Forced labour victims protest in wheelchairs, reject South Korea deal on Japan

MARCH 07, 2023

Kim Seong-ju, a survivor of forced labour under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial occupation, leaves after a protest denouncing the government plan to resolve a dispute over compensating forced labor victims, at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on March 7, 2023.

Reuters

SEOUL - Two elderly South Korean victims of wartime forced labour took to the streets in wheelchairs on Tuesday (March 7), saying they rejected a compensation deal announced this week, potentially complicating Seoul's efforts to end a diplomatic spat with Japan.

Under President Yoon Suk-yeol's plan, South Korea would compensate former forced labourers through an existing public foundation funded by South Korean private-sector companies, rather than seeking payments from Japan. The two victims, whose consent is required for the deal to proceed, rebuffed the proposal saying Tokyo should pay compensation and apologise.

Their opposition could mean that a proposal hailed as "groundbreaking" by US President Joe Biden may not be a done deal, prolonging a dispute that has undercut US-led efforts to present a unified front against China and North Korea.

The two women, Yang Geum-deok and Kim Sung-joo, both now aged 95, worked at a Mitsubishi Heavy aircraft factory in Nagoya, Japan when they were teens during World War II.

Living outside Seoul, the ailing women travelled to a demonstration at the parliament, joining hundreds of supporters including opposition lawmakers, who waved red cards and banners, calling Yoon's diplomacy "humiliating" and demanding the deal be withdrawn.

"We can forgive, if Japan tells us one word, we are sorry and we did wrong. But there's no such word," Kim said, with hands shaking by the effects of a stroke.

"The more I think about that, the more I cry," she said, escorted by her son.

On Tuesday, Yoon said the proposal was a result of meeting both countries' common interest.

Relations plunged to their lowest point in decades after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Japanese firms to pay reparations to former forced labourers. Fifteen South Koreans have won such cases, but none has been compensated.

Read Also

South Korea announces plan to compensate victims of Japan wartime forced labour

Japan has said the matter was settled under a 1965 treaty and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday his government's stance had not changed.

The two victims were part of so-called "Labour Corps" where young Korean girls were drafted to work in Japanese munitions factories during the war.

Kim had her finger chopped while cutting metal plates for fighter jets. During the day, Yang wiped rusted machine parts with thinner and alcohol but had no gloves, so her hands were bleeding at night.

After Japan lost the war in 1945, they returned home but didn't get paid for their 17-month-long labour stint.

Overall there are about 1,815 living victims of forced labour in South Korea, according to government data.

The compensation for each woman was estimated at around 210 million won (S$216,000), according to the Victims of Japanese Wartime Forced Labour support group.

Like Yang and Kim, some of the 15 plaintiffs say they will reject the government's plan, setting the stage for more legal battles.

"It is so unfair. I don't know where Yoon Suk-yeol is from. Is he truly a South Korean? I won't take that money even if I starve to death," said Yang, chanting "Yoon Suk-yeol out".

Source: Reuters

US Occupation Of Syria To Continue – OpEd

File photo of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.

 Photo Credit: Tasnim News Agency

March 8, 2023 
By M.K. Bhadrakumar


The sudden unannounced arrival of the top US military officer General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a dusty American base in Syria’s remote northeast on Friday may call to mind a famous quote by Dick Cheney, vice-president in the George W Bush presidency: “The good Lord didn’t see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is.”

According to eyewitness accounts, as recently as last week, on 27 February, US troops transported at least 34 tankers filled with stolen Syrian oil through the illegal Al-Mahmoudiya border crossing to their bases in Iraq. In the estimation of the Syrian foreign ministry, the cumulative losses incurred by the country’s oil and gas sector on account of theft and other US actions were to the tune of $107 billion as of August last year.

Oil is a unique mineral that anaesthetises thought, blurs vision, corrupts. But according to a Reuters report, Milley’s visit was about something else than oil — purportedly “to assess efforts to prevent a resurgence” of the Islamic State militant group and “review safeguards for American forces against attacks, including from drones flown by Iran-backed militia.”

Now, that is a stretch for two reasons — one, there are only around 900 US troops all in all in Syria and Milley doesn’t have to undertake such routine mission; two, there is actually no history of the Islamic State [ISIS] having ever attacked the US forces in Syria.

On the contrary, the folklore among regional states is that the US mentors the Islamic State, gives training to the cadres of the shadowy militant group at the remote American base at Al-Tanf on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and even provides logistical support to the group’s operations in Syria’s desert region.

