India top court to start hearing same-sex marriage case

Shruti Mahajan, Bloomberg News

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Gender rights activists and supporters of LGBTQ community walk the Delhi queer pride parade in New Delhi on Jan. 8, 2023. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)Sajjad Hussain/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE/TNS

A five-judge panel of India’s Supreme Court will begin hearing detailed arguments on April 18 in a landmark case seeking marriage equality for the country’s LGBTQ community.

The top court said the issue was of “seminal importance” and must be heard by a larger panel of judges. The order came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government opposed legalizing same-sex marriages and pressed for the issue to be debated and decided only by parliament.

The Indian constitution calls for cases involving crucial interpretations of the constitution to be heard by panels of at least five judges.

The petitions before the court seek marriage equality under various Indian statutes and religious personal laws. The push follows the decriminalization of homosexuality in 2018.

In a brief hearing Monday, lawyers for the petitioners highlighted that the court has already expanded various rights for the LGBTQ people, ranging from the right to privacy for personal choices to granting legal protection for “atypical” families.

The government’s counsel rested their argument on the so-called Indian concept of family — which the government has described as accepted “statutorily, religiously and socially” as between a biological man and a biological woman. A legislative debate on the issue would better reflect the views of society, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said.

If same-sex marriages are allowed, “we would be destroying the intent of the legislation,” Mehta added.

The Indian government’s position echoes that of Singapore — where sex between men was decriminalized in 2022 but the government amended the constitution to give parliament the authority to define marriage. As of now, that rules out same-sex couples.

A ruling in favor of the LGBTQ community will grant marriage equality to all of India’s 1.4 billion people and eventually cement rights such as adoption and inheritance.

Just a handful of places outside of the West — and only Taiwan in Asia — allow same-sex marriage. India’s court proceedings will be watched closely in countries like Thailand, Japan, Greece and South Korea where similar debates are taking place.

Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at George W. Bush says his country is still paying the price for the US-led invasion

Muntazer al-Zaidi, 48, at his home on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq.
Shirin Jaafari/The World

Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi was thrust into the global spotlight in 2008 after he threw his shoes at then-US President George W. Bush. Two decades after the US-led invasion of Iraq, he says his country is still paying the price.

The World
March 13, 2023 · 

By Shirin Jaafari

On the outskirts of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, the streets don’t have names, trash is not collected and the roads are not maintained.

It’s in this area, in an unassuming brick house, that 48-year-old Muntazer al-Zaidi lives with his wife and daughter.

A small garden separates the dusty road from his home.

Zaidi has been in the global spotlight for more than a decade. His life changed on Dec. 14, 2008, when at a news conference in Baghdad, he hurled his shoes at then-US President George W. Bush.

“This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog,” he yelled in Arabic as he threw his first shoe toward Bush. “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq,” he shouted as he threw his second shoe.

The video was shown on news shows across the world. The relatively unknown Iraqi journalist suddenly became the face of resistance to some, and a troublemaker to others. Now, two decades after the US-led invasion of Iraq, he said that his country is still paying the price.

Following the press conference, Zaidi was arrested. He said he was tortured by the Iraqi security forces while in detention. In recent years, he said he has been shunned by Iraqi news outlets because “they don’t want to be associated with someone who is anti-American.

“Even the ones who say they hate America, they are afraid to confront this fact,” he said.

Zaidi also has a devout following.

Today, 15 years since the press conference, Zaidi’s views about the US have not changed.

“How can I forgive?” he asked. “These people have done these atrocities against my brother, my neighbor, my father, and they haven’t at least apologized, nor [are they] going to trial and they’re still free at large.”

He pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine, adding that “the whole world now is weeping for Ukraine, but we were under occupation, and no one was even supporting us. Some of them were even supporting the Americans and if they were not, they just kept their mouths shut.”

Zaidi described his action at the press conference as “sort of a scream” or an attempt to draw the world’s attention to his country. He wanted to say not all Iraqis embraced the Americans at the outset of the invasion, as he said it was described by Americans. In fact, many Iraqis were suffering.

On the day of the conference, Zaidi said he picked his dirtiest, oldest shoes. As if to add to the insult.

He said he went in expecting he might be killed. So, he chose his seat carefully, picking the one in the last row. His thinking was if he got shot, no one behind him would be hit.

Zaidi had planned and prepared for a day to show his anger at the US president. In 2005, he made a video stating he is not paid by anyone nor is he affiliated with any groups.

But his anger is not just at the Americans. Iraq, he said, has gone from bad to worse. In 2011, he joined the protests against the Iraqi government.

“The Iraqi government is run by Iran,” he said. “Our politicians are being manipulated by neighboring countries. The Iranian influence, the illiteracy, the corrupt politicians, the media blackout, and corruption are all legacy of the US invasion.”

As for what happened to his shoes, Zaidi said he doesn’t know. He suspects the Americans shredded them so that they would not be made into a symbol by his supporters.

Alaa Mahsoob Mohammed supported the reporting of this story.

via GIPHY

Civil societies call on European Parliament to pressure Vietnam on human rights

They point to the violations that run counter to provisions included in a free trade agreement.

By RFA Vietnamese
2023.03.01

Representatives from civil society groups call for the European Parliament to pressure Vietnam

on human and labor rights issues at a conference in Brussels, Feb. 28, 2023.

