It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, September 05, 2024
White House signals it may block sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel September 04, 2024 PMBy Associated Press FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, campaigns with President Joe Biden at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sept. 2, 2024.
WASHINGTON —
The White House is signaling an openness to blocking the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, as a government review of the proposed takeover by the Japanese company is wrapping up.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that President Joe Biden plans to stop the deal from going forward. A White House official, insisting on anonymity to discuss the matter, did not deny the report and said Biden still needs to receive the official recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). That review could end as soon as this month.
Biden had voiced his objections to the merger, backing his supporters in the United Steelworkers union who oppose the deal. The objection carries weight as U.S. Steel is headquartered in the swing state of Pennsylvania and is a symbol of Pittsburgh's industrial might in an election year when Republicans and Democrats alike are promising more domestic manufacturing jobs.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, came out against the deal this week. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has said he would block the merger if he were still in the White House.
Stock in U.S. Steel fell roughly 17% on the news that Biden would stop the merger.
The CFIUS review process generally pertains to business issues with national security implications. U.S. Steel spokesperson Amanda Malkowski said in an email that the company had not received any update on the process and that the company sees "no national security issues associated with this transaction, as Japan is one of our most staunch allies."
"We fully expect to pursue all possible options under the law to ensure this transaction, which is best future for Pennsylvania, American steelmaking, and all of our stakeholders, closes," Malkowski said.
A spokesman representing Nippon Steel said the company had not received any updates from the federal government on the review process.
U.S. Steel on Wednesday hosted a rally in support of the acquisition. It said in a statement that without the Nippon Steel deal the company would "largely pivot away from its blast furnace facilities, putting thousands of good-paying union jobs at risk, negatively impacting numerous communities across the locations where its facilities exist, and depriving the American steel industry of an opportunity to better compete on the global stage."
PNG
Bougainville to ‘raise the flag’ in international push of independence plans
Stefan Armbruster 2024.09.04 Brisbane
People queue to vote in Bougainville’s independence referendum from Papua New Guinea in Buka, the capital of the autonomous region, pictured on Nov. 23, 2019.Stefan Armbruster/BenarNews
Establishing ties with the Melanesian Spearhead Group will be the first priority for the Autonomous Government of Bougainville’s newly created “external relations” office, as it prepares for independence from Papua New Guinea.
The province voted 97.7% in favor of independence in a 2019 referendum that is yet to be ratified by PNG’s parliament, but Bougainville’s President Ishmael Toroama told BenarNews it would happen regardless in 2027.
Unlike Indonesia’s Papuan provinces, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Guam and American Samoa - which were or are part of the U.N. decolonization process - Bougainville’s self-determination is mandated through the PNG constitution.
Under the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement – after a brutal civil war triggered by Rio Tinto’s Panguna mine – PNG retains responsibility for foreign affairs but allows for the ABG to engage externally, for trade and with “regional organizations.”
“To raise, to put a flag at the MSG is one step forward into reality,” Toroama told BenarNews in Brisbane. “I think we start with the MSG first, we are looking to become an observer,.”
“We need countries to support us, we need to talk to those countries (ahead of independence),” said the former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander who will face elections in 2025 after five-years in office.
Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama speaks with diaspora community members in Brisbane during draft constitution consultations, pictured on Sept. 2, 2024. [Stefan Armbruster/BenarNews]
The MSG was formalized as a sub-regional grouping in 2007 – comprising Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of New Caledonia – primarily to promote economic growth in the Melanesian region.
An ABG approach has not yet been made to the MSG but in the meantime, Toroama is looking to foster international economic ties.
In July, the ABG created the External Relations Directorate under the office of the president, with former politician Albert Punghau as acting director and former Bougainville president James Tanis as an “international legate”.
The move was welcomed in a letter from the PNG prime minister’s department as an “important step.”
“Given this, my expectation is that the Directorate will liaise closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs on any foreign relations activities. This will ensure alignment on foreign relation matters with national government policies,” chief secretary of the PNG government Ivan Pomaleu wrote to the ABG on July 22, copying Prime Minister James Marape.
Written advice provided to Pomaleu, seen by BenarNews, states, “Under the BPA, the ABG has every right to establish the Directorate to enable the ABG to better engage in foreign relation activities and it could be argued that this is long overdue.”
