Kenya in search of harmony 60 years after independence

Since Kenya gained independence on December 12, 1963, the country has had its fair share of struggles. While the wounds of ethnic violence are slowly healing, the economic situation is becoming unbearable.

Philipp Sandner

DW

December 10, 2023

A statue of Kenya's revolutionary leader Dedan Kimathi sits at the heart of Nairobi, the nation's capital

Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

A glare full of determination, right hand resting on his rifle: The statue of iconic freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi (pictured above) is hard to miss for anyone walking through the center of Nairobi, Kenya's capital.

The history of Kenya and its struggle for independence from its British colonizers are woven into the fabric of Nairobi. The statue of Kimathi gazes down Kenyatta Avenue, named for Jomo Kenyatta, who led Kenya toward independence and was its first president.

The country was given a new start when Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, formally handed over power on December 12, 1963, thereafter known as Jamhuri Day — "Jamhuri" being the Swahili word for "Republic."

Independence was declared on December 12, 1963, and Jomo Kenyatta (left) went on to become Kenya's first president

Central Press/AFP/Getty Images

Sixty years on, not everyone is in the mood for celebration. Berline Ndolo is the founder and program manager of the World Network for Sustainable Change, a nongovernmental organization based in Kisumu, western Kenya that helps vulnerable people with education and agriculture projects. In her role, she interacts daily with, as she puts it, "the poorest of the poor."

"This particular group of people cannot be happy on Jamhuri Day. Because of the high cost of living right now, where life has become very expensive for them, they cannot even afford three meals a day, maybe not even two," Ndolo told DW. "They'll focus on how best they can feed their family with their very few resources."

"High cost of living" is a common phrase across Kenya these days. With President William Ruto, now one year in office, cutting subsidies and introducing new taxes, the situation has gone from bad to worse.

"The president had a very promising agenda for the people of Kenya," said Ndolo. "The people who voted for him were very hopeful."

Now, she said, nothing seems to be changing. "If anything, businesses are closing, people who are in employment are really heavily taxed, and still, we're struggling to make ends meet."

How Kenya overcame ethnic division

Kenya's recent history has been defined by the post-election crisis in 2007 and early 2008. A narrow but contested victory of incumbent Mwai Kibaki, an ethnic Kikuyu, over Raila Odinga, of the Luo community, sparked violent clashes that left up to 1,500 people dead. Peter Muchiri, 26, who works at a hotel in the central Kenyan town of Nyahururu, described the crisis as a wake-up call for the nation.

"That was the turning point," said Muchiri. "Normally, there were towns and places where you couldn't go to look for a job or ask for help because if you're not one of them, no one cares about you."

Muchiri was 11 years old when the violence broke out. Nyahururu was one of the towns considered safe at the time.

"The country was in a big mess," Muchiri said. "People learned a lot from that."

He feels the ethnic divisions have reduced since. "It doesn't matter which tribe you are from. You are Kenyan."

James Shikwati, founder of the Inter Region Economic Network, argues that Ruto has one significant achievement. "He made the Kenyan campaign not largely reliant on ethnic community, to point and say this tribe, that tribe," Shikwati said.

James Shikwati, founder of IREN Kenya, has seen a change in Ruto's style of governance

 Philipp Sandner/DW

While campaigning in 2022, Ruto styled himself as the "hustler" who struggled to make a living, sympathized with the poor and promised to lift them out of poverty.

"By creating the new 'hustler' tribe, meaning the people at the bottom tribe, if we use such a loose term, I think he did a good job in that," said Shikwati. In doing so, Ruto sensitized Kenyans to rethink their country's configuration, he added.
Ruto presidency now being 'scrutinized harshly'

According to Shikwati, this also meant a paradigmatic shift in how Kenyans now view Ruto's presidency. He's being "scrutinized harshly," but not from an ethnic point of view.

"They are not labeling him in the name of his tribe," he said. "They're simply focusing on the economy. They're saying it's not doing well, people are losing their jobs, companies are closing down."

When Ruto's policies caused prices to increase, many Kenyans took to the streets. The massive and sometimes violent protests were spurred by Raila Odinga, a former Kenyan prime minister who refused to accept his defeat after finishing second in the 2022 presidential election. The demonstrations have since ceased, but the economic hardship remains.

Samir Hassan is a father of four and a driver in Mombasa, Kenya's second-largest city. His itinerary regularly leads him to the western edges of the city where the Standard Gauge Railway links the Kenyan coast to the capital. The Chinese-built train delivers tourists three times a day, but with many experiencing economic hardship, the tourists are no longer arriving.

"Now every Kenyan is cutting the costs," Hassan told DW. "Normally, we're very busy in December because it's where people rest and it's where we get mixed clients: foreigners and our local tourists.


"It's a chain of life. There are people who depend on selling their coconuts to tourists. There are people like us drivers who depend on the transfers to feed their children. So they've really cut up that chain because it's one relying on the other."
Big projects and spiraling debt

About five blocks away from the statue of Dedan Kimathi on Kenyatta Avenue is Uhuru Park. The historic area just west of the Nairobi Expressway was the site of many fights for democratization in the 1990s. The park will host a festival for the 60th Jamhuri Day.

