Swedish diplomat recalls darkest moments in Iran prison

Stockholm (AFP) – After almost 800 days in Iran's notorious Evin prison, the now-free Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus recalled the darkest moments throughout his imprisonment and how he survived them.

Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

Floderus did not believe he would ever be released until he was taken to Tehran airport on June 15 , 2024

© Tom SAMUELSSON / TT News Agency/AFP/

Released in mid-June, Floderus and another Swedish citizen were part of a prisoner exchange that saw a former prison official return to Iran.

When asked how he has been since gaining his freedom, Floderus smiled while choosing his words carefully.

"I'm doing well. My family has done everything to give me the sort of soft landing that I think I really needed upon my return," he told AFP.

Floderus was arrested in Iran as he was about to return home from a holiday with his friends in April 2022.

"I was about to text my friends and tell them: 'look I've arrived at the airport but something is going on.' But that's when somebody came and took the phone away and said that's not allowed," he said.

The EU diplomat was then taken by car to the north of Tehran, where he recognised Evin prison.

"I had to take off my clothes and put on the prison uniform, sign some documents," he said.
'Confusion, anxiety, despair'

He was blindfolded and led through corridors of the huge prison.

"I couldn't see where I was going, I could only see my feet really on the floor."

After two or three days alone in a cell, he was brought before what others called a judge.

"I was relieved to go there because I thought: 'finally this mistake will be resolved'," he said.

"But on the contrary, this man told me that I was accused of espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran and that's the moment where everything kind of went black."

At that moment, Floderus said he felt faint.

It was then that the judge noticed and told him not to worry.

"I was just going to be their guest for two or three days but I would remain there for the next two years and two months," Floderus said.

The diplomat spent the first two months in "confusion, anxiety, despair" in solitary confinement before being moved to a group cell.

There, Floderus and the other prisoners were able to speak freely with one another.

"When I told them about what had happened to me, who I was, they told me, but Johan, you're a hostage," he said.

After a month with the other detainees, the Swede was taken to solitary confinement -- where he spent six months.

It was then that Floderus began looking for ways to survive.

"But as time went by and the months passed in solitary confinement, I realised that I would not survive if I let myself be affected by bad news or the absence of news," he said.

Floderus said he then tried to live with something other than hope.

"I discovered a strength within me that was more constant and that I could always rely on and that wouldn't leave me even in the darkest moments."
New trial

In December 2023, Floderus went on trial and was accused of one of the most serious charges in Iran which was punishable by death.

That same month, Iranian Hamid Noury saw his life sentence for his role in the mass executions of prisoners ordered by Tehran in 1988 upheld by a Swedish appeal court.

"I knew from an early stage that the only way in which I will see my family and loved ones again is through a prisoner exchange," he said.

"Sweden is not the first country that has taken this decision."

Floderus did not believe he would ever be released until he was taken to Tehran airport on June 15.

As soon as he got off the plane in Stockholm he proposed to his boyfriend as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson looked on.

"I want to go back to the life that my fiance and I were leading before this happened," he said.

"Because two years and two months have been stolen from us and now we want to take them back."

© 2024 AFP

FRANCE 24 report: South Sudan's nascent civil society mobilising to ensure fair election

Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

Following renewed efforts by the government and civil society, South Sudan is preparing for its first general election since its independence in 2011. If it proceeds as planned, the election will mark a significant moment in the country’s transitional period, following the 2018 revitalised peace agreement that brought an end to its seven-year civil war, during which around 400,000 people were killed. Experts have warned that the government is not doing enough to ensure that free, fair and credible elections are held. In response, citizens of all ages and members of the country’s nascent civil society have been mobilising, as FRANCE 24’s Olivia Bizot reports.

01:58  Video by: Olivia BIZOT

ANTI COLONIAL ANTI IMPERIALIST ALLIANCE

Junta-leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to hold first joint summit

The junta-leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will hold their first ever joint summit this weekend. The “Alliance of Sahel States” meeting will be held in Niger’s capital Niamey.

The three juntas are hostile toward their countries’ former colonial ruler France and other western countries and instead have turned to other partners such as Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Issued on: 04/07/2024 

The junta-appointed ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger meet in Ouagadougou on February 15, 2024. 

© Fanny Noaro-Kabre, AFP / File picture

The military rulers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will on Saturday hold their first joint summit since seizing power in a series of coups, Nigerien authorities said.

“Our country will be hosting on Saturday July 6 the first summit of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) heads of state from Burkina, Mali and Niger,” they said in a statement read out on public radio.

Niger’s junta leader Abdourahamane Tiani will host Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso and Malian ruler Assimi Goita in Niamey from Friday ahead of the summit, the source said.

Their meeting will be held on the eve of a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The three countries announced their withdrawal from that major bloc in January and its remaining members have called for them to rejoin.

