Germany's Left Party takes a stand against populists

Marcel Fürstenau

The leaders of Germany's socialists are facing criticism at a party convention. After several election defeats, The Left Party fears it could disappear.

The Left Party has recently seen its support waneImage: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance


Left Party chairpeople Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler came out swinging as their party convention kicked off in the eastern city of Halle on Friday afternoon. Wissler lashed out at the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a populist party that blends left-leaning economic policies with conservative migration and pro-Russian foreign policy initiatives, which split from the split from the Left Party a year ago.

"When I hear speeches today from the BSW calling for more deportations, when they openly discuss joint motions with the [far-right] AfD and call for tougher sanctions for welfare recipients, then I can only say: It is right that we are no longer in one party," Wissler said.

"A left-wing party must never adapt to a right-wing zeitgeist," she continued to thunderous applause from the party delegates.

The Left Party's fortunes were still looking up in Germany's 2021 federal election. Although it narrowly failed to reach the 5% blocking minority, the party was nonetheless able to stay in parliament as a parliamentary group. The Left benefited from German electoral law: Because its candidates won the minimum of three constituencies, they were allowed to send 38 lawmakers to represent it in the Bundestag, which corresponded to the 4.9% share it won of the overall vote.

Left Party Chairpeople Martin Schirdewan and Janine Wissler have announced they will not stand for re-electionImage: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance

However, The Left suffered heavy losses in the June 2024 European elections, as well as in Germany's regional elections just three months later in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia. They then hit rock bottom with a further state election in Brandenburg on September 22nd. The day after, party chairman Martin Schirdewan admitted, "Yesterday was a bitter evening for us."

Schirdewan and Wisseler then decided not to stand for reelection as party leaders. With just 3% of the vote, the party had to depart a parliament in eastern Germany for the first time.

The Left has roots in the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which governed the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the former communist East Germany, until reunification in 1990.

After German reunification in 1990, the Left Party quickly established itself as a popular party in the former GDR. In its heyday, it achieved election results of almost 30 percent. Early on, it even entered into state governments in the east, initially under the name Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).

Gregor Gysi deplores strategic mistakes the Left Party has made in the pastImage: Monika Skolimowska/dpa/picture alliance

Failure of Left Party leadership

The Left was long seen as representing those living in economically disadvantaged areas of Germany. However, that role is now increasingly associated with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). In an interview with the German daily newspaper, Tagespiegel, prominent Left Party politician and Bundestag member, Gregor Gysi, said in early October: "We have offered the AfD room to maneuver."

Disagreement over the party's strategic course peaked in 2023. In January 2024, party renegades split off and founded BSW.

Sahra Wagenknecht targeting The Left?

Gysi claims that Wagenknecht is trying to destroy The Left. She and the BSW achieved double-digit results in all three German state elections in 2024 — at the expense of the Left Party. In the latest survey by pollster infratest-dimap, 8% of respondents said they would vote for the BSW in a federal election – and only 3% would vote for The Left.

Gysi believes this weekend's federal party convention will set the course for the future. His prediction: "We are heading for a funeral," if things carry on as before

Two new leaders hope to turn things around: Jan van Aken, who was a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2017, and newcomer Ines Schwerdtner, who joined The Left in 2023.

In an interview with the regional newspaper Weserkurier, van Aken said: "Things can only get better." Now aged 63, he has been active in the peace movement for decades. Van Aken was involved with the environmental organization Greenpeace in the 1990s and worked as a biological weapons inspector for the United Nations (UN) from 2004 to 2006.

However, the challenge of regaining voters' trust is illustrated in a recent study by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which is affiliated with the Left Party. The study shows that since 2009, the party has lost massive support in what was once its traditional milieu, especially among factory and service sector workers.

The study confirmed that the emergence of the BSW further diminished potential electoral support. However, the study's author Carsten Braband has some consolatory words for The Left: "It's not a fall into the abyss."

The Left's current goal is to garner more than 5% of the vote and return to the Bundestag in Germany's 2025 federal election. How to achieve that will no doubt be the main topic at the federal party convention, which runs from Friday until Sunday.

This article was originally written in German.

India: Rape victims struggle to get justice

Akanksha Saxena Madhya Pradesh, India

Mass protests in cities like Kolkata and New Delhi seem to finally be changing Indians' view of sexual assault. In the countryside, however, perpetrators are still shielded by caste, power structures, and apathy.