Former Bougainville president and External Relations Directorate international legate James Tanis speaks with delegates at ANU State of the Pacific conference in Canberra, pictured on Sept 5, 2024. [Sue Ahearn/BenarNews]
Last September, Bougainville’s government called on the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand and China for foreign direct investment, adding “these are the very nations we will establish diplomatic relations with as an independent sovereign nation.”
Toroama says the ABG has respected the peace agreement on the foreign affairs front, by not engaging directly with foreign governments, but it does allow “economically starting to engage with whatever nations that will be available.”
Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific island country with an estimated 12 million people, is a focus of intensifying U.S.-China rivalry for influence in the Pacific. The easternmost islands of Bougainville, home to about 350,000 people and ethnically closer to Solomon Islands, is the site of the long-inactive Panguna mine.
One of the most resource-rich areas of PNG, Bougainville has the world’s largest copper reserves, gold and tuna. Toroama sees the resources as the basis for its future economy, where there is currently almost none.
There is little reliable available data on the Bougainville’s mainly agricultural, fisheries and alluvial mining based economy. Restarting the Panguna mine would take many years and cost billions of dollars.
The former BRA officer during the civil war said he is inspired by the vision of his late former commander Francis Ona of creating a Pacific economic powerhouse.
“It’s just testing the waters. What I’m saying here is we have colonial partners, if you cannot come in, then we have the last card, the Chinese card, that I will be playing. So I’m very frank and honest,” Toroama said.
“The (Chinese) corporations, they’ve been to visit Bougainville. They have spoken but not in real terms, into signing an agreement. Not yet.”
Satellite photo of the abandoned former Rio Tinto Panguna mine (center) in Bougainville, with the regional capital Arawa (top left) and tailings waste spilling downstream (bottom right), pictured Sept. 26, 2017. [Trevor Hammond/Planet Labs via Reuters]
Toroama said there’s little interest from the U.S. - despite a visit to meet investors in Washington last year - or Japan. Most engagement is from the Australian government and investors, but he said there are legacy issues to deal with.
“They’re putting money in, but it’s a piecemeal package if you compare Panguna mine and what resources have been taken out. It’s just nothing,” he said.
“You have dug that hole, you have been benefitting out of the Panguna mine.”
The environmental and social impacts of the giant Rio Tinto Panguna mine and inequitable distribution of revenues sparked the Bougainville ‘crisis’.
An estimated 10,000-15,000 people died in a decade-long civil war between Bougainville and PNG that ended with a peace agreement in 2001, leading to the referendum in 2019.
Papua New Guinea’s Marape government missed the agreed 2023 deadline for parliament to debate the referendum result and decide on the semi-autonomous region’s independence aspirations.
While recognizing the different circumstances, Toroama fears “the window of opportunity” for independence is almost closed for West Papua, closing for New Caledonia, and that could also happen to Bougainville.
“What I’m saying to my fellow Bougainvilleans, if we cannot make this happen within this given timeframe, I think Bougainville will be lost forever,” he said.
“We are not going to compromise the legal basis we are setting. If the national government will not ratify our independence, whether Pacific islands like it or not, Bougainville sovereignty is there.”
Bougainville diaspora community, commissioners and ABG officials celebrate at the end of two days of draft constitution consultations, pictured on Sept. 1, 2024. [Stefan Armbruster/BenarNews]
At the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Tonga last month, Marape told BenarNews that Bougainville’s independence is an internal matter to be decided by PNG’s parliament.
Bougainville’s government wants to achieve independence by 2027 but has faced opposition from PNG’s leaders, who fear it could encourage secessionist movements in other regions of the volatile Pacific island country.
The two sides are far apart and have just appointed a moderator over whether a parliamentary vote is by simple or two-thirds majority to approve or reject independence.
“That is the point of argument and if that (two-thirds) goes into place, it would be a disaster for Bougainville,” Toroama said.
In Brisbane for diaspora consultations on the draft Bougainville constitution last weekend, Toroama said there’s “still a lot of work to do” and “time is against us” for meeting a tentative December deadline for completion.
Issues still being considered range from the design of the flag and name of the currency to landowner rights and definition of citizenship.
“The whole process for getting the constitution, that it is a platform that we will be using to declare Bougainville independence,” he said.
“Bougainville has been known for unilateral declarations,” he added, referring to two previous independence bids.
