European Parliament

Greens/EFA Group welcomes focus on climate but needs to see action

 Press release | 17.09.2024

Terry Reintke MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, 

“We welcome the clear commitment from the Commission President to the Green Deal for the new Commission, which is badly needed if we are to counter the deadly effects of climate change. The Green Deal being mainstreamed across the college gives the fight against climate change the importance it requires, but now we will need to see action. We welcome that there will be a dedicated Commissioner for the rule of law, justice and democracy, which is urgent given the situation in Hungary and other countries. However, we must see bold and coordinated action on the rule of law from the Commission over the next five years. We cannot continue to let the EU be pushed around by those who seek to undermine the values on which our Union is built.

“We are concerned about the Member States failing to live up to their promises and reach gender equality. The fact that a candidate from a far-right government is nominated as Vice-President of the European Commission remains a big concern for our Group. Appointing Raffaele Fitto could create a dangerous shift towards the far-right in the Commission and endanger the pro-democratic majority in the European Parliament that voted for Ursula von der Leyen in July. All Commissioner-designates will now face hearings by the members of the European Parliament. The Greens/EFA Group will take this role seriously and thoroughly assess all the Commissioner-designates. We will not give Raffaele Fitto an easy ride.”

Bas Eickhout MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, comments:

“It’s good to see that the urgent need to counter climate change will remain at the core of EU policy making for the new mandate. But we need clarity on how the new portfolios dealing with climate change and decarbonisation will work in practice. The horrific floods this week have once again shown the urgent need for dealing with the devastating effects of climate change, which is why we welcome the dedicated adaptation and preparedness portfolio. We welcome that the water resilience package was included in the political guidelines and then reflected in the mission letters, as we urgently need coordinated EU action on tackling floods.

“It will be important to get the decarbonisation, competitiveness and transformation of our industries right. The European Union can be a strong player in global competition while committing to climate leadership. We need to massively invest in renewable energies, good jobs and green European industries. The Green Deal is our political priority and we need a clear commitment to a European Green Industrial Policy. We welcome that the mission letters and the portfolios very much reflect the need and commitment to make the Green Deal a reality."

Russia approves draft deal on construction of oil pipeline in Republic of Congo

Oil pipeline to connect port city of Pointe-Noire to settlement of Makoulou Pichot, about 29 miles northeast of capital Brazzaville, says draft agreement

Burc Eruygur |17.09.2024 

Russia has approved a draft deal on the construction of an oil pipeline in the Republic of the Congo.

Moscow's approval of the draft deal was confirmed by a decree dated Sept. 14, which was published on Russia’s government portal late Monday.

The oil pipeline will connect the country’s port city of Pointe-Noire to the settlement of Makoulou Pichot, about 40 kilometers (29 miles) northeast of the capital Brazzaville.

The pipeline will also pass through the town of Loutete, about 155 kilometers (96 miles) west of Brazzaville.

It instructed Russia’s energy and foreign ministries to hold talks with the Congolese side and sign the document.

The draft agreement said the Russian company Zakneftegazstroy-Prometey and Congo’s National Petroleum Company will be responsible for the implementation of the deal.

It further said both companies must create a joint venture within a month of signing the agreement, in which the Russian side will own 90%, while the Congolese side will own 10%.

The sides must conclude a concession agreement within three months after signing the deal, which will define the technical and economic parameters of the project, it added.

Russia has worked to bolster ties with African countries in recent years.

Indigenous creators are clashing with YouTube’s and Instagram’s sensitive content bans

Deep in the heartlands of Brazil, Indigenous creators are having to censor themselves to avoid getting banned on social platforms.

Ruwangi Amarasinghe for Rest of World

By GABRIEL DAROS
21 AUGUST 2024 • SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Indigenous creators are trying to preserve their cultures and raise awareness through social media.
Instagram and YouTube offer Indigenous creators a way to make money — but have taken down their work for “sensitive content,” including nudity.


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XinguThe Kalapalo tribe lives in the Xingu reservation of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

Shortly after Diamantha Aweti Kalapalo posted a video of a funeral ceremony in her village on YouTube in 2016, the platform took it down for violating its policy on child safety, which includes the prohibition of sexually explicit content.

In the video, a couple of tribesmen marched across a dirt road in Xingu, in the wild heartlands of central-west Brazil, playing long ceremonial flutes. Two raven-haired women trailed them, wearing their traditional outfit: a necklace and loincloth.

Such takedowns have become par for the course for Brazilian Indigenous content creators like Kalapalo who have taken to social media in recent years to increase awareness about their cultures and gain a kind of financial independence. Censorship from social media platforms has forced them to sanitize their content, eliciting concern among academics who believe that doing so erodes their archival records.

The internet is important to Indigenous communities “because [theirs] is a culture of orality, of images,” Maria Perpétua Domingues, a history researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, told Rest of World.

She added that these Indigenous influencers are creating a new form of ethno-media — content that both portrays and preserves aspects of their culture without going through the lens of outside actors.

“It is not journalism, it is not all about ‘news,’ it’s everything: music, textures, body art,” said Domingues.


