Dalai Lama’s sister receives award for educating Tibetans in exile

Jetsun Pema taught and cared for orphaned, destitute and refugee children from Tibet.

By Dorjee Damdul for RFA Tibetan
2024.04.19

Sue Ott Rowlands (L), president of Randolph College, presents Jetsun Pema, the younger sister of the Dalai Lama, with the Pearl S. Buck Award at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, April 18, 2024.

The younger sister of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has received a prestigious university award for her lifelong dedication to educating Tibetan children who live in exile.

Jetsun Pema, 84, received the Pearl S. Buck Award, with a medallion and a cash prize of US$25,000, from Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Thursday.

Pema, revered by Tibetans as “Amala,” or “Respected Mother,” has built one of the most successful Tibetan educational institutions abroad — the Tibetan Children's Villages, or TCV. The nonprofit organization cares for and educates orphaned, destitute and refugee children from Tibet. Its main facility is in Dharamsala in northern India. 

She is the first Tibetan to receive the award given to women who exemplify the ideals, values and commitments of writer and novelist Pearl S. Buck, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and a champion of women’s and children’s rights. 

“We had some amazing nominations, and when the nominations for Jetsun Pema came through, it just felt like this is [someone] who exemplifies Pearl Buck and her commitments to people of Asia and the children, and her commitment to education,” college president Sue Ott Rowlands told Radio Free Asia.

Pema was also the first woman elected to a ministerial post in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, serving as minister for education.

Officially recognized by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile as the “Mother of Tibet,” Pema worked at TCV for over five decades.

She served as president of TCV from 1964 to 2006 and was instrumental in leading the expansion of schools across India and in caring for and educating over 53,000 Tibetan children who had escaped Tibet and were separated from their families, or who were orphaned or from underprivileged families.

Jetsun Pema (sitting, C), the younger sister of the Dalai Lama attends a ceremony to receive the Pearl S. Buck Award Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, April 18, 2024. (Randolph College photo)

After she retired in August 2006, Pema continued to work on various children’s education projects, including the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education in Bangalore, India.

“This award acknowledges the efforts of not only myself but everyone who has contributed to this cause, starting from my late elder sister along with many others who have dedicated their lives to the education of Tibetan children,” Pema told RFA Tibetan in an interview. 

Illustrious list

Previous award winners include former Irish President Mary Robinson, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former First Lady of Egypt Jehan Sadat, former Philippines President Corazon Aquino, U.S. architect, designer and sculptor Maya Lin, and American author Maxine Hong Kingston.

Pema said she would donate her award money to TCV.

“The education we have given to our young people has benefited them greatly and has empowered them … and that is encouraging,” Pema said, addressing a gathering of several hundred people, including former students and Tibetans who had traveled from other parts of the country to be at the award ceremony.

At the event, Pema spoke about the mandate she received from the Dalai Lama to ensure Tibetan children received a good education and care when she took over the work initiated by her late sister, Tsering Dolma Takla. 

Takla, the elder sister of the Dalai Lama, first volunteered in May 1960 to care for over 50 Tibetan children whose parents were working in road construction camps in north India, creating a nursery home for them, which later expanded into a series of over 15 TCV schools across India under Pema’s leadership.

Pema has received several global honors, including the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child in Sweden in 2006, the Maria Montessori Award in Italy in 2010, and a UNESCO Medal in 1999. 

She also received the esteemed Nari Shakti Puraskar award in 2018 from the Indian government, which recognizes women or institutions dedicated to advancing women’s empowerment. 

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi with additional reporting by Passang Dhonden for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

How Kurds Missed Their Opportunity to be an Independent Nation

 THE BARZANI KLAN RUNS IRAQI KURDISTAN

Published: April 20, 2024

April 19, 2024

Author Rauf Naqishbendi
Exclusive to Ekurd.net

Retired US Lt General Jay Garne raises arms with PUK leader Jalal Talabani, left, and KDP leader Massoud Barzani, in Dukan, Sulaimani governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan on April 22, 2003. Photo: AP

After the American Invasion of Iraq, the climate matured for independent Kurdistan. It was the responsibility of Kurdish leaders to react, preparing the nation and leaving America with no choice but to submit to our national demand. But our national agenda took a backseat to the leader’s personal gains, prejudices, and tribal ambitions. For over sixty years of current leaders’ reign, they added nothing positive to our lives, but they detracted enough to be lamented for generations to come.

We must understand that independent Kurdistan must be a divine miracle given enormous stumbling blocks in a way. But the American invasion of Iraq was God’s long-awaited gift bestowed upon Kurds. That was one of a rare opportunities in the life of our nation; and made Kurds’ dream for independence come to fruition should Kurdish leaders were to pursue it prudently. The role of leadership is to prepare the nation for all occasions; study risks and plan for emergencies, react to opportunities, march, and galvanize the nation toward its aimed destination. But our leaders went after their personal gains ignoring our national ambition. They accumulated wealth beyond anyone’s imagination to become one of the wealthiest people not only in Kurdistan but the world. They engaged in the assassinations of journalists, suffocating the voice of their opposition, and expanding their criminal enterprises.

