200 arrested, dozens injured in Chile protests

In the capital Santiago, protesters set fire to a truck and stole two municipal buses, also looting supermarkets, a pharmacy and a toy store -- 15 commercial premises in all. Two dozen police officers and 18 civilians were injured in clashes at 150 demonstrations that gathered some 2,300 protesters countrywide, with 195 arrests made, according to Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve.

AFP AMERICAS

Published October 19,2022

Some 200 people were arrested and dozens injured as social inequality protests around Chile descended into clashes and looting overnight, police said Wednesday.

In the capital Santiago, protesters set fire to a truck and stole two municipal buses, also looting supermarkets, a pharmacy and a toy store -- 15 commercial premises in all.

Two dozen police officers and 18 civilians were injured in clashes at 150 demonstrations that gathered some 2,300 protesters countrywide, with 195 arrests made, according to Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve.

The protests started Tuesday with burning barricades around Santiago on the anniversary of a social uprising that demonstrators say has not yet yielded the desired societal change.

Car traffic was disrupted, metro stations shuttered and school pupils sent home early, with 25,000 police deployed countrywide to keep the peace -- 5,000 of them in the capital, where several hundred demonstrators took to the streets.

The protests came exactly three years after the start of a mass revolt against a rise in metro fares in 2019 that quickly escalated into a general clamor for better conditions and social equality.

The government suspended the price hike, but protests continued, and dozens were killed over months of clashes. Hundreds of people were injured.

The 2019 demonstrations kickstarted reforms that included the government agreeing to the drafting of a new constitution to replace the one inherited from the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and perceived as market-friendly.

In December, Chile elected leftist President Gabriel Boric, who supported the 2019 uprising and subsequent constitution-writing process.

But last month, nearly two-thirds of voters rejected the proposed draft despite the new revolutionary mood, amid concerns that parts of the document were too far-reaching.

Boric, a former student leader, came to office with promises of turning the deeply unequal country into a greener, more egalitarian "welfare state."

Boric Says Reforms Vital as Chile Braces for Day of Violence



Matthew Malinowski
Tue, October 18, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- Chile President Gabriel Boric pledged to push through reforms, recognizing that scant progress has been made in addressing social discontent as the nation braces for violence marking the anniversary of the 2019 social uprising.

The government must end the “drought” in legislative changes through greater dialogue, meeting the demands that sparked the worst violence in Chile since the 1973-1990 dictatorship, Boric said Tuesday from the presidential palace in Santiago.

“Today we have a new opportunity to build the bases of a more just and dignified society,” said the former student leader who took over the presidency in March of this year. “This is the moment to act.”

After 30 years of steady growth and increasing prosperity, Chilean society was shaken by a massive wave of protests and riots starting on Oct. 18, 2019 that left a third of supermarkets in the country ransacked and the metro system in Santiago decimated. Yet, despite an attempt to rewrite the constitution and the arrival of Boric’s left-wing government, little has changed in terms of addressing the causes of unrest.

“We still haven’t established the reforms that solve the weakness in social rights,” Boric said. “That’s what the people tell us permanently in the streets.”

Last month, voters rejected a progressive, new constitution backed by Boric that was written in response to the 2019 protests. Lawmakers are currently engaged in slow-moving talks on how to revive the constitutional process.

“We know that Chileans want us to carry out reforms,” Boric said. “But, they aren’t giving a blank check.”

Social tensions have been exacerbated by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Boric added.

The president said his administration’s tax reform, which is currently in congress, will finance social programs, and that a forthcoming pension overhaul will guarantee better retirement payouts. At the same time, his administration is pushing a proposal to reduce the working week.

Boric’s remarks come days after a Cadem poll showed his approval rating diving to 27%, the lowest level of his presidency. The 36-year-old leader has come under fire over a weak economy and rising crime.

Indeed, many stores and schools nationwide plan to close their doors early on Tuesday in anticipation of street violence. The municipal government of downtown Santiago, where the presidential palace and government ministries are located, has asked residents to avoid putting trash out for collection amid fears it could be used to build street barricades.

Lula Losing Brazil’s Biggest State Forces Urgent Campaign Rejig



Simone Preissler Iglesias
Tue, October 18, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to his industrial roots in Sao Bernardo do Campo to reboot his bid for Brazil’s presidency.

He chose the satellite city on Sao Paulo’s outskirts for a rally kick-starting his campaign for the runoff. Known as the cradle of Brazil’s labor movement, it’s here that he emerged as a political force in the 1970s, founding the metalworkers’ union, organizing strikes and leading marches.

“This is the street where we traditionally carry out our demonstrations, ever since the founding of the Workers’ Party,” the two-times former president told supporters on Oct. 6. “We’re at home here in Sao Bernardo do Campo.”

Lula won the city of some 900,000 in the first round of voting. But he unexpectedly lost the overall state of Sao Paulo to Jair Bolsonaro by almost seven percentage points, a defeat that has Lula’s team scrambling to shore up support before the Oct. 30 showdown.

Inside Lula’s campaign, the result in Brazil’s most populous state — the birthplace of his political career, and containing about 25% of the entire electorate — was compared to a plane crash, where a confluence of small factors leads to catastrophe. At his team’s first post-election meeting, the talk was of frustration and failure.

Edinho Silva, the former president’s campaign coordinator, may have had an inkling of what was to come, saying in an interview on the eve of polling that Sao Paulo had become a center of hard-core support for Bolsonaro’s brand of right-wing identity politics.

“We have a percentage of Brazilian society that, unfortunately, is racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, and doesn’t accept the social ascent of the lower classes,” he said. “And a significant part of Brazil that thinks in this way lives in Sao Paulo.”

Lula himself rose from the factory floor to become a union organizer in Sao Bernardo, which was then synonymous with the auto industry. His support there remains strong: He won by more than 10 points.

