Nigeria's female bouncers show their strength fighting stereotypes










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The Wider Image: Nigeria's female bouncers show their strength fighting stereotypes

Thu, January 12, 2023 
By Seun Sanni and Temilade Adelaja

AKWA IBOM, Nigeria (Reuters) - For years, Emem Thomas' body drew snarky remarks from slimmer classmates in southern Nigeria that shattered her confidence and natural affability.

As teasing and taunts marred her teenage years, she gave up on dreams like competing in a local beauty pageant.

Then she found a niche that values what Thomas now proudly describes as her "plus-sized" body type: the "Dragon Squad Limited", a team of female bouncers.

"I love what I see dragons do in movies," she said. "They are also a symbol of power and protection."


Founded in 2018, Thomas only employs women of a certain weight and shape, creating a safe space for plus-size women to excel in a field that is traditionally male-dominated.

"My team is all about plus-size ladies," she explained. "If you have the plus-size body then that is cool for me, before I now talk about your passion and other qualifications."

The Dragon Squad's 43 recruits have worked security at about 2,000 events including house parties, funerals, political rallies and club nights.

"People expect us to be in the kitchen or probably doing make-up and other feminine roles, but joining this squad has really enlightened me," said 23-year-old bouncer Peace Vigorous, the youngest of the crew.

In addition to walkie-talkies, boots and dark glasses, the bouncers carry pepper spray.

The risk of being molested on the job is "always something we have in mind", said Thomas.

"We always prep ourselves for that" and for "men looking down on us."

'FACE THE CROWD'

On an early overcast morning, Thomas led bouncers through a sweaty fitness session on a parking lot.

The women have acquired skills, strength, and most importantly for Thomas, confidence.

"Most of them... were always shy. They couldn't talk," she said, noting that she too became introverted because of her weight.

Behaviour that draws attention such as standing in front of a crowd and giving orders can be particularly challenging for women used to avoiding the public eye.

"Face the crowd and be yourself," Thomas tells them when they falter. "You are supposed to be seen and known."

Thomas's newfound confidence has transformed her social and family life in the city of Uyo, where the 37-year-old lives with her two children.

She no longer considers herself and introvert or shies away from events.

The Dragon Squad has also led her to advocate for the rights of girls and women.

Gender violence is rife in Nigeria, which has one of the world's highest rates of sexual assault. Jihadist groups in the north are renown for kidnapping girls and women and trafficking them into sex work and forced labour.

For Thomas, change comes with "breaking the barrier" to show what women bring to all sectors of society.

She believes female bouncers "have a way of taking off danger" by listening to troublemakers and victims in a way that most men do not have patience for.

"I see no reason why women (should not be) given a chance."

Read more:

Teenage girls in northern Nigeria 'open their minds' with robotics

Nigerian ride-hailing app aims to put women at ease

(Reporting by Seun Sanni and Temilade Adelaja; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

NTSB chair says EVs are getting too big and heavy

That extra bulk may be dangerous in a collision.

Engadget
Jon Fingas
·Reporter
Thu, January 12, 2023 

Electric cars tend to need extra bulk for their gigantic battery packs, and that's raising eyebrows at the National Transportation Safety Board. In a keynote speech, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said she was worried the size and weight of modern EVs could increase the risk of serious injuries and death. A Hummer EV is over 9,000lbs, the board leader said, while electrified versions of vehicles like the Ford F-150 and Volvo XC40 are far heavier than their gas engine equivalents.

Homendy stressed that she supported the Biden administration's environmental goals, and that transportation represented the largest contributor to American greenhouse gas emissions. She just felt that automakers had to be wary of creating "unintended consequences," such as more road fatalities.

There is some data to suggest that EVs' added weight may pose a danger. Green Car Congress pointed to a 2021 commentary in Nature where researchers calculated that the mortality costs of the F-150 Lightning's extra 700kg (1,543lbs) over the gas model 'rival' its zero-emissions benefits. The chances of passengers dying in a collision increase 12 percent with every 500kg (1,102lbs) of weight difference, the research team said. While those issues might diminish as more EVs reach the market, they could remain a problem as long as combustion engine and electric cars have to share the road.

Technical solutions might help. Scientists are already developing lighter batteries, and the first EVs with denser solid-state batteries (which can achieve similar range with smaller packs) are only a few years away. While EVs with this technology are still likely to be heavier than their fossil fuel-burning counterparts, the weight reduction could improve safety in addition to range.

US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles


 Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board speaks during a news conference, Oct. 3, 2019, in Windsor Locks, Conn. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she is concerned about the risk that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.

 (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann, File


TOM KRISHER
Wed, January 11, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.

The official, Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in Washington to the Transportation Research Board. She noted, by way of example, that an electric GMC Hummer weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms), with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds (1,300 kilograms) — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.

“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,” Homendy said in remarks prepared for the group.

The extra weight that EVs typically carry stems from the outsize mass of their batteries. To achieve 300 or more miles (480 or more kilometers) of range per charge from an EV, batteries have to weigh thousands of pounds.

