After South Africa's historic election, what now for its global role on issues like the war in Gaza?

GERALD IMRAY

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — It was a historic day for South Africa. The political party that ended the racially divisive era of apartheid and sent global hopes soaring with a vibrant new democracy has lost its three-decade grip on power, according to election results Saturday.

For the first time, the African National Congress will have to form a coalition to govern South Africa, whose role on the global stage is growing as it takes Israel to court over its actions in Gaza and assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 nations late this year.

Here’s what might lie ahead for a leading voice for the developing world after the ANC lost its dominance at home.


CHALLENGING ISRAEL OVER GAZA

South Africa has become the most visible critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza by accusing it of genocide in a case at the International Court of Justice, the U.N.'s top court.

The case has been largely driven by the ANC, which has long identified with the Palestinian cause and sees in Gaza and the occupied West Bank uncomfortable parallels with the distant "homelands" created for South Africa's Black people by the former white-controlled government under the brutal system of apartheid.

Israel vehemently denies the allegations of genocide. The ANC’s loss of its parliamentary majority in this week's election made news in Israel.

The case at the world court could go on for years, meaning a new South African coalition government will inherit it. The ANC likely will form a governing deal with one or more of South Africa's three main opposition parties — the centrist Democratic Alliance, the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters and the populist new MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma.

The Democratic Alliance, which received around 21% of the vote, has said it doesn't agree with the genocide case against Israel and would rather see South Africa push for a mediated settlement in the Israel-Hamas war. The EFF is seen to be at least as pro-Palestinian as the ANC and has also accused Israel of genocide. The position of the MK Party, formed late last year, is not clear.

G20 PRESIDENCY LIES AHEAD

South Africa has long been seen as a leading representative of the African continent in the world, and on Dec. 1 it assumes the prominent presidency of the Group of 20 nations — 20 leading rich and developing nations. South Africa will take over from Brazil, which is using its presidency to push for greater representation of developing nations on the global stage.

South Africa is the only African nation in the G20. The ANC and its new governing partner or partners will need to look beyond South African politics and find a common stance on pressing global issues such as climate change, conflict and reforms of international financial institutions.

“Regardless of the electoral outcome, deep-seated elements of South African foreign policy will persist, such as championing the rights of Palestinians and calling for international institutions to reform to better reflect the priorities of African states,” Michelle Gavin wrote last month for the Council on Foreign Relations.

AND THEN THERE'S RUSSIA

South Africa’s diplomacy under the ANC has drawn attention for its historic pro-Moscow stance that continued after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. While the United States and others in the West have long recognized the ANC's ties to Russia — they go back to the fight against apartheid — the U.S.-South Africa relationship was seriously strained when the ANC government allowed Russian and Chinese warships to conduct drills off its coast in early 2023.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance has been strongly critical of the ANC over its relationship with Russia, accusing it of betraying its claimed position of nonalignment and neutrality with regards to the war in Ukraine and the larger tensions between Russia and the West.

Gavin suggested that an “unstable” governing coalition could hurt South Africa as a gateway for foreign investors and “push the country even closer to Russia and China."

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa


A guide to what's next for South Africa and the key figures in unprecedented coalition talks

GERALD IMRAY


CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa's election has decided little, other than the African National Congress that liberated the country from apartheid in 1994 has lost its 30-year majority.

It remained the biggest party, though. With no one holding a majority, South Africa's party leaders are embarking on coalition talks to form a government. South Africa has never had to do this due to the ANC's long dominance.

There are four major political parties and at least eight with significant shares of the vote after last week's election. It'll be complicated.

Here's a guide to some of the key figures and what might be coming next as South Africa enters uncharted territory.

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Once a protege of Nelson Mandela, Ramaphosa, 71, has now overseen the worst election result in the ANC's history. He is under pressure within his own party as well as with voters, but he managed to laugh when an official made a slip Sunday and referred to him as the “extinguished” president rather than distinguished. “I'm not yet extinguished,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa's challenge is to guide his party to a coalition he sees as best amid different factions within the ANC. The obvious choice is the main opposition Democratic Alliance. Between them, they would have enough seats in Parliament to govern. But the DA has been fiercely critical of the ANC's policies for years and the marriage wouldn't be an easy one, even if both have said they are open to discussions.

Another option for the ANC is to join with one or both of the two other main opposition parties, the uMkhonto weSizwe party, or MK party, and the Economic Freedom Fighters. That could be damaging for South Africa's image with foreign investors given MK and the EFF have both pledged to nationalize South Africa's important gold and platinum mines and the central bank.

Ramaphosa's presidency is in the balance given a coalition agreement also has to translate into reelecting him for a second term. South Africans vote for parties in elections to decide how many seats they get in Parliament. Lawmakers then elect the president and the ANC now doesn't have enough lawmakers on its own to reelect Ramaphosa.

JOHN STEENHUISEN

Steenhuisen, 48, is the main opposition leader as head of the centrist DA and the only white leader among the four main parties. He said his party was also initiating talks with various parties, except MK and the EFF. The DA has drawn a line there and said it will never work with those two over ideological differences.

Getting Steenhuisen's DA and Ramaphosa's ANC together is widely viewed as the most stable coalition option by analysts. Some have suggested that other smaller parties could be brought in to create a wider coalition and dilute the ANC-DA mix.

FORMER PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA

Zuma was the leader of the ANC and president of South Africa until he was replaced by Ramaphosa in both positions. They've become fierce rivals. Zuma, who is 82, was the wildcard of this election after only announcing his political comeback in December. His newly formed MK Party had a huge impact by winning 14% of the vote and taking some of the ANC's support to become the third biggest party in its first election.

Zuma's party has demanded Ramaphosa step down as a condition for a coalition, a mark of the personal animosity. The ANC rejected the condition. While it would seem there's little for them to work with to come together, MK does now have a significant vote share and seats in Parliament.

Zuma, who has served a prison sentence for contempt of court, is due to go on trial next year on charges of corruption. He was barred from running for a seat in Parliament in this election because of his criminal record.

JULIUS MALEMA

Malema's EFF party lost support in the election to drop to the fourth biggest party behind MK. Malema is the youngest of the major leaders at age 43 and also has old ties to the ANC as its former youth leader before he was expelled for misconduct.

Renowned as a firebrand, his party follows a Marxist ideology but there's some common ground between it and the ANC and the EFF was raised as a logical coalition partner for the ANC before MK overtook it and reduced its significance. Because of their differences, the inclusion of the EFF and MK in any coalition may result in the DA pulling out.

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South Africa's president urges parties to find common ground in talks after election deadlock

MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY

Updated Sun, June 2, 2024 election result, South Africa's African National Congress was talking to everyone in an effort to form a stable coalition government for Africa's most advanced economy after it lost its 30-year majority


JOHANNESBURG (AP) — President Cyril Ramaphosa called Sunday for South Africa's political parties to overcome their differences and find “common ground” to form the first national coalition government in its young democracy.

His comments came in a speech straight after final election results were announced confirming that no party won a majority in last week's vote. Unprecedented coalition talks were set to start to find a way forward for Africa’s most industrialized economy.

Ramaphosa's African National Congress party had already lost its 30-year majority after more than 99% of votes were counted by Saturday and showed it couldn’t surpass 50%. The ANC received 40% of the votes in last week’s election in the final count, the largest share.

Without a majority it will need to agree on a coalition with another party or parties for the first time to co-govern and reelect Ramaphosa for a second term. South Africa’s national elections decide how many seats each party gets in Parliament and lawmakers elect the president later.

“Our people have spoken,” Ramaphosa said. “Whether we like it or not, they have spoken. We have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their choices and their wishes. ... The people of South Africa expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs. This is a time for all of us to put South Africa first.”

The ANC was the party of Nelson Mandela and freed South Africa from the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. It had governed with a comfortable majority since then, but this election saw an unprecedented slump in its support as voters deserted the party due to its failure to solve widespread poverty, extremely high unemployment levels and problems with delivering basic government services to many in a nation of 62 million.