But just as the car plants of his youth are now gone, Lula’s failure to take a state he once dominated — one that represents about a third of Brazil’s economy — reflects a new reality in which Bolsonaro has dug a significant foothold into the political landscape. Even as polls suggest that Lula continues to have the advantage over the incumbent nationwide, the kind of deeply entrenched politics on display in Sao Paulo will pose the greatest challenge for whomever emerges the winner.

“Sao Paulo is the state of meritocracy”

Long known as Brazil’s Detroit, Sao Bernardo is trying to reinvent itself, but it hasn’t been easy. Many former car plant workers are unemployed or working in local commerce, in small shops, or in the gig economy.

“We want to have the right to work, to study, to have breakfast, to have a lunch every day,” Lula said at the Sao Bernardo rally.

That kind of message still resonates in urban settings: Lula secured more votes than Bolsonaro in the state capital of Sao Paulo, 47.5% to 38%, but the president had an advantage of more than 20 points in the countryside. Sao Paulo city has about 9 million voters, and there are 25 million in the hinterland.

“Sao Paulo is the state of meritocracy, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship,” said Ricardo Salles, a Bolsonaro ally and former environment minister who was overwhelmingly elected to congress from the state. “Sao Paulo countryside, in particular, also has a strong belief in the defense of the traditional family. All of these points are represented by the conservative liberal right-wing.”

Bolsonaro had a remarkable performance four years ago, taking about 68% of the state’s votes in an election that took place against the backdrop of the Carwash corruption scandal that had seen Lula jailed that year. Lula was subsequently released and his sentence quashed, allowing him to run again. The result earlier this month showed that Brazilians haven’t forgotten — and that Bolsonaro’s appeal is more lasting that thought.

Lula’s candidate for state governor, Fernando Haddad, didn’t help his cause. All surveys showed Haddad ahead, but Bolsonaro’s pick, Tarcisio de Freitas, won by about 7 percentage points. The race for the governorship also goes to a runoff.

Lula’s team has responded to the first-round setback by launching an operation to besiege the most important cities in Sao Paulo with rallies and marches. In the days following the campaign stop in Sao Bernardo, Lula visited Guarulhos, site of Brazil’s largest airport, and Campinas, one of the largest cities of the hinterland. Lula lost to Bolsonaro in both places.

“We will turn things around and win in Sao Paulo,” Haddad told hundreds of Lula supporters Monday at yet another rally there, in the city’s Sao Mateus district.

Lula’s running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, is meanwhile touring the Sao Paulo countryside. A conservative, Alckmin governed the state for three terms, and in 2006, when he unsuccessfully ran for president against Lula, he recorded the best performance of any candidate there.

To Denilde Holzhacker, a political science professor at the ESPM college in Sao Paulo, Lula’s campaign made a mistake by not making more use of Alckmin before the first round. The focus was on explaining the alliance to Lula’s base, rather than attempting to win over voters from the opposing camp, she said, when “the logic should have been the other way round: Explaining to conservative voters why Alckmin decided to ally himself with Lula.”

At the same time as trying to boost their own candidate’s appeal, Lula’s team is working to increase people’s rejection of Bolsonaro. It’s a strategy based on the premise that polarized Brazilians will choose the least-bad option in the end.

Despite the campaign’s efforts, the predictions for the runoff inside Lula’s team are not optimistic, and the main strategy for the closing days is damage limitation. Nobody has the illusion that it’s possible for Lula to beat Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo.

For Guilherme Boulos, a Lula ally and the congressman who won the most votes in Sao Paulo, the former president’s campaign needs to connect with voters who chose other candidates in the first round, as well as those who abstained or spoiled their ballot.

“We will have to talk to these voters in a humble and democratic way,” he said.

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In Brazil, Bolsonaro's far-right echoes Trump's

'Boslonarismo' akin to Europe's ultra-conservatives, closer to Trump and the US alt-right

AFP
October 19, 2022 

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters upon arrival at Planalto Palace in 

Brasilia, on May 24, 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Rio de Janiero: "Bolsonarismo," the Brazilian far-right movement built around President Jair Bolsonaro, shares much in common with ultra-conservatives in power in Europe — Hungary, Poland and soon Italy — but is closer to Donald Trump and the US alt-right.

Whether or not Bolsonaro wins his uphill fight for re-election against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's October 30 runoff, the far-right's arrival in power in Brazil, as elsewhere, is linked to deep social upheaval, analysts say.

"All these far-right movements are rooted in an economic and social crisis that is growing worse by the year: rising inequality, declining income for the working and middle classes," says Christophe Ventura, a Latin America specialist at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).

Mistrust

"That has triggered the rise of widespread mistrust."

The response, he says, has followed a similar pattern internationally: a rejection of "rotten and incompetent" traditional politicians in favour of "virtuous citizens and a more authoritarian government" to right the wrongs unleashed by globalisation and free trade — blamed for all ills.

In Europe, Italy's Fratelli d'Italia, Hungary's Fidesz, Poland's Law and Justice party, the Sweden Democrats and France's Rassemblement National and Reconquete all "accuse immigrants of causing every crisis and want to close the borders," says Geraldo Monteiro, head of the Brazilian Center for Democracy Studies and Research at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).

The Brazilian context is different: no longer a major immigration destination, "immigrants aren't a big subject," and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are less prevalent than in Europe, says Monteiro.

Bolsonarismo's version of "national solidarity" is instead a battle of "good people" versus the "corrupt."

Internal enemies include the LGBT community, Indigenous peoples, environmental and human-rights activists, the media, academics and the cultural elite — all lumped together with Lula and the "communist" left.

Strong men

As with far-right movements everywhere, Bolsonarismo's campaign is God, country and family. The latter, say true believers, is under threat from gay marriage, abortion and "gender ideology."

Whereas conservative Catholics are the core of the European far-right, in Brazil, it is the powerful, fast-growing Evangelical movement.

Bolsonaro's movement is also more military in nature than its European cousins, says Monteiro.

He says Brazil "still carries the memory of the military dictatorship" (1964-1985) — fondly, in ex-army captain Bolsonaro's case — and the president has actively courted military support, naming generals to powerful posts in his administration.