Civil groups urged the European Parliament to step up pressure on Vietnam to improve its dismal human and labor rights records during a review of the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

The call came during a conference in Brussels on Feb. 28, led by Marianne Vind, vice chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. 

The free trade agreement, which came into force on Aug. 1, 2020, includes a chapter on trade and sustainable development that entails commitments by the EU and Vietnam to promote labor rights, environmental protection and sustainable development, as defined by international conventions and multilateral environmental agreements. 

Representatives from Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, the Swiss-Vietnam Committee, and the U.S.-based Viet Tan party expressed grave concerns about the worsening human rights situation in Vietnam since the EU and Vietnam ratified the free trade agreement, or EVFTA, which abolishes most custom duties within 10 years.

They pointed to the Vietnamese government’s various violations with regard to freedom of speech, press freedom and workers’ rights that run counter to the provisions included in the agreement.

Since the agreement's signing, human rights abuses have become worse in the one-party communist state, said Helena Huong Nguyen, a conference organizer and member of Viet Tan based in Denmark.

“In the past, only political dissidents were imprisoned, but over recent years, civil society and environmental activists, and even those interested in trade agreements, have also been jailed,” she told Radio Free Asia during a post-conference interview. “The Vietnamese government has even raided online voices of dissent.”

Use of Penal Code, Cybersecurity Law

A Vietnamese guest speaker who attended the conference virtually and requested anonymity for safety reasons, said that he and many human rights activists in Vietnam had hoped the free trade agreement would bring about not only economic benefits, but also improvements in the human rights situation because of the EU’s influence when it comes to such rights.

But instead, they experienced increased suppression of freedom of speech and press freedom along with further deteriorating human rights over the past two years, he said. 

Vietnam’s 2018 Cybersecurity Law allowed has authorities to impose administrative fines on people who write stories and commentaries deemed malicious or that distorted Vietnamese Communist Party guidelines and government policy and law, he said, by way of example. 

At the same time, the government has used the country’s 2015 Penal Code to its advantage, especially Articles 117 and 331, to stifle political dissent, he added. 

Article 117 forbids the distribution of propaganda against the state, while Article 331 criminalizes “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state.” Vietnamese authorities routinely use the statutes to attack those who speak out in defense of human rights.

The Vietnamese government arrested 40 political dissidents and human rights activists in 2019, 60 in 2020, and 25 in 2021 and 2022, said the guest speaker, attributing the lower arrest rates in the last two years to the increased caution that other activists exercised to avoid being hauled away. 

'Too afraid of the consequences'

Julie Majerczak, representative to European institutions for Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said press freedom in Vietnam has been on the decline since the free trade agreement was ratified.

Vietnam ranked 174th out of 180 countries on the group’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index and became the world’s fourth largest prison for journalists after North Korea, Myanmar and China, Majerczak said. 

The number of arrested and convicted journalists had decreased lately because authorities had imprisoned nearly all independent journalists, she said.

Blogs are no longer widely used as they were a decade ago among journalists to criticize government policies because they are too afraid of the consequences, Majerczak said. 

Additionally, the government has been increasing its censorship of traditional, mainstream media, she said. 

Majerczak cited the cases of professional journalist Pham Doan Trang and citizen journalist Do Cong Duong. Trang, RSF’s award winner in 2019, was sentenced to nine years in prison for “propagandizing against the state,” and Duong died because of harsh jail conditions during his prison term.

“The EU should not cooperate economically with Vietnam until Hanoi improves its human rights record,” she said. “The EU should use the EVFTA to pressure Hanoi to release journalists and improve detention conditions for human rights defenders.”

Preventing trade unions

Huy Nguyen of Vietnam Workers’ Defenders, a U.S.-based organization that seeks to protect workers’ rights in Vietnam, said the government has taken many measures to prevent laborers from establishing independent trade unions.

The country’s current Labor Code violates International Labor Organization conventions because it includes provisions for establishing trade unions, he added. 

Nguyen accused the Vietnamese government of violating a free trade agreement provision that requires the establishment of a Domestic Advisory Group. The civil society component is meant to ensure that employer and workers organizations, business groups and environmental groups cano submit views or recommendations on the FTA’s trade and sustainable development chapter.

In July 2021, Vietnam police arrested journalist Mai Phan Loi of the Center for Media in Educating Community and attorney Dang Dinh Bach of Center for Legal Studies & Policy for Sustainable Development because their groups registered to become members of Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group, Nguyen said. 

Shortly after that, Hanoi formed Vietnam’s Domestic Advisory Group with three members, two of whom were under the government’s control, he said. 

In January 2022, Vietnam added three more members, although one did not have the independence required by the free trade agreement, Nguyen said. The same month, Hanoi sentenced Loi to four years in prison and Bach to five years, both on charges of “tax evasion.” 

The EU should request that Vietnam review the members of its Domestic Advisory Group and allow representatives from truly independent civil society organizations to join the group, said Nguyen. He also urged Hanoi to release Loi and Bach. 

As a newly elected member of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, Vietnam should take concrete action to improve its human rights record, said Sébastien Desfayes, a Swiss parliamentarian and chairman of the Swiss-Vietnam Committee.

That would include the release of activists, free elections, respect for universal human rights and the right to an independent judiciary, he said.

He also called on Vietnam to eliminate articles 117, 118 and 331 of the Penal Code, which authorities use to suppress freedom of speech. 

RFA could not reach Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs by phone or email for comment. 