The ANC had said earlier Sunday that it was starting its negotiations with all major parties. More than 50 parties took part in the election, and at least eight had significant shares of the vote. At least 26 of them, including the MK Party led by former President Jacob Zuma, have lodged objections and complaints with the electoral body alleging voting irregularities, which it has promised to address.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said it was open to all negotiations, even with the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has led the chorus of criticism of the ANC for years but is viewed by many analysts as the most stable coalition option for South Africa.

The DA won the second most votes with 21.8%, and the two parties would hold a majority together and be able to govern. DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party was also initiating talks with parties. The ANC won 159 seats in the 400-seat Parliament, down from the 230 it won in the last election. The DA increased slightly to 87 seats.

There is some time pressure for coalition talks to progress and for the uncertainty to be minimized, given that the new Parliament needs to sit for the first time and elect a president within 14 days of the election results being declared.

Ramaphosa is seeking a second and final term and Mbalula said his position as leader of the ANC was not in question despite the election result. Mbalula said the ANC would not consider the demands by Zuma's MK Party that Ramaphosa step down as a condition for talks.

“No political party will dictate terms to us, the ANC. They will not ... You come to us with that demand, forget (it),” Mbalula said.

He said the ANC would not be arrogant, though. “The elections have humbled us, they have brought us where we are,” he said.

South Africa is a leading voice for its continent and for the developing world on the global stage and is due to take over the presidency of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations late this year. It’s the only African nation in that group.

“Everyone is looking to see if South Africa can weather the storm and come out the other side,” political analyst Oscar van Heerden said on the eNCA news network.

Amid many coalition options, the ANC could also join with MK and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, although they have been cast as partners that would make investors uneasy. Both have pledged to nationalize parts of South Africa’s economy, including its gold and platinum mines, among the world’s biggest producers.

The DA has long said it will not work with the EFF and MK, calling them a “doomsday coalition” for South Africa. Steenhuisen, the party's leader, repeated that stance Sunday in a speech on national television but said his party was starting talks with others and would approach them “with cool heads and open minds.”

Political analyst van Heerden said an ANC-DA coalition would “possibly give stability” but there were some within the ANC who would oppose it. Other smaller parties could be involved to dilute it and make it more palatable for the ANC, some commentators said.

“The DA has approached the ANC as the enemy over many, many years,” van Heerden said. “The next few days is going to be a very difficult period. People will have to be mature behind closed doors.”

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.


South Africa general election results: What was the vote share and will there be a new leader?

Lola Christina Alao
Mon, June 3, 2024 

People queue to cast their votes at a polling station in Johannesburg (AP)

The African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy, in the South African general election.

The ANC famously led the fight to free South Africa from apartheid. High unemployment, power cuts, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure are said to have led to a loss of support for the former liberation movement.

The ANC also lost its majority in three provinces: Northern Cape; Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal, where MK was the largest party.

South Africa’s current president, 71-year-old Cyril Ramaphosa, has indicated he will not resign after the ANC’s defeat.

"What this election has made plain is that the people of South Africa expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs," he said.

He added that after 30 years, South Africans should be grateful their democracy worked: "We must respect their choices and their wishes."
What were the final vote numbers?

The ANC won 159 seats on a vote share of just over 40%.

The full results are as follows:

Here are the top parties:

ANC - 159 seats

DA - 87 seats

MK - 58 seats

EFF - 39 seats

IFP - 17 seats

PA - 9 seats

The remainder of the seats went to smaller parties.
Will there be a new president?

South Africans do not directly elect the president. They elect the members of the National Assembly, who then elect the president by a simple majority.

201 or more votes are needed to determine the presidency.

Now that the results have been announced, certain steps must be followed for South Africa to form a government. They include:

The allocation of seats


The first sitting of the National Assembly


The election of the president


The formation of government

All eyes on ANC as it discusses who to enlist to govern South Africa

Updated Mon, June 3, 2024 
By Nellie Peyton and Tannur Anders

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa was on tenterhooks on Monday for the African National Congress to signal whom it will choose as a partner to govern the nation after it lost its majority in last week's election for the first time in 30 years of democracy.

The ANC had comfortably won every previous election since the end of apartheid in 1994 but this time voters weary of joblessness, inequality and rolling power blackouts gave it just 40.2% of the vote, down from 57.5% five years ago.

Its vote share was still the largest of any party but was not enough for the ANC to govern alone, thrusting South Africa into unknown political territory.

"This moment in our country calls for responsible leadership and constructive engagement," said President Cyril Ramaphosa in a weekly newsletter published on Monday.

The ANC's potential partners are diametrically opposed, ranging from the free-marketeer Democratic Alliance (DA) to uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), parties that advocate nationalising mines and banks and redistributing land.

"We would work with anyone who wants to work with us but not with a cap in the hand," ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said late on Sunday after the official results were announced.

With the future direction of government policy at stake, a working committee of 27 ANC officials was scheduled to meet on Tuesday to prepare a presentation on the party's options to be delivered to the National Executive Committee on Wednesday.

The meetings were earlier scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

"It's a rescheduling," ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told Reuters, refuting a local media report that the meetings were postponed due to internal conflict and adding "how can you have disagreements when they haven't even met yet?".

The DA and the smaller, socially conservative Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) have both announced they had set up negotiating teams to engage with other parties. Both are part of an alliance of parties formed before the election.

"The people of South Africa spoke loud and clear that political parties must find each other and constitute a government on their behalf as they did not give a full mandate to one political party," said IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa.

The DA came second in the election with 21.8% of the vote, while MK, which is led by former president Jacob Zuma, got 14.6%. The EFF received 9.5% and the IFP 3.9%.

Under the constitution, the newly elected parliament must convene within two weeks of the results being declared, and one of its first acts must be to choose the nation's next president.

So far, ANC officials who have spoken in public have rallied round Ramaphosa but he may nevertheless come under pressure, whether from an internal challenge or from other parties refusing to work with him.

TOUGH TALKS AHEAD

"It is going to be very difficult coalition negotiations, even more so for the ANC because of its internal contradictions," said Zwelinzima Ndevu, director of the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the DA was likely to push the ANC hard on making a strong commitment to root out corruption in party ranks, which could trigger resistance from some ANC figures he described as "heavily compromised".

"It's going to be a question as to whether the ANC signs up for anti-corruption or not," he said.

Despite that potential hurdle, some analysts said a deal between the ANC and the DA looked like the likeliest outcome because the DA had a positive record in government at the provincial level, in Western Cape where the major tourist city of Cape Town is located.

"I'm tending intuitively to think the DA has got slightly better odds than the EFF at this stage," said Susan Booysen, director of research at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.

Financial markets, which favour the DA over either the EFF or MK due to its pro-business policy stance, appeared to be taking a similar view. South Africa's rand, stocks and government bonds made up some of their recent days' losses linked to post-election uncertainty.

Some analysts noted that a coalition was not the only possible outcome. A government of national unity bringing in all the main parties could not be ruled out, although that was seen as potentially unstable and prone to gridlock.

A minority ANC government, possibly with a confidence-and-supply deal whereby one or more other parties would support it on key parliamentary votes, was another hypothetical option.

The dark horse in the election was MK, the new party led by Zuma, but few analysts expected an ANC-MK tie-up given the bitter acrimony between them.

A divisive figure who remains popular in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma was forced to quit as president in 2018 after a string of corruption scandals during his term in office and has since become an implacable enemy of Ramaphosa.

MK has said it is considering a court challenge to the election results despite its strong showing.

Analysts have long feared Zuma's party may stir up trouble if his supporters reject the results. They rioted and looted for days when he was arrested for contempt of court in 2021.

(Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Alexander Winning, Wendell Roelf and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Gareth Jones and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)


South Africa election 2024: When will we know the result?

Damian Zane - BBC News
Sat, June 1, 2024

In the campaign President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ANC's achievements should not be forgotten [Reuters]


Almost all of the votes have been counted in South Africa after Wednesday's general election.

The governing African National Congress (ANC) has got just 40% - meaning it does not have a parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years. It will now have to form a coalition with one or more parties.

