Space Drugs Factory Denied Reentry to Earth
Passant Rabie
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Varda’s in-space manufacturing capsule.

After manufacturing crystals of an HIV drug in space, the first orbital factory is stuck in orbit after being denied reentry back to Earth due to safety concerns.

The U.S. Air Force denied a request from Varda Space Industries to land its in-space manufacturing capsule at a Utah training area, while the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not grant the company permission to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, leaving its spacecraft hanging as the company scrambles to find a solution, TechCrunch first reported. A spokesperson from the FAA told TechCrunch in an emailed statement that the company’s request was not granted at this time “due to the overall safety, risk and impact analysis.”

“It’s a very different type of re-entry capsule. If you think about it, both Dragon and Starliner, these are [SpaceX] vehicles that are $100 million-plus, minimum, to build, and billion-dollar-plus total programs. These are meant to carry humans, have active control, fully pressurized environments,” Asparouhov is quoted as saying in an interview in Ars Technica. “We are effectively the polar opposite type of re-entry vehicle. If those are luxurious limousines, we’re building like a 1986 Toyota Corolla that is meant to be less than a million bucks a pop, quickly refurbished, and then shot right back into space.”

Varda’s in-space manufacturing capsule is a byproduct of a growing space industry, which grants easier access to low Earth orbit. The current regulatory debacle is a also the result of a young space industry, one in which proper regulations of spacecraft are still taking shape.

AMERIKAN WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Kansas Librarians Sue After Being Fired Over Autism Display Mistaken for LGBTQ+ Support

Christopher Wiggins
Mon, September 18, 2023

Brandy Lancaster and Kari Wheeler


Two Kansas librarians have been fired after conservative officials in their town mistook a multi-colored display as something for Pride and the "LGBTQ agenda."

Now they're suing, the Washington Post reports.

In June, Kari Wheeler and Brandy Lancaster, librarians at the Sterling Free Public Library in Sterling, a small community in central Kansas, created two displays celebrating and raising awareness about autism and neurodiversity. The displays featured rainbow colors and messages advocating for diversity and understanding, including quotes like “We all think differently” and “In diversity is beauty and strength,” according to the paper.

The displays were part of the nationwide summer reading program themed “All Together Now.”

However, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Kansas, the displays were misconstrued by a board member as promoting an “LGBTQ agenda,” leading to Wheeler and Lancaster’s termination. The lawsuit alleges that board member Michelle Miller waged an “illegal campaign” to censor the displays based on her misconception, implicating the library’s board, the city, and the mayor in violating the librarians’ rights to free speech.

Wheeler, who had taken the role of library director in August 2022, and Lancaster, hired in March as Wheeler’s aide and acting assistant librarian, claimed their initiative was misunderstood as taking a stand on LGBTQ+ issues rather than its intention to support neurodiversity. They said the installation was rooted in inclusivity and referenced a Harvard Medical School article in the suit, emphasizing that neurodiversity recognizes various ways individuals interact with their surroundings, challenging the notion of a singular “right” way of thinking and learning.

Tensions escalated quickly after a temporary library employee misconceived a multicolored infinity symbol representing LGBTQ+ Pride, triggering a series of text exchanges involving Miller. Within hours, Miller communicated her disdain for the display to Wheeler, mentioning the “conservative” nature of the town and her unwillingness to have the library “make political statements.”

Despite the explanation provided by Lancaster regarding the symbol’s representation of neurodiversity and autism, Miller purportedly leveraged her position on the board to rally support for the removal of the display, an action that seemingly disregarded the librarians’ focus on inclusivity and the celebration of differences.

The events culminated in two special board meetings in July, the first of which saw Wheeler and Lancaster providing information on state laws protecting library materials from censorship due to differing viewpoints, according to the Post. The second meeting resulted in the firing of both librarians, with board president Jeremy Stinemetz allegedly stating Wheeler had “lost the confidence of the board to effectively perform her position.”

The concerned board members and Sterling’s City Manager, Craig Crossette, opted not to comment on the ongoing litigation to the paper, maintaining their positions without public explanations regarding the incident.

Nearly ten weeks after their dismissal, Wheeler and Lancaster initiated legal proceedings, defending their right to free speech and opposing what they claimed was a termination anchored in misconception and prejudice. The lawsuit remains pending.

Libraries across the country have been attacked by far-right local residents and political leaders over LGBTQ+ books, Pride displays and the like.



Kansas board that fired librarians also boycotted 4th of July parade over Pride float | Opinion

Dion Lefler
Thu, September 14, 2023 

Dion Lefler/The Wichita Eagle


The tale of two librarians fired by a homophobic library board in Sterling just escalated.

Now, the board will have to defend its bigotry in court.

Fired librarian Kari Wheeler, her assistant Brandy Lancaster, and other concerned citizens have filed suit against the library board, three of its members, and the city government, claiming that the rights of everyone have been violated by the open, over-the-top and vicious anti-LGBTQ censorship that occurred at the Sterling library three months ago.

And that, friends and neighbors, is a really, really good thing.

