Tunisia protesters unite for democracy ⁠— but is it enough?

Growing discontent has led to a united national opposition against President Kais Saied. But could the pursuit of democracy backfire — and see the nation return to an iron fist rule?


While around 2,000 protesters is not yet anywhere near the Arab Spring demonstrations, it's a strong symbol

After 10 months of authoritarian rule by Tunisia's President Kais Saied following a power grab, many in the crisis-ridden country are united in pushing for a return to democracy.

Around 2,000 people of different political affiliations took to the streets on Sunday following a call by the newly-formed alliance National Salvation Front.

While the turnout was not comparable to the massive sit-ins in 2013 when thousands of people called for democratic elections, the meaning is nevertheless significant: A growing number of people, political parties and factions are joining forces to reject the political course on Saied's watch.

Who is the opposition?

One of the key players of this new alliance is the Islamist party Ennahda, one of Saied's fiercest opponents.

"Ennahda has become part of a civil political resistance that will use all civil and peaceful means to overthrow the coup and to push for the national dialogue that the country needs," Imed Khemiri, spokesman of the Ennahda party, told DW.

For him, this means, above all, dialogue between political parties. "The president does not want a dialogue except with himself," he said.

Another major player is a group of civil activists called Citizens Against the Coup.

"Since we began our struggle 10 months ago, we were able to convince many people that what happened was a coup, which symbolizes a great gain for collective awareness," Ezzeddine Hasgui, a political activist and founding member of the movement, told DW.
What prompted the protests?

In July last year, Kais Saied, a former law professor, had suspended the country's parliament, dismissed the prime minister, and issued an emergency decree, by which he has been ruling ever since.

Saied, however, insists that his political moves are democratic and have been necessary to guide the country to a new constitution, through a referendum in July 2022.

Yet, critics doubt the referendum will take place, as preparations are stalling.

The country has been sliding from one crisis into the next. Amid the political crisis, growing domestic debt, as well as rising inflation and increasing unemployment rates, the situation has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The conflict in Eastern Europe saw a shortfall of up to 60% of wheat imports in Tunisia — severely impacting food security in Tunisia.

Moreover, the initial wave of public support Saied rode due to his promises to clamp down on corruption, has been fading.

Until this week, the Tunisians had not united in calling for a return to democracy.

Tunisia, which imports up to 60% of its wheat, will suffer from grain shortages due to the war in Ukraine

More voices speak up

While Sunday's turnout is seen by some as a disappointment, the organizers argue that the opposition is gaining momentum.

They're also gaining influential voices.

"Ahmed Neijb Chebbi, a leftist progressive and long-time opposition figure, has come forward with his Al-Amel Party (Hope) to call for the National Salvation Front," Alyssa Miller, a researcher who is based in Tunis for the German think tank GIGA Hamburg, told DW.

For her, Chebbi is worth watching, as "he could position himself as an important unifying force to broaden the opposition beyond Ennahda and pro-Ennahda forces."

The Ennahda party has been discredited by large portions of the population, as it has been blamed for corruption and political infighting in parliament prior to its dissolution on July 25 last year.

"In order to be successful, the anti-July 25 opposition must appeal to a broader base of political parties and civil society forces," Miller said

Therefore, she considers the latest statements by the country's influential union, the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), as significant.

"In the past, the UGTT has been largely neutral or cautiously supportive of Kais Saied, and it was recently tapped by the president, along with the Tunisian League for Human Rights, to oversee the composition of a constituent assembly and to write a new constitution which would be put to a national referendum on July 25th," Miller said.

However, the two organizations have signaled they would not support Saied's process "unless it were inclusive," she added.

The inclusion of opposition voices, though, has been opposed by Saied.

The slogan is a promise — and could be a warning for President Kais Saied

History repeating itself?

It's unclear whether oppositional unity will evolve into a widespread movement, but the situation has similarities to the calls for democracy in 2013.

Back then, however, the overall situation was much closer to violent clashes than it is today.

And yet, just like this time, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers were asked to be on board of a new constitutional committee — along with the UGTT.

In turn, those four groups became famous as 'The National Dialogue Quartet' . It is widely believed that they averted a civil war, and their efforts were awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.

Despite this similarity, the country's security situation was much worse.

"Along with the assassinations of the two popular leftist politicians, Chokri Belaid and Mohammed Brahmi, the country experienced a general rise in violence committed by Islamist insurgent groups in 2013," Miller explains.

Therefore, she doubts that tensions will rise to this extent again. "If we compare the situation with Tunisia today, we can see that the security situation is very, very different," adding that many of the violent insurgent groups that operated in northwestern Tunisia in 2013 have been "slowly brought under control under subsequent governments."

But she does see — yet again — some administrative powers meant to assist in the fight against terrorism are being used to target political opponents.

For Miller, this could indicate a return to an iron fist rule. "I think it is more likely that there is a return of authoritarian control of the type that was practiced and exercised in Tunisia under Ben Ali," she said.

Edited by: Stephanie Burnett

Eco-fascism: The greenwashing of the far right

White-supremacist killers are invoking environmental concerns to justify murder. But what is eco-fascism and why are people attracted to it?

At least three far-right massacres in recent years have been allegedly perpetrated by people who identify as eco-fascists.

The accused murderer of 10 Black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, entwined antisemitic conspiracy theories with a form of natural conservation. In a 180-page racist diatribe the 18-year-old linked mass migration with the degradation of the natural environment as a justification for murder.

The alleged perpetrator appears to share many of the views held by the young men who in 2019 committed racist massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Christchurch, New Zealand. Indeed, the alleged Buffalo killer appears to have copied large sections of his screed from the Christchurch killer.

