Streets turned into rivers as Typhoon Gaemi hits Philippines

Manila (AFP) – Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.


Issued on: 24/07/2024 -

People making their way through a flooded street in Manila as Typhoon Gaemi hit © Ted ALJIBE / AFP

In the densely populated capital, rescuers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers.

People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping trolleys to move around.

Government offices were shut and classes suspended, while more than 70 domestic and international flights were cancelled because of the weather.

"Many areas are flooded so we have rescuers deployed all over the city. There is an overwhelming number of people asking for help," Peachy de Leon, a disaster official in suburban Manila, told AFP.

"We were told last night the rain will not hit us, then the rain suddenly poured so we were quite shocked. There is an ongoing search and rescue now."

Typhoon Gaemi, which has swept past the Philippines as it heads towards Taiwan, intensified the southwest monsoon rains typical for this time of year, the state weather forecaster said.

"Usually the peak of rainy season is July and August and it so happens that there is a typhoon in the eastern waters of the Philippines that enhances the southwest monsoon," senior weather specialist Glaiza Escullar told AFP.
A bus ploughs through a flooded street in Manila © Ted ALJIBE / AFP

More than 200 millimetres (nearly eight inches) of rain fell in the capital in the past 24 hours, Escullar said, which was "not unusual".

Landslides killed a pregnant woman and three children in Batangas province, south of Manila, and blocked three major roads in the mountainous Benguet province, police and disaster officials said Wednesday.

That takes the death toll from heavy rains over swaths of the country in the past two weeks to at least 12, as tens of thousands sheltered in evacuation centres.

Taiwan braces for Typhoon Gaemi to make landfall

Yilan (AFP) – Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast.

Issued on: 24/07/2024 - 

Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and issued a typhoon holiday on Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island © Sam Yeh / AFP

Typhoon Gaemi, packing sustained wind speeds of 162 kilometres (100 miles) per hour, also affected Japan and the Philippines -- which also announced that government offices would close for the day.

It is expected to make landfall in northeast Taiwan by 10 pm (1400 GMT), and President Lai Ching-te urged everyone to "put safety first" during a morning emergency briefing.

"Gaemi is this year's first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan," Lai said.

"I hope that through our joint efforts, impact from the typhoon can be minimised... I also encourage fellow citizens across the country not to go out unless necessary during the typhoon, especially not to dangerous places."

The weather forced the self-ruled island to cancel some of its annual Han Kuang war games -- which test preparedness for a Chinese invasion -- but an anti-landing drill went ahead as scheduled on Wednesday morning on Penghu island, west of Taiwan.

Authorities evacuated more than 2,100 people living in precarious conditions in three northern regions, particularly Hualien -- a mountainous area with high risk of landslides.

Trains and ferry services were suspended and more than 250 international flights were cancelled on Wednesday.

"We expect that the impact of the typhoon will be extended to four days (until Friday)," said Taiwan's Central Weather Administration chief Cheng Jia-ping, adding that the public would need to "take precautions against heavy rain and strong wind".

Massive waves crashed against the coast of northeastern Yilan county and, in the capital Taipei, shops and government offices were closed.

Massive waves crashed against the coast of northeastern Yilan county © I-Hwa CHENG / AFP

Student Ray Su said he was "very happy" that he didn't have to go to cram school -- a specialised centre that tutors students.

"When the teacher announced the typhoon holiday last night, the whole class cheered," Su told AFP, adding that he was "not too worried" about the typhoon's impact.

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it will maintain normal production and the firm "has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures" at all fabrication plants.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but experts say climate change has increased their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.

In neighbouring Japan, authorities of a southern island region of Okinawa urged residents to "exercise strong vigilance" against storms, high waves and floods.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, heavy downpours in Manila triggered widespread flooding and a landslide in a nearby mountainous province killed four people.

burs-dhc/fox

© 2024 AFP

RIP

UK blues legend John Mayall dead at 90

Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

MY FIRST 3 BLUES ALBUMS 

WERE JOHN MAYALL

Issued on: 24/07/2024 

Blues legend John Mayall, who died on July 22, 2024 at age 90, is seen performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2009 © Rick Diamond / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.