Some battery chemistries being developed have the potential to pack more energy into less mass. But for now, there’s a mismatch in weight between EVs and smaller internal combustion vehicles. EVs also deliver instant power to their wheels, making them accelerate faster in most cases than most gas-powered cars, trucks and SUVs.

Homendy said she was encouraged by the Biden administration’s plans to phase out carbon emissions from vehicles to deal with the climate crisis. But she said she still worries about safety risks resulting from a proliferation of EVs on roads ands highways.

“We have to be careful that we aren’t also creating unintended consequences: More death on our roads,” she said. “Safety, especially when it comes to new transportation policies and new technologies, cannot be overlooked.”

Homendy noted that Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV pickup is 2,000 to 3,000 pounds (900 to 1,350 kilograms) heavier than the same model’s combustion version. The Mustang Mach E electric SUV and the Volvo XC40 EV, she said, are roughly 33% heavier than their gasoline counterparts.

“That has a significant impact on safety for all road users,” Homendy added.

The NTSB investigates transportation crashes but has no authority to make regulations. For vehicles, such authority rests largely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Even apart from EVs, the nation’s roads are crowded with heavy vehicles, thanks to a decadelong boom in sales of larger cars, trucks and SUVs that’s led to extreme mismatches in collisions with smaller vehicles. But electric vehicles are typically much heavier than even the largest trucks and SUVs that are powered by gasoline or diesel.

Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said he, too, is concerned about the weight of EVs because buyers seem to be demanding a range of 300 or more miles per charge, requiring heavy batteries.

Setting up a charging network to accommodate that may be a mistake from a safety perspective, Brooks said.

“These bigger, heavier batteries are going to cause more damage,” he said. “It's a simple matter of mass and speed.”

Brooks said he knows of little research done on the safety risks of increasing vehicle weights. In 2011, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a paper that said being hit by a vehicle with an added 1,000 pounds increases by 47% the probability of being killed in a crash.

He points out that electric vehicles have very high horsepower ratings, allowing them to accelerate quickly even in crowded urban areas. “People are not trained to handle that type of acceleration. It's just not something that drivers are used to doing,” Brooks said.

Also, many newer electric SUVs are tall with limited visibility that poses risks to pedestrians or drivers of smaller vehicles, he said.

Sales of new electric vehicles in the U.S. rose nearly 65% last year to 807,000 — about 5.8% of all new vehicle sales. The Biden administration has set a goal of having EVs reach 50% of new vehicle sales by 2030 and is offering tax credits of up to $7,500 to get there. The consulting firm LMC Automotive has made a more modest prediction: It expects EVs to make up one-third of the new-vehicle market by 2030.

President of Israel's Supreme Court attacks judicial changes





Thu, January 12, 2023

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The chief justice of Israel's Supreme Court attacked the sweeping changes to the country’s justice system planned by the new conservative government on Thursday, lending her voice to a growing outcry against the proposed overhaul.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut fired off unusually sharp rhetoric at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new justice minister, Yariv Levin, saying his proposed changes would amount to an “unbridled attack on the justice system."

“Israel will soon mark 75 years of independence as a Jewish and democratic state. That is an important milestone in the life of the state," Hayut told a convention for the Israeli Association of Public Law. "Unfortunately, if the plan for change that has been presented is carried out, the 75th year will be remembered as the year in which Israel’s democratic identity suffered a fatal blow.”

Hayut said that independence is the “soul of the courts” and without it, judges won’t be able to fulfill their roles as servants of the public.

She took aim at a proposal that would allow the parliament to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority. For decades in Israel, the judiciary has played a key role safeguarding minority rights and offsetting rule by the parliamentary majority.

“It is about overriding the human rights of each and every individual in Israeli society,” Israeli media quoted Hayut as saying.

The announced judicial changes have spurred a surge of resistance. Seven former attorneys general who have served in the post throughout the last five decades also spoke out against the overhaul on Thursday, signing a letter of protest along with four senior legal officials.

Three of the seven were appointed under Netanyahu's previous terms in office. The letter, published in Israeli media, denounced the proposed changes, saying they are destructive to the country's legal system.

“We call on the government to withdraw the proposed plan and prevent the serious harm to the justice system and the rule of law,” the letter said.

The former officials said the changes would turn the Supreme Court, often the last recourse for Israelis and Palestinians seeking to challenge what they see as discriminatory policies, into a “pseudo-political body that would be suspected of bending the law in favor of the government.”

Israel's new government has made overhauling the country's legal system a centerpiece of its agenda. It wants to weaken the Supreme Court, including by politicizing the appointment of judges and reducing the independence of government legal advisors.

The legal changes could help Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, evade conviction, or even make his trial disappear entirely. Since being indicted in 2019, Netanyahu has railed publicly against the justice system, calling it biased against him. He says the legal overhaul will be carried out responsibly.