The Christchurch killer, who shot dead 51 people at two mosques, described himself as an "ethno-nationalist eco-fascist," and called for "ethnic autonomy" as well as "the preservation of nature, and the natural order." In his diatribe, the Australian man linked climate change to overpopulation by non-Europeans, which is one of the central ideas of eco-fascism.

The Buffalo shooter appears to have plagiarized passages from the Christchurch killer's screed

What is an eco-fascist?

"The most simple definition would be (someone with) a fascist politic or a fascist worldview that is invoking environmental concern or environmental rhetoric to justify the hateful and extreme elements of their ideology," Cassidy Thomas told DW.

Thomas is a PhD student at Syracuse University in upstate New York who studies the intersection of right-wing extremism with environmental politics.

Thomas says regular fascists are populist ultranationalists who invoke a narrative of civilizational crisis, decline and rebirth along cultural and nationalist lines. Eco-fascists see climate change or ecological disturbances as the civilizational threat within that equation.

Eco-fascists are tied up in racist theories and believe that the degradation of the natural environment leads to the degradation of their culture and their people, added Thomas.

They are often radicalized online, as the latest alleged shooter claims to have been, and many believe that white people, along with the environment, are threatened by non-white overpopulation. They often call for a halt to immigration, or the eradication of non-white populations.

"What they envision is the dissolution of mixed-race, liberal democratic states or these very liberal and pluralistic democratic states, and the replacement of that political formation with ethnically defined and ecological states that are smaller in nature," said Thomas.

Their over-simplistic theories fail to address the complex realities of climate change and ecological damage, and ignore the fact that the Global North is responsible for most of the emissions that have caused global heating, for instance.

The Buffalo shooter targeted Black people, linking mass migration with environmental degradation and other eco-fascist ideas

Why are people drawn to eco-fascism?

Far-right ideologies such as eco-fascism are attracting young people who have grown up with climate change but see that governments have failed to tackle the crisis properly.

"Unfortunately, as climate change has gotten worse over the past 30 years and more difficult to ignore or to question — even from the most far-right or conservative elements of the political scene — you're beginning to see individuals who have an incredibly nihilistic view and an incredibly bleak view of the future of the world," Thomas said.

Eco-fascist narratives provide believers with a "sense of purpose" and a "call to action," added Thomas.

"And that's why these eco-fascist narratives that are cultivated in these online subcultures are so dangerous."

Such theories are often propagated in fringe sites such as 4chan, 8chan, and the now-defunct Iron March forum, as well as more mainstream platforms such as Twitter.

After each of the previous killing sprees, researchers saw a spike in eco-fascist interest in fringe online communities as well as online search traffic.
Eco-fascism in politics?

Right-wing populists have traditionally embraced climate change denial, but are increasingly seeing potential in capitalizing on climate change concerns.

France's Marine Le Pen has invoked environmentalism in her nationalist campaigns

In one notorious example, the attorney general of the US state of Arizona, having previously misrepresented climate science, cited environmental protection when he sued the Biden administration for loosening immigration laws. He claimed that Latin American migrants would use up resources, cause emissions and pollute the environment if they weren't kept out by a wall with Mexico.

In Europe, Marine Le Pen has invoked climate change and environmental protection in her nationalist campaigns, while the youth wing of Germany's far-right climate-skeptic AfD party called on the party to embrace climate change as an effective recruitment tool.

As Canadian author and climate activist Naomi Klein told the HuffPost: "There is a rage out there that is going to go somewhere, and we have demagogues who are expert at directing that rage at the most vulnerable among us while protecting the most powerful and most culpable."

Nazi origins of eco-fascism

Although made up of various strands of far-right theories, much eco-fascist ideology has its roots in early Nazi movements and the fascist party in Italy.

"In Germany, they would use these environmental talking points to partially justify some of their key initiatives like Lebensraum," Thomas said. Lebensraum was the Nazi settler-colonialist concept of creating "living space" for Germans.

The 'heritage' appeal of organic produce has attracted nationalist communities

"They saw the presence of these non-German peoples as a threat simultaneously to the integrity of the German culture and the German environment."

That ideology led to the 1935 Reichsnaturschutzgesetz, Germany's first conservation laws, as well as a push for organic farming.

Elements of the far-right scene in Germany and across Europe still champion environmental causes, and things like organic farming. In Germany, environmental groups risk being infiltrated by far-right extremists.

Thomas said there are similarities in the drivers toward eco-fascism today. in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, people saw that capitalism and industrialism brought with it rapid urbanization and environmental degradation, as well as the displacement of rural populations.

And in the United States, far-right figures have increasingly invoked environmental concerns as justification for their beliefs, including white nationalist leader Richard Spencer. Ahead of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, he included a large section on protecting nature in his online screed.

Previously he said "population control and reduction" is the "obvious solution to the ravages of climate change."

Environmentalists reject far-right ideology

Overconsumption is a major driver of emissions

The mainstream environmentalist movement, which has largely embraced social justice, has repeatedly rejected eco-fascists, saying the ideology greenwashes hate and is more focused on white supremacy than environmental protection.

They also say that the major perpetrator of ecological destruction are wealthy, Western nations, and not the people the eco-fascists seek to destroy. United Nations analysis has shown that wealth increase, not population growth, is a far greater driver of resource-use.

According to the IPCC, the effect of population growth is dwarfed by the rise in emissions per person. People in the world's richest countries emit 50 times more than those in the poorest, despite having much slower population growth.

Environmentalists instead call for a decoupling of population growth and resource use and emissions by reorganizing economies and embracing sustainable practices.

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

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Neo-Nazis cloak themselves in eco-rhetoric
They're into organic farming, oppose GMOs and worry about endangered species. Experts say neo-Nazis are increasingly cashing in on themes of the environmental movement to attract new supporters.