All names of survivors and their family members in this article have been changed by DW to preserve anonymity.

Minors, especially girls, are often targeted by sexual predators in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In a small countryside town, DW met with the family of 6-year-old Masoom, who was raped in broad daylight by a 27-year-old man.

Her mother Fatima recalls the horrific day: "I was cooking, and her grandmother was washing dishes. We didn't hear a thing. My daughter was reading an Urdu lesson in the shop attached to the house, playing as she did every day. She came inside crying and told us a man had come and taken her pajamas off. She was bleeding from her private parts. We understood what had happened. He had threatened to kill her if she made any noise.

Now, Masoom is terrified of men, including her own father.

"My daughter is so innocent and smart, yet this happened to her. She was in the hospital for over two weeks. She's scared of her own father now. She refuses to sleep next to him," says Fatima.

Her grandmother Sultana is worried about the long-term impact of the assault.

"She used to be so full of life and joy. That brightness has disappeared from her face since the incident. She hardly eats, and whatever little she does eat isn't making her strong. I don't want any other girl's life to be destroyed like hers," Sultana says.
Majority of child rape unreported

Masoom's story is not an isolated case. According to new UNICEF estimates, over 370 million girls and women who are alive today across the world have experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18.

Her family's search for justice ended with the rapist sentenced to life in prison under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). But such outcomes are rare. In rural India, cases like Masoom's often don't even make headlines.

India recorded nearly 39,000 child rape cases in 2022, but those numbers only tell part of the story. For any reported rape, many more cases go unreported as the victims and their families are silenced by intimidation, caste dynamics, and a broken justice system. Additionally, only 3% of registered child rape cases ended in convictions in 2022.

Upper-caste dominates law enforcement

Behind these numbers are victims like Chandralekha, a 14-year-old Dalit girl. Her rapist, an upper-caste man, apparently counted on the system to shield him.

"I was out selling tea when he stopped me and forced me," Chandralekha says with her voice shaking.

Rights groups have long documented how upper-caste men use sexual violence as a weapon against Dalits, often without fear of punishment. Chandralekha's father, Manoj Kumar has been repeatedly threatened for trying to get justice for his daughter.

"I'm under a lot of pressure, but I won't give in. They've threatened to kill me. The rapist said to me, 'I'm upper caste, you're at the bottom.' He uses caste-related slurs. He said, 'You're lower caste, and we'll make sure you suffer,'" Manoj told DW.

Law enforcement in India is often dominated by upper caste officers. A 2020 report found that police frequently ignore crimes against Dalit women. In Chandralekha's case, the police allegedly told her family to file a harassment complaint instead of a rape charge. This allowed the accused to secure bail and continue intimidating the family. And even if the case gets to trial, his punishment will likely be lenient.

"When I asked the police to record it as rape, they refused. They only arrested him after 15 days, and that was because I called the women's helpline. He was released on bail soon after. The police wouldn't listen to me. They told me, 'Why should we follow your instructions?'" Manoj said.

Modi acknowledges anger, but change comes slow

After the recent rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata sparked massive outrage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was "angry" over sexual assault.

"As a society, we must think seriously about the atrocities against our mothers, daughters and sisters," he said in a national address.

However, critics argue that his government's response has been largely performative. Allegations of sexual violence continue, even against members of his own party, while systemic issues —such as poor police investigations and institutional backing for perpetrators — remain unaddressed.

Systemic failure of justice

India's courts, especially in rural areas, are often riddled with inefficiencies, biases, and corruption. In Sarita's case, the 15-year-old was abducted and gang raped.

Despite the police finding her attackers, justice is painfully slow. Her brother Suresh, the family's sole breadwinner, has been repeatedly summoned by police over minor formalities.

"Every time they summon me, I have to go," he told DW "They say it'll take a year before any punishment. How can I support my family if I'm stuck dealing with this?"

These delays happen for a reason. According to defense lawyer Vaibhav Bhatnagar, rural courts are often overwhelmed.

"There's only one session judge for all these cases, and families are pressured to compromise. That's why conviction rates are so low."

Meanwhile, families are harassed, ostracized, and pushed to drop cases.
Stigma and silence: Survivors ostracized

Perpetrators often avoid the shame of committing rape, with the stigma falling on the victims instead. Survivors like Chandralekha and her family are shunned by their communities and often forced into isolation.