And before you jump to the conclusion (as some assuredly will) that this is just me supporting a liberal cause, I can assure you I’d be every bit as infuriated if a Bernie-backing board banned books by Donald Trump.

That’s not how free societies do business. It never has been. It never will be.

And the board of the “Sterling Free Public Library” is very much in need of a reminder that the “free” in the library’s name doesn’t just refer to the cost of checking out a book.

I wrote about this controversy when it first came up, but the lawsuit spells out the details of the lengths this board was willing to go to in their crusade against anything that might be interpreted as not prejudiced enough against LGBTQ individuals.

We already knew about board member Michelle Miller clashing with the librarians, who balked at Miller’s demand that the library ban all displays of rainbows during Pride Month. The rainbows at issue were a collage of a girl in a wheelchair sitting in front of one and the international logo of autism awareness, a rainbow-colored infinity symbol.

And we knew that after Wheeler found a donor to buy the library a complete set of this year’s William Allen White Award children’s books, Miller and other board members pressured her to hide “Flight of the Puffin” in her desk drawer and not check it out to anybody because it contains a non-binary character.

What we didn’t know was that this board’s anti-LGBTQ bigotry extended all the way to dishonoring America by boycotting the town’s Fourth of July celebration.

From the lawsuit: “The Library Board had always supported either the parade or the celebration afterward. Miller and other board members discussed that this year’s Fourth of July parade would include a ‘Pride’ float. That was the only reason anyone suggested that the Library Board not support the parade as it had in the past. After the anti-Pride, anti-LBGT statements, the board voted not to support the Fourth of July parade. No board member challenged the anti-Pride statements as the basis for refusing to support the parade.”

Somehow, that seems more disrespectful to the U.S.A. than some members of the women’s soccer team not singing the Star Spangled Banner or Colin Kaepernick kneeling on a football field, but I’ll leave it to uber-conservative Americans to work out that little bit of cognitive dissonance.

Also, the lawsuit reveals that board minutes were altered from their original form to claim that Wheeler was “combative” with Miller while arguing over the rainbow pictures.

If she was, good for her.

With all the book-banning going on around the country, this is a battle than desperately needs to be fought — and won.

The best thing about this lawsuit is that it includes not only the librarians, but also library patrons claiming their right to read what they want, and to be represented in library displays, is being infringed by the board.

It cuts to the heart of ongoing efforts of fundamentalist extremists to marginalize their fellow human beings and suppress the voices of anyone who dares to disagree with their constrained world view.

“Public libraries are public forums,” the lawsuit says. “When the government that runs them begins to make decisions based on content, that government runs afoul of the First Amendment. Patrons of public libraries have a First Amendment right to information unburdened by the efforts of those in charge of materials and displays to indoctrinate others to their personal viewpoints.”

The fervent hope here is that this lawsuit sends a loud, clear message to local governments throughout the nation that a public library’s not to be used as a tool to advance its controlling members’ personal, political and religious beliefs.

The views of the Sterling Free Library board — repugnant though they may be — should be represented there.

But so should everyone else’s.

Working to remove Russia from global uranium market – Ukraine's Energy Minister

Ukrainska Pravda
Mon, September 18, 2023

Ukraine is working to increase uranium production, which will be a step towards ousting Russia from global markets in this sector.

Source: Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko

Quote: "Unfortunately, Russia still controls a significant part of the global uranium market. This slows down the issue of imposing sanctions, as many companies have contracts with the Russians for uranium supplies. However, we are working hard to push them out of this market and to increase uranium production in Ukraine."

Details: Halushchenko said that Ukraine has already concluded a number of agreements with international companies in this area, in particular with Canada's CAMECO.

As part of this cooperation, the first batch of Ukrainian uranium mined at the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant (VostGOK) was recently loaded and shipped to Canada, where it will be used to produce nuclear fuel for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Ukraine also received a £192 million loan guarantee from the UK government in cooperation with Urenco. This is a loan to provide Energoatom, Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, with uranium enrichment services.

"Uranium production is a component of national security for us," Halushchenko emphasised.

Halushchenko also pointed out that a few days ago, the first batch of nuclear fuel developed by the American company Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB and specialists of Ukraine’s Energoatom was loaded into the VVER-440 reactor of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant. This put an end to Russia's monopoly on the nuclear fuel market.

Background:

Ukraine has started exporting all of its extracted uranium to Canada. At CAMECO's facilities, Ukrainian uranium will be used to produce nuclear fuel for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs).

CAMECO will supply 100% of Energoatom's uranium hexafluoride needs for the Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and Pivdennoukrainsk (South Ukrainian) NPPs from 2024 to 2035.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

'You Can't Make This Up,' Chamath Palihapitiya Says 

As $20 Billion Edtech Startup Byju's Sued For Hiding $533 Million in Florida IHOP-Based Hedgefund

Caleb Naysmith
Mon, September 18, 2023


In a shocking revelation, Indian edtech giant Byju's is accused of stashing $533 million in Camshaft Capital Fund, a relatively obscure hedge fund that once listed its primary business address at an IHOP in Miami. Putting the money at IHOP was brought to light by lenders attempting to recover the money.

