Bangkok residents told to mask up, avoid outdoor activities as air pollution worsens

The giant Buddha statue of Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen temple is seen amid air pollution in Bangkok, on Feb 2, 2023. 

BANGKOK – Residents in Bangkok have been advised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to wear face masks and avoid outdoor activities after fine dust levels climbed above safe levels in several areas of Thailand’s capital on Tuesday morning.

Data from air quality monitoring stations showed that the atmospheric level of PM2.5 ranged from 61 to 93 micrograms (mcg) per cubic m in 69 areas of the city.

Any level above 50mcg is considered unsafe as long-term exposure is linked with chronic diseases, including lung and heart problems.

City residents who have difficulty breathing, eye inflammation, chest pain or headaches after going outside should see a doctor, BMA was quoted as saying by The Nation newspaper.

On Tuesday, Bangkok Post reported that the haze pollution in the country has exceeded safe levels in 36 provinces, particularly the north.

Bangkok and its surrounding provinces will remain blanketed in smog for the next two days.

On Monday, Mr Jatuporn Buruspat, the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that PM2.5 levels have remained critical in the north and the north-east for the past week.

This is due to the slash-and-burn activities in forests and farms, with more than 2,500 hotspots found on both sides of the border, he added.

Officials from the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, the Royal Forest Department and local officials are struggling to control the blazes.

Satellite images from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency on Saturday showed 6,701 hot spots in Myanmar, 2,583 in Thailand, 2,125 in Cambodia, 1,434 in Laos, 147 in Vietnam and two in Malaysia.

Thai PBS World reported that Thailand’s National Environment Board will meet on March 15 to consider the forest fire and haze problems.

This comes after the Office of the Asean Secretary-General sent a Second Level Alert to all member countries about cooperation to cope with the related problems.

Mr Jatuporn said the alert was issued after more than 150 hot spots were detected in a single day.

Most of the hot spots in Thailand were concentrated in forests, 267 in farming areas, 228 in community areas, 155 on land reform plots and 14 near highways.

The three provinces with the most hot spots were Kanchanaburi (597), Tak (200) and Mae Hong Son (117).

Canada school board gets high marks for historic adoption of anti-Islamophobia program
Nearly 40,000 Muslim students can benefit from new policy

7/03/2023 Tuesday
AA



File photo








A Toronto-area school board has become the first in Canada to introduce an anti-Islamophobia program.

The Peel District School Board did its homework and found that about one-quarter of its 153,000 students – Kindergarten through Grade 12 in 244 schools – were Muslim.


“The launch of the strategy demonstrates the Peel District School Board’s commitment to ensuring that Muslim-identifying students feel affirmed and have a safe and inclusive learning environment,” the board said in an email interview with Anadolu.


The comments were gathered by Manon Edwards, the board’s communications manager.


The Peel board’s initiative received an A from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).


“Peel District School Board is the first school board in Canada to develop an anti-Islamophobia strategy of its kind,” NCCM Education Programs Manager Aasiyah Khan said in an email interview.


In fact, Khan said Peel might be the first in North America to create the program.


But changes like this do not happen overnight.


Former board trustee Nokha Dakroub (2014-2022) is a social worker and activist who had previously mentioned the danger of Islamophobia as it affects students.


In August, she said it was time to take concrete action, and at a board meeting that month, she put forth a notice of motion to create the anti-Islamophobia strategy. The idea was officially adopted at a board meeting in September of that year.


The following is the official record of the motion passed by the board.


“Be it resolved, that Peel District School Board commit to an anti-Islamophobia strategy. That staff report out on its efforts to develop an anti-Islamophobia strategy, specifically provide information on what, if any, actionable items and accountability measures are in place, including plans to regularly provide this information to the broader community.”


“Be it further resolved, that the Peel District School Board mandates anti-Islamophobia training for all staff.”


The final version was adopted in January 2023.


“I’m very excited,” Dakroub told Mississauga.com news after the policy was passed.


It is called by the somewhat long-winded name “The Affirming Muslim Identities and Dismantling Islamophobia Strategy.”


Whatever you name it, Khan said it is a policy that was badly needed.


“In recent times, we (NCCM) have been getting almost one call a day in regards to incidents of hate, racism, or Islamophobia in schools,” she commented in the email.


“It is a very real problem that students, teachers and school staff face within the system and must be addressed. Schools should be the safest place for our students.”