YouTube and Kwai — a popular video platform in Brazil — did not respond to questions from Rest of World, while Meta declined to comment. TikTok declined to comment on a specific example of a video it took down.

Diamantha Kalapalo’s inspiration resides close to home: her older sister, Ysani Kalapalo, who has been recording and uploading videos since at least 2012. Ysani told Rest of World that she started making YouTube videos after she faced “harassment” and “bullying” from nonindigenous neighbors when the family moved to São Carlos, a city nearly 1,375 kilometers away from Xingu, in 2007. She wanted to use social media as a way to expose discrimination.

Ysani returned to Xingu five years later and now has around 2.1 million followers across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

But as she found popularity online, her content slowly shifted.
Ysani Kalapalo’s YouTube page, where she posts videos of her Indigenous community, has over 810,000 subscribers.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGCwxz5GFso

Her earlier videos, which highlighted prejudice and the inefficiency of public institutions in supporting Indigenous rights, gave way to less politically charged posts about local cuisine, fire-starting techniques, and traditional dances. Ysani said she had to tone even these down, in large part due to the frequent bans.

Both Kalapalo sisters have had videos taken down from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Kwai for violating rules related to copyright laws and age-restricted content.

The sisters now ensure that anyone shown in their films is clothed. They also limit some of their content to short Q&A vlogs, which show little other than their faces. While this usually avoids pushback from platforms, it also hinders their effort to preserve their culture, with traditional dances and rites left out to avoid further takedowns.

“People ask me, ‘Ysani, make videos on the rituals or the dances,’ and I can’t,” said Ysani, who believes her YouTube channel is one flagged video away from being banned.

A screenshot from Diamantha Aweti Kalapalo’s removed YouTube video, showing a funeral ceremony in her community. Diamantha Aweti Kalapalo

Diamantha told Rest of World that despite these challenges, “I always try to talk about things that still exist within our culture, things that people aren’t brave enough to voice out.” She often addresses subjects that remain taboo within her community, including issues like domestic violence, infanticide, child marriage, and abuse.

Chirley Pankara, a doctor in anthropology at the University of São Paulo and an Indigenous activist, said that the platforms’ posture on nudity, when not taking these cultures into consideration, results in inadvertent forms of censorship and prejudice.

“We have to safeguard our own culture,” Pankara told Rest of World. “If we take our clothes off when in our communities, then it has to be shown in the same way on the internet.”

The money the Kalapalo sisters make through social media makes up the majority of their earnings, which also come from selling native artisanal goods and giving guided tours of the region.

Pushback against their content isn’t just external. Some members of their tribe have criticized their videos because they mark a departure from the cultural expectation placed on women to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves, Diamantha said. The sisters said they have received threats on the internet and had spells cast on them by neighbors.

Large online communities have made it possible for some Indigenous creators to pursue ambitious dreams. In February 2024, Ysani published her first novel, titled Itaõ-Kuengü’s Awakening — The Saga of Djamuhu and Ana Sophia, kickstarting her literary career. Meanwhile, Diamantha is hoping to ink a TV deal.

“We dream about our history turning up in some sort of series,” she said.
Gabriel Daros is a journalist and photographer based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazil banned X. Right-wing politicians are still using it

Echoing Elon Musk, the politicians claim they are defending free speech.

Emily Scherer for Rest of World

By LAÍS MARTINS and DANIELA DIB
16 SEPTEMBER 2024 • SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL


Many left-wing and progressive politicians in Brazil migrated to Bluesky after X was banned, but at least a dozen right-wing politicians are still active on X.
Experts say this online split between right- and left-leaning users in Brazil could prove problematic.

Brazil’s Supreme Court banned X on August 30 after the company failed to comply with a court order to appoint a local legal representative.

The decision was the culmination of a months-long feud between Elon Musk, X’s owner, and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading a forceful campaign against political disinformation.

Overnight, Brazil’s 22 million X users no longer had access to the platform. Those who log on using VPNs risk fines of up to 50,000 reais a day (around $9,000). This hasn’t stopped prominent right-wing politicians in Brazil from continuing to post to protest the ban.

Rest of World has identified a dozen right-wing politicians, including the sons of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who are still active on X. They are mostly challenging the court’s decision and attacking de Moraes on the platform. In her recent posts on X, Carla Zambelli, a federal congresswoman, has repeatedly urged members of congress to call for de Moraes’ impeachment. Marcel van Hattem, a federal deputy, has drawn attention to other controversial rulings by de Moraes.

All together, these 24 politicians are followed by 26 million users on X. Eduardo Girão, a senator from the state of Ceará, told Rest of World that right-wing and independent members of Parliament are coordinating to continue posting on the platform.

“I will continue posting because I believe it’s disrespectful to the Constitution to curtail a platform where the entire world is connected,” Girão said.

The politicians characterize Judge de Moraes as a dangerous authoritarian who is threatening free speech. “Hi, Kamala. I see you enjoy talking about dictators. I’m currently forced to use a VPN to post on X at the moment and I may be fined for this cause we are in an actual dictatorship in Brazil right now. What do you have to say about Lula & the Brazilian [sic] Supreme Court?” Federal Deputy Nikolas Ferreira posted three days after the ban.