According to the lenders' lawsuit, Byju's reportedly transferred over $500 million last year to Camshaft Capital Fund, an investment entity set up by William C. Morton at age 23. Morton's fund received the money even though he allegedly lacked formal investment training. After the transfer, Morton reportedly added several luxury cars to his portfolio, including a 2023 Ferrari Roma, a 2020 Lamborghini Huracán EVO and a 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith, according to court documents.

This startling development adds to the already tumultuous saga between Byju's and its lenders. The bone of contention is the $533 million, which the lenders assert is collateral for a $1.2 billion loan. With lenders labeling the loan in default, Byju's has fired back, accusing them of employing predatory lending practices.

In recent court filings in Miami-Dade County, the lenders argued that Byju's has taken considerable measures to hide the whereabouts of the $533 million, primarily to hinder and delay the recovery process by the creditors. Amid these allegations, Byju's has made an unexpected proposal to repurchase the loan within a six-month window, possibly by liquidating some of its international assets to potential private equity and strategic buyers. However, Byju's said it hasn’t been officially notified about the Florida court proceedings.

Despite being a hedge fund, Camshaft seems to cater to smaller investors, further deepening the intrigue. A 2020 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing disclosed Camshaft's principal business location as an IHOP address at 285 NW 42nd Ave. in Miami. The current occupant at the address, a bustling IHOP, seemed oblivious to any hedge fund connections.

While the server at the IHOP expressed disbelief about its purported ties to a hedge fund, another entity associated with Camshaft had its business address at the upscale Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida — the condo building where global soccer sensation Lionel Messi resides. In a separate lawsuit, Camshaft claimed its principal business location as the Virgin Islands.

This ongoing monetary tussle, termed the Cash Fight, is now center stage, with lenders aggressively pursuing the alleged hidden cash. Byju's has defended its stance, stating that the money transfer was permissible under the loan agreement's terms.

The recent lawsuit aims to track the money and recover any superfluous management fees paid to Camshaft, which had yet to respond to these claims.

Byju's, which has been on the radar of industry heavyweights such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Silver Lake Management and Naspers Ltd., was valued at $20 billion last year. The valuation came under the spotlight when merger discussions with a special-purpose acquisition company were underway.

Prominent investor Chamath Palihapitiya weighed in on the unfolding drama, highlighting Byju's journey from securing billion-dollar investments and going global to facing resignations and now the financial allegations.

Orsted CEO says US offshore wind targets still possible but not easy

U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat passes a barge carrying support jackets and platforms for wind turbines in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Block Island


By Scott DiSavino and Nichola Groom

(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to deploy 30,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind by 2030 is still possible, although not easy, the CEO of Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, said on Monday at the Climate Week NYC event in New York.

The remarks by Orsted CEO Mads Nipper come as soaring costs and supply chain delays have increasingly cast doubt on the Biden administration's goal, a cornerstone of its plan to fight climate change. The Danish company said at the end of August that it may see U.S. impairments of $2.3 billion due to the market challenges.

"We’ve seen dark clouds gather," Nipper said, noting that interest rates going from largely 0% to 4%, which is having a "very dramatic impact on renewables because the fuel of the renewable industry is capital."

"We don’t need gas or oil or coal. It's capital and that overnight has become significantly more expensive," Nipper said.

Other challenges include "financially fragile" supply chains, "relatively uncertain policy frameworks," and rising costs for "everything we need" from turbines to foundations and substations, Nipper said.

Policymakers and the industry need to accept that "for a little while the price of renewable power will have to go up, but we will bring it down again," Nipper said.

The Biden administration has passed lucrative subsidies aimed at helping companies build new offshore wind power capacity to help decarbonize the power sector and revitalize domestic manufacturing.

But offshore wind developers have said that certain tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's landmark climate change law, are insufficient and are lobbying for less stringent rules around qualifying for the credits.

Last week, the governors of six Northeastern states urged Biden to direct his administration to take actions to support struggling offshore wind projects.

In a letter to Biden, the governors of Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island asked for leniency in qualifying offshore wind projects for new clean energy tax credits, speedier permitting, and the establishment of a program to direct a portion of the revenue generated by federal offshore wind leases to states.

"Without federal action, offshore wind deployment in the U.S. is at serious risk of stalling because States' ratepayers may be unable to absorb these significant new costs alone," the governors said in the letter.


Offshore wind is crucial to the targets of Northeast states who want to move away from fossil fuel-fired electricity. Many have mandates to install large amounts of the technology in the coming decade.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Shariq Khan; Editing by Mark Porter and Marguerita Choy)

Mon, September 18, 2023 

A railroad worker died after being struck by a remote-controlled train. Unions have concerns

JOSH FUNK
Mon, September 18, 2023

A railroad worker died over the weekend after he was struck by a remote-controlled train in a CSX railyard in Ohio, raising concerns among unions about such technology.

