Marcos victory opens old wounds for martial law victims in Philippines

Boni Ilagan was arrested and tortured during the martial law era under Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. His sister Rizalina, whose name is inscribed on a memorial wall in Manila, was also arrested and disappeared.

 Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI

MANILA, May 13 (UPI) -- As Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was closing in on the presidency of the Philippines earlier this week, playwright Boni Ilagan thought back to a morning almost 50 years ago.

Ilagan, then a 23-year-old student activist, was on the run from Bongbong's father -- dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. -- who had declared martial law and was hunting down political opponents and dissidents.

In April 1974, Ilagan's luck ran out. An intelligence unit burst into the safe house where he and his fellow publishers of an underground newspaper were hiding.

"They started the torture right there in the house," Ilagan, now 70, told UPI. "I think they wanted us to be demoralized immediately, so that we could offer no resistance."

For the next two years, he was held prisoner at Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Manila. Ilagan's captors burned his feet with a flat iron. They made him lie between two cots, suspended by only his head and feet, and beat him when he sagged or fell -- the torturers called it "San Juanico Bridge," named after a span Marcos built as a gift for his wife Imelda, now 92 years old.

Iligan's voice caught as he described how interrogators forced a stick into his penis, trying to get him to talk.

"It took a long time before I was able to share the details of this," he said. "I was in denial."

RELATED The rise and fall -- and rise again -- of the Philippines' Marcos family

According to Amnesty International, the Marcos administration detained 70,000 people on charges of subversion, tortured 34,000 and "salvaged" 3,240 -- a euphemism for extrajudicial killings.

Ilagan's sister Rizalina was also arrested and "disappeared" in 1977, her name inscribed on a memorial wall that Boni visited after casting his vote on Monday.

With the presumptive victory of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the presidential election -- he won by a landslide of more than 16 million votes, according to still-unofficial results -- the memories of those dark years have grown closer than ever.

"It's unimaginable," Ilagan said. 'It's like a nightmare that I thought had been lost forever and now has been revived."

Another student activist, Neri Colmenares, was just 18 when he was arrested in 1978. He would spend a total of four years in prison, subject to frequent beatings and electric shocks.

However, Colmenares said it was the mental torture -- such as being forced to play Russian roulette with a loaded revolver -- that was worse.

"After three days of beatings, your body is so numb that no more pain can be added," he told UPI. "It was the mental torture that actually broke a lot of activists. I always say that it is probably because the mind is limitless. Therefore, the pain is limitless."

Both men have been active in keeping the memory of the martial law era alive and warning of the dangers of returning the Marcos clan to power.

Ilagan, a renowned playwright whose works portrayed the human rights violations of the Marcos dictatorship, is one of the leaders of the activist group Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law.

Colmenares, a 62-year-old human rights lawyer and former congressman, ran an unsuccessful campaign for a Senate seat this week on a ticket closely allied with Leni Robredo, the main opponent of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the presidential race.

"I was competing against Marcos more than I was competing for my senatorial position," Colmenares said. "Because among the candidates, I think I'm the only one who was tortured and arrested during Marcos era, so I felt a personal obligation."

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has never apologized or admitted to any wrongdoing from the two decades of rule that saw his family plunder up to $10 billion from the country. Instead, he ran on a campaign slogan of "together we will rise again" and praised his dictator father as a "political genius."

Meanwhile, opponents have been faced with a "firehose of disinformation," according to fact-checking group Tsek.ph, much of which has set out to rehabilitate the family's image and cast the Marcos era as a kind of golden age of the Philippines.

"Marcos has been exceptionally effective in using disinformation spread on social media to rebrand his family's history and create a devoted following," Liz Derr, founder of TrollExposer, a U.S.-based organization that roots out accounts and groups responsible for fake news on Facebook, told UPI.

"He has conditioned his followers to be impervious to fact checking and reliable sources," Derr said.

One widespread myth, used to explain the notorious kleptocracy's wealth, claims that Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was paid thousands of tons of gold when he worked as a lawyer for the descendants of a Philippine royal family.

Other accounts claim that only terrorists were arrested under martial law -- not activists or critics such as Ilagan and Colmenares. The lies are especially targeted at voters too young to have firsthand memories of the Marcos era, which ended when he was driven into exile by a popular uprising in 1986.

"I felt some resentment against the young people for believing," Ilagan said. "But I realized it was not their fault. It was the fault of our government, our institutions who failed to ensure that the lessons of history, especially during martial law, were taught."

"My main obligation is to tell people my story," Ilagan said. "So I tell my story. And I tell the story of my sister."

