South Koreans rally in Seoul against Japanese plans to release treated nuclear wastewater into sea

KIM TONG-HYUNG
Sat, August 12, 2023 

 The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant sits in coastal towns of both Okuma and Futaba, as seen from the Ukedo fishing port in Namie town, northeastern Japan, on March 2, 2022. Anxious about Japan’s impending release of treated nuclear wastewater from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, hundreds of South Koreans marched in their capital on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Protesters called for Tokyo to abandon the plans, and expressed anger toward Seoul for endorsing the discharge despite alleged food safety risks. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Anxious about Japan’s impending release of treated nuclear wastewater from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, hundreds of South Koreans marched in their capital on Saturday. Protesters called for Tokyo to abandon the plans, and expressed anger toward Seoul for endorsing the discharge despite alleged food safety risks.

Saturday’s rally was the latest of weekslong protests since the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the Japanese discharge plans in July, saying that the process would meet international safety standards and pose negligible environmental and health impacts.

The safety of the wastewater release plans has also been advocated by the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who in recent months has actively taken steps to repair long-strained ties with its fellow United States ally in the face of growing North Korean nuclear threats.

The Japanese government has said the wastewater release is set to start this summer, but it has not confirmed a specific date.

Wearing raincoats and holding signs that read, “We oppose the disposal of Fukushima’s contaminated water,” and, “No radioactive material is safe for the sea,” the demonstrators marched in light rain through the streets of downtown Seoul. The rallies were proceeding peacefully and there were no immediate reports of clashes or injuries.

South Korea has been trying to calm people’s fears of food contamination and environmental risks ahead of the release of Fukushima’s wastewater, including expanding radiation tests on seafood at the country’s major fish markets and even testing sand from its southern and western beaches. None of the tests have so far triggered safety concerns, Jeon Jae-woo, an official at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said during a briefing Friday.

Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said South Korea was hoping to wrap up working-level consultations with Japan next week over allowing South Korean experts to participate in the monitoring of the release process.

Liberal opposition lawmakers controlling the country’s National Assembly have accused Yoon’s government of putting people’s health at risk while trying to improve bilateral ties.

The Democratic Party said this week that it plans to file a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council to highlight the what it says are perils posed by the release of Fukushima’s wastewater, and question whether the IAEA properly reviewed the risks before greenlighting the discharge plans.

The party also urged Yoon to reverse his position and use a trilateral summit later this month with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden to state Seoul’s opposition to the wastewater release.

The safety of Fukushima’s wastewater has been a sensitive issue for years between the U.S. allies. South Korea and Japan have been working in recent months to repair relations long strained over wartime historical grievances to address shared concerns such as the North Korean nuclear threat and China’s assertive foreign policy.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminate their cooling water.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the facility, has been collecting, filtering, and storing the water in hundreds of tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

Japan first announced plans to discharge the treated water into the sea in 2018, saying the water will be further diluted by seawater before being released in a carefully controlled process that will take decades to complete.

The water is being treated with what’s called an Advanced Liquid Processing System, which is designed to reduce the amounts of more than 60 selected radionuclides releasable levels — except for tritium, which officials say is safe for humans if consumed in small amounts.

Junichi Matsumoto, the corporate officer in charge of treated water management for TEPCO, pledged in a news conference last month to conduct careful sampling and analysis of the water to make sure its release is safely carried out in accordance with IAEA standards.

NIMBY

The future of East Coast wind power could ride on this Jersey beach town

IS ABOUT PROPERTY VALUES

Kate Selig, (c) 2023, The Washington Post
Tue, August 8, 2023 

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Known as "America's Greatest Family Resort," this beachside city now has a new distinction: It has become the epicenter of opposition to wind energy projects off New Jersey and the East Coast.

Residents of Ocean City and surrounding Cape May County, helped by an outside group opposed to renewable energy, are mobilizing to stop Ocean Wind 1, a proposal to build up to 98 wind turbines the size of skyscrapers off the New Jersey coast, which could power half a million homes.

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The future of East Coast wind energy could hang in the balance. If opponents succeed, they hope to create a template for derailing some 31 offshore wind projects in various stages of development and construction off the East Coast, a key part of President Biden's plan to reduce greenhouse emissions that are driving global climate change.


"We have a lot of leverage," said Frank Coyne, treasurer of Protect Our Coast NJ, which gathered over 500,000 signatures on a petition opposing proposed wind farms. "The objective is to hold them up and make the cost so overwhelming that they'll go home."

At issue in New Jersey are plans by Orsted, a Danish multinational corporation, to build Ocean Wind 1 - the largest offshore wind project to clear a key federal regulatory hurdle - about 15 miles off the state's Southern coast. The company has plans for a second project, already approved by state regulators.

New Jersey Democrats support both projects and see them as vital for meeting a state goal of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

"At the end of the day, it's imperative for our state's future," Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said in an interview. "It's the right step to take."

While a federal agency approved Ocean Wind 1 in July, the company still needs other permits to start construction. Meanwhile, opponents have hired law firms now pursuing legal action, including a lawsuit filed in late July by Protect Our Coast NJ against Orsted and the state to block a tax break for the wind farm.

Founded after Orsted received its initial state approval in 2019, Protect Our Coast describes itself as a grass-roots group, made up of "residents, homeowners, business owners, fishermen and visitors" united to "Protect Our Coast from industrialization." But it isn't completely a homegrown organization. Early on, the group received support from the Delaware-based Caesar Rodney Institute, a think tank that opposes many offshore wind projects and has ties to fossil fuel interests.

As part of their campaigns, both the institute and Protect Our Coast NJ have focused on whale mortality, arguing that offshore wind harms the environment more than helps it.