Stripped down to its basics, the program instructs teachers and other staff how to deal with Islamophobia if it arises.


The plan, to be introduced over a four-year period, tackles Islamophobia through education created with community partners like NCCM, annual anti-Islamophobia training, staying in touch with Muslim groups and encouraging Muslim student associations.


“(It is) an anti-Islamophobia strategy that is created by and for those who are consistently impacted by direct or indirect forms of hate and racism within the school system,” Khan said.


The Peel board knows this strategy will be a great aid to its students who are of the Muslim faith.


“The Peel School Board realizes that Islamophobia impacts the experiences of our Muslim students, their families and our staff,” the board said. “As such, we strive every day to ensure the safety, well-being and mental health of our Muslim students and staff.”


The Peel board’s action is a big plus, but the NCCM knows there is no time for recess when it comes to schools.


“We will continue to work with school boards across the country to develop anti-Islamophobia strategies similar to that of the Peel District School Board; this is an important step in the right direction,” Khan said.

WHO expert 'frustrated' over US unwillingness to share info on COVID origins tracing

Global Times, March 7, 2023

Politicization has made scientific tracing of the origins of COVID-19 a difficult matter to conduct, observers said, after a World Health Organization (WHO) senior expert expressed frustration about the U.S.' reluctance to share more information on tracing the origins of the disease.

"If any country has information about the origins of the pandemic, it is essential for that information to be shared with the WHO and the international scientific community," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, tweeted on the same day saying she is "deeply frustrated" about the U.S. not offering additional information from its reports assessing COVID-19's origins.

"We [WHO] welcome the U.S.' support in seeking the origins of the COVID-9 pandemic and in preventing future pandemics. What you are doing does not help us achieve this," Maria posted.

"The origins tracing should be purely a matter of science, but since the beginning the issue has been mingled with politics. Driven by political interests, we've seen the U.S. - from the accusations made by the FBI to the U.S. Department of Energy - has never stopped politicizing the issue," a senior expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) told the Global Times, who requested anonymity.

"On the issue of origins tracing, the U.S. opted to pretend to be deaf in hearing fact-based responses from other countries, and it only wishes to investigate countries that the U.S. suspects, but isn't allowing the international community to investigate itself for being a suspect on this matter," a Beijing-based expert specializing in U.S. studies told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

The U.S. mind-set in dealing with the origins-tracing issue is exactly the same as how it copes with diplomatic issues - it always holds a hegemonic mentality as well as double standards. Allowing its intelligence community to be in charge of a matter of science clearly proves the U.S. has been politicizing the issue, the expert noted.

"Given the U.S. intelligence community's track record of making up stories, there is little, if any, credibility in their conclusions. The U.S. will not succeed in discrediting China by rehashing the 'lab leak' theory, but will only hurt the U.S.' own reputation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning refuted on Wednesday.

The U.S. has been disregarding questions and concerns from the international community about its Fort Detrick and military biological labs around the world. Instead, it has been busy confusing right and wrong by making use of its loud voice and dominance of discourse power, experts said.

The FBI recently claimed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. The Wall Street Journal on February 26 also reported exclusively that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded that "the COVID pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak." However, the report was even labeled as being made with "low confidence" by the Energy Department itself, media reported earlier.

Tedros also said on Friday that "the continued politicization of the origins research has turned what should be a purely scientific process into a geopolitical football, which only makes the task of identifying the origins more difficult, and that makes the world less safe."

The politicization of the origins tracing has made the science-based investigation difficult to conduct, hindering the efforts of scientists, virologists and health experts around the world to find out the truth, a Chinese member of the WHO-China joint team told the Global Times on Sunday.

China attaches great importance to and actively participates in global traceability scientific cooperation, but to solve this serious and complex scientific issue, global scientific cooperation is needed, the member expert said, calling for an open and transparent attitude from individual countries on this matter.

COVID-19 origins probe plods on with no clear resolution

House could vote on a bill this week that would declassify information on links between the Wuhan Institute and COVID-19

House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, is holding a hearing on the origins of COVID-19 Wednesday, with former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield slated to testify. 

(Bill Clark/ CQ Roll Call)

By Lauren Clason

Posted March 6, 2023 

CQ Roll Call

Republicans are continuing the search for answers on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the path forward is mired in stalled investigations, classified documents and stonewalling from the Chinese government.