"Our ration shop was shut down. We had to sell our livestock to fight this case," said Chandralekha's mother.

Her daughter, once a brilliant student, now stays home in fear.

Local police officer Monika Singh has made it her mission to challenge these toxic attitudes through her school outreach programs. She speaks to schoolboys and girls, demanding a shift in mindset.

"We have to get it into our heads that women are equal to men, and they deserve respect," she tells a gathering of adolescent boys.

"If you stay silent, the perpetrator will feel like he can do more," she warns them, urging them to report harassment.

Activists fight back

Despite the overwhelming odds, grassroots activists are pushing back against rape culture.

In towns across India, street plays focusing on sexual violence challenge deeply ingrained patriarchal beliefs. The performances confront audience with uncomfortable truths.

"This is a man's world," one actor says during the play. "What can you do alone?" A woman's voice responds, "I will fight for my daughter, I will get her justice."

These activists know the change won't happen overnight. But every little step, including every street performance, moves the country closer to breaking the silence on sexual violence.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic

US charges second Indian over plot to kill Sikh separatist

The plot allegedly targeted Khalistan movement leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has vowed to continue his campaign. The FBI said it would not tolerate acts of violence or retaliation against people living on US soil.

The US and Canadian governments have implicated Indian government employees in alleged plots against leaders of the Khalistan movementImage: Chris Helgren/REUTERS

The US Justice Department has charged an Indian intelligence official this week in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.

The suspect, who remains at large, is the second Indian national to be charged with conspiring to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US-Canadian citizen who is one of the main voices of the Khalistan movement.

The Khalistan movement is pushing for an independent Sikh nation carved out of territory that currently belongs to India and Pakistan.

"The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the US for exercising their constitutionally protected rights," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Relations between Canada and India hit rock-bottom  02:07

The US said Indian authorities had cooperated with investigations.

"They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters before the case was unsealed.

"We are satisfied with cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process."
Sikh separatist undeterred by threats

The public naming of the suspect on Thursday came days after Canada expelled six diplomats, including the high commissioner, over alleged links to attacks against Sikh leaders in the country.

India retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats.

As international tensions rise over the issue, Pannun said the alleged assassination plots against Sikh leaders in North America would not stop the Sikh independence movement.

"This is not going to deter me from running my global Khalistan referendum campaign," Pannun told DW's Washington correspondent Ines Pohl in an interview.

He also accused India of hiring multiple "hitmen" from within the Sikh community. The Indian government has denied accusations that it was involved in the alleged plots.

zc/wd (AP, Reuters, AFP, DW)

Can India fend off US, UK pressure over Canada row?

Murali Krishnan in New Delhi10/17/2024

The US and the UK have added pressure on New Delhi by urging India to cooperate with Canada on a case concerning the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

The US and the UK this week sought to pressure India to cooperate with Canada over the investigation into the killing of a Sikh separatist and Canadian national in British Columbia.

Canadian authorities have accused agents linked to the Indian government of carrying out the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a longtime campaigner for the creation of a separate homeland for Sikhs, known as Khalistan, carved out of India.

On Wednesday, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a parliamentary inquiry he wasn't looking "to provoke or create a fight with India," but that "India had violated Canada's sovereignty."

"The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada. We need to respond in order to ensure Canadians' safety," he said.

New Delhi has called the Canadian allegations "absurd” and "preposterous."

US: India should take the row 'seriously'

The row strained India-Canada ties so much that both sides earlier this week expelled each other's top diplomats.

The US on Tuesday said India should take Canada's allegations "seriously" and "cooperate with Canada in its investigation."

A day later, the UK released a statement, saying it was in "contact with our Canadian partners about the serious developments outlined in the independent investigations in Canada."

"The UK has full confidence in Canada's judicial system. Respect for sovereignty and the rule of law is essential,” an FCDO spokesperson said.

A temporary phase?

But an Indian Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, told DW that the case will not have any major impact on India's ties with the US or the UK.

"We have strong and deepening ties with the US and the UK and Canada's allegations are not going to derail our cooperation with our Western allies," the official said.

"Tensions will defuse and there won't be any geopolitical implications.”

Shanthie Mariet D'Souza, president of Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies, shared a similar view.

She said New Delhi's ties with Washington and London are "multifaceted" and that "one incident is unlikely to affect relations."

