SECULARISM GONE MAD

French schools refuse dozens of girls wearing Muslim robe

Story by AFP 

Dozens refused do remove the abaya in defiance of a ban on the dress in schools© LOIC VENANCE

French schools sent dozens of girls home for refusing to remove their abayas -- an over-garment from the shoulders to the feet worn by Muslim women -- on the first day of the school year, a government minister said Tuesday.


Unlike headscarves, abayas occupied a grey area and had faced no outright ban until now© LOIC VENANCE

Defying a ban on the Muslim robe, nearly 300 girls showed up Monday morning wearing an abaya, Gabriel Attal told the BFM broadcaster.

Most agreed to change out of the robe, but 67 refused and were sent home, he said.

The government announced last month it was banning the abaya in schools, saying it broke the rules on secularism in education that have already seen Muslim headscarves banned on the grounds they constitute a display of religious affiliation.


An association representing Muslims has filed a motion with the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities© Denis Charlet

The move gladdened the political right but the hard-left argued it represented an affront to civil liberties.

Attal said the girls refused entry were given a letter addressed to their families saying that "secularism is not a constraint, it is a liberty".

If they showed up at school again wearing the abaya there would be a "new dialogue", the minister said.

Late Monday, President Emmanuel Macron defended the controversial measure, saying there was a "minority" in France who "hijack a religion and challenge the republic and secularism", leading to the "worst consequences".

He cited the murder three years ago of teacher Samuel Paty for showing caricatures of the prophet Mohammed during a civics education class.

"We cannot act as if the terrorist attack, the murder of Samuel Paty, had not happened," he said in an interview with You Tube channel HugoDecrypte.

- 'Elevated risk of discrimination' -

An association representing Muslims has filed a motion with the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities, for an injunction against the ban on the abaya and the qamis, its equivalent dress for men.

The Action for the Rights of Muslims (ADM) motion was being examined Tuesday.

France's Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), established to represent Muslims before the government, warned that the banning of the abaya could create "an elevated risk of discrimination" and said it was considering putting its own complaint before the State Council.

The absence of "a clear definition of this garment creates a vague situation and legal uncertainty," it said.

It expressed fear over "arbitrary" controls and that the criteria for evaluating young girls' dress could be based on "the supposed origin, last name or skin colour" rather than what they wore.

A law introduced in March 2004 banned "the wearing of signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" in schools.

This includes large Christian crosses, Jewish kippas and Muslim headscarves.

Unlike headscarves, abayas occupied a grey area and had faced no outright ban until now.

The issue has been a dominant theme of French politics after the summer holidays, with the hard-left has accusing the government of trying with the abaya ban to compete with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and shifting further to the right.

The announcement late last month of the ban was the first major move by Attal, 34, since he was promoted this summer to handle the hugely contentious education portfolio.

Along with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 40, he is seen as a rising star who could potentially play an important role after Macron steps down in 2027.

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Former top banker says premiers are 'grandstanding' on interest rate hikes

Story by Tanya Fletcher •10h


On Tuesday, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey became the latest provincial leader to join the growing political chorus against another interest rate hike.

Furey's office released a letter to Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem in which the premier called on the bank to "more fully consider the negative impacts" interest rate hikes are having on Canadians and to forgo another rate hike "at this time." The bank is expected to announce its next rate decision on Wednesday.

Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby sent a letter to the governor urging a halt to rate hikes in the name of affordability.

This week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent a similar letter — and followed it up with some of the strongest language yet from any Canadian politician on rate hikes:

"[A] message to the Bank of Canada: Enough is enough. You're trying to kill the economy. You personally are responsible for creating inflation," Ford told a press conference Tuesday.

"Companies do not want to invest in new equipment because of the interest rates. A lot of people can't afford to get a mortgage because they're struggling. They're going to be losing their homes. That's on your shoulders."
The politics behind the pressure

The political pressure is coming from premiers whose governments are leaning hard on affordability as a priority.

All three premiers come from different parties: B.C.'s New Democrats, Ontario's Progressive Conservatives and Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberals.

One former Bank of Canada governor says there's politics at play.

"It's a bit of ... political grandstanding on the part of the premier[s]," said former BoC governor David Dodge when asked about the letters.