Built on stilts, the Nairobi Expressway, the capital's main arterial road, stands out. It links the city center with the airport — and to Nairobi's rail terminals. While the railway, which can take you to Mombasa in just over five hours, was inaugurated in 2017, the expressway only opened last year.

The two crucial infrastructure projects cost billions, and according to economist Shikwati, they account for much of the hardship Kenyans are enduring these days.

William Ruto was one of the candidates opposing President Mwai Kibaki in 2007

EPA/dpa/picture alliance

It all points back to the aftermath of the 2007 post-electoral crisis. Both Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president, were charged before the International Criminal Court for their roles in the crisis. To escape what they called a "colonial" justice, they teamed up for president in 2012 — and won, with Kenyatta becoming president and Ruto vice president.

"That must have put a lot of pressure on them that they have to endear themselves to the Kenyan populace," said Shikwati. "This meant they had to showcase success, and showcasing success means projects, big projects, including the famous Standard Gauge Railway. And that means you borrow money to deliver within a short period because you have only five years before another campaign comes in."

Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway is a recent project that looks good, but cost a lot of money

 Dong Jianghui/Xinhua/picture alliance

Economic hardship challenging Kenya's future

That was the beginning of a spiral of loans and a rapidly growing mountain of debt. According to Shikwati, bias in the global financial system and misjudgments by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund also played their part.

But Ruto's decisions as president, whether ending subsidies and introducing new taxes, certainly did not make the fiscal crisis better.

"Our economy is more or less like what we in Kenya call hawkers — the people who carry things and sell on the street. So I would say it's like a hawking economy. You buy things from China, you sell to Kenyans," explained Shikwati.

In October, Ruto welcomed the UK's King Charles III to Nairobi

Arthur Edwards/The Sun/empics/picture alliance

"You can have a big shop. You are considered to be an SME [small to mid-sized business]. But unlike Germany, you don't produce the screws, you don't produce windshields. You're more like a conveyor belt, moving from one spot to the other," he said.

Following that logic, imposing high taxes on an economy that was not productive left few options but to reduce activities and close down companies, putting even more strain on the population.

It turns out that 60 years after independence, ethnic polarization is no longer the defining factor of Kenyan society. Now, it's economic hardship that's challenging the country's future.

This article was originally written in German.

The Best and The Brightest, Redux

by James Carden Posted onDecember 12, 2023

ANTIWAR.COM

Reprinted with the author’s permission from the American Committee for US-Russia Accord.

Well-heeled and highly credentialed, the proteges of powerful political patrons with ties to New Haven, Cambridge, Oxbridge and corporate America occupy the highest councils of government and advise a sitting US president who, while blessed with long experience as a US Senator, hails from rather less-exalted circumstances than his own advisers. These advisers, with their degrees and pedigrees, stir within their chief a toxic combination of envy, resentment and insecurity which manifests itself through occasional outbursts of bad temper.

The president’s advisers believe (or say they do) in a theory of international relations called the Domino Theory, which means, in the shortest of shorthand, that should a democratic country fall to a hostile authoritarian state, then others will soon meet a similar fate. Hence it is imperative that the United States, beacon of goodness and protector of democracy, stave off the darkness, no matter the cost.

Yet as the course of the war proceeds, it becomes clear to many that victory, once assured, has slipped further and further from reach. In the face of an increasingly skeptical public, the president, who also believes in the Domino Theory (or says he does), urges Congress to stay the course.

If this sounds familiar, it is because it is.

But in this newest iteration of the drama, the title role is filled not by Lyndon Johnson of the Texas Hill Country, but by Joe Biden of Scranton, Pennsylvania. And while the mise en scene of the war in question has moved from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, the rationale laid out by the President’s men for continued American involvement remains much the same. As Biden’s Secretary of State, a product of Dalton, Harvard and Columbia, recently put it, “The issue here is not just Ukraine’s security it is the security and safety of the entire Euro-Atlantic space.”

When President Biden named Jake Sullivan to the position of Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, he referred to Sullivan as a “once-in-a-generation intellect.” People used to talk that way about Johnson’s national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, who, among other laurels, was, at age 34, the youngest Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

As it happens, Sullivan, at 44, is the youngest national security adviser since Bundy. And here is how Sullivan, in a gushing profile published this October in The New Yorker, describes his view of what is at stake in the war in Ukraine,

…As a child of the eighties and ‘Rocky’ and ‘Red Dawn’ I believe in freedom fighters and I believe in righteous causes, and I believe the Ukrainians have one. There are very few conflicts that I have seen – maybe none – in the post-Cold War era where there’s such a clear good guy and bad guy, and we have to do a lot for that person.”