Missing Picasso painting spotted in Philippines home of Imelda Marcos


A 'missing' Picasso painting worth an estimated £125million has been spotted hanging in the home of Imelda Marco, mother of new Philippines President Ferdinand Jr

Imelda is known to have owned the painting, which was bought with wealth plundered from the Philippines during her husband's dictatorship

May 13 (UPI) -- A Pablo Picasso painting bought by late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his wife Imelda, or a copy of it, has been spotted in her home eight years after it had been selected to be seized by the country's government.

The surrealist painting Reclining Woman VI, which depicts a nude woman lying on a couch, was seen in footage that aired Tuesday from the local station TV Patrol as Imelda Marcos celebrated her son Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s presidential election win.

The painting, described as "priceless" by The Art Newspaper, is one of more than 200 purchased by the Marcos family with up to $10 billion stolen from the government during the late patriarch's two decades leading the country.

Marcos Sr. was ousted from power in 1986 and the family lived in exile in Hawaii before later returning to the country.

His son won a landslide presidential election Monday over current vice-president, Leni Robredo, to succeed Rodrigo Duterte after his constitutionally mandated single term.

After the government of Marcos Sr., the country created the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to recover the stolen money and the lavish goods purchased with it, though The New York Times has reported that many of the works are suspected of being fake.

The painting was believed to have been seized in 2014 and placed into the custody of the National Museum, the institution's director-general Jeremy Barns told the news site Rappler.

However, he admitted that the acknowledgment receipt lists its title as "Picasso Replica Bass Strokes" and not "Pablo Picasso Reclining Women VI."

Former PCGG chairman Andy Bautista tweeted this week that the Reclining Woman VI had also been seen in a 2019 documentary about the Marcos family titled "The Kingmaker."

According to The Art Newspaper, the appearance of the painting in the documentary had again prompted officials to look for the painting.

Ruben Carranza, a former commissioner for the PCGG, told The Guardian it was unclear if the Reclining Woman VI seen this week was the real Picasso painting.

But Bautista told Rappler he felt confident the one that the government had seized was a fake.

"Mrs. Marcos has had a habit of buying fake paintings, as well as lending fake paintings for display," Carranza said.

"The fact that she's now displaying it just shows not just the duplicity of Mrs. Marcos ... it shows this really, absolutely uncaring attitude for Filipinos."

9 in 10 women in U.S. say distance limits access to abortion services, survey finds


A new survey indicates that access to abortion services in the United States is already limited, even before apparent efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade in the Supreme Court.

 Photo by Fibonacci Blue/Wikimedia Commons


May 13 (UPI) -- Almost 90% of women in the United States say they live too far from the nearest abortion to clinic to access the procedure and other women's healthcare services, according to the results of a survey published Friday found.

Among nearly 900 respondents from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., 89% cited distance as a "barrier" to accessing abortion services, the data published Friday by JAMA Network Open showed.

Up to 80% of respondents said they had to set aside funds to cover travel expenses in order to obtain abortion services, the researchers said.

"Abortion care is healthcare [and] abortion care, like all pregnancy-related care, is often out of reach for many people living in rural parts of the country," Ushma Upadhyay, a co-author of the study, told UPI in an email.

RELATED Abortion pills are safe without ultrasounds, medical exams, study shows

"And there is a great need to ensure that all pregnant people can access safe pregnancy-related healthcare regardless of the state they live in," said Upadhyay, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California-San Francisco.

Access to abortion services nationally is affected by laws in many states that limit the number of clinics that can offer the procedure and place restrictions on when the controversial procedure can be performed.

Given that it appears that the conservative-majority Supreme Court appears poised to strike down Roe vs. Wade -- the case that effectively legalized abortion in the United States -- in the near future, access could be even more limited, according to Upadhyay.

RELATED Demand for abortion-inducing medication spiked after Texas' near-total ban

On Wednesday, the Senate failed to pass a proposal to safeguard legalized abortion nationwide by enshrining the practice in federal law.

As of 2017, nearly 90% of counties in the United States did not have a clinic that offered abortion services, a recent report found.

For this study, Upadhyay and her colleagues surveyed 856 pregnant people who were considering undergoing an abortion.

RELATED  Menstrual cycle irregularity may impact abortion access, study finds

Among the respondents, 27% lived within 5 miles of a clinic that offered abortion services, while 44% lived within 24 miles of a facility, the data showed.

Just under 10% of the respondents lived 25 to 49 miles from a clinic, while 19% lived 50 miles or more from the nearest facility, the researchers said.

Of those who lived 25 to 49 miles from the nearest clinic, 81% said they needed to set aside funds for travel expenses to receive care, according to the researchers.

