Philippine wealth fund provides 'make or break' test for Marcos

Amid opposition and historical baggage, president eyes foreign investment

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is promoting the Maharlika Investment Fund with an eye on his legacy, some observers say. 

 © Nikkei montage/Source photo by Yuki Kohara

CLIFF VENZON, 

Nikkei staff writer

MARCH 14, 2023

MANILA -- During a breakfast meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told corporate executives about the reserves his heavily indebted country has sitting in commercial and government banks.

"We need to find a way to make that money work for us," he said to the assembled guests, among them representatives of Morgan Stanley and Sequoia Capital, as he made his case for his country's first sovereign wealth fund.

"The sovereign wealth fund would be a good idea to leverage what assets the government has," Marcos said according to a statement from his office.

Some say that Marcos, who has been in office for less than a year, is keeping an eye on his legacy as he pushes his signature economic policy, the Maharlika Investment Fund, currently worth about $2 billion. He envisions the fund as a vehicle to attract large foreign companies and help bankroll infrastructure development.

After talking up the plan in Switzerland, Marcos pitched the fund in Japan in mid-February. As he ended his five-day official visit to Tokyo, the president said three Japanese groups had pledged to invest in the fund.

But after the president returned home, his optimism collided with his country's reality. Opposition stemming from fears of financial risks and corruption has overshadowed Marcos' bid to set up a fund he believes would drive an economy that in recent decades has been overtaken by those of the Philippines' Southeast Asian neighbors.

The proposed law seeking to establish the fund drew controversy as soon as it was filed late last year. Labor and business groups said the plan was ill-suited to the Philippines, a country with high levels of external debt and budgetary shortfalls. Unlike typical sovereign wealth funds created when countries have budget surpluses, the original bill enlisted pension funds -- the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System -- to seed over half of the 275 billion peso startup fund.

Still, Marcos designated the bill as priority legislation, paving the way for its approval more than two weeks after it was filed. The House of Representatives railroaded its passage in December, with 90% of lawmakers signing off as co-authors in a show of loyalty to Marcos.

Yet the congressional rubber-stamping did little to improve public perception of the fund. "It left a bad taste in the mouth for many people," said Froilan Calilung, who teaches political science at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

Even Marcos' allies in the Senate, which is deliberating a proposed law that would institutionalize the fund, have questioned the bill in its current form, which mandates state-owned banks and the country's independent central bank to provide the bulk of Maharlika's initial capital.

Supporters of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. cheer outside his headquarters in Manila after his electoral victory in May 2022. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

But despite opposition and the history of corruption by the president's family, the son and namesake of the late dictator is pressing ahead.

A successful wealth fund could be a signature achievement for Marcos, potentially providing a face-lift for this family's legacy, which many in the country associate with corruption, Calilung said.

"This is a defining moment for Marcos to set a new image for the Marcoses," Calilung said. "It's a make or break; that's why he is taking a big risk on the wealth fund."

By pushing for Maharlika, Marcos is staking his political capital on the controversial fund, said Bob Herrera-Lim, an analyst at U.S. consultancy Teneo. "If something goes wrong with Maharlika -- whether it underdelivers or there is a problem with it -- he will own that problem," he said.

"The problem is Maharlika -- despite its well-meaning intentions and its well-written language -- will be vulnerable to the general weaknesses in institutions and governance in the Philippines," Herrara-Lim added.

Since his historic electoral victory in May, Marcos has vowed to transform an economy struggling to recover from damage wreaked by prolonged lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. A pillar of those plans is a comprehensive infrastructure program. Marcos on March 9 approved a roster of 194 "flagship projects" worth about 9 trillion pesos ($163 billion).

He said Maharlika will invest in the kind of large-scale infrastructure that his country sorely needs, such as roads and railway systems.

"We're talking about energy, we're talking about infrastructure, we're talking about agricultural development, we're talking about digitalization," Marcos said in Davos. "So all of these will need a great deal of support."

He has also made assurances that Maharlika will be different from 1MDB, the graft-laden Malaysian wealth fund set up by former Prime Minister Najib Razak and used for illicit financial transactions. "We will only deploy funds when there is a very specific project to be paid for," Marcos has said. "So money laundering just won't come into it."

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, father of the incumbent leader, gestures from the balcony of the Malacanang Palace after taking the oath of office in this 1986 photo. Hours later, Marcos resigned and fled the country. © AP

Michael Maduell, president of the U.S.-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a research firm, said that, to work, a wealth fund for the Philippines "needs to have a clear mission, detailed transparency, and a robust corporate governance structure if it wishes to prosper and grow."