The death highlights the need for an in-depth review of the use of remote-controlled locomotives, the Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen said in a news release Sunday. Every major railroad has used such locomotives inside, and increasingly outside of, railyards across the country for years.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the death, which happened shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in Walbridge, Ohio. Spokesperson Keith Holloway said the worker was struck and fatally injured when he walked into the path of a moving locomotive that was being operated by remote control.

Fred Anderson is the third carman killed in an incident involving a remote-controlled locomotive, the unions said.

“Enough is enough. A full-scale review of the use and practices around remote-control locomotives is long overdue. CSX — and every railroad — must evaluate their use of these supposed technological advancements to ensure they are actually making our members safer, and not merely replacing people to continue lining the pockets of Wall Street,” Transportation Communications Union National President Artie Maratea said in the news release.

CSX officials at the railroad's headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, confirmed the accident but declined to discuss the details of Anderson's death because it is still being investigated.

“CSX mourns the loss of this employee and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. The safety of our railroaders is our highest priority. CSX is working with officials to determine exactly what happened,” spokesperson Sheriee Bowman said.

The Federal Railroad Administration has approved the use of remote-controlled locomotives since 2005. They are primarily used inside railyards to help assemble trains. Regulators issued guidelines for railroads back then calling for precautions, including ensuring the trains don't operate at speeds above 15 mph, but there aren't detailed regulations on exactly how they can be used.

Typically, a railroad worker stationed on the ground near a train controls its movements with a remote, although sometimes that worker rides aboard the train while it is moving.

Railroad safety has been a key concern nationwide this year ever since a Norfolk Southern train derailed and caught fire in eastern Ohio in February. That crash prompted evacuations, lingering health concerns, a massive ongoing cleanup and calls for reforms.

CSX is one of the nation’s largest railroads, operating trains in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces.

‘Enough is enough’: Union calls for safety review after death of CSX carman

Joanna Marsh

Mon, September 18, 2023 

FreightWaves

CSX is looking into the circumstances that caused a fatality at its Ohio rail yard Sunday. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The rail union representing a carman who was fatally injured while working at a CSX rail yard in Ohio on Sunday is calling for the rail industry to examine its procedures on operating remote-controlled locomotives.

The Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) identified the CSX employee as Fred Anderson. Other information, such as how long he worked at CSX, was not given.

“These tragedies are very painful reminders that the work our members perform is dangerous and unforgiving. My deepest condolences go out to the family and coworkers of Brother Anderson, and our union stands ready to assist in any way possible,” TCU/IAM National President Artie Maratea said in a Sunday statement.

Maratea said the incident could have involved a remote-controlled locomotive. If so, this would be the third carman fatality involving the remote-controlled locomotives, according to Maratea. He didn’t specify when those other incidents occurred.

CSX experienced other fatalities this summer; those involved conductor trainees in two separate instances. CSX, safety regulators and others are looking into the circumstances surrounding those two accidents, which occurred within 60 days of each other.

“Enough is enough. A full-scale review of the use and practices around remote-control locomotives is long overdue. CSX — and every railroad — must evaluate their use of these supposed technological advancements to ensure they are actually making our members safer, and not merely replacing people to continue lining the pockets of Wall Street,” Maratea said.

CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) confirmed that the employee was fatally injured while working at the Wallbridge, Ohio, yard, but the company’s statement didn’t include the employee’s name nor the circumstances surrounding the fatality.

“CSX mourns the loss of this employee and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. The safety of our railroaders is our highest priority. CSX is working with officials to determine exactly what happened,” the company said in a statement.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a Sunday tweet that it is investigating the accident.

BRC representatives will also be involved in the investigation of the incident. BRC is affiliated with TCU/IAM.

“BRC members show up to work every day, work safely and expect to be able to return home to their families at the end of the day,” BRC General President Don Grissom said. “This tragic loss reminds us that we must continue the fight to ensure that worker safety is a top priority. Myself and the entire BRC offer our deepest condolences to the family of Brother Anderson.”

NTSB probe of CSX fatality to focus on employee training, close clearances

Rail union calls for more extensive conductor training following 2 deaths

CSX plans extra training after deaths of 2 conductor trainees

Inside South Africa's Operation Dudula: 'Why we hate foreigners'

FOREIGNERS BEING PREDOMINATELY ZIMBABWAIANS

Ayanda Charlie in Johannesburg & Tamasin Ford in London - BBC Africa Eye
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Zandile Dabula at Operation Dudula conference in Johannesburg, South Africa - May 2023


South African anti-migrant group Operation Dudula has become notorious for raiding businesses belonging to foreign nationals and forcing shops to close. BBC Africa Eye has gained rare access to members of the country's most-prominent anti-migrant street movement.


In a school kitchen in Kwa Thema, a township east of Johannesburg, Dimakatso Makoena is busy making sandwiches. The 57-year-old single parent of three has been a cook there for more than 10 years.

"To tell you the truth, I hate foreigners. How I wish they could just pack and go and leave our country," she says, fighting back tears.

It is hard to understand the strength of this hate until Ms Makoena pulls out her phone to show a picture of her son. Emaciated with a glazed look in his eyes, angry burn scars spread over his body, up his arms and across his face.