Nevertheless, the expert underlined, the controversy damages India's global reputation.

"India's firm response to Canada's accusations leaves New Delhi with only one choice — to maintain its present position, and there can be no backtracking," she said.

"India may be hoping that the current difficult phase is temporary. It believes that its strong stance and good bilateral relations with each of the Five Eyes members (except for Canada) will help it tide the crisis," D'Souza said, referring to the intelligence-sharing alliance comprising of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.


US, UK seeking closer ties with India

The US has been strengthening its ties with India in recent years, seeing New Delhi as a counterweight to China's growing political, economic and military clout in the Indo-Pacific region.

Just this week, India signed a $4 billion (€3.68 billion) deal with the US to purchase 31 armed MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones, a sign of the growing military partnership between the two sides.

The UK has also been seeking closer relations with India and negotiating a free trade agreement, which is reportedly nearing completion, with both sides just a step away from finalizing the deal.

C Raja Mohan, a visiting professor at Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies, said India's "relations with the Five Eyes have never been so good as they are now," lauding the present moment as "a historical high point."

He told DW that there is "no question of India being isolated by the US and the UK given the deep linkages."

The expert also criticized Canada's approach to dealing with India's concerns regarding Sikh separatist outfits.

"In the name of protecting free speech, Canada cannot have a lax attitude to criminal networks and anti-India outfits that are working in cahoots. That must be addressed first by the authorities there instead of making accusations without presenting evidence," he said.

US dealt with 'greater diplomatic finesse'

India's reaction to Canada's accusations was markedly different from its response to the US, which also made allegations over a similar, albeit unsuccessful assassination plot by India on US soil in November 2023.

New Delhi is cooperating with US authorities in that case.

The alleged target of that operation was another Khalistan campaigner, dual US-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The US State Department on Wednesday said India had told it that an intelligence operative accused of directing the plot was no longer in government service.

Ajay Bisaria, a former high commissioner to Canada, said the US "has handled this episode with greater diplomatic finesse and ensuring it does not enter the political realm, unlike Canada."

On the US and the UK putting pressure on India, he underscored that they have "an obligation to defend Canada given the structural construct of the Five Eyes alliance."

But Bisaria stressed the developments of recent days will not have major implications for India: "There is not going to be any realignment of geopolitical equations with India, which is a trusted ally for these nations."

UN report says 1.1 billion people live in acute poverty worldwide

A striking UN Development Program report published Thursday revealed that more than one billion people worldwide are living in acute poverty. It also found that children account for more than half of those affected, and that poverty rates are three times higher in countries at war.


Issued on: 17/10/2024 

India was the country with the largest number of people in extreme poverty, which impacts 234 million of its 1.4 billion population, according to the report. © Biju Boro, AFP/File

More than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe, a UN Development Program report said Thursday, with children accounting for over half of those affected.

The paper published with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) highlighted that poverty rates were three times higher in countries at war, as 2023 saw the most conflicts around the world since the Second World War.

The UNDP and the OPHI have published their Multidimensional Poverty Index annually since 2010, harvesting data from 112 countries with a combined population of 6.3 billion people.

It uses indicators such as a lack of adequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, nutrition and school attendance.


"The 2024 MPI paints a sobering picture: 1.1 billion people endure multidimensional poverty, of which 455 million live in the shadow of conflict," said Yanchun Zhang, chief statistician at the UNDP.

"For the poor in conflict-affected countries, the struggle for basic needs is a far harsher and more desperate battle," Zhang told AFP.


The report echoed last year's findings that 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people across 110 countries were facing extreme multidimensional poverty.

Thursday's paper showed that some 584 million people under 18 were experiencing extreme poverty, accounting for 27.9 percent of children worldwide, compared with 13.5 percent of adults.

It also showed that 83.2 percent of the world's poorest people live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Read moreMore than 1 in 4 children under age 5 face 'severe' food poverty, warns UNICEF

Sabina Alkire, director of the OPHI, told AFP that conflicts were hindering efforts for poverty reduction.

"At some level, these findings are intuitive. But what shocked us was the sheer magnitude of people who are struggling to live a decent life and at the same time fearing for their safety – 455 million," she said.

"This points to a stark but unavoidable challenge to the international community to both zero in on poverty reduction and foster peace, so that any ensuing peace actually endures," Alkire added.

