Protesters hold pro-Palestinian march in Rio ahead of G20


By AFP
November 16, 2024

The pro-Palestinian protest in Rio aims to send a message to G20 leaders gathering for a summit on Monday - Copyright AFP/File Alexander NEMENOV, Ting Shen

Hundreds of protesters marched in support of Palestinians in Rio on Saturday, in a demonstration aimed at world leaders about to converge on the city for a G20 summit.

The march, held peacefully under constant rain along Copacabana Beach, was watched by dozens of police and soldiers deployed as security for the summit to be held Monday and Tuesday.

The meeting will see heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, discuss coordination on international issues.

The Rio protesters, a few wearing Arabic keffiyeh scarves, held aloft the Palestinian flag and banners, including one reading “Break Brazil-Israel Relations” and demands that Israel’s allies stop financing its military offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon.

“We’re here to make a contrast with the G20 summit,” said Tania Arantes, 60, from one of the Brazilian unions organizing the protest.

The march, she said, embraced a number of other leftist issues too, such as climate change, the fight against poverty and a demand to tax the super-rich, because the leaders at the summit “have economic control over nations they believe are subordinate in this globalized world.”

One marcher, Giancarlo Pereira, a 43-year-old veterinarian, said the multiple leftist issues converged with the Palestinian cause “because the big companies fueling the war (being conducted by Israel in Gaza) are the billionaires of the world.”

A short distance along Copacabana Beach, another protest was being staged with activists placing rows of plates with red crosses on them in the sand.

The 733 plates laid out represented the 733 million people in the world the UN says suffered from hunger last year.

Another demonstration took place in Rio later Saturday organized by a Brazilian Indigenous umbrella group, the Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil, to underline a perceived lack of effort by rich countries to combat climate change.


– South Africa’s stand –


The various protests happened as activists, NGOs and civil society bodies took part in the final day of a pre-summit G20 Social event in Rio promoted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

At that event, South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, called “for accountability for the state of Israel and for the de-escalation of the conflict that is continuing in the Middle East.”

He added: “We stand with the people of Palestine and we call on all members of society to do the same.”

South Africa has brought a case to the International Court of Justice arguing that Israel is carrying out “genocide” in Gaza, an accusation that Israel denies.

Several nations have added their weight to South Africa’s proceedings, including Spain, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Libya.

At the G20 Social event, Lula received a list of action points drawn up by the civil society groups to help inform summit discussions on Monday and Tuesday. The issue of the Palestinians was not among them.

Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed 43,799 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Most visited websites in U.S. and Europe are not compliant with privacy regulations


By Dr. Tim Sandle
November 15, 2024

DIGITAL JOURNAL

Computers and offices. — Image by © Tim Sandle.

The company Privado has issued its 2024 State of Website Privacy Report. The report finds high rates of non-compliance with privacy regulations and identifies controls needed to avoid privacy fines.

The report also reveals that 75 percent of the 100 most visited websites in the U.S. and Europe are not compliant with current privacy regulations.

Despite stricter privacy enforcement in Europe, Privado found many top websites in Europe do not honour opt-in consent as required by Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

To comply with GDPR, websites in Europe must block personal data collection and sharing with third parties unless the user provides opt-in consent.

Although top websites in the U.S. had a similar non-compliance rate for not honouring opt-out consent as required by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), Privado found the median volume of compliance risks to be three-times higher in the U.S.

To comply with the CPRA amendment to CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), websites in the US must block personal data sharing with advertising third parties if the user opts out of data sharing.

Six of the 20 largest GDPR fines since 2018 are due to consent compliance violations on websites, with Amazon receiving the second-largest GDPR fine to date, $888 million, for targeting users with ads without proper consent in 2021.

In the US, at least 10 companies since 2022 have been fined for violating consent compliance on websites as regulated by CPRA, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), or HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

With consumers demanding greater privacy, personal data sharing from websites has become a major legal risk for companies worldwide.

Privado CEO Vaibhav Antil explains: “With modern privacy laws now in place, websites have added cookie banners in an attempt to comply, but the banners are usually misconfigured. Especially as marketing technology constantly changes on websites, privacy teams need continuous consent testing on websites to ensure compliance.”

