DOCTORS AS PROLETARIANS

Sir Keir Starmer: I will slash ‘nonsense’ bureaucracy in the NHS


Camilla Turner
Sat, 14 January 2023

Writing for The Telegraph, Sir Keir Starmer says the situation for NHS patients is now 'intolerable and dangerous' - Brian Lawless/PA

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to slash “mind-boggling” NHS bureaucracy, as he said the service must either “reform or die”.

The Labour leader cautioned that “well-meaning reverence” for the health service has “supplanted reality”, adding that it must not be seen as “off limits” for criticism.

He outlined a series of reforms that a Labour government would bring in, which include allowing patients to bypass GPs to make self-referrals to specialists, as well as gradually turning family doctors into direct NHS employees.

It is the first time Sir Keir has publicly backed the proposals, previously mooted by Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary.

Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Keir said the situation for NHS patients is now “intolerable and dangerous”, adding: “The idea the service is still ‘the envy of the world’ is plainly wrong.”

His remarks - which will be seen as a break from Labour’s traditional veneration of the NHS - come as nurses prepare for a fresh round of strikes on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Sir Keir also outlined Labour’s plans to crack down on the “bureaucratic nonsense” that patients encounter every day in the health service.

“Why can’t people with persistent back problems self-refer to physio?” he said. “Why if you notice bleeding do you have to get a GP appointment, simply to get the tests that you then do yourself at home?

“Every patient will have their own experience of these mundane inconveniences and inefficiencies. Across the system and across the country each one adds up, resulting in a mind-boggling waste of time, energy and money, all of which could be better spent.”

The NHS is facing one of its worst winter crises, with medics warning that hospitals are running out of oxygen because of the number of patients being treated in corridors and ambulances.

Heart attack victims were left waiting an average of 90 minutes for an ambulance last month – the worst waiting times on record.

Sir Keir said the situation for NHS patients is now 'intolerable and dangerous' - PA

Sir Keir warned that “investment alone won’t be enough” to rescue the NHS and said he will tackle “ingrained thinking” among hospital managers to force change and modernisation of the service.

His message is a direct challenge to Rishi Sunak, who has made cutting down NHS waiting list times one of his key priorities as Prime Minister.

On Saturday night, Downing Street announced plans for a major expansion of his "virtual wards" initiative, whereby patients are treated at home as part of efforts to free up hospital beds.

Sir Keir said Mr Sunak’s promise to get waiting lists down is merely the “path of least resistance” and the “stale route to further decline” of the health service.

He described how the model of using doctors as the only “front door” of the NHS is no longer viable, as younger doctors are increasingly put off from taking on the “burdens and liabilities” of running GP practices.

Currently, GPs are self-employed and run their own practices under contracts awarded by the NHS. Sir Keir wants to gradually wind this down and make GPs direct employees of the NHS.

“It’s time for us to think about a new, sustainable system, one that allows GPs to focus on caring for patients rather than the admin that comes with effectively running a small business,” said Sir Keir.

“This would be a big change and it won’t happen overnight. But I am a pragmatist, focused on what works for patients.

“As GPs retire and those contracts are handed back, I want to phase in a new system that sees GPs fairly rewarded within the NHS, working much more closely with other parts of the system.”

ICYMI💩
Human Waste is Safe for Growing Vegetables, Researchers Say



Low De Wei
Sun, January 15, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- As farmers in Europe and across the world grapple with increases in the cost of fertilizers, researchers suggest a solution may be closer to home in what people flush down the toilet.

A peer-reviewed paper by scientists in Europe published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science found that fertilizer made from human feces and urine is safe to use, and that only extremely tiny quantities of chemicals from medicines or drugs, for example, would get into the food.

Governments worldwide are struggling to keep fertilizer costs manageable and increase self-sufficiency after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up prices of natural gas, a key feedstock for crop nutrients. European Union authorities are considering ways to speed up development of manure-based fertilizers after the surge in costs spurred anger among the bloc’s farmers.

In terms of safety, the researchers screened human waste for 310 chemicals, from pharmaceuticals to insect repellents, and found that only 6.5% of these were above the limit for detection and at low concentrations. “In general, the risk for human health of pharmaceutical compounds entering the food system by means of fecal compost use, seems low,” the authors concluded.

While they detected two pharmaceutical products in edible parts of cabbages, the painkiller ibuprofen and the anticonvulsant drug carbamazepine, the concentrations were markedly low. This means that more than half a million cabbage heads would need to be eaten to accumulate a dose equivalent to one carbamazepine pill, they said.

The surge in fertilizer costs after the Russian invasion already spurred some farmers to turn to animal dung, and even human sewage, to replace synthetic crop nutrients, but these alternatives had not proved so effective. This study, however, suggests that some products processed from human waste can come close to matching the efficiency of artificial alternatives.

“If correctly prepared and quality-controlled, up to 25% of conventional synthetic mineral fertilizers in Germany could be replaced by recycling fertilizers from human urine and feces,” lead author Ariane Krause said.