He has also energetically promoted gun ownership, signing a raft of legislation and decrees intended to help "good people" defend themselves and their property — a viewpoint that "doesn't exist in Europe," says Ventura.

Trump a reference point

"The primary reference point" for Bolsonaro's far-right has been Donald Trump's United States, he adds, drawing parallels with the American alt-right and Tea Party movements.

It is a brand of populism in which "the leader is the direct representative of the people," says Mayra Goulart, a political scientist at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ).

Anything supporters perceive as interfering with that direct democracy — political parties, institutions, the media — comes under attack.

Like the US alt-right, Bolsonaro's movement has attacked Brazil's democratic institutions as enemies of the people, notably the Supreme Court and the supposedly fraud-plagued election system. Many observers fear a Brazilian version of Trump supporters' attack on the US Capitol if Bolsonaro loses on October 30.

Like Trump — who recently gave him a glowing endorsement — Bolsonaro regularly insults journalists and attacks the "fake news" media.

He prefers to communicate directly with supporters on social media — which is inundated with "alternative truth" and conspiracy theories.


Hate speech


Trump's influence is also visible in Bolsonaro's climate-change skepticism and resistance to expert advice on handling Covid-19.

The US and Brazilian movements also share a "pro-market, pro-business discourse," says Goulart.

Free speech is upheld as an absolute right — unfiltered hate speech and disinformation included.

Both Trump and Bolsonaro ran as political outsiders and achieved "unexpected" victories, says Monteiro.

And both "easily draw thousands of supporters into the streets."

Brazil’s Bolsonaro apologizes amid ‘pedophilia’ row

By AFP
Published   October 18, 2022


Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (pictured October 17, 2022) has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks he made about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home, as he fights for re-election - Copyright AFP/File Joe Klamar

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro apologized Tuesday after an interview in which he talked about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home sparked controversy and drew accusations of “pedophilia” from opponents.

Fighting for re-election in an October 30 runoff against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the far-right president has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks on the Venezuelan teens, who he implied were prostitutes.

“If my words, which were taken out of context in bad faith, were somehow misinterpreted or caused discomfort to our Venezuelan sisters, I apologize,” Bolsonaro said in a video posted online.

“My committment has always been to better welcome and assist all people fleeing dictatorships anywhere in the world,” he added, flanked by his wife and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s representative in Brazil.

Bolsonaro recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, rather than socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The controversy erupted Friday when Bolsonaro spoke in a YouTube interview about his encounter with “three or four very pretty 14- or 15-year-olds” last year in a poor Brasilia neighborhood.

“There was a vibe between us. I turned around. ‘Can I come in your house?’ I went inside. There were 15 or 20 girls (in the house), all Venezuelans aged 14, 15, getting ready on a Saturday. Why? To earn a living,” he said.

The story appeared intended as one of Bolsonaro’s frequent warnings that Brazil will suffer the same fate as crisis-torn Venezuela if it elects Lula.

But Bolsonaro found himself forced on the defensive after Lula allies attacked the comments as “depraved” and the hashtag #Bolsonaropedofilo (Bolsonaro pedophile) went viral online.

His campaign succeeded Sunday in a petition to electoral authorities to ban a Lula attack ad based on excerpts from the interview.

But Bolsonaro said the preceding day had been “the most terrible of my life.”

Bolsonaro, who vehemently rejects the opposition’s criticisms, said in Tuesday’s video his former women’s minister, Damares Alves, had “almost immediately” investigated the girls’ case and found they were not in fact prostitutes.

He said Alves and First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro had visited the girls Tuesday and “found they were rebuilding their lives (and) even helping other Venezuelan refugees find jobs and integrate” in Brazil, which hosts an estimated 260,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants.

Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported the Venezuelan teens and their mothers had refused a request from Bolsonaro’s campaign to record a video on the president’s behalf.

Analysis-Brazil's Bolsonaro caught off guard by campaign's ugly closing chapter


 Brazil's presidential debate in Sao Paulo ahead of runoff election

Tue, October 18, 2022 
By Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's unexpectedly close presidential race has taken an ugly turn in the final weeks ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote, even by the bruising standards of the past year, with insinuations of cannibalism, pedophilia and devil worship.

The tone shifted so quickly that the campaign of President Jair Bolsonaro, who won office four years ago with an aggressive digital assault on rivals, was put on the defensive, losing precious time for his strategy to come from behind and win reelection.

Two senior aides to Bolsonaro said his campaign was taken aback by the effectiveness of attacks from leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and allies, who seized on both old videos and recent slip-ups to leave the right-wing incumbent scrambling.

"It did us a lot of damage," one of the campaign aides said on condition of anonymity.

In one line of attack, Lula allies dug up a 2016 interview in which Bolsonaro said he was willing to eat human flesh in an unspecified indigenous ritual. In another, they circulated old images of Bolsonaro speaking at Masonic lodges, considered pagan temples by some of his evangelical Christian allies.

In the most explosive attack yet, Lula's campaign made an attack ad from Bolsonaro's anecdote on a Friday podcast about visiting the home of adolescent Venezuelan migrant girls who he suggested were preparing to prostitute themselves.

The president won court injunctions that took that attack ad off the air and kept the subject out of a debate with Lula last Sunday. Bolsonaro has denied any association with cannibalism or pagan rituals and branded the insinuations of pedophilia as slanderous lies. But the subjects have dominated campaign coverage and online conversations for days.

One tracking poll found Lula's advantage, which narrowed to just three percentage points before the weekend, was back up to 52% to 45% over Bolsonaro by Tuesday, according to a political consultancy that requested anonymity to discuss private surveys.

Public polls, released every week or two, continue to show a roughly stable race, with Lula holding an advantage of around 5 percentage points as he did in the first-round vote on Oct. 2.

But every week that passes without Bolsonaro gaining ground is a battle won by Lula, who was Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010.