One challenge within the firm that arises is because privacy teams typically lack the visibility and controls to track what third parties are integrated with on their websites and whether they are honouring consent requirements.

With teams using so many third parties to optimize marketing and website performance, privacy teams need comprehensive solutions to continuously monitor consent and data flows.

In terms of a solution, privacy code scanning should be used in conjunction with a consent management platform to implement best-in-class digital tracking governance for websites and mobile apps.

CLIMATE CRISIS

Super Typhoon Man-yi slams into Philippines – the sixth major storm in a month


Super Typhoon Man-yi made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday after the disaster-hit nation evacuated hundreds of thousands of people. It was the sixth major storm to hit the country in the past month, and authorities warned of a "potentially catastrophic" impact.


Issued on: 16/11/2024 -
By: FRANCE 24

People react as large waves break along a seawall ahead of the expected landfall of Super Typhoon Man-yi, Legaspi City, Albay province, Philippines, November 16, 2024. 

© Charism Sayat, AFP

Super Typhoon Man-yi battered the Philippines on Saturday, with the national weather forecaster warning of a "potentially catastrophic and life-threatening" impact as huge waves pounded the archipelago's coastline.

More than 650,000 people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi, which is the sixth major storm to hit the disaster-weary country in the past month.

Man-yi brought maximum wind speeds of 195 kilometres (121 miles) per hour as it made landfall on the sparsely populated island province of Catanduanes as a super typhoon, the weather service said, adding gusts were reaching 325 kilometres an hour.

"Potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation looms for northeastern Bicol region as Super Typhoon 'Pepito' further intensifies," the forecaster said hours before it made landfall, using the local name for the storm and referring to the southern part of the main island of Luzon.

Waves up to 14 metres (46 feet) high pummelled the shore of Catanduanes, while Manila and other vulnerable coastal regions were at risk from storm surges reaching up to more than three metres over the next 48 hours, the forecaster said.

The weather forecaster said winds walloping Catanduanes and northeastern Camarines Sur province -- both in the typhoon-prone Bicol region -- posed an "extreme threat to life and property".

Power was shut down on Catanduanes ahead of the storm, with shelters and the command centre using generators for electricity.

Read more Disaster-weary Philippines hit by Typhoon Toraji

"We're hearing sounds of things falling and things breaking while here at the evacuation centre," Catanduanes provincial disaster operations chief Roberto Monterola told AFP after Man-yi made landfall.

"We are unable to check what they are as the winds are too strong. They could be tree branches breaking off and falling on rooftops," Monterola said, adding there had been no reports of casualties.

At least 163 people died in the five storms that pounded the Philippines in recent weeks, leaving thousands homeless and wiping out crops and livestock.

Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
Evacuations

Man-yi could hit Luzon -- the country's most populous island and economic engine -- as a super typhoon or typhoon on Sunday afternoon, crossing north of Manila and sweeping over the South China Sea on Monday.

The government urged people on Saturday to heed warnings to flee to safety.

"If preemptive evacuation is required, let us do so and not wait for the hour of peril before evacuating or seeking help, because if we did that we will be putting in danger not only our lives but also those of our rescuers," Interior Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said.

In Albay province, Legazpi City grocer Myrna Perea sheltered with her husband and their three children in a school classroom alongside nine other families after they were ordered to leave their shanty.

Conditions were hot and cramped -- the family spent Friday night sleeping together on a mat under the classroom's single ceiling fan -- but Perea said it was better to be safe.

"I think our house will be wrecked when we get back because it's made of light materials -- just two gusts are required to knock it down," Perea, 44, told AFP.

"Even if the house is destroyed, the important thing is we do not lose a family member."
A handout photo from the Office of Ubaliw Village Polangui Facebook page shows evacuated residents sheltering inside a shopping mall. © Handout / Office of Ubaliw Village Polangui Facebook page/AFP

Back 'to square one'

In Northern Samar province, disaster officer Rei Josiah Echano lamented that damage caused by typhoons was the root cause of poverty in the region.