Among respondents who lived 50 miles or more from the nearest facility, 76% indicated they needed to set aside funds for travel expenses to receive care, the data showed.


"We hope our research demonstrates to policymakers the potential impact of banning abortion," Upadhyay said.

"A state-level abortion ban will push some people into having abortions later in pregnancy and force others to carry unwanted pregnancies to term -- this will have dire consequences for individuals and their families," she said.

DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Detention of WNBA’s Griner in Moscow extended by 1 month

1 of 4

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner leaves a courtroom after a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 13, 2022. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at the Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. 

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner had her pre-trial detention in Russia extended by one month Friday, her lawyer said.

Alexander Boykov told The Associated Press he thinks the relatively short extension indicated that Griner’s case would go to trial soon. The 31-year-old American basketball player has been in custody for nearly three months.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained at a Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage. She faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Griner appeared for the brief hearing at a court outside Moscow handcuffed, wearing an orange hoodie and holding her face down. She did not express “any complaints about the detention conditions,” Boykov said.

The Biden administration says Griner is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and U.S. officials have worked toward her release, without visible progress.

“Today’s news on Brittney Griner was not unexpected, and the WNBA continues to work with the U.S. government to get BG home safely and as soon as possible,” the basketball league said in a statement.

Hours after the extension, the Mercury star’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas tweeted that Griner’s team expects the government “to use all options available to immediately and safely bring Griner home.”

State Dept spokesman Ned Price said diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow spoke with Griner on Friday and reported she “is doing as well as can be expected in these circumstances.”

Russian officials have described Griner’s case as a criminal offense without making any political associations. But Moscow’s war in Ukraine has brought U.S.-Russia relations to the lowest level since the Cold War.

Despite the strain, Russia and the United States carried out an unexpected prisoner exchange last month — trading former Marine Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

While the U.S. does not typically embrace such exchanges, it made the deal in part because Yaroshenko had already served a long portion of his sentence.

The Russians may consider Griner someone who could figure into another such exchange.

The State Department last week said it now regards Griner as wrongfully detained, a change in classification that suggests the U.S. government will be more active in trying to secure her release even while the legal case plays out.

The status change places her case under the purview of the department’s Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which is responsible for negotiating for the release of hostages and Americans considered wrongfully detained.

Also working on the case now is a center led by Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who helped secure the release of multiple hostages and detainees, including Reed.

It’s not entirely clear why the U.S. government, which for weeks had been more circumspect in its approach, reclassified Griner as a wrongful detainee. But under federal law, there are a number of factors that go into such a characterization, including if the detention is based on being an American or if the detainee has been denied due process

Besides Griner, another American regarded as unjustly detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan. Whelan was arrested in December 2018 while visiting for a friend’s wedding and was later sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage-related charges his family has said are bogus.

RIP
Actor Fred Ward, of ‘Tremors,’ ‘The Right Stuff’ fame, dies

By MARK KENNEDY

 Fred Ward, a cast member in "30 Minutes or Less," poses at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles on Aug. 8, 2011. Ward, a veteran actor who brought a gruff tenderness to tough-guy roles in such films as “The Right Stuff,” “The Player” and “Tremors,” died Sunday, May 8, his publicist Ron Hofmann said Friday, May 13, 2022. He was 79. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Fred Ward, a veteran actor who brought a gruff tenderness to tough-guy roles in such films as “The Right Stuff,” “The Player” and “Tremors,” has died. He was 79.

Ward died Sunday, his publicist Ron Hofmann said Friday. No cause or place of death was disclosed per the family’s wishes.

Ward earned a Golden Globe and shared the Venice Film Festival ensemble prize for his performance in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” and played the title character in “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.” He also reached new heights playing Mercury 7 astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom in 1983′s Academy Award-nominated film “The Right Stuff.”

“Devastated to learn about the passing of my friend, Fred Ward,” tweeted actor Matthew Modine, who co-starred with Ward in “Short Cuts” and Alan Rudolph’s “Equinox.” “A tough façade covering emotions as deep as the Pacific Ocean. Godspeed amigo.”

A former boxer, lumberjack in Alaska and short-order cook who served in the U.S. Air Force, Ward was a San Diego native who was part Cherokee. One early big role was alongside Clint Eastwood in 1979’s “Escape From Alcatraz.”

“I mourn the loss of Fred Ward, who was so kind to me when we worked together on ‘Remo Williams,’” actor Kate Mulgrew tweeted. “Decent and modest and utterly professional, he disarmed with a smile that was at once warm and mischievous.”

Ward’s other roles included a rumpled cop chasing a psychotic criminal played by Alec Baldwin in George Armitage’s “Miami Blues.” He was a formidable and intimidating father to both Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character in “Summer Catch” and David Spade’s title character in “Joe Dirt.”