Left-wing and progressive politicians in Brazil are largely migrating to Bluesky, a competing microblogging platform. About 85% of Bluesky’s new users since August 30 have come from Brazil. But right-wing politicians are gaining support on X. Ferreira shared that within just a few days of the ban, he gained about 60,000 new followers. “The tirants [sic] tried to silence us and ended up spreading our voices to the world,” he posted.

This online split between right- and left-leaning users in Brazil could prove problematic, according to Nina Santos, director of Aláfia Lab and coordinator of Desinformante, a research laboratory studying the impact of the digital world, online racism, and disinformation.

“This phenomenon could be very dangerous in terms of building a common space for debate.”

“If we move in the direction of having platforms more identified with the left and platforms more identified with the right, this phenomenon could be very dangerous in terms of building a common space for debate,” Santos told Rest of World.

Despite de Moraes’ threat to identify users employing VPNs, doing so is not easy. In an article for The Intercept Brazil, Isabela Fernandes, the executive director of Tor Project, which offers free software that enables anonymous browsing and communication, called the VPN fines “unenforceable.” Fernandes said that such a decision would require the cooperation of VPN providers with Brazilian courts and that many services, including Tor, don’t even store user data.

VPNs and anonymous browsers are commonly used to circumvent bans on online platforms — especially in authoritarian contexts. In 2021, Myanmar’s military junta ordered mobile operators and internet service providers to block access to X, then called Twitter, after a military coup. However, millions of citizens kept posting. According to a report from Access Now, the Myanmar police have resorted to conducting random phone checks. If they find a VPN app, they may arrest the phone’s owner under anti-terrorism laws.

In the case of Brazil, the ban on X was issued from the judiciary rather than executive or military rulers.

Santos, the disinformation researcher, thinks it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will backtrack on its decision.

On September 2, a group of four other Supreme Court justices voted to uphold de Moraes’ unilateral decision. “It also seems that X is not willing to renegotiate,” she added. In the long run, even users with VPNs are likely to fall off. “As more time passes, it seems to me less likely that people will make an effort to be on that platform.”
Laís Martins was a Labor x Tech Reporting Fellow at Rest of World based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Daniela Dib is a reporter for Rest of World covering the tech and startup scene in Latin America. She is based in Mexico City.

UK

Diane Abbott accuses Starmer of treating her as a ‘non-person’

Diane Abbott said that Hester’s remarks, which emerged in March, made her feel in danger and that she had expected more support from the Labour Party.

EasternEye
17 September, 2024

Diane Abbott highlighted the lack of personal outreach from Starmer, stating she felt ignored by the party leadership. (Photo: Getty Images)

LABOUR MP Diane Abbott has accused Keir Starmer of treating her as a “non-person” in the wake of racist comments made about her by Tory donor Frank Hester.

Abbott said that Hester’s remarks, which emerged in March, made her feel in danger and that she had expected more support from the Labour Party.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Abbott also criticised her suspension from Labour over alleged antisemitic comments, describing it as part of Starmer’s effort to distance the party from its left-wing members.

She noted that, at the time, the Labour leader “never reached out to me personally and did treat me as a non-person.”

“If somebody was threatening to have you shot, you would have expected your party to offer more support, provide advice on safety and security, and perhaps even express some sympathy. And none of that happened,” she told the BBC.

Abbott was suspended in 2023 after writing a letter to The Observer in which she suggested Jewish, Irish, and Traveller people do not face racism throughout their lives. She later apologised and withdrew the letter.

A Labour spokesperson countered Abbott’s claims, stating that Starmer and the party condemned Hester’s comments and offered support to Abbott at the time. The spokesperson said Abbott remains an inspiration to many and acknowledged the significant abuse she has received.

The Guardian had earlier reported that Frank Hester, who donated £20 million to the Conservative Party in 2023, made derogatory comments about Abbott in 2019, including suggesting she should be shot. Hester apologised for his remarks, stating they were not related to her race or gender.

Abbott expressed concern that comments like Hester’s could incite violence, referencing the murders of MPs Jo Cox and David Amess. She also highlighted the lack of personal outreach from Starmer, stating she felt ignored by the party leadership.

Abbott further revealed that during the Labour investigation into her letter, she felt “depressed” and believed the party was preparing to remove her.

While Starmer eventually allowed her to stand in her seat for the general election, Abbott claimed she was indirectly offered a deal to step down, which she rejected.

Abbott denied being antisemitic and reiterated her apology for the letter.

WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM

Western nations condemn Iran on second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death

A woman with uncovered hair faces a group of veiled women, highlighting the tension over mandatory hijab laws in Iran.

On the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in Iranian police custody, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for Iranian women and human rights defenders.

The statement comes as Iran continues its crackdown on dissent, while global pressure mounts on Tehran to end its repression of civil society.

Two years after Mahsa Amini's death in custody, which sparked the nationwide Woman, Life, Freedom protests, the Iranian government continues to face international criticism for its human rights abuses.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand condemned Iran's violent suppression of women and girls and urged Tehran to halt its use of force to enforce mandatory hijab laws.