He said he doesn't see a problem with that.

"There's always a dialogue between the minister of finance and the governor of the bank, between public servants in (the federal Department of Finance) and staff at the bank," he told CBC News.

"There's always a dialogue going on. That's how the system is actually supposed to work. Where the problem would come is if there were no dialogue."

Related video: ‘Enough is enough’: Ford says Bank of Canada personally responsible for creating inflation (Global News)   Duration 0:49   View on Watch

Dodge said the Bank of Canada is transparent with its process and explicitly outlines the factors behind each interest rate decision, which include taking into account the public's best interests.

Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge says the central bank is transparent about how it makes interest rate decisions. 

(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)© Provided by cbc.ca

"How I dealt with it, and how the current governor deals with it, is to try to explain to people — and to governments — why it is that the current interest rate level, or the current policy they are pursuing, is appropriate in order to stabilize the economy, both in terms of growth and in terms of price level," he said.

Not everyone thinks the premiers' attempts to influence the bank are harmless. Ross Hickey, an economist and associate professor at UBC Okanagan, called the letters "ridiculous."

"It's reckless because we don't want our central bank to respond to politicians at all," he told CBC News Friday after Eby's letter was published.

"It's terrible because the impartiality, the independence, the non-partisanship of the central bank in Canada is extremely important and this is a reckless act that put that in jeopardy."

Hickey compared it to attempts to influence the Supreme Court of Canada and said the Bank of Canada must remain at arm's-length from politicians.

If interest rates are held where they are, he said, it should be because the data suggests that is the prudent move right now.

"I hope that the Bank of Canada speaks to all Canadians and all politicians, and restates the importance of the independence of the central bank from politics," he said.
Not harmful, not helpful

Some political experts don't see publicly lobbying the Bank of Canada as harmful.

"I don't see it as particularly negative," said Gerald Baier, associate professor of political science at the University of British Columbia.

"Obviously, the Bank of Canada collects information, collects data that helps make its decisions. But it's not hurting anyone for them to write a letter that says, 'Here's what's going on and here are the negative effects of of continued interest rate hikes.'"

Baier also suggested the premiers' actions are mostly about political optics and the only ones they're helping are themselves.

"It's a political exercise in those premiers taking the chance to sort of stand up for regular folks in their in their provinces," said Baier.

"A lot of the audience is not the Bank of Canada but voters who would look at their premiers and say, 'You gotta be doing something more to influence this policy.'"

The NDP's Jagmeet Singh was the first federal leader to wade into the debate this week.

"The Bank of Canada's approach is not working — in fact, it's creating more pain for people," Singh told a recent news conference in B.C.

"Grocery prices are extremely high and the cost of housing remains really high. How has the Bank of Canada made people's lives better? By taking on inflation when grocery prices continue to rise and housing is still completely unattainable for people."

Open Society Foundations pledge €100 million to start new Roma foundation


GEORGE SOROS

Open Society Foundations said Tuesday that it will spin off its support for Europe's Roma communities into a new foundation and pledged €100 million, around $107 million, for that work.

The Roma Foundation for Europe, which will be independent of OSF, launches in January and will be based in Brussels, said the foundations. Zeljko Jovanovic, director of OSF's Roma Initiatives Office, will lead the new foundation.

“This is a true European project because we are the biggest European minority, the most neglected and disadvantaged,” Jovanovic told The Associated Press, referring to the Roma community. “So when you support the most disadvantaged, you support the development of the whole society.”

An estimated 10 to 12 million Roma people live in Europe, with around 6 million living in the European Union, making them the continent's largest ethnic minority. Significant proportions of the community report experiencing discrimination and economic exclusion as well as higher rates of poverty and lower participation in the formal workforce, according to the European Commission.

Alex Soros, chair of OSF's board of directors and son of George Soros, who founded OSF, echoed that idea in a statement, saying the future work of the new foundation will support not only the Roma people, but all of Europe.

“I am confident the new foundation will be a dynamic force—dedicated to realizing the full potential of the Roma people, and overcoming the deep-rooted barriers they face," Alex Soros said.