Kurdistan occupiers for centuries have been persistent to our subjugation to their dominion, but the American invasion of Iraq rendered them irrelevant on this occasion. Iran and Syria were on American Hit List, and Turkey an old American friend, when America called for its assistance when invaded Iraq, it refused to assist and proved itself perfidious.

America has never favored Independent Kurdistan. But the American invasion of Iraq had ashamed America in the sight of the world and was ready to make concessions to save its faith; besides American casualties were piling up; the economic cost was exuberance; and support for the war at home was fading away as more and more dead and lame soldiers delivered home. At the same time, the Iraqi government was unstable and incapable to fight insurgency and was crippled. That was when Kurds could have taken advantage of the situation and acted accordingly. But their leaders failed them miserably. When they reacted with the referendum of independent Kurdistan, it was too late as they rushed to action and caused the Iraqi government to re-assert its authority over the country’s internally disputed territories, particularly Kirkuk.

It has been six decades since Kurds took arms and fought against Iraq for free Kurdistan. Kurds sacrificed their lives and properties, supported the revolution, endured death, imprisonment, destruction, genocide, and gave everything they had in support of the revolution. Looking back in history, Kurds would have been better off without this bloody and futile revolution which became an instrument to fuel the greed of the two Kurdish dynasties and divide the nation.

                              Members of the Barzani clan and close supporters. Photo: Ekurd.net/SM/FB/AFP

After all the atrocities committed by the two ruling dynasties, they perceived they were immune from prosecution. Considering what had happened recently in the United States, proves their assumption is invalid. They accumulated wealth by robbing the nation and expanding their criminal enterprises, for example, please visit Michael Rubin from American Enterprise Institute, his article titled “Did the Barzanis kill a US government employee in cold blood?”

According to Mr. Rubin The Kurdistan Victims Fund, a charity incorporated in Wyoming, filed a lawsuit against the Kurdistan Regional Government Barzani’s family for (A) Murder of a United States Agent (B) U.S Immigration fraud and perjury (C) Extrajudicial murders and disappearance (D) Genocide and human rights abuse (E) torture of a U.S. citizen (F) illegal exile of Kurdish citizens (G) international narcotics trafficking.

I heard similar lawsuits have been filed against Barzani’s family in the EU, but I couldn’t confirm it. Based on Mr. Rubin’s analysis, Masrour Barzani, son of Masoud Barzani can’t evade prosecution based on legal precedents before the United States Supreme Court. Let it be known to Talabani’s and Barzan’s clan there will be no hideout places for them, and people in Kurdistan will follow them no matter where they land.

For Iraq to re-assert its control over Kurdistan is dreadful. But how these two dynasties have been bleeding Kurds for six decades is even more tragic. Assuredly, they will not be forgiven, and people will not let them escape unpunished. Unarguably, nothing good comes from the two ruling dynasties, and no good can happen during their reign. Therefore, these corrupt leaders and Mafia thugs must be toppled, let the new page of our history start, and let us give their opposition Goran, New Generation, and others a chance to shape our future.

Regardless of what happens people will not be silenced, and nothing can take away their inspiration for freedom and liberty. The last sixty years of the two dynasties have been deplorable and futile episodes of our history. Let us hope the future years will be different with a new leadership unifying Kurdistan, devoted to our wellbeing and our interest rather than compromising our national inspiration for their own personal gains; and with their creativities transforming our nation from its primitive status to one of the advanced societies. This transformation will be long in the making and painful. Sadly, I will not see it, but I pray my children and grandchildren will.

Death of Kurdish Independence and the Beginning of Kurdish National Nightmare

 April 19, 2024

Massoud Barzani, the tribal leader of the Barzani clan, and the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) (left) with PUK party president Bafel Talabani in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, February 24, 2024. Photo: Barzani’s Pess Office/X/via Ekurd.net

Rauf Naqishbendi | Exclusive to Ekurd.net

Barzani and Talabani’s dynasty complacently thought they could drill oil and natural gas forever without challenges. The most they shared with people was paying public employee wages which is a small fraction of the proceed and a lion share of proceed from oil and revenue sharing with Iraq funneled into their bank accounts abroad.

They ignored the needs of people and social services. As a result, the education system, healthcare, infostructure and social services in general suffered. They felt secure and invincible for they had American’s backing, but now they can’t drill oil and American will not be able to protect them as Iraqi government is about bringing back Kurdistan under Iraqi government control. As a result, their reign is in doubt and so is the fate of the nation.

Good leadership is a conrnerstone of achieving economic health and social justice, integrity is in the core of leadership. These leaders acted like Mafia thugs and corrupt authorities involved in power abuse, looting natural resources, assassinating, and jailing their oppositions. When a nation is ruled by wicked authorities like these, it warrants the collapse of society with tragic consequences.