Is climate change the same thing as global warming? Definitions explained.

Joel Shannon, USA TODAY

Sat, January 14, 2023 
Two terms – climate change and global warming – point to the same existential threat: Global temperatures have risen dramatically in about the past 150 years and scientists say they're on pace to radically alter life on Earth in coming decades.

Temperatures on our planet have fluctuated based on natural processes many times in the past, but experts say this extraordinary run of warming is different.

Global temperatures already have risen about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since about 1850, NASA says.

In the past, it took roughly thousands of years for global temperatures to change that much.

Such rapid change is alarming and is already disrupting the delicate balance of life on Earth.

Even so, lies about climate change stubbornly persist.

The global warming trend comes as the human population exploded in recent centuries and technological advances spewed enormous amounts of chemicals and gases into the atmosphere. Some of them, called greenhouse gases, are excellent at trapping heat.

Here's what to know about climate change:

Is climate change the same thing as global warming?

Yes and no.

The terms have different meanings, although they're often used interchangeably, according to NASA.

While the term "global warming" was used frequently in the past, the term "climate change" is used more often today because it includes the cascading consequences of rising temperatures occurring around the world – melting glaciers, rising seas, drought and more. "Global warming" refers more narrowly to the trend of rising temperatures.

What is causing climate change?

The Earth's climate changes through a variety of natural processes, but federal scientists say the rapid warming experienced recently is primarily caused by human activities that emit heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

That's why global efforts to fight climate change are so focused on eliminating the burning of fossil fuels, the most notable source of harmful greenhouse gases.

CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES: Why scientists say humans are to blame.

LATEST NEWS: What happened to California's drought?

What are 5 effects of climate change?

Rising seas: Warming temperatures heat up oceans, causing water to expand, and melt huge amounts of ice. The higher sea levels aren't just felt at the coast but also far inland along rivers.


Drought: A "megadrought" in the West has been supercharged by warmer temperatures and a lack of rain.


Wildfires: Drought provides ideal conditions for wildfires. What's worse: Fires release massive amounts of greenhouse gases, which fuels more climate change.


Rain: A USA TODAY analysis of a century of precipitation data shows how, east of the Rockies, more rain is falling – and in more intense bursts.


Hurricanes: Evidence shows climate change is causing wetter hurricanes, but scientists say more data is needed before settling questions over future frequency.

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters

What's the latest climate change news?

In January, a grim accounting emerged of the world's extreme weather and climate disasters in 2022.

The nation's two federal agencies charged with weather and climate observations said in 2022:

Ocean heat reached a new high

Arctic sea ice was second lowest level ever recorded

Europe saw its second warmest year on record, but much of western Europe was the warmest ever

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is climate change and global warming? Definitions explained.

What are the effects of climate change? How they disrupt our daily life, fuel disasters.

Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY
Sat, January 14, 2023

Climate change makes splashy headlines when protesters hurl soup at priceless paintings or devastating floods wash through communities, but the impacts of warmer temperatures are also increasingly disrupting daily life.

Take a walk or ride a bike. Book a ski trip or attend an outdoor sporting event. Visit a big city or a cottage in the country. Chances are increasing that no matter what choice you make, you'll feel the effects of the warming climate.

Fall leaf peeping happens earlier. High school football teams take special precautions to keep kids cool. Inner cities set up chill zones to help protect citizens from heat waves.

How does climate change affect you?: Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter

READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY

Heat waves are becoming more intense and flooding rains occur more often. Even so, lies about climate change stubbornly persist.

Here's what to know about the effects of climate change:
Climate change is real

No matter what your relatives or friends say or post on social media, experts say the mountain of scientific evidence continues to build.

What to know about climate change: What is global warming? Definitions explained.

What are the causes of climate change?: Why scientists say humans are to blame.

“It is virtually certain that human activities have increased atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,” a national panel of experts concluded in a draft of the 5th National Climate Assessment released in November. They see high confidence in forecasts for longer droughts, higher temperatures and increased flooding.

JULY 28, 2022: Aerial view of homes submerged under flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky. Flash flooding caused by torrential rains has killed at least eight people in eastern Kentucky and left some residents stranded on rooftops and in trees, the governor of the south-central US state said.

While global average temperatures continue rising around the world, the U.S. has experienced more warming than many other countries.

EXTREME HEAT: Is the globe prepared?

WILDFIRES: Another above-average wildfire season for 2022. How climate change is making fires harder to predict and fight.

Warming sea surface temperatures around the globe provide more fuel for tropical storms and exacerbate the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.
Why is climate change important?

“Every part of the U.S. is feeling the effects of climate change in some way,” said Allison Crimmins, director of that 5th National Climate Assessment. Representing the latest in climate research by a broad array of scientists, the final version of the assessment is expected in late 2023.

The U.S. East Coast is feeling the combined impacts of more intense storms and rising sea levels. Sunny day flooding is reaching record levels.

Sea levels are forecast to rise as much as 10-12 inches by 2050. Federal agencies say it's a "clear and present risk."

