It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, April 02, 2024
Minister of Social Affairs: 82% of the Lebanese are Poor Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar (NNA)
Beirut: Paula Astih 2 April 2024 AD ـ 23 Ramadan 1445 AH TT
Lebanon’s Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar highlighted “the increase in the proportion of poor people in Lebanon since 2019.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said that the “rate of multidimensional poverty among the Lebanese has reached 82 percent,” while 32 percent of the population was suffering from extreme poverty.
According to Hajjar, “the war in the South negatively affected many families who were unable to collect their agricultural crops,” revealing that the ministerial committee supposed to be monitoring the situation in the South has not met even once since its formation.
The National Strategy for Social Protection, which was approved by the government in February, constitutes a major shift in the social policies. The strategy presents a comprehensive vision based on five pillars: social assistance, social security, social care, job opportunities for the most vulnerable, and financial support to access educational and health services.
Hajjar explained that his ministry began implementing this strategy, even before its approval, but pointed to the need to secure the necessary budgets, warning of “dangerous indicators in terms of reducing external funding, whether for the Lebanese or the Syrians.” 75,000 Lebanese families benefit from the national program to support the poorest families, but after the significant reduction in funding (from $147 million to $33.9 million), the Ministry was forced to reduce the amount being transferred.
Sobhia Najjar, a specialist in public policy and coordinator of the Social Protection for All campaign at the Center for Social Sciences for Applied Research (CESSRA), told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Today, we are not talking about one type of poor, but rather about multidimensional poverty, in light of the complete absence of the middle class that includes public sector employees, professors, judges, members of the army and security forces.”
Najjar pointed to several factors that contribute to the exacerbation of poverty. Those include the economic crisis that led to high unemployment rates and a deterioration in the purchasing power of citizens, corruption, which affects the equitable distribution of resources and increases social and economic disparities, internal tensions and political instability.
Wanted man, 80, arrested at airport after 27 years on the run
HE WAS IN THAILAND
Richard Burrows, who is accused of historic sexual abuse of children, was arrested at Heathrow on Thursday
Efforts to locate Burrows since his disappearance have included a Crimewatch appeal in 1998.
TUE, 02 APR, 2024 - ELEANOR BARLOW, PA
An 80-year-old man has been arrested at an airport after 27 years on the run, police have said. Richard Burrows, who is accused of historic sexual abuse of children, was arrested at Heathrow on Thursday after returning to the UK from Thailand, a spokesman for Cheshire Police said.
The force said he has been wanted since December 1997 when he failed to attend Chester Crown Court to face trial for two counts of buggery and 11 counts of indecent assault.
The charges relate to alleged abuse between 1969 and 1971, reported to have taken place at a children’s home in Congleton, Cheshire, and in the West Midlands.
Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson, from Cheshire Police, said: “Our determination to locate Burrows has not faltered over the past 27 years and his arrest marks a significant step forward in this case and the beginning of closure for all those involved.
“I would like to thank the public for the information that they have provided over the years during our search for Burrows and I hope that his arrest provides some reassurance.
“I also hope that his arrest acts as a warning to any other wanted suspects – demonstrating that no matter how long you hide, we will find you and you will be arrested.”
Efforts to locate Burrows since his disappearance have included a Crimewatch appeal in 1998.
63-year-old priest marries 12-year-old girl in Ghana, sparks outrage
In response to criticism from external sources, local community leaders have expressed a lack of understanding regarding their customs and traditions.
A 63-year-old priest has sparked outrage in West Africa's Ghana after marrying a 12-year-old girl, selected to be his wife at the age of six. The priest, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, married the child on Saturday at a customary ceremony in Nungua, Krowor.
A groom puts a ring on his bride's finger.(AP) REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
Footage of the elaborate event of their marriage, which was shared on social media by the local news channel Ablade, showed dozens of community members gathered to witness the wedding, triggering an outcry from several Ghanaians. At the ceremony, women conversing in the local ‘Ga’ language instructed the girl to dress teasingly for her new husband, Daily Mail said in its report. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
Reacting to the video clip from the marriage ceremony, a Ghanaian wrote on Facebook, “Customary wife??? Child marriage is criminalised in Ghana and no rite that violates a girl's rights to achieve her full potential should be celebrated.” At the same time, a second commented, “'There are so many things wrong with this country, and this is one of them!?? How is a 12-year-old becoming a wife in 2024?! Is this some silly joke?”