Lina Barzani, the daughter of Sirwan Barzani, who is the nephew of Massoud Barzani and the managing director of Korek Telecom, a company worth over $2 billion, with millions of subscribers and close to 3,500 towers across Iraq, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan region, 2023. Photo: X/via Ekurd.net

Since American invasion of Iraq money has been flowing to Kurdistan unprecedented from Iraqi revenue sharing, American fund for the reconstruction of Kurdistan, and oil-for-food. Where did that money end up? Here is an example where some of that money is landed:

As reported by Shan Press, the daughter of Sirwan Barzani admitted her family’s investment in America as the followings:

27 companies, 14 hotels, 6 manufacturing companies, 287 cafeterias, 540 condominiums, 48 restaurants, 8 swimming facilities, a bank, and holding company and several hospitals.


Sirwan Barzani, the nephew of Massoud Barzani and the managing director of Korek Telecom, September 2023. Photo: Barzani’s office/via Ekurd.net

Those abovementioned enterprises are owned by only one member of Barzani’s clan, and there are dozens of them. Add to that Talabani’s clan who is also complicit, should we sum all the stolen money we talk about hundreds of billions of dollars.

After American invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush initiated an agreement for Baghdad to share the revenue of oil with Kurds. His formula was 20% of Iraqi’s oil revenue to be allocated to Kurdistan region, about $20 billion at that time; accordingly, $10 billion check to be written to both Talabani and Barzani.

From Left: Masrour, Massoud, US president George W. Bush, and Mansour Barzani, October 25, 2005. Photo: Barzanis’ fb

The problem with that agreement was it didn’t stipulate checks and accountability but rather left it to vices natural to men. This is an example of how America exported corruption to Kurdistan as it can be traced wherever America engaged. Should George W. Bush be at the helm, that fund would have been deposited into people’s account rather than Talabani’s and Barzani’s account; and have a group of respected citizens along with the United Nations representatives to monitor the allocation of that fund.

Kurds has been suffering at the hand of these two clans and their leaders for many decades. The deep-seated smoldering resentment would have exploded to topple authoritarian mobs, but their actions has been muted by brutalities of authorities who have been willing to gun down any numbers of people to maintain the status quo.

Iraqi government encumbered Kurdish authorities from selling oil & gas, as a result Kurdish authorities are left without revenue. Now it has been months public employees have not paid their salaries. This has resulted in financial difficulties for people. For lack of a private sector, the government is primary employer, and the public employee’s wages trickle down through the economy supporting the region.



Thousands of teachers protest over unpaid salaries in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jan 3, 2024. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw TV

Recently, Iraqi supreme court ordered federal government to pay Kurdistan public servants, the Supreme Court said the central administration would pay government workers, employees at public institutions, that means the Kurdish Regional Government will not be involved. That will discard the shadow payroll whereby thugs of Barzani and Talabani have been enrolling their family members and cronies to draw salary from multiple departments.

Gradually, Iraqi government will regain control of Kurdistan, at the end, Talabani and Barzani will be at the edge of demise. Thanks to Barzani and Talabani, not only the independent Kurdistan but the notion of autonomous Kurdistan is a dead dream without hope of resurrection in the foreseeable future.

Kurdish authorities were in their mission to abuse power and accumulate wealth with impunity and felt invincible for they had American backing. Surely, America counted on Kurds to be a beacon of freedom in the Middle East and has invested it’s hope and money knowing the rise of a democratic Kurdistan would justify its invasion of Iraq. For a few years after American invasion of Iraq, Kurds were well-respected internationally and gained sympathy from the western world for keeping their country safe and fighting terrorism. But American faith on Kurds soon evaporated after they found Barzani’s corroboration with ISIS and genocide of Yazidi Kurds; and knowing that Kurdish authorities are not only undemocratic but further one of corrupted and dictatorial authorities. Now, knowing their demise is near Barzani clan pleading for American support. Any American support to these abominable authorities is betrayal of Kurds; and investment in a country whose failure is warranted due to the wicked leaderships and lack of support from their own people.



Jalal Talabani (L) with Mala Mustafa Barzani (R), 1960s. Photo: Creative Commons/wikimedia

Now you Talabani’s and Barzani’s have invited these dreadful and sorrowful days to the life of Kurds. You both know your end is neigh, and you betrayed your people. At the end, you may not be able to exit as your ancestor did, hopefully you will be judged in a court of law. If not, like your ancestors Mustafa Barzani and Jalal Talabani will be forced to flee the country with your treasures hoarded abroad and leave your people at the mercy of their enemies. Congratulations on how you did so well for yourselves; and left your people with grievances and teras of sorrows in their coming days and years. Last but not least, nothing new under the sun, it’s Kurdish history keeps on repeating itself.