Homes at the beach face an increased threat of erosion and a rising number of homes are giving way to the sea, but it's not just a coastal problem.

Disaster costs are rising, and scientists warn the window to further curtail fossil fuel emissions and put a lid on rising temperatures is closing rapidly.
Is there a climate crisis?

Many scientists and officials worldwide agree: Yes. By the end of this century, projections show global average surface temperatures compared to pre-industrial times could increase by as much as 5.4 degrees.

Merriam-Webster defines "crisis" as a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. A mix of warmer temperatures, extreme rainfall and rising sea levels often make naturally occurring disasters worse, while droughts become more intense and heat waves occur more often.

“The climate crisis is not a future threat, but something we must address today,” Richard Spinrad, administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in August 2022.

Earth sets new emissions record: Dire global warming milestone could come within a decade, report says

Warmer waters: Rising seas could swamp $34B in US real estate in just 30 years, analysis finds

The term “climate crisis” has been used to describe these worsening impacts since at least 1986. Since the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was organized in 1988, its reports steadily have grown more dire.

In April, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said broken climate promises "put us firmly on track toward an unlivable world."

The Fourth National Climate Assessment, released during the Trump administration, warned natural, built and social systems were “increasingly vulnerable to cascading impacts that are often difficult to predict, threatening essential services.”

Climate extremes show: Global warming has 'no sign of slowing'
Is climate change getting better?

Experts say the warming climate will have increasingly severe impacts on daily life, making it more difficult to access water and food, putting a strain on physical and mental health and challenging transportation and infrastructure.

“Every increased amount of warming will increase the risk of severe impacts, and so the more (rapidly) we can take strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the less severe the impacts will be,” Cornell University professor Rachel Bezner Kerr said after the release of one recent IPCC report.

Heat kills more humans each year than floods or hurricanes.

Studies warn the growth in wildfires in the West could mean an increase in dangerous air quality levels.

Warmer climates put animals on the move and increases the risk they’ll spread pathogens to other animals and to humans. A group of University of Hawaii researchers looked at how 376 human diseases and allergens such as malaria and asthma are affected by climate-related weather hazards and found nearly 60% have been aggravated by hazards, such as heat and floods.

Climate change also is displacing people in the U.S. and across the globe.
How does climate change affect us?

Agriculture, sports events and community festivals are feeling the heat.

Farmers are seeing more weather extremes and wilder swings between extreme drought and flooding.

Maple syrup producer Adam Parke has seen a 10-day shift forward in the maple sugar season on his Vermont farm over three decades.

Beef, citrus and cotton: Agriculture sees effects of 'weirding weather' from climate change

NASA reported in 2021 that decreases in global food supplies related to climate change could be apparent by 2030.

But agriculture also may be part of the solution to countering the increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Billions set aside by the Inflation Reduction Act is earmarked to help support agriculture and reduce its emissions.

Changing climate: Uncertain future for Northeast maple trees, syrup season

Warmer spring temperatures have forced organizers to move historic flower festivals forward.

To see further impacts, take a look at the time-honored Olympic tradition.

Two months after the 2022 winter games concluded in Beijing, a group of Olympians visited Washington to ask members of Congress to act on climate change, which they see as a threat to their sports.

Athletes flag dangers of manmade snow.


Nordic skiing future uncertain.


Olympians worry as winter disappears.

The Summer 2024 Olympics are scheduled to kick off in July in France, where the country's meteorological officials expect 2022 to be its hottest year since records began in 1900. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has delayed choosing the location for the 2030 winter games, in part over climate concerns.

Olympic host city selection on hold: Why? It may not be cold enough.

Even fly fisherman see changes all around them. “Everyone knows if this keeps up, the places we can fish for trout are going to be limited,” said Tom Rosenbauer of Vermont, whose job title at sporting goods retailer Orvis is chief enthusiast.

How does climate change affect animals?

Warmer temperatures are forcing some animal species to move beyond their typical home ranges, increasing the risk that infectious viruses they carry could be transmitted to other species they haven’t encountered before. That poses a threat to human and animal health around the world.

Heat's impact: Climate change could cause mass extinction of marine life in Earth's oceans, study says

A roseate spoonbill stands bright against the green of a southeast Arkansas swamp. Jami Linder, an Arkansas photographer, documented the first spoonbill nest in the state in 2020.

“Climate change and pandemics are not separate things,” epidemiologist Colin Carlson, told USA TODAY. “We have to take that seriously as a real-time threat.”

Invasive species are expanding their ranges and even native animals are changing their habits. In South America and Africa, some primate species are leaving the treetops more often.

In the U.S., roseate spoonbills, a brilliant pink wading bird, are moving north as temperatures warm and they're pushed out of native coastal habitats by rising sea levels.