DW's Ines Pohl talks to white nationalist Richard Spencer

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ECO-FASCISM 

Is Bangladesh heading toward a Sri Lanka-like crisis?

Like Colombo, Dhaka has also taken on massive foreign loans to embark on what critics call "white elephant" projects. The economic turmoil in Sri Lanka should serve as a cautionary tale, say experts.


Soaring prices of essential items are bringing enormous pain to economically weaker sections of Bangladeshi society

Sri Lanka has been mired in economic turmoil over the past few months, with the country battling severe shortages of essential items and running out of petrol, medicines and foreign reserves amid an acute balance of payments crisis.

The resulting public fury targeting the government triggered mass street protests and political upheaval, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Cabinet, and the appointment of a new prime minister.

Many in Bangladesh fear that their country could face a similar situation, given the rising trade deficit and foreign debt burden.

Bangladesh imported goods worth $61.52 billion (€58.48 billion) in the first nine months of the 2021-2022 fiscal year, a rise of 43.9% compared to the same period last year.

Exports, however, rose at a slower pace of 32.9% while remittances from Bangladeshis living abroad — a key source of foreign exchange — dropped about 20% in the first four months of 2022 from the year before, to $7 billion.
'Foreign reserves will go down to a dangerous level'

Muinul Islam, a Bangladeshi economist and former professor at Chittagong University, fears that the trade deficit could grow in the coming years as imports are increasing at a faster pace than exports.

"Our imports are set to reach $85 billion by this year, while exports won't be more than $50 billion. And, the trade deficit of $35 billion can't be bridged by remittances alone," Islam told DW, adding: "We will have to live with around a $10 billion shortfall this year."

Watch video 06:23 Taking stock of Bangladesh’s garment sector

The expert also pointed out that Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves have fallen from $48 billion to $42 billion over the past eight months. He is worried that they may drop further in the coming months, likely down another $4 billion.

"If the trend of more imports against exports continues and we fail to minimize the gap with the remittances, our foreign reserves will go down to a dangerous level in the next three to four years," he stressed, underlining that this would lead to a significant devaluation of the nation's currency against the US dollar.
Massive loans for 'white elephant' projects?

Bangladesh, like Sri Lanka, has also taken on foreign loans in recent years to fund what critics call "white elephant" projects, which are expensive but totally unprofitable.

These "unnecessary projects" could cause trouble when the time comes to repay the debts, Islam said.

"We have taken a loan of $12 billion from Russia for a nuclear power plant which has a production capacity of just 2,400 megawatts. We can repay the debt in 20 years but the installments will be $565 million per year from 2025," he pointed out. "It's the worst kind of a white elephant project."

In total, the country will likely have to repay $4 billion per year from 2024, as installments for foreign loans, Islam estimated.

"I fear Bangladesh won't be able to repay those loans at that time because of the shortage of income from the mega projects," he stressed.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has taken several steps to slash spending and save foreign currency reserves

Nazneen Ahmed, Bangladesh economist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Dhaka, said that the government has to make sure the projects are completed without additional cost and delay.

"We have to finish the mega projects carefully. There is no room for negligence and corruption. Those projects should neither be delayed nor the existing budget be increased," she said, adding: "If we can finish them on time, only then will we be able to repay the loans we have taken for them."
Soaring prices hit poor people hard

Adding to the problems of debt and deficit is the surge in prices of essential items.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began at the end of February, has compounded the inflationary pressure.

Bangladesh has been particularly vulnerable as the country imports significant amounts of goods like cooking oil, wheat and other food items, as well as fuel.

Ahmed said that poor people are suffering the most because of the skyrocketing prices of these items.

"The government has to offer commodity goods subsidized to the poor people. Additional financial support should also be provided to them under a social security system," she noted.

But the expert remains optimistic about the South Asian nation's prospects, saying that the current economic indicators could improve as the global economy recovers from the COVID pandemic-induced downturn.

"We have been observing inflation worldwide during the COVID recovery phase. The Ukraine war has added more uncertainty to it. And the economic crisis in Sri Lanka has also created fear among us," she told DW, adding: "Still, if nothing big happens within the next few years, the global economy will recover again."

Watch video 03:50 Bangladesh: Youth project aims to eradicate poverty

Hasina urges people to practice austerity

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has taken several steps to slash spending and save foreign currency reserves.

It has decided to suspend foreign trips of officials and postponed some less important projects that require imports from other countries.

Hasina has also urged citizens to do their bit, by practicing austerity and being careful about spending decisions.

"The prime minister earlier gave some directives to the government officials on practicing austerity. Today she called upon the private sector and the people to be economical," Bangladesh's Planning Minister MA Mannan said during a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Islam said that the government needs to be extremely careful with economic management, given the widespread suffering on account of soaring price rises, which could aggravate the already high political tensions in the Muslim-majority country.

"Bangladesh's last election was not good. It was a fraudulent one. Another national election is due in the next two years. So the political situation will remain tense anyway. The economic uncertainty could fuel it even more."

While the experts don't see any imminent economic crisis, they believe that good governance and financial management are needed to ensure Bangladesh doesn't end up facing a situation that Sri Lanka now finds itself in.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Herbal medicines that really work

Medicines have been extracted from plants for thousands of years and new ones are still being discovered. Here are several plant extracts with robust medical benefits.

Drugs made from hawthorn tree berries could help treat cardiovascular disease

Humans have been extracting the healing properties of plants for thousands of years. Although herbal remedies are often discounted as unscientific, more than one-third of modern drugs are derived either directly or indirectly from natural products, such as plants, microorganisms and animals.

Now, researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in the US state of California have found that a chemical extracted from the bark of the Galbulimima belgraveana tree has psychotropic effects that could help treat depression and anxiety.

