8 facts about Black Lives Matter

BY JENN HATFIELD

PEW RESEARCH

JULY 12, 2023

In the 10 years since the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag was first used on social media, it has appeared in more than 44 million tweets, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. On a typical (median) day, #BlackLivesMatter appears in about 3,000 tweets as users discuss topics such as racism, violence and the criminal justice system.

Use of the hashtag has often surged around specific acts of violence against Black Americans. The hashtag first appeared in July 2013, after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. Its use peaked at over 1.2 million tweets per day after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in May 2020.

As we mark 10 years since the hashtag originated, here are eight facts about the Black Lives Matter movement.

How we did this

About half of adults in the United States (51%) say they support the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a 2023 Center survey. This includes 22% who strongly support it and 29% who somewhat support it.

There are significant differences in opinion by race and ethnicity, political party, and age. About eight-in-ten Black Americans (81%) support the movement, compared with 63% of Asian, 61% of Hispanic and 42% of White Americans. Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party are about five times as likely as Republicans and Republican leaners to support Black Lives Matter (84% vs. 17%). And whereas most adults ages 18 to 29 (64%) support the movement, 41% of those ages 65 and older do.

Support for Black Lives Matter has decreased significantly among U.S. adults since June 2020, the same Center survey shows. Two-thirds of adults strongly or somewhat supported the movement in June 2020 – shortly after Floyd was murdered – but that share fell to 56% in March 2022 and 51% in April 2023.

The decline is largely due to a smaller share of White adults supporting the movement. In June 2020, 60% of White adults said they supported Black Lives Matter, but that share fell to 50% in 2022 and 42% this year. Support among Asian and Hispanic adults has also fallen since 2020, but not as sharply as it has among White adults. In contrast, about 80% or more of Black adults have expressed support for the movement every year since 2020.

Most teenagers support the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a separate Center survey conducted in 2022. Seven-in-ten Americans ages 13 to 17 said they strongly or somewhat support the movement.

Black and Democratic teenagers were especially likely to support the movement. Some 92% of Black teenagers said they support it, compared with 82% of Hispanic and 57% of White teenagers. (There were not enough Asian teens in the sample to allow for separate analysis.) And 94% of Democratic teens said they support Black Lives Matter – more than twice the share of Republican teens who said the same (42%).

Among U.S. adults, 7% say they have ever attended a Black Lives Matter protest, according to the 2023 Center report. Even among the demographic groups that are most likely to support Black Lives Matter, the shares of people who have attended a protest are low.

Some 15% of Black adults say they have attended a Black Lives Matter protest; they are more likely than Hispanic, Asian or White adults to say they have done so. Similarly, adults ages 18 to 29 are about twice as likely as those 30 to 49 and five times as likely as those 50 and older to have attended a Black Lives Matter protest. And Democrats are four times as likely as Republicans to have done this.

Many Black adults in the U.S. say Black Lives Matter has done the most to help Black people in recent years. About four-in-ten Black adults (39%) said this in a 2021 Center survey. That far exceeded the share of Black adults who said the same about any other entity asked about in the survey, including the NAACP, Black churches or other religious organizations, the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Urban League. (This survey did not specify whether Black Lives Matter referred to an organization or the broader movement.)

The public is divided on how effective the Black Lives Matter movement has been at bringing attention to racism against Black people in the U.S. About a third of adults (32%) say the movement has been extremely or very effective at this. Some 35% say it has been somewhat effective, while 30% say it has been not too or not at all effective, according to the 2023 Center survey.

Black and Asian adults are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to say the movement has been extremely or very effective at bringing attention to racism in the country. Some 48% of Black adults and 46% of Asian adults say this, compared with 33% of Hispanic and 27% of White adults.

The public gives the Black Lives Matter movement lower marks on some other questions. Only 14% of U.S. adults say the movement has been extremely or very effective at increasing police accountability; 8% say it has been effective at improving the lives of Black people; and 7% say it has improved race relations.

A large majority of social media users in the U.S. (77%) say they have seen content on social media related to Black Lives Matter, but far fewer report having ever posted or shared something about this topic, according to the 2023 Center report. Some 24% of social media users say they have posted or shared content supporting Black Lives Matter, while 10% have shared content opposing it.

Black social media users are particularly likely to have posted in support of Black Lives Matter: 52% have done so, compared with 24% of Hispanic, 22% of Asian and 18% of White users. Younger users are also more likely than older users to have posted or shared something in support of Black Lives Matter, as are Democrats when compared with Republicans.

On Twitter specifically, millions of people first engaged with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag following Floyd’s murder. Between May and September 2020, 5.8 million distinct users shared a tweet that contained the hashtag for the first time.

A majority of social media posts that use the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag are supportive, the same report finds. Between July 2013 and March 2023, about seven-in-ten publicly available tweets that used the hashtag (72%) were positive toward the movement. Another 17% were neutral and 11% were negative.