“Climate change and pandemics are not separate things,” . “We have to take that seriously as a real-time threat.” and even native animals are changing their habits. In South America and Africa, some more often. In the U.S., roseate spoonbills, a brilliant pink wading bird, and they're pushed out of native coastal habitats by rising sea levels. Go deeper on climate change Climate change fact check: Trouble on the farm: Rogue waves?: It's not that funny:

Help from government: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:

Martin Luther King Jr. embraced Jewish people. Remember that as antisemitism rises. | Hill

LeBron Hill
Sun, January 15, 2023

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my one-year anniversary with my partner LilyFish, who works in Jewish education.

I am Black and LilyFish is white. Though I grew up in a Christian household, I have enjoyed learning about Judaism.

Our anniversary also means I have celebrated every Jewish holiday in the Hebrew calendar, finishing with Hanukkah.

For eight nights, just as the sun would set, LilyFish would set the candles on the menorah and begin saying the Hanukkah blessings in Hebrew.

I did not understand everything that was going, but what I did understand was the smile LilyFish gave me as we watched the candles burn on the menorah, guessing which one would be the last to go out. My candle lasted the longest.

Tennessean Columnist LeBron Hill with his partner LilyFish Gomberg

I like to think that my first year experience of Jewish culture and Judaism has been lucky because it's based in love, but it hasn't all been easy.
Kanye West's antisemitic tirade sparks concerns

When Kanye West began his antisemitic Twitter tirade in 2022, I saw it as another desperate attention grab. So, I gave it no time, until LilyFish's and my dynamic hit me the face.

One day, during Sukkot — a Jewish harvest festival — and in the midst of rising antisemitism thanks to Kanye's remarks, I took LilyFish out to lunch.

As we sat down and began to eat our food, I heard someone say "Blacks and Jews, it's pretty crazy right!?"

I turned around and to see it was the white woman who had been looking at us in the line as we ordered our ramen. She continued to talk and explained how she's been watching the news and grew concerned about antisemitism in the Black community.

The lady then complimented LilyFish's rainbow kippah a traditional skullcap. Not most none-Jews know to call it that, which led me to ask her: "Are you Jewish?" "Yes!" she said with excitement.

LilyFish and the woman ended up having a lovely conversation about Jewish community.

I felt like a dodged a bullet when it turned out the woman was pleasant because I thought: "I'm totally unprepared to face antisemitism."

I realized I needed to educate myself on antisemitism and learn how to prevent it. I began learning from one of my heroes, Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK stood united with the Jewish community

While reading the book "Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Jewish Community" by Mark Schneier, I learned the civil rights icon found commonality between the two groups of people.

"There are Hitlers loose in America today, both in high and low places," Dr. King said according to the book. "As the tensions and bewilderment of economic problems become more severe, history's scapegoats -- the Jews -- will be joined by new scapegoats, the Negroes. The Hitlers will seek to divert people's minds and turn their frustrations and anger to the helpless and the outnumbered. Then whether the Negro and Jew shall live in peace will depend upon how firmly they resist, how effectively they reach the minds of the decent Americans to halt this deadly diversion."

King's solidarity with Jewish people went beyond just marching alongside them. He appreciated their faith.

"I strongly disagree with the statement ... that more than 5.5 million Jews in America are 'lost without hope'," Dr. King said in response to when Southern Baptist ministers tried to invalidate the Jewish faith. "This type of narrow sectarianism can only lead to irrational religious bigotry and serve to create a dangerous climate of separation between people of different religious persuasion."

But it's not to say that all Black and Jewish communities completely aligned.

In November 1956 when the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses were unconstitutional, the Jewish community in Montgomery, where the boycott took place, stayed neutral on the subject. Local Rabbi Eugene Blachshleger "made no public pronouncements on (desegregation) either from my pulpit or in the columns of our daily press."

Even still, Dr. King kept his relationship with the Jewish community.

Let us be inspired by MLK to have a conversation.

I imagine while marching on the Selma bridge and before giving his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, Dr. King looked around and saw his Black and Jewish brothers and sisters and witnessed unity.

Ultimately, I learned that the first step in combating antisemitism is education. After the conversation LilyFish and I had with the woman at the ramen restaurant, I could have just moved on and not given it another thought. Instead, I chose to learn about Judaism. I attend events at Moishe House Nashville, a Jewish community building space, and immerse myself in Jewish community.

Dr. King knew that understanding folks who are different than you is the first step to building community with them, and thus making meaningful change in the world.

Let Dr. King’s words and actions not just inspire us, but push us to learn about the Jewish community through personal relationships and education.

Let's unite by what we have in common, not what makes us different.

LeBron Hill is an opinion columnist for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and the curator of the Black Tennessee Voices Instagram account. Feel free to contact him at LHill@gannett.com 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antisemitism: Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. embraced Jewish people

Vulcan Energy, Stellantis to develop renewable energy assets in Germany


The logo of Stellantis is seen on a company's building in Velizy-Villacoublay near Paris


Mon, January 16, 2023 

(Reuters) - Automaker Stellantis is set to invest in a geothermal energy project in Germany with lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources to help power a manufacturing facility for electric vehicles, Vulcan said on Tuesday.