The tree is found only in remote rainforests of Papua New Guinea and northern Australia and has long been used by indigenous people as a healing remedy against pain and fever. 

"This goes to show that Western medicine hasn't cornered the market on new therapeutics; there are traditional medicines out there still waiting to be studied,” senior author Ryan Shenvi, PhD, a professor of chemistry at Scripps Research, told reporters last week.

Which other medical drugs are found in plants?

The most well-known example of a medical drug extracted from a plant species is opium, which has been used to treat pain for over 4,000 years. Opiates like morphine and codeine are extracted from the opium poppy and have a powerful effect on the central nervous system.

Afghan farmers collect raw opium in a poppy field

But which other ancient plant-based medicines have demonstrable medical benefits, and what is the science behind them? 

Velvet beans treat Parkinson's disease

The velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) has been used in ancient Indian Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for over 3,000 years. Ancient texts tell us how healers used bean extracts to reduce tremors in patients to treat the condition we now consider Parkinson's disease. 

Studies now show that the velvet bean contains a compound called levodopa, a drug used to treat Parkinson's disease today. 

Levodopa helps to stop tremors by increasing dopamine signals in areas of the brain that control movement.

The modern history of levodopa began in the early 20th century when the compound was synthesized by the Polish biochemist Casimir Funk. Decades later, in the 1960s, scientists found that levodopa could be used as an effective treatment to stop tremors in patients with Parkinson's disease. The drug revolutionized the treatment of the disease and is still the gold standard for its  treatment today. 

Velvet beans contain chemical to help treat tremors caused by Parkinson's

Hawthorn could be a future treatment for cardiovascular disease

The medical properties of hawthorn (Crataegus spp) were first noted by Greek physician Dioscorides in the 1st century and by Tang-Ben-Cao in ancient Chinese medicine in the 7th century. 

Clinical trials using current research standards have found that hawthorn reduces blood pressure and may be useful to treat cardiovascular disease. Hawthorn berries contain compounds such as bioflavonoids and proanthocyanidins that appear to have significant antioxidant activity. 

Hawthorn extracts aren't yet suitable for medical use in the wider public — studies are ongoing, and more rigorous research is needed to assess the long-term safety of using the extracts to treat diseases.

Hawthorn berries taste a little like small apples and their extracts could help treat heart or blood diseases

Pacific yew tree bark can fight cancer 

Yew trees have a special place in medicine in European mythology. Most parts of the tree are very poisonous, causing associations with both death and immortality. The Third Witch in Macbeth mentions "slips of yew slivered in the moon's eclipse" (Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1). 

But it's a species of yew tree in North America, the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia), that possesses the most beneficial medical properties. 

Scientists in the 1960s found that the tree's bark contains compounds called taxels. One of these taxels, called Paclitaxel, has been developed into an effective cancer treatment drug. Paclitaxel can stop cancer cells from dividing, blocking further growth of the disease.

Pacific yew in the US state of Oregon

The wonder-drug sourced from Willow bark 

Willow bark is another traditional medicine with a long history. The bark was adopted 4,000 years ago in ancient Sumer and Egypt to treat pain and has been a staple of medicine ever since.

Willow bark contains a compound called salicin, which would later form the basis of the discovery of aspirin — the world's most widely taken drug.

Aspirin has several different medical benefits, including pain relief,  reduction of fever and prevention of stroke. Its first widespread use was during the 1918 flu pandemic to treat high temperatures. 

Willow bark is generally found in the Northern Hemisphere

Edited by: Clare Roth

Bear cubs rescued from wildlife trade in Vietnam

Two bear cubs are starting a new life in a sanctuary in Vietnam after being rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, an animal welfare group said Friday.


© Handout

The rescued cubs have been taken to a sanctuary in Vietnam run by Four Paws

AFP - 1h ago, MAY 20, 2022

The two sisters, named Be and Em, were confiscated by authorities from a man who admitted catching them in a cardamom field with a plan to sell them, the Four Paws organisation said.

Communist Vietnam is a major hub for the illegal trade in wild animals, and bears are kept to drain the bile from their gall bladders for use in traditional medicine.

The rescued cubs have been taken to a sanctuary in Vietnam run by Four Paws, where they will be reared and spend the rest of their lives.

They cannot be returned to nature because there are no safe places for bears in Vietnam and no projects to reintroduce them to the wild.

"At the moment they mostly eat, play, and sleep but we can already see their individual personalities showing," Emily Lloyd, Animal Manager at the sanctuary, said in the Four Paws statement.

"Be is very playful and confident, while Em for now is more reserved but nonetheless curious."

Four Paws said the sanctuary has hand-raised five bears rescued from similar circumstances in recent years.

Vietnam has passed laws to try to curb the wildlife trade but enforcement is patchy and Four Paws said the bear bile business was "flourishing".

bur-pdw/je

Asiatic black bear cubs rescued from illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam

by Mongabay.com 

FEB 2019

Vietnamese authorities confiscated the two female bear cubs from wildlife smugglers in Hai Phong province on January 9, according to Vienna, Austria-based animal welfare NGO Four Paws.

After spending a night in a hotel, the cubs were taken to a Four Paws bear sanctuary in Ninh Binh on January 10, where they are receiving intensive medical care.
Authorities do not know who was meant to buy the bear cubs or where their ultimate destination was. It’s likely that the bears were imported from Laos, though they could also have come from a bear farm in Vietnam.

Two Asiatic black bear cubs have been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.

Vietnamese authorities confiscated the two female bear cubs from wildlife smugglers in Hai Phong province on January 9, according to Vienna, Austria-based animal welfare NGO Four Paws. The rescue operation was a collaborative effort between Vietnamese police, Four Paws, local NGO ENV (Education for Nature-Vietnam), and Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. The cubs’ origin has not been determined, and their mother has not been found.