"He started smoking drugs when he was 14 years old," she says, explaining how her son often goes out to steal things to feed his habit. One day he had tried to take some power cables to sell when he got electrocuted and burned.

Dimakatso Makoena blames foreigners for selling drugs to her son and destroying his life

Her son uses crystal meth and nyaope, a highly addictive street drug that has devastated communities across South Africa. It is not until she blames foreigners for selling the drugs that her reasoning and support for Operation Dudula becomes clear.

"Dudula, that's the only thing that keeps me going," she tells the BBC.

Operation Dudula was set-up in Soweto two years ago, the first group to formalise what had been sporadic waves of xenophobia-fuelled vigilante attacks in South Africa that date back to shortly after white-minority rule ended in 1994. It calls itself a civic movement, running on an anti-migrant platform, with the word "dudula" meaning "to force out" in Zulu.

Soweto was at the forefront of anti-apartheid resistance and home to Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president. Now, the township has become the home of the country's most-prominent anti-migrant group.

With one in three South Africans out of work in one of the most unequal societies in the world, foreigners in general have become an easy target.

But the number of migrants living in South Africa has been grossly exaggerated. According to a 2022 report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an independent research organisation based in the capital, Pretoria, there are about 3.95 million migrants in South Africa, making up 6.5% of the population, a figure in line with international norms. This number includes all immigrants, irrespective of legal status or where they come from.

The xenophobic rhetoric used by some public officials, politicians and anti-migrant groups has helped fuel the myth that the country is overrun with migrants. The South African Social Attitudes Survey for 2021 found that almost half of the population of 60 million people believed there were between 17 and 40 million immigrants in the country.

Current polling suggests support for the governing African National Congress (ANC), the party once led by Mr Mandela, could fall below 50% for the first time.

Operation Dudula has ambitions to fill that vacuum and has now transformed itself from a local anti-migrant group into a national political party, stating its aims to contest next year's general election.

"We must be realistic here that most of the problems that we have are caused by the influx of foreign nationals. Our country is a mess"", Source: Zandile Dabula, Source description: Operation Dudula president, Image: Zandile Dabula

Zandile Dabula, who was voted in as president of Operation Dudula in June 2023, is calm, charismatic and emphatic about the group's message: "foreigners" are the root cause of South Africa's economic hardship.

When it is put to her that this campaign is based solely on hate, she tells the BBC: "We must be realistic here that most of the problems that we have are caused by the influx of foreign nationals.

"Our country is a mess. Foreign nationals are working on a 20-year plan of taking over South Africa."

When challenged on the veracity of this 20-year plan, she admits it was a rumour but says she believes it is true.

"You see drugs everywhere and most of the drug addicts are South African rather than foreign nationals. So, what's happening? Are they feeding our own brothers and sisters so that it can be easy for them to take over?" she says.

Yet the anger meted out to migrants can be on those who are in the country legally and working in legal occupations. A Nigerian market trader, who was the target of a raid by Operation Dudula members in Johannesburg earlier in the year, tells the BBC that the two women who tasered him and destroyed his clothes by throwing them in the gutter did not stop to ask questions.

As they shot he says they swore at him, saying: "You must go to Nigeria… We are Dudula, we are South African."

With no stock, he is now sleeping on the streets: "I vote in this country. I am a citizen here. I've never seen a country treating people like this. If I'm doing something illegal, fine. Deport me. But I'm not doing anything illegal. Now you make my life miserable, I can't pay my rent. I want to go, it's too much."

Operation Dudula maintains it is concern over the huge influx of drugs into South Africa's most deprived communities that is their most pressing complaint, but there is no data to back up the claim that people who sell drugs are not South African citizens.

Comparative statistics are not available for drug crimes, though the ISS report quotes the justice minister as saying that immigrants made up 8.5% of all convicted cases in 2019 and 7.1% in 2020. The ISS adds that 2.3% of inmates incarcerated each year are undocumented foreigners.

In Diepkloof, in eastern Soweto, the BBC joins a so-called Dudula taskforce. Men in trucks are going to confront a Mozambican shopkeeper who a South African landlady alleges has not paid his rent.

It is supposed to be a negotiation but quickly descends into a confrontation where one of the men, Mandla Lenkosi, threatens to beat him up. When the BBC asks them about their thuggish behaviour, they maintain they are enforcing the law.

Mr Lenkosi, also from Soweto and out of work, takes part in raids on migrant homes and workplaces, people who are suspected of anything from drug dealing to remaining in the country past their visa date.

"We grew up in apartheid times, where things were much better than what it is now"", Source: Mandla Lenkosi, Source description: Operation Dudula member, Image: Mandla Lenkosi

"We grew up in apartheid times, where things were much better than what it is now," he says, pointing to the drug problems. "The law was the law [then]."

His fellow Dudula supporter, Cedric Stone, agrees: "South Africa needs to go back to the old South Africa that we know.

"Our fathers started the tuck shops but today all those tuck shops are all foreigners, especially, Bangladeshis, Somali and Ethiopians. Why?"