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

Vietnam accuses lawyers defending Buddhist group of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’

The accusation comes under Article 331, a law used to imprison dissidents.

By RFA Vietnamese
2023.03.13

Attorneys Dao Kim Lan (2nd from L) and Dang Dinh Manh(C) are working on a case involving the Peng Lei Buddhist Church and have been accused by Vietnamese authorities of 'abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state.'

Manh Dang/Facebook

Vietnamese police have summoned two attorneys defending members of a Buddhist house church in Long An province, accusing them of violating a law that is widely used to imprison dissidents.

Attorneys Dang Dinh Manh and Dao Kim Lan, two of five defense lawyers working on a case involving the Peng Lei Buddhist Church are accused of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state” under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

Vietnamese authorities routinely use the statute to attack those speaking out in defense of human rights.

Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution, but it also allows authorities to override rights, including religious freedom, for purposes of national security, social order, social morality and community well-being. Authorities have been aggressive in crushing various religious groups.

The one-party Vietnamese government also is notorious for violations of human rights, including the prosecuting of rights attorneys and other defenders, and ignoring international obligations to promote and protect them. 

According to the notices, police summoned the lawyers after the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security issued an advisory that some of the defense attorneys involved in the case showed signs of violating Article 331. 

The summons for Dang Dinh Manh, dated March 6, instructed him to meet with police investigators on March 21, 2023, while the summons for Dao Kim Lan, dated March 8, told him to meet with them on March 15. 

Many state-media outlets, including Tien Phong, or The Pioneers, and Phap Luat TPHCM, or the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper, reported that police were investigating the two lawyers.

In February, three lawyers — Dang Dinh Manh, Dao Kim Lan and Ngo Thi Hoang Anh — were notified by Long An police that they had “carried out activities of disseminating videos, images, statements and stories with signs of abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to violate the state’s interests and legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations,” according to state media reports.

RFA could not reach Ngo Thi Hoang Anh to confirm that she had received a summons. Dang Dinh Manh and Dao Kim Lan refused to comment. 

‘Abusing democratic freedoms’

The three lawyers and two others — Nguyen Van Mieng and Trinh Vinh Phuc — have been providing legal support for six members of the house church, who in July 2022 were sentenced to a combined 23 years and six months in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms” under Article 331.

Duc Hoa district police and Venerable Thich Nhat Tu, a Buddhist monk, were the plaintiffs in the case. 

Before the first-instance trial, lawyers sent an 11-page petition to Vietnam’s president and the heads of the National Assembly, Ministry of Public Security, and People’s Supreme Procuracy, highlighting indications of the violation of criminal procedures and judicial activities. 

The lawyers also raised concern about the objectivity of the investigation because Duc Hoa district police, a plaintiff, was part of the probe. 

The petition also indicated that police forced a Peng Lei nun to submit to a gynecological examination, offending her honor and dignity because the action was unrelated to the case. 

Even though the lawyers’ complaints had not been addressed, the Duc Hoa People’s Court moved ahead, putting the six church members on trial and sentencing them each to three to five years in prison. 

Police investigator Huynh Hung, who is in charge of the case against the lawyers, declined to answer Radio Free Asia’s questions about the case. 

Attorney Nguyen Van Dai, who now lives in Germany, told RFA on Monday that the responsible agencies should have quickly responded to the petition filed by the church’s lawyers instead of launching an investigation against them. 

“This was a serious violation of freedom of speech and press freedom of lawyers in general and citizens in general,” he said. “They [the authorities] used available tools, including the police and the procuracy, to dismiss the lawyers from their profession. This was an act of vindictiveness by the authorities towards human rights lawyers.”  

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Lawyers for Vietnamese Buddhist group investigated by authorities

Police said that lawyers may have violated Vietnam’s penal code by providing legal assistance

By RFA Vietnamese
2023.02.27

Vietnamese police are investigating the lawyers for the Peng Lei Buddhist Church. From left: Trinh Vinh Phuc, Dang Dinh Manh, Nguyen Van Mieng, Ngo Thi Hoang Anh and Dao Kim Lan.
 Credit: Manh Dang Facebook account

Police in Vietnam said they are investigating lawyers for the Peng Lei Buddhist Church, accusing them of violating the country’s penal code as part of their representation for the religious group.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said the lawyers could be charged under Article 311, which criminalizes ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the State’ and is often used by authorities to target dissidents and opponents in Vietnam.

On Feb. 22, police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested Vo Van Dien, a YouTuber who had posted videos supporting Nguyen Phuong Hang, another Vietnamese netizen who was charged by authorities. Vo Van Dien was accused of “disturbing public order” with their videos. Both YouTubers had spoken about the Peng Lei Buddhist Church case on their channels. 

Police in Vietnam’s Long An province have sent a notice to several lawyers involved in the Peng Lei case saying that they could be charged for their work. 

One of the lawyers, Dao Kim Lan, told RFA that the notice “had something to do with our comments and complaints against Long An province’s judicial agencies.”

“Perhaps, they targeted our comments on how they had covered up crimes and showed signs of fabricating evidence,” he added. 

Lawyers for the church had submitted a complaint claiming violations of due process for their clients to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, but the ministry assigned the same police who were named in the complaint to investigate the allegations. 

Dao Kim Lan also said that the lawyers were receiving threats, and were sent anonymous messages online saying they would be arrested. 