Supportive tweets commonly include words such as together, justice, change, brutality and murder, whereas negative tweets often use words such as riot, assault, criminal and violent.

Scrapping IMF surcharges is key to cutting debt burden on distressed nations

ROBERT WALKER MARIZA COORAY ROLAND RAJAH

The economic logic of charging beyond lending rates doesn’t add up and also undermines the Fund’s legitimacy.

Ciudad Bolivar neighbourhood, south of Bogota, Colombia

 (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)

Published 12 Jul 2023

Global Economy
IMF   

Follow @RolandMRajah

More than 50 countries, composing half of the world’s poorest people, are facing severe debt distress. “Crisis” might be an overused term in global politics, but surely this qualifies as one.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) serves as the “lender of last resort” for financially distressed countries – its role to lend at reasonable terms when no one else will. The hope is to prevent crises from getting worse, and, along with imposing policy changes, to ultimately help countries sustainably exit economic troubles.

Less well appreciated, however, is that the IMF often imposes significant “surcharges” well beyond its basic lending rate. These surcharges have long been controversial. But after the twin shocks of Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine, there are renewed and growing calls for these surcharges to be abolished, including from Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and some member countries.
There is little evidence that the surcharge policy has achieved its purpose.

The IMF for its part says that surcharges are important for protecting the Fund’s financial integrity by discouraging “large and prolonged use of IMF resources”. It further claims surcharges help manage credit risk, encourage early repayment, and contribute to IMF resources. This economic logic is dubious. Rather than reduce the burden placed on the IMF, surcharges seem more likely to increase the eventual financial burden while also undermining its legitimacy.

IMF loans come with a standard (currently about 5 per cent) interest rate, with surcharges imposed based on certain criteria. An additional 2 per cent a year is charged for outstanding amounts above 187.5 per cent of a country’s standard allocation. A further 1 per cent a year is charged if outstanding debts remain above this threshold after three years. Surcharges do not apply to low-income countries but do apply to still economically fragile lower-middle income countries.

There is little evidence that the surcharge policy has achieved its purpose. The IMF itself states that the “heaviest users of Fund resources have consistently accounted for the bulk of the Fund’s total surcharges income”, with 95 per cent of surcharge income drawn from recurring debtor countries

.

A high rise residential tower under construction in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta 

(Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images)

The most obvious problem with surcharges is they are procyclical – reinforcing economic downturns by further constraining fiscal space for governments during a crisis. Plenty of IMF research demonstrates the importance of countercyclical fiscal policy to combat economic crises. Imposing procyclical costs works directly against this rationale.

Related to this, in seeking to deter excessive borrowing, surcharges conversely risk encouraging governments and IMF staff to design unrealistic adjustment programs predicated on premature fiscal consolidation and over-optimistic assumptions for recovery.

For instance, the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office concluded that program targets and timelines in the wake of the 2007-08 global financial crisis were over-optimistic – reflecting forecasting errors, underestimation of the negative effect of premature fiscal consolidation, and overestimation of the benefits from structural reforms. Similarly, others find systematic over-optimism in the IMF’s debt projections of emerging market developing economies.
Ukraine, a country fighting back against an illegal invasion, which having turned to the IMF for assistance, will also face significant surcharge costs.

The IMF should encourage countries to seek early assistance – timeliness is critical to containing crises. By making the IMF less attractive, surcharges do the opposite. These lead to greater bailout costs, reducing the success rates of IMF programs, and undermine the Fund’s reputation and role as the global lender of last resort.

Sri Lanka is a prime example of these dynamics. Since independence the country has been forced to turn to the IMF a total of 17 times. Despite obviously worsening economic conditions since 2019, the government delayed approaching the Fund again until it was already at breaking point – having run out of foreign exchange reserves and defaulted on its debt obligations. The design of the IMF program already looks unrealistic, targeting only limited debt relief that would see Sri Lanka’s public debt still at 95% of GDP a decade from now. The result is a high probability this will not be the last time the country turns to the IMF for help.

To make matters worse, surcharges undermine the IMF’s legitimacy while it profits from countries in crisis. One perverse outcome can be seen in Ukraine, a country fighting back against an illegal invasion, which having turned to the IMF for assistance will also face significant surcharge costs, potentially amounting to as much as $423 million, equal to 25 per cent of Ukraine’s health sector spending over the pandemic.

At the most basic level, it is not clear why the IMF needs to use surcharges to deter countries from seeking larger-than-normal support. The Fund can simply deny requests beyond either what it thinks is needed or a reasonable share of its financing capacity. Meanwhile, preferred creditor status implies the IMF faces little risk in practice that it will not be repaid.

Over the next decade, the Fund is estimated to receive over $14 billion from developing country surcharge payments. Yet foregoing these payments would not substantially alter the Fund’s precautionary balance sheet. Some forecasts have the precautionary balance hitting target by 2027 without any surcharge income.