"Bolsonaro has become a victim of his own weaponized communications strategy that muddies public debate with sarcasm, mockery and humiliation aimed at dividing Brazilian society," said Fabio Malini, a professor of new media at the Federal University of Espirito Santo.

'BRAZILIAN SOAP OPERA'

Bolsonaro is not shy about returning fire.

"The focus now is to attack Lula and trigger fears of him returning to power," said a second Bolsonaro campaign source.

Bolsonaro's campaign aides say their polling indicated 8% to 10% of Lula supporters could still be swayed with arguments that a leftist presidency could trigger crime waves, economic ruin and setbacks for social conservatives.

The incumbent's broadcast ads already suggest that Lula will legalize abortion and close down churches, which the former president has repeatedly denied.

A more outlandish line of attack from Bolsonaro allies forced Lula's campaign to make a direct denial on social media: "Lula has no pact nor has he ever conversed with the devil."

But unlike the 2018 presidential campaign, when Lula's Workers Party was largely isolated and unprepared for a digital dirty war in the closing weeks of the race, the former president has an array of allies joining him in the online trenches.

Internet personality Felipe Neto, with 15 million followers on Twitter and nearly 17 million on Instagram, once pushed for the impeachment of Lula's Workers Party successor, but now defends Lula daily online while amplifying attacks on Bolsonaro.

Congressman Andre Janones, whose centrist party had shown support for Bolsonaro's agenda in Congress, called off his own presidential run to support Lula, bringing a bulldog tenacity to online debates.

"Janones is a spin doctor of the digital world," said Malini, the new media specialist. "The fierce attacks and counter-attacks based on rumor, half-truths and innuendo have made this election a Brazilian soap opera."

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito; Editing by Brad Haynes and Paul Simao)

Orban’s Political High-Wire Act Pushes Hungary to the Brink


Zoltan Simon
Tue, October 18, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- As European Union heads of government gather to discuss the war in Ukraine, energy security and the economy, one increasingly desperate leader will have his own agenda again.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been in open conflict with the rest of the bloc after trying to derail sanctions against Russia, the latest episode in a protracted standoff between Budapest and Brussels over how he runs his country. Last month, the European Parliament said Hungary could no longer be considered a full democracy.

But with a plunging currency and fragile finances, Orban’s high-wire act of reconciling his courtship of Vladimir Putin with the immediate task of unlocking billions of euros in EU funds is becoming more perilous. While investors have focused on the turmoil in post-Brexit UK in recent weeks, Hungary is turning into a more extreme cautionary tale of what happens when a political project becomes disconnected from economic reality.

“Hungary is badly in need of EU funds,” said Andras Simor, a former central bank governor who helped steer Hungary through the financial crisis when it required a bailout led by the International Monetary Fund. “But even more than the actual money, Hungary needs the EU’s seal of approval to shore up its battered credibility.”

The forint has dropped more than 12% against the euro since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, despite Hungary having by far the EU’s highest interest rates. Only the currencies of Argentina and Turkey have fared worse in emerging markets. That, in turn, raised the cost of energy imports primarily from Russia and pushed inflation above 20%.

Rallying Cry

The Hungarian currency was hitting successive record lows again last week, prompting Orban to call on his political allies to come up with a fix. In his latest weekly radio address on Friday, he asked his finance minister and central bank governor to bring inflation under control. Within hours, policy makers hiked the effective base rate to 18% from 13% as part of a package of emergency measures.

The move has steadied the forint -- for now. “We don’t see this as a game changer,” said Marek Drimal, a strategist at Societe Generale in London.

Investors instead point to more than 40 billion euros ($39 billion) in fresh EU funds as the solution. Besides a much needed infusion of foreign currency, an agreement with the bloc would also shore up Hungary’s standing in the West after its lukewarm support for Ukraine, harsh criticism of western policy and side deals with Russian energy giant Gazprom PJSC.

The EU’s executive has effectively blocked financing over concerns about widespread graft under Orban’s 12-year rule. During that time, he assembled what he refers to as an “illiberal democracy,” extending his influence over everything from the media and courts to schools.

The project, which made Orban a ringleader for populists and a favorite of Donald Trump, is now at risk of coming apart without the EU money that underpinned Hungary’s economic expansion and its prime minister’s pre-election largesse.

EU Bankrolled Eastern Rebellion That Threatens to Tear It Apart

Tens of thousands protested this month against low wages for teachers, a relatively unusual display of discontent in Hungary. Orban says he can’t raise them without EU funds. Lavish utility subsidies, the bulwark of his political support for more than a decade, have also been cut.

Orban’s Crisis

Last month, the European Commission proposed suspending access to 7.5 billion euros of Hungary’s EU funding due to corruption concerns, an extreme step against a member state. Another 5.8 billion euros in pandemic-recovery funds also awaits approval.

Hungary has received an extra two months -- until Dec. 19 -- to make good on pledges to approve and implement anti-corruption legislation. Orban may also have to bolster judicial independence after extending his influence over the courts.

While the government in Budapest has said it will do what it takes to secure funding, it also started a campaign pinning Hungary’s malaise on the EU. It includes billboards with the word “sanctions” written on a bomb and the caption: “Brussels sanctions are destroying us!”

“This is Orban’s greatest crisis,” said Gabor Gyori, a political analyst at Policy Solutions in Budapest. “It’s unclear how long people will believe his false narrative that the EU is to blame for Hungary’s economic troubles.”

Support for his Fidesz party, meanwhile, is declining just months after Orban’s fourth consecutive landslide election victory. The party has decided against holding a traditional street rally in Budapest on Sunday on the anniversary of the 1956 anti-Soviet revolt.

Orban’s priority, instead, will be to corral support in Brussels, where EU leaders start two days of meetings on Thursday.

But a broader question lingers around EU capitals about which side Orban is really on -- and where that one day might lead.

This week, as Russia fired rockets into downtown Kyiv, Hungary was alone is abstaining from an EU initiative to train Ukrainian soldiers. Its foreign minister also said it may block further EU aid to Ukraine for weapons.