Ward played President Ronald Reagan in the 2009 Cold War espionage thriller “Farewell” and had a supporting role in the 2013 action flick “2 Guns,” starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

In the horror-comedy “Tremors,” Ward paired with Kevin Bacon to play a pair of repairmen who end up saving a hardscrabble Nevada desert community beset by giant underground snakes.

With the sexually charged, NC-17 “Henry & June,” Ward showed more than just grit. Based on the book by Anais Nin and directed by Philip Kaufman, Ward played novelist Henry Miller, opposite Nin and his wife, June. “My rear end seemed to have something to do with (that rating),” he told The Washington Post.

He also reteamed with Altman for the part of a studio security chief in the director’s 1992 Hollywood satire “The Player,” and played a union activist and Meryl Streep’s workmate in Mike Nichols’ “Silkwood” in 1983.

Ward demonstrated his comedy chops playing a terrorist intent on blowing up the Academy Awards in “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” in 1994.

On the small screen, he had recurring roles on NBC’s “ER” playing the father of Maura Tierney’s Abby Lockhart in 2006-2007 and guest starred on such series as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Leverage” and “United States of Tara.” Ward most recently appeared in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective” as the retired cop father of Colin Farrell’s Detective Ray Velcoro.

Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward and his son, Django Ward.

 

13. Cast a Deadly Spell (1991 TV Movie)

R | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

 6.4

 

 Rate

In a fantastical 40's where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.

Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown

Votes: 3,750

I simply can not believe the rating this gem has. Everything below 8 is blasphemy. It's sad that this movie never had theatrical release and was never released on DVD or BR either. It was distributed only as VHS for video stores and because of that it didn't have a chance to reach wider audience and rise to popularity it deserves.

Everything in it is between very good and perfect. Considering relatively low budget of about 6 million, HBO did fantastic job with production. Movie is directed by Martin Campbell, man responsible for Golden Eye, Mask of Zorro and Casino Royale, and Joseph Dougherty (Pretty Little Liars) wrote one of the most original scripts I ever had luck to see.

Movie combines 40's Film Noir with supernatural horror of 80's and well-measured humour. It is based on Lovecraft mythos, but unlike most of movies based of Lovecraft that rape his stories, this one is not adaptation, but an original story inspired by Lovecraft, which skillfully includes parts of Lovecraft's mythos into noir crime mystery.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

Fred Ward, in style of Bogart, plays former cop, now private detective, who is, in LA at the end of 40's, hired to find stolen Necronomicon, book that possess power to unlock interdimensional gate and let Great Old Ones back on Earth. Great Old Ones are very powerful demonic beings who once ruled the Earth. Most known are Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth and, of course, Cthulhu. It is interesting that, unlike most movies with supernatural plot, magic here is not secret skill reserved for few and kept in secret from public, but the most common everyday tool used by all. Same applies for supernatural beings, so we have zombies as bodyguards, and in jail we can see some vampires and werewolves. But non of that is shown in usual glamorous and mystical way full of stunning special effects. It's all incorporated in film noir style and shown as common and normal, so you won't have a feeling that you watch fantasy movie, but just usual 40's crime noir.

Directing is great, there are some beautiful shots you should not miss, and lines are true masterpiece. Script is so well written that I am sure it would be great literature for reading even without seeing the movie.

"My name is Lovecraft and I'm the guy who knows. Just about the only guy who knows it all and is still breathing. It started that night and it started with a woman. It always starts with a woman." And the woman is Julianne Moore, charming as always and one more good reason to see this film.

9/10

2022 IIHF World Championship: 'Like a World Cup without Germany or Brazil'

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to a ban on its teams and athletes from competition. The impact of Russia's absence will be undeniable at this year's IIHF World Championship — and this may not just be a one-off.


Tampere's Nokia Arena (pictured) and the Helsinki Ice Hall are the venues for the 2022 Worlds

When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine just four days after the "Russian Olympic Committee" (ROC) lost the gold medal game in men's ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics, the consequences stretched far beyond the doping scandal the country's athletes have been plagued with in recent years.

When the ROC team lost to Finland in Beijing this past February, or four years earlier when the "Olympic Athletes from Russia” won gold, nobody was under any illusions as to who these players were and who they really represented. This was despite a ban on using the Russian flag or uniforms due to sanctions imposed after the McLaren Report revealed evidence of state-sponsored doping in the country.

This year, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has gone much further, banning Russia and Belarus from all competitions. The tournament in Finland gets underway on Friday.