Strictest abortion-ban states offer least family support
'Pro-life attitude begins at conception but ends there as well'
September 4, 2024 | By Kristin Samuelson States with the most severe post-Dobbs abortion restrictions also have the fewest policies in place to support raising families, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
States with the most severe post-Dobbs abortion restrictions also have the fewest policies in place to support raising families, reports a Northwestern Medicine study, published Sept. 4 in the American Journal of Public Health.
“We found that in the states that most severely restrict abortion, the women, children and families that abortion proponents seek to ‘protect’ are the populations that are left behind — with less access to health care and family social services — when pregnancy is continued,” said lead and corresponding author Dr. Nigel Madden, a recent graduate of the fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and now an instructor at Harvard Medical School and physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
This is one of the only academic studies to systematically examine the intersection between post-Dobbs state abortion policy and state access to reproductive health care and family social policies and programs.
“Proponents of abortion restrictions, who identify as ‘pro-life,’ assert that these policies are essential to protect children, women and families,” said senior author Dr. Lynn Yee, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Feinberg and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “It would seem in these states that the abortion-opponent, ‘pro-life’ attitude not only begins at conception but ends there as well.”
Certain groups disproportionally bear a greater burden from abortion bans, the study authors said. Previous research has found that people of low socioeconomic status and marginalized people are more likely to seek abortion, and they’re also less likely to be able to overcome barriers imposed by abortion bans and restrictions, such as needing to travel out of state to receive care. How support is lacking
Compared to the least restrictive states, the study found states with more severe abortion restrictions are:More likely to have lower enrollment in state-funded assistance programs, such as the nutrition-assistance Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, because women and families in these states are required to be poorer to qualify for these programs Less likely to implement policies that support families, such as paid family leave. Of the states with the most restrictive abortion bans, none have a mandatory paid family leave policy More likely to limit access to reproductive health care Less likely to have policies in place that allow for pharmacists to prescribe birth control (42.9% vs. 82.4% of the least restrictive states)
“The degree to which these states fail to support their most disadvantaged populations warrants immediate attention and action,” said co-author Katie Watson, professor of medical education, medical social sciences and obstetrics and gynecology at Feinberg.
It would seem in these states that the abortion-opponent, ‘pro-life’ attitude not only begins at conception but ends there as well.”Dr. Lynn Yee
“Advocates should take this opportunity to leverage the child protection arguments of anti-abortion policymakers and encourage them to put their money where their mouth is by advocating for the implementation and improvement of policies that support individual and family well-being.”
This might include adding new policies like postpartum Medicaid expansion or paid family and medical leave; increasing eligibility for state-based assistance programs like WIC and TANF or creating new programs like mobile health clinics to serve pregnant people in maternity care deserts, the study authors said. Breakdown of abortion restrictions by state
The study categorized states into three post-Dobbs abortion-restriction groups based on state abortion policies as of December 2023:
Most restrictive group: Includes 21 states in which abortion is severely restricted, 14 of which have complete abortion bans with very limited exceptions and 7 of which have an early gestational age ban of 6–18 weeks’ gestation Moderately restrictive group: Includes states in which abortion is legally available, but Medicaid coverage of abortion is prohibited, making abortion largely inaccessible to a significant portion of the population. These states also often have additional restrictive and burdensome policies (i.e. waiting periods, mandatory parental notification for monitors, etc.) in place Least restrictive group: Includes states in which abortion is both legally available and accessible. These states have either no gestational age ban or ban abortion at 24 weeks’ gestation or later and allow Medicaid funds to pay for abortion
More young police officers and firefighters in S. Korea quitting over heavy workload, low pay
A first-year police officer in South Korea earns $1,800 per month, less than what a minimum wage worker would earn. PHOTO: AFP
Sep 05, 2024,
SEOUL – A growing number of young police officers and firefighters in South Korea are quitting their jobs due to the heavy workload and low wages, data showed on Sept 4.
According to data from the National Police Agency submitted to Representative Shin Jung-hoon of the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of police officers with less than 10 years of service who resigned voluntarily nearly doubled from 155 in 2022 to 301 in 2023. Similarly, 125 firefighters with less than 10 years of service resigned in 2023, compared with 98 in 2022.
In the first half of 2024 alone, 162 police officers and 60 firefighters have already left their posts.
The proportion of junior officers among all resignations is also on the rise.