“I am not sure whether it was an act of retaliation,” he added. The fact that the Long An police, who accused them of committing crimes, are investigating the case “makes us think that objectivity cannot be guaranteed.”

Lawyers are requesting that the ministry assign an independent entity to investigate, saying that the accused cannot investigate the accuser in a fair case. 

Ngo Thi Hoang Anh, another one of the lawyers in the case, told RFA that at present, “ I cannot say anything as I need to do my best to protect my clients' interests.”

“For lawyers, being unable to best protect their clients is a shame, and I am very worried about having to quit or refuse to continue defending them. I hope everything will be clarified soon so I can keep practicing law.”

Another lawyer from Hanoi, speaking to RFA anonymously, said that charging the lawyers would send a chilling message to defense lawyers across the country. 

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Nawar Nemeh and Malcolm Foster.

Vietnamese authorities prevent Christian group from meeting with U.S. diplomats

Church leaders invited the diplomats to discuss religious freedom.

By RFA Vietnamese
2023.02.23

Followers of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ in Vietnam gather to celebrate Christmas in 2022.
Pastor Aga

Local authorities in southern Vietnam on Wednesday blocked U.S. diplomats from entering the homes of Christian leaders to keep them from discussing religious freedom in at least two remote villages, church members and social media posts reported.

Both incidents took place in Dak Lak province, in the southern end of the country’s Central Highlands region, which is home to several ethnic minority groups.

Over the past few months, authorities in the region have prevented many religious groups in the region from holding services or performing rituals on the excuse that the groups have not registered with the government and are therefore illegitimate.

Believers and their supporters say this is an infringement of the right to religious freedom. Though the Vietnamese constitution states that people have this right, the law allows the government to restrict religious practices if doing so is said to be in the interest of national security.

In one of the incidents, personnel from the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City were prevented from entering the homes of Y Kreec Bya, and Y Cung Nie, members of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ.

“A crowd of staff from local agencies and police officers gathering at the gate of my house did not allow the diplomats to come in and discuss with us,” Y Kreec Bya told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “They also asked the diplomatic delegation to leave and did not allow them to shake hands or talk [with us].”

Y Kreec Bya also said police had been waiting in front of his home for more than a day, and they even threatened the church, saying if it does not stop its activities, they would take “tougher measures.”

Two other church members from a village 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) away were also made to stay in their homes on the day of the meeting. 

Aga, a pastor of the church who resides in North Carolina, said that the U.S. government has been aware of Vietnam’s intolerance of religious freedom in the Central Highlands region. He said that during the incident, the diplomats “witnessed all of Vietnam’s issues with their own eyes.”

Caught on video

Video footage posted on the Facebook page for a rights group called Montagnard Stand for Justice showed a similar incident that occurred on the same day, as U.S. diplomats were stopped from entering the home of Y Cung Nie. 

In the video, a woman wearing a name badge checked the IDs of the diplomats and then explained that they would not be able to enter the home, and that the religious groups were connected to people who would incite believers to “seek separation.” 

The diplomats then told Y Cung Nie that they would have to reschedule the meeting for a later date.

RFA contacted the Chief of Staff of Dak Lak Province People’s Committee, but he did not answer the phone. Le Van Nuoi – Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the district where the incident occurred, told RFA that reporters should see him in person if they wanted any related information.

Emails to the provincial headquarters and the district leaders of the various villages, as well as to the U.S. Consulate went unanswered as of Wednesday.

Translated by Ana Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong.

Judges fasting for Ramadan are more lenient: study

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Muslim judges are more likely to give lenient decisions while fasting during Ramadan, a study said Monday, contrasting to previous research suggesting that judges who have not eaten give harsher rulings.

In what has been dubbed "the hungry judge effect", a 2011 study found that judges in Israel were more likely to deny criminals parole before they ate lunch than afterwards.

Sultan Mehmood of Russia's New Economic School, the lead author of the new study, told AFP that he was curious to see if the same effect occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims typically go without food or water from dawn to sunset.

To find out, Mehmood and two other economic researchers sifted through a huge amount of criminal sentencing data, including roughly half a million cases and 10,000 judges, covering a 50-year period in India and Pakistan, two of the top three countries with the largest Muslim populations.

They were "surprised" to find the opposite of the hungry judge effect, Mehmood said.

There was a "sharp and statistically significant" rise in acquittals from Muslim judges during Ramadan—and there was no such increase for non-Muslims judges, according to the study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Mehmood said Muslim judges in both countries gave an average of around 40 percent more acquittals during Ramadan than other periods of the year.

And the longer the judges went without food and water, the more lenient they became.

They were 10 percent more likely to acquit with each additional hour of fasting, the study said.

'The idea of clemency'

The researchers also tried to quantify whether the more lenient decisions were better or worse than those made outside of Ramadan.

They found that the defendants on the receiving end of the lenient decisions were no more likely to commit another crime.

The rate of recidivism was generally slightly lower—including for defendants of violent crimes such as armed robbery and murder.

The lenient judgements were also less likely to be appealed, the study said.

"The probability that the initial verdict was overturned was also lower," said Avner Seror, a study co-author and economist at France's Aix-Marseille University.

Seror said that Ramadan was "well-suited to statistical analysis" because it offers numerous avenues for comparison, from being held on different dates every year to the duration of fasting differing depending on when the sun rises and sets.