For some analysts, Maharlika doesn't meet these requirements. The approved House bill, which was later adopted by the Senate, removed the pension funds as contributors. It instead mandates two state lenders -- the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines -- to shoulder the bulk of the required capital, in addition to central bank dividends and gaming revenue.

Proponents of the Maharlika Investment Fund point to wealth funds that have helped neighboring Southeast Asian nations' economic development. The Philippines "is long overdue" for its own fund, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has said.

Singapore, a city-state that is slightly bigger than Metro Manila, has managed to build GIC as one of the world's largest funds, with $690 billion in assets under management, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. The Indonesia Investment Authority, which is becoming the template for what the Philippines is working on, has recorded roughly $30 billion in co-investment commitments, including from China's Silk Road Fund, since its launch in 2021.

Temasek, Singapore's other state-owned investor, has invested in DBS Bank, Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Airlines, which have become Southeast Asia's leading players in their respective sectors. But Temasek also suffered "reputational damage" when it wrote down $275 million it had invested in a bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.

As the Maharlika bill made headlines late last year, speculation swirled as to what Marcos hoped to accomplish with it. Maharlika's planned investment portfolio covers everything from bonds and currencies to infrastructure, but the Marcos administration has not clearly articulated its objective.

Finance officials say the fund is both developmental and commercial. But the ambiguity at the core of its mission could confuse the private companies looking to bid for infrastructure projects under the government's public-private partnership program, Herrera-Lim said.

Analysts say the apprehensions surrounding Maharlika hark back to the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., whose statist economic policies bred inefficiency, corruption and cronyism that contributed to the economic crisis of the 1980s.

"The history of the first Marcos presidency will always be part of the baggage of his son's administration, fairly or unfairly," Herrera-Lim said.

Workers at the construction site of a bridge in Manila are seen in this June 2021 photo. 

 © Getty Images

Maharlika's defenders say the fund will be subject to layers of oversight, even as it would -- like private companies -- enjoy exemptions from laws that seek to ensure transparency in procurement and affairs of similar government corporations.

With only two opposition senators in the 24-member chamber, analysts say the Maharlika Investment Fund bill is likely to be approved, possibly with significant tweaks. Its leadership would then need to take on the challenge of attracting investors and implementing projects.

Responsibility for these challenging tasks would fall squarely on the president, and the fund could provide a barometer for the success of his administration, the analysts say.

"Marcos has put his name behind Maharlika," Herrera-Lim said. "If it fails to gain ground because of resistance from Congress, or is hobbled by badly designed legislation, then it would reflect negatively on his ability to push forward his programs."

Additional reporting by Tsubasa Suruga in Singapore and Erwida Maulia in Jakarta

The Oscar for 'Naatu Naatu' fans the impossible dreams of India's musicians

March 13, 2023
KAMALA THIAGARAJAN

NPR

Art school students in Mumbai finish up a painting of Indian actors N.T. Rama Rao Jr. (left) and Ram Charan of the movie RRR, whose dance song "Naatu Naatu" became the first song from an Indian film to win an Oscar.

Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images

"Do you know naatu? If you don't, you're about to!"

That's how Bollywood star Deepika Padukone introduced the energetic live performance of the foot-tapping Oscar-nominated song "Naatu Naatu" from the global blockbuster movie RRR at the live ceremony on Sunday night.

MOVIES
From viral dance hit to Oscar winner, RRR's 'Naatu Naatu' has a big night

"Naatu Naatu" means "raw" or "rustic" in the local language of Telugu, spoken by some 81 million in southeastern India. The song shot to viral global fame on TikTok and Instagram. And last night, it won the Oscar.

YouTube
They're cheering the victory in India.

For Sameul Kadhiravel, a 30-year-old rapper in Chennai, India, known by his stage name Mc Valluvar, that moment held a special magic. "It was incredibly exciting to see an Indian musical get worldwide recognition," he says. "It made me hope that things would change for independent musicians too."

Bann Chakraborty, a Mumbai-based composer, says the win will help musicians gain more confidence. "RRR's win should inspire all Indian musicians to be better at what we do. This Oscar recognition will certainly open doors for the world to know more about Indian music," he says.
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And because the movie itself comes not from India's famed Bollywood film industry but from South Indian cinema, there was additional optimism. "Wins like 'Naatu Naatu' put us on the world map, which is so fantastic," says Berty Ashley, a musician in Bengaluru, and co-founder of Original Dog along with Navin Dorai. It's a platform to help independent artists from low-income communities get a foot in the door of show business.

But will the win bring more visibility – and opportunity — for Indian musicians?

That, says Ashley, is not likely going to be the case. Independent Indian musicians have ideas and creative energy, he says, but lack the funds for basic equipment and travel expenses for performances.