India was the country with the largest number of people in extreme poverty, which impacts 234 million of its 1.4 billion population.

It was followed by Pakistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The five countries accounted for nearly half of the 1.1 billion poor people.

(AFP)

UN envoy proposes partition of Western Sahara between Morocco and Polisario

Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Western Sahara, proposed dividing the disputed territory between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front as a potential solution to the long-running conflict. The idea was swiftly rejected by Sidi Omar, the Polisario representative to the UN. 

Issued on: 18/10/2024 - 

File photo: A flag of the Western Sahara, also known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, flutters at a checkpoint manned by members of the Sahrawi security forces outside the refugee camp of Dakhla southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, January 14, 2023. © Ryad Kramdi, AFP

The United Nations envoy to Western Sahara has proposed dividing the territory between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front in order to resolve the decades-old conflict, AFP learned Thursday.

"I have discreetly revisited and expanded with all concerned on the concept of a partition of the Territory," Staffan de Mistura said during a closed session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, according to remarks seen by AFP.

Western Sahara is largely controlled by Morocco but the Algeria-backed Polisario Front has campaigned for independence for the territory since before colonial ruler Spain pulled out in 1975.

It is considered a "non-autonomous territory" by the United Nations.

Rabat, which controls some 80 percent of the vast expanse, advocates a plan for limited autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. 

The Polisario is calling for a referendum on self-determination under the aegis of the UN, which had been planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991 but never implemented.

De Mistura, a 77-year-old Italian-Swedish diplomat, has been Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' personal envoy for the territory for the past three years.

"Such an option could allow for the creation on the one hand of an independent state in the southern part, and on the other hand the integration of the rest of the Territory as part of Morocco, with its sovereignty over it internationally recognised," De Mistura told the Security Council, according to the remarks.

At the same time, he acknowledged "no sign of willingness to consider exploring it further from either Morocco nor Frente POLISARIO."

The Polisario said the plan fails to "enshrine" the Sahrawi people's right to self determination.

Sidi Omar, the Polisario representative to the UN, said the movement "strongly affirms its total and categorical rejection of any 'proposals' or 'initiatives'," in a post on X.

(AFP) 

Lebanon: One war too many

Issued on: 18/10/2024 - 

It’s the deadliest conflict in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war. The current war between Hezbollah and Israel has set the whole country ablaze. The provisional death toll on the Lebanese side stands at more than 2,300, with 11,000 wounded, while thousands more are missing. The violence of the Israeli strikes has also provoked a mass exodus of the population: some 1.2 million people already have been forced to leave their homes, or a fifth of the population. Our Lebanon correspondents Chloé Domat and Sophie Guignon report.

It all began the day after October 7, 2023, when Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanese ally, opened a second front in northern Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza. For 10 months, clashes occurred almost daily, but remained contained along the border between the two countries. But everything accelerated in September, when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the opening of a second front "in the north of Israel".

In mid-September, several thousand Hezbollah fighters across Lebanon were hit by pager explosions, followed by walkie-talkie blasts. These unprecedentedly sophisticated attacks were attributed to Israel and were the prelude to massive air strikes in the south of the country, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated. But the escalation did not stop there. On October 1, Israel launched a “limited” ground operation in the south of the country.

Whatever they think of Hezbollah, the lives of all Lebanese have been turned upside down. Everyday life has come to a standstill, in a country that has already experienced so many wars and whose economy is on its knees, while the population has barely recovered from the devastating Beirut port blast of August 2020. This new conflict recalls past traumatic episodes: from the long 1975-1990 civil war to the 34-day conflict in the summer of 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel.

Our reporters Chloé Domat and Sophie Guignon went to meet Rania, a mother watching the bombardments from her balcony; Ali, a doctor at the public hospital; and Jaafar, a vegetable seller who has lost his home.

U.S. regulator probes Tesla's self-driving mode after crashes

David McBrayer
October 18, 2024 

Tesla Logo (AFP)

The U.S. auto safety regulator said Friday that it has opened an investigation into Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after receiving four reports of crashes, one of which involved a pedestrian being struck and killed.

The crashes all occurred when "a Tesla vehicle traveling with FSD engaged entered an area of reduced roadway visibility conditions (sun glare, fog, dust) and Tesla's FSD continued operating," the statement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.