The phased project is aimed at providing renewable heat to Stellantis' Rüsselsheim manufacturing facility, which produces the DS 4 and Opel Astra models, Australia-based Vulcan said in a statement.

Vulcan will initially carry out a pre-feasibility study for the development of geothermal renewable energy projects in Rüsselsheim.

The parties will seek public funding opportunities together to advance the project, Vulcan said.

Stellantis, which holds an 8% stake in Vulcan, will aim to source funding for 50% of the project development after the first phase of the project.

Stellantis wants battery electric vehicles to make up 100% of its European passenger car sales by 2030. It recently signed a deal with Australian miner Element 25 for the supply of manganese sulphite for batteries for its electric vehicles.

Vulcan already has a deal with Stellantis to supply lithium from its project in the Upper Rhine Valley.

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; editing by Deepa Babington and Leslie Adler)

OLD FASHIONED CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

General Motors takes its racketeering case against Stellantis to Supreme Court

Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
Sat, January 14, 2023 

General Motors wasn’t content with an appeals court decision dismissing its racketeering case against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now known as Stellantis, so it’s asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

GM’s case, which dates to a filing in federal court in Detroit in November 2019, is tied to the long-running corruption scandal that sent former top UAW leaders and former auto executives to prison and led to a conviction for FCA US, Stellantis’ U.S. operating arm, and an independent monitor for the union. The UAW was not named as a defendant in the GM case. The scandal involved the embezzlement and misuse of millions of dollars for lavish goodies, including travel, dining and even a Ferrari.

Sergio Marchionne, left, and Dennis Williams, who was then UAW president but later convicted in the corruption scandal, shake hands during a ceremony to mark the opening of contract negotiations between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Detroit in 2015. General Motors claims that Marchionne, the late, former CEO of FCA, corrupted the bargaining process to hurt GM and has taken its case against FCA US, the U.S. operating arm of Stellantis, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

More:Prosecutor: Corruption case involving FCA might be unmatched in U.S. history

GM claims FCA and its legendary late boss Sergio Marchionne corrupted the contract bargaining process to hurt GM by saddling it with unnecessary extra labor costs in an attempt to force a merger between the automakers. That merger never happened, but GM said the damage was done.

“As the sordid details of the scheme unfolded, it became increasingly clear that FCA’s corruption had not only benefitted FCA but directly harmed GM, both by ensuring that GM would consistently be denied concessions the UAW gave to FCA, and by corrupting the pattern-bargaining process to force GM to shoulder more than $1 billion in labor costs above what it would have expended absent FCA’s racketeering,” according to a GM filing this month with the Supreme Court.

Stellantis has repeatedly pushed back against GM’s claims, as it did again Friday.

"As we have said from the date this lawsuit was filed, it is meritless and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously and pursue all available remedies in response to this groundless lawsuit," according to a statement from spokeswoman Shawn Morgan.

More:Joe Ashton, ex-GM board member, sentenced to 30 months in UAW scandal

The federal lawsuit, which had been dismissed with prejudice at the District Court level, captured headlines, not just because it pitted two Detroit automakers against each other, but also because U.S. District Judge Paul Borman tried unsuccessfully to have GM CEO Mary Barra and FCA's then-CEO Mike Manley meet to hash out a resolution. Borman indicated the case would be a waste of resources if allowed to proceed, and that the country, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and the anger over George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, needed to heal.

GM appealed the lower court's decision, but a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s dismissal in August.

That set the stage for GM's current actions.

"We are seeking Supreme Court review of the Sixth Circuit’s decision that would allow FCA to escape liability under the federal racketeering statute for the harm it inflicted on GM through its admitted corruption," according to a statement from spokeswoman Maria Raynal.

More:UAW presidential hopefuls offer competing visions for union's future

GM, in a filing this month referenced earlier by the website law360.com, noted that the appeals court held that GM can’t recover damages for its injuries “even though it was the direct and intended victim of this quintessential racketeering scheme. That conclusion defies statutory text, precedent, and common sense.”

It’s not clear how quickly any new decisions might come in the case. A filing deadline related to the legal process is in March, according to the Supreme Court website.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM takes case against rival Stellantis to Supreme Court

Israel's Cognyte won tender to sell intercept spyware to Myanmar before coup -documents

The headquarters of the Israeli company Cognyte in Herzliya near Tel Aviv

Sat, January 14, 2023 
By Fanny Potkin and Poppy McPherson

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Israel's Cognyte Software Ltd won a tender to sell intercept spyware to a Myanmar state-backed telecommunications firm a month before the Asian nation's February 2021 military coup, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The deal was made even though Israel has claimed it stopped defence technology transfers to Myanmar following a 2017 ruling by Israel's Supreme Court, according to a legal complaint recently filed with Israel's attorney general and disclosed on Sunday.

While the ruling was subjected to a rare gag order at the request of the state and media cannot cite the verdict, Israel's government has publicly stated on numerous occasions that defence exports to Myanmar are banned.