The main worry is that a failure to agree on EU funds may push Hungary to a “point of no return,” a potential EU exit, Czech European Affairs Minister Mikulas Bek told RTL Klub television in Hungary. That doesn’t mean Hungary will be let off the hook, he said.

“It’s a decisive moment,” said Bek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency. “There is a risk if we don’t find a way to settle the issue, it could lead to a very negative trajectory.”

'Close the windows': Lebanon power plant sparks cancer fears


Jonathan SAWAYA
Tue, October 18, 2022 


After losing four relatives to respiratory illness, Zeina Matar fled her hometown north of Lebanon's capital where she says a decaying power plant generates little electricity but very deadly pollution.

Thick black smoke sometimes billows from its red-and-white chimneys, leaving a grey haze in the air above the Zouk Mikael industrial district where the toxins remain trapped by a nearby mountain chain.

Zeina, aged 40, says she lost her younger sister and a cousin to pulmonary fibrosis and that two of her uncles died of lung cancer years earlier.

They all lived near the plant where, experts and residents believe, air pollution means people are more likely to develop cancer and respiratory disease than anywhere else in the crisis-torn country.

"We could die tomorrow," said Zeina, who has relocated to Lebanon's south to escape the plant's emissions.


A Greenpeace study found that the surrounding Jounieh area ranked fifth in the Arab world and 23rd globally for cities most contaminated by nitrogen dioxide, a dangerous pollutant released when fuel is burnt.

The environmental group's 2018 study singled out the Zouk plant, built in the 1940s, as well as cars on a busy motorway and privately owned electricity generators as the main causes of pollution.

The walls of Zeina's balconies in her old Zouk Mikael home are blackened by the smoke, and laundry she used to hang outside would be damaged by toxic chemicals emanating from the plant, she said.

"Whenever they refill the station with fuel oil, we would close the windows," Zeina said. "The smell is unbearable."
- Doctor says 'I fled' -


Lebanon's economy has been in free-fall since a financial crisis hit late in 2019, with authorities now barely able to afford more than an hour of mains electricity a day.

The Zouk Mikael plant, one of the country's largest, now runs at minimum capacity when it operates at all, but still its emissions are causing high rates of pulmonary disease, experts warn.

Among them is Paul Makhlouf, a lung doctor at the Notre Dame du Liban Hospital in Jounieh, who said he abandoned his local apartment after noticing a rise in respiratory disease among patients.


In 2014, he found that lung ailments had increased by three percent in patients living near the plant compared to the previous year, an annual rise he estimates has now doubled.

"When I saw the results, I moved from there," he said. "I fled."

Makhlouf mainly blames the type of fuel burnt at the Zouk Mikael plant, which he says is rich in sulphide and nitric oxide -- carcinogenic chemicals that affect the respiratory system and the skin.

Compounding the problem, he said, is the fact the seaside plant is located at a low altitude, with heavy smoke trapped in the densely-populated area by nearby mountains that overlook the Mediterranean.
- 'Under black cloud' -

Pictures went viral online last month of thick black smoke again billowing from the Zouk plant as it burnt low-quality fuel oil to produce just one hour of power that day.

The energy ministry said the plant had been forced to use heavy fuel to "keep supplying the airport, hospitals and other vital institutions" with electricity.

Since then, the plant has mostly operated at night.

"Sometimes, we wake up to a loud noise in the middle of the night" when the station kicks into action and burns fuel oil, said Zeina's 80-year-old aunt Samia, who still lives near the plant.

Elie Beaino, who heads the Zouk municipality, said a second plant, built without authorisation in 2014, runs somewhat more cleanly on higher-quality fuel or gas, but that it has stopped working as its operators cannot afford those higher-quality hydrocarbons.

"Most residents want the power plants to close down," he said.

Lawmaker Najat Saliba, an atmospheric chemist, said residents near Zouk are at least seven times more likely to develop cancer than those of Beirut, citing a 2018 study she helped author for the American University of Beirut.

She said the heavy fuel oil it uses releases harmful chemicals. "The solution is to import quality fuel oil and gas," she said, adding however that Lebanon cannot afford those fuels.

"We have two options today," she said. "To switch the lights off at the airport and in hospitals, or to sit under a black cloud in Zouk."

jos/aya/jsa/fz

COWABUNGA DUDE

Surfers, miners fight over South Africa's white beaches

by Linda GIVETASH

Sun, sea, sand... and diamond mining: The Olifants estuary on South Africa's west coast.

To those who live here, it's like a little piece of heaven, boasting pink flamingos, white beaches and blue ocean waters.

Yet this stretch of South Africa's west coast has also become a battleground, pitching mining firms against environmentalists fearful that one of nature's last wild treasures is being bulldozed away.

Diamonds, zircon and other minerals have long been extracted in the sandy coastline near the Olifants river, which flows into the Atlantic about 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Cape Town.

But plans to expand the mining have angered surfers, animal lovers and residents in this remote, sparsely populated region—and they are pushing back with lawsuits and petitions.

"It's one of the last frontiers of the South African coastline where you can go and sort of lose yourself," said surfer Mike Schlebach, 45, co-founder of a green campaign group, Protect the West Coast.

Mining companies say they bring much-needed jobs to the area and insist they abide by environmental rules.

But locals contend the excavation, in which sand is extracted from beaches and the seabed and sifted for valuable minerals, is scaring off fish and tourists alike—and shrinking rather than broadening employment opportunities.

"If we are going to have sea mining, beach mining, land mining... where is the public going to have access to the coast?" questioned Suzanne Du Plessis, 61, a local resident and campaigner.

Excavation of minerals on the coast is destroying habitat and fisheries, say campaigners.

Dolphins, seals and excavators

From off-shore diamond prospecting to the construction of a new harbour, several projects threaten to scar the area, a biodiversity hotspot home to dolphins, seals and succulent plants, according to Protect the West Coast.

Campaigners secured a small victory in June, when the operator of a mineral sand mine that had gained government approval to expand its activities to 10 more beaches, committed to additional environmental checks.