It is unclear whether Milley met with commanders of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that have been the main ally of US forces in north-eastern Syria.

One plausible explanation will be that Milley came on White House instructions against the backdrop of a legislation to end the US involvement in Syria that will be up for a vote in the US Congress this week. US Congressman Matt Gaetz (Republican from Florida) who last month introduced a War Powers Resolution to direct President Joe Biden to remove the US Armed Forces from Syria has frontally attacked Milley’s visit.

Gaetz said in a statement on Friday, “If General Milley wants this war so bad, he should explain what we are fighting for and why it is worth American treasure and blood. An America First foreign policy demands realism, rational thought, and seriousness.”

He pointed out that “Syria is a quagmire of a tinderbox. America has no discernible interest in continuing to fund a fight where alliances shift faster than the desert sands.”

But Milley is unfazed. Asked by reporters if he believed the Syria deployment is worth it, Milley said, ”I happen to think that’s important.” Milley added, “So I think that an enduring defeat of ISIS and continuing to support our friends and allies in the region … I think those are important tasks that can be done.”

Congressman Gaetz tabled the draft legislation following a press release by the US Central Command on February 17 announcing that four service members were wounded during a helicopter raid in northeastern Syria when an explosion was triggered from the ground.

The bottom line is that there is no rationale other than geopolitical considerations for the continued US occupation of about a third of Syrian territory. These considerations are principally: Need to keep US footprint in the strategic Eastern Mediterranean;

US’ troubled relations with Turkey;

 
Israel’s security;

 
Russian bases in Syria;

 

the Russian-Syrian-Iranian axis; and, most important,

 
the geo-strategy to keep Syria weak and divided for the foreseeable future.

A commentary last year in the government-owned China Daily poignantly captured the Syrian tragedy: “The alleged plunder of Syrian oil by the United States and its proxies will only worsen conditions in the sanctions-hit country as it struggles to rebuild after years of war… consumption of Syria’s limited resources by the hegemonic power and its proxy groups in the troubled nation will encourage militancy and undermine efforts to stabilise the wider region.”

The commentary cited the Syrian Foreign Ministry to the effect that the presence of US forces in the country’s northeast and the plundering of Syrian oil is an attempt to obstruct a political solution and undermines stability and security. It said “the way Washington is acting and its unlimited support of terrorist groups show the hypocrisy of the US in the region, a situation that is no longer acceptable morally or politically.”

The Assad government’s normalisation process with the regional states in the Gulf — especially, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar — as well as Egypt and Turkey has put the US in a predicament. It is particularly galling for the US that Russia is mediating the Turkish-Syrian rapprochement.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced on Monday that his country, Turkey, Iran, and Syria are discussing organising a meeting of their respective foreign ministers — “We are working on it. I can say that we agreed not to disclose details for the time being; not everything is so simple; we must work discretely on the principles of quiet diplomacy,” he added in an oblique reference to devious attempts to derail the process.

Suffice it to say that Washington is increasingly left with no option but to stir up the Syrian pot again and create turmoil with a view to create an alibi for the continued occupation of Syria. The Syrian government has drawn attention to this in a statement condemning Milley’s “illegal visit to an illegal US military base.”

The statement alleged that “the international community knows very well that Daesh [ISIS] is an illegitimate offspring of US intelligence… [and] the support provided by the US forces to terrorist and separatist militias in the areas of its occupation is a declared American stance aimed at prolonging the terrorist war against Syria for goals that are no longer hidden from anyone.”

Milley himself has been candid that the US military occupation must continue. Given Milley’s professional reputation as a ‘yes’ man, who is acutely conscious of the ‘wind factor’ (as the Chinese would say) in the corridors of power in DC at any given time, it is entirely conceivable that President Biden will now get exactly the feedback and recommendation he needs to block the momentum in the US Congress for withdrawal of American troops from Syria.

The Moscow daily Vedmosti reported, citing an informed diplomatic source, that Assad plans to pay an official visit to Russia in mid-March. Assad last visited Russia in September 2021.

The Russian daily estimated that humanitarian issues relating to the recent earthquake and Russian assistance would be the focus of the talks, but it is also “important for the parties to compare each other’s positions and develop common approaches” on a range of political issues. Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria have a common position calling for an end to the 7-year old US occupation of Syria.

This article was published by Indian Punchline

SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED POT
Canada moves to expunge historical abortion, indecency convictions

AFP
Published March 7, 2023

Canada's Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, seen in November 2022, announced convictions that would be expunged - Copyright AFP Louisa GOULIAMAKI

Canada on Tuesday moved to expunge historical convictions for abortions or indecency — laws that are no longer on the books and that have traditionally harmed women and members of the LGBTQ community.