Getting rid of surcharges has been called for many times. However, given reluctance of the IMF’s shareholders to do so, useful smaller steps could include enhancing the transparency around surcharge costs, waiving or easing surcharges on loans provided in response to recent external shocks, and shifting to a progressive surcharge policy based on country income and vulnerability.

World job market on brink of ‘AI revolution’: OECD


By AFP
Published July 11, 2023

The OECD said 'urgent action' is needed to make sure AI is 'used responsibly and in a trustworthy way in the workplace' - Copyright AFP Sam Yeh

The world’s wealthiest nations must urgently prepare for the impact of an imminent “AI revolution” that will change jobs, create new ones and make others disappear, the OECD said Tuesday.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence — with tools that can generate essays, create images and even pass medical exams — have raised concerns that it could replace whole sectors of the workforce through automation.

In its 2023 Employment Outlook, the OECD said there was little evidence of significant negative effects on employment from AI “so far”.

“While the adoption of AI still remains relatively low, rapid progress, falling costs and the increasing availability of workers with AI skills indicate that OECD economies might be on the brink of an AI revolution,” the report said.

“While there are many potential benefits from AI, there are also significant risks that need to be urgently addressed,” according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The international and influential organisation has 38 member countries ranging from Australia to Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

The OECD said it was “vital” to gather better data on AI uptake and use in the workplace, “including which jobs will change, be created or disappear, and how skills needs are shifting”.

AI use is generally concentrated in large firms that are still experimenting with the new technology, and many appear reluctant to replace staff, said Stefano Scarpetta, OECD director for employment, labour and social affairs.

“However, it is also clear that the potential for substitution remains significant, raising fears of decreasing wages and job losses,” he wrote in an editorial.

AI has the potential to improve workplace safety by reducing “tedious or dangerous tasks” and lead to higher wages for workers whose skills complement the technology, the OECD report said.

But it could also “leave workers with a higher-paced work environment” and reduce wages for those “who find themselves squeezed into a diminished share of tasks due to automation”.

When taking AI into consideration, jobs at the highest risk of automation account for 27 percent of employment, according to the OECD.

“The use of AI also comes with serious ethical challenges around data protection and privacy, transparency and explainability, bias and discrimination, automatic decision making and accountability,” Scarpetta said.

“Urgent action is required to make sure AI is used responsibly and in a trustworthy way in the workplace,” he said.

“On the one hand, there is a need to enable workers and employers in reaping the benefits of AI while adapting to it, notably through training and social dialogue.”

NASA celebrates Webb telescope anniversary with close-up of stellar birth


By AFP
Published July 12, 2023


This NASA handout image captured by the James Webb telescope and obtained on July 12, 2023, shows a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth

- Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Issam AHMED

Jets of red gas bursting into the cosmos, and a glowing cave of dust: NASA marked a year of discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope Wednesday with a spectacular new image of Sun-like stars being born.

The picture is of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, whose proximity at 390 light-years allows for a crisp close-up by the most powerful orbital observatory ever built.

“In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“Every new image is a new discovery, empowering scientists around the globe to ask and answer questions they once could never dream of.”

Webb’s image shows around 50 young stars, of similar mass to our Sun or smaller.

Some have the signature shadows of circumstellar disks — a sign that planets may eventually form around them.

Huge jets of hydrogen appear horizontally in the upper third of the image, and vertically on the right.

“These occur when a star first bursts through its natal envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space like a newborn first stretching her arms out into the world,” the US space agency said in a statement.

“At the bottom of the image, you can see a young star that’s energetic enough that it’s blowing a bubble in the cloud of dust and gas from which it was born,” Christine Chen, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates Webb, told AFP.

It does so through a combination of its light and a stellar wind linked to it, she added.

Interstellar space is filled with gas and dust, which in turn serves as the raw material for new stars and planets.

“Webb’s image of Rho Ophiuchi allows us to witness a very brief period in the stellar life cycle with new clarity. Our own Sun experienced a phase like this, long ago, and now we have the technology to see the beginning of another star’s story,” said Webb project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan.

– New era of astronomy –

Webb was launched in December 2021 from French Guiana, on a 1.5 million kilometer (nearly one million mile) voyage to a region called the second Lagrange point.

Its first full color picture was revealed by President Joe Biden on July 11, 2022: the clearest view yet of the early universe, going back 13 billion years.

The next wave included “mountains” and “valleys” of a star-forming region, dubbed the Cosmic Cliffs, in the Carina Nebula; and a grouping of five galaxies bound in a celestial dance, called Stephan’s Quintet.

Webb boasts a primary mirror measuring more than 21 feet (6.5 meters) that is made up of 18 hexagonal, gold-coated segments, as well as a five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court.