"We were incredibly shocked to see the images that have come out of Ukraine," IIHF President Luc Tardif said in a statement announcing the move back in February. "I have been in close contact with the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine, and we hope for all Ukrainians that this conflict can be resolved in a peaceful way and without the need for further violence," he added.
'Politics and sport go hand in hand'

The IIHF's move was the "only reasonable decision," according to Szymon Szemberg, managing director of the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs (ECH).

"To have Russia in the WM (World Championship) — with their war of aggression, genocide and war crimes, also adding the very close links between the Russian ice hockey federation, KHL to Putin and the Kremlin — would have been unthinkable," Szemberg told DW.

Hockey historian Andrew Podnieks, who has written more than 100 books on the subject, concurs.

"Politics and sport do go hand in hand," Podnieks told DW. "The IIHF cannot help Ukraine win the war. It is a hockey organization, and it is doing the only thing it can do to support Ukraine and to show disgust for the invasion... The morality of sport is far more important than having one team or another compete in an event."

The "Olympic Athletes from Russia" won the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang

The IIHF's move to suspend the two countries came at lightning-like speed in comparison to how it handled last year's World Championship. The organization took weeks to decide to withdraw Belarus' right to cohost the tournament as a result of strongman Alexander Lukashenko's bloody crackdown on demonstrations against his disputed reelection in August 2020.

The IIHF has also withdrawn Russia's right to host next year's World Juniors and followed that up by stripping it of next year's men's World Championship, which was to have been hosted by Vladimir Putin's hometown, St. Petersburg.
'Like a World Cup without Germany or Brazil'

Now, for the first time in decades, hockey fans will watch a World Championship that from a purely sporting point of view can only be made poorer by the lack of a Russian entry, argues Szemberg.

"It has a substantial sporting impact, which is obvious as Russia is one of the leading hockey nations," he said. "One perennial medal contender will not play. This is like, say, the FIFA World Cup without Germany or Brazil."

Canada arrive in Finland as defending champions looking to win a 28th title

After all, since the Soviet Union first competed in (and won) the Worlds in 1954, it and later Russia, have won a total of 27 gold medals – a record matched only by Canada.

The best of a bad situation

On the other hand, Podnieks stresses that by excluding the two countries, the IIHF has made the best out of a bad situation.

"If Russia and Belarus were at the tournament, it would cause a huge controversy and much of the conversation around the tournament would be about their participation," he said. "By not having them here, it strengthens an event where, because of events, there could be no normal."

Now, Canada (2nd-ranked team) will have the chance to claim the record it shares with Russia (3rd) outright — at a 16-team tournament where Russia is replaced by 13th-ranked France, and Austria (17th) take to the ice in place of Belarus (14th).

And with no apparent end to the war in Ukraine in sight, one has to wonder whether the absence of Russia at the Ice Hockey World Championship will be something fans will have to get used to in the years to come.

However, as Szemberg, who is also a former IIHF communications director noted: "Canada was gone from the IIHF Worlds 1970 through 1976, and the hockey world survived."

Edited by: Jonathan Harding

The centuries-old Oberammergau Passion Play is back

Held every 10 years since the 17th century, the Oberammergau Passion Play is on again, two years later than scheduled due to the pandemic. It comes with unusual rituals.



The pandemic delayed the famous play for two years


"It's got everyone mesmerized again," said director Christian Stückl, just days before the curtain is set to rise on May 14 for this year's premiere. People in the Bavarian town of Oberammergau are excited to be back on stage, Stückl said.

Almost every day, the townspeople will climb onto the huge open-air stage to recount the story of Jesus Christ, his life and death, the resurrection. They will sing, play music and act until the season ends on October 2.


Old and young Oberammergau residents participate in the play

The Passion Play was originally scheduled for 2020. The people of Oberammergau are still fulfilling a vow made in 1633: During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), 84 people from the small town died of the plague, so the villagers vowed to perform the Passion of Jesus every 10 years should they be spared. All they had were their prayers — and their prayers were answered.
'Intangible Cultural Heritage'

Even today, more than half of the town's residents participate, either as amateur actors, in the choir or in the orchestra.

The five-hour performance begins in the afternoon with the ride into Jerusalem and tells the Passion story through the Last Supper to the Crucifixion. The play ends in the evening hours with the Resurrection.

There are 103 performances, scheduled from May 14 to October 2, with daily shows except on Mondays and Wednesdays.

It's Christian Stückl's fourth stint in a row as director of the play. Stefan Hageneier is responsible for stage design; Markus Zwink for the music.

Some of the rituals and rules seem a bit anachronistic: Adult performers must have lived in Oberammergau for at least 20 years.

Men, with the exception of those who play the Romans, are to let their hair and beards grow from Ash Wednesday of the previous year to give the play a more realistic touch.