In response to criticism from external sources, local community leaders have expressed a lack of understanding regarding their customs and traditions. These customs included advising the young girl to prepare for her future role as a wife by enhancing her ‘sex appeal’ with perfume she had received as a gift.
Leaders of the Nungua indigenous community, of which both the girl and the priest are members, have denounced the public's disapproval of the marriage, asserting that the criticism ‘stems from ignorance.’
Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, a prominent community leader, was quoted by Daily Mail as saying that the girl's marriage to the priest is "entirely based on tradition and custom." He further explained that the girl commenced the required rituals to become the priest's wife at the age of six, but this process did not hinder her education.
The Ghanaian government has not yet issued a response to the contentious marriage. In Ghana, the legal minimum age for marriage is 18. Despite a decreasing trend in child marriages across the country, such marriages persist in certain areas and communities.
In Morocco, women's rights activists face death threats amid family code reform
In a joint statement, the targeted activists urged local authorities to take immediate action to investigate the threats.
This is not the first time Moroccan women's rights activists have come under attack for their demands. [Getty]
In Morocco, women's rights activists are facing death and rape threats as the country moves to overhaul an archaic family code.
On 28 March, an Instagram account with the handle "hydra21" shared a death list of twenty-two Moroccan women's rights and LGBTQ+ activists, threatening imminent assassinations.
The list included renowned artist and activist Zainab Fassiki and members of famous local feminist NGOs such as Moroccan Outlaws, Politics4her, and Kif Mama Kif Baba.
The Instagram account, which uses a fake name, has privately messaged several targeted activists, threatening their families and workplaces for promoting "anti-Islam beliefs" and "trying to destroy the values of Moroccan society."
"There's not only one account. We received threats from several other accounts. They threatened my workplace and several associations I work with," Rim Akrache, a Moroccan therapist and activist whose name is on the list, told The New Arab. In several texts, the activist also received detailed rape and sexual assault threats.
In a joint statement, the targeted activists urged local authorities to take immediate action to investigate the incidents. So far, the identities of the harassers are still unknown.
'Fear and terror': the reality of women's rights activism in Morocco
This is not the first time Moroccan women's rights activists have come under attack for their demands.
Cyber-harassment and bullying are a daily reality for Moroccan feminists simply for urging progressive changes such as the criminalisation of child marriage, calling for equality in inheritance, or advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in the North African Kingdom.
"Volunteer activists find themselves often subjected to messages of insults, threats, and death for daring to speak up," said Kif Mama Kif Baba, a women's rights NGO, in a statement co-written with the targeted victims.
However, Mariyem Gamar, founder of the feminist platform Kasbah Tal'Fin, says this is the first time the whole community faces such serious 'terrorist' threats.
"It's also worrying because these terrorists feel comfortable enough to share this on social media," added Gamar in a video she shared on her Instagram account following the threats.
This incident came as the government submitted the first draft of a family code that aims to change several laws regarding marriage, divorce, and custody – a change that conservatives do not hide their discontent about.
Family Code reform: Conservatives fuming
One of the renowned opponents of family code reform is Abdellilah Benkirane, Morocco's former prime minister (2012-2016) and head of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD).
"The Moroccan people will not accept this," Benkiran said, referring to the new reform. We need to organise a million-people march," he said in March during a party gathering.
Last September, Moroccan King Mohammed VI ordered the government to present a new reform of the family code (Moudawana) within the next six months.
Ending child marriage, inequality in inheritance and monogamy are the three key demands of Moroccan women for the new Moroccan family code, which governs areas of family law such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.
The committee, tasked with conducting consultations and preparing a reform project, submitted its first draft to the royal palace last week. So far, we have little information about its content.
Ultimately, it will be up to King Mohammed VI, president of the Supreme Council of Scholars, the body with a monopoly on religious edicts (fatwas), to decide on the most divisive aspects of the forthcoming reform.
Commonwealth Carbon Tax Model Law 02 April 2024
Author: Dr Daniel Wilde, Economic Adviser
At last year’s UN climate summit (COP28), the world committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels and reaffirmed its commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
But business-as-usual will not achieve these goals. Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, forecasted emissions are higher than the carbon budget consistent with limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and given current policies, fossil fuel production is expected to continue increasing. Countries need to implement new policies if they hope to tackle climate change.
Carbon taxation is one such policy. The idea is simple: tax emissions and incentivise emitters to clean up their act by transitioning to clean energy and/or reducing their energy consumption. Carbon taxation offers the triple benefit of reducing emissions, boosting investment in clean energy, and increasing government revenues.
