Turkey summons Swedish envoy over Kurdish group's tweet

THEY DID NOT SHOW HIM SWINGING BY HIS NECK

Issued on: 12/01/2023

Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey on Thursday summoned Sweden's ambassador to lodge an angry protest over a video posted by a Kurdish group in Stockholm that depicted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan swinging by his legs from a rope.

A tweet by the Rojava Committee of Sweden on Wednesday compared Erdogan to Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was hung upside down after his execution in the closing days of World War II.

"History shows how dictators end up," the group wrote above a video showing pictures of Mussolini's 1945 execution and then a dummy painted to look like Erdogan swinging on a rope.

"It is time for Erdogan to resign. Take this chance and quit so that you don't end up hanging upside down on (Istanbul's) Taksim Square."

The Rojava Committee tweet came as NATO member Turkey piles pressure on Sweden and Finland to clamp down on Kurdish groups it views as "terrorists".

The Nordic neighbours still need Turkey to approve their NATO membership bids, which came in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden, with its larger Kurdish diaspora, has particularly angered Turkey.

Ankara has dug in its heels during protracted negotiations that hinge on the extent to which Sweden is ready to meet Turkey's demand to extradite Kurdish suspects and prosecute groups such as the Rojava Committee.

It lashed out furiously Thursday at both the Rojava Committee and what it deemed as Stockholm's soft response to the tweet.

'Open debate'

Erdogan's chief spokesman said Turkey condemned the Kurdish group's tweet "in the strongest possible terms.

"We urge the Swedish authorities to take necessary steps against terrorist groups without further delay," spokesman Fahrettin Altun tweeted.

His message came in direct response to a tweeted statement from Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom condemning the video.

Stockholm supports "an open debate about politics" but "distances itself from threats and hatred against political representatives", Billstrom wrote.

"Portraying a popularly elected president as being executed outside city hall is abhorrent," the Swedish diplomat wrote.

Billstrom's response did little to appease Ankara.

The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Swedish ambassador for a dressing down, accusing Stockholm of going back on its past pledges and demanding that "the perpetrators of this action are found".

The angry exchange over a tweet came less than a month after Billstrom paid a cordial visit to Ankara in an effort to get the NATO membership bid over the line.

The Swedish government has since signalled that it has reached the limit of what it can do to meet Ankara's demands, particularly concerning the extradition of suspects.

Turkey has been battling a decades-long insurgency against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

But it has also used its fight against the PKK to justify prosecuting Kurdish politicians and support groups.

Turkey's top court is now weighing whether to ban the country's main Kurdish-backed party ahead of elections expected before June.

© 2023 AFP

Sweden rejects four extradition requests from Turkey - report


Swedish Supreme court stops extradition of Turkish man accused of coup attempt

Thu, January 12, 2023 at 10:46 AM MST·1 min read

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish government will not extradite four people sought by Turkey, which says they are connected to a U.S.-based cleric it accuses of being behind a coup attempt in 2016, news agency TT reported on Thursday, without citing sources.

The extradition requests were made in 2019 and 2020, before Sweden and Finland signed a three-way agreement with Turkey aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to the two Nordic countries joining the NATO military alliance.

Sweden's High Court decided last summer the four could not be extradited, TT said, leaving the government no choice but to follow its decision.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry could not comment immediately on the report.

Turkey called a separate decision by the High Court in December to block the extradition of Turkish journalist Bulent Kenes a "very negative" development.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had singled out Kenes as a person Ankara wanted extradited from Sweden as a condition for Ankara's approval for Stockholm to join NATO.

Finland and Sweden both asked to join NATO in May 2022 in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but their bids require the approval of all 30 NATO member states, including Turkey.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Mark Potted)

UK

Fresh 'partygate' details imperil Johnson comeback

2023-01-12


A copy of The Sun newspaper featuring former UK prime minister Boris Johnson is pictured outside 10 Downing Street on October 21, 2022. File photo: AFPFormer UK prime minister Boris Johnson has made no secret of his hopes of a dramatic political comeback – but the enduring "partygate" scandal threatens that, as graphic new revelations emerge.

Contradicting his later denials that any lockdown rules were broken, Johnson allegedly joked at a boozy 10 Downing Street event in November 2020 that it was "the most unsocially distanced party in the UK".

Staff shredded documents when civil service and police investigations loomed, and some had sex at one riotous party the night before Prince Philip's funeral, according to aides interviewed for an ITV podcast.

"As the disgraced former prime minister plots his comeback, he reminds us all yet again why he's totally unfit for office," Angela Rayner, the opposition Labour party's deputy leader, responded.

"While people were unable to say goodbye to loved ones or mourn with their families, he was breaking his own rules with reckless abandon and then lying to the British people."

The ITV podcast came out this week just as a parliamentary committee is due to open an investigation that could see Johnson suspended or even expelled from the House of Commons.

The "privileges" committee is looking into whether he lied to the Commons, starting in December 2021 after one damning video emerged, when he told MPs that "the rules were followed at all times".

"We all watched it live and we were just gobsmacked," one Downing Street source who attended parties told ITV.

"We were all just shocked that he would even deny it. He was there. We were there. We were all there together."

Johnson – along with his eventual successor Rishi Sunak – was fined by London police for another Downing Street event in June 2020 that violated his own government's rules on social distancing.