The complaint, led by high-profile Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack who spearheaded the campaign for the Supreme Court ruling, calls for a criminal investigation into the deal. It accuses Cognyte and unnamed defence and foreign ministry officials who supervise such deals of "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity in Myanmar."

The complaint was filed on behalf of more than 60 Israelis, including a former speaker of the house as well as prominent activists, academics and writers.

The documents about the deal, provided to Reuters and Mack by activist group Justice for Myanmar, are a January 2021 letter with attachments from Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to local regulators that list Cognyte as the winning vendor for intercept technology and note the purchase order was issued "by 30th Dec 2020".

Intercept spyware can give authorities the power to listen in on calls, view text messages and web traffic including emails, and track the locations of users without the assistance of telecom and internet firms.

Representatives for Cognyte, Myanmar’s military government and MPT did not respond to multiple Reuters requests for comment. Japan's KDDI Corp and Sumitomo Corp, which have stakes in MPT, declined to comment, saying they were not privy to details on communication interception.

Israel's attorney general did not respond to requests for comment about the complaint. The foreign affairs ministry did not respond to requests for comment about the deal, while the defence ministry declined to comment.

Two people with knowledge of Myanmar’s intercept plans separately told Reuters the Cognyte system was tested by MPT. They declined to be identified for fear of retribution by Myanmar's junta.

MPT uses intercept spyware, a source with direct knowledge of the matter and three people briefed on the issue told Reuters although they did not identify the vendor. Reuters was unable to determine whether the sale of Cognyte intercept technology to MPT was finalised.

Even before the coup, public concern had mounted in Israel about the country's defence exports to Myanmar after a brutal 2017 crackdown by the military on the country's Rohingya population while Aung San Suu Kyi's government was in power. The crackdown prompted the petition led by Mack that asked the Supreme Court to ban arms exports to Myanmar.

Since the coup, the junta has killed thousands of people including many political opponents, according to the United Nations.

COGNYTE UNDER FIRE

Many governments around the world allow for what are commonly called ‘lawful intercepts’ to be used by law enforcement agencies to catch criminals but the technology is not ordinarily employed without any kind of legal process, cybersecurity experts have said.

According to industry executives and activists previously interviewed by Reuters, Myanmar's junta is using invasive telecoms spyware without legal safeguards to protect human rights.

Mack said Cognyte's participation in the tender contradicts statements made by Israeli officials after the Supreme court ruling that no security exports had been made to Myanmar.

While intercept spyware is typically described as "dual-use" technology for civilian and defence purposes, Israeli law states that "dual-use" technology is classified as defence equipment.

Israeli law also requires companies exporting defence-related products to seek licenses for export and marketing when doing deals. The legal complaint said any officials who granted Cognyte licenses for Myanmar deals should be investigated. Reuters was unable to determine whether Cognyte obtained such licenses.

Around the time of the 2020 deal, the political situation in Myanmar was tense with the military disputing the results of an election won by Suu Kyi.

Norway's Telenor, previously one of the biggest telecoms firms in Myanmar before withdrawing from the country last year, also said in a Dec. 3, 2020 briefing and statement that it was concerned about Myanmar authorities’ plans for a lawful intercept due to insufficient legal safeguards.

Nasdaq-listed Cognyte was spun off in February 2021 from Verint Systems Inc, a pioneering giant in Israel's cybersecurity industry.

Cognyte, which had $474 million in annual revenue for its last financial year, was also banned from Facebook in 2021. Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc said in a report Cognyte "enables managing fake accounts across social media platforms".

Meta said its investigation identified Cognyte customers in a range of countries such as Kenya, Mexico and Indonesia and their targets included journalists and politicians. It did not identify the customers or the targets.

Meta did not respond to a request for further comment.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund last month dropped Cognyte from its portfolio, saying states said to be customers of its surveillance products and services "have been accused of extremely serious human rights violations". The fund did not name any states.

Cognyte has not responded publicly to the claims made by Meta or Norway's sovereign wealth fund.

(Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore & Poppy McPherson in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo and Dan Williams in Tel Aviv; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

UN: Afghan bank’s cash remarks ‘misleading, unhelpful’


This is a locator map for Afghanistan with its capital, Kabul. 

Sun, January 15, 2023

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.N. criticized Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled central bank for making “misleading and unhelpful” remarks about cash destined for humanitarian work. It comes amid growing tension between the global body and the country's rulers over bans on female education and employment.

The U.N. uses the money mostly to provide millions of Afghans with critical humanitarian assistance, flying in cash because of banking disruptions since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Foreign aid stopped after the takeover. World governments imposed sanctions, halted bank transfers and froze billions more in Afghanistan’s currency reserves, unwilling to work with the Taliban, given their rule in the late 1990s and their refusal to educate girls and allow women to work.

The Taliban have, in the last 18 months, barred females from education beyond sixth grade, including university, from public spaces and from most employment.

Most recently, they barred women from working at national and international non-governmental organizations. That has drawn condemnation from the U.N., aid agencies and foreign governments and raised concerns that Afghans will suffer and even die if female workers continue to be excluded from humanitarian work. The Taliban show no signs of reversing these edicts, despite repeated calls to do so and visits from high-level U.N. and other foreign officials.