He suggested that the change in the judges' decision-making could be connected to "the idea of clemency inherent in the Muslim ritual, a little like the spirit of Christmas among Christians".

"But it goes further because it seems to help the judges make the right decision," he added.

Previous research has suggested that intermittent fasting can improve mood, cognition and memory, which could help the judges make better decisions, the researchers speculated.

Mehmood said that when he talked to judges in Pakistan as part of the research, they all agreed that during Ramadan "we are too lenient".

"I'm not sure if they agree whether this is a good thing or not," he added.

More information: Sultan Mehmood, Ramadan fasting increases leniency in judges from Pakistan and India, Nature Human Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01547-3. www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01547-3

Journal information: Nature Human Behaviou

© 2023 AFP

Study: Better school performance seen after intensive religious fasting

Rarely spotted great slaty woodpecker draws horde of bird watchers

This is the fourth time the great slaty woodpecker, which is known to be the largest woodpecker in the world, was spotted in Singapore. 

PHOTO: ETHAN TEO

Chin Hui Shan

SINGAPORE - A rarely sighted woodpecker made an appearance on Sunday and led to a frenzy of bird watchers around the Botanic Gardens.

It was so rare that a couple left their wedding solemnisation nearby to take pictures of it right after their wedding speeches.

With a bald head and grey clock of feather and size of up to 51cm, the great slaty woodpecker is listed as “vulnerable” globally on the International Union for Conservation of Nature.


While it was not the first time Mr Hong Yijun has seen this bird species, the great slaty woodpecker perched itself so close to his wedding venue on Sunday that he could not resist taking photos of it. Both he and his wife are avid bird watchers and bird photographers.

This is the fourth time the bird, known to be the largest woodpecker in the world, was spotted in Singapore.

The last time it was spotted was in 2018 near the summit of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Before that, it was spotted in 1899 and 1904, according to the Singapore Birds Project, which documents wild birds here.

“I had seen this bird in Thailand and Malaysia but seeing it in our homeland was something special,” said the 28-year-old process engineer. “The fact that it graced us with its presence on our wedding day was extremely special to us.”

His wife, Ms Zoey Chua, said that they had booked the Villa, an event venue in the Botanic Gardens, because of its beauty as well as its said ability to attract interesting bird species.

Together, the newly-weds had seen birds like Himalayan griffon vultures and orange-headed thrushes at the Botanic Gardens.

Said the 26-year-old chemist: “The appearance of this rare bird on a special day for us made it even more special.”

The woodpecker was greeted by a crowd of at least 40 people on Sunday.

Among them was Mr Shanyl Ong who rushed down to tick off a bird sighting from his bucket list.

“There was an atmosphere of excitement among all of us, and many were exhilarated to catch a glimpse of the bird on its fourth ever sighting in Singapore’s history,” said the 21-year-old university student.

He said the bird was first sighted on Sunday morning and was spotted briefly again on Monday morning at a different part of Botanic Gardens.

The great slaty woodpecker was greeted by a crowd of at least 40 people on Sunday. 

PHOTO: ETHAN TEO


Mr Alan OwYong, committee member of the Nature Society’s (Singapore) Bird Group, said the great slaty woodpecker, along with seven other woodpecker species, had disappeared from forests here since the 1950s.

Its re-appearance in 2018 was unexpected as it is the rarest among the eight species, he added.

The bird had likely come from Johor in Malaysia due to the habitat loss there, said Mr Tan Gim Cheong, chairman of the same group.

“Birdwatchers are excited about this bird as it was considered extinct until 2018,” he said. “All those who picked up birdwatching in the five years after have never seen the woodpecker in Singapore, so its appearance got them all excited and keen to see the rare visitor.”

Noting that the woodpecker was threatened by forest loss in Singapore since the early days, Mr Tan said: “Its visit reminds us of the importance of our forests for biodiversity.”

Mr Shanyl Ong rushed down to tick off a bird sighting from his bucket list. 

PHOTO: SHANYL ONG

Europe’s civil war over car engine ban

It’s Team Germany vs. Team France going toe-to-toe over the the EU’s automotive industry.

Germany's Digital Infrastructure and Transport Minister Volker Wissing | Carsten Koall/Getty Images

BY JOSHUA POSANER, HANS VON DER BURCHARD, HANNE COKELAERE AND GIORGIO LEALI
MARCH 13, 2023 

BRUSSELS — The future of the internal combustion engine is turning into a Franco-German war.

An alliance of car-friendly countries led by Germany on Monday dialed up the temperature in a fight against EU legislation that would consign the engine to the scrapheap as part of landmark efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

Following a meeting in Strasbourg, key ministers from a gang of car-loving countries said rules ending the sale of new combustion-engine cars and vans by 2035 — already accepted by the European Parliament and agreed in principle by member countries — needed changes. Or else.

"There is no [European Commission] proposal that corresponds to what we expect, and that is why we have not yet reached our goal," German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said after the meeting,

But France isn't planning to surrender.

Paris signalled it will stand behind the EU's 2035 zero emissions plan, as has Madrid, putting two of the bloc's largest car countries alongside a group of smaller states already committed to slashing CO2 emissions from passenger cars.

French Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire | Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images

“We are ready to fight for it, because [to delay] it is an environmental mistake and I also think it is an economic mistake,” France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Info on Monday — ahead of the Strasbourg meeting, which no French minister attended.