This “once-in-a-generation” intellect then went on to compare the foreign policy challenge posed by Russia to a scene from the Mike Meyers comedy Austin Powers,

…in which “there’s a steamroller on the far side of the room, and a guy standing there, holding up his hand, and shouting, ‘No!’ Then they zoom out, and the steamroller is moving incredibly slowly and is really far away.” He added, “I was determined that we were not going to be that guy – just waiting for the steamroller to roll over Ukraine. We were going to act.”

Whatever the merits of these reflections, what is true is that the policy of near limitless financial and material support to the Zelensky regime has only succeeded in killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who might otherwise have lived had Sullivan, Blinken and Biden showed even a modicum of interest in the very real peace proposals that circulated between Russia and Ukraine in the opening months of the conflict.

A key difference between then and now is that Johnson had, within the highest councils of State, a brilliant, determined dissenter. George Ball, who served as under secretary of state, and later, as US Ambassador to the UN, tirelessly pressed Johnson and his inner circle to re-think the wisdom of their chosen course with regard to the war in Vietnam.

The lesson to which Ball worked for years to draw Johnson’s attention was how quickly, despite the best laid plans, wars can escalate. And like Johnson, Biden has been drawn into an escalatory spiral from which he will find it increasingly difficult to jump off.

As recounted by the journalist and author David Halberstam, Ball challenged “that greatest of American assumptions, that somehow, whatever we did, the other side would lie down and accept it.” In a 1964 memo to Bundy and Pentagon chief Robert McNamara, Ball point out  that, “Once on the tiger’s back we cannot be sure of picking the place to dismount.”

As Biden sinks the US and what little is left of its reputation into a second war now being waged with the full, indeed shameless, support of the administration, Ball’s warnings about the dangers of inadvertent escalation from a half century ago take on a renewed urgency.

One wonders then: Does Biden have a George Ball of his own; a seasoned veteran who can cut through the cant and nonsense funneled to him on a daily basis from the likes of Blinken and Sullivan? Or is Biden wholly reliant on the slim reeds of his own intellect and the disastrous advice of his most senior aides? Is there anyone else – besides this latest iteration of the American establishment’s “best and brightest” – advising Mr. Biden?

And if so, does he possess the strength of character to find it within himself to listen?

James W. Carden is a columnist and former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the U.S. Department of State. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, The Spectator, UnHerd, The National Interest, Quartz, The Los Angeles Times, and American Affairs.

China's Xi visits Vietnam in bid to counter US

Hanoi (AFP) – China's President Xi Jinping called Tuesday for a "new stage" in relations with Vietnam as he began his first visit in six years, seeking to counter the United States' growing influence with the communist nation.


Issued on: 12/12/2023 

Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive in Hanoi 

© LUONG THAI LINH / POOL/AFP

Xi will meet the leader of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, later on Tuesday, after Hanoi upgraded diplomatic ties with Washington when US President Joe Biden visited in September.

Biden's visit was part of US efforts around the world to contain China's rising economic power -- and to secure supplies of crucial materials needed for high-tech manufacturing.

Speaking after his arrival at Hanoi's airport, Xi said he would talk with Vietnamese leaders on "the overall, strategic, and directional issues of China-Vietnam relations, as well as international and regional issues of common concern, in order to push bilateral relations into a new stage", according to Chinese state media.

Vietnam has long pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" approach, striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States

It shares US concerns about Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, but it also has close economic ties with China.

Vietnam and China, both ruled by communist parties, already share a "comprehensive strategic partnership", Vietnam's highest diplomatic status.

Hanoi and Washington upgraded their relationship to the same level in September.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the visit would involve discussions on "bringing China-Vietnam relations to a higher position".

That could see Xi push for Vietnam to join his "Community of Common Destiny", a loosely defined phrase that refers to a vision of future cooperation on economic, security and political issues.

In an article published Tuesday in Vietnam's Nhan Dan newspaper, Xi said that "Asia's future is in the hands of no one but Asians".

Wang said the agenda for Xi's trip includes "politics, security, practical cooperation, the formation of public opinion, multilateral issues and maritime issues".
Overlapping claims

On Tuesday, Chinese and Vietnamese flags lined the route from the airport into central Hanoi, and dozens of well-wishers gathered outside the hotel where Xi is expected to stay.

On Wednesday, Xi will hold talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Vo Van Thuong, and lay a wreath at the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

The trip comes with tensions running high between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, after a spate of incidents involving the countries' vessels at flashpoint reefs.

The Philippines said it had summoned China's envoy on Monday and flagged the possibility of expelling him.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

It deploys boats to patrol the busy waterway and has built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its claims.

Vietnam has long pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" approach, striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States 

© LUONG THAI LINH / POOL/AFP

Vietnam, along with Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, also have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

During Biden's visit, Vietnam and the United States jointly warned against the "threat or use of force" in the contested waterway.

Vietnam was one of several ASEAN members upset by a new official Chinese map published in September, showing sovereignty over almost the entire resource-rich waterway.

Analysts say that, like Biden in September, Xi may seek closer cooperation on rare earth minerals used in the manufacture of high-tech devices such as smartphones and electric car batteries.