Sunak's spokesman said on Thursday: "At all time staff were given clear guidance to retain any relevant information and cooperate with the investigation." (AFP)

Germany pushes to end gay blood donor discrimination

01/10/2023

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said gay donors will be assessed on their individual risk behavior, rather than sexual orientation. Germany currently differentiates between gay and heterosexual men on the issue.

https://p.dw.com/p/4LyW5


The German government on Tuesday pledged to end discrimination against men or trans women who have sex with men and who wish to donate blood.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that in the future gay blood donors would be assessed only on their individual risk behavior.
Lauterbach: 'Hidden discrimination' must be avoided

"Whether one can be a blood donor is a question of risk behavior rather than sexual orientation," Lauterbach said. "There must be no hidden discrimination on this issue either.

"We have far too few blood donors. Blood is scarce and it saves lives," Lauterbach, himself a medical doctor, said.

Lauterbach unveiled changes to the law that would force the German Medical Association (BÄK) to alter its blood donation criteria.



Currently, gay men cannot donate blood for a period of four months if they either had a new sexual partner or more than one sexual partner in that time.

The four-month abstention period only applies to heterosexual men who admit they have "regularly changing partners."

Lauterbach's health policy decisions have made him a polarizing figure for some in Germany

Abdulhamid Hosbas/AA/picture alliance

The BÄK rules were designed in a bid to minimize the spread of infectious diseases through blood donations; the current guidelines date back to the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s when fears about the potential scope of spread were rife and knowledge about the disease was patchy.

Lauterbach's amendment to the law would enter into force on April 1. The BÄK would then be required to alter its blood donation guidelines shortly therafter.
What were the reactions to the decision?

Some German politicians and organizations celebrated the decision.

Michael Roth, a member of Lauterbach's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the German parliament or Bundestag, tweeted: "Equality and respect even when donating blood. Finally!"

Sven Lehmann, a member of the environmentalist Green Party, also praised the move. The Greens are currently in a coalition government with Lauterbach's SPD and the business-focused Free Democratic Party (FDP).

"Very good," Lehmann tweeted while adding that blood donor discrimination in regards to gay and bisexual men and trans people will soon end. "The BÄK had long enough time. Now a law is coming."



Bundestag Member Andrew Ullmann of the FDP tweeted his praise of the decision: "We are no longer medically in the 1990s."



The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany welcomed Lauterbach's decision to alter existing law regarding blood transfusions but called the move "long overdue."

"The abolition of this discrimination a long journey and a difficult struggle — and is now the long-awaited fulfillment of a promise to the queer community: It is getting better!"

wd/msh (AFP, dpa)

Vatican opens probe into teen missing for 40 years

Published January 10, 2023 

In this file photo taken on May 27, 2012 a demonstrator holds a poster of Emanuela Orlandi reading "Missing" during Pope Benedict XVI's Regina Coeli noon prayer in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican. Filippo Monteforte/AFP

VATICAN CITY, Holy See — The Vatican announced on Tuesday it was opening an inquiry into the disappearance of a teenager 40 years ago, a case which has sparked countless theories and a hit Netflix series.

Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee, was last seen leaving a music class in Rome on June 22, 1983.

Decades of speculation followed over what happened to her, ranging from mobsters to a Vatican conspiracy, and the case was the subject of hit Netflix series "Vatican Girl" in 2022.

The Vatican's chief prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, "has opened a file, based in part on the basis of requests made by the family," a spokesman said.

However, it was not exactly clear what specifically had triggered the inquiry, with the Orlandi family saying they were still waiting for details.

"We don't know what the Vatican will do... which papers they want to review, the papers of the investigation by the Rome prosecutors or if they have a file to share," family lawyer Laura Sgro told AFP.

"The Vatican has never done anything up until now," she said, adding: "I have been asking to be heard by top figures in the Vatican for years... but unfortunately some people are already dead."

Orlandi's family has fought tirelessly to find out what happened to the teenager.

According to one theory widely circulated in Italian media, she was snatched by mobsters to put pressure on the Vatican to recover a loan.

Enrico De Pedis, head of the Magliana gang, was suspected of involvement in her kidnapping and some speculated the youngster might be buried alongside him under a church—but DNA tests on boxes of bones in his tomb failed to find a match.

Another claim often repeated in the press was that she was taken to force the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.

In 2017, conspiracy specialists were driven into a frenzy by a leaked—but apparently falsified—document, purportedly written by a cardinal and pointing to a Vatican cover-up.

In 2019, the Vatican dug up two burial chambers in the search for Orlandi but said no recent bones were found. — Agence France-Presse

KRIMINAL KAPITALI$M

Is it corruption? German finance minister under scrutiny

Sabine Kinkartz
January 10, 2023

After it emerged that Germany's finance minister got a generous line of credit from a bank shortly after speaking at its event, questions are being raised about whether the country's corruption laws are too lenient.

Did Christian Lindner get a private loan worth millions only — or even in part — because he promoted a certain bank as Germany's finance minister? That would be a clear case of corruption for the leader of the business-oriented, neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), the smallest party in the center-left coalition government with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens.

The incident has not gone unnoticed by Berlin public prosecutors.

Though the Karlsruhe-based BBBank is a rather small institution, Lindner managed to procure a massive loan from the bank to facilitate the purchase of a villa in Berlin's leafy Nikolassee district.

Despite having a private business relationship, Lindner agreed to give an opening speech at the bank's centenary celebrations in his capacity as federal minister of finance in the spring of 2022. The taped speech, broadcast to a large representatives' meeting in Karlsruhe, praised the bank by saying, amongst other things: "To me, BBBank is fundamentally appealing."

At the time, Lindner had already taken out a loan of €2.35 million ($2.5 million) from BBBank. A few weeks after the speech, the bank granted Lindner a further loan of €450,000 ($483,000). What prompted the bank to approve a credit line that was more than 1 million euros higher than the cost of the property?