At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.

© 2024 AFP

 

 

Strike threat lingers over Olympics opening ceremony

Paris (AFP) – Negotiations to end a strike threat from several hundred dancers involved in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony failed to reach an agreement Tuesday, meaning the event still faces the risk of disruption.


Issued on: 23/07/2024 

T

he Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony will take place along the river Seine © SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

The SFA-CGT union, which says it represents roughly 10 percent of the 3,000 performers involved in the opening ceremony, filed a strike notice last week over what it said were "outrageous disparities" in pay between dancers.

A meeting Tuesday between the union and the organising committee for the Games resulted in an offer of 120 euros ($130) extra for the lowest paid performers, which was rejected.

"This Tuesday, a timid proposal was finally made to us, related to an increase in pay for broadcasting rights," the union said in a statement sent to AFP.

The strike threat is an unwelcome development for French organisers and risks deepening France's reputation for labour disputes just as the eyes of the world fall on Paris for the start of the Games this Friday.

A whole host of French public sector workers have threatened strikes or have stopped work ahead of the Olympics to demand bonuses for working over the July 26-August 11 event, which coincides with the summer holidays.

One-off payments of up to 1,900 euros have been agreed for police and municipal workers in Paris.

The head of the formerly Communist-aligned CGT, Sophie Binet, urged the company producing the opening ceremony, Paname 2024, to quickly reach an agreement to end the strike threat.

Some of the dancers protested on Monday during rehearsals by the river Seine by stopping and holding their fists aloft for eight minutes.

The opening ceremony is set to take place over a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river Seine, with around 6,000-7,000 athletes expected to sail down the river on 85 boats.

It will be the first time a summer Olympics has opened outside of the main athletics stadium.

A small union at Paris airport operator ADP has also filed a strike notice for Friday.

Management of the company reached an agreement last week with most labour groups to end a dispute over Olympic bonuses.

© 2024 AFP

The cost of email: Major carbon generating countries revealed


By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 23, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Computer laptop. — Image © Tim Sandle

A new study finds that sending and receiving emails emits about 1344.3 tons of carbon globally on a daily basis. Looking at one specific country, the UK sends 8.32 billion emails daily causing a carbon footprint of 2,751 tons. In contrast, the US emits 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide by sending out 9.7 billion emails daily.

Data has been compiled by the firm Zero Bounce around the countries sending out the most emails daily, resulting in the most amount of carbon dioxide emissions. The study used the most recent reports of population numbers from the World Population Review.

The information about the percentage of email users was retrieved from the reports by Statista and the reports about the number of emails sent out per country were taken from the Talos Intelligence website.

It is globally recognized that on average one email transaction emits 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide. The carbon footprint was calculated according to the number of emails sent out per user. For clearer results, the grams were translated into tons. Per capita carbon footprint is indicated in grams.

Country	Population	% of email users	Number of email users	Emails sent in billions daily	Daily Carbon footprint in tons (0.3 grams per email)	Daily Carbon footprint in grams per user
United States	341,814,420	89.45%	305,752,998.69	9.7	3,207.67	9.52
Germany	83,252,474	83.00%	69,099,553.42	8.5	2,810.85	36.90
Ireland	5,089,478	93%	4,733,214.54	8.4	2,777.78	532.41
Netherlands	17,671,125	90.00%	15,904,012.50	8.35	2,761.24	157.51
United Kingdom	67,961,439	85.00%	57,767,223.15	8.32	2,751.32	43.21
France	64,881,830	94%	60,988,920.20	8.31	2,748.02	40.88
Austria	8,977,139	80%	7,181,711.20	8.27	2,734.79	345.46
Japan	122,631,432	75%	91,973,574.00	8.25	2,728.17	26.91
India	1,441,719,852	82.40%	1,187,977,158.05	8.2	2,711.64	2.07
Belgium	11,715,774	86.21%	10,100,168.77	8.1	2,678.57	240.59

The U.S. tops the ranking, with the most amount of daily carbon emissions because of email use. 89.45 percent of the US population uses emails, emitting on average 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide daily.Each user, on average, sends or receives 31.72 emails per day, contributing 9.52 grams to the daily carbon footprint per capita. The United States’ email activity accounts for 6.82 percent of the overall world email traffic, the second largest in the list.