This came on the back of a lawsuit brought by the Centre of Environment Rights (CER), another environmental group, that was settled out of court by the mine operator, Australian-owned Minerals Commodities.

But activists remain wary.

"CER is entitled to go back to court should the mine not comply with the provisions of the agreement," said CER's lawyer Zahra Omar.

The mine has already asked for more time to put together its biodiversity management plan, she said.

Minerals Commodities legal counsel Fletcher Hancock said the company was committed to conducting its operations "in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way."

Doringbaai resident Peter Owies says local people were shocked when mining in the area

 suddenly began this year.

Activists and locals feel the government has left them to fend for themselves.

Two government ministries in charge of mineral resources and environmental affairs did not respond to requests for comment.

Smaller catch

In Doringbaai, a small town a few kilometres south of the Olifants estuary, a once-pristine beach where people used to walk their dogs and enjoy the sunset to the sound of crashing waves is now being torn up by heavy machinery.

Resident Peter Owies, 54, said locals were blindsided when mining started earlier this year.

"It was quite a surprise and shock to us," he said.

A meeting requested by the community to discuss the mining plans was never held, with the required consultation happening only online, said Du Plessis, the campaigner.

Preston Goliath, a 46-year-old fisherman, said his catch had dwindled after the mining work began and the same is true for dozens of others.

No entry: A sign prohibits access to the Moonstone mine in Doringbaai.

"Because they were pumping for diamonds... the fish moved away and our richest (fisheries) bank is now empty," said Goliath.

Some residents want the beach mining to stop.

But mine owner Trans Hex said all its environmental papers are in order, adding it has held mining rights for the area since 1991.

With dozens more mining permits waiting for approval, Schlebach of Protect the West Coast said he hoped the government would rethink its strategy for the region.

"There's a whole array of new industries that could have a profoundly positive effect on the people that live on that coastline like algae farming," Schlebach said.

"We've got to show them that there's a much better way.

Activists here are optimistic, emboldened by victories scored elsewhere by environmentalists.

On September 1, activists claimed victory in a court case against energy giant Shell—despite the government's support of the company—resulting in the ban of seismic exploration off the touristic Indian Ocean coastGold mining threatens 'forest giraffe' in DR Congo

© 2022 AFP

Soaring food prices drive UK inflation back to double digits – business live

Graeme Wearden - 19 Oct 2022

CPI inflation has jumped to 10.1% in September, but unclear whether government will raise pensions and benefits in line with prices.

Inflation in the UK has risen above 10% for the second time this year as households come under pressure from the sharpest annual rise in food prices for more than 40 years amid the cost of living crisis.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the consumer prices index rose to 10.1% in September, returning to double digits after a slight dip to 9.9% in August. The figure was last higher in 1982. City economists had forecast a slightly smaller rise to 10%.

Soaring prices for food and drink were the biggest driver behind the latest cost of living increase, with an annual rise of almost 15%, the fastest annual jump since April 1980, as the price of bread and cereals, meat, milk, cheese and eggs shot up.

The September inflation figure is crucial as it is the one used to uprate pensions and benefits for the following April. However, there have been suggestions that the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will break the Conservative party manifesto commitment to the triple lock – the guarantee that state pensions rise each year in line with inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

Charities warned that failure to deliver an inflation-matching benefits increase, after the biggest real-terms cut for 50 years earlier this year, would drive up poverty.

Rebecca McDonald, the chief economist at the poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:

“It is morally indefensible that the government should still be considering leaving people with even less ability to pay for what they need.”

Here’s the full story:
Related: UK inflation rises to 10.1% on back of soaring food prices

Pensioners 'face disaster' if triple lock abandoned

If the government sticks to the triple-lock pledge, then the new full State Pension would rise by a record 10.1% to £203.85 a week from April 2023, from £185.15 currently.

For those who reached state pension age before April 2016, the basic State Pension could increase from £141.85 to £156.15.

But if ministers abandon that promise, and uprate pensions by average earnings not inflation, pensioners would only receive a 5.5% rise.

That would take the full State Pension up to £195.35 a week, and the basic state pension to £149.65.




As it is almost impossible to predict the direction of travel of government policy, it’s very difficult for pensioners to plan with any kind of certainty, says David Denton, technical consultant at Quilter Cheviot:

Former Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, had backed keeping the triple lock in place and during her leadership bid, Liz Truss also gave the impression that the State Pension triple lock will remain in place.

The policy has now been thrown up in air again after Jeremy Hunt appeared indecisive on the matter.

Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says losing the triple lock would be a bitter blow to the many pensioners who rely on the state pension.

Many of them will be have been under severe financial pressure in recent months as inflation pushed their essential bills ever skyward. Their difficulties will have been compounded by the triple lock’s suspension last year with the 3.1% increase given being no match for the events that followed.

However, faced with a black hole in Britain’s finances Jeremy Hunt is looking at making savings wherever possible and suspending the triple lock could save him a huge chunk of change -it will however be a disaster for pensioners already facing difficult times.”

Hunt: we'll prioritise "help for most vulnerable"

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the government will prioritise help for the most vulnerable, after inflation rose to 10.1%.

In a statement, Hunt says:

I understand that families across the country are struggling with rising prices and higher energy bills.

“This Government will prioritise help for the most vulnerable while delivering wider economic stability and driving long-term growth that will help everyone.

“We have acted decisively to protect households and businesses from significant rises in their energy bills this winter, with the Government’s energy price guarantee holding down peak inflation.”

However, there’s no mention of whether the chancellor will raise benefits in line with this inflation reading.

Also, Hunt has just limited the goverment’s energy price freeze to just six months, from two years. That means average annual energy bills could rise to more than £4,000 from April, adding to inflation next year.

Related: Average energy bill forecast to hit £4,347 after Truss U-turn on support

TUC: Truss and Hunt must end anxiety of millions over universal credit, pensions and benefits

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady is urging Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt to guarantee that benefits will rise in line with September’s inflation reading:


“With inflation still running high, the government must make sure that every family can afford to put food on the table and keep warm this winter.