Christian Lindner has heaped praise on a bank which also gave him two loansImage: Revierfoto/picture allliance/dpa

Longstanding business relationship

Lindner has had a close relationship with BBBank for many years. In 2014, when he was not a sitting lawmaker because the FDP had failed to clear the 5% hurdle to enter the Bundestag, he gave testimonials in advertisements for the bank.

At the same time, Linder was giving talks across the country at events organized by the bank. The fees he procured from these talks are listed on his official website and can range from €7,000 to €15,000 per lecture.

In Germany is not against the law for politicians to be in advertisements, and until 2021 members of the Bundestag were also allowed to give as many paid talks as they wanted. According to a study by the metal trade union's Otto Brenner Foundation, just over a third of lawmakers in the legislative period of 2017 to 2021 received additional income on top of their generous salaries, totaling some €53 million. Of these, Lindner is known to be one of the top earners.
Under review by Berlin prosecutors

Still, Lindner's 2022 speech may have crossed a line. A federal finance minister publicly praising a bank and then being given a generous line of credit afterward raises numerous legal questions.

Christian Lindner was the star and sole focus of the FDP's election campaign in 2021Image: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance

A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Finance emphasized that such speeches are "by no means unusual." She did not, however, address the question of whether Lindner had been fully transparent about his private business relationship and cleared his new loan with officials at the ministry.

These are precisely the issues that the anti-corruption team at the Berlin Attorney General's Office is now probing. If the bank extended Lindner an unusually large amount of credit in return for his services, that would constitute a crime. The office is currently determining whether they should launch an official corruption investigation. There is one major hurdle to this though — they would have to apply to the Bundestag to life Lindner's parliamentary immunity.

Linder denies wrongdoing

Some opposition members in the Bundestag have already called for Lindner's resignation. The deputy leader of the post-communist Left Party Lorenz Gösta Beutin told Der Spiegel magazine that there are indications that Lindner "may not be able to clearly distinguish" between his job as minister and his private interests. "Should the suspicion be substantiated and criminal proceedings ensue, the finance minister's resignation would be inevitable," he said.

For his part, Lindner has rejected the accusations. Through his lawyer, he has said that his private real estate financing with BBBank began long before he became a Cabinet minister and that any apparent irregularities in amounts of credit are to do with the massive fluctuations of the real estate market. He has also said that it is not a crime for a sitting minister to record a video greeting for a bank meeting.

Germany ranks in tenth spot in the corruption perception index

Loopholes in corruption laws

The term "corruption" is not actually found in the German Criminal Code. The law makes a distinction between two crimes: "accepting an advantage" in the course of carrying out official duties, and bribery. For the latter, even expressing the willingness to accept a bribe is a crime.

Anti-corruption organization Transparency Germany welcomed the news that prosecutors were reviewing the accusations. "The rule of law must also apply, and indeed, in an especially critical way, to a federal minister," the group's lawyer Wolfgang Jäckle told the Funke media group.

Germany currently ranks 10th in the Corruption Perceptions Index, a ranking of 180 countries worldwide published annually by Transparency International since 1995. The top countries in the current ranking are Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand. Bringing up the rear are Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan.

The 10th-place ranking may look good, but this ranking has not improved for six years. This is perhaps due to the fact that Germany's anti-corruption legislation contained major loopholes until recently, such as with the case of collecting unlimited speaking fees.

As for gifts, every public servant — from school teachers to the German president — may not accept gifts worth more than €10. Indeed, when in 2006 police officers accepted a carton of grapes from a truck driver they had pulled over at a traffic stop, they were convicted of "accepting an advantage."

What causes corruption?

02:31

Judge urges Bundestag to tighten laws

In 2012, it emerged that Germany's then-President Christian Wulff had gone on several vacations paid for by wealthy friends and acquaintances. Wulff was later acquitted, but he had already resigned from his post over the accusations and his political career never recovered.

There are also special rules that apply to members of the Bundestag, like Lindner. These rules came into particularly sharp focus in 2020. At the time, several high-profile members of the Christian Democrats (CDU), at the time ruling in coalition with the SPD, were accused of cronyism after journalists discovered that contracts to produce medical masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic had been given to relatives and other close contacts.

In the most egregious case, an entrepreneur paid some €10 million to two CSU lawmakers to facilitate the sale of masks to the federal government that he had purchased for cheap in Asia. When a judge reviewed the case, he found that the lawmakers had accepted an advantage, but not met Germany's legal definition of bribery. He urged the federal government to tighten loopholes in the legislation.

The current coalition in Berlin has promised to do exactly that. However, no draft law has yet been presented.

This article was originally written in German.

HE HAD WON WHEN TULSI GABBARD VISITED HIM

Welcome back, Bashar Assad: Has the Syrian dictator won?

Cathrin Schaer

DW/AFP
01/10/2023

Recent comments by Turkish and Arab leaders indicate that Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime are being rehabilitated. Despite accusations of war crimes and torture, barriers to international acceptance are falling.

Thousands of Syrians in the north of their country protested about it. Syrian activists and human rights organizations are staunchly opposed to it. Yet, despite the outcry and ongoing protests, Syria's authoritarian leader, Bashar Assad, is slowly being groomed for rehabilitation on the regional, if not the global, stage.

Shortly after the beginning of the revolution in Syria in 2011 and the Assad government's brutal repression of peaceful anti-government protests, most Arab nations cut ties with Assad. But just over a decade later, the tide appears to be changing as regional leaders reconsider ties to Damascus with a view toward migration as well as as their own security and economic affairs.