The announcement builds on a 2018 law that sought to correct past injustices and created a path for individuals to clear their criminal records.

A year earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially apologized for government policies and practices that led to oppression and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a news conference on Tuesday that “convictions under the Criminal Code for bawdy houses and indecency-based offences are now eligible for expungement.”

“Historically, Canada has criminalized venues that were considered to be safe spaces for 2SLGBTQI+ communities, such as bath houses, nightclubs and swingers’ clubs,” he said.

“And as a result, owners, employees and patrons of these venues were convicted under the Criminal Code unjustly.”

Mendicino also announced that anyone convicted of abortion-related offences would be eligible for expungement.

Canada’s high court struck down restrictions on abortions in 1988, while bawdy house offences were repealed in 2019.

Applying for an expungement order is free, and family members or trustees can apply on behalf of people who have died.

WHY NOT CHECHENS

US intelligence sees 'pro-Ukraine group' behind Nord Stream sabotage: report

Issued on: 07/03/2023 -

Gas leaking from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 

© Handout / DANISH DEFENCE/AFP/File

Washington (AFP) – US officials have seen new intelligence that indicates a "pro-Ukrainian group" was responsible for the sabotage last year of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

In a cautious report that did not identify the source of the intelligence or the group involved, the Times said the US officials had no evidence implicating Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the pipeline bombing.

But the attack benefitted Ukraine by severely damaging Russia's means of reaping millions by selling natural gas to Western Europe.

At the same time, it added to the pressure of high energy prices on key Ukrainian allies in Western Europe, particularly Germany.

The intelligence suggested the perpetrators behind the sabotage were "opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia", the Times report said.

US officials had no indication of who exactly took part and who organized and paid for the operation, which would have required skilled divers and explosives experts.

They believed those involved were probably Ukrainian or Russian nationals, and that none were from the United States or Britain.

Rented yacht

German investigators believed the unidentified group were made up of five men and one woman using professionally falsified passports, according to a separate report by several German media.

German officials had identified the boat suspected to have been used in the attack, according to the broadcasters ARD, SWR and weekly Zeit.

The yacht in question is said to have been rented out by a company based in Poland, belonging to two Ukrainians, per the German report, which referred only to sources in multiple countries.

The commando group are said to have set sail from the north German port of Rostock on September 6, 2022 and was localised the following day on the Danish island of Christianso in the Baltic.

The yacht was subsequently returned to the owner uncleaned, with investigators able to find traces of explosives on the table in the cabin, according to the detailed report.

The pipelines were ruptured by subsea explosives on September 26, seven months after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

US officials have "no firm conclusions" about the intelligence, "leaving open the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services", the Times said.

The lack of a firm suspect meant international intelligence officials had not ruled out the possibility of a "false flag" operation to link the attack to Ukraine, per the German media.

'Wrong to speculate'

Authorities in Germany, Sweden and Denmark have opened probes into the incident.

A spokeswoman for the German government said it had "taken note" of the New York Times' report, referring back to the ongoing investigation.

"There is an ongoing preliminary investigation in Sweden, so I do not intend to comment on those reports," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters late Tuesday.

Speaking at the same press conference, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed the remarks, saying it would be "wrong to speculate" before the investigations were completed.

In February, veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the United States was behind the operation to bomb the Nord Stream pipelines and that Norway assisted.

The White House blasted Hersh's report, which cited an unnamed source, as "complete fiction."

© 2023 AFP

Israeli forces kill six Palestinians in raid on West Bank refugee camp

Issued on: 07/03/2023 - 

A person holds a weapon as mourners carry the body of a Palestinian who was killed by Israeli troops during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 7, 2023. 

© Ammar Awad, Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES
Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, killing at least six Palestinian gunmen, including a Hamas gunman suspected of fatally shooting two brothers from a Jewish settlement near the village of Huwara.

Witnesses said fighting broke out after residents of the camp saw Israeli soldiers getting out of a furniture truck near a house on a hill overlooking the centre of the sprawling camp and fighters immediately opened fire.

In the ensuing gun battle, Israeli forces surrounded a house where the suspected gunman had barricaded himself with other fighters, and used shoulder-fired missiles against the building, a statement from the military said.

The Palestinian health ministry said six Palestinians were killed and at least 16 wounded. One member of the Israeli police force was wounded and three lightly hurt.