"One of the crashes involved a pedestrian being struck and killed; one crash involved a reported injury," it said.

The investigation will "to examine the system's potential failure to detect and disengage in specific situations where it cannot adequately operate, and the extent to which it can act to reduce risk."

Tesla, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has spent aggressively on autonomous driving and other technology.

But it has faced repeated criticisms after other crashes involving its self-driving and assisted driving software, and US regulators have long been investigating its programs on a number of fronts.

In April the company settled with the family of an engineer killed when his Model X -- which used Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance software -- crashed in Silicon Valley in 2018.

Last year the company was forced to recall nearly 363,000 cars equipped with FSD Beta technology, and more than two million vehicles over risks associated with the Autopilot software.

Tesla has stood by the safety of its cars, and Musk has touted its driver-assistance programs, which have not progressed as quickly as he said they would.


In 2019, Musk said the company would be able to produce a fully autonomous vehicle within a year -- an outcome that has still not come to pass.

Earlier this month he unveiled what he said was a robotaxi capable of self-driving, predicting it would be available by 2027.

'Line has been crossed' as Trump directly echoes Stalin: columnist

Brad Reed
October 18, 2024 

Soviet leader Josef Stalin and President Donald Trump. (Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum on Friday warned American voters that former President Donald Trump has crossed a line that even racist demagogues such as George Wallace never did.

In particular, Applebaum shines a spotlight on the purportedly dehumanizing rhetoric that Trump has been deploying on the campaign trail, such as referring to his political opponents as "the enemy within" and as "vermin," which is the exact kind of rhetoric used by some of the greatest mass murderers of the 20th Century, including Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Pol Pot.

Even though Wallace infamously called to maintain permanent racial segregation in the southern United States during his ill-fated presidential campaigns, writes Applebaum, he did "not speak of his political opponents as 'vermin' or talk about them poisoning the nation’s blood."

"In the 2024 campaign, that line has been crossed," she warns. "Trump... has said of immigrants, 'They’re poisoning the blood of our country' and 'They’re destroying the blood of our country.' He has claimed that many have 'bad genes.' He has also been more explicit: 'They’re not humans; they’re animals'; they are 'cold-blooded killers.' He refers more broadly to his opponents—American citizens, some of whom are elected officials—as 'the enemy from within … sick people, radical-left lunatics.' Not only do they have no rights; they should be 'handled by,' he has said, 'if necessary, National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.'"

She then puts together a list of quotes from Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot that express similar sentiments to the ones that Trump is expressing, and she says that the purpose of such language has always been the same.

"In each of these very different societies, the purpose of this kind of rhetoric was the same. If you connect your opponents with disease, illness, and poisoned blood, if you dehumanize them as insects or animals, if you speak of squashing them or cleansing them as if they were pests or bacteria, then you can much more easily arrest them deprive them of rights, exclude them, or even kill them," she warns.

She also believes that Trump is making a deliberate choice of campaigning this way and not even making a pretense of toning down his rhetoric in the final stretch as he did in 2016, when he won.

"He and his campaign team believe that by using the tactics of the 1930s, they can win," she argues.


Read the whole column here.

Philippine VP Duterte threatens to dig up dictator Marcos' remains

Agence France-Presse
October 18, 2024 

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte (AFP)

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte threatened on Friday to dig up the remains of President Ferdinand Marcos' dictator father and toss them into the sea, as their bitter feud heats up ahead of upcoming elections.

The Duterte and Marcos families have had a very public falling out as both attempt to shore up their rival support bases and secure key positions ahead of the mid-term elections next year and presidential polls in 2028.

The remains of the elder Marcos were laid to rest at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in 2016 after then-president Rodrigo Duterte, Sara's father, dismissed public criticism that the long-deceased dictator -- accused of widespread rights abuses and embezzling billions -- did not deserve the honor.

Sara Duterte, 46, told reporters on Friday she had relayed the exhumation threat to the incumbent president's elder sister, Senator Imee Marcos, and warned their family to stop harassing her.

"One of these days, I will go there. I will get the body of your father and throw it in the West Philippine Sea," Duterte said, using the Filipino name for the portion of the South China Sea claimed by Manila.

Marcos' spokesman Cesar Chavez said the presidential palace had no comment on the issue.

Duterte is facing impeachment threats in the House of Representatives, led by Marcos's cousin Martin Romualdez, who is also expected to run in 2028.