Such frustrations, he says, are driving Indian musicians to embrace rap and hip-hop: "It's a fantastic genre to vent anger, frustration. And all you need is a backing track which you can find free online." And you don't need pricey equipment. "You can record the verse over your phone," he says.

Kadhiravel himself grew up in TP Chatram, a slum in Chennai in a 10 x 10 square foot home. His mother worked as a cleaner, his father did tailoring on a street corner to make ends meet. Their son dreamed of music.

He loved making up lyrics and rapping them to his friends, but he didn't even know that what he was doing was rap until a friend introduced him to the genre.

"People like me don't usually dare to dream of a career in music," Kadhiravel says. His boyhood neighborhood was known for sex, drugs and violence. Grinding poverty forced him to drop out of school in his final year – he says he just could not concentrate.

He would later go on to get a diploma in design, which is far cheaper than going to college.

But he also had formed a band called "Thara Local Pasanga" (Really Local Boys) – five slum boys rapping about their lives. In 2014, They released their first album. The video album was shot entirely on a friend's GoPro.

The album garnered 50,000 global views and some people even recognized the rappers. He seemed to be living his dream, composing and rapping he lyrics to 50 popular songs. TV and radio channels were hungry for the content, he says – but they paid very poorly. Unless a musician had a high number of page views, he would earn Rs 4,000 ($50) or less for an original song. And to promote his music, he would need to hire a production team—a video editor, a make-up artist, sound and lighting.

"Poor musicians are forced to sell their original content to bigger companies for peanuts because they cannot afford these production costs," he says. "Big labels pay very little, and sometimes I make only half of what I invested."

There are days when he's had to take on many a part time gig to keep afloat. Back in 2014, after the release of his first album, he was painting a house. During a break, while covered in dust and paint, he strolled over to a tea shop. A young boy who sauntered in, said he looked like his "favorite rapper from Thara Local Boys" and wanted to take his picture.

The irony wasn't lost on Kadhiravel. "People think musicians have glamorous lives. In many cases, we're driven by passion and just looking to survive," he says.

That lack of resources for talented musicians drove Berty Ashley and Navin Dorai to found Original Dog. "We spoke to hundreds of artists and found that funding and marketing was their main issue," says Dorai. With an investor who was an ex-musician, their platform launched 60 albums and 243 artists in the last year, producing tracks and covering costs.

Very few musicians make it to India's film industry, where there is potential for glory and big bucks, says Vi Anand, a filmmaker based in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad who makes films in the Telugu language. No one talks about the struggle musicians face, he says — the many years where you run after a dream in spite of financial, social and family pressures.

"A lot is lost," he says. "But this win will inspire and continue to inspire. Sometimes that's all the fuel a dreamer needs."

For musicians like Kadhiravel, an Oscar isn't the ultimate goal. His parents were never angry with him for not earning a more substantial living. "They would be occasionally annoyed" by his devotion to making music "but always are supportive," he says.

"The day when I earn enough from my music to feed my parents three square meals, when I can ask them to quit their labor intensive jobs and put a roof over their heads, that would be as precious as an Oscar to me," he says. "That's when I'd know I've truly won with my music."

Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, Southern India. She reports on global health, science, and development, and her work has been published in the New York Times, The British Medical Journal, BBC, The Guardian and other outlets. You can find her on twitter @kamal_t

What's the status of the US death penalty?

March 13, 2023 

The first federal capital case tried under President Joe Biden ended with a split among jurors that means the life of an Islamic extremist who killed eight people in a New York City will be spared. It came at a rare federal death penalty trial in a state without the death penalty.

That Biden’s Justice Department continued to pursue the death penalty for Sayfullo Saipov, who used a truck to mow down pedestrians and cyclists on a popular bike path, was a surprise to many given Biden's opposition to capital punishment and his 2016 campaign pledge to end it federally.

The jury’s failure to reach a unanimous decision means Saipov receives an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the October 2017 attack.

The initial decision to seek the death penalty came under then-President Donald Trump, who tweeted a day after the attack that Saipov “SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!”

But Attorney General Merrick Garland, under Biden, gave his prosecutors the green light to continue pursuing it even though Garland has imposed a moratorium that means no federal executions are likely to happen anytime soon.

The federal death penalty wasn’t a high-profile issue until Trump resumed them in 2020 after a 17-year hiatus. With 13 inmates put to death in his last months in office, Trump oversaw more federal executions than any president in more than 120 years.

Here is a look at the current status of the federal death penalty under Biden:

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HOW WAS THERE A CAPTIAL CASE IN A STATE WITHOUT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?