Each and every one of the approximately 5,400 inhabitants is allowed to participate. All roles are double cast, so about half of the village is on stage, including almost 500 children.


Impressive open air theater

This year is different in that, for the first time, a Muslim will play the role of Judas, the most coveted of the 21 main roles next to Jesus.

Just 30 years ago, you had to be Catholic to participate. "As a child, I didn't know exactly who Jesus was and who Judas was," Judas actor Cengiz Gorur recently told Der Spiegel news magazine. "It's a role, and I prepared well."

The theater building is 120 years old and seats just shy of 5,000 visitors. It is a listed building, owing mainly to its special construction and technology, but also because of its historical significance for popular and amateur theater.

Since 2014, the World Cultural Organization UNESCO has listed the Passion Play as a German Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Railroad connection made travel easier

The open-air play, which earns the municipality millions of euros every 10 years, became famous beyond the country's borders in the 19th century.

The extension of the railroad line to neighboring Murnau made travel to Oberammergau much easier. Thomas Cook travel agents arranged for international guests. Celebrities including Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Max Reinhardt, John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford all came to see the play.

 


Christian Stückl has directed the play four times

Rochus Rückel and Frederik Mayet are the two Jesus actors in Oberammergau this year. "Two years ago, we were getting closer to the premiere when coronavirus hit," said Mayet. With regard to the war in Ukraine, people may take a different view of the play revolving around Jesus and his message, he said. "But the message of the Passion Play is always relevant."

"There is a time of fear in Israel. Cries of war fill the land, poverty and disease ravage you": Those are among the first sentences said by the Jesus character on stage.

The current crisis, Mayet said, shows what poverty and disease mean — and how insignificant human beings are.

Despite medical advances, we are not much further ahead than we were 2,000 years ago, or 400 years ago when the plague broke out in Oberammergau, Mayet said.
Jesus on the cross

The Jesus role requires the actors to stay up on the cross for about 20 minutes, their bodies secured with nails, loops and ropes. "Exposed and half-naked — it's pretty uncomfortable," said Mayet. Jesus speaks a few last words on the cross, convulsed in agony. It can take quite a few minutes, during which he is not allowed to budge, until he is finally taken down from the cross. "It's pretty exhausting sometimes."

The Last Supper on stage at Oberammergau

In 2010, about 500,000 people from all over the world flocked to see the event.

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 restrictions forced theaters nationwide to close for many months, which also meant canceling the Oberammergau production.

In 2022, two years later than planned, the Oberammergau Passion Play is finally back. Tickets are still available, according to the organizers.

This article was originally written in German.

AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC
Faith Matters - Oberammergau Passion Play - The Plague and Covid-19

Is India's auto industry ready to go electric?

India has big ambitions to slash crude oil imports and push for an electric vehicle future, but high costs and a lack of infrastructure could hamper the country's green narrative.


Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of Power R.K Singh at the launch of India's first green hydrogen-based advanced fuel cell electric vehicle

India's manufacturing of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) has kicked off with several automakers rolling out electric cars at a rapid pace.

India is among a handful of countries that aim for electric vehicles (EVs) to account for at least 30% of all new automotive sales by 2030.

In March, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who has been championing alternative fuel, drove to Parliament in his hydrogen-powered Toyota car to make a statement that he would use it himself as a pilot project.

"I have favored a green transition in fuel, and rapid strides in green fuel technology will reduce the cost of electric vehicles, bringing them on a par with petrol-run vehicles in a short time," Gadkari said.

According to NITI Aayog, an Indian public policy think tank, by 2030, 80% of two- and three-wheelers, 40% of buses and 30%-70% of cars in India will be EVs.
Can India achieve its green ambitions?

At the COP26 summit, India pledged to achieve net-zero emissions status by 2070 and to lower its emission intensity by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. EVs could help realize these goals and play a pivotal role in India's green transition.

"The current trajectory of adding ever more cars running on expensive imported fuel, and cluttering up already overcrowded cities suffering from infrastructure bottlenecks and intense air pollution is unfeasible. India's cities will choke," Heavy Industries Minister Nath Pandey said at a recent meeting.

Watch video 02:37 Coal energy makes India world's third biggest polluter

"A transportation revolution will have many components: better walkability, public transportation, railways, roads and better cars. Many of these better cars will likely be electric," he said.

The transport sector accounts for 18% of total energy consumption in India, which translates to an estimated 94 million tons of oil-equivalent (MTOE) energy.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency estimates that, if India were to follow the current trends of energy consumption, it would require an estimated 200 MTOE of energy supply annually by 2030 to meet demand.