"We stand with women and girls in Iran, and Iranian human rights defenders, across all segments of society in their ongoing daily fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms," the ministers declared, emphasizing their ongoing commitment to holding Iranian officials accountable through sanctions and visa restrictions.

Despite international outcry, the so-called Noor plan, which enforces mandatory hijab laws across the country is still on the streets. The plan, which has led to arrest of women protesting for their rights, was criticized during Pezeshkian's presidential campaign. Yet, under his leadership, the measures continue unabated.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission’s March report on the Mahsa movement labeled Iran's repression of protests and discrimination against women as crimes against humanity. The UN has also recently branded it "gender apartheid".

"These acts form part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Iran, namely against women, girls, boys, and men who have demanded freedom, equality, dignity, and accountability," said Sara Hossain, the chair of the mission.

As Iran continues its crackdown, with reports of extrajudicial killings, torture, and gender-based persecution, the international community has called for more decisive action. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Vice Chair Eric Ueland urged the US government to support efforts to hold Iranian officials accountable, including a Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

“We urge the Biden administration to continue supporting the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran and to support a Security Council referral of the situation in Iran to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity against those asserting freedom of religion or belief.”

“The time is long overdue for Iranian regime officials who repress those seeking freedom of religion or belief to face accountability,” said USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman. “The Biden administration should unify a coalition of like-minded countries to impose joint sanctions on Iranian regime officials complicit in restrictions on religious freedom in Iran.”

Iran’s leaders, under the grip of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, remain defiant. Pezeshkian's earlier critiques of the harsh policies ring hollow as his government continues to implement such measures.

Western governments have responded with continued sanctions but to no avail as Iran finds ways to bypass them. US lawmakers have also criticized the Biden administration for its failure to fully enforce the MAHSA Act, which mandates sanctions on Iranian officials involved in human rights abuses.

"Two years after the murder of Mahsa Amini, women in Iran still face an oppressive regime every day," said US Senator Jim Banks, highlighting the administration's failure to impose sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader.


US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Senator Jim Risch has criticized the Biden admin for its failure to enforce the MAHSA Act sanctions even though the act was passed in April.

"Two years after the murder of Mahsa Amini, women in Iran still face an oppressive regime every day. Congress passed the MAHSA Act in April, but the Biden-Harris Admin still hasn’t enforced its sanctions. We must deny the regime the resources it uses for oppression and terrorism," he said.

The global support for Iranian women and human rights defenders remains strong. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement marking the anniversary, reaffirmed Paris' commitment to standing with Iranian women in their fight for freedom.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Mai Sato echoed the support, noting that “despite Tehran's efforts to silence women, their defiance remains unwavering.”

Executions, arrests and repression: Iran two years after the death of Mahsa Amini

by Dario Salvi


Two years on from the murder of the young Kurdish woman at the hands of the morality police, the authorities still impose silence and censorship. Her family, confined to house arrest, iis threatened with mprisonment in the case of public ceremonies. Fragility and divisions in the opposition favour the ayatollahs. The new president promises more freedom on the internet and hijab.


Milan (AsiaNews) - Record numbers for executions, with an increase of up to 80% compared to the recent past; arrests of protesters and relatives of victims of government repression; parents being prevented from paying their respects at their daughter's grave, while dozens of female prisoners launch a hunger strike to keep her memory alive.

Two years after she was killed on 16 September 2022 as she exited a Tehran metro at the hands of the morality police, who had stopped her because she was not properly wearing the hijab, the obligatory veil, the memory of Mahsa Amini is still alive.

And of the movement that arose in the wake of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman's death, that popular uprising to the cry of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ that the ayatollahs tried to stifle, but which remains a source of inspiration, in a battle for freedom and rights that unites a large segment of the population.

A popular uprising, quelled in blood but not wiped out, which finds in the hijab the symbol and instrument of female oppression, as underlined by the Evin prison where the Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi is imprisoned.

‘The struggle,’ writes the activist in a message that has gone viral, ’is not only to claim the right of women to dress as they wish, but also to oppose the tyranny of the theocratic dictatorship. There is no democracy without women's rights'.

Primacy in executions

In 24 months, so much has passed since the killing of the young Kurdish woman - and little or nothing has changed with the death in a helicopter crash of the ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi and the election of the moderate Masoud Pezeshkian - Iran confirms its position at the top globally for the use of the executioner. A systematic use of capital punishment not only in drug offences, but also to repress internal dissent with a record 80% growth in two years and the highest documented per capita rate worldwide.

Activists and movements linked to civil society, in fact, link the trend to a broader strategy adopted by the Islamic Republic to instil fear, while the verdict is often the outcome of trials where transparency is lacking and international standards are not met.

The group Iran Human Rights (Ihr) reports that from October 2022 to September 2024, at least 1,452 people were hanged, a significant increase from 779 in the two years prior to the 2022 protests.