But in linking East Coast whale deaths to wind project surveys, these groups contradict what leading marine mammal scientists have concluded. "At this point, there is no scientific evidence that noise resulting from offshore wind site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.

Opponents have also spread images that overstate how visible the proposed turbines would be from the shore and shared false allegations that the federal government authorized Orsted to kill hundreds of marine animals.

When asked about tactics, Barbara McCall, a board member for Protect Our Coast, said the group stands behind the information on its website.

While pro-wind environmental groups and Protect Our Coast NJ find little common ground, they agree on one thing - the ongoing fight will be pivotal for U.S. offshore wind projects, including more planned in New Jersey.

On Friday, developers proposed an additional four wind farms off the state's coast. In an apparent nod to coastal opponents, two of them would be much further offshore than the pivotal Ocean Wind 1 project.

"New Jersey is an example for the entire country," said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, the director of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter and a supporter of offshore wind energy. "If we are not able to build this, it will make it harder for other wind projects to succeed."

Coyne put it more succinctly. "Whatever happens here is like a domino," he said. "Right up the coastline."

- - -

A county dependent on tourism

In the summertime, tourists flock to the sandy beaches of Ocean City, transforming Cape May County. While the county is home to a mere 95,000 people, it draws more than 10 million visitors every year, and many of them crowd into Ocean City, with its two-and-a-half mile boardwalk, lined with amusement rides, pizza parlors and salt water taffy vendors.

While New Jersey is a blue state, Cape May County is decidedly red, with 43% of voters registering Republican, 25% Democrat and the rest listed as "other." The county voted for Donald Trump - an opponent of wind power - by wide margins in both of his presidential runs.

The county's political apparatus, including state representatives, are largely united against Ocean Wind 1. On the federal level, Rep. Jeff Van Drew - a former Democrat who switched parties for the 2020 election - is working to stop the project.

On a recent Saturday morning, a group of offshore wind protesters crowded onto the beach in Ocean City. Hundreds joined hands and formed a chain at the edge of the water that stretched from the fishing pier down the sand. Defiant, they cheered "stop the windmills" before breaking apart.

Former city councilman Michael DeVlieger attended with his daughter, son and two nephews. "It's hard not to be emotional about it when it affects every aspect of our lives," he said of the project.

Protesters cite myriad reasons for their opposition. They fear the project will irreparably harm the local economy, marine life and their seaside views. They say that Gov. Murphy and the Biden administration have steamrolled their community. Contradicting analyses of state regulators, they claim the project will cause electricity bills to significantly increase, even though the state estimates that, when operational, the wind farm will cause bills to rise by only about $1.46 a month for residential customers.

While Protect Our Coast NJ is one of the largest groups mobilizing against the wind project - its Facebook group includes more than 20,000 members - others are also preparing for litigation battles.

Cape May County has assembled a formidable legal team, led by retired judge and county Republican chairman Michael Donohue, who the county has brought on as its special counsel.

The team includes Marzulla Law, headed by a powerhouse couple, one of whom succeeded James Watt as president of the Colorado-based Mountain States Legal Foundation, after Watt became an embattled Interior Secretary in the Reagan administration. More recently, the Marzullas have been representing groups fighting East Coast wind projects, including Save Long Beach Island and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which is battling a wind farm under construction 15 miles off Martha's Vineyard.

It is not known how much the county is paying Donohue or the multiple law firms the county has assembled. County Commission Director Leonard Desiderio did not return a request for comment, and Donohue - who declined an interview request - said in a text the information is confidential, as did the Marzulla firm.

"We are positive, however, that all of what the County does will be a drop in the bucket when compared to what Orsted is spending . . . in an attempt to force the County to accept the project," Donohue wrote.

Not everyone in Cape May County actively opposes the project. When opponents staged their recent protest in Ocean City, local resident Andy Mortensen sat with his wife on the beach and poked fun at the assembly. "They're blocking my view more than the wind turbines will," said Mortensen, who added he hasn't yet taken a position on the wind project.

Further up the shore, Philip Pepe and Kathleen Hamilton Galante stayed clear of the protests. When the couple moved in 2019 to Brigantine - to the northeast of Atlantic City - no one was talking about offshore wind, they said. Now, they added, residents have rapidly adopted extreme views on the projects.

Pepe, a marine scientist by training, and Galante said they've paid a price for being publicly supportive of offshore wind. Galante said she has been especially targeted, including a time she was screamed at in a parking lot and another where she was told her support for offshore wind made her responsible for the whale deaths. She said she sometimes fears going out in public, and the couple is considering moving.

"It's really scary," Galante said. "People just can't come up and talk to you like a human being."

- - -

A new 'Save the Whales' movement

Since last winter, some conservative think tanks, law firms and politicians have seized upon a die-off of whales on the East Coast in their campaigns against wind energy.

On its website, the Marzulla firm has linked the "scope and intensity" of a proposed Massachusetts wind project to "the recent appearance of dead whales on Atlantic beaches, some of which are endangered species." While the Marzullas have long litigated against endangered species regulations on behalf of property owners, Roger Marzulla, in a statement, said the firm "has never opposed the listing of whales (or any other marine species) under the Endangered Species Act."

At a county public information session in June, Rep. Van Drew railed against the risks of a foreign developer controlling Ocean Wind 1 and attributed the deaths of the whales to offshore energy surveys. On his website, he says the offshore wind projects are being promoted "under the guise of stopping climate change."

Climate change is a real threat to the Jersey Shore, given that sea levels have risen at a rate more than double the global average, according to Rutgers University. But in their fight against the New Jersey wind project, Protect Our Coast leaders see the wind turbines as a bigger threat.

J. Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies and sociology professor at Brown University who has tracked campaigns across the country against offshore wind, said many local groups employ talking points that mirror those of dark money organizations opposed to renewable energy.

"People really need to know where the information is coming from," Roberts said. "It may be coming out of the mouths of local people, but a lot of it is being generated by the movement to stop the transition away from fossil fuels."

Roberts' researchers - building on work from DeSmog, journalists and others - have documented how money has flowed to organizations such as the Caesar Rodney Institute from fossil fuel interests and dark money groups - nonprofits that are not required to reveal their donors, but can be tracked through tax filings of groups that finance them.

At the center of the institute's anti-offshore wind campaign is David Stevenson, a former DuPont executive who served on Trump's transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency.

While some wind energy proponents have accused Stevenson of being the force behind Protect Our Coast NJ, he rejected that in a statement to The Post, denying that his organization had a hand in establishing or funding Protect Our Coast. Stevenson, however, acknowledged that Caesar Rodney initially served as a free "bank" for the group, receiving funds raised by Protect Our Coast and paying its bills with the money. He has also acknowledged his organization has received oil industry money, but says the amount is minor.

Stevenson said the institute has also provided Protect Our Coast with information on offshore wind. This included a report he assembled contending that three proposed New Jersey offshore wind projects would have emissions savings near zero - not the 7.2 million metric tons a year estimated by the state.

Despite the national forces at play, no one denies that Cape May County includes residents who genuinely fear the consequences of the proposed wind project - people like Robert Coste, who carefully chooses his words when he speaks about the project.

A 70-year-old, almost lifelong resident of Ocean City, he said he wants clean energy and cares about the environment. But he's become deeply concerned about the project the more he's read and heard from neighbors and politicians.

Gazing out to the sea, he leaned against a railing before sweeping his hands wide to indicate the scope of Ocean Wind 1.

"All this?" he asked, while shaking his head.

- - -

Wind farm construction underway

Nestled along the Delaware River in Paulsboro, about 65 miles northwest of Ocean City, a contractor for Orsted is welding, sandblasting and painting the steel tubes that construction crews will drive into the seafloor and serve as the base of Ocean Wind 1. The monopiles, as they are called, are nearly as long as a football field and wide enough to fit the fuselage of a 747 airplane. Outside, a 50-foot-tall American flag hangs on the EEW manufacturing facility, visible from the road.

While the project has faced mounting opposition, it was far different three years ago, when Orsted unveiled plans for the wind farm and the hundreds of jobs it could create. At an Ocean City council meeting that year, an Orsted representative praised the "warm welcome" and the "super progressive attitude" the company had received.

Now, despite the pending litigation, the company looks forward to breaking ground on onshore construction this fall. "We're confident," said Orsted spokesman Tory Mazzola.

In early July, the Biden administration signed off on Ocean Wind 1's plan for construction and operations - a regulatory milestone for the project. In the same month, Gov. Murphy approved a bill allowing Orsted to keep federal tax credits.

Yet while Orsted may seem to have the upper hand now, the East Coast has a long history of tripping up offshore wind endeavors. In 2017, a developer shelved the Cape Wind project, a plan for 130 turbines off the Massachusetts coast, after facing organized resistance from wealthy coastal homeowners. Those included members of the Kennedy family and William Koch, a billionaire who has contributed large sums to groups opposed to renewables and action on climate change.

Opponents of Ocean Wind say they are confident they can similarly prevail.

"We're not going to back down or give up," said Coyne of Protect Our Coast. "And that's the attitude you see growing."

The patriotic Virgin: How Mary's been marshaled for religious nationalism and military campaigns

Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

THE CONVERSATION
Sun, August 13, 2023 

A mural in Kyiv depicts the Virgin Mary cradling a U.S.-made anti-tank weapon, a Javelin, which is considered a symbol of Ukraine's defense against Russia. 

AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky


Ever since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, analysts picking apart Vladimir Putin’s motives and messaging about the war have looked to religion for some of the answers. Putin’s nationalist vision paints Russia as a defender of traditional Christian values against a liberal, secular West.

Putin’s Russia, however, is only the latest in a centurieslong lineup of nations using religion to bolster their political ambitions. As a Jesuit priest and scholar of Catholicism, I’ve seen in my research on nationalism and religion how patriotic loyalties and religious faith easily borrow one another’s language, symbols and emotions.

Western Christianity, including Catholicism, has often been enlisted to stir up patriotic fervor in support of nationalism. Historically, one typical aspect of the Catholic approach is linking devotion to the Virgin Mary with the interests of the state and military.
The birth of a belief

An Egyptian papyrus fragment from the fourth century is the first clear evidence of Christians’ praying to the Virgin Mary. The brief prayer, which seeks Mary’s protection in times of trouble, is written in the first person plural – using language like “our” and “we” – which suggests a belief that Mary would respond to groups of people as well as individuals.

That conviction appeared to grow in the following centuries. After the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in A.D. 312, the new faith developed a close relationship with his empire, including a belief that Mary looked with particular favor on the capital city of Constantinople.

A 10th-century Byzantine mosaic of Constantine the Great offering Constantinople to the Virgin Mary, at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Photo by PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Political and religious leaders asked the Virgin for victory in battle and shelter from plagues. In A.D. 626, Constantinople was besieged by a Persian navy. Christians believed that their prayers to the Virgin destroyed the invading fleet, saving the city and its inhabitants. The Akathist hymn, which has been prayed in both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches ever since, gives Mary the military title “Champion General” in thanks for that victory.

In the Catholic West, military successes such as European victories over the Ottoman Empire were attributed to Mary’s intervention. Her blessing has been sought on imperialist endeavors, including Spain’s conquest of the Americas.