Challenges to an electric future

Powered by hydrogen and one of the best clean energy alternatives in vehicles, EVs are more efficient than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, and produce no tailpipe emissions, reducing pollution levels while emitting water vapor and warm air.

Some industry analysts claim that this could potentially allow India to save on crude oil imports worth over $14 billion (€13.5 billion) annually. Rapid adoption of two- and three-wheeler EVs is expected to lead the way to this transition.

India's road to a fully electric ecosystem still has a few hurdles — including high costs, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of high-performing EVs.

Industry experts estimate that India's transition to electric mobility to reach decarbonization goals would require a deployment of 2.9 million public chargers to meet 102 million EVs.

"While the electric vehicle program has begun to receive policy attention at the national and state level, it has not yet been able to catalyze the market to build scale," Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director at Centre for Science and Environment, told DW.

She said EVs still made up less than 1% of new vehicle sales and that a regulation target and a zero-emissions mandate at the national level still needed to be developed.

State-level EV policies with time-bound targets could make a difference, she said. For instance, Delhi, which has set a target of 25% electrification by 2024, has already increased its share of EVs to 12.5%.

"Overall, the challenges of inadequate charging networks ... limited EV models in the market, uncertainty around the battery costs and weak consumer awareness are some of the key factors impeding accelerated electrification," Chowdhury said.

Watch video 02:53 Pakistan: Can this e-mobility scheme cut harmful air pollution?

Government incentives for EV manufacturing

The Indian government introduced its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) program as well as several supply- and demand-side incentives to facilitate the switch to EVs.

Some states have also set their own ambitious EV targets; 18 out of 28 states already have a draft policy in place or have called for one.

Safa Khan, an energy consultant, told DW that, while FAME is expected to set up 2,877 charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states by 2024, India only has 934 charging stations to cater to all types of vehicle classes as of June last year. In comparison, China has approximately 900,000.

"The planning process needs to strike the right balance between low- and high-power charging points in locations that ensure equitable access to a diversity of EV users," Khan said.

"A switch to EVs represents the opportunity for communities to move towards less localized air pollution, and the onus is on the government to ensure these benefits are accrued equitably," she said.

Edited by: Sou-Jie van Brunnersum

How great power competition is complicating global cooperation

The emerging competition between Western democracies and authoritarian nations led by China poses serious challenges to the existing international system, say experts.

With its recent actions, China is signaling that it views the US-led international order as no longer legitimate, said Sari Arho Havrén

In the past few months, democratic countries, mostly led by the United States, have been trying to form a united front to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion.

While they are closely coordinating efforts to put pressure on Moscow, Western governments are also keeping an eye on China's diplomatic efforts, especially its attempts to strengthen ties with autocratic countries.

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, Western nations have repeatedly warned Beijing against providing military aid to Moscow.

This week, senior US officials told Reuters news agency that they had not observed any "overt" Chinese military and economic support for Russia.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government has so far been unwilling to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Ideal partners for Beijing

Over the last two months, Beijing has also organized high-level meetings with the military government in Myanmar, pledging cooperation and exchanges in all areas, while hosting a multinational meeting to discuss the humanitarian and economic crisis facing Afghanistan.

Some experts believe ensuring stability in these countries is in Beijing's interest as they all share a land border with China. "There is a natural reason for Beijing to reach out to them," said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Although China doesn't limit its outreach activities to authoritarian states, they seem more ideal partners for Beijing because deals struck with them tend to receive less scrutiny and oversight.

"What happens is that while Beijing is doing outreach with a variety of countries, the ones where backlash can be more managed in the short term, tend to be ones that are able to keep a lid on opposition or scrutiny to these deals," said Chong. "They can more easily stick to the deals without too much political pressure."
China's challenge to the US-led order

With its recent actions, China is signaling that it views the US-led international order as no longer legitimate, said Sari Arho Havren, a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki.

"The Chinese Communist Party elite believes that it offers a superior form of governance with stability and economic development, and recently with its handling of COVID," she told DW.

"China's development and its challenging the United States as the most powerful nation in the world resonates especially in the global south. Since China does not accept the current international order, it challenges it where it doesn't hurt itself too much," she added.

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a "global security initiative" that will uphold the principle of "indivisible security" during the annual Boao Asia Forum. According to him, the world should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, while paying attention to the "legitimate" security concerns of all.

"We should uphold the principle of indivisibility of security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the building of national security on the basis of insecurity in other countries," Xi said.

While details of the initiative remain vague, Ivana Karaskova, founder and leader of MapInfluenceEU, a project that maps Chinese and Russian influence in Central and Eastern Europe, said that it's targeted at developing countries.