According to Human Rights Watch (Hrw), most death sentences are the outcome of summary trials or with very vague charges (and evidence). In August 2023 alone, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported at least 93 executions, although Ihr and Hrana suggest the figure is well over 100. Some months of 2023, such as May, saw exceptionally high numbers, with 145 convictions followed. More than 410 executions have been recorded since January 2024, with a further escalation.

Dissent, repression and impunity

The general anger over the death of Mahsa Amini, which resulted in the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, has been the greatest challenge to the Islamic Republic and the ayatollahs' regime since its founding in 1979.

The ensuing repression was just as bloody, with more than 550 victims including dozens of children, more than 22,000 arrests and at least 10 protesters falling into the hands of the executioner. In recent days, the young woman's father, Amjad Amini, has claimed the right of his family - as well as others who mourn the killing of relatives at the hands of the State - to honour her memory in secular or religious ceremonies.

However, the authorities have responded by using an iron fist and trying to nip in the bud any attempt at commemoration, forcing the young woman's relatives, primarily her parents, to remain confined to house arrest under threat of arrest and transfer to prison. While Iranians abroad, from Europe to the United States to Australia, have promoted demonstrations and protests, at home there are attempts at strikes - immediately blocked - in at least 11 cities in western Azarbaijan and Kurdistan.

In the days leading up to the anniversary, security and intelligence forces picked up activists and relatives of the victims, as well as tightening controls in Mahsa's hometown of Saqqez, with checkpoints and plainclothes officers patrolling the streets. Scenes similar to those of last year, on the first anniversary of the death, with the family under arrest amid fears of new popular uprisings.

In a report, the UN-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran warns that Tehran has ‘intensified its efforts to ... crush the residual initiatives of women's activism’. The methods used amount to ‘crimes against humanity’, although no leader has so far been held accountable or held responsible.

‘Two years after the demonstrations, the leaders of the Islamic Republic have not restored the status quo ante, nor have they recovered their lost legitimacy,’ accuses Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre.

The hope of a people

The issue of women's rights and, more specifically, the issue of the veil were the focus yesterday of Pezeshkian's first press conference since taking office in July. The president assured that the morality police will no longer ‘harass’ women, following up - at least in words - on promises he made during the election campaign in which he said he was against patrols stationed in streets and squares to check women's clothing.

He also promised a relaxation of internet and social media restrictions, considering it among his government's ‘priorities’. Words - and announcements - that fuel Iranians' hope for a future of greater rights and freedom, and which have therefore been widely circulated on the web in recent hours.

Analysts and experts point out that one of the most significant results of the protests linked to the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, at least in its first phase, was to unify the Iranian people against a violent, retrograde and repressive leadership.

The demonstrations touched more than 160 cities from metropolises such as Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Tabriz and Sanandaj to smaller urban centres, to border villages in the south-east with Pakistan or in the extreme Kurdish north.

Demonstrations joined by students, workers, members of ethnic and religious minorities, with women, the protagonists in this battle for freedom. If, on the one hand, the wave of dissent and protest has undermined the ayatollahs' regime, which has, however, been able to react, compact itself and stiffen even more, on the other, it has highlighted the internal divisions of an opposition that, on a political and institutional level, remains fragile and inconsistent.

The real problem, in fact, is the lack of internal ‘alternatives’ to the current theocratic leadership, which can thus remain firmly in power, as the scholar Arash Azizi, author of the book ‘Ce que veulent les Iraniens’, points out.

Nevertheless, he adds that he believes that ‘Iran will not return to the situation as it was before 2022’ and in the short to medium term ‘will experience radical upheavals’. In an interview granted to IranWire under a pseudonym, a leading figure in the country's cinema and culture emphasises that unity remains the fundamental value to be able to influence choices: ‘If we do not remain united, we will fall one by one’.

For this reason, he continues, ‘it may have only been two years since the night when the women of Tehran gathered outside the hospital in Kasra or since the women of Saqqez took off their veils at the cemetery in Aichi, but for us - for all those who have become “us” under a rain of bullets, in the shadow of batons, fleeing from plainclothes agents, resisting interrogations - it seems like a lifetime. A hard life, but - he concludes - full of hope'.

Ozone layer on road to recovery despite volcano eruption, UN weather body says

The eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga, which triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, is seen in an image from the NOAA GOES-West satellite taken at 5.00am GMT Jan 15, 2022.

PHOTO: CIRA/NOAA via Reuters file

PUBLISHED ONSEPTEMBER 17, 2024 

SINGAPORE — The world's ozone layer is on "the road to long-term recovery" despite a destructive volcanic eruption in the South Pacific, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Sept 17, after efforts to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals.

On current trends, the ozone layer is on track to recover to 1980 levels by around 2066 over the Antarctic, 2045 over the Arctic and 2040 for the rest of the world, the United Nations agency said.

Though the volcanic eruption near Tonga in early 2022 led to a short period of accelerated depletion of ozone above Antarctica in 2023, driven by higher levels of atmospheric water vapour, overall losses were limited, it said in its annual ozone bulletin.


The ozone layer protects the earth from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, which is linked to skin cancer and other health risks.

The Montreal Protocol, which came into effect in 1989, agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances, and its success "stands out as a powerful symbol of hope" at a time when multilateral co-operation has come under strain, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement.