“But millions of people are already skipping meals and turning off the heating. Yet the Prime Minister and Chancellor still refuse to confirm that universal credit, pensions and benefits will keep up with inflation.

“It is no wonder so many working people are seeking higher wages and taking action to win fair pay deals.”

Personal inflation calculator: find out how UK price rises affect you

Although inflation is officially 10.1%. you could have a different, personal inflation rate depending on what you typically buy each month.

This is because some items have gone up by more in price than others – the ONS uses a basked of goods to assess the rising cost of living.

We’ve built a calculator that lets you find your personal inflation rate, here:

Related: Personal inflation calculator: find out how UK price rises affect you

Food inflation in detail

Food prices jumped 14.8% over the last year, driven by staple goods such as bread and cereals (up 14.5% over the last year), pasta and couscous (+22.7%), meat (+15.3%), low-fat milk (+42.1%), butter (+28%) and eggs (+22.3%).

Fruit prices were up 8.8%, while potatoes cost 19.9% more,

Crisps rose 11.8%, while jams, marmalades and honey cost 28.1%.



READ ON Soaring food prices drive UK inflation back to double digits – business live (msn.com)

Climate change puts a billion children at 'extremely high risk'

NEWS WIRES - Yesterday 

Some one billion children are at "extremely high risk" due to climate change harms, a rights group warned on Wednesday, adding that youths' living standards failed to improve in the last decade.


Climate change puts a billion children at 'extremely high risk'

© Rizwan Tabassum, AFP

The KidsRights index, based on figures supplied by UN agencies, also said more than one-third of the world's children, some 820 million, were currently exposed to heatwaves.

Water scarcity affected 920 million children worldwide, while diseases such as malaria and dengue affected some 600 million children, or one in every four, Dutch NGO KidsRights said.

The KidsRights Index is the first and only ranking that measures how children's rights are respected annually, ranking Iceland, Sweden, and Finland as the best for children's rights and Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Chad as the worst, out of 185 countries.

Of the top three nations, only Sweden's ranking changed from the previous year, moving to second from fourth place.

Related video: What kind of climate policy do you support to protect future generations?

Duration 4:49  View on Watch

Marc Dullaert, founder and chairman of KidsRights, described this year's report as "alarming for our current and future generations of children."

"A rapidly changing climate is now threatening their futures and their basic rights," he said.

"There has been no significant progress in the standards of children's lives over the past decade and on top of that their livelihoods have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic," Dullaert added.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a severe impact on children, who were unable to get food or medicine due to disruptions and the closure of clinics, leading to some 286,000 under the age of five years dying as a result, KidsRights said.

For the first time in two decades, the number of child labourers has risen to 160 million, representing an increase of 8.4 million over the last four years, said the KidsRights Index, which is compiled together with Rotterdam's Erasmus University.

KidsRights highlighted Angola and Bangladesh, saying the two countries significantly improved their scores in regards to children's rights.

Angola has more than halved its under-five child mortality, while Bangladesh has reduced the number of underweight children under five years by almost half.

But the report also slapped Montenegro for low vaccination numbers, ranked 49 on the index.

The survey uses UN data to measure how countries measure up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

(AFP)

WAR IS RAPE
Silent no more: Nepal’s wartime rape survivors demand recognition

By AFP
Published October 18, 2022

Beaten and raped by police officers as a child, 'Mira' was among the many victims of sexual violence during Nepal's civil war -- and is now one of the few to recount her ordeal 

- Copyright AFP Prakash MATHEMA

Paavan MATHEMA

Beaten and raped by police officers as a child, Mira was among the many victims of sexual violence during Nepal’s civil war — and is now one of the few to recount her ordeal.

Guerrilla attacks and forced disappearances were daily facts of life on both sides of the Himalayan republic’s decade-long Maoist insurgency.

The conflict ended in 2006 with a peace deal that brought the rebels into government and promised justice for those who had suffered in the fighting.

But 16 years after the war ended, civilian courts have handed down just two convictions for civil war-era crimes, while rape survivors are frustrated that their traumas have been met with official indifference.

After years of waiting for redress, they are now sharing their experiences in a demand for recognition.

“They have failed to even mention our cases,” Mira, who asked to use a pseudonym, told AFP. “The least they could do is recognise that these incidents happened.”

Mira was just 12 years old in 1999 when she was arrested for participating in a cultural outreach programme run by the Maoist rebels.

She spent months in custody, during which she said she suffered repeated rapes at the hands of officers who also beat her mercilessly.

“I was beyond recognition — my face was swollen, my body was swollen,” she said. “My womb keeps hurting, my body keeps hurting, I still have to take medicines.”

More than 17,000 people were killed and many thousands more were forced to flee their homes before the 2006 peace deal.

The settlement included the promise of impartial investigations of wartime atrocities.

But it did not include provisions for survivors of sexual violence, who were less willing to report their experiences, and who were also left out of an interim compensation scheme for conflict victims.

“Incidents of rape had taken place during the 10-year war. The government must admit this, and address this,” Devi Khadka, coordinator of the National Organisation of Conflict Rape Victims, told AFP.

The civil war had just begun in 1997 when Khadka, then a teenager, was herself raped by security forces in custody, she said.

She joined the Maoist insurgency, rising steadily through the ranks, and has served in parliament, but battled depression for years.

“I stayed silent for a long time, for many reasons. But no one else spoke up. I felt I had to raise my voice for all of us,” she said.

– ‘How will we punish them?’ –

Nepali society traditionally ties chastity to the honour of women and their households, and the stigma of rape often compels victims to keep silent.

Already suffering from physical and mental trauma, those that do come forward are often ostracised by their families and struggle to support themselves.

“What we need is support for our livelihood, for our health and for our children’s future,” said Reenu, who was raped by Maoist soldiers during the conflict.

She added that the immediate needs of victims were a bigger priority than bringing perpetrators to justice.

