability to meld both quantum mechanics and gravity and subsequently identify and recreate all of the universe’s ingredients. (Sounds like a lot of work, to be honest.)

He also introduces a new way of classifying exactly what makes a civilization advanced—one that veers away from Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev’s system, which organizes civilizations based on the amount of energy they generate and consume.

According to Kardashev, Type I civilizations—greetings, Earthlings!—are only advanced enough to utilize the starlight that reaches their planet (4×1012 watts), while Type II civilizations have mastered the ability to fully harness their host star’s power (4×1026 watts). Dyson sphere, anyone? Type III civilizations, the final classification in his framework, are able to harness all of the energy within their galaxy (a whopping 4×1037 watts).

Loeb, by contrast, has devised a framework that breaks advanced civilizations down into classes based on their ability to “reproduce the astrophysical conditions that led to its existence.”

Earthlings would fall into class C because, as a “low-level” technological civilization, we would not be able to recreate our current conditions should the sun suddenly die. (He suggests we might even fall into the class D category because we’re actively destroying our only home.) On the other hand, class B civilizations, Loeb writes, are advanced enough to recreate the conditions in which they live, independent of their host star.


A class A civilization, like our proposed creators, would be able to, say, generate large amounts of dark energy and, as Loeb suggests, create “baby universes,” or smaller universes controlled by this higher civilization, that could potentially spawn life. He also suggests that, due to competition, only one advanced civilization at a time would be able to reach this level of sophistication.

It’s a truly, truly bonkers idea, but it is interesting to think about. And it brings up a set of intriguing questions: What makes a civilization truly technologically advanced? Are we an advanced simulation? What might this “laboratory” look like, anyway?