"Whenever there's a typhoon like this, it brings us back to the medieval era, we go (back) to square one," Echano told AFP, as the province prepared for the onslaught of Man-yi.

The mayor of Naga city in Camarines Sur province imposed a curfew from midday on Saturday in a bid to force residents indoors.

A man puts sandbags on the roof of his house in Legazpi ahead of the anticipated landfall of Typhoon Man-Yi. © Charism Sayat, AFP

All vessels -- from fishing boats to oil tankers -- were ordered to stay in port or return to shore.

The volcanology agency also warned heavy rain dumped by Man-yi could trigger flows of volcanic sediment, or lahars, from three volcanos, including Taal, south of Manila.

Man-yi hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season -- most cyclones develop between July and October.

Earlier this month, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP on Saturday was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951.

(AFP)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

Sotheby’s to pay $6.25 mln in tax fraud case


By AFP
November 14, 2024

The headquarters of the auction house Sotheby's in New York as seen on June 17, 2019 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Joe Buglewicz

The auction house Sotheby’s will pay $6.25 million to settle charges that it helped art buyers avoid paying taxes.

The office of New York state attorney general Letitia James said Sotheby’s, whose headquarters is in New York, helped collectors dodge taxes of tens of millions of dollars in art from 2010 to 2020.

It said the auction house encouraged buyers to state fraudulently that they were acquiring works for resale later. Such acquisitions can be tax-exempt whereas works bought for private use are in fact subject to tax.

Sotheby’s defended itself saying these transactions happened “many years ago” and the auction house actually provided evidence that James used to obtain the settlement now being announced.

“Sotheby’s admitted no wrongdoing in connection with today’s settlement,” it said in a statement seen by AFP.

James, who brought the case in 2020, said the tax-dodging clients included one identified as the “Collector” who bought $27 million of artwork from Sotheby’s between 2010 and 2015 using tax exemption forms known as resale certificates.

These papers certify that a buyer is exempt from paying sales tax because the purchase is only for resale, not for private enjoyment.

Sotheby’s accepted resale certificates from this person even though it knew the works were for private use and in some cases Sotheby’s staff even helped this collector display the works in their home, James said in a statement.

“Sotheby’s intentionally broke the law to help its clients dodge millions of dollars in taxes, and now they are going to pay for it,” James said.

EU fines Meta $840 million for ‘abusive’ Facebook ad practices


By AFP
November 14, 2024


The fine is the latest in a string of hefty penalties the European Commission, the regulator for the 27-nation European Union, has imposed against Big Tech companies over their practices in recent years -- and ranks among the 10 largest antitrust fines - Copyright AFP/File Fabrice COFFRINI

Daniel ARONSSOHN, Umberto BACCHI

The EU fined online giant Meta almost 800 million euros on Thursday for breaching antitrust rules by giving users of its Facebook social network automatic access to classified ads service Facebook Marketplace.

The European Commission said the US tech titan also abused its dominant position by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers that advertise on its platforms.

“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Meta must now stop this behaviour,” the bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement.

Meta said it would appeal, alleging the decision ignored “the realities of the thriving European market for online classified listing services.

“Facebook users can choose whether or not to engage with Marketplace, and many don’t. The reality is that people use Facebook Marketplace because they want to, not because they have to,” the firm said in a statement.

Among the 10 largest antitrust fines ever imposed by the 27-nation European Union, it is the latest in a string of hefty penalties slapped on Big Tech companies in recent years by the commission, the regulator for the bloc.

– ‘Abusive practices’ –

Detailing what it termed “abusive practices” by Meta, the commission said that because Facebook Marketplace was tied to Facebook, the former enjoyed a “substantial distribution advantage which competitors cannot match.”

“All Facebook users automatically have access and get regularly exposed to Facebook Marketplace whether they want it or not,” it said.

Additionally Meta imposed unfair conditions on competitors in the classified ads service who advertised on Facebook and Instagram, the commission said.

This allowed it to “use ads-related data generated by other advertisers for the sole benefit of Facebook Marketplace”, it said.

Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, contended it did not “use advertisers’ data for this purpose” and has “built systems and controls to ensure that”.