After spending a night in a hotel, the cubs were taken to a Four Paws bear sanctuary in the city of Ninh Binh in northern Vietnam on January 10, where they are receiving intensive medical care. Four Paws’ Vietnam Animal Manager, Emily Lloyd, said in a statement that both bear cubs weighed just 900 grams and were dehydrated when they arrived, so the group’s team of veterinarians is providing the cubs with milk fortified with vitamins and probiotics.

“The bears are still very young, and the situation is critical, but we will do everything we can for their survival,” Lloyd said.

Two bear cubs have been rescued from wildlife smugglers in Hai Phong province, Vietnam. Photo Credit: © FOUR PAWS.

Authorities do not know who was meant to buy the bear cubs or where their ultimate destination was. It’s likely that the bears were imported from Laos, though they could also have come from a bear farm in Vietnam, Four Paws said.

Though bear bile extraction has been outlawed in Vietnam since 2005, it’s believed there are still as many as 1,000 bears being held in captivity on bile farms in the country. Four Paws said that research has shown that many bears are still used for bile extraction and that the illegal trade of bear bile is still ongoing in Vietnam.

Bear bile is used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine to treat a range of ailments, from hangovers to liver conditions and cancer. A decline in the demand for farmed bile that began in 2010 has led to fears of a mass die-off of Vietnam’s captive bears as bile farmers are no longer able to afford to keep the animals.

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is listed as Vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List. “Habitat loss due to logging, expansion of agriculture and plantations, roadway networks and dams, combined with hunting for skins, paws and especially gall bladders are the main threats to this species,” the IUCN reports

.Two rescued Asiatic black bear cubs are cared for by FOUR PAWS staff in Hai Phong province, Vietnam. Photo Credit: © Hoang Le | FOUR PAWS.

CITATION

• Garshelis, D. & Steinmetz, R. 2016. Ursus thibetanus (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22824A114252336. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22824A45034242.en. Downloaded on 15 January 2019.

'Now it's for real': Ukraine war puts Sweden's military on alert



Spooked by Russia's assault on Ukraine, Sweden has announced a dramatic increase in defence spending

 (AFP/Jonathan NACKSTRAND)

Johannes LEDEL
Thu, May 19, 2022,

A new and more serious reality looms large for Sweden's conscripts as their military service now takes place in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The war has seen Sweden drastically ramp up its military readiness and take the "historic" step this week to apply for NATO membership, reversing two centuries of military non-alignment.

"You realise this is actually for real -- I'm not here on some year-long summer camp," says Axel Bystrom, a 20-year-old conscript on Sweden's strategic Baltic Sea island of Gotland.

"Now it's for real and that makes you more serious," added the young squad leader with the P18 regiment, which was only re-established in 2018.

Breaking off branches from nearby spruces, Bystrom and his fellow soldiers meticulously cover three armoured vehicles to camouflage them.

"You are working to be as good as you possibly can all the time, because you are thinking, 'this could be a reality. We may have to use it'," the native of Visby, Gotland's medieval main town, tells AFP.

More military exercises are also being held across Sweden.

- War games -

Sweden has long had a fear of Russia. With the end of the Cold War, the country made swingeing cuts to its defence spending.

But following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014, it decided to rearm and hike spending, reintroducing mandatory military service in 2017.

As only a fraction of the population is called up and avoiding service is quite easy, conscripts like Bystrom tend to be highly motivated.

Spooked by Russia's assault on Ukraine, Sweden has announced a dramatic increase in defence spending, targeting two percent of GDP "as soon as possible", up from around 1.5 percent expected in the next few years.

Overall, Sweden's armed forces consist of some 55,000 people, including the Home Guard and part-time employees -- around 23,600 are part of the regular forces.

For many Swedes, Gotland is a popular summer holiday destination known for its sandy beaches on a sleepy island of 60,000 people.

But it is also less than 350 kilometres (217 miles) from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

"Gotland is situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. So if you own Gotland, you can pretty much control the air and naval movements in the Baltic Sea," P18 commander Magnus Frykvall explains.

A common theory is that in a conflict Russia would want to seize the island and install its S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, effectively blocking off most of the southern Baltic Sea.

The Gotland regiment is still growing. According to Frykvall, they can now field around 800 soldiers and plan to increase numbers to 4,000 during wartime.

The uptick has been accelerated after Russian President Vladimir Putin "made it clear that he is willing to use military force to gain his political goals".

At its peak during the Cold War, some 25,000 troops and reserves were stationed on Gotland -- more than six times the amount planned for now.

But the planned boost in artillery and anti-aircraft systems means the regiment would "probably" be enough to "meet any threat."

If Sweden's NATO application -- currently facing diplomatic hurdles from Turkey -- were accepted, it would deter anyone from attacking Gotland, according to Frykvall.

"Thirty-two countries are much stronger than one," he says, referring to NATO's guiding principle that an attack on one member is seen as an attack on all.

- 'Make Gardens Not War' -

For residents living near the regiment, the increased military activity has been very noticeable.

"We have machine gun fire, we have explosions, we have artillery shots, shots from tanks as well," says Robert Hall, a local Green Party politician.

"We have tanks moving in and out of the military area and on the road 17 metres in front of our house, so we hear a lot of noise a lot of the time", he says.

In an eye-catching contrast, the ecological commune he helped found lies just across from the entrance to the military area.

Next to the sign for the "Suderbyn Ecovillage", a giant banner shows a tank overgrown with plants and reading "Make Gardens Not War".

For Hall, who is originally from California, the nature of the whole island has gone through a dramatic shift since he first came.