The military identified one of the gunmen as Abdel-Fattah Kharusha, a member of the Islamist group Hamas, who it said shot two Israelis while they sat in their car at a checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on Feb. 26. It said his two sons had been arrested in a raid at the same time on the city of Nablus, another centre of militant activity.

According to statements by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, all those killed were gunmen from the militant groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah.

"We call upon the fighters of our people everywhere to escalate armed resistance against the occupation and to fight them everywhere on the land of our occupied home," Hamas' armed wing said in a statement.

Hamas, which runs the blockaded Gaza Strip but which also has fighters in the West Bank, said Kharusha was a member and that he carried out the Huwara double killing, the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Israelis by Palestinians this year.

Jenin, one of the major centres of militant activity in the West Bank where armed fighters parade openly, has been raided repeatedly by Israeli forces during months of violence that has caused increasing fears of a repeat of the Intifadas or uprisings of the 1980s and early 2000s.

"The risk - not just to Palestine and to Israel but to the region - of the situation escalating out of hand is significant," Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, told reporters in London.

The shooting of the two Israeli brothers triggered a revenge attack by Jewish settlers who killed a Palestinian man and torched dozens of houses and cars in a rampage described as a "pogrom" by a senior Israeli commander.

The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which was increased when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be "erased". Smotrich later offered a partial retraction.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken overnight reiterated calls for both sides to de-escalate tensions, and the violence is also expected to be raised by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week when he visits Israel.

However, there has been no sign of any let up in the violence, ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival.
More Huwara violence

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Tuesday's raid which came after a major reinforcement of Israeli forces in the West Bank following the violence in Huwara, which sits near a major road junction where settlers and Palestinians have frequently clashed.

Despite a crackdown by Israeli police, tensions have continued at Huwara and overnight Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the village.

Israeli army and border police forces dispersed what the military described as "a number of violent rioters" in Huwara. Videos shared on social media showed black-clad youths attacking a Palestinian car before its driver manages to pull away.

"My wife was sitting in the back and she hugged our daughter to cover her," said Omar Khalifa, who had just finished shopping at a supermarket and was in the car with his family. "We could have lost her. There was real danger to our lives."

Other footage appeared to show Israeli soldiers dancing together with Jewish settlers in the town on what was the Jewish festival of Purim. "Huwara has been conquered, gentlemen!" a voice is heard saying in Hebrew.

The military did not address a question about the footage of soldiers dancing with settlers when it responded to a request for information on the incident. Nor did it immediately respond to a Reuters query on whether there had been any arrests.

Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have killed more than 70 Palestinians, including militant fighters and civilians, while in the same period, Palestinians have killed 13 Israelis and one Ukrainian woman in a series of apparently uncoordinated attacks.

(REUTERS)

Israeli forces kill six Palestinians including wanted militant in Jenin raid

Tue, Mar 7, 2023,

Israeli troops on Tuesday killed six Palestinians in Jenin including an alleged militant accused of killing two Israelis, the latest deadly raid in a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said six men had been killed, one aged 49 and the rest in their 20s, in clashes that the army said included soldiers launching shoulder-fired rockets amid ferocious gunfire.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, called the use of rockets in the Jenin refugee camp -- the scene of frequent clashes in the northern West Bank -- an act of "all-out war", Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Witnesses said Israeli troops entered the camp and surrounded a house as a group of militants fought back, with the army reporting "explosive devices and blocks" were hurled at their soldiers.

An AFP photographer saw thick plumes of smoke rising from the building.

The Jenin Brigade, a militant group in the camp, said on one of their Telegram channels that their gunmen fought "violent clashes" with Israeli forces.

Among those killed was Abdel Fatah Hussein Khroushah, 49, who the Israeli army called a "terrorist operative" from the Islamist movement Hamas and accused of killing two Israeli settlers in the Palestinian town of Huwara on February 26.

At least 26 Palestinians were wounded during Tuesday's raid, the Palestinian health ministry said, three of them with serious injuries. The army said two soldiers were lightly wounded.

It is the most recent in a string of fatal military operations in the Palestinian territory which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.

After fighting stopped, an AFP journalist who entered the wreckage of the house where Khroushah had been saw blackened walls riddled with bullet holes and entire walls smashed down.

- 'Dangerous escalation' -

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message troops had "eliminated the abhorrent terrorist", referring to Khroushah.

"Our brave soldiers acted with surgical precision in the heart of the murderers' lair," Netanyahu added of the deadly raid. "Whoever harms us will pay the price."

The Palestinian presidency spokesman Abu Rudeineh said Israel was "responsible for this dangerous escalation which threatens to inflame the situation and destroy all efforts aimed at restoring stability".