In the opposite corner, the German government, alongside allies Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, is pressing for a loophole for cars to be able to run on e-fuels — a synthetic and somewhat greener alternative to fossil fuels that can be used in conventional combustion engines.

Together they carry enough weight to veto the legislation, along with separate future laws covering toxic exhaust pollutants dubbed Euro 7 as well as truck fuel efficiency rules.

Not everyone cares about e-fuels as much as the Germans, according to Martin Kupka, the Czech transport minister who convened the engine alliance summit in Strasbourg, but a list of demands to the Commission will cover all three pieces of vehicle legislation and will be sent in the next days.
Deal or no deal

Germany has already rejected Brussels' first attempt at a 2035 armistice.

As POLITICO reported last week, the Commission was willing to propose a legal declaration that would toughen up non-binding language on the margins of the agreed 2035 car and van CO2 standards text into a loophole for e-fuels.

But that went down badly with Berlin, where Wissing's car-friendly Free Democratic Party controls the transport ministry.

The FDP feels it has hit on a potent political issue by tapping into fears over the wrenching change that will accompany a transition to electric vehicles — something that will be a death knell for hundreds of companies specializing in components for combustion engines but which have no place in an EV world.

“The Commission's proposal was worded so softly that not much could be made of it," said Bernd Reuther, the FDP's transport policy spokesperson. "It was pushing things very far into the future. We don't want such a wishy-washy compromise."

The Commission has little wiggle room to find a deal since the European Parliament has said it won't reopen the final text agreed last year. There is very little time to act before the EU's legislative calendar ends with next year's European election.

"We can't let ourselves be put under time pressure either, because it wasn't us who left the matter open for months," Wissing said, arguing the Commission should have fixed the issue last summer.

Proposals to set up a working group to assess options for e-fuels and to agree to circle back and review the law in 2026, as is standard practice for EU legislation, weren't acceptable either. "They fall short of what we need," said Wissing.

The FDP's Reuther wants an entirely separate piece of legislation covering e-fuels that would override the fleet efficiency standards; but that would take time to draft and there's no guarantee it would be approved by the Parliament and other countries anyway.

Czech minister Kupka said that engine-friendly ministers were confident a deal could be reached in the coming days with the Commission, including "a legally binding exemption in other ways, not with reopening the legislation.”
Continental divide

But France is not interested in changing a measure that was agreed over nearly two tortuous years of talks, finalized among EU countries during France’s European Council presidency last year, and only needs a formal stamp of approval from ministers to become law.

“Economically it is incoherent, industrially it is dangerous, it is not in our national interest, it is not in the interest of our national manufacturers and above all it is not in the interest of the planet,” Le Maire said of efforts to stall the plan.

The standoff aligns France with other countries backing the 2035 clean car target, such as Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The row undermines Europe’s claim to be a global leader in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and also risks spilling into broader debates over the balance of power in continental politics.

“For the French, this situation also represents an opportunity,” said one diplomat from a country in favor of an engine ban. “The more they can contribute to the idea that Germany goes at it alone, the more it strengthens the view that the Germans are an unreliable partner in Europe.”

Rather than protecting legacy technology, Le Maire wants Europe’s automakers to rapidly make the switch to electric vehicles and has supported France’s massive state subsidy programs for EVs, as well as EU efforts to pour billions into creating a home-grown battery cell industry. Spain is making similar moves to back batteries.

For Le Maire, it's more important to supercharge Europe's shift to electric vehicles than to slow the pace of transition by creating uncertainty around 2035.

“We can’t say that there is a climate emergency — which is the case, which we all know in our cities, in our metropolises, which are still far too polluted — and then step back on the objective of switching to electric vehicles,” said Le Maire.

Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Limited, including Ekati Diamond Mine, to be sold to Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited


GlobeNewswire
Published Mar 13, 2023 •

 

Ekati Diamond Mine in Northwest Territories GNW


CALGARY, Alberta, March 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. has entered into a binding share purchase agreement with Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited, a company publicly traded in Australia (ASX:BDM). Burgundy has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of Arctic Canadian’s assets, most notably Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, as well as other interests for consideration of approximately USD$136 million. The proposed transaction is subject to financing as well as the approval of Burgundy’s shareholders which is expected in late April 2023.

Ekati Diamond Mine has been in operation for close to 25 years during which time it has delivered significant positive socio-economic benefits to the North. The sale announced today will result in a significant recapitalization of Arctic Canadian, which will secure continued operations and longevity for the mine. Arctic Canadian has a workforce of approximately 1,100 people, many of them from local Northern communities.

Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited is based out of Perth, Western Australia. Burgundy owns and operates Australia’s only commercial diamond cutting and polishing facility. The acquisition of Ekati would complete Burgundy’s strategy of becoming truly vertically integrated across the diamond value chain, producing high-value ethically sourced natural diamonds from mine, through cutting and polishing, to ultra-luxury branded retail sales.

The directors and management at Burgundy are experienced in mining and mine investments and have a strong track record of success in the industry. This makes for a good fit with Arctic Canadian and its Ekati Diamond Mine. Burgundy Diamonds is led by CEO, Kim Truter, a mining professional with nearly 40 years of experience, most recently with De Beers Canada and previously with Rio Tinto. Kim is joined by prominent mining entrepreneurs, Michael O’Keeffe and Marc Dorion, who guide the company as its board of directors. Michael O’Keeffe has extensive experience investing in mining resources in Canada, the United States and Australia.