Mounting criticism of the party that led the fight against apartheid under the late Nelson Mandela has chipped away at its support.
When will we know the result?

The electoral commission is expected to announce the final results at around 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Sunday, but legally it has seven days to make the announcement. The count started as soon as polls closed on Wednesday and figures are being released as the tallying and verification in various areas is completed.

All of the votes have been counted and almost all tallied but the commission has until Sunday to deal with any complaints or objections.

South Africans have been used to knowing the result by the Saturday after polling day, but this time things are expected to take longer as there are more ballot papers to count because of the introduction of an extra vote for the national parliament.
What happened on Wednesday?

Wednesday's election saw long lines of voters outside polling stations late into the night across the country, with one electoral official in Johannesburg saying the queues were reminiscent of the historic 1994 election.

That was when white-minority rule ended and the ANC came to power. This was the country's seventh democratic general election.

Nearly 28 million South African had registered to vote and they were electing representatives to the national and provincial parliaments.

Queues 'as long as 1994' : The vote as it happened
What is at stake for the ANC and what are its policies?

The ANC, now led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, was under growing pressure going into the election.

Stubbornly high unemployment, which hit 32% last year, persistent economic inequalities, corruption allegations and frequent power cuts have reduced its popularity.

High levels of violent crime - on average 130 rapes and 80 murders a day in the last three months of 2023 - have also dented confidence in the authorities.

But the ANC said it was working to fix these problems.

And it urged people not to throw away gains made since the end of apartheid. The party said poverty levels had fallen, a greater proportion of South Africans were living in decent homes and access to healthcare had improved.

The ANC promised to create millions more jobs over the next five years, to boost investment, support the private sector and end corruption.

Desperate search for jobs overshadows vote
What are the DA and EFF opposition parties offering?

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said the "country is in crisis".

It wants to liberalise the economy, including a move towards greater privatisation.

It has pledged to create two million new jobs, end power cuts and "halve the rate of violent crime".

The DA says it can save South Africa [EPA]

To address unemployment and inequality, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) - the third largest party in parliament - has radical economic solutions.

The party argued that the ANC had not redressed the racial economic imbalances of apartheid. It plans to redistribute land to the less well-off.

The EFF also wants to nationalise mines, banks and other key parts of the economy, arguing that the wealth of the country would then be used to benefit the majority of the population.
What about Jacob Zuma and the MK party?

Disgruntled former President Jacob Zuma - who was ousted by Mr Ramaphosa amid corruption allegations that he denies, and later jailed for defying a court order - is the leader of a fresh rival to the ANC.

Ex-President Jacob Zuma was campaigning as the leader of the new MK party [BBC]

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which took its name from the ANC's former armed wing, added further unpredictability to the race. It could make a strong showing, especially in Mr Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Before the election, the party saw off a court challenge by the ANC over the use of the MK name.

In a separate case, the country's highest court barred the ex-president from running for parliament. The Constitutional Court ruled that his 15-month prison sentence disqualified him. However, his image still appeared on the ballot paper.

In its manifesto, the MK party said the country took a wrong economic turn by pursuing market-led policies and that society was "adrift from its core values".

Jacob Zuma's MK takes fight to ANC stronghold


Jacob Zuma - the political wildcard
Who will be South Africa's next president?

South Africans do not vote directly for a president.

Instead they elect the 400 members of the National Assembly, who go on to vote for a new head of state within 30 days of the general election.

The EFF says that greater state control of the economy would create a fairer society [Getty Images]

As a result, there were no presidential candidates as such, but each party leader fronted their national campaign and their portrait appeared on the ballot paper.

The ANC's President Ramaphosa, the DA's John Steenhuisen and the EFF's Julius Malema all featured prominently.

The leader of whichever party can muster a majority in the National Assembly after the election would be expected to become the next president.

Cyril Ramaphosa - union leader, mine boss, president


John Steenhuisen - the man vowing to 'rescue' South Africa


Julius Malema - the radical agenda-setter
How do general elections work in South Africa?

The proportion of seats that parties are allocated in the 400-member National Assembly is directly related to their share of the vote.

In 2024, independent candidates were included for the first time.

This meant that South Africans had three votes:

National parliament: One for 200 of the seats with just political parties named on the ballot


National parliament: One for the remaining 200 seats with a different ballot paper for each of the nine provinces, listing the parties in that region and independent candidates


Provincial assembly: One for the independent candidates or parties in the regional legislature.
How would a coalition be formed in South Africa?

The constitution does not spell out how a coalition could be formed if no party gets more than 50% of the vote.

But assuming the ANC remains the largest party, smaller groupings could informally agree to support an ANC government on a vote-by-vote basis in return for some concessions.

Or, at the other end of possibilities, the ANC could enter a formal coalition with some parties, including a written agreement outlining legislative plans and the distribution of cabinet posts.

Any other party would face the same choices.

An opposition coalition has also been mooted, though analysts say this is highly unlikely.

In a pre-election deal, a group of parties - led by the DA - signed up to what has been called the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa. If together they get more than 50% of the seats, they have already agreed to form a coalition. The agreement does not include the EFF or the MK party.

[BBC]
More about the election:

South Africans still battling 'economic aparthied' after 30 years


Cynthia voted for Nelson Mandela. Now she's abandoning his successors


Election issues in eight charts


Influencers rally youth to vote


Full coverage of the elections

[BBC]

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South Africa Election
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, center, arrives at the National Results Operations Center during the announcement of the results in South Africa's general elections, in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday, June 2, 2024. Humbled by a stinging

MTG OF TEHRAN

Hardline Iranian MP set to become first female presidential candidate

Melanie Swan
Sun, June 2, 2024 

Zohreh Elahian has registered to run following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in May

A radical Iranian MP who pushed for executions of protesters has stepped forward to become the country’s first female presidential candidate.

Zohreh Elahian has registered to run in the country’s snap elections at the end of June following the sudden death of Ebrahim Raisi, its former president, last month in a helicopter crash.

A staunch supporter of Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, she could potentially become the first woman ever allowed to stand if approved by the Guardian Council, which vets all potential candidates.

A physician by trade and former member of the parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, she has been an MP twice, though no woman has ever been allowed to stand for president.

Sanctioned by Canada

The hardliner was sanctioned by Canada in March for endorsing the death penalty for protesters involved in the Women, Life, Freedom movement as suppression of the hijab rebellion continues to sweep across Iran and state enforcement deepens.

Over 550 protesters were killed by state security after the 2022 uprising in the wake of the killing of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police, and last year alone, over 800 Iranians were executed – a record high for Iran amid an executions surge.

Mrs Elahian, also a member of the Islamic Council of Iran, now awaits the decision of the country’s Guardian Council, which is in charge of interpreting the country’s Islamic constitution, with the election motto “a healthy government, a healthy economy and a healthy society”.

By law, women are not allowed to stand for president, but her possible candidacy hangs on an interpretation of the Arabic terminology for “men” – and if it is a reference to a more generic term for “figures” or “people”.

Azam Taleghani, a veteran reformist politician and journalist, registered to run in every presidential election from 1997 until her death in 2019. Rejected every time by the clerics of the Guardian Council, she was branded an “Islamic feminist”.

Mrs Elahian, who was photographed with a sniper rifle last year while on an MP delegation to an arms exhibition, is seen by some women in Iran as the epitome of the misogynistic regime where sexual violence has become a systemic means of punishing women and hundreds continue to be rounded up in violent suppression of hijab rebellion.

Dowlat Nowrouzi, the UK Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and opposition group, said: “This is merely a ridiculous spectacle of a regime drowning in a quagmire of crises. No one will be deceived by these absurd gambits.

“The regime in Tehran oppresses and assaults women daily on the streets under the pretext of hijab enforcement. In this regime, elections are meaningless, it is a selection.”

She said the strict Islamic constitution will not allow a woman to join the ranks. “The clerical regime does not even tolerate a single woman in the cabinet. According to Article 115 of the regime’s constitution, ‘the president must be among the men’. The women of Iran know that the only way to achieve freedom and equal rights is through regime change by the people and the Resistance.”