Last week, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was in Damascus to meet with Assad. Also last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — known as a longtime Assad foe — said he too might soon meet with the Syrian ruler and his Russian allies.

Favorable regional reception

For years, Syria has enjoyed support from the UAE. In late December 2018, the UAE and Bahrain reopened their embassies in Damascus, after both were closed in 2011. Since late 2018, support for Assad's government, which is accused of a wide variety of war crimes and crimes against humanity, has been gradually building.

Before the Syrian civil war, Assad (right) and Erdogan (left) met frequently and were known to have had a friendly relationship

BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

Among various milestones: In September 2021, energy ministers from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt agreed that Lebanon would import Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity via Syria.

In October 2021, the Jordanian king, the first Arab leader to call for Assad to step down, telephoned the Syrian leader. It was the first such conversation between the two in a decade and came after several months of Syrian-Jordanian cooperation on security and trade.

Several countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Oman and Algeria, have also called for Syria to be welcomed back into the Arab League, which has 22 members and fosters regional ties. Syria was suspended from the body in 2011.



Barriers to reconciliation

But, as Christopher Phillips, a professor of international relations at the Queen Mary University of London, wrote in a Washington Post analysis in 2019, following a flurry of pro-Assad gestures in the Arab world, "Assad's road to full rehabilitation remains blocked by three significant obstacles: the United States, the European Union and NATO-ally Turkey."

However, this month, as Turkey's Erdogan speculated about a high-level meeting, Phillips' final point looked as though it might not be a barrier much longer.

Erdogan's comments about meeting Assad came after senior Turkish and Syrian officials had already met in Moscow. Russia, an important Syrian ally, has been heavily involved in its civil war and pushing for better relations between Turkey and Syria. The three countries' foreign ministers will likely meet later this month.

But one should be careful about seeing Erdogan's overtures as a genuine reconciliation, Phillips told DW.

"There's a big difference between security ministers and foreign ministers agreeing to see each other and a full reconciliation," he explained. "There are huge obstacles to that, most notably in Idlib and northern Syria, the areas that Turkey is currently controlling."

The Assad regime continues to bomb civilians in opposition-held Idlib

Izzeddin Kasim/AA/picture alliance

Turkey has continuously supported the Syrian opposition during the conflict, and Idlib, the last rebel-held territory in Syria, is protected by Turkey as are other, smaller areas in northern Syria. Turkey is unlikely to want to withdraw from these parts of Syria anytime soon.
Turkey's domestic politics

Observers have suggested Erdogan wants to use this aspect of foreign policy to bolster his popularity with voters in upcoming elections, due to be held in June. Turkish foreign policy points out that some parts of Syria are controlled by Syrian-Kurdish groups that Turkey considers enemies of the state.

"Especially when it comes to Kurdish issues, I don't see how [Syria and Turkey] can actually come to an agreement," confirmed Bente Scheller, head of the Middle East and North Africa division at Germany's Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin.

Erdogan's statements also have to do with over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

"Erdogan is now in campaign mode and, of course, he sees great potential in advertising that the millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey could finally go back to Syria, or that he could deport them," Scheller added.

Despite doubts about how genuine Erdogan is, and, therefore, the potential for the Syrian regime's complete diplomatic rehabilitation, there is no question among experts that, in many ways, Assad has already succeeded.

"He's already won, in the sense that the war was primarily about whether he was in charge," Phillips said. "And he is still in charge of most of Syria. In military terms, the opposition is no longer a viable alternative. But, obviously, it's a bit of a Pyrrhic victory because much of the country has been destroyed."

This "victory" also resulted in the increasingly pragmatic approach by regional neighbors.

There's historical precedent for this, Phillips said, noting that Sudan and Egypt were both isolated by their Arab neighbors before eventually being embraced again. Sudan was ostracized in the 1990s for its support of Islamist terror organizations, and Egypt was suspended from the Arab League for a decade from 1979 because it signed a peace treaty with Israel.

The estimated 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey have caused domestic controversy

Image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

"It wouldn't be unusual for Assad to be welcomed back into the regional fold," Phillips argued. "But I think it's far harder for Western governments to reconcile with Assad unless they get something big in return."
Impact of Ukraine war on Russia's ally

But major concessions from the Assad regime to the West are unlikely, meaning the two other major obstacles to Assad's rehabilitation look likely to remain.

At one time, it seemed that some European Union member states might be divided on whether to continue to isolate Syria. For countries like Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and even Italy and Spain, there are historical ties across the Mediterranean, Phillips explained, as well as issues like irregular migration, humanitarian aid, regional stability and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean to consider.

However, the Ukraine war changed that, Phillips said. "Prior to [Russia's invasion of Ukraine] there was a realistic chance that some southern European states would have considered quiet normalization with Assad. But the Ukraine war has united Europeans more firmly in opposition to Russia," he argued. Nobody currently wants to reconcile with Assad, one of Russia's staunchest allies.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has united Europeans against rapprochment with a Russian ally

Image: Libkos/AP/picture alliance

The United States is even less likely to relax its position on Syria. "We will not normalize and we do not support other countries normalizing relations with the Assad regime," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a January 5 press briefing when asked to comment on a potential meeting between Erdogan and Assad.
'Stand with Syrians'

Syria expert Phillips suspects the only thing that might change the status quo is if Syrian support was suddenly needed on the international stage. For example, in the early 1990s, after years of Washington viewing Syria with suspicion because of the country's anti-Israel stand, Syria became part of a US-led coalition fighting Iraqi forces in Kuwait following the invasion by Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, Syrian activist organizations remain angry about the prospect, no matter how pragmatically other nations may see it. And with good reason, said Laila Kiki, director of UK-based advocacy organization The Syria Campaign.