Yet carbon taxation, and carbon pricing generally, can be politically fraught. In 2012 Australia introduced a carbon pricing scheme that was subsequently ended by the next administration who argued that it was causing electricity prices to increase. In the United States, political constraints to the federal government taxing carbon was also a motivation behind the subsidy-driven approach to reducing emissions taken by the Biden administration in the Inflation Reduction Act. Carbon pricing is on the rise
Despite examples of political opposition, carbon pricing is an increasing global trend. The World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2023 for example, reports that while a decade ago only 7 per cent of global emissions were priced, today this has risen to nearly a quarter of global emissions being priced through either a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme.
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which comes into force in 2026, is further increasing demand for carbon taxation. Under this mechanism, imports of carbon-intensive goods (initially aluminium, cement, electricity, fertilizer, hydrogen, iron and steel) will be charged, while carbon taxes paid on these goods during their production will be creditable, thereby reducing the amount paid to the EU.
Countries exporting these goods to the EU then face a question: should the carbon in these goods be taxed domestically or by the EU (in which case the EU will receive the revenue)? The UK is also committed to introducing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, which will provide further motivation for carbon taxation in countries that export carbon-intensive goods to the UK.
Commonwealth Carbon Tax Model Law
The benefits of carbon taxation have motivated a growing number of Commonwealth countries such as Botswana, Gabon, Malaysia and Nigeria to consider taxing carbon. In response, the Commonwealth Secretariat has drafted a Carbon Tax Model Law to aid those Commonwealth countries considering carbon taxation as part of their climate policy.
This model law is consistent with the key principles of international environmental law, including the ‘polluter-pays’ principle. The individual parts and sections of the model law have been drafted to ensure clarity around the legal obligations and rules, and to ensure transparency and procedural fairness in carbon taxation.
If implemented globally, the model law would cover approximately 79 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and is likely to tax the majority of emissions in most countries. This contrasts with the much lower coverage achieved by existing carbon taxes and shows that the model law could be a powerful tool for reducing emissions. The high coverage of the carbon tax would be achieved by taxing emissions from three sources: the burning of fossil fuels, industrial processes such as cement production, and the venting of methane.
The model law also provides for an easy to administer carbon tax. The tax is levied on fossil fuel companies and large industrial emitters, which are sizeable and sophisticated taxpayers that are well-placed to meet reporting requirements. Households, small businesses, and most companies are not legally liable for the carbon tax and would not have to fill in any new forms or face any change in the administration of their taxes due to the carbon tax, albeit they may bear part of the economic burden of the tax through higher prices.
To ensure a just transition, the model law includes provisions for measuring and mitigating the carbon tax’s impact on low-income households and other vulnerable groups. This is achieved through regular impact reporting, stakeholder engagement and directing revenue generated from the tax towards clean energy initiatives and/or low-income households. These measures are also important to build public support for the carbon tax.
It is clear that demand for carbon taxation is growing as countries strive to achieve their global commitments, increase domestic revenues, and avoid carbon border adjustment mechanism taxes on their exports. The Commonwealth Carbon Tax Model Law is designed to provide countries with a tool for implementing carbon tax that’s comprehensive, easy to administer and consistent with a just transition.
Emiratis battle to preserve dying art of embroidery
Published: 02 Apr 2024 - An Emirati woman weaves thread in the Al Talli method, a traditional local weaving technique, during an annual heritage festival in Al Ain.
AFP
Al Ain: Far from Dubai’s glitzy towers, Mariam Al Kalbani’s henna-dyed fingers weave brightly coloured threads in a skill she hopes young Emirati women watching her can preserve for the future.
The art of hand-weaving braided shiny ribbons to adorn traditional clothing and bags is called Al Talli, and is on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.
But with the relentless pace of change in the United Arab Emirates, its days may be numbered.
“It’s a craft of our ancestors and our people,” Kalbani told AFP in Al Ain, the UAE’s fourth largest city, which sits between mountains and the desert.
“If we do not take initiative and introduce it to them, it will disappear.” The 70-year-old craftswoman, wearing a traditional black abaya robe and golden face covering, has been training students and apprentices in the art for 15 years.
“The goal is to revive the heritage for the next generation,” she said.
She emphasised that mastering Al Talli doesn’t happen “in a couple of hours — it could take a year or two, especially if training is done just once a week”.