“It is disappointing that the Commission has chosen to take regulatory action against a free and innovative service built to meet consumer demand,” the company said.

Meta’s dominant position in the market for personal social networks comes with a special responsibility not to abuse it by restricting competition, according to the EU.

– ‘Duration and gravity’ –

The commission opened formal proceedings into possible anticompetitive conduct by Facebook in June 2021, communicating its concerns to Meta in December 2022 — and receiving the firm’s response in June 2023.

The EU fined the company 797.72 million euros ($840 million), a sum the commission said took into account the “duration and gravity of the infringement”, as well as the turnover of Meta and Facebook Marketplace.

Meta’s total revenue last year stood at around $135 billion.

The European commissions has had several run-ins with Meta as part of a broader clampdown on abusive Big Tech practices.

Its policy arsenal has been beefed up over the past two years with major twin laws, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, that carry massive financial penalties in the event of infringements.

In July the EU accused Meta of breaching the digital rules with its new “pay or consent” system. It meant users had to pay to avoid data collection, or agree to share their data with Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free.

Bowing to pressure from EU regulators, Meta announced this week it was offering non-paying users in the bloc the option of receiving less targeted ads, as well as cutting subscription rates for entirely ad-free services.

Corruption overshadows Ukraine’s multi-billion reconstruction program


By AFP
November 14, 2024

War reconstruction in Ukraine has provided new opportunities for corruption and personal enrichment - Copyright AFP DALE DE LA REY

Léa DAUPLE

When Bart Gruyaert agreed to help rebuild destroyed apartment blocks outside Kyiv, he hoped to be one cog in Ukraine’s vast reconstruction programme, repairing just some of the damage wrought by Russia’s invasion.

But when the French company he works for, Neo-Eco, applied for building permits in the town of Gostomel, the local military administration asked the company to transfer the funds for the multimillion-dollar project to its bank account, under the pretence that it would run the project directly.

Officials told Gruyaert, “it’s better if you transfer the money you received to our account,” he recalled.

“But it doesn’t work like that,” he told AFP.

The company refused, and progress on the initiative, which had secured 20 million euros in private funding, immediately slowed.

It marked the latest example of the endemic corruption that has plagued Ukraine since it became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

After Neo-Eco’s refusal on the bank transfer, the local administration started dragging things out, adding new requirements to the contract and trying to incentivise the company to “give envelopes” to the right people, Gruyaert alleged.

The company reluctantly decided to abandon the project in September 2023, saying it was “impossible” to work under such conditions.

Following the saga, Ukrainian investigators said they had uncovered a system of “embezzlement” in the Gostomel military administration and accused its head Sergiy Borysiuk of appropriating around 21 million hryvnia ($470,000) meant for the reconstruction of houses and apartments.

In June 2023, after the allegations surfaced, Borysiuk was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He had pre-empted his removal with a press conference several days earlier in which he said he had done “everything possible” to ensure reconstruction efforts.

“It seems to me that you are looking for the enemy in the wrong place,” he said.



– Deep corruption –



The case is far from isolated.

Even though Ukraine has stepped up its anti-graft measures over the past decade to advance its ambition of joining the European Union, corruption scandals are still rife.

Transparency International ranked Ukraine 104 out of 180 countries in its “corruption perceptions index,” up from 144 in 2013.

For some officials, Russia’s invasion has provided new opportunities for personal enrichment.

Several high-profile cases of alleged embezzlement of reconstruction funds, as well as the arrest of officials for selling army exemption certificates, have emerged throughout the war.

While a potential embarrassment for Ukraine, which relies on billions of dollars in Western financial support, Transparency International Ukraine’s director Andriy Borovyk said attention to the cases showed the problem was not being “forgotten”.

And authorities also tout the uncovering of such schemes as a sign of “effective” enforcement.

Just 10 years ago, “who could have thought that senior officials could be accused of crimes?” said Viktor Pavlushchyk, head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

“Now we have some very good examples,” he said.

Around 500 corruption cases have been opened this year and 60 convictions secured, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.