"Normalizing the regime sends a message to millions of Syrians, who were subject to its atrocities, that their suffering is neglected," she told DW. "This is a regime that has shot dead peaceful protesters and indiscriminately bombed tens of thousands of its own people. It is vital that leaders across the international community, and in particular the EU, stand with Syrians calling for freedom and democracy by speaking out against normalization," Kiki concluded.

With additional reporting by Kersten Knipp.

Edited by: Sean Sinico

Calls grow to curb finance industry's 'buy now, pay later'

Timothy Rooks

DW/AFP
January 10, 2023

Companies like Klarna and Affirm offer short-term credit for shoppers. What does this mean for retailers and how is it impacting buying habits and buyers' credit in the long run? Regulators are getting more interested.

If you haven't heard about online "buy now, pay later" options you will soon. Buying on credit is nothing new. In-house charge programs took care of customers long before credit cards became the norm. Layaway gave shoppers the possibility to leave a deposit and pick up merchandise when it was paid in full.

Recently more online shopping has led to a massive uptake in buy now, pay later (BNPL) options offered by companies like Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip. They can be used to buy goods and services. Anything from clothing to airline tickets. Increasingly people are using them for necessities like groceries and car fuel.
Growth brings scrutiny from regulators

Buy now, pay later services are short-term loans. Many shoppers see them as an alternative to credit cards at checkout. They are a way to stretch out payment.

The system is based on an old trick: Just four easy payments. "This has been a long, time-tested method for increasing sales," said Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "While major providers don't currently rely on charging interest, they make money through fees charged both to sellers and to consumers who don't pay on time."

His remarks accompanied a market monitoring report put out by the Washington, DC-based government agency that tried to better understand the financial product and start to formulate regulatory guidelines.

The agency looked at five companies that gave out 180 million pay-in-four loans in the US totaling over $24.2 billion (€22.8 billion) in 2021, a nearly tenfold increase from the 16.8 million loans they handed out in 2019. The average purchase was $135.

The report highlighted uneven oversight and pointed to other problems with the services like a lack of consumer protection, good dispute resolution and data protection. Returned products, which make up a large part of goods bought online, were also often hard to process.

Buy now, pay later options are showing up everywhereImage: Richard B. Levine/imago images

Paying in four installments

The most common BNPL offer is a "pay-in-four" option, meaning 25% down at purchase then three equal payments due every two weeks. Approval is usually fast and without a credit check.

There are no extra costs for borrowers unless they miss a payment. A few companies don't even charge late fees. The lenders make most of their money through fees they charge retailers, which are higher than traditional credit card processing surcharges, anywhere between 2% to 8%.

Some companies like Klarna offer a "pay-in-30 plan" without fees where full payment is due within 30 days. Klarna and PayPal also offer financing plans for up to 36 months for larger purchases. Some systems only work online within a network of merchants. Others can be used nearly anywhere through mobile apps.

Buyers beware of overextension

The biggest complaint about BNPL is that the entire system encourages people to buy more. When the price of something is divided by four it seems much cheaper. And users can take out multiple loans at the same time from different sources. Called "loan stacking," borrowers can quickly lose an overview of what they owe.

Rohit Chopra from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also scrutinized the BNPL mobile apps because they bring together lots of detailed information about users in ways that traditional banks or retailers don't.

"Many of these firms have created their own gateways and digital, app-driven marketplaces, powered by personalized behavioral data, to lure their users into buying more products financed through a buy now, pay later loan," he said.

A growing number of people around the world are gravitating toward buy now, pay later apps

A survey released in June by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia looked at the demographics of buy now, pay later users in the United States. It found an even split between men and women. But an overwhelming majority of users are white, while just over 23% are nonwhite. Overall, it found that all age groups are adopting it and 61% of users were currently employed.

One thing particularly surprised experts at the bank: "Contrary to the assumptions of most observers, buy now, pay later users did not cite lack of credit access as a primary reason for choosing buy now, pay later as a payment option."
Watch your credit score

With BNPL's fast growth and wide reach, consumer advocates like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are calling for more regulation. They think these companies should be treated like credit card operators.

Currently, they don't need to report to credit agencies since they are not banks or technically considered lenders. This works two ways: They don't know who they are giving credit to and the borrowers don't get to use these loans to build up their credit history.

How Bitcoins get stolen and how you can keep yours safe

https://p.dw.com/p/4LmSo

03:32

Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, an industry group that represents several pay-later providers, has a rosier outlook. "Consumers and merchants alike benefit from buy now, pay later. Consumers turn to it as a flexible, zero-to-low-interest alternative to legacy credit products, and merchants of all sizes use buy now, pay later to reach new customers," wrote Lee in a statement to DW. "Buy now, pay later is regulated, with key US federal and state consumer protection laws safeguarding consumers who use the service."

Yet the US is not at the forefront of this e-commerce trend. In 2021, Northwestern Europe was the champion of pay-later transactions. In Sweden they accounted for 25% of domestic online sales, in Germany 20%, Norway 18%, Finland 13% followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the UK, France and Singapore.