CFCs have been largely replaced by hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), which do not cause ozone depletion but are a powerful climate-warming greenhouse gas.

Countries are now implementing the 2016 Kigali amendment to Montreal, which will phase down HFC production, and could avoid around 0.5 deg C of warming by 2100.

China remains the world's biggest HFC producer, with current capacity the equivalent of nearly two billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. About a quarter is exported.

China's environment ministry said on Sept 16 it would soon publish a plan to better control HFC production.

As a developing country, it is obliged to cut HFC consumption by 85 per cent from 2013 to 2045.

China is cutting manufacturing quotas and cracking down on illegal production, but it warned in 2024 it still "faces huge challenges" in phasing down HFCs, which are used by a wide range of different industries, many of which have struggled to find substitute products.

Rick Turner and Steve Biko were leading liberation thinkers in 1970s South Africa – why their ideas still matter

By Michael Onyebuchi Eze - 17 September 2024
THE CONVERSATION


Steve Biko was undoubtedly the most influential South African liberation struggle theorist and activist of the 1970s. Rick Turner was arguably among the most effectual white anti-apartheid activists of the era. Biko espoused black consciousness while Turner was a Marxist philosopher. Biko (30) was murdered by apartheid police in 1977. Turner (36) was shot dead by an apartheid assassin in 1978. Their ideas continue to resonate. Political scientist and philosopher Michael Onyebuchi Eze sets out, in a chapter of a new book, Rick Turner’s Politics as the Art of the Impossible, how the two men’s philosophies mirrored and critiqued each other. The Conversation Africa asked him to explain.

What were Turner’s and Biko’s philosophies?

Following almost three centuries of colonialism, the National Party came into power in South Africa in 1948. It formalised apartheid (apartness) into law. The policy kept black people and white people apart, and discriminated against the black majority. In 1960, the apartheid regime banned the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress liberation movements.

Rick Turner and Steve Biko gained prominence in the freedom struggle in the 1970s. Turner taught philosophy at the segregated University of Natal. Biko was studying at the “non-European” section of the university’s medical school. They met in Durban in 1970. The meeting triggered the “Durban Movement”, which mobilised workers’ and wider societal resistance against apartheid and capitalist exploitation. The movement shaped strategies in the fight against apartheid.

Biko’s black consciousness movement articulated a profound and multilayered critique of apartheid. It called for the psychological and cultural liberation of black South Africans. The core argument of black consciousness was that black people (“Africans”, “Coloureds” and “Indians”) needed to rally together around the cause of their oppression — the blackness of their skin. It implored them to work as a group to rid themselves of the shackles that bound them to perpetual servitude.

Freedom would only be possible if black people cultivated a sense of pride, self-worth and agency. Black consciousness sought to change negative connotations of blackness into an empowering ideal of freedom. This also meant liberty from the internalised racism and self-hate imposed by apartheid.

It involved rejecting the imposed narratives and values of the white oppressors, and developing a positive self identity.

Biko advocated for black people to champion their own liberation without reliance on white paternalism. As he famously noted,

the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

Since Christianity was also implicated in apartheid, Biko championed a new understanding of Christianity, rooted in black theology.

Black theology said Christianity was not about surrendering to oppression as the will of God, but about liberation from oppression. Biko’s philosophy was centred on the psychological and cultural liberation of black South Africans. For Biko, resistance meant freedom as defiance and defiance as freedom.

Turner called for radical social and political change through his critique of apartheid, capitalism and liberalism. These ideologies were connected in reproducing social systems of oppression and dehumanisation.

Apartheid was a form of racialist capitalism: the idea that access to labour, jobs or economic life is determined by race. It perpetuated unjust capitalist accumulation through oppressing black South Africans and excluding them from the economy.

Turner was not only critical of racialist capitalism; he also condemned white liberalism: an ideology of social justice and equality championed by white activists, who often do not fully understand their own privileges or biases.

He saw white liberalism as inadequate and superficial in fighting the root causes of systemic inequality, and often complicit in maintaining the status quo. Beyond the material basis of oppression, Turner also challenged the ideological foundation of apartheid.

Turner advanced a new idea of freedom that focused on transformation of the mind and socio-cultural mindset. He linked political rights with dignity. Doing so made apartheid oppression inherently illegal and immoral. Where apartheid used Christianity to justify racialist capitalism, Turner found potential in Christian egalitarian principles for mobilising resistance.

He rejected white paternalism, and championed a radical restructuring of society based on egalitarian principles and Christian liberation theology.

Therefore, Turner and Biko’s philosophies mirrored each other in several ways. They reflected a shared vision for radical social and political change in South Africa. Their shared vision of resistance was rooted in human restoration, freedom from imposed colonial language and ideas, and a rejection of white paternalism.

They saw political freedom as synonymous with dignity and rights (Biko), and a radical restructuring of society based on egalitarian principles (Turner).

To Turner and Biko resistance was not just a reaction to oppression but a proactive effort to create new social relations and restore agency to the oppressed.

How did their philosophies differ?