Top Republicans are increasingly convinced the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and are once again homing in on U.S. intelligence in the wake of a report that another federal agency believes the virus may have escaped from the lab.

The Chinese government has rebutted the “lab leak” allegations as political posturing but has refused to cooperate with international investigations in a number of ways — including by shielding key data about the Wuhan Institute’s work.

Ohio Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who chairs the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, is holding a hearing on the origins issue Wednesday, with former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield slated to testify.

Last week, the Senate also passed by voice vote a measure led by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., calling on Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to “declassify any and all information” on links between the Wuhan Institute and COVID-19. The House Rules Committee will take up the measure this week, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will mark up an identical House bill on Tuesday.

In the House, Wenstrup and Oversight and Accountability Chairman James R. Comer, R-Ky., have already requested documents and testimony from 40 federal officials and academics involved in the early days of the pandemic response.

Comer said he’s hoping to hear from lower-level staff before the committee brings in senior officials like former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, whom many on the right have vilified as a complicit actor in a Chinese cover-up.

“I think they’re going well,” Comer said of negotiations with the witnesses. “We’re working on it. Nothing moves fast in this town.”

Still, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of issuing subpoenas.

“I hope not, but we probably will,” he said.

The subcommittee released a memo Sunday detailing emails on the involvement of Jeremy Farrar, director of research foundation the Wellcome Trust and future chief scientist at the Word Health Organization, in the publication of a crucial March 2020 paper arguing the virus evolved naturally.

The Wellcome Trust did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fauci on Monday pushed back on the memo’s implications that he directed the paper’s publication to dispel the “lab leak” theory.

“I did not ‘prompt’ the drafting of any publication that would ‘disprove’ the lab leak theory nor was I involved in drafting or editing any portion of the Nature Medicine paper,” he said in a statement. “My only goal was to encourage the expert virologists to evaluate the origin of the COVID-19 virus by providing an objective and scientifically sound examination of the information available at the time.”

Fauci has repeatedly pledged to cooperate with Republican investigations, saying he has “nothing to hide.”

The hearing follows a Wall Street Journal report that the Department of Energy found with “low confidence” that evidence favors the theory that the virus escaped from the Wuhan lab.

Other federal agencies remain split on the origin question, with only the FBI concluding with “moderate confidence” that the virus likely came from the lab. Comer and Wenstrup last week broadened their investigation to include the Energy and State departments and the FBI.

Wenstrup has also been working to declassify the full version of an Intelligence Committee report on COVID-19’s origins that was partially released under Democrats last Congress. He accused the intelligence community, often referenced as the IC, of ignoring links between China’s bioweapons program and coronavirus research.

Democrats also support further investigations into COVID-19’s origins, but have not pushed anywhere near as hard as Republicans. Haines published a declassified report under President Joe Biden’s direction in October 2021.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, called that report “anemic” and raised concerns that the DNI and broader intelligence community were consulting with ethically conflicted sources.

“I think it’s caused a lot of people to lose trust in the public health establishment, certain elements of the IC, and it's obviously bad for public health,” he said.

A provision that would have created an independent, bipartisan investigative panel modeled after the probe into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks stalled last year after the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved it as part of the PREVENT Pandemics Act, a broader pandemic prevention bill.

Former Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., publicly called for the provision to be included with other portions that ultimately hitched a ride in the fiscal 2023 omnibus.

“While there is more to do to strengthen our public health system beyond these reforms — and I will keep pushing on this issue no matter what — the PREVENT Pandemics Act represents meaningful, bipartisan progress, carefully negotiated between Republicans and Democrats over nearly a year,” she said in December.

And another bipartisan investigation from HELP Committee leaders appears to be stalled under the committee’s new leadership. The only report that was ultimately published was an “interim” GOP version from the committee’s former top Republican, North Carolina’s Richard M. Burr, before he retired last year.

The committee is now governed by Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La. Murray now leads the Appropriations Committee.

Republicans are also directing more scrutiny to the World Health Organization as negotiations continue on an international pandemic treaty. Cassidy and 14 other senators introduced a nonbinding resolution last week aimed at requiring Senate approval of the final agreement.

Gallagher said the U.S. should be more wary of China’s involvement in international organizations like the WHO in the wake of the pandemic.