Rauf Naqishbendi is a retired software engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area. A long-time senior contributing writer for Ekurd.net. His memoirs entitled “The Garden Of The Poets”, recently published. It reads as a novel depicting his experience and the subsequent 1988 bombing of his hometown with chemical and biological weapons by Saddam Hussein. It is the story of his people´s suffering, and a sneak preview of their culture and history.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Ekurd.net or its editors.Read more about Independent Kurdistan state

Copyright © 2024 Ekurd.net. All rights reserve

GLOBALI$T CAPPLETALI$M
Apple Looking to Expand iPhone Production to Indonesia

By Efthymis Oraiopoulos
April 19, 2024

Business News

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures upon his arrival for a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 17, 2024. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)

Apple is looking to manufacture more of its products in Indonesia after making investments in India and Vietnam, as a global trend of tech giants relocating production away from China continues.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook met Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday, and said the company will “look at” manufacturing in Indonesia.

“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it’s something that we will look at,” Mr. Cook told reporters after the meeting.

Mr. Widodo’s administration has tried to attract manufacturing investment to Indonesia in recent years, but now Apple is also seeking to diversify its manufacturing base and transfer some manufacturing capacity away from China, where most of its tablets and iPhones are assembled. The manufacture of actual components still takes place primarily in other countries, such as Korea and Taiwan, but the bulk of Apple’s assembly takes place in China in factories run by Taiwan-based Foxconn.


The company began moving some production to countries like Vietnam, and more recently India, after shutdowns related to COVID-19 in China repeatedly disrupted the company’s shipments and supply chains.

“I think the investment ability in Indonesia is endless. I think that there are a lot of great places to invest, and we’re investing. We believe in the country,” Mr. Cook said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook (C), talks to journalists during a joint press conference with Indonesian Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita (L) and Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 17, 2024. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)

The previous day, Mr. Cook met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi, where he said Apple plans to invest more in Vietnam and increase spending on suppliers in the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub.

“Given the slowing Chinese economy as well as the Chinese government’s ongoing efforts to squeeze out foreign companies and replace them with domestic brands, Apple wants alternatives for manufacturing,” said Chris Miller, an associate professor at Tufts University, whose work focuses on technology and geopolitics.

“It has already invested more in India and Vietnam, but it is likely looking at other partners in South East Asia to [add] additional manufacturing and assembly operations,” Mr. Miller said.

Apple recently announced it is opening a fourth training academy for mobile developers in Indonesia’s Bali. In 2018, the company started the program, called Apple Developer Academy, in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.

Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia yet, but the company says it has invested 1.6 trillion rupiah ($99 million) in its app developer ecosystem in the country.

Mr. Widodo’s government has sought to leverage the country’s reserves of nickel and other raw materials to bring in manufacturing, banning the export of raw commodities such as nickel and bauxite to oblige companies to build smelters and refineries domestically.

After the meeting with Mr. Widodo, Mr. Cook also met Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is currently the defense minister, in Jakarta. He is set to take power in October.

Indonesia’s minister of communications and information, Budi Arie Setiadi, said Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella would visit Indonesia at the end of April.

Apple CEO Tim Cook (R) walks with Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi (L) after a meeting with President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 17, 2024. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)
Leaving China

Apple produced $14 billion-worth of its iPhones in India in the last fiscal year.

Foxconn began making the iPhone 15 in India in the summer of 2023, and the number of iPhones made in plants there is growing fast. Other technology firms, such as Dell and HP, have also expanded aggressively into India, Vietnam, Mexico, and other markets.

Apple is going to expand its iPhone assembly in India in the next two years, with a quarter of them to be made in the world’s most populous country of India, Forbes reported.

The company aims to manufacture more than 50 million devices in India in the next few years, and then to continue growing.

Taiwanese company Foxconn, one of Apple’s top subcontractors, was planning to open a plant in India in April, from which it aims to produce 20 million phones annually—and mainly iPhones.

Tata, India’s biggest conglomerate, wants to build the country’s biggest iPhone assembly plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It already has an iPhone assembly plant in the state of Karnataka.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Hundreds rally in Stockholm for climate action

By

 AFP

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday led some 500 people in a march in Stockholm to demand politicians do more to address the issue of climate change.

Demonstrators of all ages braved chilly spring temperatures of 3C (37F), wearing parkas and woolly bonnets and chanting “International solidarity! We only have one planet!” and “(Climate Minister Romina) Pourmokhtari’s empty words won’t save our planet”, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The march was organised by the Fridays For Future (FFF) movement.

“We’re gathered here to fight, once again, for climate justice,” Thunberg told AFP.

“It’s now been more than five and a half years that we’ve been doing the same thing, organising big global strikes for the climate and gathering people, youths from the entire world.” 

The first global youth climate strike, started by Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement, attracted thousands of people on March 15, 2019.

Six months later, in September 2019, the movement had mushroomed, with millions of people marching around the planet for the climate.

The Swedish activist became an international name in August 2018 when she began her “School Strike for the Climate” at the age of 15, sitting outside Sweden’s parliament every Friday morning.