Saipov’s case was a rare instance of the Department of Justice seeking the death penalty in one of the more than 20 states that does not have capital punishment, drawing on U.S. laws that allow executions by federal authorities for exceptional crimes.

The death penalty was effectively abolished in New York by 2007, after years of efforts to restore it, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Historically, over 1,000 people have been executed in New York. The last execution in the state was in 1963.

Federal juries in Brooklyn twice gave a death sentence to a man who murdered two New York police detectives, once in 2007 and again in 2013, but both sentences were vacated on appeal. A judge ultimately ruled the killer was intellectually disabled.

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death at a 2015 federal trial in Massachusetts, which abolished capital punishment in 1984. The current Justice Department has continued to fight Tsarnaev’s bid to have his death sentence tossed out.

If Tsarnaev is ever executed, it would likely be at a death chamber at a U.S. prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal death row is located and where the 13 prisoners executed under Trump received lethal injections of pentobarbital.

WHAT HAS BIDEN DONE TO DATE?

Biden himself has not issued any formal directives or policy statements on federal capital punishment. During the 2016 campaign, he vowed both to end the federal death penalty for good, and to work at ending it in all states. He has been silent on both federal and state death penalties.

The lack of clear steps toward abolishing the death penalty or clearing federal death row using executive authority would leave to the door open to a future pro-death penalty president once against resuming executions by the U.S. government.

Under Garland , the Justice Department hasn’t sought the death penalty in any new cases. It also has withdrawn requests for capital punishment sought by prior administrations against more than two dozen defendants.

The Justice Department announced in January that it would not seek the death penalty for Patrick Crusius, who is accused of fatally shooting nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at a West Texas Walmart in 2019. Crusius later pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and weapons charges.

While many have praised the White House for not wanting to interfere in the Justice Department’s day-to-day decision making, capital punishment opponents say that shouldn’t stop it from establishing an overall policy on executions.

WHAT HAS THE WHITE HOUSE SAID?

In an email to The Associated Press earlier this year, the White House said the president “has long talked about his concerns about how the death penalty is applied and whether it is consistent with the values fundamental to our sense of justice and fairness.” It added Biden supports the attorney general’s decision to impose the moratorium.

“The DOJ makes decisions about prosecutions independently. It would be inappropriate for us to weigh in on specific cases underway, but we believe it’s important for victims, survivors, and their families to get justice,” it said.

WHAT ABOUT THE MORITORIUM?

Garland announced a halt to federal executions in 2021, meaning the Justice Department won’t issue orders to execute anyone, at least while the moratorium is in place.

But the moratorium doesn’t stop the department from pursuing the death penalty and it doesn’t stop U.S. prosecutors from continuing to fight legal action by death row inmates trying to avoid execution.

The Garland moratorium is similar to one ordered in 2014 by President Barack Obama following a botched state execution in Oklahoma. That Obama didn’t take more far-reaching action on the federal executions enabled Trump to restart them.

Trump officials argued that carrying out the executions was a matter of complying with U.S. law and bringing long delayed justice to victims’ relatives.

WHAT DOES THE REVIEW DURING THE MORATORIUM ENTAIL?

The Justice Department hasn’t offered details, including end goals or timetables.

Garland has said the review would look at protocols put in place by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr. Attorneys for death row inmates criticized the protocols, saying they allowed for hurried executions.

What the review does not entail is an assessment of whether the federal death penalty should be scrapped entirely.

WHAT ABOUT THE PROTOCOLS?

In September, the Justice Department issued a public notice seeking comment about changes to Trump protocols, including one permitting execution methods other than lethal injection, such as firing squads.

In a recent letter, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Dick Durbin urged the Justice Department to quickly annul all the Trump protocols, including one authorizing the use of state facilities and staff in federal executions, calling the orders “irreparably tainted.

Another authorizes the use of a single drug, pentobarbital, to replace a three-drug cocktail deployed in the 2000s — the last time federal executions were carried out prior to Trump.

Most critics of the death penalty responded to the moratorium and review with faint praise — calling it a first step. Any changes in protocol could easily be undone by a future administration.

WHAT DO DEATH PENALTY OPPONENTS WANT DONE?

They say Biden should draw on his presidential powers to commute all federal death sentences to life in prison, which would prevent those death sentences from ever being restored.

There’s also proposed legislation to strike the death penalty from U.S. statutes and resentence the more than 40 inmates still on federal death row to life. Biden has given no indication he supports any such measures.

The issue is a sensitive one for Biden. In 1994, then-Sen. Biden shepherded legislation through Congress that added 60 additional crimes for which someone could be executed. Some inmates executed under Trump were sentenced under those provisions.