The plan has prompted an uproar over what critics say is a major threat to Israel's democratic fundamentals. The country's current attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, has already fiercely criticized the proposed changes and a protest against them last week drew thousands.

Alan Dershowitz, a U.S. lawyer and staunch Israel defender, has also come out against the plan, saying were he in Israel, he would be joining the demonstrations.

Critics accuse the government of declaring war against the legal system, saying the plan will upend Israel’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by giving absolute power to the most right-wing coalition in the country’s history. The government says the overhaul is a necessary step to streamline governance and correct an imbalance that has granted the legal system too much sway.

___

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Israel's top judge says government judicial reform plan will crush justice system


Israeli cabinet meeting in Jerusalem


Thu, January 12, 2023 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The president of Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday said that a judicial reform plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government would crush the justice system and undermine the country's democracy.

Chief justice Esther Hayut issued the stark warning in response to a plan backed by Netanyahu that includes limiting High Court rulings against government moves or Knesset laws, while increasing politicians' say in selecting judges.

The proposal, Hayut said in a televised speech, "is not a plan to fix the justice system but a plan to crush it."

It will "deal a fatal blow" to the independence of judges and their ability to serve the public, she said. "The meaning of this plan is therefore to change the democratic identity of the country beyond recognition."

Netanyahu's justice minister, Yariv Levin, later defended the reform he is championing and criticized what he referred to as "a call to set the streets on fire."

He said his plan will restore balance between the branches of government in light of judicial overreach.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara issued her own warning against the planned changes.

"The proposed legislation, if enacted in its current form, will lead to an unbalanced system of checks and balances. The principle of majority rule will push other democratic values to the corner," she said, according to a Justice Ministry statement.

The proposal has stirred worry within Israel and abroad that it could be used by Netanyahu or his religious-nationalist coalition partners to pave the way for laws that might encroach on secular liberals and minorities.

Netanyahu, who took office as prime minister again last month, says he will preserve the judiciary's independence. The veteran leader is on trial for corruption charges he denies.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Frances Kerry and Mark Porter)

Biden’s response to Israel’s far-right government: avoid confrontation

Chris McGreal in New York
Wed, January 11, 2023 at 3:00 AM MST·6 min read


Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The more things change in Israel, the harder Joe Biden is working to make sure they stay the same.

The new far-right government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes openly anti-Arab racists, is already causing concern in the White House with commitments to expand illegal settlements in the occupied territories and annex Palestinian land.

The finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionist party, Bezalel Smotrich, who repudiates establishing a Palestinian state, quickly set up a confrontation with the Palestinian Authority by seizing some of its funds and calling it an “enemy”.

The security minister and leader of the Jewish Power party, who has called for the expulsion from the country of “disloyal” Arab citizens of Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has begun a crackdown on Israeli anti-government protesters while ordering the police to tear down Palestinian flags as “identification with terrorism”.

Netanyahu’s own Likud party has already instigated laws to limit the authority of the judiciary to block government policies.

Aaron David Miller, who worked for six US administrations including as an adviser on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said Biden was in uncharted territory.

Related: Israel’s far right hits ground running, and ripple effects are already being felt

“No administration has ever encountered an Israeli government like this,” he said.

Miller said that while there are red lines for the White House – including if Israel exploits the growing weakness of the Palestinian Authority in order to annex territory – the administration’s immediate response is containment.

“They are going to go to extreme lengths to avoid a sustained confrontation with the Israelis,” he said.

Already there is a flurry of diplomatic activity. Netanyahu’s point man with the US, the Israeli minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, arrived in Washington for talks earlier this week. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is expected to visit Israel next week ahead of the arrival of the secretary of state Antony Blinken, in Jerusalem at the end of the month. Then Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington in February.

Where once the Palestinians were the focus of discussions, now they feature alongside Iran’s nuclear programme, Israel’s reluctance to stand with the US against Russia on Ukraine, and the Jewish state’s relations with the wider Arab world.

But the Palestinians still figure in the talks, at least to the extent that the White House does not want Israel to do anything that would force Washington to make a stand. As Sullivan told NPR last week, US policy is predicated on maintaining what some say is the illusion of a “peace process”.

“We continue to support the two-state solution, and we will oppose policies and practices that undermine the viability of the two-state solution or that cut hard against the historic status quo in Jerusalem. And I will be clear and direct on those points,” he said.

Miller recently co-authored an article calling on Biden to threaten to cut weapons supplies to Israel if the new government uses them to annex Palestinian land, expel Arabs or finally kill off the diminishing possibility of a Palestinian state. But he does not see the president taking such steps.

“Biden is preternaturally pro-Israel. Biden knows Netanyahu, he’s been humiliated by Netanyahu. But at the same time he’s got a deep, deep sense of commitment to Israel,” said Miller.

“Number two, I think Biden understands that this is bad politics. The last thing he needs is to get sandwiched between the Republican party that’s hammering him as to why he’s criticising Israel and his own Democratic party, which is increasingly divided on the subject.”