Under Alex Soros' leadership, the foundations announced in July that it would significantly retool its structure and layoff 40% of its staff globally. It also paused making new grants until February. Also in July, foundation leaders told staff in Berlin that it would end much of its work in the European Union, according to an internal email seen by the AP.

Last week, Soros wrote in an op-ed in “POLITICO Europe” that OSF was not leaving Europe but that it would shift its priorities, highlighting its work in Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans. He also promised continuing support for the Central European University, which was also founded by George Soros, and the Roma people.

“We will also keep up — and dramatically increase — our efforts to secure equal treatment for Europe’s largest ethnic minority, the 12 million Roma (who mostly live in Eastern Europe),” Alex Soros wrote.

OSF will not have representatives on the board of the Roma Foundation for Europe, said Jovanovic, adding that the decision to start the foundation was made last year, independently of the restructuring. Jovanovic said Alex Soros was clear that OSF's, "internal organization is changing and has to change in the view of Mr. Soros, as well as the global board and the top leadership. However, our commitments do not change."

The new foundation will make grants, support networking between organizations as well as advocate for the Roma people. It will focus on preparing Roma workers with skills to help them find jobs in the digital economy and as part of the anticipated green transition, Jovanovic said.

“Most of all, we want to see our contribution to the social debate about how our societies need to be more cohesive,” he said, adding that they also want to prevent the framing, “in the populist argument: us versus them. We see ‘us’ as the Roma, but we also see ‘us’ as citizens of our countries.”

The new foundation aims to make grants to expend the entire pledge of €100 million by 2030. When asked how many staff the new foundation will employ, Jovanovic said in order for more of the funds to reach grantees, “We don’t want to become a big organization in terms of bureaucracy and administration. We want to be lean and small.”

OSF has previously supported the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, Roma for Democracy and the Roma Education Fund, and the new foundation will continue to support those organizations as well as others, Jovanovic said.

Tomáš Hrustič, senior program manager for the National Democratic Institute in Slovakia, welcomed the funding commitment to the new foundation, saying that he believed the new structure will strengthen the agency and leadership of Roma communities in the organizations that OSF has supported.

“Diverse Roma communities need to actually take ownership over those initiatives and be part it and engage because if it is just decided by someone else, then it doesn’t work at all,” Hrustič said.

He also urged OSF and others to support grassroots organizations and to continue to support Roma communities within European Union member states.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press

BACKBENCH BITCHING
UK government lifts de facto ban on onshore wind farms



LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative government relaxed planning rules Tuesday and lifted restrictions that effectively banned the building of new onshore wind farms in England.

Rules introduced in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, who also led a Conservative administration, allowed a single objection to a wind turbine application to block its development. The regulations led to a dramatic decline in the number of new turbines granted planning permission.

Some Conservatives pressured the current government to overturn the rules. Lawmaker Alok Sharma, who was president of the 2021 U.N. climate change conference and led the lobbying campaign, called them “outdated” and “not a sensible way for a planning system to operate.”

Authorities said Tuesday that the eased restrictions mean that onshore wind projects supported by local residents will get approved more quickly. They said elected local officials will have the ability to make final decisions based on the prevailing view of their communities, not just a small number of objectors.

Communities that back wind turbines in their areas will also benefit from cheaper electricity, officials said, adding that the way such energy discounts work would be considered later.

Environmental groups said Tuesday's decision, which took immediate effect, was overly cautious and that too many obstacles to building wind turbines in England still exist. Greenpeace called the changes "feeble tweaks” and “just more hot air from the government.”

“Today’s small step forward leaves new onshore wind in England still facing higher planning barriers than anything else, including new coal mines, and it will still be too difficult for communities which want wind to get it," Alethea Warrington, the senior campaigner at climate advocacy group Possible, said.

Renewable energy made up 42% of the U.K.’s electricity generation last year. Much of it came from offshore wind farms. Experts have warned that onshore wind energy production must be scaled up rapidly for the U.K. to meet its climate change goals.

Britain’s government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68% by 2030, eventually reaching net-zero — or releasing only as much greenhouse gas as can be absorbed again through natural or technological means — by 2050.