Capital punishment has been a hot-button issue politically in the past but is less so now after support for capital punishment has fallen in recent decades. Backing for it currently hovers around 50%, according to most polls.

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Follow Michael Tarm and Alanna Durkin Richer on Twitter at @mtarm and @aedurkinricher.

RFE/RL Russian branch declared bankrupt by Moscow court

 

 The Moscow office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) 

Paris, March 13, 2023 – In response to news reports that a Russian court declared Monday that the local branch of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was bankrupt, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation:

“The bankruptcy of RFE/RL in Russia demonstrates how the country’s legislation on so-called ‘foreign agents’ has been used to economically strangle a media outlet,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Russian authorities should stop obstructing the work of RFE/RL, repeal the draconian foreign agent law, and let the media work freely.”

On Monday, March 13, a court in Moscow declared RFE/RL’s local legal entity bankrupt following its alleged inability to pay fines totaling more than 1 billion rubles (US$13.3 million) issued over its refusal to comply with the requirements of the country’s foreign agent law, according to those reports, both published by RFE/RL affiliates.

The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in 2022 by Russian tax authorities; RFE/RL said at the time that the proceedings were “the culmination of a years-long pressure campaign” against the broadcaster. Authorities previously froze RFE/RL’s bank accounts in May 2021.

Russian authorities have also labeled more than 30 RFE/RL journalists as foreign agents, and a number of the broadcaster’s affiliated websites were blocked after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

CPJ emailed the Moscow Arbitration Court for comment, but did not receive any reply.

IPCC: the climate handbook for a ‘liveable’ future

By AFP
March 13, 2023

The IPCC started a week-long meeting to distill six landmark reports totalling 10,000 pages prepared by more than 1,000 scientists 

Earth is hotter than it has been in 125,000 years, but deadly heatwaves, storms and floods amplified by global warming could be but a foretaste as planet-heating fossil fuels put a “liveable” future at risk.

So concludes the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which started a week-long meeting Monday to distill six landmark reports totalling 10,000 pages prepared by more than 1,000 scientists over the last six years.

Here are some of the main findings from those reports:

– 1.5C or 2C? –

The 2015 Paris Agreement called for capping global warming well below two degrees Celsius compared to late-19th century levels.

But a landmark IPCC report in 2018 left no doubt: only the treaty’s more ambitious aspirational limit of 1.5C could ensure a climate-safe world.

But the report cautioned that achieving this goal will require “unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.

Greenhouse gas emissions must drop 43 percent by 2030 — and 84 percent by mid-century — to stay within the threshold.

And yet, emissions have continued to rise. The world is very likely to overshoot the 1.5C limit, even if temporarily.

Every fraction of a degree counts.

At 1.5C of warming, 14 percent of terrestrial species will face an extinction risk.

If temperatures rise to 2C, 99 percent of warm-water coral reefs — home to a quarter of marine life — will perish, and staple food crops will decline.

The IPCC reports emphasise as never before the danger of “tipping points”, temperature thresholds in the climate system that could, once crossed, result in catastrophic and irreversible change.

The Amazon basin, for example, is already morphing from tropical forest to savannah.

Warming between 1.5C and 2C could push Arctic sea ice, methane-laden permafrost, and ice sheets with enough frozen water to lift oceans by a dozen metres past points of no return.

– Avalanche of suffering –

The 2022 IPCC report on impacts — described by UN chief Antonio Guterres as an “atlas of human suffering” — catalogued the enormous challenges ahead for humanity.

Between 3.3 and 3.6 billion are “highly vulnerable” to global warming’s effects, including deadly heatwaves, drought, water shortages, and disease-carrying mosquitos and ticks.

Climate change has adversely affected physical health worldwide, and mental health in regions where data is available.

By 2050, many flood-vulnerable coastal megacities and small island nations will experience what were formerly once-a-century weather disasters every year.

These and other impacts are set to become worse, and will disproportionately harm the most vulnerable populations, including indigenous peoples.

“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health,” said the IPCC impacts report last year.

Further delays in cutting carbon pollution and preparing for impacts already in the pipeline “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”

– Ecosystems on the edge –

Fortunately for us, forests, plants and soil absorb and store nearly one third of all human-made emissions.

But intensive exploitation of these natural resources also generates planet-warming CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. Agriculture consumes 70 percent of Earth’s freshwater supply.

Oceans have kept the planet liveable by absorbing a quarter of human-made CO2 and soaking up more than 90 percent of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gases.

But this has come at a cost: seas have grown acidic, potentially undermining their capacity to draw down CO2, and warmer surface water has expanded the force and range of deadly tropical storms.