Last month, Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged in a joint statement to "prevent further violence" and "commit to de-escalation" following talks in Jordan.

The Israeli army and Shin Bet domestic security agency said on Tuesday they had carried out a separate raid in a refugee camp in the city of Nablus and arrested two of Khroushah's sons "suspected of aiding and planning in the terror attack".

Witnesses in Nablus, south of Jenin, said three men had been arrested.

The Israeli raids came amid celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Purim and against a backdrop of rising tensions since the beginning of the year, coinciding with Netanyahu's hard-right government which took office in December.

Some fear further violence particularly around Jerusalem's holy sites during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in late March, and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.

The killing of the two settlers -- brothers Yagel Yaniv, 20, and Hallel Yaniv, 22 -- in Huwara took place hours after the Jordan summit.

Hundreds of rampaging Israeli settlers later torched Palestinian homes and cars in the West Bank town.

Since the start of the year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 71 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.

Thirteen Israeli adults and children, including members of the security forces and civilians, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.

bur-mj/pjm/ami

Three dead in Israel strike on Syria's Aleppo airport: monitor

Issued on: 07/03/2023 

Syria's Aleppo airport, which has been knocked out by an air strike blamed on Israel, has been a major conduit for earthquake relief supplies © - / AFP/File

Beirut (AFP) – Israeli warplanes killed three people in a raid on Syria's Aleppo airport Tuesday, a war monitor said after the strike which, according to a Syrian official, halted earthquake aid flights.

The airport has been a major conduit for relief flights since a February 6 earthquake devastated swathes of southeastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

A transport ministry official in Syria said the aid flights were among those brought to a stop from Aleppo, Syria's second city.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources in war-torn Syria, said "a Syrian officer" and two people of unknown nationality were killed in the air strike.

Syria's defence ministry said the strike occurred at 2:07 am (2307 GMT Monday).

"The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the Mediterranean west of Latakia targeting Aleppo international airport," a ministry statement said.

It added that the damage forced authorities to close the airport to all flights.

More than 80 aid flights have landed in Aleppo over the past month with relief supplies for quake-hit areas, transport ministry official Suleiman Khalil told AFP.

"It is no longer possible to receive aid flights until the damage has been repaired," he said, adding the strike had put the runway out of service.
Aid diverted

Aid deliveries have been diverted to Damascus and Latakia airports, a ministry statement said.

State news agency SANA said Syrian air defences had gone into action against "enemy missiles".

An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on the reported strike.

The Observatory said the airport was expected to reopen in a few days after repair work.

Syria's foreign ministry decried a "double crime", saying the strike targeted "a civilian airport... and one of the key channels for the arrival of humanitarian aid" to victims of the quake which killed around 6,000 people in Syria.

It marked the second Israeli attack on government-held areas since the 7.8-magnitude quake that killed more than 50,000 people in the two countries.

On February 19, an Israeli air strike killed 15 people in a Damascus district housing state security agencies, the Observatory said.

Aleppo international airport © Omar KAMAL / AFP

Damascus ally Iran condemned the latest strike as "a "crime against humanity".

"While the Syrian earthquake victims in Aleppo are experiencing difficult conditions, the Zionist regime (Israel) is attacking Aleppo airport," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.

Israel has attacked Aleppo and Damascus airports several times in recent years.

A strike on the Aleppo facility last September put it out of service for a few days. That attack targeted a warehouse used by Iran-backed militias, the Observatory said at the time.

Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air raids against its neighbour, primarily targeting positions of the Syrian army and its Iranian and Hezbollah allies.

The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes against Syria, but has vowed repeatedly to keep up its air campaign to stop arch foe Iran consolidating its presence.

French pension reform showdown: 'Game of chicken between the streets and parliament'

Issued on: 08/03/2023 - 

05:41

French President Emmanuel Macron is once again facing fierce pushback over his plans to raise the retirement age for millions. Public transport was severely disrupted across France, fuel deliveries were halted and teachers walked off the job as unions kicked off a sixth day of nationwide protests, vowing to bring the country to a standstill. For more on the latest showdown over the controversial reform, FRANCE 24 is joined by Andrew Smith, Historian of modern France and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University.

‘We can defeat Macron’: Why women’s anger is fuelling French pension protests


Issued on: 07/03/2023 -

Protesters dressed as feminist icon Rosie the Riveter rally against the French government's planned pension reform in Paris on March 7, 2023. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24

Text by:Benjamin DODMAN

Huge crowds marched across France on Tuesday in a sixth round of protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, signalling continued opposition to a controversial reform that polls say up two three-quarters of French women reject.