Germany ranks second with the total amount of carbon emissions due to email transactions. Germans use email, equating to 69 million out of 83.2 million users. Germans send 8.5 billion emails daily, generating a daily carbon footprint of 2,550,000 kilograms or 2,810 tons. Each user, on average, sends or receives 123.01 emails per day, resulting in a per capita carbon footprint of 36.90 grams.

Ireland ranks third, with the highest amount of carbon emitted daily at roughly 532 grams per user. 4.7 million individuals out of 5 million uses email. The country sends 8.4 billion emails daily, leading to a significant daily carbon footprint of 2777 tons. Ireland’s email activity represents.

A statement from Zero Bounce explains: “There is a substantial carbon emission from email usage, that emphasizes the need for greater awareness and strategies to reduce the digital carbon footprint. Understanding the environmental impact of our digital communication practices is crucial for developing sustainable solutions and mitigating climate change.”

WAR IS ECOCIDE

Russia ‘killing’ climate, say activists awaiting top rights court ruling

By AFP
July 23, 2024

Mechanics of the Ukrainian army's 14th Mechanised Brigade pass by their main battle tank and a captured Russian tank in 2023 - Copyright South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP/File Handout
Nina LARSON

Activists are asking Europe’s top rights court to fault Russia for creating a “climate catastrophe”, saying Moscow’s war on Ukraine is contributing to a spike in its greenhouse gas emissions.

Russian environmental group Ecodefense and 18 individuals filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last year, saying Moscow’s actions were worsening the global climate crisis, in violation of human rights.

“Russia is killing the climate,” Ecodefense co-chair Vladimir Slivyak told AFP in a recent interview in Geneva.

He highlighted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed the 2015 Paris Climate accord, which set the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

But he charged that Russia was failing to limit greenhouse gas emissions or reduce the extraction of fossil fuels.

Instead, he said internal policy documents show that Russia is planning “only growing extraction of coal, oil and gas” for the next decade at least.

“In some scenarios it is up 50 percent.”



– War fuelling emissions –



Slivyak, who left Russia in 2021 amid a crackdown on civil society ahead of legislative elections, said Russia’s growing emissions were closely linked to its war in Ukraine.

While official statistics are unavailable, he said “there must be a big increase in greenhouse gas emissions during the war”, with additional production lines for tanks and weapons as well as emissions when the arms are used.

At the same time, “Russia can continue the war only if it sells enough” of its fossil fuels, he said, urging more sanctions.

“If the world right now stopped buying fossil fuel from Russia, that would likely lead to the end of this war this year.”

The plaintiffs filed their case last August, after first attempting to take it to Russia’s Supreme Court, which refused to hear the claim.

“We want the court to decide that the Russian policy… is dangerous for climate and the world,” Slivyak said.



– ‘Undermining international efforts’ –



The idea is not so far-fetched.

In a historic ruling in April, the Strasbourg-based ECHR deemed that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change.

And the situation with Russia is far worse, said Slivyak, a 2021 winner of the Swedish Right Livelihood Award, which is often characterised as an alternative Nobel Prize.

“It’s not about not doing enough, but about actually killing the climate,” he said, slamming Russia for “undermining the international efforts”.

While other countries were investing in innovations and technologies, “there is the largest-by-territory country on Earth that thinks it can ignore everybody else”.

Ecodefense had asked the court to fast-track the case, as it did with the Swiss case and two other climate-linked cases heard in parallel.

But the court rejected that request last week, meaning the process could take a long time.

Last time Ecodefense helped bring a case to the court was in 2013, when it was among organisations asking for a ruling against Russia’s foreign agent law, which requires anyone receiving backing from abroad to be listed as a foreign agent.

The court took nearly a decade to issue its ruling, and while the 2022 decision was in the organisations’ favour, Slivyak said “it was too late”, pointing out that the groups had already fled the country.