– Fossil fuels –

All roads leading to a liveable world “involve rapid and deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors”, including industry, transportation, agriculture, energy and cities, the IPCC concluded.

Hitting the Paris temperature goals will require a massive reduction in fossil fuel use, the IPCC says.

Coal-fired power plants that do not deploy carbon capture technology to syphon off CO2 pollution must decline by 70 to 90 percent within eight years. By 2050, the world must be carbon neutral, compensating any residual emissions with removals from the atmosphere.

The world must also tackle methane (CH4), the IPCC warns. The second most important atmospheric pollutant after CO2 comes from leaks in fossil fuel production and agriculture, as well as natural sources such as wetlands.

CH4 levels are their highest in at least two million years.

The good news, the IPCC stresses, is that the alternatives to planet-heating fuels have become significantly cheaper. From 2010 to 2019, the unit costs of solar energy fell 85 percent, while wind power dropped 55 percent.

“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C,” said Jim Skea, a professor at Imperial College London and co-chair of the working group behind the report on cutting emissions last year.

Mass protests and false hope: Israel's Supreme Court is no friend of the Palestinian people

March 13, 2023 

Israelis protest against the judicial reform on March 10, 2023 

[Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency]


Dr Ramzy Baroud
RamzyBaroud
March 13, 2023 

As hundreds of thousands, throughout Israel, joined anti-government protests, questions began to arise regarding how this movement would affect, or possibly merge, into the wider struggle against the Israeli military occupation and apartheid in Palestine.

Pro-Palestine media outlets shared, with obvious excitement, news about statements made by Hollywood celebrities, the likes of Mark Ruffalo, about the need to "sanction the new hard right-wing government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu".

Netanyahu, who sits at the heart of the current controversy and mass protests, struggled to find a single pilot for the flight carrying him to Rome on 9 March for a three-day visit with the Italian government. The reception for the Israeli leader in Italy was equally cold. Italian translator, Olga Dalia Padoa, reportedly refused to interpret Netanyahu's speech, scheduled for 9 March at a Rome synagogue.

One can appreciate the need to strategically use the upheaval against Netanyahu's far-right government to expose Israel's fraudulent claim to true democracy, supposedly 'the only democracy in the Middle East'. However, one has to be equally careful not to validate Israel's inherently racist institutions that have been in existence for decades before Netanyahu arrived in power.

The Israeli Prime Minister has been embroiled in corruption cases for years. Though he remained popular, Netanyahu lost his position at the helm of Israeli politics in June 2021, following three bitterly-contested elections. Yet, he returned on 29 December, 2022, this time with even more corrupt – even by Israel's own definition – characters such as Aryeh Deri, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the latter two currently serving as the ministers of finance and national security, respectively.

Each one of these characters had a different reason for joining the coalition. Smotrich and Ben Gvir's agenda ranged from the annexation of illegal West Bank settlements to the deportation of Arab politicians considered 'disloyal' to the state.

Netanyahu, though a rightwing ideologue, is more concerned with personal ambitions: maintaining power as long as possible, while shielding himself and his family from legal problems. He simply wants to stay out of prison. To do so, he also needs to satisfy the dangerous demands of his allies, who have been given free rein to unleash army and settler violence against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, as has been the case in Huwara, Nablus, Jenin and elsewhere.

But Netanyahu's government, the most stable in years, has bigger goals than just "wiping out" Palestinian towns off the map. They want to alter the very judicial system that would allow them to transform Israeli society itself. The reform would grant the government control over judicial appointments by limiting the Israeli Supreme Court's power to exercise judicial review.

READ: Judicial overhaul to go ahead, opposition organising coup

The protests in Israel have very little to do with the Israeli occupation and apartheid, and are hardly concerned with Palestinian rights. They are led by many former Israeli leaders, the likes of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former minister Tzipi Livni and former prime minister and leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid. During the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid stint in power, between June 2021 and December 2022, hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the West Bank. 2022 was described by UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, as the "deadliest" in the West Bank since 2005. During that time, illegal Jewish settlements expanded rapidly, while Gaza was routinely bombed.

Yet, the Bennett-Lapid government faced little backlash from Israeli society for its bloody and illegal actions in Palestine. The Israeli Supreme Court, which has approved most of the government actions in Occupied Palestine, also faced little or no protests for certifying apartheid and validating the supposed legality of the Jewish colonies, all illegal under international law. The stamp of approval by the Supreme Court was also granted when Israel passed the Nation-State Law, identifying itself exclusively as a Jewish state, thus casting off the entirety of the Arab Muslim and Christian population which shares the same mass of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.