Vietnamese state-controlled media reported last month that China Rare Earth Group Co. was looking for opportunities to work with Vietnam's mining giant Vinacomin.

The United States and Vietnam in September agreed to cooperate to help Hanoi quantify and develop its rare earth resources.

Their new partnership also included an agreement on semiconductors, as fears about US reliance on China for strategic resources grow.

US chip giant Nvidia wants to set up a base in Vietnam to develop its semiconductor industry, its CEO was quoted as saying by the Vietnamese government.

© 2023 AFP

Japan zoo probes possible mass squirrel poisoning

Issued on: 12/12/2023 

Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo is investigating the death of 31 squirrels after keepers injected the animals with anti-parasitic medicine and sprayed insecticide over their nest boxes as part of a sanitary precaution

 Inokashira Park Zoo/AFP/File

Tokyo (AFP) – A Japanese zoo has launched a probe after apparently massacring 31 of its 40 squirrels by mistake with treatments meant to kill parasites, officials said.

Keepers at the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo injected the animals with anti-parasitic medicine on December 4 as part of a sanitary precaution, while also spraying insecticide over their nest boxes.

One of the bushy-tailed rodents -- a common Japanese squirrel -- died soon afterwards and over subsequent days more and more perished, with 31 fatalities recorded by Monday morning.

"The possibility of drug-induced poisoning cannot be denied," the zoo admitted in a statement Monday.

"We're currently investigating the cause of their deaths and observing the conditions of surviving individuals," they said, adding that a pathological examination of the corpses was underway.

"We offer our deepest apologies", the statement said.

The zoo insisted the drugs in question were used in proper doses and had been administered before.

The facility has been cleaned and vetted for safety, the zoo said, and the surviving squirrels were back on display.

Japan is home to three kinds of the tree-dwelling creatures: the Japanese squirrel, the Japanese flying squirrel and the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

© 2023 AFP

Jordan's mission to save its ancient olive trees

Ajlun (Jordan) (AFP) – Every morning, Jordanian farmer Ali Saleh Atta swallows two cloves of garlic with a cup of olive oil before heading out to check on his ancient olive trees.

Issued on: 12/12/2023

"These trees represent the history of Jordan," says Ali Salih Atta, 84 

© Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP

"These trees represent the history of Jordan," said the 84-year-old, looking at the 2,000-year-old trees whose enormous gnarled trunks hoist up branches with delicate, pale green leaves.

The trees are a beloved national symbol, but they are also under threat from urban sprawl, illegal logging for firewood and uprooting to the homes and gardens of the wealthy for decoration.

The land of Atta, a father of 10, is in Al-Hashimiyya, a wooded area about 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Amman.

"I have given my children and grandchildren a written will that after my death, you preserve them and (live) from what they produce," he said

Jordan is the tenth-largest producer of olives globally, according to the World Olive Council.

Its many ancient trees that have survived thousands of years are an integral part of the country's identity and culture.

Across many regions, "you can hardly visit a house ... without finding an olive tree in every garden", said Nizar Haddad, director general of the National Agricultural Research Center.

National Agricultural Research Center director Nizar Haddad says Jordan's ancient olive trees are an integral part of its identity and cuture 

© Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP

"We were raised from childhood on this culture."

But today, he said, the trees' beauty has put them in danger.

"Some hotels, villas, businessmen and companies like to add a touch to their institutions' decoration, so they buy such trees and transport them" away, he said.

The trees often do not survive the move, said Haddad, adding that new laws aim to protect them.

"New Jordanian legislation protects these trees from being uprooted or removed, and there is coordination between the Ministry of Interior, our centre and the police to prevent transport operations except in very exceptional cases."
'National treasure'

Jordan has 11 million olive trees in groves that make up 20 percent of all cultivated land in the country.

They produce 50,000 tons of olives and 25,000 tons of olive oil annually, contributing 120 million Jordanian dinars ($169 million) to the economy.

Haddad noted that the olive tree has symbolic meaning for both Muslim and Christian Jordanians, saying they are mentioned in the Koran and "Jesus Christ spent his last hours praying on the Mount of Olives".

"These trees must be preserved so that they can remain a source of inspiration for the community, especially since they are the type capable of adapting to all the environmental challenges facing not only our region, but the world."

Jordan's oldest olive trees "have been here since the Romans ruled this region" 

© Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP

The tree variety, commonly known as Roman or Mehras, should be preserved as a "national treasure", said Amer Gharaibeh, head of the Mehras Cooperative Society.

"Here you can see the oldest olive trees... they have been here since the Romans ruled this region, before Muslims controlled it," he said.

Research has shown that the Mehras has a common ancestor with cultivated olives in Italy, Cyprus and Spain.

Alongside Jordan's culture ministry, Gharaibeh's organisation is working to add the trees to the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List, hoping this "will ultimately contribute to preserving them and protecting them".

Jordan is working on a plan to engage the public with the trees by placing a QR code on every bottle of olive oil produced.

It lists the tree's location, the name of its owner, its history, the quality of the oil and the age of the tree, said Haddad, whose organisation is working on the project.