President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken out against anti-migrant protests, and condemned vigilante groups for harassing and attacking migrants. He has likened their behaviour to strategies adopted by the apartheid regime to oppress black communities.

In 2019 he launched the National Action Plan to combat racism and xenophobia, yet campaigners want the government do more.

Annie Michaels, an activist from the Johannesburg Migrants Advisory Panel, says South Africans are blaming the wrong people for their ills and should in fact admire migrants for their survival skills.

"Stop sitting and complaining and dying in that corner and waiting for the government that is failing you on a daily basis," she tells the BBC.

"The migrants… are the poorest of the poor. They would rather go to them and rattle them, instead of rattling the cages of the guys living in the glass houses."

For her part, Ms Dabula says critics of Operation Dudula who maintain it is a collective of violent vigilantes are wrong.

"We don't promote violence and we don't want people to feel harassed," but adds: "We cannot be overtaken by foreign nationals and do nothing about it."

Hundreds of supporters travelled to attend its first national conference in Johannesburg in May, where members voted to register the group as a political party.

Operation Dudula gives Dimakatso Makoena a sense of purpose and hope about the future

Waving South African flags, dancing and singing their way through the streets to the City Hall, it feels like a celebration.

However, the songs they are singing carry a threatening message: "Burn the foreigner. We will go to the garage, buy some petrol and burn the foreigner."

The military clothing harks back to South Africa's liberation struggle. It all communicates a readiness for battle.

Ms Makoena is also there, smiling and dressed in her party T-shirt. "Operation Dudula is going to make history today," she says.

On stage, Isaac Lesole, Operation Dudula's technical adviser, has a question for the cheering supporters: "Do we make peace with illegal foreigners?"

"No," the audience shout back in unison.

According to South African law, registering a party does not mean it will automatically qualify to contest an election - it has hoops to go through.

Operation Dudula does not have a manifesto or any policy other than its stance on foreigners, though Ms Dabula maintains it has a presence in every province except Northern Cape.

Supporters of the new party who spoke to the BBC appear to genuinely want things to be fixed in their communities. They reflect a change of mood in South Africa's political landscape with people fed up with the status quo.

However, a toxic mix of poverty, drugs and fear has resulted in a blame game where migrants have become the scapegoats.

You can watch the full BBC Africa Eye documentary Fear and Loathing in South Africa here on the BBC Africa YouTube channel.

Youth arrested over ‘shocking and unacceptable’ attack on Sikh teenager in Canada

Maroosha Muzaffar
Fri, September 15, 2023 

Representational photo: A man waves the Chaur Sahib, paying respect to the sacred scripture, during evening prayer at Gurdwara Millwoods, a Sikh house of worship, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 20 July 2022 (AP)

The brutal assault on a 17-year-old Sikh boy in Canada has led to the arrest of a suspect and prompted “deep concern” from a rights organisation.

The boy was attacked in Kelowna city in British Columbia on Monday afternoon in what was said to be the second such attack on a Sikh youth in the area this year.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSOC) said the boy was attacked while riding a bus around 3.45pm and was later pepper sprayed as well.

Kelowna’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement on Thursday that there was “no doubt that the victim was bear sprayed and assaulted by the accused; this has been made quite clear”.

“Two individuals approached the student and first barred his entry onto the bus and then, once allowing him to board, began to threaten him with a lighter and (began to) photograph and record him from a close distance with their phones,” WSOC said in its own statement earlier on Wednesday.

“When the Sikh student turned away, the attackers’ phone fell from their hands and they began to kick and punch the Sikh student in front of the bus driver. The bus driver did not intervene, and, in fact, ordered the Sikh student and his attackers off the bus at the Rutland and Robson stop,” it said.

The WSOC said the attackers continued to assault the teenager. The boy was also bear sprayed, it said, and it was only when bystanders stepped in that the assault came to an end.

The student’s identity was not revealed by police or local media. The Sikh student is reportedly new to Canada.

The WSOC said this was the second attack on a Sikh in Kelowna this year, citing a previous attack that had taken place in March.

“Monday’s attack on a Sikh high school student in Kelowna is shocking and unacceptable,” said Guntaas Kaur, WSOC vice-president for British Columbia.

“The Sikh high school student is recovering from his injuries and from the pepper spray but cannot understand why he was assaulted,” Ms Kaur said. “He is afraid to return to school for fear of being attacked again.”

The Kelowna RCMP earlier said it had launched an investigation into the case. The police force said it was collecting video evidence and “taking steps to determine the motivation of this crime”.

The police force also said in its updated statement that a suspect was arrested on Wednesday and reports said the accused was produced before a court a day later.

“To protect the integrity of this investigation and the judicial process involving a youth, no further details regarding the youth or their statement will be provided,” senior police official Michael Gauthier said.

“Investigators will be conducting video analysis and reviewing additional evidence to determine what transpired on the bus prior to all parties being directed off the bus,” he said.