Netanyahu and his judicial reform plans – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

Rarely did the Israeli judicial system take the side of Palestinians, and when little 'victories' were recorded now and then, they hardly altered the overall reality. Though one can understand the desperation of those trying to fight against Israeli injustices using the country's own 'justice system', such language has contributed to the confusion regarding what Israel's ongoing protests mean for Palestinians.

In fact, this is not the first time that Israelis have gone out on the streets in large numbers. In August 2011, Israel experienced what some referred to as Israel's own 'Arab Spring'. But that, too, was a class struggle within clearly defined ideological boundaries and political interests that rarely overlapped with a parallel struggle for equality, justice and human rights.

Dual socio-economic struggles exist in many societies around the world, and conflating between them is not unprecedented. In the case of Israel, however, such confusion can be dangerous because the outcome of Israel's protests, be it a success or failure, could spur unfounded optimism or demoralise those fighting for Palestinian freedom.

OPINION: The Zionist state and Zionist militancy

Though stark violations of international law, the arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions and the everyday violence meted out against Palestinians, mostly take place within Israel's legal framework. All of these acts are fully sanctioned by Israeli courts, including the country's Supreme Court. This means that, even if Netanyahu fails to hegemonise the judicial system, Palestinian civilians will continue to be tried in military courts, which will carry out the routine of approving home demolition, illegal land seizure and the construction of settlements.

A proper engagement with the ongoing protests is to further expose how Tel Aviv utilises the judicial system to maintain the illusion that Israel is a country of law and order, and that all the actions and violence in Palestine, however bloody and destructive, are fully justifiable according to the country's legal framework.

Yes, Israel should be sanctioned, not because of Netanyahu's attempt at co-opting the judiciary, but because the system of apartheid and regime of military occupation constitute complete disregard and utter violation of international law. Whether Israelis like it or not, international law is the only law that matters to an occupied and oppressed nation.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Covering Haiti’s Triple Threat | Field Notes

VICE News

Mar 13, 2023  #VICENews #News

We hear from the team that was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti while the country faced a triple threat of gang violence, food insecurity, and a resurgence of cholera, which had already infected over 3000 people.

Watch the original VICE News Tonight report, "Cholera Resurges in Gang Gripped Haiti," here: 

Scientists track two icebergs drifting close to international shipping lanes | ITV News

ITV News

Mar 13, 2023

Scientists are tracking two icebergs which have broken off from Antarctica and are now drifting dangerously close to international shipping lanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

Pictures of one of the icebergs - dubbed A81 - show the object, which is thought to be the same size as Greater London, floating in the Weddell Sea. 

In January, it was carved off the Brunt Ice Shelf and has already travelled some 150km southwards.

However, scientists estimate the second iceberg - A76A - to be even bigger, around twice the size of A81 and as big as Cornwall.

Fuel supplies blocked on sixth day of French strikes

Reuters

Strikes blocking fuel deliveries from French refineries ran into a sixth day, piling further pressure on President Emmanuel Macron as he races to shore up support for unpopular pension reforms in a final parliamentary vote.

 

The Shifting Workplace: Remote work sparks a surge in "digital nomads"

CBS News

Mar 13, 2023

Among the many changes brought on by the pandemic was a shift to remote work that enabled some people to do their jobs from distant parts of the world. As part of our CBS News series "The Shifting Workplace," correspondent Ramy Inocencio spent a day in Lisbon, Portugal, living the life of a "digital nomad."

 

Why Gen Z Workers’ Retirement Accounts Came Out on Top in 2022 | Your Money Briefing | WSJ

Wall Street Journal

Mar 13, 2023  #GenZ #401K #WSJ

While the average retirement nest egg shrunk by 23% last year, Gen Z workers’ balances grew by 14%, according to new data from Fidelity Investments. 

WSJ financial reporting fellow Oyin Adedoyin joins host J.R. Whalen to discuss how Gen Z grew its savings despite a rough market.

EDITORIAL | WHO Must Come Clean on Dismissal of Japanese Regional Director

The Japanese government must demand that the WHO strictly examine whether Dr Takeshi Kasai’s rights and claims were unjustly thwarted.

Published 2 hours ago
on March 14, 2023
By Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a press conference at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on December 14, 2022 (© Kyodo)

What exactly was said and what are the facts? The World Health Organization (WHO) must be fully accountable for the serious action it has taken in dismissing a senior official.

WHO announced the removal of Dr Takeshi Kasai, regional director for the Western Pacific. ​​There had been an internal accusation that Dr Kasai made racist remarks to staff.