“Obviously it's going to be hard to get the CCP to open up their files, but there’s stuff we can do with the information that we have at hand, and there's stuff we can do to pressure them going forward,” Gallagher said. “If nothing else, it should make us very skeptical of their participation in not only the WHO but all international fora because time and again they just haven't lived up to their commitments. They lie and they just don't operate as a responsible stakeholder.”

The scrutiny also follows erroneous reports in far-right media that the treaty would cede U.S. authority to the WHO, which has no power over individual nations’ sovereignty.

House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, also accused the WHO of being “complicit” in a cover-up by the Chinese government.

“As the WHO begins the process to move this pandemic treaty forward, America’s sovereign rights and biomedical leadership and innovation must be protected,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “The CCP also must be held accountable.”

Energy and Commerce Republicans again echoed the call Thursday.

“The American people deserve full transparency regarding what our government knows about how this pandemic started, how taxpayer dollars may have been spent on risky research, and if labs performing such research are upholding the highest standards of safety,” the lawmakers said.

Pollution returns to northern China as industrial activities rise

WHERE THERE IS SMOKE THERE IS WORK 

FIRESIGN THEATRE

MARCH 06, 2023

The sun rises over the city on a polluted morning in Beijing, China on Nov 18, 2021.

Reuters file

AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there.

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BEIJING — Thirteen northern Chinese cities surrounding the capital Beijing have issued pollution alerts over the last few days, raising concerns that an industrial recovery in the region is increasing smog levels.

All 13 cities, including Tianjin and Tangshan, China's biggest steelmaking centre, had issued "orange" heavy pollution alerts by Sunday (March 5), the second-highest alert, the National Joint Research Centre for Tackling Key Problems in Air Pollution Control (NJRC) said.

Air quality in the traditionally smog-prone region of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei has improved markedly in recent years as a result of a "war on pollution" since 2014, which involved closing and relocating industrial plants as well as raising emission standards.

NJRC said the recent spike had been driven by an increase in industrial activity, with steel and cement plants operating at higher levels, and diesel truck traffic also rising. It expected the smog to persist until March 10.

China has been trying to re-energise its economy since lifting strict Covid-19 curbs at the end of last year, raising fears that pollution could be allowed to rise.

An orange alert means the three-day average air quality index (AQI) has risen above 200, classified as "heavy pollution", and normally triggers industrial closures or output cuts under Chinese regulations.

Though Beijing, where parliament is holding its annual meeting, has not issued an alert, its AQI hit 230 on Sunday night and climbed above 200 again on Monday.

Tangshan said on Saturday that it was beginning a "Level 2" emergency response, the second time in a fortnight that it has implemented such measures.

During the first period, several steel mills were due to reduce their sintering by between 30 per cent and 50 per cent to meet the government requirements, consultancy Mysteel said in a report.

Being a woman DJ in Egypt’s small alternative scene

Reuters

When circumstances permit, Egyptian DJ Donia Shohdy organizes parties in Egypt's small underground alternative music scene which she ventured into in 2017. But on top of the struggle to create accessible parties, she also faces sexism. 

Whiskey fungus infests town — Jack Daniel’s plants targeted in lawsuit

By Erin Keller March 6, 2023

A whiskey fungus is causing problems in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

TNS/Shutterstock

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Tennessee residents who live close to Jack Daniels distilleries are trying to stop the company from building more facilities as a whiskey fungus overtakes surrounding towns.

The fungus, Baudoinia compniacensis, grows on liquor that evaporates during the aging process, also known as “the angels’ share.”

It appears to stick to just about anything, including houses, cars, road signs, trees and patio furniture.

The centuries-old black, sticky substance is nothing new for those who live around bourbon, rum and whiskey makers.

But Jack Daniel’s, owned by Brown-Forman, now has six warehouses — called barrelhouses — in Tennessee’s Lincoln County and wants to build more than a dozen in the future.

A stop sign near a Jim Beam production and bottling facility in Frankfort, Kentucky, is covered in the fungus, named Baudoinia compniacensis, in a 2014 photo.

AFP via Getty Images

A Tennessee woman sued her local zoning office in January, trying to prevent the building of 14 more distilleries unless ventilation systems are installed, as she claimed the hard-to-remove fungus has harmed her nearby property, which includes a party and wedding venue.

On March 1, the court ordered Jack Daniel’s to temporality halt construction.

Residents of Kentucky and even Ontario, Canada, have dealt with similar fungi that they worry pose harmful health and environmental risks.