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Follow AP's coverage of climate issues and the environment: https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment

Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press

Microsoft highlights how Russia uses the web to promote political instability

Story by Kevin Okemwa •13h

© Bing Image Creator | Windows Central
What you need to know
Microsoft shared a new report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) highlighting Russian influence operations in Africa, focusing on the Niger coup.
The report indicates that Russia is using the internet to promote political instability worldwide to further its agendas.
The MTAC has pinpointed six basic elements to Russia’s African coup playbook, including banning dissenting media, seizing control of the narrative, and more.

Political instability negatively impacts the development trajectory of a country. Besides the lack of adequate social amenities to cater to the public's needs, high unemployment rate, and insecurity, investors also tend to shy away from venturing into any business activities in a country that's in a volatile state.

While various avenues are being explored to counter the issue to achieve reprieve, it's no easy feat. That's especially true with huge income disparities.

Microsoft recently unveiled a new report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) on Russian influence operations in Africa, focusing on the Niger coup (even though the US refuses to call it one). The report unpacks how the Internet is being leveraged to promote political instability worldwide.

In the past few months, French-speaking African countries, including Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon have experienced increased military coups. The countries highlighted above have been impacted by coups for nearly two decades, and the situation isn't improving.

According to the report, Niger coup leaders leveraged their influence and power to suppress initial protests in Niamey, closing the capital and imposing a curfew restricting movement. This was swiftly followed by multiple counter-protests that supported the coup and brandishing Russian flags. The protests were in place to get the previous government back in power and see France depart from the Sahel region of Africa.

The MTAC highlighted several Nigerien civil society groups deeply rooted in these activities but listed PARADE Niger and the Union of Pan-African Patriots as the key players in the pro-Russian stance. "The first appears to be a construct of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with little genuine local support while the second is a political vehicle for a single politician," the report detailed.

The groups have been found to be in support of the coup and have even requested more cooperation with Russia. They've also assisted in coordinating and amplifying offline protests. Not forgetting the crude methods used to promote this content online.

MTAC also pointed out Russia’s African coup playbook in Africa and narrowed it down to six basic elements.

First, with the help of its messengers in Africa, Russia can curate a substantial amount of content that's both anti-French and pro-Russian, centered on polarizing issues fueled by colonial-era issues.

Next up, Russia places itself in a strategic beneficial position whenever a coup occurs. This is why messengers with close affiliations to Russia align themselves with putschists and declare support for them through proxies.

There's also the fact that Russia can amplify affiliates via its pro-Russian propagandists and IO networks, thus making it easier to push their agendas further. This is regardless of whether they are overt or covert. This way, it's easier for them to wash down other narratives raised by other parties, ultimately selling their agenda as the popular agreement amongst the people.

Radio France International and France 24 are among the largest French-language sources of credible news from the West but have been banned from sharing stories with the public. Coup leaders, in collaboration with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, got these credible media houses from the air since they weren't pushing their narratives and agendas but reporting things as they were.

There's also the inclusion of Russian flags in pro-coup protests designed to create a facade, fronting "widespread support for both the putsch and partnership with Russia."

Finally, Russia can establish control of the narrative through its messengers who are aligned on prepositioned narratives right after the coup. This way, making the most out of the information gap is possible. "Post-coup messaging typically glorifies military and coup leaders and championing national sovereignty while denigrating France."
Abstract online facade versus reality

Whatever's portrayed online doesn't directly reflect what's going on in reality. External sources play a major role in determining the information fed to the public, regardless of accuracy. So long as they can push their agendas and narratives further, even if it's at the cost of political instability across African countries.

To this end, it's unclear what measures can be implemented to mitigate these issues and ensure that the information being relayed on the internet clearly depicts what's going on in reality. But the information shared online should be taken with a pinch of salt.

In the battle against Amazon deforestation, Brazil offers cash rewards to municipalities




RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — In a bid to slow deforestation in the Amazon, Brazil announced Tuesday that it will provide financial support to municipalities that have reduced deforestation rates the most.

During the country´s Amazon Day, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also signed the creation of two Indigenous territories that total 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) — over two times the size of New York City — and of a network of conservation areas next to the Yanonami Indigenous Territory to act as a buffer against invaders, mostly illegal gold miners.