Kalbani has been weaving Al Talli since she was a teenager.
The simplest Al Talli designs are made from six threads -- although they can number up to 50 — and mastering the process of combining them with beads, ornaments and precious metals such as gold can take a long time.
‘Rare and special’
Accounting student Reem Al Ketbi watched Kalbani intently as she worked on a round cushion called a Mousadah, weaving a silver thread back and forth during a recent handicrafts festival.
“Every time I see Al Talli, I remember the Emirati identity -- it’s something rare and special,” said the 23-year-old, who began learning the craft last year while also pursuing her studies.
No precise information on Al Talli’s origins exists.
But Mohamed Hassan Abdel Hafez, a cultural heritage expert at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, said it has been passed down through multiple generations, “at least from grandparents to grandchildren”, in line with Unesco’s listing requirements.
“In the field of intangible cultural heritage, it is very difficult to determine the exact date or when it historically began,” he said.
However, the UAE authorities are working to preserve traditions that date from before the development of the oil industry in the country.
Kalbani laments that her own daughters did not take up the craft, but smiled as her three-year-old granddaughter beside her asked questions about the braids and threads.
Al Talli was not the only tradition being highlighted at the Crafts and Traditional Industries Festival.
At the main square in Al Ain, American Katie Gaimer watched men performing the traditional Ayalah dance, wielding bamboo sticks or unloaded rifles to the rhythm of folk songs.
The 35-year-old teacher said she and her friends had just enjoyed an Al Talli workshop, where they had a free lesson on how to make bracelets.
“It kind of felt like we were making friendship bracelets... it was fun and it was nice to learn from somebody teaching it in a traditional way,” she said. ‘Worth preserving’
Elsewhere, women produced various items including Sadu fabric, which is used for tents, carpets and camel saddles, and is also listed by Unesco.
Aisha Al Dhaheri, who works to promote traditional crafts at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, said authorities hope to support Al Talli by licensing certified experts to expand production and teaching.
“It’s considered at risk of disappearance, so we tried to expedite preservation efforts by organising training courses,” she said.
Accounting student Ketbi believes that young women these days “are not very interested” in learning craft techniques from long ago.
But she still considers preserving them worthwhile “out of love for the country”.
Those who can even remember the UAE before its vertiginous ascent into modernity are increasingly few, however.
Emiratis make up just 10 percent of the federation’s 10 million inhabitants, and overwhelmingly the young are focused on the digital future, less so the often impoverished past.
At one shop in the festival area, octogenarian Kulthum Al Mansouri sold bags, incense burners, bracelets, necklaces, medals and key chains — all adorned with Al Talli which she herself braided under the eyes of passers-by.
She said she felt saddened that young women seem less interested in Al Talli than ever, distracted as they were “by screens and phones”.
But she still hoped the skill could be passed on because her generation cannot maintain it forever.
Claire Hafner leans against the ropes at Cougar Boxing Club in Edmonton a week before heading to Las Vegas for her annual round of neurological testing. (Katie Nicholson/CBC)
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Claire Hafner's chin is tucked in protectively behind her gloves. Just above them, her eyes are laser-focused, looking for an opening. Her arms shoot out like twin pistons, forcing the solid teen powerhouse she's sparring with to retreat against the ropes.
At 46, the Edmonton-based boxer is mulling over retirement but wants a Canadian title before she throws in the towel.
"It'll be hard to hang up the gloves without checking that box," she said.
That decision hangs largely on what a team of researchers in Las Vegas find when she meets up with them for exhaustive annual testing on her brain health.
Hafner is one of 17 Canadian athletes participating in a landmark study of the effects of head trauma on 900 living athletes, mostly from combat sports.
Only about 100 of the participants are women, so Hafner's brain may provide insights to help future women athletes, patients with neurodegenerative conditions, survivors of intimate partner violence and soldiers with head trauma.
ALL BOXING SHOULD FOLLOW OLYMPIC SAFETY RULES
WATCH | 'Information is power,' Canadian boxer says:
Claire Hafner is one of 17 Canadian athletes participating in a study on the effects of head trauma on 900 living athletes, mostly from combat sports. She calls it a 'once in a lifetime opportunity.'
The Professional Fighters Brain Health Study started in 2011 at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas with just a few dozen athletes and a goal of examining the long-term effects of head trauma on athletes and its possible links to neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's.
The data is collected through private annual assessments of participating athletes. Those tests also provide each individual athlete with information about any deterioration of their memory, reaction times, balance or brain tissue.