She still takes part regularly in marches and other events where she criticises the lack of political action to halt global warming.

“We are many people and youths who want to express our frustration over what decision-makers are doing right now: they don’t care about our future and aren’t doing anything to stop the climate crisis,” Karla Alfaro Gripe, an 18-year-old FFF activist, told AFP.

The Swedish Climate Policy Council, tasked with evaluating the government’s policy, said last month that Sweden will not be able to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target after adopting measures in 2023 that will lead to short-term emissions increases.

Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari said at the time she was “not particularly worried about some of the assessments” in the council’s report, noting that several of the issues raised had already been addressed with “measures” added afterwards.

"We will never accept Russian rule!" - A massive youth march in Tbilisi against the "foreign agents law"

JAMnewsTbilisi

Draft law on foreign agents in Georgia
20.04.2024

Protest against the law on foreign agents in Georgia

On April 19, participants of the massive youth march in Tbilisi chanted ‘No to the Russian law!’ protesting against the draft law ‘On Foreign Influence’, commonly referred to as the ‘foreign agents law’ or the ‘Russian law’ in society.

On April 17, the parliament passed the draft law in the first reading. It is promised to be reviewed in the third reading on May 17.

Undermining democracy: Examples of how foreign influence laws impact democratic principles

Financial control over civil society representatives indicates the political regime’s evolution toward authoritarianism



The protest in front of the parliament has been ongoing for several days, gathering between 30,000 to 100,000 people each time. Today, protesters once again blocked Rustaveli Avenue, whistled, blew horns, beat drums, and chanted: “Where are we going? To Europe!”


The young people were calling on the government to repeal the “Russian law.”

Why Georgia's government seeks to reintroduce 'foreign agents' law: Expert views

JAMnews asked local political analysts to assess this decision by the ruling party “Georgian Dream.”


Later, the rally participants moved first to the House of Justice, and then to Heroes Square. In doing so, they marched through all the central districts of the city.

The cars on the embankment, which were driving parallel to the march, greeted its participants with honks.

At Heroes Square, where a memorial to those who died for Georgia’s territorial integrity is erected, young people sang the Georgian anthem and made an oath:

“We, the citizens of Georgia, Georgian patriots, have gathered here at Heroes Square to honor their memory and pledge before their souls. We swear that we will never forsake the freedom bought with the price of your lives. We swear that we will never reconcile with the force that seeks to surrender our country to the enemy – Russia. We will stand for each other and defend the sovereignty of Georgia, our language, our heritage, and unity!

Long live independent and united Georgia!“

Then tens of thousands of protesters returned to the parliament, where they once again appealed to the deputies to abandon the consideration of the “foreign agents” bill.

“We are all here together, not just students, but also all our teachers, our parents. This is our country, and we are fighting together for its prosperity. We are on the right side of history,” said one of the rally participants from the podium, announcing the continuation of the protest the next day.

“We will stand here every day. Our struggle will continue until the authorities abandon this ugly law, until Russian influence disappears from this country,” declared another rally participant.

Another protest action is scheduled for tomorrow, April 20, at 7 p.m.

● The draft law on “foreign agents” was first initiated by the ruling party a year ago, in March 2023. It was then passed by parliament in the first reading but later withdrawn due to mass protests by citizens and sharp criticism from the West.

● On April 3, 2024, it was announced that the ruling party “Georgian Dream” had once again initiated the consideration of the draft law “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence.”

● On April 16, the second day of mass protests outside the parliament, riot police used pepper spray to disperse the peaceful demonstration. Several protesters were also beaten, resulting in injuries to dozens of participants.

● Accredited ambassadors in the country, many Western politicians, leaders of the European Union, and representatives of the US State Department, sharply criticized the draft law and recommended its withdrawal from parliament. Georgia has been openly warned that passing this law will create significant obstacles to the country’s integration into Europe.

● Despite unprecedented domestic and international resistance, on April 17, the parliament passed the agent law in the first reading during a plenary session with 83 votes in favor and 0 against. Opposition deputies abstained from voting; some left the session in protest, while others were forcibly removed from the chamber.

● The Georgian government asserts that it will not retreat and will fully enforce the law. The main argument of the government is that “Georgian non-governmental organizations operate non-transparently, posing a threat to the country’s security.”

However, independent experts, the opposition, and the broader civil society do not buy into this argument. They believe that the ruling party, Georgian Dream, is attempting to prolong its stay in power and is gearing up to suppress alternative voices in the country ahead of the parliamentary elections in October 2024.
Why this bill is harmful and has nothing to do with the American and European versions:

In their comments, government representatives consistently reiterate that critics of the “foreign agents law” cannot provide specific arguments as to why this law is Russian. However, this is not the case, as evidenced by numerous materials circulating in Georgian media for over a year.

Journalists extensively and with specific arguments explain the harmful nature of this law.

● Explanation by JAMnews: Why this law is harmful and has nothing to do with the American and European versions (in Russian, Georgian, and English).