In the French capital, where organisers say well over half a million people turned out (police put the number at fewer than 100,000), unionists and left-wing parties traded their traditional eastern rallying points for the wealthy 6th arrondissement (district) of central Paris, gathering along the fashion boulevards of the left bank.

Outside the famed Lutetia palace hotel, puzzled tourists and shoppers worked their way through a sea of union and other flags. A few steps away, dozens of women danced to the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive”, each of them dressed as the feminist champion Rosie the Riveter in her iconic blue overalls.

Unionists gather outside the Lutetia palace hotel in Paris ahead of Tuesday's rally. 

© Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24

Among them was Camille, a 54-year-old publisher who said she turned out to protest in solidarity with the low-income workers – many of them women – who “stand to lose most” from the pension overhaul. She slammed a reform “hashed out in a hurried and brutal manner, without consultations and despite overwhelming opposition”.

“Women are structurally underpaid and their pensions are lower as a result. And yet they have some of the most exhausting jobs, working absurd hours on top of caring for the young and the elderly,” she said, pointing to the fact that women's pensions are on average 40 percent lower than men's.

She added: “The fact that they’re being asked to work longer now only adds insult to injury.“

The reform’s Achilles’ heel

Macron has staked his reformist credentials on passage of his flagship pension overhaul, which polls say around two thirds of the French now oppose – including a staggering 74 percent of women, according to a recent survey by the Elabe institute.

The government argues that raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and stiffening the requirements for a full pension are required to balance the pension system amid shifting demographics. But unions say the proposed measures are unfair and would disproportionately affect low-skilled workers who start their careers early, as well as women.

>> ‘I can’t take any more’: Working-class French lament Macron’s push to raise retirement age

Opponents of the reform have succeeded in framing the pension debate in much larger terms, focusing on the questions of how wealth is distributed under Macron, and whether the poorest and most vulnerable will carry the burden of his proposals.

Talk of the text’s gender imbalance has gained particular traction, not least since one of Macron’s own ministers admitted in January that it would “leave women a little penalised” – in one of several PR blunders that have marred the government’s attempts to promote its increasingly unpopular plan.

“Macron and his government have lied by claiming that women would be better off thanks to this reform,” said Camille at the Paris rally. “This injustice towards women is the reform’s Achilles’ heel: a united front of French women can defeat it.”

11:54

The sense that the government had misled women was shared by many protesters, fuelling their resentment of the proposal, which is currently being hurried through parliament.

“The government claimed the reform would foster ‘justice’ and ‘equality’, but it soon turned out to be a publicity stunt,” said Sandrine Tellier, 47, a representative of the energy and mining branch of the Force Ouvrière trade union. “In reality, it merely aggravates existing inequalities.”
Justice at stake

France’s enduring gender pay gap is reflected in a discrepancy between the average pensions paid out to men and women. That discrepancy is exacerbated by rules penalising those who worked part time or whose careers are interrupted by childcare.

They include 64-year-old Florentine Delangue, whose record of unpaid apprenticeships and career interruptions mean she is yet to qualify for a full pension, despite getting her first job at a hair salon aged 16.

“I started working two years before my husband, but I will have to keep going after he’s retired,” she said. “That’s why I’m angry.”

As in past protests against Macron's pension reform, students featured prominently in Tuesday's rally. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24

Jacqueline, a 57-year-old lab worker at a Paris hospital, said she couldn't bear the prospect of having to work an extra two years before qualifying for a full pension. She claimed she had never taken part in a protest before.

“I worked part-time to raise my daughter, but I had no choice. It’s not like I went part-time to go to the beach or something,” she said. “This is too much. I'm too tired and there's too much injustice.

>> ‘Not just about pensions’: French protesters see threat to social justice in Macron’s reform

The notion of pénibilité (arduousness) was a recurrent theme at the rally, where protesters lamented the government’s refusal to acknowledge the hardship endured by low-income workers who perform physically-draining tasks. Macron has in the past said he was “not a fan” of the word pénibilité, “because it suggests that work is a pain”.

Such a stance reflects politicians’ “insensitivity” and “ignorance of the realities of life”, said veteran theatre director Ariane Mnouchkine, adding that “parliamentarians should try working as hotel cleaners to see what back-breaking work really feels like”.

Mnouchkine’s troupe from the Theatre du Soleil carried a huge statue of Lady Justice, blindfolded and holding a balance and sword. The 84-year-old director said the very principle of justice was at stake in France’s pension battle.