An earlier verdict, back when Russia still appeared amenable to being swayed by international opinion, might have altered the course of history, he suggested.

He acknowledged it was trickier this time.



– ‘Precedent’ –



Russia was expelled from the pan-European rights body the Council of Europe, of which the ECHR is part, after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But complaints concerning violations allegedly committed by Russia before its September 16, 2022 exclusion from the body remain admissible at the court.

While Russia is likely to dismiss any ECHR decision, Slivyak insisted that getting a ruling in the case could be useful for shaping policy when Russia’s “fascist dictatorship” one day falls.

Internationally too, he said, it could set a “precedent”, pushing governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies.

“It could change the whole field.”

Renewables overproduction turns electricity prices negative


AFP
July 23, 2024


Negative wholesale electricity prices are becoming more common as more wind and solar polar comes on line and doesn't always reduce output when demand falls - Copyright AFP/File Ina FASSBENDER

Nathalie Alonso and Catherine Hours

With the proliferation of solar panels and wind turbines an unusual phenomenon is becoming more and more frequent: wholesale electricity prices turn negative.

While that may brighten the mood of consumers whose power bills have surged in recent years, it could undermine the further development of renewables, a key element in the fight against global warming.

The increasingly frequent phenomenon is “extremely problematic” for the wind and solar sector, said Mattias Vandenbulcke, strategy director of the renewables industry group France Renouvelables.

“It allows some to have harmful, even dangerous rhetoric which says ‘renewables are useless’,” Vandenbulcke said.

In southern Australia, wholesale electricity prices have been negative some 20 percent of the time since last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

The share of negatively priced hours in southern California was above 20 percent in the first half of the year, more than triple from the same period in 2023, the IEA said.

In the first six months of the year in France, there were negative prices around five percent of the time, beating the record set last year, according to the electricity grid operator RTE.

In Switzerland the price tumbled as far as -400 euros (-$436) per megawatt hour on July 14. The lowest prices are usually recorded around midday during the summer when solar production is at its peak.



– ‘A warning signal’ –



The trend has been accelerating for the past three years as demand in Europe has unexpectedly dropped since the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Prices turn negative on the spot wholesale electricity market when production is strong while demand is weak.

Around a fifth of the total is traded on this market, where electricity is bought for the following day.

Negative prices help reduce the bills of consumers, said Rebecca Aron, head of electricity markets at French renewables firm Valorem, but the impact is delayed and difficult to discern among the other factors that send prices higher and lower.

Large, industrial consumers that can shift production to times when prices are negative and buy on wholesale markets can reap the biggest rewards.

Negative prices are “a warning signal that there is way too much production on the electrical grid”, said energy analyst Nicolas Goldberg at Colombus Consulting.

Electricity grids need to be kept constantly in balance. Too much can lead to the electricity to increase in frequency beyond norms for some equipment. Too little can lead to some or all customers losing power.

There are currently few options to stock surplus electricity production so producers have to reduce output.

Many renewable producers stop their output when prices are set to turn negative. It takes one minute to stop output at a solar park, two to three minutes for a wind turbine.

But not all stop their production.



– Tripling renewables –



“Renewable energy can be controlled, but depending on production contracts, there might not necessarily be an incentive to stop,” said Mathieu Pierzo at French grid operator RTE, which has the responsibility for balancing the electricity load.

Some producers are paid a fixed price under their contract or are compensated by the state if prices fall below a certain level.

Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants can adjust their production to some extent, but halting and restarting output is costly.

In the future, solar and wind will also have to “participate more in balancing the electricity system”, Pierzo said.

Solar and wind production is set to rise further as nations agreed at the COP28 climate conference last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.

“Rising frequency of negative prices sends an urgent signal that greater flexibility of supply and demand is needed,” the Paris-based IEA warned last week.

“The appropriate regulatory frameworks and market designs will be important to allow for an uptake in flexibility solutions such as demand response and storage,” it said.