A battery of tests
"Boxing is a sport where you volunteer to be punched in the head. So I think there's less sympathy around head trauma," Hafner said.
After years of sparring and taking hits, she worries about the short term and cumulative effects on her brain, but usually not in the heat of the moment.
"I'm in the ring and I don't even realize I get hit. Like I have to watch my video back and be like, 'Oh, I took a big one,'" she said.
The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Centre for Brain Health in Las Vegas has served as home to the landmark Professional Fighters Brain Health Study since it started in 2011. (Yanjun Li/ CBC)
During her annual visits to the centre, which began in 2020, she undergoes a two-hour series of computerized tests and fills out a self-assessment on her moods and emotional wellbeing. Her blood is sent to the lab to look for increases inprotein markers that could indicate head trauma. They are many of the same markers found in people with conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
This time around, her results will determine whether she risks another year in the ring.
Women an important part of the study
One of the main focuses of the study, according to the chief researcher Dr. Charles Bernick, is to empower athletes to make informed decisions about their careers and when it might be time to tap out.
It also looks for tell-tale signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative condition linked to repeated head trauma which can only be diagnosed after death.
WATCH | Bare-knuckle boxing champ welcomes new research:
Christine Ferea, who is among the 900 athletes participating in a study on the effects of head trauma, hopes the research helps settle debates happening in women's combat sports — like how many rounds there should be and how long they should last.
Using blood tests and MRIs, researchers look for some of the characteristics associated with the condition with the hope of one day being able to diagnose CTE in living athletes and maybe even prevent it from progressing.
Last year, the first case of CTE was diagnosed in a female athlete — an Aussie rules footballer.
Bernick says that having women participate in the study is important, because there are gaps in understanding the long-term effects of head impacts on women "whether that's in sports or domestic violence or in our military."
Already, they've made some remarkable preliminary findings including that when it comes to long-term effects, women fighters appear to fare better than their male counterparts.
"It doesn't seem that they're at a higher risk," said Bernick. "If we have two groups that are getting hit, and the women are doing better, is there something biological that is protecting them?"
Women’s world bare-knuckle boxing champion Christine Ferea says being part of the study has given her some peace of mind. (Katie Nicholson/ CBC)
Reigning women's bare-knuckle boxing world champion Christine "The Misfit" Ferea also signed up for the study, in part for peace of mind.
"It made me feel a little bit safer. So each year I'm going, if I'm not declining, I'm not going to retire," she said.
Ferea also hopes the research helps settle debates happening in women's combat sports like how many rounds there should be and how long they should last.
"I think it's a great thing to have. And especially for the female fighters, we don't have that research because we haven't been in combat sports for as long as men," Ferea said.
The study is also finding evidence that once people with signs of deterioration leave a combat or high impact sport, their blood markers and brain imaging stabilize and that, as a group, they are finding people get better.
"When people are actively exposed to head impacts, it is changing the brain. And once you stop, there is this opportunity for repair," he said.
'What's one more time?'
When Hafner gets her test results, it's good news: "You are superior to most people your age," according to Bernick.
His assessment of whether or not she should retire is less definitive.
Dr. Charles Bernick reviews Hafner’s test results to help her decide whether she should stay in the ring. (Yanjun Li/ CBC)
"If you're asking, are you going to do irreparable harm to do one more fight? Of course not. You know, because all this stuff is just cumulative," Bernick said during their consultation. "If you've achieved what you've wanted to achieve. Yeah, it's probably better for your brain not to get hit."
After her results she said it is "a hundred times more tempting" to stave off retirement.
"You get good news and it kind of momentarily blots out the risks because you're like, 'Ooh, I've been risking it all for these years. And hey, it's been good. Like there's nothing awful yet so what's one more? What's one more time?'" she said.
Katie Nicholson is a multi-platform RTDNA and Canadian Screen Award winning investigative journalist. She’s often on the ground covering everything from wildfires, floods and hurricanes, to papal funerals and the US. Katie has also reported extensively on intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, MMIWG, and child welfare. She is based in Toronto. Have a story idea? Email: Katie.Nicholson@cbc.ca
Number of anti-Muslim complaints in 2023 hit record high: CAIR
Over 8,000 anti-Muslim complaints were recorded across the nation last year, marking the highest total in the 30 years the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has tracked the complaints.