Elahian bid ‘unlikely in reality’

Iranian Maryam Ahadi, who now lives in Dubai, said: “It would be fascinating to see a woman run for president but let’s be honest, she isn’t a woman who would be good for Iranian women. The reality is, however, that the Guardian Council will be very unlikely to let her run, but they’ll enjoy the global discussion in the meantime to try and detract from the brutal state-sanctioned oppression of women they are inflicting on Iranian women and girls.”

Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, announced the sanctions against Elahian on International Women’s Day in March, saying that she and Masoud Dorosti, the chief executive of Tehran’s metro system, “have used their positions of influence to call for or carry out increasingly repressive measures against women and girls in Iran”.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president and vocal critic of the supreme leader, was the latest candidate to register his candidacy for the June 28 vote, having been rejected from the ballot twice since his disqualification in 2017.

Mrs Elahian has been at the heart of Iran’s controversial policy-making apparatus. While serving as a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, she was one of 227 lawmakers in Iran who signed a letter requesting the execution of protesters in the wake of the 2022 uprising.

Earlier that year, she claimed that if talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal did not continue in line with the country’s interests after Donald Trump, the then US president, pulled out of the deal, they were not essential.

She said at the time that “all sanctions must be lifted, and we must certainly obtain a credible guarantee from the United States so that we do not face another withdrawal from the agreement and the return of sanctions”.

She added: “We are waiting for the decision by the American side, and if this process becomes attritional, a decision will be made whether or not to continue the negotiations”.

Since Joe Biden took office, Iran has continued to accelerate its nuclear programme with Rafael Grossi, the UN’s nuclear chief, recently claiming the country is now “weeks not months” away from a nuclear weapon.

‘She’s not telling the truth about war crimes’: US official resigns over Gaza war and hits out at boss Samantha Power

Richard Hall
Mon, June 3, 2024 

Alex Smith, a public health expert working in the humanitarian field, read all of Samantha Power’s books before he joined the agency she now leads. He carried around copies with him, and even hosted a book club in Rome when she released her memoir in 2019.

But this week, he delivered a blistering criticism of the woman he respected for years when he resigned from the US Agency for International Aid (USAID in protest over her failure to speak out against the same crimes she had built a career exposing.

“She has been a very passionate vocal advocate for human rights and specifically against genocide. So to see her not talk about international law now, about illegal acts that Israel is currently very publicly carrying out, it is very frustrating for me and a lot of staff,” Smith, who worked as a contractor at the agency for four years, told The Independent by phone.


Smith, who worked as a senior adviser on gender, maternal health, child health, and nutrition, became the ninth official to resign from the Biden administration over its unconditional support for Israel’s war in Gaza, and only the second to leave USAID — the agency devoted to humanitarian assistance.

He said Power’s refusal to name and blame Israel for blocking aid into Gaza, as a famine that threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands takes hold, was inconsistent with his values.

Specifically, he criticized Power for “not calling out what is causing it, and stating the very obvious fact that starvation of children is a war crime and a crime against humanity.”

But he also offered some insight into Power’s thinking and a possible explanation for why a prolific campaigner against genocide would self-censor at such a crucial time.

US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power speaks during a news conference at the National Palace of Culture in Guatemala City, Guatemala, January 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Jose Cabezas)

Smith said he believes that political pressure from the White House, as well as from Republicans like Matt Gaetz who has threatened to defund USAID for what the Florida congressman has characterized as its “radical leftist ideology”, was stopping her from speaking out publicly.

“I will give her the benefit of the doubt. Having read her books, I understand that she often takes stands that she sees as the lesser of two evils,” he said.

“In this case, she wants to preserve the budget of USAID, which is an arguable moral case that you can make, that preserving our budget does help millions of people around the world.”

However, Smith said he and his colleagues were uncomfortable about the agency censoring itself to keep the money coming in.

Palestinians walk through the destruction in the wake of an Israeli air and ground offensive in Jebaliya, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“I think me and a lot of staff think that if you are preserving our budget by not telling the truth about war crimes and crimes against humanity, that’s not acceptable,” he said.

Smith’s resignation comes two weeks after The Independent published an investigation into dissent at USAID in response to the Biden administration’s handling of Gaza’s hunger crisis.

The investigation revealed that at least 19 internal dissent memos have been sent since the start of the war by staff at USAID criticizing US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Power herself has spoken out about the effectiveness of government officials resigning in protest.

As a young college graduate, while the Bosnian war was ongoing, she wrote in her journal: “My only regret is that I don’t work at the State Department so I can quit to protest policy. Instead, I sit impotent and incapable.”

Power began her career as a journalist covering the mass killing of Bosnian Muslims by Serbians, and became a powerful advocate for using American power to protect innocent civilians.

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages of aid supplies, after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah. (REUTERS)

Later, she became a foreign policy advisor for Barack Obama at a time when he stubbornly resisted pressure to use the US military to protect civilians in the Syrian civil war. She joined USAID as its administrator in 2021.

Smith said Power’s decision not to identify a culprit in Gaza’s worsening humanitarian disaster mirrored the development she wrote about in her 2019 memoir, The Education of an Idealist, in which she documented her shifting ideology from the politics of protest to a kind of brutal pragmatism.

Power has gone further than most US officials in declaring that a famine has likely already taken hold in parts of Gaza in a Senate hearing in April. In doing so, she became the first high-ranking US official to make that declaration.

Speaking to other donor governments about the crisis in Gaza on Wednesday, Power said civilians there were “paying a devastating and unacceptable price in this war, particularly in the wake of the IDF’s expanded operations in Rafah.”

A USAID spokesperson said: “We have consistently made clear, internally and externally, that far too many innocent people have been killed and injured in Israel’s war against Hamas. Hundreds of staff across the Agency are working tirelessly to accelerate aid, to advocate for greater protections for civilians and the improvement of deconfliction, and to advance diplomatic efforts.”

Israeli tanks move towards Rafah in the Gaza Strip (Middle East Images/AFP via Getty)

Cindy McCain, the US director of the UN World Food Programme, said earlier this month that there was a “full-blown famine” in Gaza’s north. Since then, Israel has launched an offensive in the city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians were sheltering, causing the closure of a major crossing to aid and a dramatic worsening of Gaza’s hunger crisis.

Israel has vehemently denied that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza, or that it has restricted aid. It says fighting with Hamas, the militant group that triggered the current war when it killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in Israel on 7 October, has hampered aid efforts. But Power’s reluctance to be forthright that Israel is a major cause of the famine has caused frustration among USAID staff, Smith said.

“There really there’s sort of a self-imposed culture of not talking about Gaza within leadership,” he said.

He added that he believes that Powers and other leaders are likely reacting to political pressure from the White House.

“No administration officials or spokespeople have stated clearly that the famine is intentional. No officials have said intentional starvation of a civilian population is a violation of international law,” Smith said. “So either administration officials at Powers’ level have been told not to state those facts or they’re choosing to self-censor, parroting the administration’s public stance.”

ARCHAEOLOGY

Violent doodles made by children 2,000 years ago raise eyebrows

Andrea Vacchiano

FOX NEWS
Sun, June 2, 2024 

Violent doodles made by children 2,000 years ago raise eyebrows


Archaeologists in Italy recently uncovered "violent" cartoons, roughly 2,000 years old, drawn by children in ancient Rome.

The Archaeological Park of Pompeii announced the discovery on May 28. The doodles were found on a wall along Via dell'Abbondanza, which was the main street of Pompeii.

Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that was buried by volcanic ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and largely remained hidden for centuries before it was officially rediscovered in the late 16th century.


The charcoal drawings depict gladiators and hunters, and historians say that children were regularly exposed to violence in Roman amphitheaters. In a statement translated from Italian to English, archaeologists connected the violence that children witnessed in antiquity to gruesome images that children see today in popular media.

"Exposure to extreme forms of violence, even of young children (estimated between 5 and 7 years old), does not seem to be a problem only nowadays, between video games and social media," the organization said.