President and CEO of Arctic Canadian, Rory Moore commented, “I believe that this transaction is a significant positive development for Ekati and for the North. I want to acknowledge and thank our current owners for facilitating the restart of operations at Ekati in early 2021. The hard work of our people has led to a return to steady state profitable operations and successfully demonstrated the longer-term value of the Ekati asset that attracted Burgundy to this transaction.”

“I am optimistic about the future of Arctic Canadian,” said Arctic Canadian Chief Financial Officer, Kristal Kaye. “This equity-based investment by Burgundy will greatly improve the financial foundation of the company and our goal of extending mine life at Ekati, while continuing to provide employment opportunities for many people in Northern communities.”

About Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd.

Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. is a significant producer and supplier of premium rough diamond assortments to the global market. The company owns and operates the Ekati Diamond Mine located approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The Ekati property consists of 121 mining leases covering approximately 113,485 hectares with active open pit and underground mining operations. Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. has a supporting office in Calgary, Alberta and a diamond sales office in Antwerp, Belgium.

Germany, Brazil Plan High-Level Meetings as Ties Strengthen

Kamil Kowalcze and Michael Nienaber
Published Mar 13, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invited Brazilian President Lula da Silva for talks and a joint cabinet meeting in Berlin in the second half of this year, in a sign of strengthening ties between Europe and South America’s two biggest economies.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, greets Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brasilia on Jan. 30, 2023. 

The invitation comes despite the leaders’ differing views on how to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and what role China could play in any peace efforts to end the war.

The German-Brazilian talks will focus on closer cooperation on trade, energy, raw materials and climate protection, according to officials from the two countries who spoke under condition of anonymity because the plans haven’t been announced yet.

The so-called intergovernmental consultations will be the first to take place in this format since 2015. Back then, President Dilma Rousseff and 19 of her ministers received Chancellor Angela Merkel with an entourage of 12 ministers and deputy ministers in Brasilia.

Germany has been making a concerted effort to bolster its relationship with Brazil, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Scholz visiting at the start of the year, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck this week and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock scheduled for June.

The South American country is rich in raw materials and has a high share of renewables in its power output, making it a prime candidate for the production of green hydrogen — an energy source Germany is counting on to become less dependent on natural gas.

Germany also sees Brazil — a fellow member of the Group of 20 — as an important geopolitical partner.

Following years of diplomatic frustration under former President Jair Bolsonaro, a “window of opportunity” has opened for closer cooperation, Habeck said during the German-Brazilian economic talks in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on Monday.

Still, the areas of agreement are limited. During a joint news conference in January, Lula turned down Scholz’s request to send ammunition to Ukraine as part of the international effort to help Kyiv repel the Russian invasion.

Scholz had been trying to rally support for Ukraine during a four-day visit to South America in January after deciding together with the US to send German battle tanks, armored fighting vehicles and a Patriot missile battery to Kyiv. Habeck told reporters during his trip that he had ”intensive discussions” with Brazil’s Vice President and foreign minister on Ukraine and Germany’s perspective.

Lula has raised the possibility of China playing a mediation role to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Scholz has warned China not to support Russia with weapons and has also called on Beijing to talk not only to Russia about the conflict but also listen to the Ukrainians.

—With assistance from Simone Iglesias and John Follain.

hydrogen, Wind Energy

Green hydrogen promises to boost Brazil-Germany relationship

February 6, 2023 reve

At the forefront of the green hydrogen economy, Germany sees Brazil as a strategic fuel supplier, a big bet to replace oil, gas and coal and meet climate targets.
As Brazil seeks to regain its environmental leadership, Germany is racing against time to overcome the current energy crisis and meet its climate ambitions. Given this, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leaders of the largest economies in Mercosur and the European Union (EU), met this week to discuss the transformation agenda for their economies, with a focus on in the protection of the Amazon, renewable energies and in the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

During the meeting, Scholz highlighted the Brazilian potential of green hydrogen (H2V), a fuel produced from renewable energies and which is emerging as the main commitment of developed economies to decarbonise CO2-intensive sectors, such as agriculture, transport, industries and electricity generation. energy

“You [Brazil] have a lot of experience with renewable energies and enormous potential also through the production and export of green hydrogen and its respective products,” said the German head of government.
Germany at the forefront

Faced with restrictions on access to Russian energy due to the war in Ukraine and criticism of the expansion of coal burning, Germany is about to jump-start the green hydrogen economy. The first auction of the H2Global policy, which encourages the importation of fuel, identified as a strategic substitute for oil, gas and coal to obtain clean energy, is scheduled for February 7. The first tender will be for contracts for green ammonia, a by-product of H2V.
Will Brazil become a world power of green hydrogen?
06:48

A new round should be held on the 21st to contract sustainable aviation fuel and methanol, also from H2V. With the initiative, the European country is acting to recover the vanguard of the energy transition process and, above all, to overcome its dependence on Russian oil and gas.

At the other extreme is Brazil, which can position itself as one of the main exporters of H2V to Europe and recover its prestige as “green energy” on the international scene.

“For being exposed to the crucial issue of energy security and having launched the first tender for the purchase of green H2V inputs in ten-year contracts, Germany has a leading position,” says Nivalde de Castro, professor at the Institute of Economics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and coordinator of the Electricity Sector Study Group (Gesel).
Why Brazil?