"We will not only sell olive oil," he said, "but we spread a relevant story through which we can fully market our country".

© 2023 AFP

Are women football players getting a raw deal?

Women's football is set to become a billion-dollar industry for the first time in its history. But the rapid growth of the game has its downsides, several of which can be felt by the highest profile players.

Matt Pearson

London

DW

The scene has become rapidly less remarkable: 59,402 paying fans watching a women's football match. On this occasion, it's in London, a Women's Super League clash between Arsenal and Chelsea in mid-December. But it's happened and continues to occur in Australia, the USA and several European nations.

Such attendance is further proof of the surging growth in women's sport, driven by football above all else. A recent report by accounting firm Deloitte predicted that women's sports would cross the $1 billion (€928 million) global revenue threshold in 2024 for the first time, with football accounting for $555 million.

But such rapid growth has raised significant questions about its cost for the players union FIFPRO, who released their own report on the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on the same day. It revealed that the players, whose impact on growing the game was evident on the pitch, in the stands and at the merchandising stalls, may be paying an unfair price.

The report surveyed 260 players from 26 of the 32 teams and found that one in three earns less than $30,000 a year from football (not including FIFA's World Cup bonus), and one in five needs a second job as a result.

Tough grind

Though the change is relatively recent, those on the pitch in London, and in the WSL in general, are fully professional. But that is only the case in a few leagues worldwide, and even then, players are well-paid at only the elite clubs. Even there, conditions are imperfect, with two-thirds of players admitting they felt short of their physical peak. Several of Arsenal's players made the last four of the World Cup in Australia and then faced a Champions League qualifier just over two weeks later.

Steph Catley was one of those. The fullback captained Australia in four matches as they fell at the semifinals and was back playing a competitive match in London, a 24-hour flight away, just 18 days after the third-place playoff. The recovery period was a day less for Arsenal's England internationals.

"Every break is very much welcomed at this stage," Catley told DW of the upcoming Christmas pause in the WSL. "It is a lot of games, especially playing for Australia, where we do a lot of extra travel. That is something we're having to be careful of. That is something our medical and coaching staff do a really good job of managing. It's just important to know your body."

Elite players like Catley at least don't have to balance second jobs or studies with their sporting careers and enjoy access to improved medical and fitness infrastructure, particularly at those clubs linked with major men's sides. But even for them, the effects of travel and match demands can quickly take a toll.

"If players don't have that secure period of at least three weeks, or ideally five weeks, after a long campaign before going into pre-season, then it's not only dangerous from the physical and physiological point of view but from a mental perspective as well," said FIFPRO's Chief Medical Officer Prof Dr. Vincent Gouttebarge.
Players from World Cup finalists England and Spain were back playing club football without much of a breakImage: Morgan Hancock/Shutterstock/IMAGO

That was not the case for Alessia Russo, Catley, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Caitlin Foord, and plenty of others in leagues around the world, who were back to playing high-profile matches, let alone training and traveling, so soon after the final in Sydney or third-place playoff in Brisbane. The introduction of a Nations League for women's football this year has further increased the number of matches squeezed into the calendar, and so too will upcoming changes to the UEFA Champions League.

Growth, but at what cost?

Evidence of those demands was neatly present in this London derby. The scorer of Arsenal's first goal, Beth Mead, missed the World Cup with an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has become such a curse for the women's game while her teammate and England captain Leah Williamson has still not recovered from the same injury. Williamson's replacement as England skipper Millie Bright, missed the derby and the buildup to the World Cup after being the player who played the most minutes in the whole of Europe in the 2021-22 season.

"Our schedules are way more demanding now," she told DW earlier this year, before the World Cup. "We're expected to do tournament after tournament after tournament while competing for every trophy when you play in those top-end clubs. It's impossible to keep going and we're not robots, our bodies are going to break down," she added, in prophetic fashion

The report did acknowledge the massive strides made at the top end of the women's game, with gender-equal conditions on accommodation, transport, and support staff negotiated for the World Cup and more money flowing into the game. But as Deloitte noted:

"This surge in fan and investor engagement is leading to new and improved opportunities for clubs and leagues, including greater commercial partnerships, increased participation and bigger matchdays. To ensure this growth remains consistent and sustainable, sports organizations must ensure that investment is directed to the right places, such as encouraging fan loyalty, player welfare, and maintaining competition across leagues."

Women's football, at the very top level, is now at something of a crossroads: to grow in the way the men's game has, with money as its main driver or to go a little slower and look after those that made it interesting in the first place.

Edited by: James Thorogood

Deutsche Bahn bosses pick up bonuses as passengers suffer

Insa Wrede
DW

Executive board members of Germany's rail operator are reportedly receiving millions of euros in bonuses, despite a long list of problems and grievances.

Trade union strikes have made it even more difficult for Deutsche Bahn passengers


In the wake of the GDL railroad union's most recent strike for better wages and working conditions, a report has emerged claiming that the top management of Germany's rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, will apparently receive bonuses totaling almost €5 million ($5.4 million) for 2022.