● Georgian edition of Radio Liberty provides a detailed explanation of the dangers of this project (in Georgian).

● Why is this law called Russian? Detailed analysis by the publication “Publika” (in Georgian).

● Breakdown of the bill by points in a video by the “Project 64” team (in Georgian).

● Here is the text from JAMnews about the disasters already caused by this law adopted in other countries (in Russian, Georgian, and English).

● What makes the Russian law dangerous? 5 questions and answers in a text by Netgazeti (in Georgian).

● Simple explanation on the website on.ge.

US calls for transparency from Cambodia over China-backed canal


April 19, 2024 
By Han Noy
Sun Narin

VOA

 A ferry is shown on March 18, 2024, along the Mekong River where a proposed canal is planned.

The United States is urging Cambodia to be transparent over a proposed $1.7 billion canal financed by China that is worrying Vietnam due to its potential impact on water resource management.

"The Cambodian people – along with people in neighboring countries and the broader region – would benefit from transparency on any major undertaking with potential implications for regional water management, agricultural sustainability, and security," Wesley Holzer, a U.S. embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh, told VOA Khmer in an email on Tuesday.

The proposed canal has alarmed neighboring Vietnam because of how the project would affect its use of water downstream.

Cambodia Tries to Reassure Vietnam That Proposed Canal Won't Affect Mekong River

Cambodia approved the 180-kilometer-long (111.8 miles) Funan Techo Canal in May. The $1.7 billion project, part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, would connect the coastal province of Kep with Kandal and Takeo provinces inland. The proposed design is 100 meters (109.3 yards) wide upstream and 80 meters (87.4 yards) wide downstream, with a consistent depth of 5.4 meters (5.9 yards). It is the latest China-financed infrastructure project in Cambodia.

Phan Rim, spokesperson of Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport, told VOA Khmer on Tuesday that the project is expected to be built by the end of this year as planned.

Mekong River

The U.S. is urging Cambodian authorities "to coordinate closely with the Mekong River Commission [MRC] to provide additional project details and to participate fully in any appropriate environmental impact studies to help the MRC and member countries fully understand, assess, and prepare for any possible impacts of the project," according to the embassy spokesperson.

Doan Khac Viet, deputy spokesperson for Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on April 11, "Vietnam is very interested in information about the Funan Techo Canal Project and has asked the Cambodian side to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese side and the International Mekong River Commission in sharing information and assessing the impact of the project."

Brian Eyler, senior fellow and director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said the canal connects with tributaries of the Mekong River, "but indeed the specifications submitted by the Cambodian National Mekong Committee to the Mekong River Commission show the first and shorter section of the canal connecting to the Mekong River in Kandal Province near the Kandal container port."

"If the canal is indeed used for irrigation, then Vietnam's concerns will intensify because the only way to provide irrigation from the canal is to take much more water out of the Mekong than what is specified in the notification document to the MRC," he wrote in an email to VOA Khmer on Tuesday.

"So much remains unclear about this project and it seems to be moving forward at breakneck speed with zero room for appropriate levels of information dissemination and regional discourse," Eyler said.

Villagers near proposed canal in Cambodia worry and wait

He added that the project seems "to be driving a wedge between Cambodia and Vietnam and forcing other countries to choose sides on whether they support Vietnam or support Cambodia."

"The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the MRC were established to avoid these kinds of negative and potentially disastrous outcomes,” he said. “The MRC needs to be involved at all levels of this project, and currently it is not."

In December, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet reassured Hanoi, saying the project "will not incur any negative impacts on the flow of the Mekong or other rivers while maintaining a stable environment, ecology and natural habitat for biodiversity."

Rim Sokvy, an independent researcher in Cambodia, said the Cambodian government "will try its best to prevent the project from failing."

"The project could contribute significantly to Hun Manet's image," he told VOA Khmer in an email on Tuesday. "If the project is going to fail, I don't think it is because Vietnam has been trying to oppose it. I think it is because of the withdrawal of China's support. However, I do not think that China will do so as Cambodia is its key ally."

VOA Vietnamese contributed to this report.

'How gold becomes guns': heist spotlights illegal US-Canada gun trade

TURNING GOLD INTO LEAD

By Nadine Yousif,BBC News, Toronto

Canadian police said the heist is not just about gold, but "how gold turns into guns"

The arrests that followed a "sensational" gold heist have shed light on the illegal gun trade between the US and Canada.

Thousands of gold bars worth C$20m ($14.5m; £11.6m) were stolen from the Toronto airport in Canada a year ago.

Police have since said the gold was sold for cash to buy guns in the US.

Officials allege the arrested suspects had planned to smuggle the guns into Canada, which has strict gun laws, and sell them on the black market.

"This isn't just about gold," said Nando Iannicca, chair of the Peel Regional Police, the force responsible for the arrest of nine suspects who were allegedly involved in the heist.

"This is about how gold becomes guns."