“The government is sentencing those who live the toughest lives to tougher retirement, whereas they deserve a more comfortable one,” she explained. “The only consolation is that everyone seems to have realised just how unfair this is.”

A statue of Lady Justice carried by members of Ariane Mnouchkine's Theatre du Soleil at the Paris protest. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24

Pension reform showdown: 'This project of the French government is a real social disaster'

Issued on: 07/03/2023 -

08:59

© France 24
Video by: Genie GODUL

French President Emmanuel Macron is once again facing fierce pushback over his plans to raise the retirement age for millions. Public transport was severely disrupted across France, fuel deliveries were halted and teachers walked off the job as unions kicked off a sixth day of nationwide protests, vowing to bring the country to a standstill. For more on the latest showdown over the controversial reform, FRANCE 24 is joined by Rémi Aufrere-Privel, National Representative for the UNSA Railway Union.

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Newly discovered protein supports efficient refining of REEs

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
Staff Writer | March 6, 2023 |

Terbium. (Reference image from Wikimedia Commons).

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers at ETH Zurich describe the discovery of lanpepsy, a protein which specifically binds lanthanides – or rare earth elements – and discriminates them from other minerals and metals.


Because of their similarity to other metal ions, the purification of REE from the environment is cumbersome and economical only in a few locations. Knowing this, the scientists decided to explore biological materials with high binding specificity for lanthanides as mechanisms that could offer a way forward.

The first step was to review previous studies that suggest that nature has evolved a variety of proteins or small molecules to scavenge lanthanides. Other research groups have discovered that certain bacteria, methylotrophs that convert methane or methanol, have enzymes that require lanthanides in their active sites. Since the initial discoveries in this field, the identification and characterization of proteins involved in the sensing, uptake, and utilization of lanthanides, has become an emerging field of research.

To identify novel actors in the lanthanome, Jethro Hemmann and Philipp Keller together with collaborators from D-BIOL and the laboratory of Detlef Günther at D-CHAB, studied the lanthanide response of the obligate methylotroph Methylobacillus flagellatus.

By comparing the proteome of cells grown in the presence and absence of lanthanum, they found several proteins not previously related to lanthanide utilization.

Among them was a small protein of unknown function, which the team now named lanpepsy. In vitro characterization of the protein revealed binding sites for lanthanides with high specificity for lanthanum over the chemically similar calcium.

Lanpepsy is able to enrich lanthanides from a solution and thus holds potential for the development of bioinspired processes for the sustainable purification of rare earths.

South America looks at creating “lithium OPEC”

Cecilia Jamasmie | March 6, 2023 |

Caucharí-Olaroz lithium mine, one of the two producing assets in Argentina. (Image courtesy of Lithium Americas Corp.)

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil are analyzing the creation of a lithium cartel of sorts in charge of expanding South America’s processing capacity, turning more of their mined lithium into batteries and tapping into the electric vehicles (EVs) manufacturing sector.


The group would emulate similar schemes, such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in terms of coordinating production flows, pricing and good practices, representatives of the Argentinean delegation said at the annual PDAC Convention, held this week in Toronto, Canada.

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia have been negotiating since July last year, when foreign ministers of each country met at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) conference in Buenos Aires.

The three countries make up the so-called lithium triangle, which has about 65% of the world’s known resources of lithium and reached 29.5% of world production in 2020.

While Brazil’s lithium sector is just waking up to global demand, the nation has auto-making experience and it is already a global case study in low carbon mobility, powering cars with ethanol, biofuels and natural gas.

With Sigma Lithium (TSX-V; NASDAQ: SGML) coming into the mix with the opening of its Grota do Cirilo lithium mine in April, Brazil will have one of the few companies globally that has proven its ability to produce lithium in an environmentally sustainable manner.

“We have to prepare ourselves for what’s coming and be able to adapt — beginning perhaps with cells, working toward industrialization, and getting to batteries,” Argentina’s mining undersecretary Fernanda Avila said in an interview at PDAC.

Graphic by Bloomberg with data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Shared interest in maximizing the benefits of soaring demand for batteries and increasing prices has revived regional talks for cooperation.

Even Mexico, which traditionally has partnered with the USA and Canada, has made moves to partner with its southern neighbours.

Studies indicate that Mexico has about 1.7 million tonnes of lithium reserves. While close to a dozen foreign companies have active mining concessions that aim to develop potential those deposits, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said all of them will be “reviewed” in light of the recent nationalization of the resource.