However, WHO has not revealed the detailed reasons for his dismissal. They only say that there have been "findings of misconduct." Dr Kasai has denied making any discriminatory comments.

The Western Pacific Regional Office is one of WHO's six regional offices around the world. It is responsible for projects in countries including Japan, China, and Australia.

Dr Kasai was elected to the Regional Commission in 2018 and had been working to combat infectious diseases and improve public health in the Asia-Pacific region.

WHO Director General Tedros shakes hands with then- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Partisanship Evident in Vote

The vote by the regional committee to decide on his removal was very close. There were 13 votes in favor of his removal, 11 votes against, and one abstention.

Nearly half of those voting did not deny that Dr Kasai should remain in his position. The WHO's current explanation is unlikely to convince Japan and other countries concerned.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at the press conference that he had insisted that investigations and fact-finding must be conducted in a fair and impartial manner.

The Japanese government, which sent Dr Kasai to the international organization, must demand that the WHO strictly examine whether there is any fact that his rights and claims were unjustly thwarted.

The internal accusations were reported by the United States media Associated Press in January 2022. According to the AP report, Dr Kasai was accused of making racist remarks to staff members. He was also accused of leaking confidential information to the Japanese government. WHO placed Dr Kasai on administrative leave and was conducting an internal investigation.

The WHO has a policy of zero tolerance for racial discrimination and harassment. And the Japanese government fully supports that policy. If the accusations are true, the dismissal would be justified.

Dr Takeshi Kasai was the WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific until his controversial dismissal. (© Kyodo)

Denial of Racial or National Bias

However, in his statement, Dr Kasai said that while it is true that he treated his staff harshly, he never attacked anyone of a particular race or nationality. He also denies the accusation that he leaked confidential information.

Dr Kasai, an expert in health crisis management. Moreover, he was considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the WHO's director general.

If the issue is left unaddressed, its negative impacts will go beyond Dr Kasai's position. The opaque facts behind his dismissal could also harm the Japanese government's efforts to bring a Japanese national to the top of an international organization.

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun

Meta Threatens to Ban Canadian News Outlets from Facebook Due to New Online News Act

Published March 13, 2023
By Andrew Hutchinson

Content and Social Media Manager

Here we go again.

With the Canadian Government looking to implement a new Online News Act, which would effectively force major platforms like Meta and Google to negotiate commercial deals with local news publishers, Meta has threatened to remove Canadian news outlets from Facebook entirely, if the act is passed in its current form.

The Canadian Government is seeking to address imbalances in the local media market, where Meta and Google have gradually taken more and more of the ad market share. But Meta has argued that it doesn’t actually need news content, as per the basis of the legislation, given that most users don’t come to its platforms for news access.

Meta says that it will stand by this if the new rules are enforced, and block Canadian media outlets completely.

Sound familiar?

Back in 2021, the Australian Government established a similar Media Bargaining Code, which is designed to force Meta and Google to share revenue with Australian publishers for any use of news content, including links to their sites.

The aim of the code is to ‘address bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and media companies’, and ensure that local news publishers are able to keep making money, essentially sustaining local journalism in the new digital environment.

But the legislation has always been flawed, and as both Meta and Google have argued, it makes little sense to enact such rules on the platforms that help deliver news to audiences.

But the Australian Government pushed ahead with the plan anyway, which eventually led to Meta banning Australian news publishers on its platforms entirely, in order to avoid paying for news content.

The ban lasted less than a week, but Meta made its point, which led to a renegotiation of the terms of the Media Bargaining Code, making it more favorable to Meta and its interests.

The Australian Government has since touted the success of the code, claiming that over 30 commercial agreements have been established between Google and Meta and Australian news businesses, which sees over $AU200 million being re-distributed to local media providers annually.

The actual figures here are not entirely clear, but the Australian Government claims that it’s been able to use this revenue-share program to fund a range of educational and support programs to foster local media growth, creating a more sustainable media ecosystem.

Which is why Canada’s now looking to enact the same – though it seems likely that it’ll need to revise its approach, because as we’ve already seen, Meta’s likely not bluffing in its threats.

Will that see a Facebook news ban in Canada? Will that matter?

There is also an argument to be made that Meta is now less reliant on news content than ever before, with short-form video now driving more in-app engagement. Meta has also been seeking to reduce political content on Facebook, in order to avoid user angst, and it could well be that Meta really doesn’t need news content much at all these days, which dilutes the Government’s position.

But still, maybe they can get something out of it, and with the Australian example paving a way forward, you can bet that local news publishers are pushing to get anything they can from Meta and Google’s profits.

In the end, it seems likely that some arrangement will be met. But a full news ban could happen, which would cause major disruption in the Canadian market.