Unlike its predecessor Hubble, it operates primarily in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to look back nearer towards the start of time, and to better penetrate dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are being formed today.

Key discoveries include some of the earliest galaxies formed a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, identifying at unprecedented resolution the atmospheric compositions of planets outside our solar system, and, in our own neck of the woods, stunning new views of the planet Jupiter.

Webb has enough fuel for a 20-year mission, promising a new era of astronomy.

It will soon be joined in orbit by Europe’s Euclid space telescope, which launched on July 1 on a mission to shed light on two of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.

The James Webb Space Telescope – Transforming humanity, one image at a time

By Karen Graham
Published July 12, 2023

To mark the James Webb Space Telescope’s first year of service, NASA has shared Webb’s image of the “birth of a star.”

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of opening the universe to us mere mortals, showing us images of distant galaxies, bright nebulae, and a stellar nursery, where stars are born.

“In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time. Every new image is a new discovery, empowering scientists around the globe to ask and answer questions they once could never dream of,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, NASA has released Webb’s image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, while 390 light years away, is still one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System. Over half of the mass of the complex is concentrated around one of the clouds, and this is the most active star-forming region.

Webb’s image shows a region containing approximately 50 young stars, all of them similar in mass to the Sun, or smaller. The darkest areas are the densest, where thick dust cocoons still-forming protostars.

Huge bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, represented in red, dominate the image, appearing horizontally across the upper third and vertically on the right. These occur when a star first bursts through its natal envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space like a newborn first stretching her arms out into the world.

In contrast, the star S1 has carved out a glowing cave of dust in the lower half of the image. It is the only star in the image that is significantly more massive than the Sun.

A James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) detector with optical baffles removed. Light is collected in the purple mercury-cadmium-telluride film. The film is pixelated, although the individual pixels are far too small to be seen by the eye here. Credit: University of Arizona/NASA

Observing the universe in infrared wavelengths

The James Webb Space Telescope observes the Universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared – at wavelengths longer than visible light.

Objects of about the Earth’s temperature emit most of their light at mid-infrared wavelengths. These temperatures are also found in dusty regions forming stars and planets, so with mid-infrared radiation we can see directly the glow of this slightly warm dust and study its distribution and properties.

Colors are assigned in chromatic order (blue, green, red) from shortest wavelength to longest wavelength for both of Webb’s cameras. Webb has two main cameras onboard! Its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) captures shorter wavelengths of infrared light. ts Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) captures longer wavelengths of infrared light.

The images we finally see are actually a combination of specific filter ranges of infrared light. It is a fascinating process and one that is carefully done by image specialists.

Thai parliament votes for PM with reformist frontrunner facing hurdles

LIKE BURMA THE GENERALS RUN THE COUNTRY
By AFP
Published July 12, 2023

Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat addresses supporters during a rally in Bangkok on July 9, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary vote to elect Thailand’s next prime minister

 - Copyright AFP Manan VATSYAYANA

Rose TROUP BUCHANAN

Thailand’s parliament will vote for a prime minister Thursday, with reformist frontrunner Pita Limjaroenrat reeling from a barrage of hurdles that could undo his bid for the premiership.

The coalition bloc led by Pita’s Move Forward Party (MFP) will face off against more established parties and junta-appointed senators, spooked by the progressives’ shock election victory in May and their determination to amend Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws.

On a day of high political drama Wednesday, Pita was hit with the threat of parliamentary suspension as well as the Constitutional Court’s acceptance of a case accusing him and his party of attempting to overthrow the monarchy.

Despite the MFP’s win at the polls, with Thais rejecting the government of General Prayut Chan-o-cha who seized power in a 2014 coup, the party’s chances of forming a government with Pita at its head look increasingly slim.

He faces resistance from a military-appointed, 250-member bloc in the senate because of his party’s push to reform section 112 of Thailand’s criminal code which bans defaming or insulting the royal family.

His plans to shake up the country’s powerful business monopolies have also sparked concern.

Despite the series of obstacles thrown in his way on Wednesday, Pita told reporters he was in “good spirits”.

He also said of Thursday’s parliamentary vote that “the process tomorrow continues as planned”.

Pita’s eight-party coalition, which includes runners-up Pheu Thai, has 312 seats but is short of the 376 needed across both houses of parliament to claim the prime ministership.

On Tuesday, now-caretaker PM Prayut — whose United Thai Nation party came a dismal fifth in the May elections — announced his retirement from politics, although he will remain as premier until a new prime minister emerges.

– Constitutional court cases –

On Wednesday, the Election Commission recommended Pita’s suspension from parliament over allegations he broke campaign rules — a move that the MFP branded as an “abuse of power”.

The recommendation followed a probe around Pita’s ownership of shares in a media company, prohibited under Thai law.

Pita has said he inherited the shares in the iTV television station, which has not broadcast since 2007, from his father and denies any wrongdoing.