Among police officers, those with less than 10 years of service accounted for 63 per cent of all resignations in 2022. This figure rose to 72.7 per cent in 2023 and 77.1 per cent in the first half of 2024. A similar pattern is observed among firefighters, with the rate increasing from 62.8 per cent in 2022 to 72.2 per cent in 2023, and 75 per cent in the first half of 2024.
This trend is reflected in the recruitment process, where fewer people are applying for the job.
In the first half of 2024, the competition rate for police recruitment was 9.9 to 1 for men and 24.6 to 1 for women. It was the first time in two decades that the ratio for men dropped to single digits. The competition rate for firefighter positions also declined, from 13.8 to 1 in 2023 to 11.5 to 1 in 2024.
This figure is in line with a broader trend of the younger generation turning away from government jobs. In 2024, the competition for an entry-level civil servant was the lowest in 32 years since 1992.
Low pay and overwork are seen as major reasons why many young officers decide to leave. Currently, a first-year police officer receives about 1.87 million won (S$1,800) a month in base salary, less than the approximately two million won that one would earn by working the same hours for minimum wage. Firefighters receive wages in a similar range as well.
While they receive lunch stipends, overtime pay and other benefits, their salary is much lower than those working for private companies.
Experts are concerned that the growing number of junior police officers’ and firefighters’ resignations could hurt patrol coverage and responses to emergencies.
Experiment shows dogs are able to remember toy names for up to two years
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
A trio of ethologists at Eötvös Loránd University, in Hungary, has found, via experimentation, that some dogs are able to remember toy names for up to two years. In their study, published in the journal Biology Letters, Shany Dror, Ádám Miklósi and Claudia Fugazza taught toy names to several dogs and then hid the toys away for two years to learn more about the dogs' long-term memory.
Prior research has shown that dogs are capable of associating human words with a toy—when asked to retrieve "Squeaker," for example, a dog would ignore other toys in a group and fetch the one requested. Prior research has also shown that some breeds are better at making these associations, as are some individuals within breeds—such dogs are known as gifted word learner dogs.
The researchers involved in this new study wondered if such dogs retain these associations due to repeated use, or if they, like humans, are able to store associations in long-term memory. To find out, they designed and carried out an experiment involving five dogs that had previously been trained to associate human words with toys and to fetch them upon request.
Each of the dogs was taught to associate names with 12 toys they had never seen before. After making sure that the dogs had learned the names thoroughly, the researchers stored all the toys for two years. They then brought the dogs out individually, showed each one the toys and then, after mixing the test toys with others that were familiar to the dogs in another room, asked them to retrieve the test toys by calling out the associated name. Each dog was tested twice for each toy.
The researchers found that overall, the dogs were accurate in retrieving the toy specified 44% of the time, while some had an accuracy rate of up to 60%. The researchers note that the results are far better than chance, proving that the dogs had remembered the toys and the names for two years—a clear indication that they had stored them in long-term memory.
More information: Shany Dror et al, Dogs with a vocabulary of object labels retain them for at least 2 years, Biology Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0208
2 dogs rescued nearly a week after deadly landslide in Alaska
Sep 4, 2024
James and Bill Montiver lost nearly everything after a massive landslide in Ketchikan, Alaska, demolished their home. Six days later, firefighters found their two dogs in the debris. David Muir shares the story of the rescue and reunion.
Animal rights groups urge Norway to probe death of 'spy' whale, saying it was shot Regina Haug, founder of OneWhale, is seen in a photo provided to media by her organization showing the body of Hvaldimir, a celebrated beluga they allege was shot to death. Photo courtesy of OneWhale/Release
Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Two prominent animal rights organizations are calling on Norwegian authorities to launch a criminal investigation into the recent death of a celebrated beluga whale, which they say was fatally shot.
The body of the whale named Hvaldimir was recovered Saturday by Noway-based non-profit Marine Mind from waters off the coast of the Scandinavian country after it had been spotted floating on the ocean by local.
Hvaldimir -- a portmanteau on the Norwegian word "hval," or whale in English, and the first name of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin -- is believed to have been trained as a spy by the Kremlin.
On Wednesday, OneWhale and NOAH filed a police report with the Southwestern Police District and the Norwegian National Authority urging the launch of an investigation into the whale's death and for it to be prosecuted as an economic and environmental crime. Advertisement
OneWhale is a non-profit organization that was dedicated to protect Hvaldimir and NOAH is Norways largest animal rights organization. In a joint statement, they say they have "compelling evidence" showing Hvaldimir's cause of death was intentional human-inflicted injury.