Overall, buy now, pay later accounted for only 3% of e-commerce payments in 2021, which leaves room for growth. But any increased popularity will bring rules. The United States may not be at the forefront of BNPL, but its regulatory decisions will have a big impact on how these companies work around the world.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler

Extreme weather caused $165 billion in US damage in 2022: officials

by Chris Lefkow

Hurricane Ian, which ravaged Florida in September, caused nearly $113 billion in damage, 

according to an NOAA report.

Major hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, drought and a fierce winter storm caused more than $165 billion in damage in the United States last year with climate change "supercharging" some extreme weather, a government report said Tuesday.

The country experienced 18 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, with Hurricane Ian the most costly at nearly $113 billion.

"Climate change is creating more and more intense extreme events that cause significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards like intense drought followed by devastating wildfires followed by dangerous flooding and mudslides," NOAA administrator Richard Spinrad told reporters.

"More and more Americans and more places are exposed to risks from climate and extreme weather," Spinrad said. "People are seeing the impacts of a changing climate system where they live, work and play on a regular basis."

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information said in a year-end report that 2022 tied 2017 and 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters in a calendar year, behind the 22 and 20 separate billion-dollar events of 2020 and 2021.

The increasing number of extreme events "hints that the extremely high activity of recent years is becoming the new normal," the NCEI said, with Spinrad adding they should serve as a "wake-up call" to build resiliency.

With a price tag of more than $165 billion, 2022 ranked third in total costs behind 2017 (hurricanes Harvey and Irma) and 2005 (hurricane Katrina), the NCEI said, and the figure could rise when the impact of a sprawling winter storm that hit the central and eastern US in December is fully factored in.

The report noted that the figures do not reflect the total cost of last year's US weather and climate events, only those associated with major disasters that each caused more than $1 billion in damages.

The billion-dollar events accounted for about 85 percent of the total damage from all recorded US weather and climate events in 2022, it said.

Hurricane Ian, which ravaged Florida in September, was far and away the most costly, causing $112.9 billion in damage and 152 deaths.

A summer heat wave and drought which gripped large parts of the central and western United States was next, causing $22.2 billion in damage, 136 deaths and leaving reservoirs such as Lake Mead severely depleted.

Damage left by a tornado which touched down in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March 2022.

Other weather and climate disasters included wildfires in the western US and Alaska, flooding in Missouri and Kentucky, tornadoes across southern and southeastern states and the December winter storm.

The 18 billion-dollar events resulted in at least 474 direct or indirect fatalities, the seventh most since 1980.

'Devastating consequences'

The cost of weather and climate disasters was increasing, the NCEI said, due to a number of factors including increased settlement in vulnerable areas like coasts and river floodplains.

"Climate change is also supercharging the increasing frequency and intensity of certain types of extreme weather that lead to billion-dollar disasters," it said.

This is characterized by rising vulnerability to drought, lengthening wildfire seasons, flooding caused by heavy rainfall and hurricane storm surge worsened by sea level rise.

The NCEI said strong Category 4 or 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States in five of the last six years, the most frequent impacts on record.

It said 2022 was the eighth consecutive year in which 10 or more separate billion-dollar disaster events have hit the United States, up from an average of 7.9 events between 1980 and 2022.

In a recent report, the UK-based charity Christian Aid also listed Hurricane Ian as the most costly weather event in a year that saw devastating floods in Australia, parts of Africa, China and Pakistan and a severe summer heatwave and drought in Europe.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said Tuesday that average temperatures across 2022 made it the fifth warmest year since records began in the 19th century.

"2022 was yet another year of climate extremes across Europe and globally," said Samantha Burgess, deputy head of the climate monitoring service. "These events highlight that we are already experiencing the devastating consequences of our warming world."

© 2023 AFP

NOAA tool now brings disaster risk, vulnerability down to community level

Police move in on anti-coal activists at German protest camp

Author: AFP |Update: 12.01.2023


Policemen on a lifting platform prepare to remove an anti-coal activist sitting on a giant yellow X sculpture on January 10, 2023 in Luetzerath, western Germany / © AFP

German police on Tuesday began removing climate activists perched precariously on high structures as they embarked on a "dangerous" operation to evacuate a protest camp that has become a symbol of resistance against fossil fuels.

Luetzerath, a village in North Rhine-Westphalia state, was once home to around 100 people but has been abandoned over the years as uncertainty hung over its planned evacuation for the expansion of the neighbouring coal mine Garzweiler.

Since the last resident, a farmer, packed up and left in October 2022, the village has been turned over to around 2,000 anti-coal activists who are trying to prevent the site from being dug up for coal.


The activists have built barricades and dug trenches to stop police getting in. Some are also swinging on hammocks erected high up above ground.

The protesters have vowed that there will be "no limits" in its defence of the site, and that they would make an "active defence" of the village.


The activists in Luetzrath have set up an intricate, self-built camp in the trees, linked by a network of ropes and cables, which has been designed to make evacuation difficult / © AFP

"We've left a few surprises for the police," said Joey, 28, a balaclava-clad former surgical assistant who is now a veteran of the occupation of the village.

"Most of the people will choose a passive defence (of the village), but others will act with active defence. There will be no limit.

"It may sound harsh but there are bigger things coming with climate change, people are dying".

Joey said he only fears the violence could escalate the longer the occupation goes on and far from the watchful eye of the media, who will be forced to leave once the operation begins.

- A 'long night' -

Environmental groups had hoped that Luezerath would be spared the excavators after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition including the Green party took office in December 2021 with a vow to phase out coal usage.

But Russia's war in Ukraine has sparked an energy crisis, forcing Berlin to restart mothballed coal plants to secure Germany's power needs.

In the scramble for energy sources as Russia dwindled its supply, Scholz's government granted permission to German energy company RWE to expand the mine neighbouring Luetzerath.