Even today, Mary holds the title of general in the armies of Argentina and Chile, where she is considered a national patroness. The same association between Marian devotion and patriotism can be found in many Latin American countries.
National symbol

Off the battlefield, many Catholic cultures have historically felt they had a special relationship with Mary. In 1638, King Louis XIII formally dedicated France to the Virgin Mary. Popular belief interpreted the subsequent birth of the future Louis XIV as Mary’s miraculous reward, after 23 years of waiting for a male heir.

About two decades later, Polish King Jan II Kazimierz consecrated his country to Mary amid a war. Both acts reflected church and political leaders’ beliefs that their countries had a sacred mission and divine approval for their political ambitions.

When these kinds of beliefs become widespread in a society, many scholars would label them religious nationalism – though there is a long-standing debate about when affection for one’s country becomes “nationalism.” There is widespread consensus, though, that religion is one of the most common elements of nationalism, and many nationalist projects have invoked Mary’s blessing.

Polish territory, for example, was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria for more than a century. But Polish Catholics continued to address Mary as “Queen of Poland.” Her title asserted the existence of the Polish people as a nation. And it implied that efforts to reestablish Poland as a sovereign country had a heavenly helper.

Similarly, in the 19th century, both Queen Victoria and the Virgin Mary were referred to in different contexts as “Queen of Ireland,” expressing two rival visions of Ireland: part of the Protestant United Kingdom, or a separate and essentially Catholic country.

An illustration of the Virgin de Guadalupe in the Cathedral San Ildefonso in Mexico.

John Elk III/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Many different movements have used the figure of the Virgin to support their agendas. In colonial Mexico, the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one title for Mary, was originally interpreted as being a champion of the “criollos,” native-born inhabitants of Spanish descent. During the 1810-21 War of Mexican Independence, “la Guadalupana” figured on the banners of the “independista” forces. The Spanish army, meanwhile, adopted the “Virgin of Los Remedios,” another title for Mary, as their own patroness. She would later be invoked in support of Indigenous people and mestizos, people with both Indigenous and Spanish ancestry.

Mary is invoked not only by nationalist causes. Sometimes she is inspiration for countercultural or protest movements, from the pro-life cause to Latina feminists. Labor leader Cesar Chavez placed the image of Guadalupe on banners as his organization marched for farmworkers’ rights.
Mary’s future

All these uses draw on the ancient belief in Mary’s power to intervene in times of trouble. However, ideological, political and especially military ambitions and religious sentiment are a volatile mix. As the current war in Ukraine shows, allegiance to one’s nation, especially when it claims Christian inspiration, can inspire both imperialist expansionism and heroic resistance to it.

This makes a better understanding of religious nationalism urgently important, especially for the church. Twentieth- and 21st-century popes have condemned aggressive nationalism but have not defined it clearly.

In cultures that are largely secularized, appeals for Mary’s protection or claims that she has a special relationship with any one nation are now likely to seem archaic, outlandish or sectarian. But what I know of both Marian devotion and national identity has convinced me that ancient patterns often survive and reassert themselves in new times and places.

Even where the practice of Catholicism is in decline, Mary’s cultural significance remains strong. And religion continues to be a regular element of many nationalist agendas.

My guess is that we have not seen the last of the warrior Virgin.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. 

It was written by: Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Read more:


How ‘In God We Trust’ bills are helping advance a Christian nationalist agenda


Warrior, servant, mother, unifier – the Virgin Mary has played many roles through the centuries


Holy wars: How a cathedral of guns and glory symbolizes Putin’s Russia

BUSINESS PRESS SEZ:

Sunak’s Anti-Migration Push Shows Peril of Rightward Drift

Alex Wickham

Bloomberg Businessweek
Sat, August 12, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- Rishi Sunak thought highlighting his efforts to stop the flow of migrants into Britain would rouse the government Conservative Party base and reinforce his political pitch around effective leadership. Instead, the prime minister has left voters unconvinced and both sides of his party unsatisfied.

A YouGov poll this week found fewer than one in 10 voters believe he will keep his promise to “stop the boats” carrying asylum seekers across the English Channel. That pledge — one of five Sunak told Britons to judge him by — risks turning into a political trap ahead of an election expected in 2024.

As Sunak holidayed in California, his team was left to handle a week of announcements meant to demonstrate a tough line on migration. It started with moving some migrants onto a barge moored off the southern coast, a move ministers say both reduces accommodation costs and acts as a deterrent.

Yet the communications strategy went badly off course. Headlines focused on an expletive by the Tory deputy party chairman directed at asylum seekers. Then came data showing 100,000 people have crossed the Channel since 2018. Even the barge opening backfired — it was evacuated on Friday after bacteria was found in its water supply.

On Saturday, six people died and more than 50 were rescued when a boat carrying migrants in the Channel capsized, the Associated Press reported.

Sunak’s pledge is based on the view that voters want stronger border controls after Brexit, and an attempt to portray the poll-leading Labour Party as weak in that area. But according to current and former Conservative politicians who spoke to Bloomberg News, Sunak’s immigration strategy isn’t working.

Conservatives are now debating what Sunak should try next. There’s a renewed push from the party’s right flank to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that doing so would make it easier to deliver on Sunak’s other core policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Several Cabinet ministers including Home Secretary Suella Braverman would support that, people familiar with their thinking said. She has repeatedly said the ECHR undermines British democracy, while other influential Tories such as David Frost have been explicit in their demands.

A pivotal moment may come when the Supreme Court decides whether the Rwanda deportation program is unlawful. The case is due to be heard in early October with a judgment expected in late November or early December, a person familiar with the matter said. Sunak expects to win, but his next step if he loses is the great unknown, one government official said.