The AES is an economic and defense pact.

The three juntas are hostile toward their countries’ former colonial ruler France and other western countries and instead have turned to other partners such as Russia, Turkey and Iran.

In mid-May, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agreed in Niamey on a draft text creating the confederation, which the heads of states are expected to adopt at Saturday’s summit.

The three countries, which have faced deadly jihadist violence, also aim to create a common currency.

(AFP)

Was Tory legacy of austerity devastating for growth, productivity, infrastructure & public services?

Issued on: 03/07/2024 - 

The UK Labour party is 99 percent "certain" to secure more seats in Thursday's general election than when it won a landslide victory in 1997, a major new poll said on Tuesday. The centre-left opposition party -- out of power since 2010 -- is predicted to claim 484 out of a total of 650 seats in what would be an unprecedented victory in modern British history, pollster Survation said. Meanwhile, the right-wing ruling Conservatives and the centrist Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) are in a close race to come a distant second and form the country's official opposition, it added. With Labour heading for a historic election win, FRANCE 24 is joined by Tim Bale, Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London.

06:59

Biden must reassure that debate performance was "just a fluke", says Democratic strategist


Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

After a universally criticized debate performance last week, questions around US President Joe Biden's ability to run again are higher than ever. Concerns raised within the Democratic party have led to several highly-ranked officials of the party asking for him to step down. Biden has responded by reaffirming his intention to run. Christian Hanley, strategy consultant to the Democratic Party, speaks to FRANCE24 about the steps he must take to resolve doubts about his second term capabilities.

12:15

Sweet Home Chicago: Democratic party in unique position not seen since 1968 US presidential election

Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

President Joe Biden opened a critical stretch in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, arguing the stakes extend far beyond his own political prospects to the future of the country's economy and democracy itself. There is a growing sense that Biden may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is fit for office before Democratic support for him completely evaporates in the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance last week against Republican Donald Trump. On a July 4th like no other, as Biden seeks to reset and revitalise a campaign currently on life support, FRANCE 24's François Picard is joined by Dr. Andrew Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs.

11:22  Video by: François PICARD

FRENCH ELECTION

Mbappe says 'urgent' need to vote after 'catastrophic' French results

Hamburg (AFP) – France captain Kylian Mbappe said Thursday it was "really urgent" to vote in the second round of legislative elections in the country after the far-right National Rally emerged as the biggest party in last weekend's first round.

Issued on: 04/07/2024 -

Kylian Mbappe has called on French voters to turn out and vote against the far-right National Rally © OZAN KOSE / AFP/File

"I think more than ever we need to go out and vote. We can't leave our country in the hands of these people," Mbappe said at a press conference in Hamburg ahead of France's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal there on Friday.

"It is really urgent. We have seen the results, they are catastrophic. I hope it changes and that everyone goes out and votes, and votes for the right people."

The second round of voting takes place on Sunday, with the National Rally (RN) hoping to win a majority of the 577 seats in France's National Assembly.

If the party achieves that, their 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella would be set to become the country's prime minister.

Mbappe did not cite the RN during his press conference, but he did take a humorous approach to the subject during an exchange with a journalist.

When the reporter tried to make himself visible to Mbappe by pointing out that he was on the far left of the room, the player replied: "Fortunately you are not on the other side".

New polls have projected that the RN will fall short of total victory in the elections as the centre and left make local pacts aimed at thwarting the far-right's rise to power.

Mbappe has led the voices in the France team at the Euros who have spoken out against the far-right.

"This is a crucial moment in the history of our country, an unprecedented situation," Mbappe, 25, said just before France's opening match at the tournament last month.

He added that he was "against extremes and against divisive ideas".

Teammates Marcus Thuram and Jules Kounde have spoken out against the far-right too, while Aurelien Tchouameni declared himself against "extremes", like Mbappe.

The president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, this week told AFP that the organisation was happy for the players to have "freedom of expression" but that it must itself remain "neutral".

Mbappe is leaving Paris Saint-Germain to move to Spanish giants Real Madrid next season.

© 2024 AFP

Greens leader Marine Tondelier emerges as key voice on French political scene

Issued on: 04/07/2024 

She is often seen in a shade of green and she is not afraid of speaking out… Marine Tondelier is the leader of the French Greens – part of the leftwing alliance formed to keep the far-right out of power. She has quickly emerged as one of the key voices of the alliance to come out louder as attention turns to the second round of the parliamentary vote.

01:28

Racism and xenophobia on the rise as French voters gear up for crucial election

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) has its best chance yet of clinching power in a second round of legislative elections on July 7, running on a platform that proposes restricting the rights of immigrants and dual nationals. The party’s surge is in step with a broader rise in racism and xenophobia, spurred by the preeminence of far-right ideas in public debate.