“The Amazon is in a hurry to survive the devastation caused by those few people who refuse to see the future, who in a few years cut down, burned, and polluted what nature took millennia to create,” Lula said during a ceremony in Brasilia. “The Amazon is in a hurry to continue doing what it has always done, to be essential for life on Earth.”

The new program will invest up to $120 million in technical assistance. The money will be allocated based on the municipality´s performance in reducing deforestation and fires, as measured by official satellite monitoring. A list of municipalities eligible for the funds will be published annually.

The resources must be invested in land titling, monitoring and control of deforestation and fires, and sustainable production.

The money will come from the Amazon Fund, which has received more than $1.2 billion, mostly from Norway, to help pay for sustainable development of the region. In February, the United States committed to a $50 million donation to the initiative. Two months later, President Joe Biden announced he would ask Congress for an additional $500 million, to be disbursed over five years.

The most critical municipalities are located along the arc of deforestation, a vast region along the southern part of the Amazon. This region is a stronghold of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who favored agribusiness over forest preservation and lost the reelection last year.

“We believe that it’s not enough to just put up a sign saying ‘it’s forbidden to do this or that. We need to be persuasive." Lula said, in a reference to his relationship with Amazon mayors and state governors.

Lula has promised zero net deforestation by 2030, although his term ends two years earlier. In the first seven months of his third term, there was a 42% drop in deforestation.

Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with almost 3% of global emissions, according to Climate Watch, an online platform managed by World Resources Institute. Almost half of these emissions come from deforestation. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Brazil committed to reducing carbon emissions by 37% by 2025 and 43% by 2030.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

Guatemala prosecutor seeks to strip electoral authorities of immunity after election



GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s prosecutor for electoral crimes has asked the Supreme Court of Justice to strip five magistrates of the country’s top electoral authority of their immunity so they can be investigated on fraud allegations made by the loser of the Aug. 20 presidential election.

It is the latest example of elections that observers declared to be free and fair being dragged into the courts, even as President-elect Bernardo Arévalo begins the official transition with outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei.

The National Unity of Hope party of former first lady Sandra Torres filed a fraud complaint after the election. The party’s lawyer Carlos López said 164 precinct tallies duplicated votes. The party wants the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal investigated for allegedly not carrying out their duties.

Later Tuesday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal gave Arévalo and his running mate Karin Herrera the credentials formally making them president-elect and vice president-elect.

“During recent weeks we have been subjected to an exhaustive analysis between the validation of the electoral process and the challenges that still remain,” said the tribunal’s President Irma Palencia. She called on people to respect the rule of law, separation of powers and civil rights of all Guatemalans.

Arévalo praised the magistrates as a bulwark against attempts to disrupt the election and a “central defense of the country’s democratic values.”

“The people already decided, the people already voted and the people won,” said Herrera. “That is what has to be respected.”

On Monday, Arévalo and Giammattei had their first transition meeting with Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro present. Giammattei made his most direct comments since the election, saying “Dr. Arévalo will be the next president for the Seed party that won the elections.”

Arévalo previously had accused forces in Giammattei’s government of attempting a coup d’etat to keep him from taking power. The leader of the Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission had said legal efforts since the election appeared to be aimed at keeping Arévalo from assuming the presidency.

Over the weekend, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal blocked the suspension of Arévalo’s Seed Movement party, which had come at the request of prosecutors. They allege that there was wrongdoing in the collection of the required signatures years earlier to register the party, something Arévalo himself had reported to authorities before the election.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Sonia Pérez D., The Associated Press

South Korean teachers hold mass protests after suicide highlights pressures from parents

IT TAKES A VILLAGE NOT JUST PARENTS

Story by By Jessie Yeung, Yoonjung Seo and Gawon Bae, CNN •1d


Hundreds of thousands of teachers are protesting in South Korea after the suspected suicide of a teacher that was widely blamed on the burden on educators in a country notorious for its high-pressure education system.

Angry teachers say they face overly harsh demands and even harassment from aggrieved parents, and are calling for legal reform and greater protections.