Their chief spokesman says authorities will not allow un-Islamic activities in Afghanistan and that politics should be kept out of humanitarian aid.

The U.N. in Afghanistan issued a statement late Saturday in response to a tweet from the Taliban-controlled central bank, which said a package of $40 million was deposited in a commercial bank in the Afghan capital, Kabul. It posted a photo of wads of cash.

“Da Afghanistan Bank (the Afghan central bank) appreciates any principled move that will bring currency to the country and help the needy in the society,” the tweet said.

But the U.N. said its cash is placed into designated accounts in a private bank and distributed directly to its agencies and a small number of “approved and vetted” humanitarian partners in Afghanistan.

“None of the cash brought is deposited in the Central Bank of Afghanistan nor provided to the Taliban de facto authorities by the UN," the world body said in a statement. "Announcements by non-UN entities about UN. fund shipments are misleading & unhelpful.”

The United Nations has flown in around $1.8 billion in funds for the U.N. and its partners to carry out their work since December 2021.

It said the amount of cash brought in to Afghanistan is proportional to the U.N.’s program of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

“If the volume of assistance that the UN is able to provide diminishes the amount of cash shipped will be reduced,” the U.N. said.

It said the cash transfer mechanism has proved to be essential in the provision of life-saving assistance to more than 25 million Afghans.

Tributes pour in for slain former Afghan female lawmaker

Mon, January 16, 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tributes poured in on Monday for a former Afghan female lawmaker who was shot and killed by gunmen in her home in the capital of Kabul the previous day. The slaying was the first time a lawmaker from the previous administration was killed in the city since the Taliban takeover.

Mursal Nabizada was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Police say one of her bodyguards was also killed in the attack on Sunday.

Karen Decker, the U.S. chargé d’affaires for Afghanistan, tweeted: “Hold the perpetrators accountable!”

“Angered, heartbroken by murder of Mursal Nabizada – a tragic loss. I offer Mursal’s family my condolences and hope to see them receive justice for this senseless act," Decker also said in her tweet.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “shocked" by the killings of Nabizada and a bodyguard and “calls for a prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice," U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said.

Nabizada’s brother was also wounded in the attack, according to Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief in the Taliban administration. A police investigation was underway, he added.

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European parliament, also tweeted her condolences. “I am sad and angry and want the world to know! She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of Gender Apartheid in full daylight,” Neumann said.

Earlier, local police chief Hamidullah Khalid said another security guard had fled the scene with money and jewelry.

Abdullah Abdullah, a top official in Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Nabizada’s death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished. He described her as a “representative and servant of the people.”

Nabizada was elected in 2019 to represent Kabul and stayed in office until the Taliban takeover. She was originally from eastern Nangarhar province. She also worked at a private non-governmental group, the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

After their takeover, the Taliban initially said they would not impose the same harsh rules over society as they did during their first rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

But they have progressively imposed more restrictions, particularly on women. They have banned women and girls from schooling beyond the sixth grade, barred them from most jobs and demanded they cover their faces when outside.

Mursal Nabizada: Gunmen kill former Afghan MP at home in Kabul

Sun, January 15, 2023 

Mursal Nabizada was an MP until the Taliban takeover in 2021

A former Afghan MP and her bodyguard have been shot dead at her home in the capital Kabul, Afghan police have said.

Mursal Nabizada, 32, was one of the few female MPs who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Her brother and a second security guard were wounded in the attack on Sunday.

Former colleagues praised Ms Nabizada as a "fearless champion for Afghanistan" who turned down a chance to leave the country.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, women have been removed from nearly all areas of public life.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said security forces had started a serious investigation into the incident.

Former lawmaker Mariam Solaimankhil said Ms Nabizada was "a true trailblazer - strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger".

"Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people," she wrote on Twitter.

Ms Nabizada, from the eastern province of Nangarhar, was elected as a member of parliament from Kabul in 2018 and stayed in power until the Taliban takeover.

She was a member of the parliamentary defence commission and worked at the Institute for Human Resources Development and Research.

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, said: "I am sad and angry and want the world to know!" in response to the killing.

"She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of gender apartheid in full daylight."

Abdullah Abdullah, a former top official in Afghanistan's former Western-backed government, said he was saddened by Ms Nabizada's death and hoped the perpetrators would be punished.

He described her as a "representative and servant of the people".

Many women who had prominent professional jobs in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion two decades ago fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.

Stay home, female Kabul government workers told

Finding Afghanistan's exiled women MPs

'If they find me, they will kill me'

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/01/taliban-ban-on-female-aid-workers-poses.html

“We Lost Our Beloved Ones For The Sake Of Education”: An Afghan Girl Who Survived A Suicide Attack In Her Classroom Isn’t Backing Down

Syed Zabiullah Langari
Sat, January 14, 2023 

Courtesy Fatima Amiri

It was early morning in Kabul, Afghanistan, when Fatima Amiri first heard the gunshots from inside her classroom. She and hundreds of other students had been preparing for college entrance exams at the time, but then the girls began screaming in panic. Amiri swiftly stood up to calm the class down, but when she turned around, she saw a man with a gun deliberately firing at students.