“Many women don’t even know who wronged them, so how will we punish them?” she asked.

Nepal’s two transitional justice commissions began operations in 2015 but have failed to resolve a single case, despite receiving over 60,000 complaints of murders, torture and unexplained disappearances.

More than 300 cases of rape and sexual violence have been registered by the commission, but activists say the formal reports are a small fraction of the true total.

Survivors are reluctant to come forward because the government has failed to “create a secure environment” for them to do so, said Mandira Sharma, a senior legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists.

“But these are serious crimes,” she told AFP. “The state is obligated to take action against the perpetrator.”

– ‘Scared to give us justice’ –

Critics say Nepal’s truth and reconciliation process has been poorly designed from the outset and plagued by chronic funding shortfalls.

It also lacks political support to proceed, with former Maoist rebels and political leaders among those blamed for presiding over wartime atrocities now in government ranks.

The finance minister in June announced a financial support programme for wartime survivors of sexual violence — the first compensation of its kind.

But months after the announcement, not a single victim has received any money.

“The older this conflict gets, the more problems for women like me,” a 33-year-old woman who said she was raped by security forces as a teenager told AFP.

“The government is aware that women and children suffered sexual violence in the war,” she said. “But it is scared to give us justice. What if their own people need to be punished?”

Iranian greeted as hero after competing without hijab

AFP - 1h ago

An Iranian climber who caused a sensation by competing at an event abroad without a hijab was on Wednesday given a hero's welcome on her return to Tehran by supporters who raucously applauded her action.


Elnaz Rekabi flew back to Tehran's international airport after the competition in South Korea© Rhea KANG

With Iran still shaken by women-led protests over the death of Mahsa Amini one month ago, Elnaz Rekabi flew back to a Tehran airport after the competition in South Korea.

In an Instagram post and comments at the airport, Rekabi has apologised over what happened and insisted her hijab -- which all Iranian women including athletes must wear -- had accidentally slipped off.

But activists fear her comments have been made under duress under pressure from the Iranian authorities who were likely infuriated by her actions.

"Elnaz is a hero," chanted dozens of supporters who gathered outside the Imam Khomeini International Airport terminal, clapping their hands and brandishing mobile phones to record the moment.

They continued to chant and applaud as a van and vehicle -- one of which they presumed was carrying the climber -- drive out of the airport through a sea of people clapping above their heads.

It was unclear where she was headed. Some of the women present were themselves not wearing hijab.

"A hero's welcome -- including by women without the forced-hijab -- outside Tehran airport for-pro climber Elnaz Rekabi. Concerns for her safety remain," said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

Iranian climber who competed without hijab greeted by cheering crowds in Tehran

Verity Bowman - 


Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi received a hero's welcome from cheering crowds as she arrived in Tehran from South Korea, where she competed without her hijab.


Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi speaks to journalists in Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran - IRNA via AP© IRNA via AP

Supporters congregated at Imam Khomeini international airport on Wednesday, chanting 33-year-old Rekabi’s name. Many women present were not wearing headscarves.

The athlete's phone and passport were reportedly confiscated after she defied strict rules requiring Iranian women to cover up, even while representing the country in international competitions.

Rekabi was filmed by state TV television cameras walking into one of the airport’s terminals, wearing a black baseball cap and a black hoodie covering her hair.

Rekabi’s apparent defiance of Iran’s modesty rules while competing on Sunday came as protests over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini entered a fifth week.

Amini was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing and her death has seen women removing their mandatory hijabs in public.

The demonstrations represent the most-serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since the mass protests surrounding its disputed 2009 presidential election.

Rekabi’s friends and supporters have raised concerns over her safety.

 

On Tuesday, she took to Instagram to say that she was called to compete “unexpectedly” which “unintentionally” created an issue with her hair covering.

“Due to bad timing and unexpectedly being called to climb the wall, I inadvertently created a problem with my head covering,” she wrote.

“Apologising for the worries that I caused… currently, according to the pre-determined schedule I am returning to Iran with the team.”


Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competing during the women's Boulder & Lead finals of the IFSC Asian Championships in Seoul - 

RHEA KANG/IFSC/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock© Provided by The Telegraph

She received flowers from an onlooker and then repeated what had been posted on Instagram - that she had “accidentally” competed without her hijab.

“Regarding this topic, as I already explained on my social media stories – it totally happened accidentally,” she told state media IRNA.

“I was unexpectedly called upon and I attended the competition. I somehow got busy with the equipment, and it made me negligent to the hijab.”

She added: “I came back to Iran with peace of mind although I had a lot of tension and stress. But so far, thank God, nothing has happened.”

Rekabi then climbed into a van and was driven away through the cheering crowd.

Rekabi left Seoul on Tuesday morning.


The crowds at Theran airport© Provided by The Telegraph

Iran’s embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” regarding Rekabi’s departure, posting an old photo of Rekabi wearing her head covering.

Iranian women competing abroad under the Iranian flag always wear the hijab.

In an interview before Rekabi returned to her home country, her brother said that she would “always play wearing the national team’s uniform”.

“My sister had a hijab but was wearing a headband and unfortunately some people [took advantage] of this issue,” Davoud Rekabi told state-aligned Tasmin news agency.

“My sister is a child of Iran, and she will always play wearing the national team’s uniform. Elnaz belongs to this land, and she will always play for this country,” he continued.

Human rights groups estimate that more than 200 people have been killed in the recent protests and the violent crackdown that followed. Iran has not published a death toll in weeks.

Demonstrations have been seen in over 100 cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

Iran's Elnaz Rekabi, who competed without hijab, in Tehran

Video by:Emerald MAXWELL

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi returned to Tehran early Wednesday after competing in South Korea without wearing a headscarf, an act widely seen as support for anti-government demonstrators amid weeks of protests over the Islamic Republic's mandatory hijab. After landing, Rekabi gave a careful, emotionless interview to Iran’s hard-line state television, saying that going without a hijab had been an “unintentional” act on her part