Khaled Elgindy, a former adviser to the Palestinian leadership on negotiations with Israel, agreed that Biden has no stomach for a fight in part because of President Obama’s humiliating retreat after he tried to force a settlement construction freeze on Netanyahu in 2009.

Israeli bulldozers demolish a Palestinian house in the village of Kafr al-Dik near the West Bank city of Salfit on Tuesday. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

“Obama tackled the Palestinian issue, immediately got burned and then backed away. This White House is very risk averse and it’s pretty clear that they don’t want to invest any real political capital on the Palestinians. They’ve made it clear from the beginning that they were going to be in a holding pattern,” he said.

“They see it as a losing issue because it doesn’t lend itself to easy solutions. Any progress would require some pretty heavy political lifting. They’re going to have to be prepared for confrontations with the Israeli government and with Republicans in Congress – and also with the current establishment within their own party.”

Elgindy said the White House was laying down some red lines about upsetting the status quo, “although they’re not very bright red”.

“At the same time, they’re continuing with this approach that the administration has had all along of expressing any serious disagreements privately,” he said.

Miller describes the Palestinian issue as “not ready for primetime”.

“It’s a mess and the best Biden can do is to prevent bad things, very bad things, from happening,” he said.

“But it’s hard for me to see this whole thing being managed for the next few years. There are just too many moving parts.”

High on the list of concerns is a surge in violence and the potential for the outbreak of a third Palestinian intifada. Then there is the collapsing power of the Palestinian Authority.

Some Israeli leaders regard the PA as a useful tool in administering the major Palestinian cities and acting as an arm of the Israeli occupation. But others on the right, such as Smotrich, are instinctively opposed to anything that smacks of Palestinian nationalism or state-building.

Then there is the agitation on the Israeli right to annex parts of the occupied territories.

Elgindy said any of those events could force Biden to confront Israel but he suspects they are more likely to happen by stealth and so allow the White House to avoid action.

“The collapse of the PA isn’t something that will happen overnight … It will be a slow, piecemeal disintegration,” he said.

“It’s similar with, with annexation. It’s not going to be a formal declaration in favour of annexing the West Bank. De facto annexation is happening every day with every road, every settlement. It’s going to happen much more piecemeal. So I don’t see Biden doing much at all.”

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Political Resurrection Already Looks DOA

Lloyd Green
Wed, January 11, 2023 

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Once again, Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s prime minister. His return, however, has not heralded political resurrection. Instead, in less than two weeks, he has rejuvenated the country’s center and left in ways their own recent campaigns failed to do. His embrace of the radical right and religious hardliners is now exacting a steep price at home and abroad.

By the numbers, one recent poll shows Netanyahu and his coalition partners losing six seats and control of the Knesset, the country’s parliament. Fortunately for him and his allies, elections are not on the horizon.

Netanyahu’s latest tenure is shaping up as a series of self-induced headaches and missteps, the product of his all-out effort to short-circuit his ongoing bribery and corruption trial. Practically speaking, he has ceded control of the government to Israel’s extremes.

Israel Is Now a Province of Red State America

Think “my country for a horse” meets “l’état, c’est moi,” and you get the picture. Only Kevin McCarthy acts more desperate.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu waived his objections to Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of public security (and a disciple of the late racist extremist and convicted terrorist Meir Kahane) visiting the Temple Mount. Suffice to say, Ben-Gvir’s walk on the wild side went badly, earning Netanyahu and Israel a trip under a global microscope.

Days later, the prime minister’s office advised that Netanyahu would not be traveling to the United Arab Emirates in the near future, blaming the about-face on “logistics.” On top of that, the UAE and China, two of Netanyahu’s much-vaunted friends, bluntly reminded him that their affection came with strings attached.

Specifically, the pair called for the recent UN Security Council meeting that focused on Ben-Gvir’s controversial stroll in the shadow of the Dome of the Rock. For its part, Oman, once thought to be the next signatory of the Abraham Accords, has criminalized relations with Israel since Netanyahu’s election.

The mishigas emanating from Jerusalem appears to be getting on the nerves of the Biden administration. Already, the president has warned the prime minister against policies “that contradict our mutual interests and values.” Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to visit Netanyahu later this month.

To be sure, internal Israeli pushback and pressures are rising, too. Netanyahu & Co.’s attack on the independence of the country’s judiciary, coupled with their embrace of a wholesale exemption from military service for the country’s burgeoning ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, are decidedly unpopular.

Bibi’s Israel Is Turning Into a High-Tech Version of Hungary

Three in five Israelis awarded Netanyahu poor grades for his handling of coalition negotiations. Little more than half believed the new government would worsen Israel’s international standing. People have taken to the streets.

This past Saturday night, thousands protested against the government in Tel Aviv, the country’s commercial center, earning Ben-Gvir’s ire in the process. Placards comparing Israel to late Weimar Germany and the current justice minister to Hitler made their debuts.

A day later, Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus (a steadfast defender of the state of Israel), let the world know that he backed the demonstrations. “There’s a direct conflict between pure democracy… and the rights of minorities and civil rights,” he said.