While Turner and Biko shared many philosophical similarities, their approaches and emphases had notable differences. Turner’s critique was rooted in the analysis of capitalism. His focus was on disrupting the capitalist structures that underpinned apartheid.

Biko’s focus was on the psychological and cultural dimensions of oppression. He emphasised the importance of black consciousness, which aimed to instil pride and a sense of agency among blacks. He was more concerned with internalised racism and psychological liberation.

To Turner, Christianity was instrumental to dismantling apartheid. To Biko, black liberation was the purpose of Christianity.

They both rejected white liberalism and its paternalism, but for different reasons. Turner rejected it on pragmatic grounds of not being forceful enough to achieve substantial change. Biko rejected liberalism because racial privilege meant whites could not experience what it meant to be black.

What can South Africa learn from both men?

Turner and Biko offered lessons for contemporary South Africa. They are particularly valuable in the context of ongoing struggles for social justice, equality and true decolonisation.

South Africa remains the most unequal society in the world despite government reform efforts. Where change is visible, the distinction between the new black elites and the less privileged turns into elitist discrimination.

Superficial reforms on land redistribution, access to basic healthcare or even basic education do not address the root causes of systemic inequality. Both Turner and Biko emphasised the need for deep structural changes.

True decolonisation requires a shift on how knowledge is acquired, affects and shapes the cultural foundations of a society. This involves challenging the narratives and values that justify and sustain oppression.

Turner and Biko teach that paternalistic attitudes, even from well-meaning allies, can undermine genuine liberation efforts. Empowerment initiatives should be led by those directly affected by oppression, ensuring that their voices and experiences are at the forefront of the movement.


Rick Turner’s Politics as the Art of the Impossible is published by Wits University Press (2024).

Michael Onyebuchi Eze, Assistant Professor, California State University, Fresno

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

An Autumn of America’s Rage

Opinion


Jumah Boukleb
Tuesday - 17 September 2024

Why is it that we disagree on when autumn begins when compared to the other three seasons? Is it because autumn has unique characteristics that are not found in other seasons? Or is it because, despite also being the season of plowing and sowing, autumn has unfairly been singled out as a metaphor for anger, aging, and the beginning of the end?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle says that one swallow does not make a summer, meaning that the sight of swallows in the sky is a sign that summer has begun. So, what signals the beginning of autumn? Is it the cool breeze, morning fog, rainfall, dropping temperatures, falling leaves, the day becoming as long as the night, or all of them together?

The year is divided into four seasons, each of them three months long, meaning that autumn should begin in September. However, meteorologists say otherwise and agree that autumn does not begin until September 21.

Personally, I take my cue that autumn has begun from the British political calendar. Since arriving in England and choosing to make it my place of residence, I have considered that autumn begins when the annual conferences of the three major political parties are held. Thus, I have stopped paying attention to what meteorologists or other experts say. When I wake up in the morning and hear that British parties are preparing for their annual conferences, I choose to put my summer shirts away, turn to my wardrobe, and take out suits made for the colder autumn weather.

This year, autumn announced its arrival in Britain this past weekend, when the Liberal Democrats held their annual conference. It will soon be followed by the conferences of the other two major parties: Labour and the Conservatives. Labour will celebrate its return to power after an absence of around a decade and a half, and their conference will stand out. It will be the conference of the ruling party, which determines the government’s program. The Conservatives, in their conference, will choose a new leader and begin another long journey, which may last a decade, towards 10 Downing Street, if luck is on their side.

However, the developments we will witness this autumn on the other side of the Atlantic, specifically on November 5 (the US presidential elections), will be more consequential than the British parties’ conferences.

As expected, all eyes are on that fateful day. The world awaits it with both fear and hope. It all depends on which side one stands. With each passing day, this date approaches, the anticipation grows, disputes sharpen, the competition becomes fiercer, and bookmakers become busier.

The US presidential election concerns every nation in the world, not just Americans. That is a fact. Recently, I read online that people of various nationalities are demanding that the people of the world be given the right to help determine who governs the US, that is, the right to a vote. Although the request is strange and unreasonable, I do not believe that it is not without merit.

Interests drive and shape the policies of nations, peoples, and even individuals. They decide the course of history. Interests inherently diverge. For example, Russia has an interest in the Republican candidate being voted into the White House, as he has pledged to stop supporting Ukraine and end the war very quickly. Ukraine’s interests would be served by a Democratic victory, as the party’s candidate has promised to continue supporting the Kyiv government politically, militarily, and economically.

However, autumn is expected to be extremely hot in the US this year, especially after the second attempt on the Republican candidate’s life. The competition between the presidential candidates is intensifying, as indicated by the public opinion polls that affirm the deep divisions in America. There are fears that violence could break out after the results are announced, leaving dire consequences similar to those we saw on January 6, 2020, in the Capitol. That means that this year's autumn could become an autumn of anger in the US, but not due to a government decision to raise the price of bread.