The announcement could convince senators on the fence to vote against him, said analysts.

Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, assistant law professor at Thammasat University, told AFP it was hard to see why the commission was in “such a hurry” to issue its recommendation.

“I can think of only one reason, this action is to meant to affect the result of tomorrow’s vote,” he said on Wednesday.

Should Pita lose the first vote, the house speaker will table session after session until a PM emerges — raising the spectre of weeks of deadlock and economic uncertainty.

– ‘Anything is possible’ –

The kingdom has endured a dozen coups in the past century, with political instability a regular danger and progressive movements often abruptly curtailed.

May’s election was the first since huge pro-democracy demonstrations swept the capital Bangkok in 2020, when tens of thousands of people made unprecedented calls to reform the royal defamation laws.

Pita’s MFP was the only party during campaigning to promise to tackle the issue.

But in another upset for the MFP on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court accepted a case alleging that their promises on the campaign trail to amend the legislation amounted to attempting to “overthrow” the constitutional monarchy.

It gave the party two weeks to present their defence.

The uncertainty may bring already-existing divisions within the MFP-led coalition to the fore, as alternative PM candidates are suggested.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of exiled ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, was the face of Pheu Thai during the election campaign.

Business leader Srettha Thavisin of Pheu Thai is also seen as a potential alternative candidate.

Napisa Waitoolkiat, a political analyst with Naresuan University, told AFP that it appeared less and less likely that Pita would become the premier.

But she added: “Anything is possible in Thailand.”

Thailand's Election Commission

says a reformist candidate for

prime minister may have broken

the law

Published: 12 Jul 2023 -

 This photo taken on June 26, 2023 shows Thai flags fluttering in the wind as the backdrop of Bangkok skyline seen from the Wat Saket Buddhist temple. (Photo by Amaury PAUL / AFP)

AP

Bangkok: Thailand’s Election Commission said Wednesday it has concluded there is evidence that the top candidate to become the country’s next prime minister, a reformist with strong backing among progressive young voters, violated election law and referred his case to the Constitutional Court for a ruling.

The commission’s decision included a request that the court order Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat suspended as a member of Parliament until the ruling is issued.

The alleged violation involves undeclared ownership of media company shares, which are banned for lawmakers. Separately, the court also said it would review a complaint that Pita and his party may have violated the law by proposing to amend Thailand's strict legal provision against defaming the monarchy.

Thai media said the court would not make any ruling on Wednesday and that it might need some to consider the issues.

Pita can still be nominated on Thursday when Parliament meets to vote for a new prime minister. But the commission's move raises new doubts about whether he can muster enough votes to get the post, already a struggle because of Thailand's deep political divisions.

The Move Forward Party, with a progressive reformist platform, swept to a surprise first-place finish in May’s general election, capturing 151 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives and the most popular votes.

Move Forward has assembled an eight-party, 311-seat coalition with which it had planned to take power.

But Pita's path to power is difficult because he must win 376 votes of a joint session of the House and the conservative, 250-seat, non-elected Senate. The Senate largely represents Thailand's traditional ruling establishment, which suspects Move Forward's proposals for minor reforms of the monarchy endanger the royal institution, which they consider to be the center of Thais' national identity.

Pita's party responded to the Election Commission's decision by questioning its fairness and even its legality. It said its decision was unnecessarily hurried and violated its own procedures by failing to call Pita to give a statement.

The commission had earlier said it acted correctly but Move Forward alleges its members may have engaged in malfeasance, or carrying out duties in a wrongful manner, a crime punishable by 10 years imprisonment and a fine.

The election law complaint against Pita, lodged by a member of a rival party, alleges he ran for office in 2019 while failing to declare his shares in a media company.

The case the commission referred to the court accuses Pita of running for office with awareness that he was ineligible, a criminal violation punishable by maximum imprisonment of three years and/or a fine of up to 60,000 baht ($1,720). The party faces a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($2,865).

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the government’s top legal advisor, has been quoted as saying that a ruling against Pita could be grounds for nullifying the May election results and holding a new election.

There have been fears since the election that Thailand’s conservative ruling establishment would use what its political opponents consider to be dirty tricks to hold on to power.

For a decade-and-a-half, it has repeatedly used the courts and supposedly independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue controversial rulings to cripple or sink political opponents.

The dissolution in 2019 of the Future Forward party, a forerunner of Move Forward, triggered vigorous street protests by pro-democracy activists that trailed off only when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Hours after the Election Commission announced its referral of the shareholding case, the Constitutional Court said it had has accepted a separate petition against Move Forward and Pita concerning their campaign promise to amend Thailand's harsh lese majeste law,.

The law, also known as Article 112, mandates a three to 15 year prison term for defaming the king, his immediate family, or the regent.

Critics of the law say it is abused for political purposes, and Move Forward wants changes to rein in such abuses, which it claims actually do damage to the monarchy's reputation.