– Anti-corruption ‘DREAM’ –



But there are lingering fears the persistent problem will hamper Ukraine’s massive reconstruction agenda, deterring international partners from putting up funds.

The total cost of reconstructing Ukraine stands is estimated at $486 billion, according to a joint study by the World Bank, UN, EU and Ukrainian government.

Gruyaert has not been deterred by his experience in Gostomel, which was occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the February 2022 invasion.

Ukraine is “making a lot of progress” on corruption, Gruyaert said, adding that Neo-Eco has had to learn how to “zigzag between the various obstacles”.

The company is still working on several other projects and encourages other foreign investors to get involved.

But, bruised by the Gostomel experience, it now prioritises working with cities where it has confidence it will not be asked for kickbacks.

Most concede that much remains to be done in Ukraine’s anti-corruption fight, especially when it comes to reconstruction.

It is still common for local officials to have stakes in construction companies through their relatives, several figures told AFP.

Ukraine is trying to weed out such conflicts of interest and make the whole process more transparent.

Last year, the country launched a platform listing all open projects.

Called “DREAM”, the aim is to enable investors, journalists and Ukrainians to track the progress of construction projects, said its head Viktor Nestulia.

A commitment to such openness will be key to reassuring foreign investors, said Mustafa Nayyem, an activist and journalist who headed the reconstruction agency until earlier this year.

“The war is not an excuse not to fight corruption,” he told AFP.

Corruption, “is not in Ukrainian DNA, it’s simply a question of will.”

Sri Lankan president's leftist coalition sweeps snap parliamentary elections


Barely two months after Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidential election, his National People's Power coalition swept a snap parliamentary vote on Friday, empowering him to implement poverty reduction programmes in the financial crisis-hit island nation.

Issued on: 15/11/2024 - 
By: AFP/NEWS WIRES

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took power after sweeping presidential elections in September 2024. © Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a landslide victory in snap legislative elections, results showed Friday, as voters repudiated establishment parties blamed for triggering an economic crisis.

Dissanayake, a self-avowed Marxist, swept September presidential elections on a promise to combat graft and recover stolen assets, two years after a slow-motion financial crash imposed widespread hardships on the island nation.

His decision to immediately call polls and secure parliamentary backing for his agenda was vindicated on Friday, with his National People's Power (NPP) coalition taking at least 123 seats in the 225-member assembly and on track to win many more.

The coalition had a monumental 62 percent of the vote among the more than three-quarters of ballots counted so far, while opposition leader Sajith Premadasa's party was well behind with only 18 percent.

"People voted to get rid of corruption and a corrupt system," IT professional Chanaka Rajapaksha, who supported the NPP in the polls, told AFP on Friday.

In a sign of the magnitude of support for Dissanayake, his party won the most votes in the northern district of Jaffna, dominated by the island's minority Tamil community, for the first time since independence from Britain in 1948.

A man shows his inked finger after casting his ballot at a polling station in Sri Lanka on November 14, 2024. © Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Dissanayake, the 55-year-old son of a labourer, said he expected "a strong majority" in parliament to press ahead with his platform after casting his ballot in Thursday's poll.

"We believe that this is a crucial election that will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka," he said. "At this election, the NPP expects a mandate for a very strong majority in parliament."

Police said the nine-hour voting period passed without any incidents of violence, unlike most ballots of recent years, but three election workers including a police constable died due to illness while on duty.

Voter turnout was estimated at under 70 percent, less than in September presidential polls that saw nearly 80 percent of Sri Lanka's eligible voters cast a ballot.

Dissanayake had been an MP for nearly 25 years and was briefly an agriculture minister but his NPP coalition held just three seats in the outgoing assembly.

He stormed to the presidency after successfully distancing himself from establishment politicians blamed for steering the country to its 2022 economic crisis.

The financial crash was the worst in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka's history as an independent nation, sparking months-long shortages of food, fuel and essential medicines.

The resulting public anger culminated in the storming of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's compound, prompting his resignation and temporary exile.

Dissanayake's pledge to change a "corrupt" political culture has resonated with millions of Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet following tax hikes and other austerity measures imposed to repair the nation's finances.