Popular rage engendered by division, in a country like the US, whose constitution grants citizens the right to bear arms, gives rise to ramifications we would not see in another country where only the state, its security agencies, and its arms, enjoy that right. In any case, things have seemingly remained under control in the US so far. The country’s security agencies have certainly drawn lessons from the events that unfolded nearly four years ago, and they are doing everything they can to avoid their recurrence. No one, not in the US nor anywhere else, had expected the attack on the Capitol. It is also worth remembering what recently happened after the elections in Venezuela, though we will probably not see similar scenes in the US. Still, the events that unfolded in the US in January 2020 were all but mirrored in Brazil shortly after its presidential elections.

Turkish autopsy confirms Aysenur Ezgi Eygi died from gunshot to the head

Activist was killed when Israeli troops opened fire at a protest in the occupied West Bank

Lizzie Porter
Istanbul

September 17, 2024


A Turkish autopsy on Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the US-Turkish activist killed during a protest in the occupied West Bank, has confirmed she died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Medical and forensic experts determined the cause of death to be “fracture of the skull bones due to gunshot wounds, bleeding between the brain membranes and destruction of brain tissue”, a copy of the report seen by The National said.

The findings of the autopsy, carried out in Izmir on September 13, largely confirm an earlier examination carried out by Palestinian doctors on the day of Ms Eygi's death in the occupied West Bank one week earlier.

Who shot Aysenur Ezgi Eygi?

The Turkish report did not provide details on who shot Ms Eygi, 26, while the Palestinian autopsy report assigned blame for the death, saying she had been shot dead by Israeli army troops.

An initial Israeli inquiry said it was “highly likely” Ms Eygi had been shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by its forces after they opened fire on protesters whom they accused of causing a riot.

The Turkish team said it would run more tests to determine the specific medical cause of her death.

The 11-page Turkish autopsy report, signed by 10 officials including Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor Fahri Mutlu Tosun, details how Ms Eygi’s body was received at a morgue in Izmir under police escort, after being returned by plane. The autopsy procedure was witnessed by Yilmaz Eygi, one of Ms Eygi’s uncles, who lives in Turkey.

Like the Palestinian doctors, the Turkish team reported Ms Eygi had appeared to be in good health before her death. They found a 1.5cm-long wound on the rear left of her skull, which doctors said was “evaluated as a gunshot wound”. There were no other signs of trauma on the rest of her body, they added.

Last week, the body of Ms Eygi was flown to Turkey for burial in her family's hometown of Didim on Saturday. She was shot dead on September 6 while attending a protest in the West Bank village of Beita. She had been volunteering with a pro-Palestinian solidarity organisation observing a protest against Israeli settlement expansion.

Ms Eygi, 26, had lived in Seattle in the US and had recently graduated from the University of Washington. She had gone to volunteer in the occupied West Bank with the International Solidarity Association, a pro-Palestine volunteer group. She had visited her grandfather in Didim in early September, shortly before travelling to Jordan to cross into the West Bank.

Israeli attacks have intensified in the West Bank in recent weeks, as it carried out its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in decades. Almost 700 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to the UN, and attacks on Palestinian communities by Israeli settlers have grown more widespread. The UN has recorded about 1,350 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians since October 7, forcing more than 1,600 people from their homes.

Demands for action over fatal shooting

Her funeral was attended by senior Turkish officials including the ministers of interior, justice, foreign affairs, and family and social services departments who, alongside other mourners, spoke of the more than 42,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza.

In interviews with The National, relatives and neighbours described Ms Eygi as passionate about humanitarian and environmental causes. “She went [to the West Bank] because she wanted to stop the war,” said Munaver Arslan, one of Ms Eygi's nieces, as she began to cry. “She had lots of humanity.”

Ms Eygi's family and close friends have demanded firm action over her death from the US government.

Speaking at a regular press briefing on Monday, a US State Department representative said the findings from Israel's initial inquiry into the 26-year-old's death do not exonerate Israeli security forces and the US government would consider further measures if it was not satisfied with the results of a full Israeli inquiry.

"I hear people ... hold the initial findings up as if they somehow exonerated Israeli security forces. They very much do not, at least in our point of view," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. "If the first investigation plays out ... and we are not satisfied, we will of course look at whether any other measures are appropriate."

The incident is likely to further strain relations between Turkey and Israel, which have deteriorated rapidly since the October 7 Hamas attacks, which killed 1,200 people and lead to more than 240 being taken hostage, and the resulting war in Gaza. Turkey has halted all trade with Israel and senior officials from the two nations have traded barbs over social media. It may also lead to tension between Washington and Ankara, as some Turkish officials criticise the US for its initial reaction to Ms Eygi's killing.

Biden criticised over delayed reaction

A senior Turkish official accused Israeli forces of "directly targeting" Ms Eygi and called for those responsible to be brought to trial. "Those who did this, those who gave this order should all be tried for murder," said Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party.

He accused the US government of failing to condemn the shooting quickly. "The President of the United States first said that he did not have enough information," Mr Celik said in remarks reported by Turkish state media. "Then he said that the Israeli forces did it unintentionally and not directly. When there were reactions, he felt the need to say something stronger."

Last week, Mr Biden said the shooting was "totally unacceptable" and that Israel must "do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again".

Updated: September 17, 2024, 4:58 AM