On Monday, Israel’s establishment delivered a one-two punch of its own against Netanyahu and his friends. “If you continue on the path you are following, you will be responsible for civil war in Israeli society,” Benny Gantz, a retired general who had served as defense minister and deputy prime minister, thundered. “This is the time to go out en masse and to demonstrate, the time to make the country tremble.”

Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and retired general, was similarly unsparing in his criticism. He castigated Netanyahu in a tweet for capitulating to Ben Gvir, whom he characterized as a “blackmailer.” Barak had previously opined that Netanyahu’s government had shown “signs of fascism” and suggested that a mass “non-violent revolt” may be needed.

To be sure, Netanyahu is not amused. “Someone who does not condemn the comparison of the justice minister to a Nazi and of the government of Israel to the Third Reich—he is the one who is planting the seeds of disaster,” he ripped Gantz. For good measure, Netanyahu also accused his one-time deputy of fomenting “sedition from within the Knesset.”

Israel’s Rising Far-Right Can Thank the Youth Vote

Not to be outdone, Tzvika Fogel, chairman of the Knesset’s police committee and an ally of Ben Gvir, has since called for the arrest of Gantz and Yair Lapid, a former prime minister and Netanyahu’s immediate predecessor, on treason charges.

In that same vein, Eli Dallal, a Knesset member from Netanyahu’s own Likud Party lamented that Israel was “too democratic.” Apparently, dissent is for the privileged, not the many. On cue, the bond-rating agencies have weighed in. Maxim Rybnikov, director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor’s, warned that the Netanyahu government’s plans to “weaken the state’s institutions” might jeopardize Israel’s credit rating. His words will likely garner attention.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, is an S&P alumnus. As for Netanyahu, an MIT graduate, he launched his career at Boston Consulting Group. They both understand the force of markets.

Yet for Netanyahu, winning a get-out-of-jail card appears paramount. The drama will continue to unfold with Washington bewildered, the world watching, and Israel in the middle.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Israeli restrictions on Palestinian flags 'repressive': Amnesty

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Bolstered Israeli restrictions against flying the Palestinian flag are "a shameless attempt to legitimise racism", rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Israel's new firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police commander on Sunday to authorise officers to remove Palestinian flags flying in public spaces.

"I have instructed the Israeli police to enforce the ban on flying a PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) flag in public spaces, a sign of identification with a terrorist organisation", Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter.

"We will fight terrorism and the supporters of terrorism with all our might," he added.

After winning November elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a government last month with key posts taken by far-right allies.

They include Ben-Gvir of the Jewish Power party, who has a history of inflammatory remarks about Palestinians.

Amnesty called the new measures "repressive" and an "audacious attack on the rights to nationality, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly", in a statement sent to AFP.

In Israel and in annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli security forces already confiscate Palestinian flags, sometimes triggering violence.

In May last year, at the funeral of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera reporter, baton-wielding Israeli police beat pallbearers carrying the coffin, which was covered by a Palestinian flag.

Although it is not illegal to fly the Palestinian flag, Israeli laws prohibit the public display of a flag of an enemy country or group hostile to Israel's existence.

"Israeli authorities say the directive is aimed at stopping 'incitement' against Israel, but it comes amid a string of measures designed to silence dissent and restrict protests, including those held in defence of Palestinian rights," Amnesty said.

"The farcical pretexts for this directive cannot mask the fact that Israeli authorities are growing increasingly ruthless in their attempts to silence Palestinian voices," the statement added.


Tue, January 10, 2023 

U.S. to simplify offshore wind regulations to meet climate goals


Jan 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of the Interior will reform its regulations for the development of wind energy facilities on the country's outer continental shelf to help meet crucial climate goals, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The proposed rule changes would save developers a projected $1 billion over a 20-year period by streamlining burdensome processes, clarifying ambiguous provisions, and lowering compliance costs, , the statement said.

"Updating these regulations will facilitate the safe and efficient development of offshore wind energy resources, provide certainty to developers and help ensure a fair return to the U.S. taxpayers," U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the release.

The reforms come days after the department named Elizabeth Klein, a lawyer who worked in the Obama and Clinton administrations, to head its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), overseeing offshore oil, gas and wind development.

As part of its offshore clean energy program, the BOEM has over the past two years approved the first two commercial scale offshore wind projects in the United States, held three lease auctions including the first-ever sale off the coast of California, and explored extending offshore wind to other areas like the Gulf of Mexico.

The department expects to hold as many as four more auctions and review at least 16 new commercial facilities by 2025, adding more than 22 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy.

In September last year, President Joe Biden's administration set a goal of having 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035 to accelerate development of next-generation floating wind farms in line with its target of permitting 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. (Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)

Explainer-Peru protests: What is behind the violence?