 04/07/2024 

Protesters carry anti-racism signs at a rally against the far right in Paris on July 3, 2024. © Thomas Padilla, AP

By:Benjamin DODMAN

A firefighter chased out of a building near Lille to cries of, “This is France, out with the Arabs”; a bakery in Avignon sprayed with racist and homophobic slogans, and then set on fire, for employing an Ivorian apprentice; a teenager beaten and almost drowned in a canal near Nîmes by four men yelling, “Go back to Jihad City”; a shopkeeper in Perpignan summoned, in a letter, to “leave for Africa” before her neighbourhood is “mercilessly cleansed”; a bus driver in a Paris suburb assaulted and run over by man shouting: “I’m tired of people like you, Bougnoules (derogatory term for Arabs) and Blacks – I vote National Rally, I’ll kill you, I’ll massacre you, I’ll eradicate you.”

These are but a few of the dozens of racist attacks documented by local media in France in the three weeks of chaotic and often virulent campaigning that preceded France’s two-round legislative elections, which saw Marine Le Pen’s National Rally top a first round of voting on June 30 on the back of its triumph in European elections earlier in the month.

In another such incident, Karim Rissouli, a journalist for public broadcaster France 5, read out a threatening letter he received at his home, informing him that he had failed to heed the message from voters in the European polls.

“The fundamental reason for the RN vote is that the historic people of France are sick and tired of Bicots,” the letter read, using a racist term to refer to people of North African descent. “Native Frenchmen will never accept you and your brothers.”

Read moreLe Pen’s far right is on the cusp of power in France – what happens next?

Such attacks reflect a loosening of tongues at the prospect of a far-right party coming to power in France for the first time since the Nazi era, said the anti-racism watchdog SOS Racisme, whose birth in the 1980s coincided with the rise to prominence of the previously named Front National.

“With the rise of the far right, we’re witnessing an explosion in racist attacks, not only verbal but also physical,” said SOS Racisme in remarks carried by Mediapart. “We are dealing with people who think that if the RN comes to power, they will have institutional support to behave in this way,” added its president, Dominique Sopo.

‘Too many immigrants’

The lightning campaign, triggered by President Emmanuel Macron’s startling decision to dissolve the National Assembly, has exacerbated a broader rise in prejudice and racist attacks documented by France’s Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH), a state-backed human rights watchdog.

In its annual report published on June 27, the CNCDH flagged a 32% spike in racist attacks in 2023 and a record rise in anti-Semitic incidents – the latter attributed in large part to the fallout from the war in Gaza.

Citing a “significant deterioration in the perception of immigration”, the CNCDH said its tolerance index, which measures society’s openness to diversity, had slipped for the second year running – this time sharply – after years of steadily rising.

The report said 56% of people surveyed believe “there are too many immigrants in France”, up 7% from the level measured in spring 2022. A similar number, 51%, said they “don’t feel at home like they used to”, up 3% from the previous year.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says her 28-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella will head France's next government if the National Rally wins Sunday's second round of legislative elections. © Daniel Cole, AP

The CNCDH spoke of a shift from the “biological racism” of old to a “more cultural, identity-based form”, centred on the “purported inability of immigrants and foreigners to conform themselves with the norms and values of the Republic.”

The survey found that 54% of National Rally supporters and a quarter of those who backed the conservative Les Républicains party described themselves as racist. It described RN’s platform as being in “frontal opposition to the principles of equality, fraternity and freedom” enshrined in the French constitution, warning that it would embolden racist opinions.
Sponsoring prejudice

Speaking to French daily Le Monde, sociologist Vincent Tiberj, who co-authored the report, spoke of a “collision” between a broad societal trend towards greater acceptance of diversity and a more recent spike in identity politics.

He pointed to a discrepancy between a broad majority of the population that remains open to diversity and an increasingly vocal and mobilised minority that is hostile towards immigrants and foreigners.

Sociologist Tristan Guerra, head of research at the advocacy group Destin Commun, highlighted the role of political leaders and the media in shaping the political narrative and fostering a climate of fear and intolerance.

“Public opinion responds to signals coming from the media and from politicians,” he said, pointing to a growing emphasis on the subject of immigration. “The far right is not alone in stirring controversy on this subject,” he added. “So have the mainstream right and the government, which have helped normalise the far right’s ideas.”

Guerra cited acrimonious debates surrounding a hardline immigration law passed with support from RN lawmakers in late 2023, noting that the months of wrangling on the subject coincided with the period when the CNCDH carried out its survey. Those debates came on the heels of massive urban riots that roiled the country over the summer, and as news channels gave blanket coverage to the fallout from the tragic death of a teenage boy attending a village dance in southern France, which the far right sought to portray, without evidence, as a hate crime targeting white people.