This was divulged on Monday by public broadcasters NDR, WDR and daily Süddeutsche Zeitung who said they had access to Deutsche Bahn's long-term calculation model for bonuses.

Bonuses are meant to be an award for good performance. But many long-suffering rail customers will be scratching their heads in amazement and wondering how that's possible, given Deutsche Bahn's long list of problems.

The trick, it appears, is to offset areas in which targets have been missed against other areas in which targets have been exceeded. It means the basic salaries of the nine members of the executive will rise from a total of around €4 million to around €9 million in 2022.

According to the report, Deutsche Bahn only slightly exceeded its own targets in the area of "women in leadership and employee satisfaction" in 2022. However, the bonus was up by 175%, says the report. The executive board members stand to rake in around €1.6 million for this target alone.

The documents also show that Deutsche Bahn exceeded its self-imposed target for CO2 savings by 2%, the investigative network reported. CEO Richard Lutz, for example, is said to have received almost €440,000 in bonus payments.

Railway glitches don't affect bosses' income

According to the report, the bonus system looks set to be revamped next year. Deutsche Bahn board members would then receive a higher proportion of their salary as a fixed salary, while the proportion of bonuses would be reduced.

Deutsche Bahn's supervisory board, which includes federal government and trade union representatives, sets the parameters of the bonus system.

Snowstorms, winter weather halt traffic, flights in Germany

Cities across Germany are submerged in snow. The arrival of winter weather has delayed departures by air, road and rail.Image: Peter Kneffel/dpa

Standstill on the tracks

A number of rail lines around Bavaria's state capital, Munich, were closed during the heavy onset of winter. In Ulm and Munich, stranded passengers spent Friday night in trains, with the Munich Central Station inaccessible for hours. National rail provider Deutsche Bahn said delays would last into Monday.Image: Lukas Barth/dpa

Seasoned experts

For the narrow-gauge rail system in the central Harz mountain range, on the other hand, weather is rarely an issue. Here trains are still running, and even the line to the Brocken station, which, at 1,125 meters (3,690 feet) above sea level, is the country’s highest adhesion narrow-gauge railroad stop, has been cleared.

Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty 11 images

In future, meeting targets will have less relevance for the rail bosses' salaries. Whether a train is running late, is canceled or overbooked will also have less of an impact. Other problems like trains stopping "indefinitely" mid-route, air conditioning systems failing in midsummer or the app failing to show alternatives and delays will play less of a role in determining their salaries.

Germany's national train system has a lot of room for improvement, not least concerning the punctuality of long-distance trains. Last year, every third train was more than six minutes late. The situation was better on regional services, where just under a tenth of regional trains failed to reach their destination on time.

The issue of trains not running on time is a major grievance for passengers. Factoring in delays means they must adapt their travel plans accordingly to avoid missing connecting trains or appointments. That puts off a lot of potential passengers, at a time when Deutsche Bahn needs to find ways of squaring the circle to attract more customers and increase train freight volume if it wants to achieve its climate targets by 2030.
Deutsche Bahn: Too little investment

"Today's unpunctuality is the result of 20 years of misguided transport and rail policy," said Christian Böttger, professor of industrial engineering at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences. In the last 20 years, investment in rail infrastructure has been cut back, while at the same time more trains have been running.

"The network is simply overloaded," said Böttger. In contrast to Luxembourg and Switzerland, which invested around €575 per capita and €450 per capita in rail infrastructure respectively, the figure in Germany is just €114.

Italy has expanded its long-distance network in recent years and invested billions in modernization projects

Gian Mattia D'Alberto/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance

For the majority of Germans, mobility means traveling by car, and that guides politicians' policies.

In addition, for the past 15 years Deutsche Bahn has steadfastly maintained that its rail network infrastructure is in good working order. A recent report, however, struck a different tone, observing that the network was "old" and "prone to faults."

"That's a huge scandal," said Böttger. "The federal government has spent millions to check these figures again and has always confirmed that the network is in a great condition."

He points out that there is no inquiry committee and that no one is asking whether the management and supervisory boards should be held accountable.

In an effort to improve its image, Deutsche Bahn is planning a refurbishment program worth billions of euros, with the aim of restoring heavily used sections of the rail network. Ultimately, Deutsche Bahn wants to have a high-performance network in place by 2030. This would involve improving 40 routes to ensure more reliability and a higher frequency of trains.

Deutsche Bahn refurbishment by 2030

"We are now facing a historic turning point," said Pro-Rail Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization for the improvement of rail transport. The government coalition in Berlin wants to significantly increase investment in rail infrastructure in the budget for 2024.

"There is significantly more money than before; that is the good news," said Böttger. However, a large part of this money is needed to mitigate the impact of high inflation, he added.

In addition, the government had promised an extra €45 billion by 2027 "and now only around half is being provided by the federal government from the budget and climate protection fund," said Böttger.

The money will be used to renovate the high-speed railway lines, but will not be enough to build new lines. Böttger does not expect these measures to improve punctuality, as they don't tackle the basic problem of overloaded networks.