Demonstrators clash with security forces in Juliaca

Thu, January 12, 2023 
By Brendan O'Boyle

(Reuters) - At least 40 people have died in clashes between Peruvian security forces and protesters in the Andean country's worst outbreak of violence in over 20 years, as demonstrators call for systemic political changes and accountability for the deaths.

WHAT SPARKED THE PROTESTS?

Protests began after Congress removed President Pedro Castillo on Dec. 7, who was arrested and sentenced to 18 months of pre-trial detention on rebellion charges.

Castillo, 53, was embroiled in multiple corruption investigations and tried to illegally dissolve Congress ahead of a planned impeachment vote.


His removal was the latest blow in a years-long clash between Peru's executive and legislature. Castillo's vice president, Dina Boluarte, ascended to the job as Peru's sixth president in five years.

WHAT IS FUELING THE PROTESTS?

Protesters are demanding Boluarte's resignation, Congress' closure, a new constitution and Castillo's release. There have also been marches calling for an end to the unrest.

Allegations of undue force against protesters have fueled anger against Boluarte's government. Human rights groups have accused authorities of using firearms on protesters and dropping smoke bombs from helicopters. The army says protesters have used weapons and homemade explosives.

Peru's top prosecutor's office on Jan. 10 said it launched an inquiry into Boluarte and members of her cabinet on charges of "genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries" amid the protests.

WHAT IS HAPPENING AT PROTESTS?

Protesters have blockaded highways, set buildings on fire, and invaded airports, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage and lost revenue. Blockades have disrupted trade, grounded flights and stranded tourists.

Security forces have responded with violence. Victims have included civilians who were not protesting.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has condemned violence by both security forces and protesters and called for dialogue. Protesters have so far refused to start talks with Boluarte.

WHO IS PEDRO CASTILLO?

Voters elected Castillo, a socialist, from a crowded field of candidates in 2021, following years of political crises and during a pandemic that hit Peru harder than most countries.

A little-known teacher and union leader from a poor Andean village, Castillo had no experience in elected office or ties to the Lima establishment.

Castillo's supporters had high hopes he could bring better representation to poor, rural and indigenous Peruvians while standing up to elites.

Once in office, however, his support tumbled amid corruption scandals, party infighting, and congressional opposition. Castillo struggled to govern, naming five prime ministers and more than 80 ministers during his short presidency.

Still, Castillo retained supporters, who see him as a victim of political elites and a Congress that is widely unpopular and considered corrupt. Castillo's 27% approval rating in a November IPSOS poll was still higher than Congress' 18%.

WHERE ARE THE PROTESTS?

Protests have occurred nationwide, but Peru's long marginalized, left-leaning south has been their epicenter and the site of the worst violence.

The largely indigenous region has for centuries been at odds with the more mestizo and whiter capital, which long dominated national politics. Castillo was just the second president born outside of Lima to be elected since 1956.

Although poverty fell in recent decades, a gap in living standards persists between the region and the capital. Despite local copper and gas wealth in the south, indicators including life expectancy and infant mortality lag those in Lima.

Peru's south is also home to economically and culturally important tourist destinations such as Cusco and the nearby Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, from where over 2,000 tourists had to be evacuated in early January due to protests.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle and Marco Aquino; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

Peru families mourn protest dead after worst violence in decades


Demonstrators clash with security forces in Juliaca

Marco Aquino
Wed, January 11, 2023 

By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvians in the southern region of Puno carried coffins through the streets on Wednesday of the 17 civilians who died in protests in the area earlier this week, the worst outbreak of violence the Andean country has seen in over 20 years.

Even as families mourned their dead, the country's ombudsman reported another death in clashes in the Andean city of Cusco, that of local community leader Remo Candia Guevara.

"We demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for the death and proceed to the respective sanctions," it said in a statement.

The country has been roiled by protests since the abrupt ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo in early December, with a total of 41 people killed, almost half of them in the city of Juliaca on Monday, including one police officer.

Thousands of people in Juliaca paid tribute to the dead by carrying coffins through the streets before their burial along with photos of the faces of the victims, flowers, Peruvian flags, and banners blaming the new government for the violence.

"The bloodshed will never be forgotten," some shouted while carrying black flags at a march in the region that borders Bolivia and was the focus of the most recent protests.

The violence, a severe test for Peru's democracy, is the worst conflict since the late 1990s when the country was gripped by violence between rebel group Shining Path and the state, which left 69,000 people dead or missing over two decades.

Protests in 2009 saw 33 Peruvians killed after indigenous groups in the northern jungle region clashed with police during the government of former President Alan García.

Protesters are calling for the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, quick general elections, a new Constitution and the release of Castillo, who was ousted and arrested for "rebellion" after trying to illegally shutter Congress.

'LISTENING TO ALL VOICES'

On Wednesday a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) met Boluarte, whose Cabinet survived a confidence vote by Congress on Tuesday, to assess the crisis.

"We will be verifying the human rights situation, the idea is to hear from the broadest possible range of all voices," IACHR representative Edgar Stuardo Ralón told reporters.