“Our research confirms that most people in France are largely open to diversity and cherish a certain form of multiculturalism. They are also largely aware that racism is a problem and needs to be fought back,” said Guerra. “But when politicians and parts of the media actively sponsor prejudice, it can reactivate dormant attitudes and encourage intolerant reactions.”

Read moreHow Bolloré, the ‘French Murdoch’, carried Le Pen’s far right to the brink of power

More French than others

Staunchly anti-immigrant and broadly hostile towards France’s Muslims, Le Pen's party has succeeded in placing the subject of immigration at the crossroads of French voters’ top concerns, such as purchasing power, housing and crime, while also nurturing the idea that the French state is neglecting native French citizens.

“The focus used to be on immigrants supposedly ‘stealing’ French people’s jobs, but unemployment has dropped in recent years even as other crises have become more acute,” said Guerra. “The talk now is of immigrants enjoying priority access to social housing and benefits – which is not borne out by evidence.”

According to the CNCDH report, some 60% of people agree with the suggestion that “many immigrants come to France primarily to benefit from social security”. While 43% think that insecurity is mainly due to immigration, the number shoots up to 83% among RN supporters.

Asked whether “foreigners should have the same rights as French people”, only 52% said yes, a five-point drop from the previous year. The study also said 23% of people surveyed believe “the children of immigrants born in France are not really French”, up from 21.4% the previous year.

01:41

Jordan Bardella, RN’s candidate for prime minister, has confirmed the party’s plans to curtail the rights of French citizens with dual nationality to work in some defence, security and nuclear-industry jobs – a move critics say would be unconstitutional. Rights groups say the discriminatory measure signals the party’s intention to sort people by nationality, background or culture.

In the run-up to the July 7 runoffs, RN lawmaker Daniel Grenon, who is standing for reelection in Burgundy, caused outrage by declaring that the likes of Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a former education minister who was born in Morocco and raised in France, had “no place holding high positions”.

‘A Jew as ophthalmologist’

Denon is hardly the only RN candidate facing scrutiny as the party stands on the threshold of power. Other questionable entries include a woman who has pulled from the high-stakes race over a photo of her wearing a World War II-era Nazi officer’s cap and another who wrote on social media that “gas brought justice to the victims of the Shoah”.

Asked about allegations that the party still has xenophobes and racists in its ranks, RN candidate Paule Veyre de Soras responded that it no longer did, before adding: “I myself am Catalan, my grandfather was born in Barcelona, I have a Jew as an ophthalmologist and, as a dentist, a Muslim.”

Read more'Black sheep' embarrass the National Rally ahead of decisive parliamentary vote

Tolerance of minorities also declined in 2023, according to the CNCDH report, dropping from 59 (out of 100) to 57 in the case of Muslims, and from 72 to 68 for Jews – a sharp fall attributed to the ongoing war in Gaza, which has resulted in a massive increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported by French authorities and a variety of monitors.

There too, the report highlighted deep-seated prejudice regarding Jews’ purported double allegiance, with 42% of people surveyed stating that “Israel matters more to French Jews than France”.

On Wednesday, renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld reiterated his advice that voters faced with a duel between Le Pen’s National Rally and the hard-left La France insoumise (LFI) should choose the far right. In an interview with AP, he accused the left-wing party of despising Israel and harbouring “anti-Semitic overtones”, a claim LFI vehemently denies.

The advice from Klarsfeld, an 88-year-old Jewish historian, goes against many other Jewish leaders and intellectuals in France who see fighting the National Rally as a top priority in Sunday's runoff vote.

In its report, the CNCDH flagged “the existence of anti-Semitism on the left, particularly the hard left”, though adding that it “bears no comparison with that observed on the far right and among people close to the National Rally”.

‘We’ve been there’: French Resistance fighters speak out against rule by the far right

In the run-up to the second round of legislative elections in France, former members of the resistance to Nazi rule are voicing their concerns over the possibility of a far-right government taking power. They urge the French people not to forget the legacy, spirit and values of the French Resistance during the Second World War.


Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

Former French Resistance members from left to right: Roger Lebranchu, Mélanie Berger-Volle, Daniel Huillier and Jean Lafaurie. 

© Studio graphique FMM

By:Stéphanie TROUILLARD

Eleven days ago, Franco-Austrian Mélanie Berger-Volle was filled with immense joy when she was selected by the Loire département, or district, in central France to carry the Olympic flame due to her participation in the Resistance during the Second World War.

The 102-year-old carried the flame in a retirement home in the city of Saint-Étienne, with a broad smile on her face. "I was very happy to show that an elderly person could carry the flame. It made me so happy", she said.