The fungus grows on alcohol vapor that comes off of aging barrels.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

A spokesperson for Jack Daniel’s issued a lengthy statement to The Post, which read:

“During the siting and building process, we worked closely with Lincoln County and provided all information asked of us by local officials, as well as adhered to regulatory requirements, strict industry guidelines, and rigorous internal standards that we follow in building warehouses.

“Anyone who has visited the Jack Daniel Distillery or any other distillery with maturing spirits has likely noticed the presence of microflora.

“Microflora grows on trees, buildings, and other structures around distilleries and warehouses.

“Ethanol released from barrels during maturation, also called “the angels’ share,” is just one of microflora’s many food sources.

“More common in warm and humid environments, it is also found in and around areas unrelated to distilling, such as food processing companies and bakeries, and dams adjacent to bodies of water,” the company continued.

“While we are accustomed to microflora, we appreciate that some may not like how it looks and the inconvenience it may present.

“Based on the information available, we believe it is not harmful to individuals or their property.”

Whiskey fungus grows on a sign in Lawrenceburg near the Wild Turkey distillery and bourbon warehouses.

TNS

The statement from Jack Daniel’s also addressed the viability of tweaking ventilation.

“As for air filtration technology that has been offered up by some as a solution, it is easy to say but not possible to do.

“Barrelhouses require ventilation – and are designed to do so naturally – to allow for the movement of whiskey in and out of new charred oak barrels during the aging process.

“Existing independent and government research shows that there is no reasonably available control technology to prevent ethanol emissions without significantly adversely affecting the taste and quality of Jack Daniel’s or any other aged whiskey,” the statement concluded.

Famous mountain lion laid to rest in the mountains where he roamed

Stefanie Dazio 

Mar 07 2023

P-22, photographed in the Griffith Park area near downtown Los Angeles.

Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates have buried Southern California's most famous mountain lion in the mountains where the big cat once roamed.

After making his home in the urban Griffith Park, Los Angeles – home of the Hollywood Sign – for the past decade, P-22 became a symbol for California's endangered mountain lions and their decreasing genetic diversity. The mountain lion's name comes from being the 22nd puma in a National Park Service study.

The death of the cougar late last year set off a debate between the tribes in the Los Angeles area and wildlife officials over whether scientists could keep samples of the mountain lion's remains for future testing and research.

Some representatives of the Chumash, Tataviam and Gabrielino (Tongva) peoples argued that samples taken during the necropsy should be buried with the rest of his body in the ancestral lands where he spent his life. Some tribal elders said keeping the specimens for scientific testing would be disrespectful to their traditions. Mountain lions are regarded as relatives and considered teachers in LA's tribal communities.
Tribal representatives, wildlife officials and others discussed a potential compromise in recent weeks, but it was not immediately clear what conclusion the group reached before P-22 was buried in an unspecified location in the Santa Monica Mountains on Saturday (local time).

The traditional tribal burial included songs, prayers and sage smoke cleansing’s, according to Alan Salazar, a tribal member of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and a descendent of the Chumash tribe.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where the cougar's remains had been kept in a freezer before the burial, called the burial a “historically significant ceremony”.

“The death of P-22 has affected all of us and he will forever be a revered icon and ambassador for wildlife conservation,” the museum said in a statement.

Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates buried Southern California's most famous mountain lion in the mountains where the big cat once roamed.

Salazar, who attended the ceremony, said he believes P-22's legacy will help wildlife officials and scientists realise the importance of being respectful to animals going forward.

Beth Pratt, the California executive director for the National Wildlife Federation who also attended the ceremony, wrote on Facebook that the burial “helped me achieve some measure of peace” as she grieves the animal's death.

“I can also imagine P-22 at peace now, with such a powerful and caring send-off to the next place,” she wrote. “As we laid him to rest, a red-tailed hawk flew overhead and called loudly, perhaps there to help him on his journey.”

Los Angeles and Mumbai are the world’s only major cities where large cats have been a regular presence for years – mountain lions in one, leopards in the other – though pumas began roaming the streets of Santiago, Chile, during pandemic lockdowns.

JOHN ANTCZAK/AP
The mountain area where P-22 lived.

Wildlife officials believe P-22 was born about 12 years ago in the western Santa Monica Mountains, but left because of his father's aggression and his own struggle to find a mate amid a dwindling population. That drove the cougar to cross two heavily travelled freeways and migrate east to Griffith Park, where a wildlife biologist captured him on a trail camera in 2012.