“This evidence will be important for police and prosecutors to understand what led up to the assault with a weapon and the motivation for the crime. There is no doubt that the victim was bear sprayed and assaulted by the accused; this has been made quite clear.

“While the effects of bear spray are extremely painful and may only be temporary, the effects of this young man’s decisions will last much much longer,” he said.

“We condemn any acts of violence in our community and are thoroughly investigating this matter.”

UAW justifies wage demands by pointing to CEO pay raises. So how high were they?

ALEXANDRA OLSON
Updated Sun, September 17, 2023 
 

GM

FORD


 Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer of Stellantis, left, and Mike Koval, RAM Brand Chief Executive Officer, introduces the REV Ram 1500 at the New York International Auto Show in New York on April 5, 2023. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain's focus on CEO pay is part of a growing trend as emboldened labor unions cite the widening wealth gap between workers and the top bosses to bolster their demand for higher wages and better working conditions. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been a central argument for the United Auto Workers union: If Detroit's three automakers raised CEO pay by 40% over the past four years, workers should get similar raises.

UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly cited the figure, contrasting it with the 6% pay raises autoworkers have received since their last contract in 2019. He opened negotiations with a demand for a similar 40% wage increase over four years, along with the return of pensions and cost of living increases. The UAW has since lowered its demand to a 36% wage increase but the two sides remain far apart in contract talks, triggering a strike.

Fain's focus on CEO pay is part of a growing trend of emboldened labor unions citing the wealth gap between workers and the top bosses to bolster demand for better pay and working conditions. In June, Netflix shareholders rejected executive pay packages in a nonbinding vote, just days after the Writers Guild of America wrote letters urging investors to vote against the pay proposals, saying it would be inappropriate amid Hollywood's ongoing strike by writers. The WGA wrote similar letters targeting the executive pay at Comcast and NBCUniversal.

Fain has pushed back against arguments that a big pay bump for the union would jack up costs of vehicles and put the Big Three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) — at a disadvantage against foreign competitors with lower-cost workforces in the race to transition to electric vehicles.

“The reason we ask for 40% pay increases is because in the last four years alone, the CEO pay went up 40%. They’re already millionaires," Fain told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Our demands are just. We’re asking for our fair share in this economy and the fruits of our labor."

CEO pay has ballooned for decades, while wages for ordinary workers have lagged. But did the Big Three chief executives really get 40% pay increases? Not exactly.

“I don’t know where the 40% came from,” said General Motors CEO Mary Barra at a new conference when asked if the UAW’s numbers were accurate.

Executive pay is notoriously complicated to calculate because so much of it comes in the form of stock grants or stock options. A detailed look at the compensation packages at all three companies shows how the UAW's claim both overstates and understates reality, depending on the view.

THE BIG THREE CEO PAY PACKAGES

Barra, the only one of the three who held the role since 2019, is the highest paid, with a compensation package of worth $28.98 million in 2022. The single biggest component was $14.62 million in stock grants, which vest over three years and whose ultimate value depends on stock performance and other metrics.

Her pay has increased 34% since 2019, according data from public filings analyzed for AP by Equilar.

Ford CEO James Farley received nearly $21 million in total compensation in 2022, a 21% increase over the $17.4 million then-CEO Jim Hackett received in 2019, according to the company's proxy statements. Farley's package last year included $15.14 million in stock awards, which also vest over three years with an ultimate value dependent on performance.

Where the the comparison gets complicated is at Stellantis, which was formed in 2021 with the merger of Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French PSA Group. Because it is a European company, the way Stellantis discloses executive pay differs significantly from GM and Ford.

In its annual renumeration report, Stellantis reported CEO Carlos Tavares' 2022 pay was 23.46 million euros. That's a nearly 77% increase over then Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley's 2019 pay of 13.28 million euros.

Those are the numbers used by the UAW when it calculated that three automakers have, collectively, increased CEO pay by 40.1% since 2019, according to the methodology the union provided to The AP.

But there's a catch: Stellantis' figures reflect “realized pay,” which include the value of previously granted equity that vested during the reporting year. U.S. companies, in contrast, use grant date value of stock packages awarded to executives during the reporting year.

In its analysis, Equilar used the “grant date” method to make an equivalent comparison between all three CEOs. By that measure, Tavares' 2022 compensation was in 21.95 million euros in 2022, including 10.9 million in stock awards with a three-year vesting period.

That's actually 24% decline from Manley's compensation package in 2019, which was 29.04 million euros, according to Equilar.

THE VOLATILITY OF CEO PAY

So, is Tavares really making less than Manley was four years ago? Not really.

That's because in some years, talking about a CEO's “realized pay” can obscure exorbitant pay packages approved by company boards.

Take Tavares' 2021 compensation package, which included special incentive award of 25 million euros in cash as well as stock worth 19.56 million euros — all contingent on long-term performance goals — granted to Tavares in recognition of “his essential role” in leading the company through the merger.

That one-time award, which came on top of millions of more in regular compensation, alone pushed Tavares’ 2021 compensation package far above what Manley got in 2019.