The smuggling of illegal guns from the US has long been a source of concern for police in Canada, where most firearms - save for shotguns and rifles - are restricted or prohibited.

The US has enshrined the right bear arms in the US constitution, which has made firearms readily accessible and gun ownership a challenging political topic in America.

But it also has created a lucrative illegal business in which smugglers bring guns they purchase in the US to Canada, said Police Chief Bill Fordy, who sits on the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police's Special Purpose Committee on Firearms.

A gun purchased in the US for $500 "can easily sell for up to $5,000 in Canada", Norman Proctor, a Toronto Police inspector, said at a news conference last year.


The issue surfaced after Canada introduced stricter gun laws a few years ago in response to the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia - the country's deadliest - in which 22 people were killed. The law included a ban on "assault-style weapons".

Some questioned the effectiveness of the ban, as the perpetrator was found to have obtained his guns illegally - three were smuggled across the US border from Houlton, Maine.

Once these American guns cross the border into Canada, police say they are frequently distributed across the country and used in violent crimes, like robberies, carjackings and homicides.

Chief Fordy told the BBC that in 2023, 90% of handguns recovered after violent crimes in Ontario - Canada's most populous province - were traced back to the US.

"Through our tracing and analysis, we know the top states (these guns come from) are Ohio, Texas, Florida and Georgia, in that order," Chief Fordy said.


Some are stolen, while others are bought using straw purchasers - an individual who buys a gun for someone who is not authorised to own it.

"Sometimes they are purchased in bulk, then sold here on the street for a handsome return on investment," Chief Fordy said.
Gold heist reveals 'sophisticated' gun smuggling efforts

Last year's gold heist out of Toronto Pearson International Airport was the largest in North America's history, police said.

Chief Nishan Duraiappah with the Peel Regional Police described it as "sensational" - one that "belongs in a Netflix series".

It involved a complicated effort, in which 400kg (880lb) of gold and cash were stolen from a cargo facility on airport grounds using a fake shipping slip, just 42 minutes after they were unloaded from an Air Canada flight that had arrived from Switzerland.


The precious goods were then loaded and driven away in a large, white cargo truck.

Peel Regional PolicePolice seized dozens of firearms as part of the investigation into the gold heist, including handguns that were intended to be sold illegally in Canada

When announcing arrests in the case, police revealed the robbery was carried out with the help of two Air Canada employees. These airline workers are now facing charges of theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offense.

Police later discovered that some of the gold was turned into bracelets that were then sold for cash.

More layers of the scheme were uncovered after the arrest of 25-year-old Durante King-Mclean, a man from Ontario who was stopped by police in Pennsylvania in September.


Authorities found dozens of guns from Florida and Georgia in his possession, and they alleged that Mr King-Mclean - who drove the getaway truck, according to police - had entered the US illegally.

Chief Fordy told the BBC that the scheme, from beginning to end, shows just how sophisticated these gun smuggling operations have become.

"You're seeing organised criminal enterprises involved," he said.

The number of guns used in Canadians crimes that can be traced back to the US has risen in the last 10 years, he added, forcing American and Canadian police officers to increasingly work together to stop these guns from coming in.

Mr King-Mclean is now in custody in the US, and faces charges in both countries.

‘No to mining’: activists demand closure of Guatemala gold mine

By AFP
April 19, 2024

Activists from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras hold a protest on Lake Guija against a Canadian-owned gold mine - Copyright AFP Marvin RECINOS
Oscar BATRES

Waving banners and shouting “no to mining,” environmental activists gathered in small boats on a lake between El Salvador and Guatemala on Friday calling for the closure of a Canadian-owned gold mine.

Residents fear that the Cerro Blanco site, which has been granted permission by Guatemala to convert from an underground to open-pit mine, will contaminate Lake Guija.

“All these extraction projects do is sell out our environment and our future,” said Claudia Rodriguez, a 41-year-old member of an association of women environment defenders.

“The goal is for Cerro Blanco to close, even if we have to give our lives for it,” she said.

The previous Guatemalan government in January gave approval to Canadian owner Bluestone Resources to turn Cerro Blanco into an open-pit mine, just days before right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei left office.

The government of El Salvador expressed “serious concern” about the move.

On Thursday, Guatemala’s new government said it was seeking to reverse the decision due to what it called “anomalies.”

Opponents say the site poses a serious threat to the environment.

“The use of chemicals in mineral extraction is greatly damaging our natural resources and the Cerro Blanco mine is no exception,” Salvadoran environmental campaigner Ricardo Navarro said.

“The use of chemicals in that mine will harm not only El Salvador, but also Guatemala and Honduras,” he told AFP.

Chemicals harmful to humans, animals and plants would pollute the Lempa river that flows through the three countries, Navarro said.

Lake Guija feeds a tributary of the Lempa River, which starts in Guatemala, crosses part of Honduras and then enters El Salvador, where it is an important source of drinking water for the capital San Salvador.