But now, three days after the far-right National Rally party (RN) came out on top in the first round of legislative elections, the former résistante spoke with a heavy heart.

Resistance fighter Melanie Berger-Volle during the torch relay at the Cité des aînés in Saint-Étienne on 22 June 2024. 

© Arnaud Finistre, AFP

"I'm appalled that France, which has achieved so much, is turning to the far right," she said, adding that “I’ve no choice but to speak my mind”.
‘I'll vote for anyone, but not for them’

Born into a Jewish family in Vienna in 1921, Berger-Volle lived through one of the darkest periods in recent history.

In 1938, the then 17-year-old was forced to leave her country following the annexation of Austria by the German Reich.

"People forget that Hitler came to power legally", Berger-Volle said.

After a brief stay in Belgium, Berger-Volle came to France where she joined the Resistance when Nazi Germany occupied the country.

Arrested in 1942 for distributing anti-Hitler leaflets to German soldiers, Berger-Volle was sent to the Saint-Michel prison in Toulouse, then to Marseille’s Baumettes Prison from where she managed to escape with help from comrades.

The young activist then continued working with the Resistance until France was liberated in 1945.

More than 80 years on, she is stunned by the rise of the far right in the country for which she fought against the Nazis.

"I'll vote for anyone, but not for them," Berger-Volle said, referring to the RN. "They are very intelligent. They say they've become like everyone else, but if you scratch the surface a bit, nothing has changed.”

In Toulon, when there was a far-right mayor, "the first thing he did was to attack [the city’s] culture, even though we can't live without it," Berger-Volle said.

She added that she would cast her ballot on Sunday despite her old age.

"Of course, I've always voted. I fought for it during the war".
‘I don't want us to be governed by former SS men’

On France’s west coast, Roger Lebranchu also had the honour of taking part in the Olympic torch relay on May 31, when it passed through Mont-Saint-Michel.

"I carried this symbol, which represents peace in the world and dignity between peoples. I never thought I'd do it one day", he points out.

The former rowing champion, selected for the London Olympics in 1948, was chosen for his sporting achievements and his past as a member of the Resistance.

"I was arrested in 1943 because I wanted to reach North Africa via Spain", Lebranchu said.

Aged merely 22, he was deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and the nearby Schönebeck camp where he spent nearly two years. He escaped in April 1945 just before the Americans arrived.

After the liberation of France, Lebranchu took up rowing again and won the French championship, twice.

Now at 101 years of age, Lebranchu is worried about the future of his country.

"I was deported for acts of resistance, I don't want us to be governed by former SS men", he said, referring to founding members of the FN. Among them were Léon Gaultier and Pierre Bousquet, two Frenchmen who had joined the ranks of the Waffen-SS.

"When you've been through the hands of the SS like I have, you can expect anything," the former Resistance fighter said, adding that he hopes that parties from "the centre will come together and stand shoulder by shoulder" against the far right.
‘Danger on our doorstep’

Meanwhile former Resistance fighter Jean Lafaurie takes a broader approach. For him, it is necessary for parties across all political divides to band together to prevent the National rally from taking power.

"We have to block this party, which is harmful to France," he said. "When I hear people from the right or government representatives say that we can't vote for the New Popular Front (a left-wing alliance)" because they object to certain candidates, "I say that blocking means blocking. We can discuss the details later".

"We're back to the same things that we’ve been through at the end of the 1930s. I think we're in the same system,” said Lafaurie, who was shaken upon learning the election results from the first round of voting last Sunday.

"The danger is on our doorstep”, he said.

Lafaurie had already faced a very similar danger over eight decades ago.

At 20, he joined the communist resistance fighters, or FTPF (Francs-tireurs et partisans), in his home region of the Lot in southwest France.

In July 1943, he was arrested and sentenced to ten years hard labour.

Interned in the Eysses prison in Lot-et-Garonne, Lafaurie took part in a mutiny that ended in the execution of 12 prisoners and the deportation of more than 1,000 others to the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.

There, Lafaurie survived for almost a year as prisoner number 73 618 before he was liberated in April 1945, weighing just 36 kilos.

"The concentration camps were a bit like what the Nazis intended to do in the rest of the world. A world of slaves with the Nazis as the sole representatives of authority", Lafaurie said.

Deeply marked by the experience, which is now "ingrained" in him, Lafaurie said he is dismayed to see that some people in France are suggesting trying the far right.

“We’ve been there!” Lafaurie said.

"They may have changed the way they talk to better deceive people, but the basis of the movement is still the same. Marine Le Pen has shown her ties with Putin. France is really in danger, but so is the whole of Europe at the moment”, he said.

For years, Lafaurie travelled the country to speak in schools, where he believes the history of the Second World War has not necessarily been properly passed on.