Stellantis shareholders voted 52.1% to reject the pay proposal in their annual meeting, though the vote was only advisory and the board approved his package anyway.

The CEOs of GM and Ford also saw their compensation packages peak in 2021, before declining slightly in 2022.

HOW DOES ALL THIS COMPARE TO REGULAR WORKER PAY?

However you slice the numbers, the gap between CEO pay and rank-and-file workers at all three companies is gigantic.

At GM, the median worker pay was $80,034 in 2022. It would take that worker 362 years to make Barra's annual compensation.

At Ford, where the median pay was $74, 691, it would take 281 years.

At Stellantis, with a median pay of 64,328 euros, it would take 365 years, although the company noted its annual report that the disparity includes expenses related to Tavares' one-time grant. Excluding that, the pay ratio is 298-1.

How extreme that disparity? It depends on the comparison.

It's far above the typical pay gap at S&P 500 companies, which was 186-1 according to AP's annual CEO pay survey, which uses data analyzed by Equilar.

And it's astronomical by historical standards. According to a study of the 350 largest publicly traded U.S. firms by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, the CEO-to-Worker pay ratio was just 15-1 in 1965.

The automakers, for their part, emphasize that their foreign competitors pay their workers much less. Including benefits, workers at the Detroit 3 automakers receive around $60 an hour, according to Harry Katz, a labor professor at Cornell University. At foreign-based automakers with U.S. factories, the compensation is about $40 to $45.

Then there's Tesla.

CEO Elon Musk's 2022 compensation was reported as zero in the company's proxy statement, rendering its official pay ratio meaningless. Of course, that's because Tesla hasn't awarded Musk new packages since a 2018 long-term compensation plan that could potentially be worth more than $50 billion and is facing a legal challenge from shareholders.

But the proxy offers glimpse at the mind-boggling wealth disparity between its nonunion workers and one of the world's richest men.

The filing reported Musk's total “realized compensation” in 2021 at more than $737 million. A typical Tesla worker earned $40,723 that year.

According to the proxy, for that worker to make Musk's “realized compensation” that year, it would take more than 18,000 years.

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This story has been corrected to reflect Ford’s CEO and his compensation in 2019. The CEO was Jim Hackett, not William Clay Ford, and his compensation was $17.4 million, not $16.76 million.

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AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.

SILVER LININGS

Lengthy UAW strike could buy GM time to address nagging EV issues

Pre-production version of GMC Hummer electric pickup in Milford

By Paul Lienert

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors is at greater risk than rivals Ford Motor and Stellantis of disruption to electric vehicle production from a prolonged UAW strike - though some analysts say that could also buy it time to repair nagging issues.

While Ford and Stellantis are introducing several revamped combustion-engine models this fall, GM's immediate focus is on electric vehicles - with plans to launch or ramp up production of at least five new ones. They include all-electric companions to its full-size Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, according to researcher GlobalData.

GM has been struggling much of the year to smooth out hiccups in battery manufacturing as well as its EV supply chain and logistics, including delivery to dealers of its Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer EVs.

The company delivered just 1,348 Lyriqs and 47 Hummers in the second quarter, far below expectations, in part because of issues with battery module assembly.

Chief Executive Mary Barra in July told analysts: "Our automation equipment supplier is struggling with delivery issues," causing a bottleneck that had forced the automaker to assemble battery modules by hand.

In July, GM executive Rory Harvey said the company was working out delivery issues to dealers, noting that Lyriq and Hummer "have been going down the line in very limited quantities (but) we are building momentum."

A longer strike could help GM address and potentially resolve some of those ongoing issues in its EV and battery operations, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.

"A production stoppage could allow GM to solve bottlenecks,” Fiorani said.

The automaker has not been able to roll out its most important EVs in a timely fashion, but could benefit if it used the labor stoppage to resolve some of its technical and operational issues, he said.

"GM could ramp up output faster once the factories start running again," said Fiorani.

'POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE'

Other analysts say the stoppage is unlikely to work out in GM's favor. GM's Barra herself said the strike "would not be positive" for the company and that it needed to reach a deal with workers quickly.

"For GM, a possible byproduct of an extended strike may be more time to work out any kinks they are having with their EV launches, but the potential loss of billions of dollars in the process would make it hard to justify such a 'silver lining,'" said Bill Rinna, GlobalData’s director of Americas vehicle forecasts.

Wedbush auto analyst Daniel Ives said the strike was "a potential nightmare situation" for GM given it comes exactly at a key period of ironing out EV issues.

"In this crucial period of EV execution, model roll-outs, distribution, marketing, with EV competition rising across the board, the timing could not be worse," Ives said in a research note.

In addition, the UAW strike in the United States could affect the flow of critical auto parts to GM operations in Canada and Mexico, which would hamper EV production there, Rinna said.

GM’s Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico has begun building the Chevrolet Blazer EV and is adding production of the Chevrolet Equinox EV, while its Ingersoll plant in Canada is planning to produce the BrightDrop Zevo 400 electric delivery van, according to GlobalData.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit, editing by Deepa Babington)

Sun, September 17, 2023