An activist wearing a space blanket sitting high in a self-built structure in the western German village of Luetzerath / © AFP

To clear the protest camp, which is situated on the edge of the Garzweiler mine, the police must overcome walls of barricades, chicanes and trenches dug by the activists.

The activists -- who have planned another demonstration for Saturday -- have set up an intricate, self-built camp in the trees, linked by a network of ropes and cables, which has been designed to make evacuation difficult.

To avoid injuring the protesters, the police will need to enter the village using heavy vehicles including cranes equipped with lifting platforms, to remove the activists one by one.

Each occupant is prepared to stay for hours or even days holed up in the self-built constructions, protected by little more than a tipi.

"The night might be long" a female German activist, who preferred to remain anonymous, told AFP, warming herself around a fire with several other demonstrators.

"We learn day by day, with communication with those who are here for longer than us."

One male activist told AFP he was worried the protesters may not have enough supplies to withstand the forced expulsion.

"I feel concern because we need 2,000 more litres of water to build the trenches.

"We are supposed to receive 20 litres per person, but I doubt it."

- A siege -

In the huge barn that once belonged to the last evicted farmer from Luetzerath, the activists have set up their headquarters.

To clear the protest camp police must overcome walls of barricades, chicanes and trenches dug by the activists / © AFP

The windows and doors have been barricaded, making access almost impossible for the police, while hundreds of sleeping bags are laid out on the floor of the old straw-strewn cattle pens.

"During the arrests, everyone can decide whether or not to show their identity papers", said one of the organisers at a candle-lit meeting on Monday evening.

They have prepared for a state of siege that could last weeks, as access to the camp is now blocked from outside with police checkpoints and constant patrols.

German anti-coal activists storm Green politician's office

Issued on: 12/01/2023 - 

Police have began evicting around 200 anti-coal activists from the town

 © INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Berlin (AFP) – Climate activists occupied the regional office of Germany's vice chancellor Thursday in a show of support for a flagship anti-coal protest, accusing the Green party politician of betrayal.

The Ende Gelaende group said on Twitter that it had broken into Economy Minister Robert Habeck's office in the northern town of Flensburg.

"We stand in solidarity with all the people who are defending Luetzerath!" the group said, posting images of an open window with a banner hanging beneath it.

The western town of Luetzerath became a flashpoint for climate protests when the government decided in 2022 to press ahead with plans to demolish it to allow the expansion of a nearby coal mine.

The decision came in spite of a pledge to phase out coal by 2030, but the government -- a coalition that includes the Greens -- blamed the energy squeeze caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Police on Wednesday began evicting around 200 anti-coal activists from the town, an operation that is expected to take several weeks.

"Robert Habeck is largely responsible for the violent eviction of Luetzerath," Ende Gelaende said, adding that even phasing out coal by 2030 was "not compatible with the Paris climate agreement".

"The Greens have thus once again betrayed their own ideals," the group said.

Police on Thursday continued with efforts to oust the protesters.

Many of the activists have built structures high up in the trees, while others have climbed to the top of abandoned buildings and barns in a bid to complicate the evacuation effort.

Videos shared on social media showing the felling of trees.

Police also said they were checking reports of an underground tunnel system beneath the site.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is expected to join a demonstration near the protest camp this weekend.

© 2023 AFP

In Pictures
Gallery|Climate Crisis

German police begin clearing coal mine protest camp in Luetzerath

The expansion of a lignite mine has highlighted tensions around Germany’s climate policy during the energy crisis.

Protesters clash with police officers next to the Garzweiler lignite opencast mine. 

Michael Probst/AP Photo

Published On 12 Jan 2023

Police in riot gear have begun evicting climate activists from a condemned village in western Germany that is due to be demolished for the expansion of a coal mine.

Some stones and fireworks were thrown on Wednesday as officers entered the tiny hamlet of Luetzerath, which has become a flashpoint of debate over the country’s climate efforts.

Police spokesman Andreas Mueller said the attacks on officers were “not nice” but noted that most of the protests so far had been peaceful.

He said police would stick to their tactic of trying to avoid any escalation by offering to let any activists who leave on their own accord to do so without facing further police measures or prosecution.

“I’m really afraid today,” Petra Mueller, a 53-year-old local who had been at the site for several days, said from a top-floor window of one of the few remaining houses. Mueller said she still held out hope of preserving what is left of Luetzerath “until nothing is left standing; hope dies last”.

Environmentalists say bulldozing the village to expand the nearby Garzweiler coal mine would result in huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. The government and utility company RWE argue that coal is needed to ensure Germany’s energy security.


However, a study by the German Institute for Economic Research calls into question the government’s stance. Its authors found other existing coal fields could be used instead, though the cost to RWE would be greater.

Another alternative would be for Germany to increase the production of renewable power, cut demand through energy efficiency measures, or import more coal or gas from abroad, the study found.

Some activists expressed particular anger at the environmentalist Green party, which is part of the regional and national governments that reached a deal with RWE last year allowing it to destroy the village in return for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038.

“I think climate protection and protests need symbols but the empty hamlet of Luetzerath, where no one lives any more, is the wrong symbol from my point of view,” Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a Green who is Germany’s economy and climate minister, told reporters in Berlin.

Climate campaigners counter that expanding a massive open-cast coal mine goes against Germany’s international commitments to reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The country is expected to miss its ambitious targets for the second year in a row.