“I was afraid; I tried to take shelter under the desks when an explosion happened,” the 17-year-old said.

Amiri lost an eye and an eardrum as a result of the explosion. Her jaw was also badly damaged. In all, 54 other students, mostly girls, were killed.


As a minority, Shiites in Afghanistan have been targeted and persecuted for a long time.

Amiri lives in the Dasht-e-Barchi vicinity, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in western Kabul city. Terrorists have been targeting Shiite mosques, schools, athletic clubs, and cultural centers. A horrific assault on a maternity ward in 2020 killed 20 civilians, including women and their newborn babies.

Amiri knew attending school from a security perspective was risky. However, she never thought that one day a terrorist would be trying to kill her inside a classroom.

Undeterred, two weeks after the attack, Amiri showed up for a university entrance exam and was declared one of the top scorers.

“I want to tell the terrorists that no matter how much oppression you would impose on us, you can't defeat us!” Amiri said. “Your attacks inspire us to rise again and again.”

The UN Security Council and other world leaders condemned the attack on the Kaaj education center in Kabul, where Amiri went for two years to prepare for the university entrance exam, but no robust security measures had been taken by the political regimes in Afghanistan to ensure the safety of the Shiites who now feel more marginalized under the Taliban.

In recognition of her courage and resilience, the BBC placed Amiri on a list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2022.

The attack came in the wake of a ban by the Taliban on girls' schools beyond the sixth grade in Afghanistan after the group swept into power last summer. But young Afghans like Amiri are still hopeful that the international community will put pressure on Taliban leaders to respect the rights of girls to education and the rights of women to work.

“I appeal to the international community to do something for Afghan women and girls,” she said. “Hear their voice and take action. It's almost two years now that schools are closed for girls. There is the possibility that the university will be closed too. Currently, the situation is hard. Afghan women and girls can’t work.”

Amiri’s prediction of a restriction on higher education for girls was proven right after the Taliban imposed a complete ban on women’s access to university on Dec. 20. Five days later, the regime also ordered NGOs to stop women from coming to work. Although the ban on women’s access to education and work sparked strong condemnation from the international community, Taliban leaders have said that they will not compromise.

Courtesy Fatima Amiri

“We [had] hoped that the schools are reopened for our girls,” Amiri said. “But instead we faced a worst scenario this time. They closed the university. The world shouldn’t remain indifferent to this approach. We lost our beloved ones for the sake of education. But today I can’t go to university, for which I lost my eye.”

Attacks on Shiites and Hazara ethnic groups in Afghanistan have a long history. Last May, terrorists exploded a bomb near the Sayed-ul-Shuhada girls’ school in the same area, killing at least 85 girls and wounding hundreds more, many of them between the ages of 11 and 15.

Last month, Richard Bennett, the US special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, said in a report that Shiites in Afghanistan are facing systematic attacks, pointing out that members of the Hazara community and other groups have been “arbitrarily arrested, tortured, summarily executed, displaced from traditional lands, subjected to discriminatory taxation and otherwise marginalized.”

“These attacks appear to be systematic in nature and reflect elements of an organizational policy,” Bennett said in the report to the UN Human Rights Council.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities have done little to protect these communities or provide necessary medical care and other assistance to victims and their families.

The report states that since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the ISIS affiliate has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Hazaras and has been linked to at least three more, killing and injuring at least 700 people.

In November, Csaba Kőrösi, president of the United Nations General Assembly, said Afghanistan “is facing complex and interlinked challenges that the Taliban have shown they cannot — or will not — solve.”

“Afghanistan is now the only state in the world that would deny girls their full right to education. The prospect of girls’ education has been left to uncertainty amid seemingly random edicts from the Taliban,” he said.

But the Taliban have so far defied appeals by the international community to reopen schools and pave the way for forming a political system that includes all ethnic groups. For young women like Amiri, though, that institutional opposition fuels her drive to pursue her dreams on behalf of other Afghan girls regardless of the mortal risks. Her goal is now much bigger than her original plan of getting an education in her favorite field of study. She wants to somehow lead Afghan women and assist them in securing a bright future.

“I am very strong,” Amiri said. “I am very confident that one day I will get my dreams.”
More on this


The Taliban In Afghanistan Is Still Preventing Girls From Getting Above A Sixth-Grade Education, So This Kabul Resident Is Running A Secret SchoolSyed Zabiullah Langari · Nov. 13, 2022



This Young Woman Was Imprisoned For 27 Days For Protesting The Taliban’s Policies Against Women’s RightsSyed Zabiullah Langari · July 26, 2022



She Was One Year Away From Going To College. Then The Taliban Banned Her From School.Syed Zabiullah Langari · June 13, 2022