A study published in January by the German strategic consultancy Roland Berger projects that green hydrogen will be the main source of energy on the planet, if the world fulfills the commitments of the Paris Agreement. In this scenario, the global H2V market should move more than 1 trillion dollars in direct sales of fuels or derivatives.

According to the German consultancy, Brazil will lead this race, becoming a major world exporter. Roland Berger estimates that the Brazilian H2V market will reach an annual value of R$150 billion, of which R$100 billion will come from exports.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the production cost per kilogram of H2V from the electrolysis of water in the international market, using renewable sources, varies between 3 and 8 dollars. In Brazil, if one considers the use of energy generated in wind or solar plants in the electrolysis process, the cost would be between 2.2 and 5.2 dollars.

The low cost of producing H2V in Brazil is justified, above all, by the abundance of renewable sources. Nivalde de Castro recalls that the country has the capacity to produce 1.3 million megawatts (MW) of wind and solar generation. Expanding, renewable sources currently generate less than 200,000 MW.

“Brazil has everything to be the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen as of 2030,” says the economist, referring to the weight of the Arab country in oil production. “The challenge is to turn potential into reality,” he says.
looking northeast

As the Northeast is among the regions of the planet with the highest incidence of sun and wind, in addition to being closer to Europe than the rest of the country, several companies have already shown interest in installing H2V factories in the ports of Suape (PE) and Pecém (CE) – the latter, by the way, has as a partner the port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, which may be the gateway for H2V on the continent. In the port of Açu (RJ), in the Southeast, Shell plans to open a unit to produce the fuel in 2025.

At the end of 2022, the Portuguese group EDP produced the first H2V molecule in Brazil, in Porto do Pecém. The Pecém H2V pilot project, originated from a technological research initiative, received investments of R$ 42 million. Unigel, one of the largest chemical companies in Latin America and the largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizers in the country, invested US$ 120 million to build a factory in Polo Camaçari (BA), which should start operating by the end of 2023.

Unigel’s industrial plant, which will have an initial capacity to produce 10,000 tons/year of H2V and 60,000 tons/year of green ammonia, will quadruple production by 2025. For the first phase, the German thyssenkrupp nucera installed three electrolysers, with total of 60 MW, which will be provided by wind power generation sources.

Brazil must stand out in a diversified market

Even if Brazil meets very favorable conditions to become a large world producer of green hydrogen, it will have to share this market. However, the director of institutional relations of the Brazilian Hydrogen Association (ABH2), Monica Saraiva Panik, explains that competition with other countries, such as Australia and Morocco, helps to reduce the costs of H2V production worldwide, which would benefit all producing countries, including Brazil.

“The oil and gas market has always been characterized by highly concentrated production in a few countries, which is negative, as can now be seen in Germany’s dependence on Russian gas. The scenario for H2V is one of much greater diversification. The projects under development in Brazil project the country into a position of great prominence”, analyzes Panik.
Brazil-Germany alliance and national strategy

In July 2021, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) launched the National Hydrogen Program (PNH2), whose guidelines have international cooperation as one of the thematic axes. Throughout that year, the MME and the Energy Research Company (EPE), the body responsible for preparing studies to support national energy planning, participated in various technical cooperation initiatives with Germany to develop the H2V market.

The two main initiatives consisted of the H2 Brasil program (German/Brazilian Power-to-X Partnership Program) and the H2V Production, Logistics and Application Task Force. While the first allocated 34 million euros to promote the development of a green hydrogen economy in Brazil, the second brought together companies and institutions with experience in H2V-related projects to promote studies and political dialogue between Brazil and Germany.

Based on the cooperation efforts between the two countries, the Ministry of Mines and Energy prepared the report Mapping the Brazilian hydrogen sector: current and potential perspectives for green hydrogen. The conclusion of the study is that Brazil must consolidate a national strategy for hydrogen, which contains a concrete action plan so as not to lose the opportunity for sustainable economic development.

“The deepening of the technical, regulatory and technological framework is essential for the creation of a favorable business environment,” says the text that, after mapping the industry with the main academic and institutional actors, identified a perception of lag in the country. with respect to H2V.
The vision of the Lula government

Although it has not yet presented a specific plan for the development of green hydrogen in the country, the new government has indicated that it will pay special attention to the fuel. In a meeting with directors of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, affirmed that the supply of clean energy could be the way to reindustrialize the country.

“Brazil is the country that is best positioned to produce green energy from hydrogen, wind, solar and biomass. In everything that is technologically available, we have a competitive advantage, and this can be a strong component to attract foreign investment to Brazil and reindustrialization”. of national capital, if we take some core steps to think about repositioning industry in our economy,” Haddad said.

After meeting this week with the German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, highlighted that the alliance with Germany in this area can stimulate Brazilian technological development.

“Brazil is making a great effort to also expand cooperation based on technology. Technical and scientific cooperation agreement so that we can further accelerate the possibility of Brazil being a great energy supplier for Europe, due to the potential we have to produce green hydrogen, but also the search for alliances with German companies, European companies, to that we can have investments in Brazil in this agenda”, declared the minister.
João Pedro Soares | Author of the Brasilianischen Writing – Correspondent in Rio de JaneiroJoão Pedro Soares | Author of Brasilianischen Redaktion – Correspondent in Rio de Janeiro

João Pedro Soares, dw.com