The Archaeological Park of Pompeii announced the discovery of the unusual ancient doodles on May 28.

"The difference [is] that in antiquity, the blood spilled in the arena was real and that few saw it as a 'problem' with all the possible repercussions on the psycho-mental development of children from Pompeii."

In a video posted by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii on May 29, archaeologist Gabriel Zuchtriegel explained in Italian that the cartoons were found in a courtyard, where children likely played.



The drawings depict hunters and gladiators, according to archaeologists.

"We can imagine the children who played here for entire afternoons and had the possibility of making these drawings, perhaps unnoticed by the adults, on various parts of the walls where there was also a construction site where work was in progress on this house," he explained.

Archaeologists collaborated with University of Naples Federico II to determine the significance of the images. Experts concluded that the images reflected what children saw in real life rather than in art or in their imaginations.

Psychologists determined that the children who drew the drawings were exposed to real-life violence.

"We came to the conclusion that these drawings of gladiators and animal hunters were made after a direct vision of the facts, not after a pictorial model," Zuchtriegel said in a video that was later translated to English. "And they are very young children of 6 or 7 years old, as can be seen from the human figures drawn as cephalopods, that is, the legs and arms that come directly out of the head. Even today, little children draw like this."

"It is understood that here in Pompeii, even very young children were exposed to an extreme form of violence between men, between men and animals in the arena, in the amphitheater of the ancient city," the expert added.

The drawings shed light on childhood in ancient Rome.

Thanks to the discovery, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii said the drawings "help to better understand childhood in the times of Ancient Romans."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii for comment.

Archaeologists Found Stunning Treasure Buried by a Mysterious Forgotten Tribe

Darren Orf
Mon, June 3, 2024

Experts Find Objects from 2,000-Year-Old SocietyJordi Salas - Getty Images


The Kangju people lived in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan) for nearly a millennia, but experts know very little about them.


A new discovery of artifacts, recovered from a 2,000-year-old burial mound, shows off this little-known society’s sophistication and its deep connections to the ancient Silk Road.


Featuring a brass mirror from China and a Roman-style brooch, this treasure trove reveals the intimate evidence of the world’s first major attempt at globalization.

For around 800 years (from the 4th century BCE to the 4th century CE), a people group known as the Kangju flourished in what is now southern Kazakhstan. Despite this relatively long reign in Central Asia, the knowns of this ancient society are far outweighed by the unknowns. Experts know, for example, that the people had Indo-European origins, spoke an Eastern Iranian language, and likely practiced a semi-nomadic way of life—a common choice among people groups in Central Asian and the Eurasian steppe. Everything else has been slowly pieced together from pottery and other artifacts left behind for us to find.

Now, a new treasure trove of artifacts has been discovered in 2,000-year-old burial mounds in the ancient Kangju region. These items include jewelry, arrowheads, and a large bronze mirror—all of which speak to the Kangju’s sophistication. Kazakhstan lies at the heart of what would’ve been the ancient Silk Road, and the items reflect the impact of this ancient-world globalization.

The mirror, for example, has been traced to the craftsmen of China’s Han Dynasty, which reigned from 206 BCE to 220 CE. Similar mirrors have been found among the discarded detritus of other civilizations along the ancient Silk Road, likely meaning that the woman buried with the mirror was someone of considerable wealth or importance. However, China wasn’t the Kangju’s only trading partner—the ancient people likely also traded with the Roman Empire and the Kushan Empire, another Central Asian power to the south.

To uncover these items, a team of experts from Ozbekali Zhanibekov University—located in the city of Shymkent along the border with Uzbekistan—and local government archaeologists traveled to three burial mounds in the oblast (administrative region) of Turkistan.

As is often the case when exploring ancient ruins, two of the mounds had already been plundered, likely during medieval times. But the third mound still had ancient wonders lying in wait. According to a press release translated from Kazakh language, experts also found other items—including ornate earrings, a belt buckle, and a Roman brooch—that once again emphasized the mound’s advantageous position along the Silk Road.

The leader of this archeological expedition, Ozbekali Zhanibekov University’s Aleksandr Podushkin, said that the Yangju were actually comprised of many different people, including the Asian Sarmatians, the Xiongnu, the Kangyu, and the subsequent Saki (who were, possibly, the famous Scythians). Podushkin has published some 90 articles related the peoples of southern Kazakhstan, and some of his previous work involved analyzing the religious beliefs of the Kangju from artifacts gathered from Ugam Valley, which is also located in the Turkistan region.

Now, these relics will travel to the capital city of Astana and be housed in the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As experts like Podushkin continue to find these hidden treasures, over time, the largely blurry image of this people group of Central Asia should slowly begin to come into focus.

Why are so many ancient Egyptians buried at the Saqqara necropolis?

Owen Jarus

POP MECH
Sun, June 2, 2024 

The Step Pyramid with a blue sky in the background.


Saqqara is an archaeologist's dream, being home to a vast number of ancient Egypt's mummies, tombs and around a dozen pyramids. Every year, researchers unearth new discoveries at the site, including mummy masks, Book of the Dead scrolls and even mummification workshops.

But why did so many ancient Egyptians want to be buried there?

Saqqara has been used for thousands of years and "the reasons for being buried at the site differed through time," Nico Staring, an Egyptologist and guest researcher at Leiden University, told Live Science in an email.

One important reason is its proximity to the city of Memphis. "Saqqara was the main necropolis associated with the capital city of Memphis, which remained, to a large extent, an administrative centre throughout Egypt's history as well as being a major religious centre celebrating the cults of a variety of deities" Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, told Live Science in an email.

It's hard to overstate the importance of Memphis to Saqqara, Staring said.

"Saqqara should be viewed as a component of the wider, lived urban environment" he said. "The living inhabitants of Memphis shaped and reshaped the necropolis over many generations, and so the life histories of both the city and its necropolis were closely intertwined."

Related: Did the ancient Egyptians really marry their siblings and children?

Old Kingdom tomb at Saqqara. It has hieroglyphics on the wall.

Saqqara was also revered because some early Egyptian pharaohs built their tombs there. During the second dynasty (circa roughly 2800 to 2650 B.C.) the pharaohs Hotepsekhemwy, Reneb and Ninetjer all constructed tombs at the site, Lara Weiss, CEO of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Germany, told Live Science in an email. The third dynasty pharaoh Djoser famously constructed a step pyramid at Saqqara, and several other pharaohs, such as the fifth dynasty pharaohs Userkaf, Unas and Djedkare Isesi, also built pyramids at the site.

As the pharaohs were buried, "large numbers of their court officials constructed their so-called mastaba tombs in their vicinity," Staring added, explaining that the grounds weren't just for royalty.

Even in the New Kingdom (circa 1550 to 1070 B.C.), a time when pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings about 300 miles (483 kilometers) away, many officials still wanted to be buried at Saqqara. This happened because of the site's history and association with Egyptian deities, Staring said. While "the kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, the kingdom's most important administrators built their temple-shaped tombs at Saqqara, at a site that was imbued with history and a site that was considered to be the abode of various prominent deities such as Sokar, a god of death," Staring said.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser was particularly well regarded long after it was built. "Interestingly, old monuments from the past continued to exert influence on later generations," Staring said. Even when it was 1,000 years old, the Step Pyramid complex "received literate visitors that perpetuated their admiration for the monument in graffiti written on the walls of the complex." Staring said.
Living legacy

Although it is an ancient place, Saqqara is still an active burial site today. "Saqqara continues to be used as a burial ground, albeit to a much lesser extent, into the present," Ikram said.

The importance of Saqqara "diminished dramatically" as Christianity became the main religion in Egypt during the fourth and fifth centuries, Ikram noted. But even with the decline of Egypt's polytheistic religion, Saqqara still saw some use — for example, the Coptic Monastery of Jeremiah was built at the site in the fifth century, Weiss noted.

Today, the site is abuzz with archaeologists and tourists. "As a place of the living rather than the dead, the site is today more alive than ever," Staring said.