In its report, published Tuesday, CAIR said it received 8,061 complaints of anti-Muslim incidents, surpassing the previous record in 2021, when 6,720 incidents were reported. This number is up 56 percent from 2022, which had the first ever recorded drop in complaints since CAIR started tracking complaints in 1995.
CAIR received the most complaints in the final three months of the year and accounted for 44 percent of the year’s total tally, the report stated.
CAIR, a leading Muslim advocacy nonprofit group, connected the late-year surge to the domestic fallout from Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The conflict began in October after the group’s surprise attack against southern Israel, which left about 1,200 people dead and saw 250 others taken hostage. About 100 of the hostages were returned to Israel during a weeklong cease-fire agreement in December, and another 100 are believed to still be alive in Gaza.
For the past five months, Israel has embarked on a retaliatory military campaign to destroy Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. More than 32,800 Palestinians have died in Gaza since early October, per the Gaza Health Ministry, while hundreds of thousands face depleting supplies of food, water, and medicine, according to aid groups.
During the three-month surge in which the most complaints – 3,578 – were received, employment discrimination was the main source of these complaints, followed by hate crimes and incidents, and education discrimination, CAIR noted.
The tensions quickly spilled beyond the Middle East in early October, and the following months have seen an increase in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests across the U.S. and other parts of the West. Several of these protests took place at college campuses, with students and administration faced with handling issues of free speech and the language used by both sides.
“Employers, universities and schools were among the primary actors suppressing speech by those who sought to vocally oppose Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza and call attention to Palestinian human rights, particularly Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians.”
The report referenced the various schools that banned Palestinian-affiliated student groups on campus following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, along with reports of employers’ not hiring prospects due to their activism for Palestinians.
Regarding the total tally of last year’s complaints, immigration and asylum cases accounted for the most recordings. CAIR argued cases can “get delayed or intentionally stalled for the fear of the individual being a ‘terrorist’ or involved in ‘terrorist activities.”
CAIR laid out a series of high-profile anti-Muslim incidents, including the alleged murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American and attempted murder of his mother in Illinois, nearly a week after the Oct. 7 attacks. The nonprofit also pointed to the Georgia teacher accused of threatening to behead a 13-year-old Muslim student, who said she was offended by an Israeli flag in the classroom last December.
CAIR noted last month’s three-month surge also saw a higher number of complaints than in the months following former President Trump’s travel ban that targeted several majority-Muslim countries, which saw nearly half, or about 1,813 complaints.
Katchatheevu: Tiny Sri Lankan island sparks political row in India
By Nikhila Henry,
BBC News, Delhi
Prabhurao/BBC
Katchatheevu island does not have potable water and is hence uninhabited
A small, uninhabited island that is part of Sri Lanka has sparked a political row in India weeks before general elections kick off.
Katchatheevu - a strip of land spanning just about 1.9 sq km (0.7 sq miles) - is located in the Palk Strait, a stretch of ocean which divides India and Sri Lanka. It lies to the northeast to Rameswaram town in India's Tamil Nadu state and to the southwest of Sri Lanka's Jaffna city.
The island has no source of drinking water and the only structure on it is a church which holds an annual three-day festival that draws devotees from both India and Sri Lanka.
Since 1921, rulers in both India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) - British colonies at the time - had staked claim to fishing rights in the waters around Katchatheevu. But in 1974, India ended the dispute by relinquishing any claim over the island; two years later, India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement that prevented people from both countries from fishing in waters belonging to each other.
Now, that decades-old decision is in the headlines again after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the country's opposition Congress party - which was in power at the time - of "callously" giving away the island to Sri Lanka. The Congress has reacted sharply, accusing Mr Modi of raking up the issue ahead of elections due to "desperation".
The ostensible trigger for the controversy is new information accessed by a leader from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about the debates within the federal government about Katchatheevu in the 1960s.
But opposition leaders say the BJP is trying to turn Katchatheevu - a sensitive issue in Tamil Nadu - into a controversy to gain votes in the southern state, where it has been trying hard to make inroads. Tamil Nadu will vote in the first phase of the general election on 19 April.
Prabhurao/BBCThe St Antony's church on Katchatheevu attracts pilgrims from both India and Sri Lanka
The controversy began on Sunday when Mr Modi shared an article from The Times of India newspaper on X (formerly Twitter), saying "Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu."
The article was based on documents obtained by K Annamalai, chief of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, under a law which allows Indians to access information from the government.
The documents quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, India's prime minister at the time, saying that he attached "no importance at all to [Katchatheevu]" and that he "would have no hesitation in giving up [India's] claims to it".