The government has earmarked €90 billion as a priority to build new lines. In addition, a further €50 billion are needed for the so-called Deutschlandtakt, a project that would connect Germany's major cities with trains running at least every hour. Another €30 billion would have to be pumped into freight transport, which has long been running a deficit.

"But there is no overview of the actual figures," said Böttger. "And I don't think the government wants there to be an overview either, because the result would be somewhat embarrassing, as it would show that the political goals are not financially viable."

To make matters worse, there are not enough planners and construction companies to carry out the refurbishment work, he added.
Is Deutsche Bahn too big?

For years, experts have recommended splitting up Deutsche Bahn so that the rail network and operations are managed by different companies.

However, Transport Minister Volker Wissing, of the neoliberal Free Democrats, is not impressed by the idea. He's planning a new infrastructure company which would focus on the maintenance and expansion of the rail network separately from rail operations. This company is due to start work on January 1, 2024.

While Germany's railway network has to accommodate long-distance, regional and freight trains on one network, Japan has a separate network for its bullet trains

Hiroki Ochimizu/Jiji Press/dpa/picture alliance

Other countries, such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the UK, have found a way to make the separation of network and operations work. "But it's not a magic solution," cautioned Böttger.

Rail customers should not expect an improvement in rail travel anytime soon. On the contrary, things will get worse before they get better, as busy routes will have to be shut down completely at times for maintenance and refurbishment.

"In view of the list of problems and the visible solutions, I doubt that the railroad's accumulated problems can really be resolved in the next 10 years," said Böttger.

This article was originally written in German.

END ANIMAL TESTING

Germany: Number of animals used in testing drops again

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has said alternative testing methods and reduction measures have led to a third year of decline in Germany. 

The number of animals killed for their organs, however, rose.



Nearly 80% of animal testing is done on mice and rats

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) on Monday announced that fewer animals were used in scientific testing across the country for the third year running.

According to data published Monday in Berlin, some 1.73 million animals (vertebrates and cephalopods) were used in testing in 2022 — 134,000 fewer than in 2021.

BfR President Andreas Hensel said of the trend, "One possible reason [for the drop] is that different methods and reduction measures are finally taking hold."

Though the overall number of animals involved in testing has been in decline, the number of those killed for scientific purposes — such as harvesting their organs or tissues for their cells — rose some 11%, to 711,939.

Scientists use creatures such as Rhesus monkeys to gain insight into the way the human brain functions

Marijan Murat/dpa/picture alliance

Most of those animals used in testing — 1.25 million, or 79% — were mice and rats, down from 1.34 million in 2021.

The number of cats and fish used also dropped, whereas the number of dogs as well as monkeys and prosimians went up.

Much of the testing done with dogs, for instance, involves low-risk training according to BfR. That goes for most animal testing in general, which the BfR said is trending away from severely strenuous tests. In 2022, 66.3% of testing was classified as mild, 25.4 % as moderate, and 3.6% as severe.

While dogs and cats are used in animal illness testing and for animal and human medicines, monkeys and prosimians are used primarily in the testing of human medicines.

West Bank: EU could sanction violent Israeli settlers

Ella Joyner in Brussels
DW

The European Union is concerned by an increase in clashes in the West Bank. Here's what potential sanctions on individuals known for "violent activities" could mean.

The European Union will draw up proposals to sanction Israeli settlers perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in line with a recent initiative in the United States, the bloc's top diplomat said on Monday.

"I believe the time has come to swap words for action… to take the measures that we can take with regard to acts of violence against Palestinian people in the West Bank," the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, told reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The West Bank is one of two Palestinian territories along with the Gaza Strip. It has been under military occupation by Israel since the end of the Six-Day War in 1967.

Violence has surged there ever since the October 7 terror attacks by the militant Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people. The retaliatory Israeli military campaign has now killed over 18,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The Islamist group Hamas controls Gaza and is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and others.

While the world's gaze is largely trained on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians have also been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the past two months, according to the UN.

What is happening in the West Bank right now?

Non-governmental organizations and UN agencies have been warning for weeks of spiralling violence, but even before the war in Gaza, this year had already been a bloody one.

Data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shows 28 Israelis have been killed in clashes in the West Bank between January and the end of November this year, most of them Jewish settlers.

On Sunday, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, said that 2023 had seen "unprecedented levels of Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinians" in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

Of the 464 Palestinians killed in the West Bank this year, 265 were killed since October 7, Hastings noted in a written statement. "At least three killed were disabled," she wrote, "and at least 1,000 people have been forcibly displaced from their land citing settler violence and the inability to access their land."

What could the EU do?

Borrell said EU officials were now working together with member states to draw up a list of individuals known for "violent activities and their attacks against the Palestinians in the West Bank." He also condemned the Israeli government for approving the construction of new housing units in Jerusalem, which he said contradicted international law.

On Monday, Borrell said the necessary unanimity among all EU states for sanctions had yet to be established since there was not yet an official proposal for states to review.