Historic Finds in Wisconsin Lake Raise More Questions About the Area's Past

Chris Malone Méndez

MENS JOURNAL
Sat, June 1, 2024 




Since 2021, archaeologists have been excavating Wisconsin's Lake Mendota and finding some priceless remnants of the past. As they continue to find more dilapidated artifacts, they're left with some new questions about the area's history.

Two canoes were found in the Mendota lakebed in 2021 and 2022, and last week, the Wisconsin Historical Society announced it had found discovered fragments of at least eight more canoes in the lake. They're believed to be between 800 and 4,500 years old, far older than the estimated 1,200-year-old and 3,000-year-old precious discoveries.

Scientists also found other equipment like fishing nets and tools. With the canoes' location on a now-submerged shoreline, the discoveries imply the existence of a previously unknown civilization that thrived in the area in present-day Madison.

"Seeing these canoes with one's own eyes is a powerful experience, and they serve as a physical representation of what we know from extensive oral traditions that Native scholars have passed down over generations," Bill Quackenbush, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, said in the Wisconsin Historical Society statement. "We are excited to learn all we can from this site using the technology and tools available to us, and to continue to share the enduring stories and ingenuity of our ancestors."

It's an exciting discovery that is raising more questions about just who and what existed here thousands of years ago.

"We have a lot to learn from the Mendota canoe site, and the research happening today allows us to better understand and share the stories of the people who lived here and had a thriving culture here since time immemorial," Larry Plucinski, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said of the finds.


Because of the fragile nature of these ancient canoes, the Wisconsin Historical Society isn't planning to recover any other canoes from the site. For now, the experts are thrilled to be exploring some long-standing questions more deeply.

"It is an honor for our team to work alongside the Native Nations to document, research and share these incredible stories from history," state archaeologist with the organization Dr. Amy Rosebrough said of the effort. "What we thought at first was an isolated discovery in Lake Mendota has evolved into a significant archaeological site with much to tell us about the people who lived and thrived in this area over thousands of years and also provides new evidence for major environmental shifts over time."

UK

RED TORY

Starmer says he is prepared to use nuclear weapons
Sam Francis - Political Reporter
Mon, June 3, 2024 

Sir Keir Starmer has said he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if needed to defend the UK as he set out Labour's defence plans.

The Labour leader said "security will always come first" under his leadership and claimed his party has left behind Jeremy Corbyn's opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons system.

If elected, Sir Keir said he would increase defence spending and update the UK's nuclear arsenal.

Conservative defence secretary Grant Shapps said Labour represented a "danger to our national security".

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He called Labour's pledge to protect the nuclear deterrent "meaningless", given a dozen of Labour's current front bench team voted against renewing Trident in 2016 under Mr Corbyn, including shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner.

At the time, Mr Lammy cited his Christian faith when explaining why he voted against it.

"Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future, only the Conservatives offer that," Mr Shapps said.

The Labour party was split when the House of Commons last voted to renew the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system, with 140 of the party's 230 MPs defying leader Mr Corbyn to back the motion.

But Sir Keir - who did vote to renew Trident - claimed he had his "whole shadow cabinet behind me" on plans to maintain the nuclear deterrent.

"This is a changed Labour party and the most important thing is I voted in favour of a nuclear deterrent," he said.

"I lead from the front, I've always lad from the front."

Asked by BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, if he would authorise the firing of nuclear weapons if he was prime minister, Sir Keir said: "We have to be prepared to use it.

"Now, nobody who aspires to be prime minister would set out the circumstances in which it would be used. That would be irresponsible.

"But it is there as a part, a vital part, of our defence."

Sir Keir used his speech to recommit Labour to boosting UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP - without setting a deadline. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to hit the target by 2030 if re-elected.

"Keeping our country safe is the bedrock of stability that the British people rightly expect from their government," Sir Keir said.

He committed Labour to a "nuclear triple lock": continuing to build four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, maintaining Britain's at-sea deterrent, and delivering all future upgrades for submarine patrols.

The Trident system, based near the Firth of Clyde, includes four nuclear-powered Vanguard-class submarines, missiles and warheads.

Each submarine is designed to carry 16 Trident missiles, capable of delivering multiple warheads - but in recent years, they have carried eight missiles each, with a maximum of 40 warheads per boat.

The UK is already in the process of building four new nuclear submarines in Barrow in-Furness at a cost of £31bn over the lifetime of the programme. The country maintains a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent with its existing fleet.

The Conservatives have also commitment to continue this polices as well as delivering future upgrades.

SNP Spokesman Martin Docherty-Hughes said: "In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is objectively wrong that Keir Starmer would funnel billions of pounds of public money into keeping weapons of mass destruction on our doorstep in Scotland, while families are still living in poverty after 14 years of Tory austerity, and our budget from the UK government keeps getting slashed.

"Nuclear weapons have no place in Scotland, and only a vote for the SNP in July will protect Scotland's interest against the Labour and Tories - neither of whom will do what the people in Scotland want and scrap Trident nuclear weapons for good."

In another break from Mr Corbyn's leadership, Sir Keir used his speech to push for the UK to assume a "leading" role in Nato.

Sir Keir's predecessor criticised Nato's role and expansion, particularly in conflicts he found unjust - though did not push for the UK to leave.

These positions led to accusations from its opponents that Labour was weak on national security during Mr Corbyn's tenure.​

Sir Keir also announced he would keep a dedicated veterans minister in his cabinet if Labour wins election. The standalone role was created under Boris Johnson but later dropped and then restored by Rishi Sunak.

Ahead of his speech, Sir Keir unveiled a "record" 14 ex-military candidates, which he said "is evidence of a changed Labour Party".

In recent years, armed forces veterans have been rare among Labour's MPs.

In the last parliament only two Labour MPs had military service - Dan Jarvis, who served 16 years in the Parachute Regiment, and Clive Lewis who reached the rank of Lieutenant in the Territorial Army.

The ex-military candidates announced by Labour include:

Al Carns, a Royal Marines colonel who stepped down from the military last week


Calvin Bailey, a former Royal Air Force commanding officer


Neil Guild, who served in the British Army for more than six years and now works as a civil engineer


Louise Jones, a former army intelligence officer.

Speaking on Monday, Ms Jones, the Labour candidate in North East Derbyshire, said: "Labour has national security at its core. Our commitment to Nato is unshakable.

"Only labour recognises the duty we have as a nation to our armed forces, only Labour has the leader we can fully trust with our national security and only Labour will put this country first."


UK's Starmer seeks to reassure voters with defence pledge

Updated Mon, June 3, 2024 


British Labour Party campaigns across the country in the lead up to the election

By Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) -British opposition leader Keir Starmer pledged on Monday to secure the country's armed forces and nuclear deterrent, trying to reassure voters before an election that the nation would be safe in the hands of a Labour government.

Describing Labour as the "party of national security", Starmer turned his campaign focus to defence, seen as a weak spot for Britain's main opposition party under his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, a long-time supporter of nuclear disarmament.

With conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, defence is taking centre stage before the July 4 election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last month that only his Conservative Party could keep voters safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

Standing in front of 14 former military Labour candidates, Starmer told an audience: "The people of Britain need to know that their leaders will keep them safe - and we will."

"This Labour Party is totally committed to the security of our nation, to our armed forces and, importantly, to our nuclear deterrent."

He made a commitment to a so-called "nuclear deterrent triple lock" - constructing four new nuclear submarines, maintaining a continuous at-sea deterrent and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for those submarines.

Even though Labour is far ahead in the polls, officials say they still need to convince thousands of undecided voters to back what Starmer repeatedly calls a "changed party", one which can be trusted on defence, health and tackling immigration.

The Conservatives believe they have a stronger defence offering, with a pledge to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP a year by 2030 - a target Labour says it wants to match "as soon as possible".

The Labour leader was again asked about his party's stance on the Gaza conflict, after Labour has struggled to hold on to the support of some Muslim voters in local elections.

"The best thing ... for everybody concerned is to press for that ceasefire immediately, straightaway," he said. "That has been our position for weeks and weeks and weeks and months."