‘Truly frightening’: Pesticides increasingly laced with forever chemicals


By AFP

July 24, 2024

New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives says that pesticides used for both agricultural and residential applications are an important source of PFAS contamination in the environment

 - Copyright AFP/File Kerry SHERIDAN

Issam AHMED

Toxic “forever chemicals” are increasingly being used in US pesticides, threatening human health as they contaminate waterways and are sprayed on staple foods, a study said Wednesday.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, but environmental regulations against them have mainly paid attention to sources such as industrial facilities, landfills and consumer products like certain cookware and paints.

New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives says that pesticides used on crops including corn, wheat, spinach, apples and strawberries — and other sources such as insect sprays and pet flea treatment — can now be added to the list.

“The more we look, the more we find it,” co-author Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told AFP.

“And it just emphasizes the importance of cutting down on sources and really regulating these chemicals.”

Research suggests that high levels of exposure to forever chemicals weakens human immune systems, making them less responsive to vaccines and more susceptible to infections.

There is also emerging evidence they may reduce fertility, lead to growth delays in children, and interfere in the body’s natural hormones.

For the new paper, the authors trawled public databases and carried out freedom of information requests to obtain information on both “active” and “inert” ingredients in pesticides.

Active ingredients are those that target pests, while those that are called inert are everything else. The latter are not required to be disclosed on the label even though they can increase the efficacy and persistence of the toxic active ingredient, and can be toxic themselves.

The researchers uncovered a concerning trend: 14 percent of all US pesticide active ingredients are PFAS, including nearly one-third of active ingredients approved in the past decade.

Eight approved inert ingredients in pesticides were PFAS, including the non-stick chemical known by the brand name Teflon.

The Teflon company that made nonstick pans with this chemical ended its use in 2013, and its elimination was tied in research to fewer low birth weight babies. In February, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to ban its use in pesticides.

Study co-author David Andrews, a scientist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told AFP that part of the problem stemmed from a narrower definition of PFAS molecules by the EPA compared to that adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Adding PFAS to pesticides makes them more powerful and longer lasting, Andrews told AFP, which could be another driving factor.

Forever chemicals were first developed in the 1940s and have now accumulated in the environment globally, entering the air, soil, groundwater, lakes and rivers.

More than 15,000 synthetic chemicals qualify as PFAS, and their indestructibility arises from their carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest types of bonds in organic chemistry.



– ‘Ineffective regulation’ –



Another critical issue identified by the study was the plastic containers used to store pesticides and fertilizers, 20-30 percent of which are “fluorinated” to improve their strength, but can leach PFAS back into the container’s contents.

Such unintentional addition of extra PFAS back into the pesticide has been found during testing, and although the EPA moved to ban fluoridation of these containers, its decision was overturned by a US court.

“This is truly frightening news, because pesticides are some of the most widely dispersed pollutants in the world,” co-author Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said about the findings.

“Lacing pesticides with forever chemicals is likely burdening the next generation with more chronic diseases and impossible cleanup responsibilities.”

The authors recommended measures including a ban on fluorinated plastic containers, mandating disclosure of all “inert” ingredients on product labels, comprehensive study of what happens to pesticide compounds in the environment, and more research on their effects on humans.

“The regulations surrounding pesticides are currently outdated and ineffective,” scientists at Emory University wrote in a related commentary, calling on the EPA to get a better grasp on the rising threat.

Pride parade runs the gauntlet in German far-right stronghold


By AFP
July 24, 2024

Organisers of Altenburg's pride parade see it as a way to push back against the far-right AfD - Copyright AFP/File JENS SCHLUETER
Clement KASSER

Before the Pride parade by LGBTQ activists in the east German town of Altenburg even started, a small group had been hurling insults and flashing middle fingers at those present.

Far from Germany’s metropolises with their huge, exuberant Pride festivities, Altenburg’s parade was a reminder of the struggles faced by the LGBTQ community in more remote parts of the country — and their fears over the rise of the far-right.

In June’s European elections the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) topped the poll in Altenburg constituency with 37 percent of the vote and is also widely expected to come first in September’s election for the parliament of the surrounding Thuringia region.