A number of EU states have already expressed support for sanctioning violent settlers in recent days, including France and even Germany, one of Israel's closest backers in the EU since October 7.

In a letter dated Friday and addressed to European Council President Charles Michel, the governments of Belgium, Ireland, Malta and Spain proposed imposing travel bans and asset freezes on "violent settlers who are attacking and displacing Palestinian communities."

"We must avoid escalation in the West Bank," the four states urged in the text, seen by DW.

Borrell also confirmed that further sanctions against Hamas are also being discussed.

 
How and why did the US sanction settlers?

Last week the US announced it would impose travel bans on "dozens" of individuals and possibly also their family members.

"The United States will pursue visa restrictions against individuals involved in or meaningfully contributing to the undermining of peace, security, or stability in the West Bank," US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters last Tuesday. The measure could apply to either Israelis or Palestinians, he noted.

Even Israel's close allies in the US and the EU have condemned West Bank settlements. They are seen as counterproductive to a permanent two-state solution.

"The construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem is increasingly jeopardizing the territorial basis for a future Palestinian state," according to a 2020 assessment by the German government.

What is the West Bank and how many Israeli settlers are living there?

Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, though parts of it are governed by the Palestinian Authority. The overwhelming majority of the international community never recognized Israeli claims over the territory, but Israelis started building settlements there in the 1970s and 80s.

Settlements in the occupied West Bank are classified by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations as illegal under international law.

Israel has always disputed that the practice is against international law and the current right-wing coalition government has even vowed to step up the settlement of the West Bank.

As of 2021, there were 465,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, which has an overall population of more than 3 million, according to figures compiled by the Israeli non-governmental organization Peace Now. The West Bank is now 86% Palestinian and 14% Israeli, and settlers make up 5% of Israel's total population. On top of this, there were 230,000 Israeli settlers in east Jerusalem as of 2020.

Some Israelis claim settlements are necessary for security reasons or assert historic rights to the land.

Edited by: Ruairi Casey / Rob Turner

Myanmar overtakes Afghanistan as world's biggest opium producer, UN report says

Myanmar became the world's biggest producer of opium in 2023, overtaking Afghanistan after the Taliban government's crackdown on the trade, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday.


Issued on: 12/12/2023 -

A man works in an illegal poppy field in Hopong, Myanmar Shan State on February 2, 2019.

 © Ye Aung Thu, AFP

By: NEWS WIRES

Myanmar produced an estimated 1,080 metric tonnes of opium -- essential for producing heroin -- this year, according to the latest report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The figures come after opium production in Afghanistan slumped an estimated 95 percent to around 330 tonnes following the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation in April last year, according to UNODC.

The "Golden Triangle" border region between Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has long been a hotbed of illegal drug production and trafficking, particularly of methamphetamine and opium.

The total estimated value of Myanmar's "opiate economy" rose to between $1 billion and $2.4 billion -- the equivalent of 1.7 to 4.1 percent of the country's 2022 GDP, UNODC said.

Last year, an estimated 790 metric tonnes of opium were produced in Myanmar, it said.

Myanmar's legal economy has been gutted by conflict and instability since the military seized power in 2021, driving many farmers to grow poppy.

Poor access to markets and state infrastructure as well as rampant inflation "appears to have played a significant role in farmers' decisions in late 2022 to cultivate more poppy", the report said.

Estimated opium production for 2022-23 was at its highest level for more than 20 years, UNODC said.

UNODC also said poppy cultivation in Myanmar was becoming more sophisticated, with increased investment and better practices -- including improved irrigation and possible use of fertilisers -- pushing up crop yields.

Afghanistan, the world's biggest producer for some years, has seen cultivation collapse after the Taliban authorities vowed to end illegal drug production.

Poppy crops accounted for almost a third of the country's total agricultural production by value last year, but the area used for poppy shrank from 233,000 hectares in late 2022 to 10,800 in 2023.

Rampant violence

In Myanmar, the main cultivating area is Shan state, the northern part of which has been convulsed by fighting in recent weeks after an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups launched an offensive against the junta and its allies.

Shan accounted for about 88 percent of the 41,300 hectares (102,054 acres) of opium poppy areas nationwide, the UN report said.

In eastern Shan, the average estimated yield of opium per hectare increased from 19.8 kilograms in the 2022 survey to 29.4 kilograms in 2023, it said.

Shan state occupies almost a quarter of Myanmar's land mass and is dotted with ravines and jungle-clad hills.

A giddying array of ethnic armed organisations that can call on tens of thousands of well-armed fighters control swathes of the state, which the UN says is also Southeast Asia's primary source of methamphetamine.

Some administer autonomous enclaves granted to them by previous juntas, which analysts say are home to casinos, brothels and weapons factories.

The UN said cultivation had also increased in northern Kachin state and in Chin state on the border with India.

Analysts say the military, which ousted an elected government and seized power in 2021, is not serious about ending the multi-billion dollar trade.

In a rare admission earlier this year, the head of Myanmar's Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control said its efforts to crush the trade were having no impact.

(AFP)