Royalists soundly reject all efforts to amend the law, and courts have sometimes treated such proposals themselves as tantamount to violating the law. The military and the courts consider themselves stalwart defenders of the monarchy, and the Senate members overwhelmingly share their viewpoint.

If the court agrees that the accused's actions constitute trying to overthrow the constitutional monarchy -a separate provision from Article 112 - they will not be subject to punishment but can be ordered to cease all activities related to their proposed amendment, subject to prosecution if they continue.

Canada to investigate use of forced Uyghur labor in China
Ethics watchdog probing Nike Canada, Dynasty Gold

Barry Ellsworth |11.07.2023 -


TRENTON, Canada

Canada’s ethics watchdog announced Tuesday probes to determine whether Nike Canada and a gold mining operation are benefitting from the use of forced Uyghur labor in China.

Sheri Meyerhoffer of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise said the investigations were launched after complaints from 28 organizations were filed with her office. Canada prohibits the importation of goods produced in whole or part by forced or compulsory labor.

An Australian think tank alleged that Nike Canada has supply chains with six Chinese companies whose products use Uyghur forced labor.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute also alleged in a separate charge that Dynasty Gold’s mining operation in Xinjiang uses coerced Uyghur workers.

Meyehoffer looked into both complaints and decided there were grounds to launch investigations.

"On their face, the allegations made by the complainants raise serious issues regarding the possible abuse of the internationally recognized right to be free from forced labour," Meyerhoffer said in her assessment of the allegations made public Tuesday. “I have decided to launch investigations into these complaints in order to get the facts and recommend the appropriate actions. I have not pre-judged the outcome of the investigations. We will await the results and we will publish final reports with my recommendations."

The parent company of Nike Canada denied any part of its shoes were produced by Uyghur forced labor, while Dynasty said it has no operational control over the mine in China.

In 2022, the UN said China committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghurs and other Muslims, and that their forced detention in camps may constitute crimes against humanity, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

As many as 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are thought to be held in internment camps in China.​​​​​​​

Canada probes Nike, Dynasty Gold on forced Uighur labour in China

Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold are alleged to have or have had supply chains or operations in China using forced labour.

In recent years, several large US and Canadian multinational companies have been accused of using Uighur forced labour either directly or in their supply chains [File: Tingshu Wang/Reuters]

Published On 11 Jul 202311 Jul 2023

Canada’s corporate ethics watchdog has launched separate investigations into Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold to probe allegations that they used or benefitted from forced Uighur labour in their supply chains and operations in China.

The investigations were launched on Tuesday after an initial assessment of complaints about the overseas operations of 13 Canadian companies filed by a coalition of 28 civil society organisations in June 2022.

KEEP READING

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list 1 of 4

US bans imports from China-based Ninestar Corp over Uighurs

list 2 of 4

Uighur siblings in India jail since 2013 face deportation threat

list 3 of 4

Uighur refugee dies after nine years in detention in Thailand

list 4 of 4

end of list

A report by the United Nations human rights chief said last year that China’s treatment of Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in Xinjiang, in the country’s far west, may constitute crimes against humanity. Beijing has repeatedly denied the use of forced labour against Uighurs.

This is the first such investigation by the Canadian agency since it launched its complaint mechanism in 2021. No other Canadian agencies in the past have started investigations of this kind.

Complaints against the other 11 companies were still being assessed, with reports expected in the coming weeks, according to a statement from the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE).

Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold are alleged to have or have had supply chains or operations in China identified as using or benefitting from the use of Uighur forced labour, CORE said in the statement.

Dynasty Gold said in an emailed response that the allegations are “totally unfounded”.

Nike Canada did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

“I have not pre-judged the outcome of the investigations. We will await the results and we will publish final reports with my recommendations,” Ombudsperson Sheri Meyerhoffer said in the statement, adding that the watchdog is “very concerned” about how these companies have chosen to respond to these allegations.

CORE was launched in 2017 to monitor and investigate human rights abuses mainly by Canadian garment, mining and oil and gas companies operating abroad.

CORE has no legal powers to prosecute and if companies are found guilty, the watchdog said it could refer the findings to a parliamentary committee for further action.

In recent years, several large United States and Canadian multinational companies have been accused of using Uighur forced labour either directly or in their supply chains.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that a bipartisan group of US representatives called on the US Securities and Exchange Commission to halt the initial public offering of Chinese-founded fast fashion firm Shein until it clarified that it does not use forced labour.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The initial assessment into Nike details supply relationships with Chinese companies identified as using or benefitting from the use of Uighur forced labour. In March, an activist shareholder called on Nike to offer more transparency on the working conditions of its supply chain.

Nike maintains that it no longer has any ties with these companies and provided the watchdog with information on its due diligence practices, according to the watchdog’s statement.