But according to the report, some officials from the ministry of external affairs and other experts said that India had a "good legal case" to assert claim over Katchatheevu as they claimed the island was ruled by an Indian king "continuously and uninterruptedly" between 1875 and 1948.
Since then, political parties in Tamil Nadu have regularly raised the issue of Katchatheevu and filed cases in court challenging the agreement with Sri Lanka - two of these cases are pending in the Supreme Court. Fishermen from Tamil Nadu have often been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities when entering the country's waters, including around Katchatheevu, so the issue often makes headlines there.
After Mr Modi's post, many BJP leaders and federal ministers joined him in criticising the Congress. They also said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) - which currently governs Tamil Nadu and was also in power in 1974 - did not do enough to retain Katchatheevu. The DMK has denied this, saying they were not aware of the decision to relinquish claim over the island until the agreement was completed.
"The DMK had written several letters to the foreign ministry over the past many decades, upholding the rights of Tamil Nadu's fisher people over Katchatheevu. The BJP woke up to the issue only now, just as elections are nearing," DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai told the BBC.
Prabhurao/BBC
Pilgrims from India don't need a Sri Lankan visa to attend the church's annual festival on Katchatheevu
Even India's foreign minister, S Jaishankar held a press conference, saying that the issue had been "hidden too long from the gaze of the public".
However, when asked if India planned to revisit the 1974 agreement with Sri Lanka, Mr Jaishankar said the matter was in court.
In 2013, the federal government had told the Supreme Court that it could not "retrieve" Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka as "no territory belonging to India was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished since the area was in dispute and had never been demarcated".
And the next year, former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, representing Mr Modi's government, told the court that if India wanted Katchatheevu, it would have to "go to war" to get it.
Mr Annamalai, however, has told reporters that the federal government was trying to "bring back" Katchatheevu to protect the interests of Tamil Nadu's fisher people.
The BBC has emailed the Sri Lankan high commission in India for comment and is awaiting a response.
A Sri Lankan minister told the Indian Express newspaper that the country has not received any "official communication" from India about control over Katchatheevu.
"As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, Katchatheevu island falls within the Sri Lankan line of control," said Jeevan Thondaman.
U$A
More than 1 in 3 February home purchases were made with cash: Report
More than one-third of homes were purchased with cash in February as mortgage rates remain high, according to a new report from the real estate company Redfin.
The rate of all-cash purchases — defined as home purchases where the deed does not include mortgage loan information — is within striking distance of the record high of 38 percent in 2013.
While mortgage rates have fallen slightly from their 8 percent peak in October, they are still significantly elevated compared to all-time low rates achieved during the pandemic.
With home prices also up 6.6 percent in February from a year earlier, home buyers are increasingly taking out larger down payments to reduce their monthly mortgage payment.
The median down payment for a house jumped to $55,640 in February, up 24.1 percent from February 2023, according to Redfin.
But most buyers can’t afford all-cash home purchases or a larger down payment, particularly first-time home buyers, the experts at Redfin noted.
“High mortgage rates are widening the wealth gap between people of different races, generations and income levels,” said Chen Zhao, economics research lead at Redfin.
“They’ve added fuel to the fire lit by surging home prices during the pandemic, creating a reality where in many places, wealthy Americans are the only ones who can afford to buy homes,” Zhao added. “Meanwhile, people who are priced out of homeownership are missing out on a major wealth building opportunity, which could have financial implications for their children and even their children’s children.
It’s cheaper to rent than buy a starter home in top 50 US metros: Report
NICK ROBERTSON April 1, 2024
Due to rising mortgage rates and falling rents, it’s cheaper to rent than buy a starter home in every one of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, according to new data from Realtor.com published Monday.
February marked the seventh consecutive decline in rental prices for apartments and small homes, with rents falling by about 0.4 percent compared to a year before. That compared to a rise in prices for buying starter homes, on average $1,000, or 60 percent, higher than rents.
The difference was felt most in the country’s fastest growing cities. It was more than twice as expensive to buy a starter home than rent in Austin and Seattle, and nearly twice as much in Phoenix and San Francisco.
In the Austin area, rents average $1,530, while buying a similar home would cost about $3,695 per month, given average mortgage rates. Rents fell by a massive 4.4 percent in Austin last year, one of the fastest rates of any major city as its housing market booms.