JPMorgan said last year it expected Argentina to grow from supplying 6% of the world’s lithium in 2021 to 16% by 2030. If the prediction turns out to be correct, Argentina would overtake Chile as the No. 2 lithium producer in the world by 2027, behind only Australia.

Argentina has been welcoming foreign investment since the 1990s, while Chile and Bolivia have been hesitant to allow foreign companies to exploit their reserves.

The country has attracted major miners over the past two years, including the world’s second largest miner Rio Tinto and South Korean steelmaker Posco.

Investments in the lithium sector reached an estimated $1.5 billion last year, data from the Cámara Argentina de Empresarios Mineros, a group of mining entrepreneurs, shows. The body forecasts that investments would reach more than $5 billion in the coming years, as the country currently hosts more than 20 projects in various stages of development.

Chinese carmaker Chery Inc. revealed plans last month to build a $400 million EV and battery plant in Argentina.

Fellow battery maker Gotion High-tech Co. is looking at cooperating with the government of Jujuy, one of Argentina’s three lithium-producing provinces, while weighing the construction of a lithium carbonate refinery in the region.

(With files from Bloomberg)

Ontario OKs Ring of Fire road review plan by First Nations

Colin McClelland | March 6, 2023 |

George Pirie, Ontario Mines Minister with Chief Bruce Achneepineskum of Marten Falls First Nation and Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation at PDAC 2023. 

Credit: Colin McClelland

Ontario has approved another small step on the long journey to build an all-season road to the Ring of Fire minerals area in the province’s far north.


The province granted the terms of reference for an environmental assessment of the Northern Link road, the last terms approved among the three roads planned for the area 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay. The plans were submitted by the Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations. The Northern Link is to connect the two communities and potential mining projects.

“I value our partnership with these strong leaders who are central to our government’s mandate to develop the Ring of Fire,” George Pirie, Minister of Mines, said in a news release accompanying remarks on Monday at PDAC in Toronto. “The Ring of Fire has the critical minerals we need to build our manufacturing supply chain, including nickel for electric vehicles and chromite for clean steel.”

The cost of the roads isn’t clear although Victoria, BC-based The Narwhal, citing memos in the government of Premier Doug Ford, said it’s estimated at more than C$2 billion.

Environmentalists and at least several Indigenous communities in the region, such as the Neskantaga First Nation and several James Bay communities such as Attawapiskat, are opposed to mining and roads they say will desecrate the area. The boggy peatlands and muskeg swamps are difficult to build through and hold millions of tonnes of carbon. Construction would cause its release, outweighing the benefits from mining metals for green energy, they say. (Mushkegowuk Council communities have proposed their own road, however, to link some James Bay coastal communities to the provincial highway system.) Meeting mineral demand to fight climate change is one of the main planks wielded by project supporters.

“This project has the potential to finally bring economic reconciliation for remote First Nations in Ontario,” Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation said in the release. “But these opportunities must also be balanced against the potential environmental and socio-cultural risks associated with building a road.”

Of the two other roads, which are already undergoing environmental assessments, one would link the Marten Falls community to the provincial highway network to the south. The other would run from the Webequie First Nation to proposed mining developments. The Northern Link is to connect the two roads. Each requires its own environmental assessment on the provincial level, while federal review may only apply to the Marten Falls and Webequie community roads and not the Northern Link, at least initially.

The area’s most advanced project is Ring of Fire Metals’ Eagle’s Nest. According to a 2012 feasibility study, it has an 11-year mine life and an estimated cost $609 million. Proven and probable reserves are 11.1 million tonnes grading 1.68% nickel, 0.87% copper, 0.87 gram platinum per tonne, 3.09 grams palladium and 0.18 gram gold.

Ring of Fire beat out giant BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) for the asset after US-based Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) pulled out of the area in 2013 even though it had already spent half a billion dollars to advance local chromite deposits.

Also at PDAC, the province awarded C$5 million in grants as part of the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund supporting Ontario-based companies developing new mining technologies.

Grants of C$500,000 each went to: Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL) to develop innovative lithium processing techniques; Vale Canada (NYSE: VALE) to develop bioleaching techniques to extract nickel and cobalt from tailings; Ring of Fire Metals to test storing tailings as underground backfill in mine workings. Indigenous-owned Carbonix received C$475,000 to convert mining waste, petroleum coke and other by-products into graphite for batteries. The recipients of the remaining circa C$3 million weren’t mentioned.

“We’re connecting the critical minerals of the north with the manufacturing might of the south,” Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said in the release.