Boluarte, facing a preliminary investigation by state prosecutors over the deaths, said in a statement after the meeting that the government would give the commission all the support needed to find out what had happened.

Peruvian police and armed forces have been accused by human rights groups of using deadly firearms and launching tear gas canisters from helicopters. The army says, for its part, that the demonstrators have used weapons and homemade explosives.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Peru protests: New President Boluarte faces genocide inquiry

Tue, January 10, 2023 

Dina Boluarte was sworn in as Peru's new president shortly after Pedro Castillo was ousted

Peru's top prosecutor has launched an inquiry into President Dina Boluarte and key ministers over weeks of clashes that have left dozens of people dead.

The officials are being investigated on charges of "genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries".

Violence erupted after ex-President Pedro Castillo was arrested in December for trying to dissolve Congress.

On Monday, 17 people died in clashes between Castillo supporters and security forces in south-eastern Peru.

Dozens more were injured in the city of Juliaca in what was the worst day of violence so far. Many of the victims had gunshot wounds.

The authorities accused the protesters of trying to overrun Juliaca's airport and a local police station. An overnight curfew is now in place in the region.

Fresh Peru clashes leave many dead

On Tuesday, the attorney general's office announced its decision to investigate Ms Boluarte, as well as Prime Minister Alberto Otárola along with the defence and interior ministers.

The president and her ministers have not publicly commented on the issue.

Castillo supporters - many of whom are poor indigenous Peruvians - say President Boluarte must resign, snap elections be held and the former president released.

Mr Castillo, a left-winger, tweeted from his prison cell, saying those defending Peru from what he called the coup dictatorship would never be forgotten.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Mr Otárola's government comfortably won a vote of confidence in Congress.

The South American nation has been through years of political turmoil, with the latest crisis coming to a head when Mr Castillo announced he was dissolving Congress and introducing a state of emergency in December.

But Congress proceeded to vote overwhelmingly to impeach him.

The former president is being investigated on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. He denies all the accusations, insisting that he is still the country's legitimate president.

SE Peru: 'Traditionally the region has been very close to the leftwing political process' in Bolivia

Issued on: 12/01/2023 -

04:58  Video by:Tom Burges WATSON

Protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte’s government that have left 48 people dead since they began a month ago spread through the south of the Andean country on Wednesday with new clashes reported in the tourist city of Cusco. For more on the deadly clashes, FRANCE 24 is joined by Dr. Amalendu Misra, Senior Lecturer and Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University.

Peru families mourn protest dead after worst violence in decades
mmj/kb 12.01.2023, 09:03

Dozens of people attend a large mass for those who died this week during the protests, in the Plaza de Armas in Juliaca, Peru, 11 January 2023. Photo: EPA/Stringer

A funeral procession marched through the streets of Juliaca, Puno region, on Wednesday with Peruvians carrying coffins of the 17 civilians who died in protests in the area earlier this week, the worst outbreak of violence the Andean country has seen in over two decades.

The violence continued as families mourned their dead, with the country's ombudsman reporting another casualty in clashes in the Andean city of Cusco, that of local community leader Remo Candia Guevara.

“We demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for the death and proceed to the respective sanctions,” it said in a statement.

Protests have been rattling the country since the abrupt ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo in early December, with a total of 41 people killed, almost half of them in the city of Juliaca on Monday, including one police officer.

Thousands of people in Juliaca paid tribute to the dead. Coffins were carried through the streets before their burial along with photographs of the faces of the victims, flowers were laid, Peruvian flags waved, and banners displayed blaming the new government for the violence.

“The bloodshed will never be forgotten,” was on the lips of some who cried out their anger while carrying black flags at a march in the region that borders Bolivia and was the focus of the most recent protests.

The violence was a harsh litmus test for Peru's democracy. So far, the test has been hardly passed as the unrest transmogrified into the country’s worst conflict since the late 1990s when Peru was torn by violence between the Shining Path rebel group and the state. As many as 69,000 were killed, died or went missing over two decades amidst the conflict.

In 2009, protests saw 33 Peruvians killed after indigenous groups in the northern jungle region clashed with police during the government of former President Alan García.

The protesters’ demands are the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, snap general elections, a new Constitution and the release of Castillo, who was ousted and arrested for “rebellion” after trying to illegally shutter Congress.

Boluarte seem cooperative

Wednesday saw a meeting between a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Boluarte, whose Cabinet survived a confidence vote by Congress on Tuesday, to assess the crisis.

“We will be verifying the human rights situation, the idea is to hear from the broadest possible range of all voices,” IACHR representative Edgar Stuardo Ralón told reporters.

Facing a preliminary investigation by state prosecutors over the deaths, Boluarte seemed inclined to cooperate, saying in a statement after the meeting that the government would give the commission all the support needed to find out what had happened.