"Although the official autopsy report is still pending, preliminary findings indicate that the whale was killed by gunshot wounds," the organizations said, adding that several veterinarians, biologists, and ballistics experts have reviewed their photographic evidence, which includes close-up shots of the whale's injuries and they "strongly suggest" its death was criminal.
"The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act -- it is shocking. Given the suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police are involved quickly," Siri Martinsen, veterinarian and leader of NOAH, said.
Regina Haug, founder of OneWhale and who has known Hvaldimir for the past five years, said she saw the corpse and a bullet lodged inside.
"There is no question that this kind, gentle animal was senselessly murdered," Haug said.
"We will pursue justice for Hvaldimir and hope that someone comes forward with information about his killing."
Graphic photos disseminated by the organizations show the corpse of the whale with at least one small and bloody whole, a puncture that suggests a gunshot wound.
UPI has contacted local police for comment.
The results of an official autopsy are pending and Marine Mind, the organization that found Hvaldimir, is calling for calm and to refrain from speculating on the cause of death.
"The Veterinary Institute has not yet released the results from its investigations," it said in a statement on Facebook.
"When we found Hvaldimir on Saturday, it was not possible to immediately determine the cause of death, and therefore it is important to refrain from speculation until the institute has completed its work. Until then, we hope people stick to the established facts."
Marine Mind said it is directly assisting where it can to determine the cause of Hvaldimir's death, but until one can be established "temporary assumptions will not be useful for anything other than publicity."
Hvaldimir was first spotted five years ago in Norwegian waters, and its friendly nature and potential use as a spy for Russia had grabbed headlines and the attention of animal conservationists.
Volvo gives up plan to sell only EVs by 2030
João da Silva Business reporter
Getty Images The car maker blamed changing market conditions for its decision to give up a target it had announced only three years ago
Car company Volvo has announced it has abandoned its target to produce only fully electric cars by 2030, saying it now expects it will also be selling some hybrid vehicles by that date.
The car maker blamed changing market conditions for its decision to give up a target it had announced only three years ago.
It comes as the industry faces a slowdown in demand in some major markets for electric vehicles (EVs) and uncertainty due to the imposition of trade tariffs on EVs made in China.
Volvo, which has traditionally flaunted its environmental credentials, joins other major car makers General Motors and Ford, which have also rowed back on their EV ambitions.
Volvo now expects at least 90% of its output to be made up of both electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2030.
The Swedish company may also sell a small number of so-called mild hybrids, which are more conventional vehicles with limited electrical assistance.
"We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric," said Jim Rowan, chief executive of Volvo, in a statement.
"However, it is clear that the transition to electrification will not be linear, and customers and markets are moving at different speeds."
The company also said the business climate for EVs had changed, due to factors such as a slow rollout of charging infrastructure and the withdrawal of consumer incentives.
Volvo is majority-owned by Chinese car giant Geely and because it uses factories in China, it will also be affected by tariffs on imports of Chinese-made EVs in Europe and North America.
Palestinian girl killed in West Bank was looking out the window, her father says
Members of the Israeli military operate in what they say is the Jenin Area, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in this handout image released on Aug 31, 2024. PHOTO: Israeli Army Handout via Reuters file
PUBLISHED ON September 04, 2024
JENIN, West Bank — A 16-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin this week was shot dead by an Israeli sniper as she looked out of the window of her home, her father said on Sept 4.
The Israeli military has said it is looking into reports of the death of Lujain Osama Musleh on Sept 3, during a major operation in different areas of the West Bank involving hundreds of soldiers and armoured vehicles.
Osama Musleh said troops had surrounded the house next door to his when his daughter was shot through the forehead after opening the curtain to look outside.
"She didn't go to the roof, she didn't hurl a stone, and she wasn't carrying a weapon," he said.
"She is 16 years old. The only thing she did is look from the window and the soldier saw her and shot her. One bullet that targeted her forehead."
More than 30 Palestinians have been killed and dozens of arrests have been made during the operation, which began a week ago in different areas of the West Bank. Most have been claimed as members of armed Palestinian groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah but some, like Lujain, have been uninvolved civilians.
The Israeli military said it launched the operation, its biggest in the West Bank for months, to thwart Iranian-backed militant groups preparing attacks on Israeli civilians.