Police officers keep guard as activists stage a sit-in protest against the expansion of the lignite mine in Luetzerath. Andreas Mueller, the police spokesman, said authorities were prepared for the eviction operation to last weeks, if necessary. [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]
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Police officers detain an activist in Luetzerath. RWE said in a statement that a 1.5km (1-mile) fence will be built around the site. [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]

As the officers moved in, some activists perched on the roofs or the windows of the abandoned buildings, chanting and shouting slogans. [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]

Police officers try to evict activists from the tree houses. RWE appealed to activists to peacefully 'end the illegal occupation' of the site. [Christian Mang/Reuters]

The project has underscored Germany's dilemma over climate policy, which environmentalists say has taken a back seat during the energy crisis that has hit Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, forcing a return to dirtier fuels. [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]

Police, who had water cannon trucks on standby, led away and carried some protesters from the site. [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]

Police officers take away an activist on a trolley. [Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters]

A protester writhes in pain as she’s pinned down by police officers trying to clear a blocked road. [Frank Jordans/AP Photo]

Workers of the German energy company RWE take down the place sign at the village of Luetzerath. [Michael Probst/AP Photo]

Climate activists sit in so-called tripos and block a road that leads to the village of Luetzerath. [Michael Probst/AP Photo]

Police officers stand in front of a barricade at the village of Luetzerath. [Michael Probst/AP Photo]

FULL COVERAGE BY DEUTCHE WELLE (DW)

Climate activists face off with police in Lützerath – DW – 01/10/2023

UN calls for urgent help to combat acute child malnutrition

Thu, 12 January 2023 


The United Nations called Thursday for urgent funding to help 30 million children suffering from acute malnutrition "before it is too late" in countries being hammered by the food crisis.

UN agencies said conflict, climate shocks, the Covid-19 pandemic and rising living costs were leaving an increasing number of children badly malnourished.

"Currently, more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from wasting -- or acute malnutrition -- and eight million of these children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition," five UN agencies said in a joint statement.


The 15 countries are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

Soaring food prices were aggravating food shortages and displacing populations, the UN said, as well as hindering access to affordable essential nutrition.

The joint statement called for greater investment to support its efforts to meet the "unprecedented needs of this growing crisis, before it is too late".

Its plan aims to prevent, detect and treat acute malnutrition among children with interventions in the food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems.

"This situation is likely to deteriorate even further in 2023," said Food and Agriculture Organization chief Qu Dongyu.

"We must ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of healthy diets," it said.

The joint agency plan will target children aged under five; pregnant and breastfeeding women; and women and caregivers of children under five.

"Today's cascading crises are leaving millions of children wasted and have made it harder for them to access key services," said Catherine Russell, head of the UN children's agency UNICEF.

"Wasting is painful for the child, and in severe cases, can lead to death or permanent damage to children's growth and development," she said.

"We can and must turn this nutrition crisis around through proven solutions to prevent, detect, and treat child wasting early."

Children with acute malnutrition have weakened immune systems and are at higher risk of dying from common childhood diseases.

Those that survive could face lifelong growth and development challenges.

"The global food crisis is also a health crisis, and a vicious cycle: malnutrition leads to disease, and disease leads to malnutrition," said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"Urgent support is needed now in the hardest-hit countries to protect children's lives and health, including ensuring critical access to healthy foods and nutrition services, especially for women and children."

A child or youth died once every 4.4 seconds in 2021 – UN report

Another 1.9 million babies were tragically stillborn during the same period, according to a separate UN report.

NEW YORK/GENEVA/WASHINGTON D.C., 10 January 2023 – An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).

In a separate report also released today, the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period. Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented with equitable access and high-quality maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.

“Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath,” said Vidhya Ganesh, UNICEF Director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring. “Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child.”

The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000. The global under-5 mortality rate fell by 50% since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36%, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%. This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.

However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality. If swift action is not taken to improve health services, warn the agencies, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth.


“It is grossly unjust that a child’s chances of survival can be shaped just by their place of birth, and that there are such vast inequities in their access to lifesaving health services,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO). “Children everywhere need strong primary health care systems that meet their needs and those of their families, so that – no matter where they are born – they have the best start and hope for the future.”

Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show. Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29% of global live births, the region accounted for 56% of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and southern Asia for 26% of the total. Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and northern America.

Mothers in these 2 regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77% of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is 7 times more likely than in Europe and North America.

“Behind these numbers are millions of children and families who are denied their basic rights to health,” said Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility. “We need political will and leadership for sustained financing for primary health care which is one of the best investments countries and development partners can make.”

Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the first month of life. For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death. Similarly, more than 40% of stillbirths occur during labour – most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria pose the biggest threat.

While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality – with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults – the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival. In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come. In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.

The reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programmes designed to improve childhood survival and well-being.

“The new estimates highlight the remarkable global progress since 2000 in reducing mortality among children under age 5,” said John Wilmoth, Director, UN DESA Population Division. “Despite this success, more work is needed to address persistent large differences in child survival across countries and regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Only by improving access to quality health care, especially around the time of childbirth, will we be able to reduce these inequities and end preventable deaths of newborns and children worldwide.”



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Notes to editors:

The two reports – Levels & Trends in Child Mortality and Never Forgotten – are the first of a series of important data sets released in 2023, with UN maternal mortality figures to be published later this year.

Download multimedia content here.

Access the report and data here and stillbirth report here

About UN IGME

The United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation or UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data on child mortality, improve methods for child mortality estimation, report on progress towards child survival goals and enhance country capacity to produce timely and properly assessed estimates of child mortality. UN IGME is led by UNICEF and includes the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.

For more information visit: Child Mortality