His journey over the freeways inspired a wildlife crossing over a Los Angeles-area highway that will allow big cats and other animals safe passage between the mountains and lands to the north. The bridge broke ground in April 2022.

P-22 was captured last December in a residential backyard following dog attacks. Examinations revealed a skull fracture – the result of being hit by a car – and chronic illnesses including a skin infection and diseases of the kidneys and liver. The city’s cherished big cat was euthanised five days later.

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Los Angeles celebrated his life last month at the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park in a star-studded memorial that featured musical performances, tribal blessings, speeches about the importance of P-22’s life and wildlife conservation, and a video message from Governor Gavin Newsom.

To honour the place where the animal made his home among the city's urban sprawl, a boulder from Griffith Park was brought to the grave site in the Santa Monica Mountains and placed near P-22's grave, Salazar said.

Turkiye’s fractured opposition unites against Erdogan

Agencies Published March 7, 2023 


Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his supporters during a rally. — Reuters/File

ANKARA: Turkiye’s bickering opposition leaders ended months of fierce debate on Monday and agreed to name the head of the main secular party as their joint candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 14 polls.

A last-ditch deal aimed at averting a split of the opposition vote will see CHP chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu name the other five opposition leaders as vice presidents should he end Erdogan’s two-decade rule.

“We would have been eliminated had we split up,” Kilicdaroglu told huge crowds of cheering supporters after emerging from hours of tense talks.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, head of the country’s second-biggest party, aims to emerge from Erdogan’s shadow and oust the president after a two-decade reign that has transformed the Nato member country and major emerging market economy. “Our table is the table of peace. Our only goal is to take the country to days of prosperity, peace and joy,” said Kilicdaroglu.


Polls suggest that the presidential and parliamentary votes in two months will be tight, with the opposition bloc running slightly ahead of the governing alliance.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2023

Dreams of ‘normal life’ fuel Hong Kong trans activist’s fight

By AFP
Published March 6, 2023

Trans activist Henry Tse waged an arduous legal battle to have his real gender recognised - Copyright AFP Peter PARKS

Identified as “female” on his Hong Kong ID, trans activist Henry Tse waged an arduous legal battle to have his real gender recognised.

Six years later, he won the case to change his gender marker to “male” at the city’s top court — a victory he hopes will help make life easier for Hong Kong’s trans community as a whole.

“I had no choice,” Tse told AFP of his lawsuit, which he fought alongside another trans man identified as Q by the court.

“(My) ID card says ‘female’, which is clearly different from my real gender identity, it’s wrong. Carrying such a card, even if all other information on it is correct… people won’t believe it is me.”

Frequently facing rejection and humiliation when trying to complete simple tasks like checking into a hotel or going to the gym, all he wanted was a “normal life”.

Tse knew his fight for recognition would be tough, but he never imagined it would be so long.

Q told AFP the win felt like “accomplishing mission impossible”.

“We just want the same rights that everyone else has, and to fight for our dignity,” he said.


– ‘Limited in scope’ –


Until now, trans adults in Hong Kong could only change their IDs by proving they had had an operation to alter their genitalia.

In its February 6 verdict, the Court of Final Appeal found requiring transgender people to undergo surgery to change their IDs unconstitutional, saying it imposed “an unacceptably harsh burden” on Tse and Q.

Following Tse and Q’s victory, the government’s Security Bureau said it would “seek legal advice on follow-up actions”.

Hong Kong does not have any overall legislation on gender identity, and a government task force set up in 2017 has yet to issue an update.

Human Rights Watch said the recent ruling was “limited in scope”.

Still, the verdict sends “a strong message” to the authorities to “reform Hong Kong’s outdated criteria for legally recognising trans people”.

Dozens of countries have adopted laws around gender identity, with some — including Argentina, Denmark and Spain — allowing legal recognition of transitions without a psychological or medical assessment.

In Taiwan, a trans woman took her ID card battle to court and won in 2021.

But her victory has yet to translate into a policy change applicable to other trans people.

In mainland China, transgender people can change their legal gender after undergoing surgery, though many limitations apply — including that the person must be over 18, unmarried and produce proof they have informed their families.

In Hong Kong, some fear Beijing’s crackdown on the opposition endangers further progress towards LGBTQ equality.

Many of the city’s most prominent rights campaigners, and its only openly gay lawmaker, have been arrested, leaving few advocates in the halls of power.