In that scenario, Sunak would use the election to campaign to leave the ECHR, according to three government aides who spoke on condition of anonymity. One said Sunak could say he was looking to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with aspects of it rather than leave outright, to ward off criticism. Another compared the ECHR to Brexit, suggesting it could upset the polls.

“If the court case fails, they will need to look at that option,” said James Johnson, a former aide to ex-premier Theresa May and co-founder of pollster JL Partners. “It will effectively become the only way to show they can stop the boats.”

The ramifications could be profound, and put the UK on a collision course with European nations and the US. An immediate issue is that the ECHR is written into the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland in 1998. Brexit’s impact on the region has already caused tension between the British government and President Joe Biden’s administration.

Sunak acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue in relation to Northern Ireland, telling the House of Commons in February that the UK would remain a member.

People familiar with the thinking of three Cabinet ministers said they couldn’t support leaving the ECHR. One said it would cause an unprecedented breakdown in UK-US relations that would put Britain’s place in the Five Eyes security alliance — which also includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand — in doubt.

Commitment to the ECHR and its protocols is also a provision in part of the post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the European Union.

“I imagine Sunak would be pretty uncomfortable with it,” former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said when asked about the Tory pressure to leave the ECHR. “I can see a group of old Brexiteers on the right offering it up as a new ‘identity issue’ that could shift the dial at the election. Personally, I doubt it. Even ideologues have to eat, or at least feed their children.”

Craig Oliver, who was former Prime Minister David Cameron’s communications director, said the international community would take it as “further evidence the UK has taken leave of its senses.” He also predicted that since Brexit didn’t work out as promised, many voters would “worry it was another ill-thought out scheme that could blow up in our faces.”

One former Cabinet minister described the idea as a fantasy. Another said they thought Sunak would be considering his future career outside politics, perhaps in the US, and that a toxic election campaign would harm those prospects.

Luke Tryl, a former Conservative adviser who runs the More In Common consultancy, said the ECHR “almost never” comes up in focus groups, and that campaigning to leave it risked putting off centrist voters.

The wildcard, though, is how Sunak responds if the Supreme Court rules against him, and he faces an election campaign having failed to deliver on a core pledge. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick made clear this week the government wasn’t focused on trying to process the backlog of asylum claims, arguing that doing so would encourage more people to come. The evidence is that the government wants to go to the polls with deportations in full swing.

Ahead of an election, Sunak will face more pressure from the political right to take a harder line. As former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage put it: “What will Sunak’s main priority be? To try and be popular with the international community, or try to salvage the election? This is the choice that he will face.”

That kind of analysis led one Tory strategist to conclude Sunak’s vow to stop the boats and give the issue such prominence was political suicide.

Migrant boats in the Mediterranean: Why are so many people dying?

Alice Cuddy - BBC News
Sun, August 13, 2023 

Four survivors were spotted in a small iron boat - 41 others died when the boat they were originally in sank

In grainy photographs shot from a plane circling overhead, four people adrift in an iron boat in an expanse of the Mediterranean Sea wave their arms in distress.

It later emerges that the group - a 13-year-old boy, two men and a woman - are the only survivors of a shipwreck that they say killed the other 41 people they were travelling with.

The four survived by floating with inner tubes and lifejackets until they found another empty boat, likely from a previous migrant crossing, and clambered in. They spent several days drifting before being rescued.

A day after news of the tragedy emerged, migrants in the Tunisian city of Sfax prepared to make the same crossing.


One man, who had fled fighting in Sudan's western region of Darfur, told BBC Arabic that he planned to seek asylum in Tunisia, but was ready to board a boat if this didn't work. "I just survived a war, I have nothing to lose," he said. Another, from Kenya, dreamed of a better life for his family in Europe.

If they go ahead with the journeys, the two men will join thousands of others who have risked their lives this year on what has been dubbed the world's most dangerous migration route.

Experts told the BBC that badly designed and overcrowded boats, stormy weather, and gaps in international efforts were all factors in the danger - and one search-and-rescue NGO described the central Mediterranean as a "cemetery".
Surge in deaths

If it feels like you are seeing more reports of shipwrecks this year in the central Mediterranean, then both crossings and deaths do appear to be on the rise.

People making the journey set sail from the shores of North Africa, usually for Italy.

European border agency Frontex says the central Mediterranean is the "most active route" into the European Union, and that reported crossing are the highest since 2017.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has recorded more than 1,800 migrant deaths in the central Mediterranean so far this year, compared to 1,400 for the whole of 2022.

number of migrants who died at sea since 2014

Among the migrant shipwrecks this year was an overcrowded fishing vessel off the coast of Greece, which killed hundreds in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years.

The IOM says there is strong evidence that many shipwrecks are "invisible": unrecorded boats disappearing with no survivors, meaning the real death toll is likely to be much higher.
Why people make the dangerous journey

Those embarking on the perilous voyage come from around the world and have various reasons for wanting to reach Europe, from fleeing war or torture, to searching for jobs.

After being rescued from an overcrowded rubber raft this summer, one 16-year-old boy from The Gambia told the BBC he left home three years ago to "hustle hard and help my family".

He was aware of how dangerous the journey was, having lost an 18-year-old friend to the crossing. But he said this did not deter him - his friend had "lost his life for his family and his society and his nation".

This year, Tunisia has overtaken Libya as the main point of departure - amid a wave of racism against black Africans there.

map showing migrant routes from Tunisia and Libya to Italy

Some say the Libya crossing remains more dangerous, both for geographical and political reasons.