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alex Richardson)

Keir Starmer marches his troops onto traditional Tory territory in battle for best party on defence

Nicholas Cecil and Richard Wheeler
Mon, June 3, 2024 


Sir Keir Starmer arguing that Labour is the better party on defence (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer marched his troops onto traditional Tory territory in an election battle over which party is better on defence.

He pitched Labour as the “party of national security”, contrasting the party’s position now compared to the Corbyn years.

The Labour leader was expected to meet with forces veterans and a group of his party’s candidates when he campaigns in the North West of England on Monday.

Sir Keir reaffirmed his commitment to a “nuclear deterrent triple lock” as well as his ambition to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy.

No longer the party of protest, Labour is the party of national security

Sir Keir Starmer

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made clear he wants to meet the 2.5 per target by 2030.

But Labour has so far declined to outline its timeline, only noting they would do so when economic conditions allow.

Labour says its nuclear deterrent triple lock involves: a commitment to construct the four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness; maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent; and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters.

The Vanguard-class submarines are due to be replaced by the bigger Dreadnought-class submarines in the 2030s.

Between £31 billion and £41 billion has been set aside for the wider programme of replacing the Vanguard-class submarines, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.

Sir Keir has been attempting to shift perceptions of Labour’s defence stance following the party’s time under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, a long-standing critic of Nato and Trident.

Sir Keir said: “National security will always come first in the changed Labour Party I lead.

“Keeping our country safe is the bedrock of stability that the British people rightly expect from their government.

“My message to them is clear: Labour has changed. No longer the party of protest, Labour is the party of national security.

“The excellent former service personnel that are standing as Labour candidates are a testament to that change.”

He added: “In the face of increasing threats to national security, actions will speak louder than words.

“That’s why, alongside our unshakeable commitment to Nato, an incoming Labour government will introduce a ‘triple lock’ commitment on our nuclear deterrent – providing vital protection for the UK and our Nato allies in the years ahead, as well as supporting thousands of high paying jobs across the UK.”

The Tories have normally been ahead in polls on which party is best for defence of the nation, and some still show it leading Labour while it is behind on a string of other issues including the economy, NHS, tax and sometimes immigration.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Twelve members of Starmer’s front bench team, including Angela Rayner and David Lammy, voted against Trident.

“We know Rayner is now making the decisions in Labour, so Starmer’s supposed backing for Trident is meaningless.

“Labour’s refusal to commit to 2.5% defence spending by 2030 shows that they are a danger to our national security. Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future, only the Conservatives offer that.”

Why a third term for Modi could be ‘catastrophic’ for India’s 200 million Muslims

Shweta Sharma

INDEPENDENT UK
Mon, June 3, 2024

Why a third term for Modi could be ‘catastrophic’ for India’s 200 million Muslims


Mohammad Saad was excited to return home to Bihar in eastern India and see his family. He had bought a train ticket and was packed to leave in the morning, but he never made it.

On that night of 31 July 2023, a mob of around 200 Hindus stormed the Anjuman Mosque in Gurugram, where Saad served as the deputy imam, and killed him in his sleep. The mob also burnt down the mosque.

Sectarian violence had erupted in the neighbouring Nuh region, and quickly spilled over into Gurugram, a shiny satellite township of India’s capital Delhi that hosts the offices of multinational corporations such as Google, Meta and Deloitte.


The violence in Gurugram was a reminder that the increasing persecution of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, was not confined to the hinterland.

It also reinforced accusations by critics that Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government had mainstreamed sectarian violence – an act for which Saad, 22, who would sing about religious harmony in social media videos, paid the price.

“I had spoken to Saad just half an hour before he was killed. He was excited to leave for home in the morning despite my concerns about the escalating violence in Nuh,” Shadab Anwar, the slain cleric’s brother, tells The Independent.

“He had multiple knife wounds on his chest and neck, suggesting a frenzied and prolonged assault. That night, everything changed for our family. I lost a brother, and my father and mother lost a son, to Muslim hate in this country.”

While Anwar is still awaiting justice for the killing of his brother, Indian authorities have moved promptly to bulldoze hundreds of homes and shops in Nuh in an act of collective – and extrajudicial – punishment against the local Muslims they accuse of inciting the violence, which left six people dead.

Now, nearly nine months later, as Anwar’s family prepare to vote in the national elections, they are compelled to mull what a third consecutive term for Modi could mean for them and for the 200 million Muslims who call the country home.

The six-weeks long seven voting phases came to an end on 1 June (Saturday) and the result will be announced on Tuesday.

Supporters of Narendra Modi at a campaign rally held by the prime minister (Getty)

Modi’s decade in power has seen a surge in hate speech against religious minorities, attacks on their places of learning and worship, and mob lynchings.

In recent years, Indian authorities have introduced “bulldozer justice” to punish Muslims for real and imagined offences. The demolition drive in Nuh was so blatantly discriminatory – 283 Muslim and 71 Hindu properties were targeted – that Haryana’s High Court asked the state government if it was carrying out “an exercise of ethnic cleansing” against Muslims.

All the while, Hindu hardline groups, such as the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which are aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and boast thousands of members, have been operating with impunity.

(AP)

“We have been vilified to the extent that Hindus have started refusing jobs to Muslims and they avoid mingling with us. I invited 10 Hindu families to a function at my home, but only three people turned up,” says Altaf Khan, a resident of Delhi.

Khan says he is worried for his children as the situation for Muslims in the country is growing grimmer by the day. Khan’s worry isn’t misplaced, as evidence of what Muslim scholar Qari Nasaruddin calls “injustice” and “Muslim hate” is not hard to find.

Nasaruddin points, by way of example, to the rubble of what once was a mosque, a Muslim graveyard and an Islamic school in the heart of the national capital. Nasaruddin is the imam of a mosque in Mehrauli that took in the displaced children.

The sprawling complex was demolished on 30 January by the Delhi Development Authority, run by Modi’s federal government, which claimed it was an illegal encroachment.

It didn’t matter that the Akhoondji Mosque was a site of historical significance built nearly 600 years ago in the same part of the city that boasts the iconic Qutub Minar.

The symbolism of the mosque being demolished barely days after Modi had presided over the inauguration of the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya – erected on the ruins of the medieval Babri Mosque, which was torn down by a Hindu mob in 1992 – wasn’t lost on the city’s Muslims.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, governed by a Hindu monk called Adityanath, the High Court effectively banned Islamic schools in the country’s largest state by declaring a law in 2004 that ruled them unconstitutional. The order, which would have displaced around 2.7 million students, has since been put on hold by the Supreme Court.

Islamic schools, called madrasas, mainly serve poor or orphaned children.

Muzammil Ahmed, who teaches such children in Delhi, says the Indian authorities are going after Islamic schools supposedly in an effort to curb radicalisation, but that it is just “another conspiracy to malign Muslims”.

“Most of the children who come to us are orphans or have a single parent, and those with both parents are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. By providing education, shelter and food, we are only lightening the burden on the government,” he tells The Independent.

Rubble from the Akhoondji Mosque strewn with books from the associated Islamic school (Shweta Sharma/The Independent)

Munir, a data scientist in Haryana who is afraid to give his full name, says Muslims now feel there is a clear bias in government policies.

“The normalisation of hatred has been very disturbing, and the government’s reaction to it all is even more alarming to us minorities,” he says. “We have seen that no action is taken when there is violence against the minorities, but if people from the Muslim community raise their voice, they find a bulldozer standing outside their house.”

India Hate Lab, a research group in the US, documented 668 incidents of hate speech against Muslims in 2023, of which 413 took place in the last six months of the year, coinciding with key state elections.

In the decade since Modi took power, “what has exponentially increased is runaway hate speech spouting venom against Muslims”, including calls for genocide by politicians and Hindu religious leaders, says social activist Harsh Mander.

“India is witnessing an alarming rise in hate speech and targeted violence against individuals, which we call mob lynching – a word that was not even used earlier because it wasn’t a common grind.