After 1945, "two generations wanted to forget the war and didn't talk about it. We must try and reawaken this memory, but it's not easy. We're trying to sow small seeds with the idea that they'll grow one day".
‘We're going to get through this’

96-year-old Daniel Huillier from Villard-de-Lans in the Isère department also recounts his story tirelessly to young people.

One of the last surviving resistance fighters from the Vercors Maquis, Huillier joined the Resistance at the age of 15, following in the footsteps of his father and several members of his family.

"During the war, I lost two uncles, cousins and friends aged 16 or 17", Huillier said.

Read moreWWII: In the footsteps of the African Resistance fighters who fell in the Battle of Vercors

Last week, Huillier recalled fraternal values advocated by his former comrades in arms in an article published ahead of the first round of elections.

"In the Resistance, there were of course French people, but there were also many foreigners. There were 36 nationalities in our ranks", he wrote.

Huillier, who took part a few weeks earlier in several ceremonies honouring the maquis of the Vercors, is saddened by the current situation.
\\

"What's happening is dramatic. We're in trouble", he said, adding that many French people "cast their ballots mindlessly because our leaders don't know where they're going".

While Huillier believed he has "no instructions to give to people", he regretted that those who vote for the far right "don't think about the consequences".

Nevertheless, Huillier, who narrowly escaped the German repression in the Vercors, remained optimistic.

"We mustn't despair. We're going to get through this. Unfortunately, things like this must happen for people to start thinking,” Huillier said.

ECOCRISIS

Air pollution drives 7% of deaths in big Indian cities: study

Paris (AFP) – More than seven percent of all deaths in 10 of India's biggest cities are linked to air pollution, a large study said Thursday, leading researchers to call for action to save tens of thousands of lives a year.

 04/07/2024 -

In India's capital Delhi 11.5 percent of deaths every year were 

 linked to air pollution, the researchers said 

© Arun SANKAR / AFP/File

Smog-filled Indian cities including the capital Delhi suffer from some of the world's worst air pollution, choking the lungs of residents and posing a rising threat to health still being revealed by researchers.

For the new study, an Indian-led team looked at the levels of cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla and Varanasi.

From 2008 to 2019, more than 33,000 deaths a year could be attributed to PM2.5 exposure above the World Health Organization's recommendation of 15 micrograms per cubic metre, the study said.

That represents 7.2 percent of the recorded deaths in those cities during that period, according to the study in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.

India's capital Delhi was the worst offender, with 12,000 annual deaths linked to air pollution -- or 11.5 percent of the total.

But even cities where air pollution is not thought to be as bad -- such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai -- had high death rates, the researchers emphasised.

They called for India's air quality standards to be toughened.

The country's current recommendation is 60 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre, which is four times higher than the WHO's guidelines.

Lowering and enforcing the limit "will save tens of thousands of lives per year," study co-author Joel Schwartz of Harvard University said.

"Methods for controlling pollution exist and are used elsewhere. They urgently need to be applied in India," he said in a statement.

The WHO says that almost everyone on Earth breathes in more than the recommended amount of air pollution, which can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

© 2024 AFP

CLIMATE CRISIS

Fires in Brazil's Pantanal push wetlands community to limit

Ladario (Brazil) (AFP) – A riverside community in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands narrowly escaped raging wildfires last month, but some say the record-setting blazes -- still burning nearby -- are compounding threats to their way of life.

Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

A sunset is seen through smoke from wildfires in Brazil's Pantanal June 28, 2024

© Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

"The river was the only thing separating us from the flames. On the other side, the fire devastated everything," said Virginia Paes, a local leader in the Baia Negra Environmental Protection Area (APA), where 28 families live.

Four years ago, similar fires blazed through the 5,400-hectare (13,300-acre) preserve along the Paraguay River, in southwest Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state.

"We were just trying to recover from the 2020 fire, which devastated our Pantanal. We had not fully recovered and now we are facing this again," Paes, a volunteer firefighter and president of the APA's Association of Women Producers, told AFP.

Though homes and lives were spared, the 53-year-old said, dense smoke from the fires made breathing and daily routines difficult.

This year's fires set January-June records in the Pantanal, a massive area of tropical wetlands that is home to millions of caimans, parrots, giant otters and the world's highest density of jaguars.

The Baia Negra APA, just outside the border city of Corumba and neighboring Ladario, is the first created in the biodiversity-rich Pantanal allowing for sustainable resource exploitation.

The population there lives off fishing, craft-making, and a robust eco-tourism industry, among other jobs.

- 'Guardians' under threat –

According to the Corumba social assistance office and the NGO Ecoa, in 2020, 651 families lived in the riverside city and Ladario.

A Yacare caiman is seen near Corumba, Brazil, June 25, 2024 

© Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

These "traditional communities of the Pantanal are the true guardians of the ecosystems they manage," said Andre Luiz Siqueira, Director of Programs and Projects at the NGO Ecoa.