"In terms of fatalities, I think that the opening up of the Eastern Libya route (from territories controlled by Wagner-supported militias) is having a bigger impact," said Nando Sigona, a professor at the University of Birmingham and a migration expert.

"It is much longer and it also brings boats at the border between Italian and Greek national waters - two governments currently not too keen to be seen as providing rescue operations to migrants at sea," he said, pointing to the Greek shipwreck in June as an example.
Unseaworthy boats

Migrants are typically travelling on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats, with limited flotation devices should they capsize.

Types of boats include rubber rafts and fishing vessels - and on the Tunisian route, metal boats are common.

Experts say metal boats like these are even more likely to capsize in stormy seas

Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski described them as "coffins in water".

"Combine this with the fact that usually there are dozens of these launched at one time with 40 or more people on board and you have a recipe for disaster," he said.

Mr Borowski said that "greedy people smugglers" used metal boats to offer "discount" crossings as they competed for migrants' business.
Unpredictable storms

Crossings are seasonal, with more attempts in the summer. But weather can be unpredictable and successful journeys can take days.

"If storms occur or the seas are rough - which may become more frequent with climate change - there is a much greater risk to life," IOM spokesperson Ryan Schroeder said.

"Sometimes not even bad weather deters smugglers from sending people out to sea," he added, pointing to the boats that have recently capsized near the island of Lampedusa, which were launched despite rough seas.

And Mr Borowski says poor weather makes spotting boats in distress even more difficult.

"Imagine searching for a Vauxhall Corsa from the air in an area the size of the UK. Now try looking for a dozen or more in the open sea," he said. "This is the daunting challenge in the central Med. This combined with an unforgiving sea, especially when the weather turns bad, as we have seen in recent days."

EU 'willingly created a cemetery'

While Frontex offers "general oversight and technical support", Prof Sigona says national governments mostly govern search and rescue (SAR) operations in the central Mediterranean.

The IOM's Mr Schroeder said SAR efforts are no longer as "proactive, comprehensive or adequately resourced" as they were during the big Mare Nostrum rescue operation led by Italy in 2013 to 2014.

Under the current system, Mr Schroeder said the IOM was concerned that "SAR gaps, alleged delays in rescue and reported lack of response to distress calls may be contributing to tragedies on this route".

NGOs operating rescue vessels on the central Mediterranean were more critical. The route has become so deadly "because of a reckless policy of deterrence and neglect that European states have been pursuing for years", Wasil Schauseil, communications coordinator at SOS Humanity, said.

German NGO Sea-Watch said the EU had "willingly created a cemetery".

It said there was a lack of SAR coordination and that "illegal pullbacks" were being conducted by the Libyan coastguard, which the EU has equipped and trained. And last month, the EU signed a $118m (£90m) deal with Tunisia to try to reduce "irregular" migration.

On a boat picking up migrants in the middle of the Med


New data casts doubt on Greek account of boat disaster


Greek coastguard 'pressured' migrant boat survivors

A European Commission spokesperson defended working with the North African countries, saying the "still too high number of casualties" in the Mediterranean meant it was "important to continue strengthening the capacity of the Libyan coastal authorities to carry out effective search and rescue operations in line with international standards".

NGOs have also criticised a new law in Italy requiring their rescue vessels to head to often distant ports after an operation rather than continuing to patrol for more boats in distress. They say this reduces their time in areas where shipwrecks are more common.

Italy says the aim is to spread arrivals across the country.

Critics of rescue NGOs say their presence encourages migrants to embark on the potentially fatal journey - the NGOs reject this.

Hunt for solutions

Frontex's Mr Borowski acknowledged that "we can, and indeed, we must, do better" at stopping "tragedies at sea", calling for "shared solutions". IOM spokesperson Mr Schroeder said all efforts should "focus on saving lives and addressing the reasons that people are compelled to risk their lives".

The IOM and other UN agencies have called for coordinated European search-and-rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, and for safer legal pathways for migration and asylum to prevent deaths at sea.

The European Commission spokesperson said its efforts to enhance SAR coordination between its members were "extensive". It was working to deter smugglers and develop safe ways for people to come to the EU that would break "the business model of the smugglers and the traffickers".

They said shipwrecks, like the one this summer off the coast of Greece, are "yet another call to action" that highlighted "the urgency to intensify our work".

Additional reporting by Bassam Bounenni, BBC Arabic

https://monoskop.org/File:Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf

File:Hardt Michael Negri Antonio Empire.pdf - Monoskop 

Jul 28, 2012 ... File:Hardt Michael Negri Antonio Empire.pdf ... Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf ‎(file size: 1.33 MB, MIME type: application/pdf) ...

Nagarno-Karabakh Crisis Reaches New Heights: Aid Attempts Blocked – OpEd

Armenia, Azerbaijan and location of Nagorno-Karabakh. Credit: RFE/RL

August 14, 2023  

By Ulyana Kubini

For over 7 months, residents in Nagorno-Karabakh (known locally as Artsakh) have suffered under a suffocating blockade imposed by Azerbaijan. Shortages of critical medications, food, and fuel have been widespread.

In the region, 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly individuals, are depending on scarce local resources for their survival. No goods or medicine have been allowed in for over a month. But those supplies cannot last forever.  Recently, they have reached their limits.

In response to the total blockade, the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan officially announced the region as a disaster zone, calling upon UN Security Council to take action against Azerbaijan for blocking the Lachin Corridor, the sole corridor through which aid is provided to Karabakh residents.

The President told Karabakh journalists in an urgent press conference that, “Right now Artsakh [Nagorno Karabakh] is the only territory in the world to be in total isolation and under blockade, without any humanitarian aid or international presence,” adding that if the international community continues to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Karabakh residents, Karabakh could be classified as a “concentration camp.” 