The complaint against Dynasty Gold is that it benefitted from the use of Uighur forced labour at a mine in China in which the company holds a majority interest. In a statement last year, Dynasty said it does not have operational control over the mine and that these allegations arose after it left the region.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Canada’s far north set the highest temperature records ever recorded

By Karen Graham
Published July 12, 2023

Multiple areas in Yukon and the Northwest Territories are facing higher-than-normal temperatures, breaking records that have stood for decades. 

Source - Akum20, CC SA 4.0

Canada’s northern regions are seeing an unprecedented heat wave leading to some of the hottest days ever recorded.

According to Christopher Burt, an extreme-weather historian, the temperature soared to as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the Northwest Territories on Saturday – the hottest temperature ever measured north of 65 degrees latitude in the Western Hemisphere, reports the Washington Post.

Multiple areas in Yukon and the Northwest Territories are facing higher-than-normal temperatures, breaking records that have stood for decades, and raising serious concerns about the health of people living in this region who are not used to the excessive heat.

On Tuesday, reports CTV News Canada, Environment Canada issued heat warnings for parts of Yukon and N.W.T. with expected daytime temperatures upwards of 29 C (84 F). The warnings stretch as far as Inuvik, N.W.T., which is 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

The heat reaching the northern tip of N.W.T. is alarming for scientists as other communities across the territory are seeing even higher temperatures.

Jesse Wagar, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CTV News four of the five hottest temperatures ever seen in the N.W.T. were recorded in the last eight years.

“This is sort of the poster child for climate change,” Wagar said. “The rate of the warming in the Arctic is just incredible to watch year over year…it is alarming.”

The 2023 wildfire season shatters records

This latest round of extreme heat comes as Canada battles the worst wildfire season it has ever seen, reports The BBC. To date, wildfires have burned more than 9 million hectares (22.2 million acres) of the country, shattering a 34-year record.

Over 155,000 people have been forced from their homes, the highest figure in 40 years, with more than 4,500 evacuees across Canada – the majority of whom are First Nations, reports The Guardian.

Michael Norton, director general of the Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service told reporters: “Drought is a major contributing factor affecting parts of all provinces and territories, intensifying in some regions.”

He added: “When coupled with forecasts for ongoing above-normal temperatures across most of the country, it is anticipated that many parts of Canada will continue to see above-normal fire activity.”

Canada joins 20 other countries in saying ‘NO’ to deep-sea mining


By Karen Graham
Published July 12, 2023

The photo was taken on March 8, 2019, with the cameras of the ROV KIEL 6000 during expedition SO268 on the seafloor of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The expedition was part of the JPIO MiningImpact project. It is investigating the impact that potential manganese nodule mining in the deep sea would have on ecosystems there. The image shows "nodule frames" for a recolonization experiment. Source - ROV-Team/GEOMAR, CC SA 4.0.

Canada, Ireland, and Switzerland have all recently joined calls by nearly 20 countries for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

They join scientists, environmental organizations, fishing industry groups, and even car manufacturers that have raised concerns over the environmental impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, proponents say the practice is a relatively less destructive new source of materials critical for the energy transition.

Back in February, the Canadian government said it would not authorize deep-sea mining in domestic waters because of concerns it does not have a legal framework in place to issue permits.

Susanna Fuller, the vice-president of conservation and projects at environmental nonprofit Oceans North says: “Canada is a big mining country. And because one of the large players, the Metals Company, is registered here, even though it doesn’t have an office in Canada, it feels important to see Canada’s opposition; they are genuinely seen as a middle ground,” reports The Guardian.

“The fact that Canada has now joined calls for a moratorium is quite important.” Canada’s intervention comes as some regulations around the practice are near agreement.

The Metals Company, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a Canadian-registered company looking for valuable minerals for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage at the bottom of the ocean.

Exploration licenses are now available

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the quasi-UN body in charge of possible regulations, is meeting this week in Kingston, Jamaica, after a 9 July deadline to develop rules and regulations governing mining in international waters passed without a clear framework.

According to ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge, it is likely we will see some form of agreement on the rules around how deep-sea mining is policed during the current ISA session which lasts two weeks.

“With regards to inspection and enforcement, most inspections—for what I see—will rely on a system of modern technologies (including) remote sensing, autonomous underwater vehicles,” Lodge said.

Lodge added that there has been “a lot of progress on that particular issue,” and that a working group which has been headed up by Norway is “something close to a deal.” (By the way – Norway recently opened the door to deep-sea mining).

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) opened the meetings of Part II of its 28th session on Monday, 10 July 2023. The Council will be meeting for ten days until 21 July 2023.

In the meantime, companies can now apply for provisional mining licenses, and while the ISA has already issued 30 licenses for exploration only, no provisional commercial licenses have been approved. The 36-member council will debate the issue on Friday.

While there is an expectation that rules on inspection and enforcement will be agreed in July, people familiar with the matter say that a full mining code won’t likely be established until the October ISA meeting.