Up to 200,000 protesters participated in a rally on Saturday, according to the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, citing event organizers. And on Monday, an estimated 50,000 teachers stopped work and gathered in the capital to commemorate the deceased teacher, according to organizers – despite authorities’ initial warnings that striking would be considered “illegal.”


South Korean teachers on strike in the capital Seoul, wearing black in tribute to a teacher who died, on September 4, 2023. - Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

The teacher had taught first grade homeroom at the Seoi elementary school in Seoul, and died on campus on July 18, according to an August announcement from the country’s Education Ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who conducted an investigation into the death. They did not name the teacher.

Two days after her death, the metropolitan education office superintendent, Cho Hee-yeon, said the teacher had made “the unfortunate decision to take an extreme choice,” a common euphemism in South Korea for suicide.

Cho said police were still investigating, but acknowledged “the reality that teachers’ legitimate educational activities are not protected,” and urged “special measures” to provide teachers more legal and institutional protections.


Mourners walk past funeral wreaths in front of the main gate of Seoul Seoi Elementary School in Seoul on September 4, 2023. - Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

After launching an investigation, education authorities addressed several rumors that had circulated on social media, including claims that a dispute between two students had played a factor in the teacher’s death.

The parents of both students involved had attended a meeting with the teacher, the education vice minister said in August, when authorities announced their findings. The teacher had received “multiple phone calls” from one parent, and had felt “uncomfortable and anxious about how the parent found out their personal mobile number,” he said.

However, the vice minister added, it was not yet clear whether the teacher had faced any “verbal violence” from the parent.

“Based on the teacher’s diary and results of interviews with their colleagues, the (investigation) found out that the teacher had a problematic student and was having difficulties running the homeroom, and the teacher had a lot of work as it was the beginning of the semester,” he said.

Authorities did not provide further details including the teacher’s cause of death or what led up to it.

Teachers targeted

The death served as a tipping point for many teachers and educational staff across South Korea who have long complained about feeling unable to discipline their students for fear of retribution. Several other recent reports of teacher suicides have fueled that growing anger, with several weeks of ongoing protests before Monday’s strike.

Government data shows 100 public school teachers in South Korea – mostly elementary school teachers – killed themselves from January 2018 to June 2023.

The data does not specify what factors contributed to their deaths, and it is unclear how many of those suicides were linked to the individuals’ jobs. But many in the education community have blamed a controversial child abuse law that was introduced in 2014.

Under the law, anybody who suspects a case of child abuse can report it to the authorities without needing to provide evidence. Authorities may then investigate the claim, including visiting the alleged site of abuse – in this case the schools – and questioning relevant parties.

Teachers say they can be unfairly targeted by parents who feel their child has been slighted – at times endangering their jobs.

In a survey by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, more than 60% of the 6,243 respondents said they had either personally been reported for child abuse or know another teacher who had.


South Korean teachers holding signs that call for "truth," to commemorate the death of a teacher, in Seoul on September 4. - Yoonjung Seo/CNN© Provided by CNN

“The current child abuse prevention act restricts the teaching and guidance of teachers in the classroom,” said one woman participating in the strike on Monday, who CNN is not naming for privacy reasons.

“Of course, the majority of teachers and parents are good, but some parents abuse this law and sue teachers for child abuse,” said the woman, who said she was an elementary school teacher.

Another woman at the strike, who also declined to be named, said she had been teaching for 10 years.

“There are so many difficulties in teaching children in the classroom because teachers are not given authority,” she told CNN. “Although the Child Abuse Prevention Act was created with good intentions to protect children, it is subject to very vague standards.”

She added that many teachers are under heavy stress for fear of being reported by angry parents, even for issuing minor reprimands to students or other disciplinary actions in the classroom.

Authorities have tried to appease teachers, acknowledging their complaints.

Cho, the Seoul education office superintendent, urged teachers not to turn Monday into a “day of chaos.” In an online statement, he proposed establishing a consultation body that can “find out the truth behind the death of the teacher at Seoi elementary school” and protect students’ right to education while “coming together to find a way to commemorate the teacher who unfortunately passed away.”