In an attempt to meet the needs of the Armenian population in Karabakh, Yerevan has sent a convoy of trucks filled with humanitarian aid carrying over 360 tons of food and goods. However, transferring these goods to the civilian population may prove to be a challenge, as the trucks are yet to pass through Azeri checkpoints.

The aid from Yerevan, the only aid residents have been receiving since Azerbaijan cut off assistance in December of 2022, has been stuck at the Azeri checkpoint near Lachin for several days. Azeri president justified the move by calling Yerevan’s aid a “provocation” and a “violation of international law.”

However, it is Azerbaijan that has (and currently is) violating international law by blocking humanitarian aid and imposing an illegal blockade on Karabakh, akin to collective punishment. Both the European Parliament and the International Court of Justice have demanded Azerbaijan lift the blockade and open the corridor to no avail. 

Thus far, only India has given significant arms to Armenia, including rockets, missiles, and ammunition in a deal valued at $250 million USD. The deal included the highly valued Pinaka MBRLS, a high tech missile launcher equivalent to Western HIMARS.

Ulyana Kubini

Ulyana Kubini is a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur and political activist. She is a the owner and operator of Mezzno, a food e-commerce platform focused on local economies. Kubini is a writer for the the mental health testing organization HIGH5 and an avid reader of libertarian theory.

UK

‘It’s time to start a national conversation about how we tax wealth in this country’

TUC launches blueprint to squeeze Britain’s multimillionaires for a ‘modest’ proportion of their wealth and end the country’s ‘increasing wealth inequality’




THE TUC has condemned a “tale of two Britains” which sees working people suffering “the longest pay squeeze in modern history” while bankers’ bonuses are at eye-watering levels and chief executive pay is surging.

The damning criticism came as the TUC launched a blueprint to squeeze Britain’s multimillionaires for a “modest” proportion of their wealth and end the country’s “increasing wealth inequality.”

The blueprint would raise £10 billion for the public purse and should be the “start of a national conversation about taxing wealth,” said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak.

It would affect only 140,000 individuals — 0.3 per cent of Britain’s population — and is similar to a policy that operates in Spain.

Mr Nowak said: “It’s time to start a national conversation about how we tax wealth in this country.

“It is absurd that a nurse pays a bigger share of their income in tax than a city trader does on profits from their investment portfolio.

“That’s not only fundamentally unfair and unjust — it’s bad for our economy too.”

He said that Britain’s “broken” tax system means those at the top are hoarding wealth and getting richer and richer while working people struggle to get by.

“That is starving our economy of spending — as it’s working people who spend their money on our high streets – and it’s starving our public services of much-needed funds,” Mr Nowak said.

“This is a debate we should not be afraid of having. The Chancellor should use his autumn statement to make sure the wealthiest pay their fair share of tax.”

He said that as working people suffered a record squeeze on pay “the super-rich are coining it in.”

“Porsche sales are at record highs, bankers’ bonuses are at eyewatering levels, and CEO pay is surging,” he added.

“Enough is enough. We need an economy that rewards work — not just wealth.

“Fair tax must play a central role in rewiring our economy to work for working people.”

The analysis sets out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth of more than £3 million, £5m and £10m, excluding pensions.

The lower tax on people with more than £3m would affect 142,000 wealthy people, the tax on those with more than £5m would affect 48,000 and the tax on those with more than £10m would affect 17,000.

The system would mean that someone with £3m would pay nothing, someone with more than £5m would pay £17,000 and someone with £10 million would pay £118,000.

“Together this could raise more than £10 billion for the exchequer,” said the TUC.

The TUC has already called on the government to equalise capital gains tax with income tax, which could raise around £14 billion.

It condemned as “inherently unfair and unjust” the fact that people who get income from assets or property are taxed less than those who rely on real work.

While working people have been “hit by a pay loss of historic proportions” the wealth of multimillionaires and billionaires has boomed, said the TUC.

Campaign group Tax Justice UK, which earlier this year drew up proposals to raise up to £50 billion through taxing the super-wealthy, welcomed the TUC’s proposals.

Executive director Robert Palmer said: “With public services on their knees, and wealth inequality rampant, it’s high time the UK started taxing wealth properly. It’s great to see the TUC champion steps towards a fairer tax system.”

He said the public was “crying out for action” which would “go a long way towards raising money desperately needed for our schools, NHS and social security system.”

Channel tragedy sparks calls for Labour to allow asylum claims in France

Party told to distinguish itself from the Tories’ ‘inhumanity’

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard the Ramsgate Lifeboat (top) and the Dover Lifeboat (bottom) following a small boat incident in the Channel, August 10, 2023


LABOUR was urged today to allow refugees to claim asylum from France after at least six men drowned trying to cross the English Channel in a small boat.

The party was told to distinguish itself from the Tories’ “inhumanity” towards migrants after it emerged the casualties were among 509 people who attempted the perilous crossing in 10 boats on Saturday.

French authorities said children were among more than 60 on board when their vessel sank in worsening conditions off the coast of Sangatte, killing six Afghan men in their 30s.

The worst Channel tragedy since 27 died when their flimsy vessel capsized in November 2021 marked yet another setback for PM Rishi Sunak’s failing “stop the boats” pledges, and sparked fresh calls for refugees to be able to claim asylum here from France.

A Momentum spokesman said: “The appalling deaths in the Channel today demonstrate the inhumanity of the Tory government’s policy towards migrants and refugees.

“Labour must offer a progressive alternative, by committing to repeal the Illegal Migration and Nationality and Borders Bills, expand safe routes for refugees, and end the barbaric use of barges to house asylum-seekers.”

Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told the Morning Star: “It’s a simple way to stop people drowning in the boats — to allow their asylum claims to be processed in France.

“If it were possible to process asylum claims in France, the numbers of migrant boats would plummet.

“We are supposed to have a safe and legal route for Afghans to claim asylum.”

Criticising Labour migration policy for aspiring only to “doing most of what the Tories would do, but more efficiently,” she added: “We need to put a stop to some of the poisonous rhetoric about immigration and the Labour Party needs to offer a lead on how we treat asylum-seekers because the danger is the Labour Party sounds too much like what the Tories are saying — they haven’t even said they would not use barges.”

Immigration barrister Jan Doerfel has long advocated for a change in the law so individuals can lodge asylum applications in their country and from neighbouring countries rather than having to make the perilous journey to the UK without a visa.

He told this newspaper: “Having to flee without a visa means that refugees have to pay multiple times of what they would usually have to pay for a journey, it puts them at risk and forces them to choose dangerous journeys as there is currently no lawful route for individual asylum-seekers.

“If the UK allowed individuals currently in France to lodge asylum applications and human rights applications (eg for family reunions) by email then this would reduce the need and incentive for illegal border crossings by boat.”

MPs have called for action against criminal people-smuggling gangs profiting from the journeys while campaigners have described the deaths as an “appalling and preventable tragedy.”

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said a “better, fairer system” is needed to tackle the backlog of asylum applications and cut the need for temporary accommodation.

She also said that prosecutions of people-smugglers are falling under the current government.

The tragedy came after ministers were accused of allowing their “small boats week” of linked announcements on immigration to descend into farce following the removal of dozens of asylum-seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Senior Conservative backbencher David Davis slammed the “startling incompetence” of the Home Office after all 39 people on board the 500-capacity vessel were disembarked due to the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.

Home Office figures state more than 100,000 people have now made the journey since 2018 — including more than 16,600 so far this year and an estimated over 1,600 from Friday to Sunday.

The Stand Up To Racism campaign group has called an emergency vigil outside Downing Street at 6pm on Monday under the banner: “Don’t let them drown. Safe passage now. Refugees welcome.”

Luna-25: Russia starts processing data from moon lander hoping to make history

Russia is aiming to become the first country to carry out a soft landing on the lunar south pole - a region thought to hold pockets of water ice.


Sunday 13 August 2023

A Soyuz rocket carrying the moon lander Luna-25 took off from the Vostochny cosmodrome on Friday. 

Russian experts monitoring their moon-bound unmanned spacecraft Luna-25 have switched on its scientific equipment and started processing the first data.

Russia is aiming to become the first country to carry out a soft landing on the lunar south pole - a region thought to hold pockets of water ice.

Space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Sunday: "Luna-25 continues its flight to the Earth's natural satellite - all systems of the automatic station are working properly, communication with it is stable, the energy balance is positive.

"The first measurement data on the flight to the moon has been obtained, and the project's scientific team has begun
processing it."

Image:Specialists took part in preparations ahead of the launch

On Friday, Moscow launched the mission - its first moon-landing craft in 47 years - and is racing against India which blasted its lunar lander Chandrayaan-3 into space last month.


Luna-25, which is the size of a small car, took off on board a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, over 3,000 miles east of Moscow.

It is expected to touch down on the moon on 21 August.

Virgin Galactic takes first tourists to edge of space - as British ex-Olympian calls flight 'most exciting day of my life'

Related Topics:Space

Its mission is to collect samples of rock and dust to get an understanding of the environment for a potential base.

The lander plans to operate for a year on the south pole, where scientists at NASA and other space agencies have in recent years detected traces of water ice in the region's shadowed craters.

Rough terrain makes a landing there difficult.

But the prize of discovering water ice could be historic - as it may be used for fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water.

Read more on Sky News:

Virgin Galactic takes first tourists to edge of space

Why billionaires are drawn to 'extreme tourism'

US astronaut Neil Armstrong found fame in 1969 for being the first person to walk on the moon.

But the Soviet Union's Luna-2 mission was the first spacecraft to reach the planet's surface in 1959, and the Luna-9 mission in 1966 was the first to make a soft landing there.

Friday's launch marks Russia's first lunar mission since 1976, when it was part of the USSR.

Martian days are growing shorter, but we don’t know why

By Joshua Hawkins
Published Aug 13th, 2023 

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

New data gathered from NASA’s Insight Lander has revealed that Martian days are getting shorter every year. While the length of days is only getting shorter by a series of milliseconds, those small changes mean the planet is rotating faster and faster each year, and researchers aren’t sure exactly why.

InSight was retired last December and captured a good deal of data about the Red Planet during its operations. Looking through that data, NASA has discovered some intriguing information – Mars rotations are growing faster, accelerating by around four milliarcseconds per year.

While that isn’t a huge change, any rotation speed change in a planet could be serious, especially as those changes can add up over hundreds and even thousands of years. Right now, Martian days have a length of 24 hours and 37 minutes. These days are often referred to as “sols” and are used when describing how long spacecraft have been orbiting or watching the planet.

Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Learning that the speed at which sols pass on Mars is increasing has left scientists baffled, because they just aren’t sure what’s causing the increase. As for the data itself, being able to look back at everything InSight learned before its retirement is great, as we can always learn more about the details that might not have stood out at the time, especially as we capture more data about Mars with Curiosity and Perseverance – two rover-based missions still exploring the Red Planet.

NASA has a plan to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, though that does rely on some other factors to make it possible – including the creation of a nuclear-powered rocket engine. However, learning exactly why the length of days is growing shorter on Mars could be important to understanding more about the planet’s history, as well as its future.

A paper with full details is available in the journal Nature.