Videlina Morales, a 56-year-old anti-mining activist, said she feared for the future of the lake, which local fishermen rely on to earn a living.

“We demand the closure of the Cerro Blanco mine out of respect for our natural resources,” she said.

Turkish Flotilla to Set Sail for Gaza

April 19, 2024 | Flash Brief |  FDD | The Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Israel is bracing for potential maritime trade disruptions due to imminent seaborne aid deliveries to Gaza from Turkey by Turkish charities and pro-Palestinian activist groups. The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IIH) — a pro-Hamas Turkish charity organization outlawed by Israel — and the Mavi Marmara Association have organized the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) alongside pro-Palestinian organizations and activists from 30 countries. The coalition seeks to “break the siege of Gaza.”

IHH recently acquired three ships for this mission and renamed them Anadolu, The Conscience, and Akdeniz. Despite recent Israeli efforts to increase seaborne aid to Gaza, these ships will carry 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid and “hundreds of international human rights observers to challenge the ongoing illegal Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip,” the FFC said on April 14. The FFC shipment would be less than the amount of aid Israel delivered on April 17 alone, according to the most recent statistics from Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

The coalition’s ships are expected to sail around April 21, but Israeli officials hope the flotilla will be delayed. In 2010, the IHH sent a flotilla of six ships to Gaza, leading to a lethal confrontation at sea with Israeli forces on the ship Mavi Marmara.

The 2010 Mavi Marmara Clashes Inform Israeli Security Concerns

Israel-Turkey relations deteriorated in 2010 following an armed skirmish aboard the largest ship in the flotilla organized by IHH — the Turkish-owned vessel known as the Mavi Marmara. Reportedly, Israeli forces boarded the Mavi Marmara to search for military aid and opened fire when some Turkish activists onboard attacked them with clubs, knives, and a gun. Ten Turks died from the exchange. While the incident sparked international outrage, the 2011 Palmer Report issued by the United Nations found Israel’s naval blockade was a legitimate form of self-defense. In 2016, Turkey agreed to end legal action against the Israeli officers involved in the incident.

EDITED 

Related Analysis

“Gaza Flotilla Plans Mid-April Sailing,” FDD Flash Brief

“Turkey-Based Organization Prepares to Send Flotilla to Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief

“Erdogan Pushes for Another Hamas Flotilla,” FDD Flash Brief

 

H5N1 strain of bird flu found in milk: WHO

By

 AFP

The H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been detected in very high concentrations in raw milk from infected animals, the WHO said Friday, though how long the virus can survive in milk is unknown.

Avian influenza A(H5N1) first emerged in 1996 but since 2020, the number of outbreaks in birds has grown exponentially, alongside an increase in the number of infected mammals.

The strain has led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry, with wild birds and land and marine mammals also infected.

Cows and goats joined the list last month — a surprising development for experts because they were not thought to be susceptible to this type of influenza.

US authorities earlier this month said a person working on a dairy farm in Texas was recovering from bird flu after being exposed to cattle.

“The case in Texas is the first case of a human infected by avian influenza by a cow,” said Wenqing Zhang, head of the global influenza programme at the World Health Organization.

“Bird-to-cow, cow-to-cow and cow-to-bird transmission have also been registered during these current outbreaks, which suggest that the virus may have found other routes of transition than we previously understood,” she told a media briefing in Geneva.

It was only the second case of a human testing positive for bird flu in the United States, and came after the virus sickened herds that were apparently exposed to wild birds.

“Now we see multiple herds of cows affected in an increasing number of US states, which shows a further step of the virus spillover to mammals,” Zhang said.

“The virus has also been detected in milk from infected animals.”

Zhang said there was a “very high virus concentration in raw milk”, but experts were still investigating exactly how long the virus is able to survive in milk.

The Texas health department has said the cattle infections do not present a concern for the commercial milk supply, as dairies are required to destroy milk from sick cows. Pasteurisation also kills the virus.

“It is important for people to ensure safe food practices, including consuming only pasteurised milk and milk products,” said Zhang.

– Recent human cases mild –

From 2003 to April 1 this year, the WHO said it had recorded 463 deaths from 889 human cases across 23 countries, putting the case fatality rate at 52 percent.

Zhang noted that the human cases recorded in Europe and the United States in the past few years — since the virus surged — have been mild cases.

So far, there is no evidence that A(H5N1) is spreading between humans.

And Zhang stressed that the A(H5N1) viruses identified in cows and in the human case in Texas showed no increased adaptation to mammals.

As for potential vaccines, if required, Zhang said there were some in the pipeline.

“Having candidate vaccine viruses ready allows us to be prepared to quickly produce vaccines for humans, if this becomes necessary,” she said.

“For this particular H5N1 virus detected in dairy cows, there are a couple of candidate vaccine viruses available.”

In the case of a pandemic, there are close to 20 influenza vaccines licensed for pandemic use and they could be tailored with the specific virus strain in circulation, she said.