"It is aimed at developing countries with emphasis on shared stage of development or historical experience with colonialism, and stressing principles of sovereignty and non-interference."
A big blow to international organizations

As the United States and China both try to consolidate their relationships with countries that share similar values, fears abound about the emerging competition posing challenges to the existing international system.

"Now we have entered into a phase where various geographies have woken up to their strategic and critical dependencies and have started to, more or less, protect their own open markets from Chinese state-subsidized companies and force reciprocity in their own terms," Havren said.

"These emerging two blocs and their rivalry will radiate into all areas, including defense, trade, investments and technology. The existing international system is therefore challenged by the loose coalition led by China and Russia, while Western democracies are trying to defend it," she underlined.

Havren predicts that this rivalry would deal a big blow to international organizations, which are in danger of becoming "obsolete" and are already showing their incompetence in solving burning problems, including the Ukraine war.
Maintaining a level of cooperation

Despite the growing divide between the two camps, Western democracies are still hoping to maintain some level of cooperation with Beijing on certain issues, such as climate change. However, it hasn't been easy given the growing competition and deepening mistrust.

John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, recently said climate cooperation between Washington and Beijing has become "harder" due to a sharpening of differences of opinion between the two sides. "That makes the diplomacy more complicated," he added.

Chong from the NUS also thinks the efforts to try to get Beijing to come around on climate change have become more difficult.

"Everyone recognizes that every country needs to pitch in on the environment, but the differentials and who does more and who does less, as well as whether countries that have developed earlier are able to tell others what to do seem to create some continuous tensions," he said.

While countries recognize the need to work together, Chong stressed, the more active cooperation may only happen on specific issues: "I think mutual suspicion will get the better of the various capitals."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

DW

IT WILL BENEFIT WOMEN

Spain debates if five-day menstrual leave policy will help or hurt

Various menstrual products are seen, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Kennesaw, Ga.

WHERE MOST PAPER PRODUCTS AND PADS ARE MADE

 (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Ashifa Kassam and Joseph Wilson
The Associated Press
Updated May 13, 2022 

MADRID -

A government proposal that could make Spain the first country in Europe to allow workers to take up to five days of menstrual leave has sparked debate over whether the policy would help or hinder women in the workplace.

A leaked draft of new legislation that the Spanish Cabinet is expected to discuss Tuesday proposed giving workers experiencing period pain three days of optional leave a month, with two additional days permitted in exceptional cases.

It was not clear if the leave would be paid or unpaid, or whether it would be offered as flexible hours that employees would have to make up within a specific time frame.

Jose Luis Escriva, Spain's minister for inclusion, social security and migration, sought Thursday to temper expectations, describing the leaked proposal as a draft that was still “under discussion” within the coalition government.

The Ministry of Equality, one of four ministries led by the hard-left junior partner in the Socialist-led Spanish government, was behind the proposed bill, according to private news radio network Cadena SER, which first reported the measure.

The ministry told The Associated Press it had not leaked the draft and that the version the Cabinet considers could undergo revisions.

Spain's secretary of state for equality, Angela Rodriguez, floated the idea of providing some sort of menstrual leave in March.

“It's important to be clear about what we mean by painful period,” she told El Periodico newspaper. “We're not talking about a slight discomfort, but about serious symptoms such as diarrhea, fever and bad headaches.”

While a handful of private companies across Europe have adopted period policies, enacting a nationwide approach would make Spain a pioneer in Europe. Parts of Asia, ranging from Japan to South Korea, have long had menstrual leave rules, though the extent to which they are used has been debated.

Italy briefly flirted with the idea in 2016, proposing a bill that would have provided three fully paid days off to workers who obtained medical certificates. The proposal failed to progress before the parliamentary term ran out in 2018.

One of Spain's major labor unions panned the draft legislation, saying it could lead to women facing workplace discrimination.

“I'm not sure if we're doing a disservice to us women,” Cristina Antonanzas of the General Union of Workers, or UGT, told Cadena Ser. The idea that women required time off work while menstruating risked “stigmatizing women,” she added.

Others described a monthly leave policy as long overdue.

“If we men had periods, this leave would have come decades ago. That is the problem,” Ínigo Errejon, the leader of the left-wing party Mas Pais, said on Twitter.

A handful of local governments in Spain already have embraced the idea. The Catalan city of Girona said in June 2021 that it would allow its more than 1,300 municipal employees up to eight hours of menstrual leave a month and give them up to three months to make up any time used.

Similar policies were adopted for municipal workers in the Catalan municipalities of Ripoll and Les Borges Blanques, as well as in the eastern city of Castellon de la Plana.

AP reporter Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain. Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.