Although the party’s co-president Alice Weidel is a lesbian, the AfD is known for its opposition to LGBTQ+ rights including gay marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. Rather, it has promoted the view that families constitute a “father, mother and children”.

For one of the organisers of Altenburg’s parade, 25-year-old Torge Dermitzel, being out and proud is a way of pushing back against the AfD’s rise.

“We still have a few weeks, we’re going to do everything we can to be visible and block the AfD,” he told AFP, shirt open and rainbow fan in hand.

After the first such event he helped organise in 2021, Dermitzel received several death threats.

“I hope we won’t get physically attacked but I expect we’ll get some insults along the way,” Dermitzel said.

Sure enough, AFP saw three small groups of people trying to provoke the marchers as the column of around 200 people made its way briskly through Altenburg’s picturesque old town at the weekend.

– ‘Everyone knows everyone else’ –



“In small towns everyone knows everyone else so it’s tricky to demonstrate with the queer community,” said 58-year-old Isolde Rolle.

Rolle, who works in a medical clinic, said she was moved to join the march in Altenburg for the first time by her “terror” of the AfD.

“When I had my first girlfriend at school here everyone started talking about my sexuality,” Geraldine Streng, an 18-year-old geography student, told AFP as she marched along with several friends.

She admitted to avoiding certain parts of town when alone but added she hoped that “the next generation will be able to go where they want without any funny looks or comments”.

Pride parades have multiplied in more rural parts of Germany in recent years, despite a sometimes challenging climate.

In Pirna, a town of some 40,000 in the neighbouring region of Saxony where the AfD recently won control of the town council, the mayor refused to fly the rainbow flag this year.

Nevertheless approximately 3,000 people turned out for Pirna’s Pride parade in mid-July.



-‘We exist too!’-

According to the VBRG association for the victims of far-right violence, there is “a correlation between the vote for the far-right and the rise in violent attacks” of a homophobic or transphobic nature.

Even last week’s huge Pride march in Cologne, which organisers said brought together more than a million people, did not pass off without 13 men being detained for chanting far-right and homophobic slogans and grabbing rainbow flags from marchers.

In rural eastern Germany it’s harder for victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes to get justice, said Heike Kleffner of the VBRG, citing a certain level of “social support” for the perpetrators and “delays or blockages in legal cases”.

Altenburg’s marchers also paid respects to a man who was killed in February 2020 in what many in the community perceived as a hate crime, even if it was not treated as such by the judicial system.

“We don’t live in Berlin, Hamburg or Cologne but we exist too and we have the right to live in peace!” said Demitzel.

Political science student Lenard Pfeuffer said he is also worried about LGBTQ communities in big cities having a blind spot when it comes to their rural counterparts.

He came to Altenburg as part of “Pride Soli Ride”, a Berlin organisation which coordinates groups from the capital to help swell the numbers of Pride marches in smaller towns in the east.

Pfeuffer said that while Berlin’s Pride has become “more of a big party”, Altenburg’s march is “much more militant”, a reminder that of Pride’s political roots.

Giraffes bring peace to Kenyan communities once at odds


By AFP
July 21, 2024

The number of giraffes in Kenya has declined sharply due to illegal hunting and human encroachment on their habitat - Copyright AFP Fabrice COFFRINI
Dylan GAMBA

On a vast farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley, a veterinarian carefully takes aim before shooting a tranquiliser dart and sending another giraffe sinking slowly to the ground before it is roped and blindfolded.

It is the first stage of a delicate operation by the Kenya Wildlife Service to move a group of the endangered animals to a conservancy around 140 kilometres (90 miles) to the east.

The subdued giraffe is kept at the farm in Sergoit along with seven others for an acclimatisation period of about 10 days, before being transported to their new home.

The Rothschild’s giraffes, a distinct subspecies, are being resettled in the Ruko Conservancy in Baringo County as part of a long-running initiative to ease communal tensions there.

While the East African nation is renowned for its spectacular wildlife, its northern counties such as Baringo are more often in the news for banditry and ethnic clashes.

The rival Pokot and Ilchamus communities in Baringo had been at odds for decades, their feuds sometimes escalating into armed clashes.