“This could not happen except for an environment of encouragement and enablement, and indeed by validation, because these are the acts of open indictments for violence.”

A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh march in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The Sangh is the mothership of Hindu nationalist organisations in India including the ruling BJP (AFP via Getty)

In the run-up to the national elections, the Modi government activated the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by parliament in December 2019 but put on the back burner after it sparked nationwide protests. The law openly discriminates against Muslims.

In a related move, the BJP government in the northern state of Uttarakhand enacted a uniform civil code, a law that has been criticised for overwriting the “personal laws” of religious minorities with seemingly Hindu laws. The BJP has long promised to roll out a similar code nationally, in line with the agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a paramilitary volunteer organisation that campaigns for India to be made a Hindu nation. The RSS is the mothership of a network of Hindu nationalist groups, including the BJP.

In fact, the BJP was established in 1980 as the political arm of the RSS. It has come to dominate Indian politics under Modi’s leadership, making him the longest-serving prime minister to have come from a party other than Congress, the main opposition party.

In recent years, Hindu groups, along with their ideological fellow travellers in the media, have also targeted Muslims with conspiracy theories such as “love jihad”, “land jihad”, “halal jihad”, and “population jihad”, which claim that the minority community is deviously luring away Hindu women, taking over land, and increasing its numbers.

“These are basically a series of quite fantastical conspiracy theories. These are absurd, and they call to memory the kind of conspiracy theories that were created against the Jews before the Holocaust,” Mander says.

“It is bad enough that they simply circulate on social media, but these are also the terms that have been used by chief ministers and ministers of the ruling party. Then it becomes concerning.”

The “love jihad” conspiracy in particular has led to people being killed, and to a dozen states ruled by the BJP effectively criminalising religious conversion and interfaith relationships.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has pointed out that such laws enable and embolden “existing government harassment, vigilante violence, and discrimination against religious minorities, as well as crackdowns on civil society organizations”.

Parvez Qureshi, whose brother Faheem Qureshi was killed in sectarian violence in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani in February. India has a long and grim history of violence against minorities (AFP via Getty)

In this context, Mander says, a third term for Modi is “particularly terrifying”.

In 2014, he adds, there was still hope, as the BJP leader promised to fight corruption, create 240 million jobs and build a stronger economy.

“It is a frightening time for India’s Muslims. The status of Muslims has been altered, and there is no hope of reversing the damage done to the social fabric with him getting a third term. The hate has been normalised,” the activist argues.

Apoorvanand, a professor and political commentator, says Hindus, who number over a billion, have been misled into thinking that it is going to be their rule.

“It is the RSS that is going to rule and dictate all aspects of the lives of Hindus,” he says. “The Hindus need to realise that they are handing themselves over to an organisation that follows the idea of homogeneity and wants to homogenise Hindu religion.”

The professor says it is “already a disastrous situation for Muslims” and that it will be catastrophic if the BJP continues to tighten its grip on power. “Muslims in India are being marginalised and cornered systematically under what is the ideology of the BJP,” he says.

At a rare press conference in the US last year, Modi declared that “democracy runs in our veins” when he was asked about his government’s alleged discrimination against minorities.

“We live in a democracy,” he said, standing alongside his host, US president Joe Biden. “Our government has taken the basic principles of democracy ... we have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion or gender.

“There is absolutely no space for discrimination,” he added. “And when you talk of democracy, if there are no human values and there is no humanity – [if] there are no human rights – then it’s not a democracy.”

The Independent reached out to BJP spokespeople for comment but did not receive a response.

Mexico Peso Falls as Ruling Party Landslide Spooks Investors

Michael O'Boyle and Vinícius Andrade
Mon, Jun 3, 2024, 

(Bloomberg) -- Mexican assets tumbled after preliminary election results showed the ruling party winning in a landslide that may empower it to increase state control of the economy and undermine checks on its power

The peso led global losses, sinking as much as 4% before trimming its decline, while swap rates climbed and stocks slumped on Monday. Official projections showed Claudia Sheinbaum, the protege of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, winning by at least 30 percentage points.

While her win was largely priced in, the quick count published by the electoral authority also pointed to the ruling Morena party and its allies winning a so-called supermajority in the lower house and clinching at least a simple majority in the Senate — more support than polls suggested. Investors were closely eyeing the congressional races as a two-thirds majority would give the ruling coalition a mandate to pass more ambitious reforms that could change the constitution.

“The potential for a supermajority does cause some concern as it could erode Mexico’s fiscal prudence seen during most of AMLO’s administration,” said Guido Chamorro, senior portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management in London, referring to Lopez Obrador. “There is a question about how fiscally conservative Sheinbaum will be.”

Reforms

The congressional results will determine if Morena will be in the position to pass a swath of proposals made by Lopez Obrador in February. Those bills include plans to reduce the number of lawmakers and allow for the direct election of Supreme Court justices. They also include eliminating independent regulators, like the antitrust commission, as well as establishing new pension obligations and mandatory minimum wage hikes.

Such an outcome could sap appetite for Mexico assets, including the peso, which has been one of the top performing major currencies this year against the dollar. The peso has defied calls that it’s overvalued and continued to rise, with Mexico’s close ties with the US shielding the currency from the strong dollar that has roiled other developing nations. It’s also been supported by a hawkish central bank that has been the slowest in Latin America to lower borrowing costs.

The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF (EWW), the biggest US exchange traded fund tracking Mexican equities, fell as much as 7.9% Monday, the most intraday since June 2020. EWW has seen over 890,000 shares traded as of 10:05 a.m. in New York, close to five times the 20-day average for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Dollar bonds were little changed after edging lower earlier in the day.

If the next government and Congress adopt an unorthodox agenda that undermines Mexican institutions, the peso would weaken to 19.20 per US dollar, Morgan Stanley analysts said in an April note. Barclays strategists saw odds the peso would see a 4% plunge if Morena were to win a constitutional majority that would lead to a more leftist radical reform agenda, they wrote in a note ahead of the election, while adding that chances of that were small.

“The possibility of a supermajority in congress would be a material game changer for Mexico,” said Gordian Kemen, head of emerging-market sovereign strategy at Standard Chartered Bank. “I can see the market getting concerned about energy policy, fiscal stance, but also monetary policy.”

‘Super peso’

The peso has also been the best performing major currency over the last six years, during Lopez Obrador’s term, flying in the face of concerns that his policies would spark a deep devaluation. His government bucked expectations for higher spending and instead maintained fiscal discipline that set it apart from other economies, whose deficits blew out during the pandemic. However, Lopez Obrador ramped up spending this year, leaving the challenge to Sheinbaum to rein it back in.

Sheinbaum’s double-digit lead in the months ahead of the election had helped keep the peso steady on an expectation of continuity. Investors have seen Sheinbaum providing stability in Latin America’s second-largest economy with the potential that she takes a more market-friendly tack than Lopez Obrador, who couldn’t seek another term.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley projected there was a chance that Sheinbaum could be more open to private investment in the power sector and take measures to draw more factories to Mexico in the trend called nearshoring.

In her first speech as president-elect, Sheinbaum pledged to respect central bank autonomy and fiscal discipline, calling for more investment in renewable energy and promising to promote foreign investment.

The strong carry appeal for the currency should continue to provide some support for the Mexican peso, potentially making any selloffs transitory, said Claudia Ceja, a strategist at BBVA Mexico.

Mexico’s long transition period — the new Congress won’t take office until September, while Sheinbaum will be inaugurated in October — also means it will take some time to see if investors’ initial concerns play out.

That also leaves space for Congress to approve some of Lopez Obrador’s proposed reforms before Sheinbaum’s first day in office, said Gabriel Casillas, chief Latin America economist at Barclays.

“This is not what market participants were expecting,” Casillas said. “We could see a further adjustment of asset prices to reflect this apparent new reality.”

--With assistance from Selcuk Gokoluk, Maria Elena Vizcaino, Carolina Wilson, Matthew Burgess and Colleen Goko.

(Updates with market prices and comments starting in second paragraph.)