– ‘Can’t live a normal life’ –

In 2021, a Chinese University of Hong Kong survey found alarming levels of social marginalisation among transgender respondents in the city, with half reporting discrimination and 77 percent saying they had contemplated suicide.

Growing up, Tse attended a Christian girls’ school that required students to wear traditional cheongsam dresses, advised them to grow their hair long and described anything other than heterosexuality as “unnatural”.

His family “felt that my gender non-conformance is a disease”.

While studying at Britain’s University of Warwick, Tse was able to explore his identity.

When he returned to Hong Kong in 2017, he began experiencing routine problems because his ID card identified him as female.

“I’m outed every time I show my identity card,” he said.

At a gym, he was prevented from using the changing rooms, while a gender-segregated hostel turned him away.

“Clearly I should be in the space for men, but they were afraid of something happening, but actually nothing would happen,” he said.

“When (my ID) causes so many day-to-day problems and unequal treatment, I can’t live a normal life in Hong Kong like everyone else,” he added.

– ‘Best years of my youth’ –

In 2017, Tse went to court to demand his gender be stated on his ID card.

For nearly six years, he attended hearings and staged rallies while judges, lawyers and newspapers dissected the most intimate details of his life and biology.

“I was mentally prepared to fight to the end, but I never expected it to take so long,” he said.

“It cost me time, effort, money, the best years of my youth.”

His struggle inspired him to launch an NGO in 2020 to campaign for trans rights in Hong Kong.

Tse has vowed to continue building public awareness and fighting social stigma.

Everyone needs to know “we are normal people”, he said.

“We are your friends and colleagues. We just want to live, work and get married in Hong Kong.”

Republican congressman ‘unaware’ he was posing for photo with neo-Nazis

Matt Rosendale of Montana says he unwittingly posed for picture: ‘I absolutely condemn and have zero tolerance for hate groups’

Martin Pengelly in New York

THE GUARDIAN
Mon 6 Mar 2023

A Republican congressman from Montana said a photo of him in front of the US Capitol with two neo-Nazis was a mistake, claiming he unwittingly posed with the men, one of whom appeared to be wearing a trench coat of a style worn by German soldiers in the second world war.

Matt Rosendale told the Billings Gazette: “I absolutely condemn and have zero tolerance for hate groups, hate speech and violence. I did not take a meeting with these individuals.

“I was asked for a photo while walking between hearings, accommodating as I do for all photo requests, and was not aware of the individuals’ identity or affiliation with these hate groups that stand in stark contrast to my personal beliefs.”

Rosendale, 62, was elected to the US House in 2020. A member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol he was one of 147 Republicans in Congress who voted to overturn election results in Donald Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden.

The picture of Rosendale with the neo-Nazis spread on social media last week.

The Gazette identified two of three men posing with Rosendale as “Ryan Sanchez, formerly of the white supremacist street-fighting gang Rise Above Movement, and Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathiser and podcaster present at the January 6 insurrection”.

Sanchez, a former US marine, was wearing the German army-style coat. Arnold is a far-right blogger and commentator who the Gazette said has called Adolf Hitler a “complicated historical figure”.

Rosendale is not the first Republican to have been linked to Arnold.

In November 2021, Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed candidate for governor in Arizona, posed with Arnold and another far-right activist at a campaign event.

In October 2022, meanwhile, Arnold was revealed to have been paid a little more than $800 by the Washington state Republican party.

The picture with Rosendale appeared to have been taken on Wednesday 1 March. Other pictures tweeted by anti-fascist activists that day appeared to show the same men inside the Capitol.

Examination of the congressional schedule for 1 March appeared to cast doubt on Rosendale’s claim to have been walking between hearings when he posed for the picture.

Rosendale sits on the House veterans affairs and natural resources committees. The schedule for 1 March lists one joint House-Senate hearing on veterans affairs and one hearing of the House natural resources subcommittee on Indigenous peoples.

Rosendale sits on the natural resources subcommittees for energy and mineral resources and oversight and investigations.

The House subcommittee hearing was in the Longworth House Office Building at 9am and the joint veterans’ affairs session was in the Dirksen Senate Office Building an hour later.

The Longworth Building is south of the Capitol, Dirksen to the north-east. Lawmakers moving between buildings mostly make use of tunnels and subways connected to the Capitol itself.

Rosendale’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.