She quit her cabinet post of education secretary in June after relations between the two families reached breaking point.

Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a "drug addict", with the president hitting back the next day and claiming his predecessor's health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.


Neither provided evidence of their allegations.

On Friday, the vice president said she felt "used" after teaming up with Marcos for the May 2022 election, which they won by landslide.

"It's not my fault that we are on this road to hell," the younger Duterte said during a two-hour news conference where she did most of the talking.


"That's why I left the administration (because) I did not like what I was hearing there, I did not like what I was seeing there".

Duterte remains the constitutional successor to 67-year-old Marcos.

© Agence France-Presse

Ukraine's army brigades battle to make enlisting 'sexy'

Agence France-Presse
October 18, 2024 

Ukraine is seeking innovative ways to fill its ranks SERGEY BOBOK/AFP)

The billboard showing an elegant young woman wrapped around a man on a motorcycle, pistol in hand, looks more like a perfume ad than a military campaign.

But the huge poster hanging over Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has a high-stakes pitch -- to recruit more men into a Ukrainian military desperately short of manpower to fight the Russian invasion.

Unlike many countries, Ukraine allows its army brigades to recruit soldiers directly, meaning each military unit can compete for donations and troops using social media and, increasingly, advertising.

Emblazoned with the words "I love the Third Assault Brigade", the poster in Kharkiv is one of several privately commissioned adverts relying on macho imagery and models to reach its target audience.

"It makes service look sexy," said Volodymyr Degtyarov, the acting PR head for Ukraine's Khartiya Brigade.

"No other brigade has ever done anything that brave in terms of outreach," the 44-year-old added.

The stakes are high.

Ukraine has ceded dozens of towns and villages to advancing Russian forces in recent months, its overstretched troops grappling with exhaustion and a shortage of manpower.

Thousands of soldiers have been fighting without a break since Russia invaded more than two and a half years ago, and Kyiv is desperate to exchange them for new men.


Degtyarov said he was "slightly jealous" of the Third Assault Brigade's efforts.

"They target a younger audience and say: 'Come join us and women will love you.'"

- 'Healthy competition' -

Despite moves to tighten mobilization rules in the spring, Ukraine is still vastly outnumbered by Russia on the battlefield.

Kyiv now allows brigades to bypass draft centers altogether and seek out their own men.

The result has been an explosion of adverts, posters and social media posts attracting thousands of views as each brigade jockeys for influence.


For Degtyarov, who ran a PR agency before the invasion, this means "very good, healthy competition", with victory being the common goal.

The ads give each brigade an opportunity to distinguish itself with a "personality" and a "brand" image, he said.

Degtyarov's own brigade seeks to stand out by offering an attractive salary, targeting a "slightly older" and experienced audience.

Ivan, head of communications for the Aidar Battalion, said his military unit's selling point was its "modern" equipment, better than the old Soviet-era weaponry often wheeled out to the front.

The 28-year-old soldier in the Donetsk region said he preferred to be "honest" in his marketing -- without playing too much on "emotions" to attract applicants.

The Third Assault Brigade's slick publicity campaign has come under a lot of criticism in Ukraine, in part because it has been seen as painting war in a glamorous light.


But for some, the need to recruit men overshadows all other considerations.

"All methods are good," said Yuriy, a man in his fifties whom AFP met in the streets of Kyiv.

"If a young man is attracted to a photo of a soldier with a beautiful woman, he will imagine himself in his place," he said.


- 'We can show everything' -

It is difficult to gauge how effective these campaigns have been.

Degtyarov said they were essential.


"There are 150 brigades in Ukraine. And if you go and talk to people, they will name up to 10, maybe 15," he said.

The Khartiya Brigade claimed that when it stepped up advertising, the number of potential candidates reaching out increased.

The military unit receives discounts for advertising space in town, as well as from marketing agencies.


Ivan, from the Aidar Battalion, uses social networks to promote his military unit.

His preferred platform is Facebook, where the battalion has 172,000 subscribers.

Telegram is also popular, in part due to what has been described as its lax moderation policy. Some brigades have used the platform to share images of Russian soldiers being tracked down and killed by drones.

On Telegram "we can show everything", Ivan said, complaining that some of his videos had been deleted on other platforms.

Ivan was a space engineer before the war.

"I never worked with social media before," he said. "I just know how to build rockets."