"They are the ones that suffer the most impacts from the fires," he warned.

"I am concerned that in a few years we could have climate displaced people in the biome."

On the shore of Bracinho Island, which was burned in fires last month, three fishermen try their luck.

According to them, fishing has become more difficult due to fires poisoning the fish and make the activity difficult.

A heavy drought, which scientists say has exacerbated this year's fires, has also dropped the water-level in the river.

"Everything disappeared: the fish, the bait," 33-year-old Marcelo Henrique told AFP.

He said he used to live off fishing, but has now taken a job in a steel mill in Ladario.

"The bays dried up... Before there were 30, 40 boats circulating here. Now you barely see any."

- Evening curfew –

In his cabin off the MS 428 state highway, Renato Andrade remembers better days when hunting and fishing were abundant -- and threats from jaguars more rare.

A

 pair of Jaribu storks near Corumba, in Brazil's Pantanal tropical wetlands, June 28, 2024. © Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

The 52-year-old told AFP that after the 2020 fire, capybaras -- the natural prey of jaguars -- became "scarce."

"Before, there was no talk of jaguar attacks nearby. Now, I hear roars around the house. I can't have dogs, we've lost count of how many were eaten by jaguars," he said.

Fearing for his own life, he said he has changed his daily routine.

"At night, now you have to stay inside the house. After 6:30 pm, no one wants to be outside" over fears of attacks.

He said he has also stopped fishing alone at night, like he used to do.

"I can't or I will end up a jaguar's dinner."

© 2024 AFP

D. E. I.

Bass beats bring Shanghai's deaf and hearing clubbers together

Shanghai (AFP) – Crowds bopped to bass-heavy electronic music at a weekend party in Shanghai that brought together deaf and hearing clubbers, with staff taking food and drink orders through sign language.

Issued on: 04/07/2024

Shanghai's 'BassBath' organisers are looking to build bridges between the city's deaf and hearing communities with its club nights 

© Jade GAO / AFP


It was the second "BassBath" club night organised by a culture-bridging group working in the Chinese metropolis.

"This event is intended to break down the barrier between deaf and hearing people through play and body language," Alice Hu, BassBath co-organiser and a visual artist who is deaf, told AFP.

BassBath "allows deaf people to understand hearing people's culture, and also allows hearing people to understand deaf people's culture, leading to mutual integration", Hu said.

Two patrons communicate via sign language at a deaf-friendly party in Shanghai 

© Jade GAO / AFP

Deaf communities around the world have increasingly built such spaces for nightlife and other cultural events.

However, nightlife and entertainment events for deaf partyers are still rare in China despite recent efforts to improve inclusivity in education and everyday life.
'Happier together'

Animated art and music videos featuring sign language artists such as Finland's Signmark were projected onto graffiti-strewn walls at Saturday's party.

Posters scattered across the venue showed visitors the Chinese sign language versions of words such as "dream" and "dance", while deaf professional dancers showed off their "popping" and breakdance moves.

DJs select songs with bass beats deep enough to be felt as vibrations

 © Jade GAO / AFP

DJs played tracks selected for their catchy rhythms and bass beats deep enough to be felt as vibrations.

BassBath's Hu led the crowd in a game where players changed their dance moves according to signed words.

For 34-year-old Xiaozhou, the party was his first opportunity to go out dancing.

"I hope I can have some exchanges with friends and have fun together, feel happier together," Xiaozhou, who asked to be identified by a nickname, told AFP.
Inclusive partying

At 68, Hu Jingqi was among the oldest revellers.

Deaf artist and BassBath organiser Alice Hu (L) and colleague Ding Jiayue prepare for their latest Shanghai club night © Jade GAO / AFP

She stood at the centre of a circle of dancers, moving her hands to the music while clubbers decades younger towered over her in their flashy streetwear.

Hu Jingqi also attended BassBath's debut party in May.

"It was really crazy, the whole atmosphere was really great and it was really bustling," she said of her first experience clubbing.

"I really liked the activity, to the point that I forgot some of the physical discomforts I have in my body," she told AFP.

For hearing clubber Alice Liu, who is learning sign language, the event was a window into the deaf community's rich culture, which is usually relegated to the sidelines of mainstream society.

Liu said she learned of the event through a sign language class taught by BassBath's Alice Hu.

"In the past, I believed in some stereotypes, like I felt (deaf people) would only appear in certain fixed places, or that they were unwilling to interact with other people," Liu told AFP.

Hearing clubgoers say the BassBath nights in Shanghai open a window into the deaf community's rich culture © Jade GAO / AFP

"I had heard that there were some very talented deaf dancers, but I didn't understand how they could dance."