Sticking points include royalties, environmental standards, and benefits sharing, which are still far from being agreed upon, they said.

In June, the European Academies Science Advisory Council warned of the “dire consequences” for marine ecosystems if plans for deep-sea mining went ahead. Experts have concerns about sediment plumes, noise, vibration, and light pollution as well as possible spills of fuels and other chemicals used in the mining process.

But it all comes down to what Susanna Fuller points out so succinctly: With all the successes we’ve had with international agreements like the Biodiversity Agreement, “we’re also seeing we can’t continue to exploit new environments and meet our obligations around biodiversity protection.”

ECOCIDE

Toxic foam blights river crucial to Brazil’s biggest city

By AFP
Published July 12, 2023

A tributary of the Parana river, the Tiete river is covered in a visible foam - 

Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Nelson ALMEIDA

Not far from Latin America’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, a river is covered in a white layer that resembles fresh snow but is in fact a smelly, toxic foam.

The Tiete river, some 1,100 kilometers long, is crucial for potable water, irrigation and energy production in southeast Brazil, the country’s most populated area.

But parts of the waterway, including one area just 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the metropolis, have been befouled by phosphate and phosphorus residues from household detergents used by Sao Paulo’s 22 million inhabitants and washed down the sewers.

A tributary of the Parana river, the waterway has been covered in a visible foam layer since last week, at one point spread over more than 10 kilometers and also spotted blighting several waterfalls.

“When these residues enter the fast-running waters of the Tiete, it is as if a washing machine has been turned on,” said Malu Ribeiro of the NGO SOS Mata Atlantica, describing the foamy mess.

The NGO warns that fumes from the foam can cause sore throats and breathing problems, and contact could irritate the skin.

The impact on animal and plant life was likely similar to that caused by “acid rain,” said Ribeiro.

The phenomenon is not a new one: The foam is a frequent feature of the river in the dry winter months when there is less water to dissolve the chemicals.

In the 1990s, the situation was sometimes so bad that the foam ran down the streets of some cities near the river’s shore.

Improvements to water treatment have alleviated the problem, but some years are still worse than others.

Ribeiro said the foam is worse in periods with big temperature fluctuations. In winter the contrast can be quite extreme, with very cold mornings and very hot afternoons.

“Cold water is heavier, and it carries polluting residues to the bottom… But when it is heated by the sun, these residues rise to the surface and form a thicker foam,” he explained.

SOS Mata Atlantica is advocating for a ban on phosphate and phosphorus in domestic cleaning products.

Water treatment must be improved too: In the Alto Tiete basin that serves Sao Paolo, just over half of wastewater is treated, according to official data from 2021.

Sao Paulo’s environment secretariat has promised to invest 5.6 billion reais (about $1.1 billion) in the water treatment network by 2026.

Microsoft-Activision deal back on track after US court win


By AFP
Published July 11, 2023

US tech giant Microsoft is hoping to complete a $69 billion buyout of video gaming powerhouse Activision Blizzard - Copyright AFP/File Josep LAGO

A US federal judge on Tuesday resurrected Microsoft’s $69 billion buyout of video gaming giant Activision Blizzard by refusing to allow the temporary suspension of the long delayed deal.

The US Federal Trade Commission, the Washington-based antitrust enforcer, requested that the blockbuster transaction be halted pending an investigation on competition concerns.

But Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said “the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim.”

The decision handed a major victory to Microsoft and allowed it to close its purchase of Activision, the maker of Call of Duty and Candy Crush, as planned on July 18.

Xbox-owner Microsoft launched a bid for Activision Blizzard early last year, seeking to establish the world’s third biggest gaming firm by revenue after China’s Tencent and Japan’s PlayStation maker Sony.

While the European Union has greenlit the deal, Microsoft still needs to overcome a veto from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in Britain.

– ‘Grateful’ –

Microsoft was set for an appeal hearing in London later this month, but the company on Tuesday said it would consider further ways to satisfy the CMA.

“We stand ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns,” a CMA spokesperson said.

The FTC could also continue to pursue its case, though the judge’s ruling weakened the legal foundations of that prospect considerably.

“We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

“As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns,” he added.

The FTC in December sued to block the transaction with Activision Blizzard over concerns that it would stifle competition.

But Judge Corley said the remedies offered by Microsoft to assuage worries about the deal were effective to provide fair competition with archrivals Sony and Nintendo as well as other computer cloud operators of video games.

Instead of showing harm to competition, “to the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content,” she said.

The ruling dealt another defeat to the FTC, which is led by Lina Khan, an antitrust academic who had been an advocate of breaking up the biggest tech firms before she was nominated by President Joe Biden to the job in 2021.

In the same California court, Khan lost an attempt to stop Meta, Facebook’s parent company, from acquiring Within Unlimited, a fitness app startup.