Compared to 2023, the disparity increased the most in Los Angeles, Nashville, Phoenix, Memphis and Raleigh, N.C. In Richmond, Va., renters save $700 more than a year prior over buyers.
Mortgage rates have risen to nearly 7 percent in parts of the country as high Federal Reserve interest rates remain steady.
All-cash home buyers pay 10% less than mortgage buyers
Reducing the friction between mortgage buyers and sellers could go a long way in promoting home ownership, according to new UC San Diego Rady School of Management research
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO
Owning a home has long been considered a crucial way to build wealth, but making such a purchase has become increasingly difficult for many residents. In addition to steep housing prices and high interest rates, there have been a growing number of all-cash buyers who can close a deal quickly, beating out competing offers from buyers who need to finance their home with a mortgage.
The convenience and certainty of all-cash offers appeals to sellers so much so, that they pay on average 10 % less than mortgage buyers, according to a new study from the University of California San Diego Rady School of Management.
“When sellers accept a mortgage offer, it comes with risk,” said Michael Reher, study coauthor and assistant professor of finance at the Rady School of Management. “There is a risk the deal will fall through because there’s a third-party mortgage lender who needs to approve the loan for the borrower and there are other caveats such as issue the appraisal, or inspection, which is why around 10% of transactions fail when the buyer is paying with a mortgage. We find sellers are willing to leave money on the table to avoid the risk.”
The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Finance, finds that while 10% is the average difference between mortgage and cash buyers, it does not necessary apply to all buyers who need to purchase a home with a loan. For example, mortgage buyers with a relatively good borrowing profile pay only 6 % more than all-cash buyers, especially if the sale is taking place in an area where most real estate transactions are successful.
In areas where there may be more low-income buyers and mortgage transactions carry greater risk, a mortgage buyer can expect to pay up to 17% more, if the seller has a competing offer from an all-cash buyer.
“Considering that about a third of home purchases are all-cash deals, these differences are highly relevant for real estate market participants,” said Rossen Valkanov, study co-author and professor of finance for the Rady School.
He added that understanding the "cash discount" in real estate is important because it highlights the friction between mortgage buyers and sellers.
“In policy terms, U.S. taxpayers subsidize $8 trillion of mortgages to promote homeownership,” Valkanov said. “If policy makers made it easier for mortgage buyers to close escrow, it could be a more cost-effective route to promoting homeownership than subsidizing mortgages for first-time homebuyers.”
An example of reducing friction between mortgage buyers and sellers could be reducing the degree of “ambiguity” about the home sale process, from the standpoint of home sellers. This could potentially be achieved by requiring listing agents to make sure that home sellers are well-informed about the amount of risk and the time to close when accepting an all-cash versus a mortgaged offer.
“At the time a mortgage offer is submitted, a listing agent can disclose an easy-to-understand statistic, such as: ‘over the last 12 months, 97% of mortgage offers resulted in a sale after 60 days,’” Valkanov said.
The implications of a liquid housing market edging out many first-time buyers
Most first-time home buyers have to finance the purchase with a mortgage and the 10% “cash discount” all-cash buyers receive represents another hurdle in a competitive real estate market. In California for example, where inventory is low, the average age of the first-time homeowner is now almost a decade older compared to the 1980s.
But it has other implications for real estate. The increase in buyers with deeper pockets choosing to finance homes with cash because of higher interest rates also equates to a greater number of buyers possibly getting real estate at prices below the property’s actual value. Therefore, a liquid housing market with more all-cash buyers may erode the value of real estate as a savings vehicle, the authors note.
Reher and Valkanov embarked on the study after they both had experienced mortgage offers to homes being rejected because sellers went with an all-cash offer instead.
They replicated the findings in three different studies with the first assessing data from 2 million home sales across more than 90% of U.S. counties from 1980 to 2017. The data from county recorder offices revealed that mortgage buyers paid on average 11% more than all -cash buyers.
The second study utilized data from Redfin which provided the authors with information on more than 20,000 home sales as well as offers on homes that were sold from 2013 to 2021. This data set revealed mortgage buyers paid 8% percent more than all-cash buyers.
The third study involved an experimental survey designed by the authors where they asked 3,000 independent homeowners to imagine scenarios where they had to sell their home and received two competing offers—one from a mortgage buyer and one from an all-cash buyer. The responses revealed that the participants would only accept the mortgage buyers offers if they had paid on average 10% more than the all-cash buyer.
To read the full study, “The Mortgage-Cash Premium Puzzle,” go to this link.