Jia-yue Ding, another of BassBath's organisers, said society was "very centred on ableism".

"But actually, if you step just a little bit outside of that (mindset), everyone is the same, and everyone can be friends and play together," Ding told AFP.

"There are very few opportunities for deaf and hearing people to make deep connections, so we hope that an event like this will help people to see each other in the moment and understand each other," she said.

© 2024 AFP

POST FORDIST GLOBALIZATION

China's BYD opens EV plant in Thailand despite slowdown, tariff row

Bangkok (AFP) – China's electric vehicle giant BYD opened a factory in Thailand on Thursday, continuing its international expansion despite a market slowdown and hours before the European Union was due to impose swingeing tariffs on Chinese EV firms.


Issued on: 04/07/2024 - 

BYD is China's dominant electric vehicle maker but is looking to expand overseas © GREG BAKER / AFP

The plant in Rayong, an industrial area southeast of Bangkok, will be able to build up to 150,000 vehicles a year, according to the company, which dominates its domestic market.

Wang Chuanfu, Shenzhen-based BYD's chief executive, said production would initially focus on full electric vehicles and later expand to include plug-in hybrids, which combine a conventional engine with an electric motor.

"BYD Thailand plant has an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, including the four major processes of vehicle and parts production, and will create about 10,000 jobs," Wang said at an opening ceremony.

The move comes as Thailand seeks to shift its longstanding auto sector away from conventional vehicles and towards EV production.

BYD overtook Elon Musk's Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023 to become the world's top seller of electric vehicles.

Tesla reclaimed top spot in the first quarter of this year, but BYD is bullish about its expansion, insisting last month it would press ahead with a second factory in the EU.

The Chinese automaker recorded a record annual profit of 30 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) last year, but in April reported lower than expected revenue for the first quarter of 2024.

BYD has faced a bitter price war in China, where a staggering 129 EV brands are slugging it out -- with only 20 achieving a domestic market share of one percent or more, according to Bloomberg.

China has led the global shift to electric vehicles, with almost one in three cars on its roads set to be electric by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency's annual Global EV Outlook.

But European regulators have raised concerns about what they say is "overcapacity" created by excessive state subsidies.

Seeking to protect European manufacturers from cheaper Chinese imports, Brussels has proposed a provisional hike of tariffs on Chinese manufacturers: 17.4 percent for BYD, 20 percent for Geely and 38.1 percent for SAIC -- in addition to the current 10 percent import duty.

EU and Chinese trade chiefs held talks last weekend in a bid to avert a bitter trade war, but the tariffs are set to come into force on Thursday.

But while they are high, the EU tariffs are significantly lower than the 100 percent rate the United States imposed from last month on Chinese electric cars.

© 2024 AFP

China's BYD opens EV factory in Thailand, first in Southeast Asia


Bangkok International Motor Show·

Updated Wed, Jul 3, 2024

By Chayut Setboonsarng

RAYONG, Thailand (Reuters) -China's BYD opened an electric vehicle plant in Thailand on Thursday, the automaker's first factory in Southeast Asia, a fast-growing regional EV market where it has become the dominant player.

"Thailand has a clear EV vision and is entering a new era of auto manufacturing," BYD CEO and President Wang Chuanfu said at the opening ceremony. "We will bring technology from China to Thailand."

The BYD plant is part of a wave of investment worth more than $1.44 billion from Chinese EV makers who are setting up factories in Thailand, helped by government subsidies and tax incentives.

Hong Kong-listed shares of the automaker rose 3.2% to HK$237.60, their biggest intraday jump since June 13.

By 2030, Thailand aims to convert 30% of its annual production of 2.5 million vehicles into EVs, according to a government plan.

Thailand is a regional auto assembly and export hub, and has long been dominated by Japanese car makers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Co and Isuzu Motors.

"BYD is using Thailand as a production hub for export to ASEAN and many other countries," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of Thailand's Board of Investment, referring to the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc.

The facility, announced two years ago, is worth $490 million and will have a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year, including plug-in hybrids.

The sprawling factory in eastern Thailand's Rayong district will employ around 10,000 workers, some of whom were seen operating machinery on Thursday as under-construction bodies of BYD's Dolphin model moved through an assembly line.

"We will also assemble batteries and other important parts here," said Liu Xueliang, BYD's Asia Pacific general manager.

Thailand is the largest overseas market for BYD, which commanded a 46% share of country's EV segment in the first quarter and is the third-largest player in passenger cars, according to research firm Counterpoint.

Other EV rivals in the local market include Great Wall Motor, which also has a production facility in Thailand, and Tesla.

BYD dealers in Thailand, however, are currently under scrutiny following a consumer complaint over aggressive discounting that has left some buyers upset with how much they paid for their cars.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)