"We moved here in 1995 and there was still a lot of euphoria on the island about the fall of the Iron Curtain," he says.

"Gotland really wanted to position itself as the neutral meeting place in the middle of the Baltic Sea."

That idea has now instead given way to a new line of division.

"We're back to where we were before 1989, with a divided sea, even though it's not quite divided in the same location anymore," Hall said.

jll/po/imm

Ukraine war casts a chill in Norwegian Arctic town







Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
Thu, May 19, 2022,

War may be far away but tensions from the Ukraine conflict are causing an unprecedented chill in a remote Arctic town where Russian and Ukrainian coalminers have worked side by side for decades.

In Barentsburg, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, relics of a bygone era -- a bust of Lenin, a sculpture with Cyrillic script declaring "Our goal - Communism" -- bear witness to Russia's longstanding presence.

The town's population peaked at around 1,500 in the 1980s, but shrank after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Now, some 370 people live here, two-thirds of them Ukrainians -- most from the Russian-speaking eastern Donbas region -- and the remainder Russians.

The atmosphere on the archipelago changed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February, officials and residents told AFP.

"Opinions are absolutely polarised," admits Russian tour guide and historian Natalia Maksimishina.

But, she says, "what our long and difficult history of the Soviet Union has taught us is that people here know when to stop talking politics".

Some Ukrainians accuse the Russian state-owned company Arktikugol Trust operating the coal mine in Barentsburg of muzzling dissent.

But Russia's consul Sergey Guschin says there were "no visible signs of conflict on the surface", although he admits "there are of course some tensions and discussions on social networks" like Facebook and Telegram.

The consulate is protected by high iron bars and security cameras, and lavishly decorated with a marble entrance, winter garden and custom-made tapestries.

Its splendour stands out in the otherwise drab town.

- Departures -

In what could be another sign that anger is simmering under the surface, around 45 people have left Barentsburg "since the start of the operation", acknowledges Guschin, using Moscow's terminology for the Ukraine invasion.

There were no further details about the individuals.

The departures speak volumes, as leaving Barentsburg is no easy feat.

Western sanctions imposed on Russian banks have not only prevented the miners from sending money home to their families, they've also made it difficult for them to buy plane tickets.

The only airport is in Longyearbyen, Svalbard's main town 35 kilometres (22 miles) away, where it is difficult to get by without a Visa or Mastercard, which Russians cannot use because of sanctions.

At the entrance to Barentsburg, the coal plant spews out black smoke, adding to the town's dreary atmosphere.

A 1920 treaty which gave Norway sovereignty over Svalbard guarantees citizens from signatory nations equal access to its natural resources.

Russia's Arktikugol Trust has operated the mine in Barentsburg, on the shores of the Isfjorden fjord, since 1932.

A few locals huddle between the town's pastel-coloured buildings, seeking shelter from the bitter cold that reigns even in May.

Locals are more discreet today, especially since they work for the state-controlled company that runs the whole town, from the mine to the shops and restaurants.

Russia imposes heavy fines or even prison terms on anyone found guilty of "discrediting" its military or publishing "false information" about it.

- 'People just shut up' -

Longyearbyen is inhabited mainly by Norwegians but has a large Russian and Ukrainian community.

It can only be reached by helicopter or snowmobile in winter and boat in summer due to lack of roads from Barentsburg.

Julia Lytvynova, a 32-year-old Ukrainian seamstress who used to live in Barentsburg, accuses Arktikugol Trust of suppressing dissent.

As a result, "people just shut up, work and live their lives like nothing has happened".

She hasn't been back to Barentsburg since the war started, but she asked a friend to put up an anti-war poster for her on the gates of the Russian consulate.

Her sign, written on a blue-and-yellow background, had a now-famous expletive-laden line used by Ukrainian border guards after rejecting a Russian warship's surrender demand.

Her poster was taken down in less than five minutes, she says.

The mayor of Longyearbyen, who has lived in Svalbard for 22 years, says he has "never experienced the kind of discord" now seen among the 2,500 residents of 50 nationalities, including around 100 Russians and Ukrainians.

"There are some tensions in the air," Arild Olsen admits.

In response to the invasion, most tour operators in Longyearbyen stopped taking tourists to Barentsburg, depriving the state-owned company of a lucrative cash cow.

Lytvynova supports the move "because this money supports the Russian aggression".

By ending this source of income, "they don't help to kill my Ukrainian people".

phy/po/raz

'Enough!' Abortion denial row sparks outcry in Croatia


Pro-choice protesters holding a placard saying 'Enough!' at a rally in the Croatian capital Zagreb (AFP/DENIS LOVROVIC)


Lajla VESELICA
Thu, May 19, 2022, 11:32 PM·4 min read

The heart-rending case of a woman denied an abortion by four hospitals despite the foetus having an aggressive tumour has sparked an outcry over women's rights in largely Catholic Croatia.

Despite the procedure being legal in the European Union member, Mirela Cavajda is now being forced to have a termination in neighbouring Slovenia.

The case comes amid a political storm in the United States over fears abortion rights there are being undermined, with the landmark Roe v. Wade case that guaranteed a woman's right to choose reportedly under threat from the Supreme Court.

Abortion is equally contested in Croatia, with church groups failing in a bid to have it banned five years ago and a majority of gynaecologists refusing to perform the procedure.

Cavajda was told in late April, in the sixth month of pregnancy, that her unborn child had an aggressive brain tumour.

Even if he survived birth, doctors said "he would be like a vegetable", she told reporters through her tears.

"I came home, sat down and stared at the wall... I made the decision in a second," said the 39-year-old, who already has a child.