Peruvian police and armed forces have been accused by human rights groups of using deadly firearms and launching tear gas canisters from helicopters. But as the army claims, the demonstrators have not gone the peaceful path of protest, instead resorted to using weapons and homemade explosives.

source: REUTERS, TVP WORLD

Peru protesters mourn their dead as clashes continue


Issued on: 12/01/2023 -

In total, at least 40 people have died in more than a month of demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte © Juan Carlos CISNEROS / AFP

Juliaca (Peru) (AFP) – Demonstrators in Peru blocked roads and held mass funerals on Wednesday for those killed in violent anti-government protests that have gripped the country for weeks, as the United States called for "restraint" on both sides.

The deadly clashes have spread to the tourist city of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, where one protester was killed and more than 20 people, including six police officers, were wounded.

In total, at least 40 people have died in more than a month of demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, who took over after the ouster and arrest of her predecessor Pedro Castillo on December 7.

The violence has drawn a rebuke from the United Nations, and a delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) arrived in the country Wednesday to investigate the protests and accusations of political repression.

On Tuesday, Peru's prosecutor's office said it was opening a genocide investigation against Boluarte and other top officials as a result of the deaths.

The epicenter of the protests has been in the Aymara region of Puno, on the border with Bolivia, where thousands of residents walked the streets of Juliaca with the coffins of 17 civilians who were killed earlier this week.

Each coffin bore a photograph and was draped in a Peruvian flag.

"Dina killed me with bullets," read the white coffin of Edgar Huaranca, carried on the shoulders of six family members.

The government has imposed a three-day curfew on the Andean region in a bid to calm the tensions.

On Wednesday, a road blockade extended to eight of the country's 25 regions, officials said.

In Cusco, demonstrators tried to reach the city's airport after mobilizing to demand the president's ouster.

The ombudsman's office said one protester had been killed, identifying him on Twitter as the president of the community of Anansaya Urinsaya Ccollana de Anta, Remo Candia Guevara.

"We demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for the death and proceed to the respective sanction," it added.

Among the more than 20 wounded in Cusco were six police officers, the health ministry reported.

In Arequipa, Peru's second city, hundreds also marched against the government, while in Tacna, on the border with Chile, an indefinite strike began, marked by episodes of vandalism.

Human rights probe launched

The regional governments of Puno and Cusco are demanding Boluarte step down as a first step to resolving the crisis.

Puno began an indefinite strike a week ago to demand the resignation of Boluarte, immediate presidential and legislative elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.

The IACHR commissioners were received by Boluarte at the Government Palace, the seat of the Peruvian executive.

"We are going to verify the human rights situation. We regret the loss of human life during the demonstrations," said head of mission Edgar Stuardo Ralon, whose delegation will remain in Peru until January 13.

They will meet with authorities, victims and their relatives in Lima, Ica and Arequipa.

The United States on Wednesday urged restraint and the minimal use of force, and backed an investigation into the dozens of deaths.

"We recognize the right for peaceful protest and expressing grievances through democratic channels, and call for calm, dialogue and for all parties to exercise restraint and non-violence," a State Department spokesperson said.

© 2023 AFP

FREDRICK DOUGLAS BANNED
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders bans critical race theory in schools

KULTURKAMPF

Chris Pandolfo
Wed, January 11, 2023 

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a flurry of executive orders on her first day in office Tuesday, including an immediate statewide freeze on government hiring and a ban on teaching critical race theory in schools.

Sanders, who was sworn in as the first female governor of Arkansas on Tuesday, vowed to make education reform the hallmark of her administration. In her inaugural address, she said schools need to "get back to teaching, reading, writing, math, and science," and that "the identity that truly matters is the one we all share an identity as children of God and citizens of the United States of America."

To that end, one of the orders she signed in her first act as governor prohibits "indoctrination and critical race theory in schools." Critical race theory, or CRT, is a school of legal thought that analyzes how power structures and institutions have negatively impacted racial minorities in America. Concepts that are derivative from CRT, such as "white privilege," "systemic racism,' and "implicit bias," have appeared in classroom lessons around the nation and received fierce pushback from parents and conservative lawmakers.

"As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda," Sanders said, vowing to be "Arkansas' education governor."

The Placentia Yorba Linda School Board in California discusses a proposed resolution to ban teaching critical race theory in schools, Nov. 16, 2021.

"We will improve literacy for our youngest students. We will reward our teachers with higher pay. And we will empower parents with more choices so that no child is ever trapped in a failing school or sentenced to a lifetime in poverty," she promised.

Sanders also ordered an immediate freeze on hiring and promotions for all state government jobs.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS MAKES HISTORY AS ARKANSAS' FIRST FEMALE GOVERNOR

"We are limiting the growth of government before government limits the growth of individual liberty," the newly sworn-in governor said.

Additionally, Sanders signed executive orders seeking a review of waste and fraud in unemployment benefits, ordering a report on cybersecurity in state government, instructing that state departments get approval from the governor before issuing new rule-making procedures to the Arkansas Legislature, requiring state offices, departments, and agencies to drop the word "Latinx" from official documents, and ordering an inspector general review of all previously issued executive orders to identify potential conflicts and limit government overreach.