Participants of a teachers' strike gather in Seoul, South Korea, on September 4. - Yoonjung Seo/CNN© Provided by CNN

Education Minister Lee Joo-ho warned last week that the planned strike was an “illegal collective action” that infringed on students’ right to education. But he adopted a more conciliatory tone in a separate statement on Sunday, saying he had listened to “teachers’ desperate cries,” and that he would not hold any participants responsible during the Monday strike.

The ministry “has prepared a comprehensive plan to restore and strengthen the protection of teaching rights … and to improve the unreasonable system that has caused them,” Lee wrote, adding that the ministry has asked the government to “quickly legislate laws … so that our teachers’ reasonable educational activities could be distinguished from child abuse crimes.”

Even President Yoon Suk Yeol has weighed in, telling his advisors in a meeting on Monday, “We should take the voices raised by teachers last weekend seriously, and make every effort to establish teaching authority and normalize the educational field,” according to a statement from the presidential spokesperson’s office.

Call for change

But protesters and teachers say they won’t be satisfied until the child abuse law is amended. “We will protect (the teachers) and make changes so that not one more teacher chooses to take their life,” said one of the protest groups, Everyone Together As One, according to Reuters.

Outside the school where the teacher died, mourners on Monday placed funeral wreaths and white flowers, and wrote messages on a wall of Post-It notes.

The protests and focus on teacher suicides reflect broader mental health issues in South Korea and longstanding criticisms of its grueling education system.

South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD nations, with that rate increasing among teenagers and young adults in their 20s, according to the country’s health ministry.

Many teenagers cite education as their biggest worry, with most Korean students going straight from regular school to extra tutoring at private cram schools every day, before continuing to study by themselves until late at night.

That stress extends to parents, many of whom start pouring money into their children’s educations from the time they can walk. In 2022, South Koreans spent a total of 26 trillion won (almost $20 billion) on private education, according to the Ministry of Education.

And in a survey this year by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, which included 6,751 respondents working as teachers from kindergarten to universities across the country, only 23.6% expressed satisfaction with their teaching jobs – an all-time low, having fallen from nearly 68% in 2007, the group said.

4 million people enroll in Biden’s SAVE student loan repayment plan ahead of payment restart

Story by By Katie Lobosco, CNN •

More than 4 million people have so far enrolled in President Joe Biden’s new repayment plan, known as SAVE, which promises to lower their monthly bills as student loan payments are set to resume in October after a yearslong pandemic-related pause.

Launched earlier this summer, the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan is available to most people with federal student loans and can provide significant relief to borrowers struggling to pay off their student debt.

The majority of people who already enrolled in SAVE were previously enrolled in a different repayment plan, the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), and automatically transferred.

Borrowers who were not enrolled in REPAYE must apply for the SAVE plan. More than 1 million people have applied to date, the Department of Education said Tuesday.

Borrowers will be able to apply on an ongoing basis but are encouraged to apply as soon as possible if they want to be enrolled by the time they are required to make a payment in October.

On September 1, interest began accruing on federal student loans for the first time since March 2020. During that time, rates were effectively set to 0% and borrowers were not required to make monthly payments. Borrowers can expect to get a bill from their servicer at least 21 days before their payment is due sometime in October.

Biden proposed canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt for low- and middle-income borrowers before payments restarted, but the program was struck down by the Supreme Court in late June.

Unlike the one-time cancellation proposal, the SAVE plan, can benefit both current and future borrowers. The Biden administration first said it was developing a new repayment plan last August. SAVE is expected to cost $475 billion over 10 years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

How the SAVE plan works

Like other income-driven repayment plans, SAVE calculates monthly payments based on a borrower’s income and family size, regardless of how much outstanding student debt is owed.

A single borrower earning $32,800 or less or a borrower with a family of four earning $67,500 or less will see their payments set at $0 if enrolled in SAVE, for example.

Borrowers are required to pay a portion of their discretionary income, which under SAVE is equal to the difference between a borrower’s adjusted gross income and 225% of the poverty level. Existing income-driven plans calculate discretionary income as the difference between income and 150% of the poverty level, resulting in higher monthly payments.

Also under SAVE, unpaid interest will not accrue if a borrower makes a full monthly payment.

That means that a borrower’s balance won’t increase even if the monthly payment doesn’t cover the monthly interest. For example: If $50 in interest accumulates each month and a borrower has a $30 payment, the remaining $20 would not be charged.