- Emotional blackmail -

In Croatia abortion is legal until the 10th week of pregnancy. After that it can be performed if the health of the mother or foetus is in serious danger -- as in Cavajda's case -- or because of rape or incest.

However, four hospitals in the capital Zagreb refused to carry out an abortion.

One doctor asked Cavajda whether she would "kill a two-year-old child with a tumour", while another labelled the procedure "euthanasia".

Cavajda was also advised to cross the border to Slovenia, where at least 10 Croatian women a year in similar situations have to turn.

However, as fury about the case grew and an MRI scan showed the foetus' condition deteriorating, a medical commission ruled that an abortion could go ahead.

Abortion was legalised in Croatia in the 1950s and is regulated by a 1978 law passed when it was still part of Yugoslavia. But since independence in 1991, when the Catholic Church regained political clout, it has become harder to access with many doctors raising "consciousness objections" to terminations.

Indeed, nearly 60 percent of gynaecologists in public hospitals refuse to perform them on moral grounds.

In an emotional public letter, in which she also addressed her unborn baby boy whom she named Grga, Cavajda said that both doctors and the system had let her down and prolonged her ordeal.

"Waiting for Grga to die inside my womb, (or) give birth to him and watch him die... would be pure sadism.

"I would die with him," she wrote.

Last week thousands of people protested across the Balkan country about the neglect of women's health issues under the rallying call, "Enough!"

- 'Going backwards' -

Dentist Sonja Kraljevic warned against the country "going backwards", telling AFP that "women should have all (the rights)... they acquired a long time ago."

Branka Mrzic Jagatic, whose advocacy group RODA helped organise the rallies, said the "case exposed that women's healthcare in our public health system has collapsed completely."

In 2019, the traditionally patriarchal Balkans was shaken by a tide of #MeToo revelations about the verbal and physical violence women were suffering in childbirth and at the hands of gynaecologists.

RODA gathered hundreds of testimonies on painful and humiliating experiences at births, abortions and other procedures after a former Croatian lawmaker talked publicly about the agonising treatment she received after a miscarriage.

At one of last week's protests a letter was read out from a woman who suffered a horrifying ordeal during an abortion due to foetal abnormalities.

"A nurse told me to go to the toilet and, if I want an autopsy, hold the foetus with my hands... I saw him and held him in my hands," she wrote.

- 'Culture of death' -

But with 80 percent of Croats Catholic, the country is divided on abortion and its top court rejected a bid by church groups to have it banned in 2017.

"Life is important, I don't think we can interrupt it," said Josipa Brajko, one of several thousand people who joined the annual anti-abortion "March for Life" through Zagreb at the weekend.

Its organisers want new legislation "based on science and not on ideology and the culture of death."

Gynaecologist Boris Ujevic told the crowd that he refuses to carry out terminations because "life should be respected and life is law."

But women's rights activists said women should have guaranteed access to all healthcare including abortion.

Although Croatia's Supreme Court ruled that the 1978 law needs to be overhauled, the ruling conservative government appear reluctant to tackle the thorny issue.

Left-wing parties, meanwhile, are mulling a referendum to enshrine the right to abortion in the country's constitution.

Cavajda is now to terminate her pregnancy in Slovenia although Croatia's health system will cover the costs.

A Zagreb hospital said she declined to be induced in Croatia which would risk the baby dying after birth whereas in Slovenia the heart is stopped before the procedure.

ljv/fg

ARYAN SUPREMACISTS

Hindu extremists target Muslim sites in India, even Taj Mahal


The Gyanvapi mosque is in Hindu nationalists' crosshairs after claims circulated that a representation of Shiva was found there

 (AFP/Sanjay KANOJIA)

Abhaya SRIVASTAVA
Fri, May 20, 2022

Thirty years after mobs demolished a historic mosque in Ayodhya, triggering a wave of sectarian bloodshed that saw thousands killed, fundamentalist Indian Hindu groups are eyeing other Muslim sites -- even the world-famous Taj Mahal.

Emboldened under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aided by courts and fuelled by social media, the fringe groups believe the sites were built on top of Hindu temples, which they consider representations of India's "true" religion.

Currently most in danger is the centuries-old Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities, where Hindus are cremated by the Ganges.

Last week reports claimed a leaked court-mandated survey of the mosque had discovered a shivalinga, a phallic representation of the Hindu god Shiva, at the site.

"This means that is the site of a temple," government minister Kaushal Kishore, a member of Modi's BJP party, told local media, saying that Hindus should now pray there.

Muslims have already been banned from performing ablutions in the water tank where the alleged relic -- mosque authorities say it is a fountain -- was found.

- Religious riots -

The fear now is that the Islamic place of worship will go the way of the Ayodhya mosque, which Hindu groups believe was built on the birthplace of Ram, another deity.

The frenzied destruction of the 450-year-old building in 1992 sparked religious riots in which more than 2,000 people died, most of them Muslims, who number 200 million in India.

The demolition was also a seminal moment for Hindutva -- Hindu supremacy -- paving the way for Modi's rise to power in 2014.

The movement's core tenet has long been that Hinduism is India's original religion, and that everything else -- from the Mughals, originally from Central Asia, to the British -- is alien.

Some groups have even set their sights on UNESCO world heritage site the Taj Mahal, India's best-known monument attracting millions of visitors every year.

Despite no credible evidence, they believe that the 17th-century mausoleum was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan on the site of a Shiva shrine.

"It was destroyed by Mughal invaders so that a mosque could be built there," Sanjay Jat, spokesman for the hardline organisation Hindu Mahasabha, told AFP.

This month a court petition was filed by a member of Modi's party trying to force India's archaeological body, the ASI, to open up 20 rooms inside, believing they contained Hindu idols.

The ASI said there were no such idols and the court summarily dismissed the petition.