Over the past week, troops have fought gunbattles with Palestinian fighters, damaging houses and other buildings and tearing up large stretches of roadway in what it says is a hunt for improvised explosive devices.
Food, water shortages
Kamal Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, said Israeli troops had made 12 major incursions into Jenin since the start of the Gaza war almost a year ago. "This is the most severe, the most painful and oppressive," he told Reuters.
He said the operation, now in its eighth day, was causing major hardship to people in the city and the adjacent refugee camp, a densely populated area housing thousands of people whose families left their homes or were driven out during the 1948 Middle East war.
Privately organised aid trucks from other areas of the West Bank had helped alleviate some shortages of food and water and products such as baby formula but "arbitrary" controls were impeding deliveries in many areas.
"The situation of people in the besieged areas in particular is very difficult," he said.
About 4,000-5,000 people had been ordered from their homes in the refugee area and the eastern part of Jenin city and were being put up in temporary accommodation arranged by the Palestinian Authority, he said.
In Tulkarm, another flashpoint city in the West Bank, the military said soldiers killed two armed fighters during an exchange of fire, finding an M-16 automatic rifle beside the men. In addition, soldiers located an explosive device in a baby stroller as well as an explosives laboratory.
Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in raids and more than 680 — fighters and civilians — have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war in Gaza began nearly 11 months ago, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
At the same time, dozens of Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.
Vietnamese activist begins 50-day hunger strike
The political prisoner is protesting an unfair appeal and the political rise of To Lam.
By RFA Vietnamese 2024.09.04
Vietnamese teacher and independent journalist Le Trong Hung and his wife Do Le Na are shown in an undated photo.
Le Trong Hung, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for “propaganda against the state” in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, began a 50-day hunger strike Wednesday.
The teacher and independent journalist wants the chance to appeal his conviction and is protesting against the promotion of former police chief To Lam, first to president, and then to general secretary of the Communist Party, Vietnam’s top job.
But Hung’s wife told Radio Free Asia she is concerned that only drinking water will have serious implications for his health.
Hung, 45, was arrested on March 27, 2021 after announcing plans to stand as a candidate for the National Assembly, or parliament, that year.
Later that year, he was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of probation.
During a family visit on July 16, Hung started to tell his wife Do Le Na about his planned hunger strike, saying it was “related to the National Assembly and To Lam … protesting him sitting in the wrong place,” before prison guards stopped him.
Then Minister of Public Security To Lam and the clip of him eating a gold-plated steak. (Tik Tok: @nusr_et/RFA edit)
To Lam was elected minister of public security in 2016. He became state president in May this year and general secretary on Aug. 3, following the death of Nguyen Phu Trong.
As police chief, he was widely criticized for talking about the need to stamp out corruption and then dining out on a US$1,900 gold-encrusted steak at a celebrity chef’s restaurant during an official trip to London. One Vietnamese activist, who mocked Lam’s lavish dinner on YouTube, was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Prison officers warned Hung not to mention the hunger strike when he made his monthly phone call home on Aug 16. But when they weren’t paying attention, he spoke to his wife about it.
“My husband plans to go on a hunger strike, drinking only water for 50 days, but I am trying to convince him to reduce it to 30 days because October 4th this year is our 15th wedding anniversary,” Na told RFA Vietnamese on Wednesday. “However, Hung has not agreed yet.”
She said Hung could be punished by losing privileges such as family visits and the phone calls home.
However, Na said a hunger strike was "almost the only way at this time for him to express his determination to follow the purpose and path he has chosen."
RFA Vietnamese tried to phone Nghe An’s Prison No.6 to ask about Hung’s case but the number wouldn't connect.
Last year, Hung went on a 30-day hunger strike, also starting on Sept. 4. He said he wanted to persuade authorities to give him the chance to appeal his conviction again because he was denied a lawyer at his initial appeal and his family wasn’t told when it was taking place.
He also asked prison officers to respect prisoners' rights and requested a visit from a National Assembly representative, saying he wanted to propose the establishment of a constitutional court in Vietnam. None of his requests was met.
Hung is a former teacher at Xa Dan school for the deaf in Hanoi.
He is well-known in Vietnam after live streaming news reports on Facebook and the CHTV pro-democracy YouTube channel, criticizing government policies and denouncing corruption.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.
FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, campaigns with President Joe Biden at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sept. 2, 2024.