Next year, additional parts of the SAVE plan will be phased in. Those will cut payments in half for borrowers with loans from undergraduate school and shorten the time to debt forgiveness. After making at least 10 years of payments, a borrower’s remaining balance could be wiped away. Existing income-driven repayment plans usually require a borrower to pay for at least 20 years before seeing any debt cancellation.

How to choose the best repayment plan

A borrower can request to enroll in an income-driven plan online. After submitting some information, a simulator will show how much a borrower’s payments will be under each plan.

Income-driven plans can be a good option for borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments. But note that if a repayment plan lowers monthly payments, it may also increase how much is paid back over time due to interest and extend how long it takes to pay the loan off. It may not be the best option for everyone.

Biden administration officials have said that it takes about four weeks for an application to be processed by a borrower’s student loan servicer after it’s submitted. If a servicer needs more time to process an application by the time a borrower’s October payment is due, they will be placed in a forbearance and won’t be required to make a payment.

Existing student loan forgiveness programs

After the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s separate student loan forgiveness program, the administration began pursuing another pathway to providing some student debt relief, but it’s not clear who would be eligible or how much debt would be canceled.

This pathway requires the Department of Education to undertake a formal rule-making process, which typically takes months or even years – and could still face legal challenges. That means payments will resume in October without a new student loan forgiveness program in place.

The Biden administration has already made it easier for many borrowers to seek federal student loan forgiveness from several existing debt cancellation programs – altogether approving roughly $116 billion in loan discharges for more than 3.4 million people through August.

These programs benefit people who were defrauded by their for-profit college, are permanently disabled or work in the public sector for more than 10 years while making student loan payments.

NYPD agrees to ‘significantly’ change how it handles protests in the city

Story by Gloria Oladipo in New York •

Photograph: John Minchillo/AP© Provided by The Guardian

The New York police department (NYPD) has agreed to ban several controversial policing tactics used on demonstrators – as part of a settlement agreement in response to lawsuits about police behavior during the 2020 racial justice protests.

The New York state attorney general Letitia James, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Legal Aid Society announced the reforms on Tuesday after the parties sued the city’s police department. James issued a statement noting the agreement will “significantly” change how the NYPD responses to mass demonstrations in future.

The NYPD will adopt a four-tiered response system that emphasizes de-escalation versus flooding protests with police officers, James’s office said, as seen in the 2020 racial justice protests that erupted across the US and internationally after the police in Minneapolis murdered George Floyd in May 2020.

The NYPD will also hire a senior executive who will oversee the implementation of the new response system in public demonstrations.

City police tactics such as “kettling”, where officers encircle and press upon a group of demonstrators, will be banned, NYCLU, the New York state affiliate of the ACLU, announced in a post on Twitter, now known as X.

Police will also no longer be allowed to use low-flying helicopters to intimidate protestors in New York City. Officers will only break up protests as a “last resort”, the NYCLU added, and will only make arrests after giving three warnings for crowds to disperse.

“The right to peacefully assemble and protest is sacrosanct and foundational to our democracy. Too often peaceful protesters have been met with force that has harmed innocent New Yorkers simply trying to exercise their rights,” said James in the statement.

“Today’s agreement will meaningfully change how the NYPD engages with and responds to public demonstrations in New York City.”

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, also celebrated the forthcoming changes, calling the reforms balanced.

“Our administration is committed to improving our policies to keep New Yorkers safe and protect their civil liberties,” said Adams in a statement, the New York Times reported. Adams noted the reforms would protect public safety while also safeguarding the first amendment rights of demonstrators to exercise free speech.

The latest agreement comes as New York City paid out record settlement amounts to protestors injured by police while demonstrating for racial justice in 2020.

New York officials announced in July they would pay out a total of $13.7m to protestors who were beaten and arrested by police at a protest for George Floyd in 2020.

In March, New York City already agreed to pay $6m to protesters who were detained, arrested and subjected to excessive force during a racial justice protest in the Bronx borough.

As of May this year, at least 19 US cities had agreed to pay out a total of more than $80m to protestors injured during 2020 demonstrations, a record amount experts say is only likely to increase.