But it was not the first such case -- and it is unlikely to be the last.

"I will continue to fight for this till my death," Jat said.

"We respect the courts but if needed we will demolish the Taj and prove the existence of a temple there."

- 'Gospel truth' -

Audrey Truschke, an associate professor of South Asian history with Rutgers University, said the claims about the Taj Mahal are "about as reasonable as the proposals that the Earth is flat".

"So far as I can discern, there is not a coherent theory about the Taj Mahal at play here so much as a frenzied and fragile nationalist pride that does not allow anything non-Hindu to be Indian and demands to erase Muslim parts of Indian heritage," she told AFP.

But while the demolition of the Taj Mahal remains -- for now, at least -- a pipe-dream of the fundamentalists, other sites are also in the crosshairs.

They include the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura, built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after he attacked the city and destroyed its temples in 1670.

The mosque is next to a later temple built on what is believed to be the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna.

On Thursday a court agreed to hear a lawsuit demanding the removal of the mosque, one of a slew of similar petitions.

Police in the northern city have been put on alert.

Another is Delhi's Qutub Minar, a 13th-century minaret and victory tower built by the Mamluk dynasty, also from Central Asia.

Some Hindu groups believe it was constructed by a Hindu king and that the complex housed more than 25 temples.

Such claims were born of a "very sparse" knowledge of the past, historian Rana Safvi told AFP.

Instead, a "sense of victimhood" was being fuelled by social media misinformation, she said, "making them believe it's the gospel truth".

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SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Hinduism Is Fascism 

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China condemns Canada's Huawei 5G ban over 'groundless' security risks


Beijing hit out at Canada for banning telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE 

from Canadian 5G networks on Friday 

Fri, May 20, 2022

Beijing hit out at Canada for banning telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE from Canadian 5G networks on Friday, calling Ottawa's concerns for security risks "groundless" and warning of retribution.

Canada's long-awaited measure on Thursday follows the United States and other key allies, and comes on the heels of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing over the detention of a senior Huawei executive on a US warrant, which has now been resolved.

The United States has warned of the security implications of giving Chinese tech companies access to telecommunications infrastructure that could be used for state espionage.

Both Huawei and Beijing have rejected the allegations.

"China is firmly opposed to this and will conduct a comprehensive and serious assessment," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in response to the 5G block.

"The Canadian side has excluded these Chinese companies from the Canadian market under the pretext of groundless security risks and without any solid evidence."

He added that Beijing would "take all necessary measures" to protect Chinese companies.

"This move runs counter to market economy principles and free trade rules," he said, accusing the Canadian government of "seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."

Canada had been reviewing the 5G technology and network access for several years, repeatedly delaying a decision that was first expected in 2019.

It remained silent on the telecoms issue after China jailed two Canadians -- diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor -- in what observers believed was in retaliation for the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wangzhou in Vancouver in December 2018 at the request of the United States.

All three were released in September 2021 after Meng reached a deal with US prosecutors on the fraud charges, ending her extradition fight.

But Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made the 5G announcement on Thursday, citing the "intention to prohibit the inclusion of Huawei and ZTE products and services in Canada's telecommunication systems."

Champagne said Canadian telecommunications companies "will not be permitted to include in their networks products or services that put our national security at risk."

"Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it," he said.

- 'Hostile actors' -

Huawei already supplies some Canadian telecommunications firms with 4G equipment.

Most, if not all, had held off using Huawei in their fifth-generation (5G) wirelesss networks that deliver speedier online connections with greater data capacity. Others have looked to other suppliers while Ottawa hemmed and hawed.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino warned Thursday of "many hostile actors who are ready to exploit vulnerabilities" in telecom networks.

The United States, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Japan and Sweden have already blocked or restricted the use of Huawei technology in their 5G networks.

The US government considers Huawei a potential security threat due to the background of its founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer who is Meng's father.

The concern escalated as Huawei rose to become the world leader in telecoms networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers.

Beijing also passed a law in 2017 obliging Chinese companies to assist the government in matters of national security.

The decision could prove to be "a major expense for Canada," Kendra Schaefer, tech policy researcher at consultancy Trivium China, told AFP.

"Not only have local telecom providers already invested... in Huawei equipment, but additionally they are going to go back and have to rip out everything they've already installed," she added.

ehl-tjx/apj/dhc

Canada to ban China's Huawei, ZTE from 5G networks

Canada's government has said it will ban the use of the two Chinese telecommunications giants' 5G gear due to national security concerns. The move follows similar restrictions in other Western countries.

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies

Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE will be banned from Canada's high-speed 5G networks, Canadian government officials said on Thursday. 

The decision was widely expected, though it had been delayed amid diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Ottawa. 

Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said wireless carriers "will not be permitted to include in their networks products or services that put our national security at risk."

"Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it," he said.

Canada cites security concerns

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the innovation "represents a major opportunity for competition and growth" but "also comes risks." 

"There are many hostile actors who are ready to exploit vulnerabilities in our defenses," he said.

Canada's allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-pooling group — the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — had already banned Huawei.

Huawei, seen as a symbol of China's progress in becoming a technological world power, is a subject of US security and law enforcement concerns.

Washington has lobbied allies to exclude Huawei from 5G mobile networks over concerns that Beijing could pressure the company into cyberespionage. China and Huawei have denied the claims.

The decision was first expected in 2019, but the move had been repeatedly delayed amid a diplomatic row between Canada and China over the detention of a senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant.

China subsequently jailed two Canadians after the arrest. All three were released in September.

HUWAEI GOT ITS START BY HACKING CANADIAN TECH COMPANY; NORTEL, THEN ONCE IT COLLAPSED THEY BOUGHT ALL OF NORTEL'S TECH PATENTS

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