In the mid-2000s, Pokot and Ilchamus elders took matters into their own hands, launching an initiative to resettle the Rothschild’s, or Nubian, giraffes into the Ruko conservancy around 280 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi.

The goal was twofold: reintroduce an endangered species to a region it had previously deserted, and restore peace to the two communities.

The elders hoped the world’s tallest mammals would attract tourists and income, quelling tensions in the neglected region by providing employment in an area where many young people — like elsewhere in Kenya — struggle to find jobs.

And, said 34-year-old reserve manager Rebby Sebei, it seems to have worked.

“Back 20 years before, Pokot and Ilchamus had a conflict that erupted because of livestock theft and resulted in loss of life, loss of livestock and pushing people to move away from their homeland,” she told AFP.

“This place became deserted, where we are now today was a battleground for the bandits.”

But now, she said, the gentle creatures are helping to “ensure that there is peace between the two communities”.



– ‘One community’ –



Giraffes have seen a dramatic decline in numbers in Kenya in recent decades, as a result of poaching and human encroachment on their habitats.

As the Sergoit giraffes — securely trussed in the back of trucks — made their way slowly towards the reserve, people from the Pokot and Ilchamus communities held welcome celebrations.

Sixteen hours after their departure from Sergoit, having navigated hazardous bridges and low-hanging electrical wires, the giraffes finally arrived at their new home.

The group was to be acclimatised in a small pen before being released into the Ruko reserve, now home to nearly 20 giraffes, both Rothschild’s and Masai.

As people sang and danced in celebration while awaiting the new arrivals, Douglas Longomo, a 27-year-old farmer, said he believed that his Pokot community had changed.

“It took time to understand that the conservancy is important to bring people together,” Longomo said.

Many could not see the point of ending the clashes that have scarred the Rift Valley area for decades, he added.

“Now we are seeing we are living as one community, we can move freely without any fear.”

Longomo’s views were echoed by 28-year-old James Parkitore from the Ilchamus community.

“I think (the conflict) is over now because we are interacting,” he said.

“I hope those giraffes will (create) great jobs for the communities,” said Parkitore, a view shared by Longomo.

Sebei added a note of caution, however, saying that while an increase in tourism had helped, there were still some lingering disputes between the two ethnic groups.

But, she said, “there is peace, and we need to bring more giraffes”.

Trial starts for Vietnam tycoon in $146 million graft case

By AFP
July 22, 2024


Trinh Van Quyet is escorted by policemen into court at the start of his fraud trial in Hanoi - Copyright AFP Anh TUC

A former Vietnamese property and aviation tycoon charged with $146 million in fraud and stock market manipulation went on trial in Hanoi Monday, the latest corruption case targeting the communist country’s business elite.

Trinh Van Quyet, who owned the FLC empire of luxury resorts, golf courses, and the budget Bamboo Airways, had nearly $2 billion in stock market wealth before his arrest, according to state media estimates.

But on Monday the 48-year-old — handcuffed and dressed in a white shirt — was led into court by police officers.

The trial comes just days after the death of former Communist Party of Vietnam leader Nguyen Phu Trong, who is credited with spearheading a crackdown on graft at the highest levels.

Trong, 80, died on Friday at a military hospital in Hanoi “due to old age and serious illness”, the party said, a day after announcing he was standing down to seek medical care.

Tycoon Quyet is accused of illegally pocketing more than $146 million between 2017 and 2022.

Following his arrest in March 2022, 49 other alleged accomplices were picked up — including his two sisters and the former chairman of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and its chief executive officer.

According to the prosecution indictment, Quyet set up several stock market brokerages and registered dozens of family members to, ostensibly, trade shares.

But police said while orders to buy shares were placed in hundreds of trading sessions — pushing up the value of the stock — they were cancelled before being matched.

The case is part of a national corruption crackdown that has swept up numerous officials and members of Vietnam’s business elite in recent years.

In April, a top Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in a $27 billion fraud case, launched an appeal against her conviction.

The head of one of Vietnam’s top soft drinks companies, meanwhile, was jailed for eight years in April in a $40 million fraud case.