His JVP party, the main constituent in the NPP coalition, led two insurrections in 1971 and 1987 that resulted in at least 80,000 deaths.

But he was sworn in after September's presidential polls, described as one of the island nation's most peaceful elections.

'Investor confidence'

Some 17.1 million people are choosing between 8,800 candidates after a campaign that election monitors say was one of the most peaceful in the country. 

© Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Portraits of communist luminaries including Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Friedrich Engels and Fidel Castro hang in Dissanayake's office in the capital.

Since his rise to popularity, however, he has softened some policies, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatisation.

Dissanayake had campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate a controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor.

But since taking office, he has resolved to maintain the existing agreement with the international lender.

The country's main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, is tacitly supporting Dissanayake and his programme.

Sri Lanka's stock exchange has gained over 16 percent in the eight weeks since Dissanayake won the presidency.

'Opposition is dead'

Sri Lanka GDP © John Saeki, AFP

Poll monitors and analysts said Thursday's election had failed to generate the level of enthusiasm -- or violence -- seen at previous polls.

"The opposition is dead," political analyst Kusal Perera said before the vote. "The result of the election is a foregone conclusion."

The outgoing parliament was dominated by Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, two brothers from a powerful political clan who have both served as president, but it has since splintered.

Neither Rajapaksa is contesting, but Mahinda's son Namal, a former sports minister, is seeking re-election.

(AFP)

GLOBALIZATION IS IMPERIALISM

Xi inaugurates South America’s first Chinese-funded port in Peru


By AFP
November 14, 2024

Chancay port is the latest addition to a vast collection of railways, highways and other infrastructure projects built under China's massive Belt and Road Initiative

 - Copyright AFP Cris BOURONCLE

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday inaugurated Latin America’s first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru — a symbol of the Asian superpower’s growing influence on the continent as it prepares to face off with a new Donald Trump administration.

The $3.5-billion complex, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Lima, is meant to serve as a hub for Chinese trade as the country is under threat of major tariff hikes once Trump reenters the White House for a second term.

The port was officially opened in a ceremony overseen virtually by Xi and Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte from Lima, where they will attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Friday and Saturday.

“China plays a major role in the growth of our economy,” Boluarte said at the event, even as a US official warned Latin American nations should be vigilant on Chinese investment.

“We believe it is essential that countries across the hemisphere ensure that PRC (People’s Republic of China) economic activities respect local laws as well as safeguard human rights and environmental protections,” Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for Latin America, said in Lima.

Xi, for his part, said the port would help “promote connectivity” between South America and China.

“We are witnessing… the birth of a new land-sea channel between Asia and Latin America in the new era,” Xi said

US President Joe Biden also arrived Thursday to attend the APEC summit in Peru, which Nichols described as a “crucial ally.”



– Belt and Road –



Peru — one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies over the past decade — is China’s fourth-largest Latin American trading partner, with bilateral flows of nearly $36 billion in 2023.

Chancay port will also serve Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and other South American countries, allowing them to skirt ports in Mexico and the United States as they trade with Asia.

Chancay is the latest addition to a vast collection of railways, highways and other infrastructure projects built under China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative to stimulate trade and boost Beijing’s political clout.

Hong Kong-listed Cosco Shipping Ports, which owns 60 percent of the port, has a 30-year concession to operate the terminal and has forecast it will handle up to a million containers in its first year of operation.

Cosco Shipping Ports is a subsidiary of China’s COSCO Shipping Corporation.

The port’s maximum depth is 17.8 meters (58.4 feet), allowing it to handle the world’s biggest container ships.

Chancay, a fishing town of some 50,000 inhabitants, was chosen for its strategic location in the heart of South America.

It is now expected to become a major hub for imports of Asian electronics, textiles and other consumer goods and for the export of minerals — including lithium and copper.

Xi described the complex as South America’s “first smart and green port.”

Once completed, he said, it will reduce the transit between China and Peru by more than 10 days, and cut logistics costs by over 20 percent.

burs-mlr/acb

Mexico City youth grapple with growing housing crisis

By AFP
November 14, 2024


Mexican student Saul Lara's journey to university takes him two hours by motorcycle taxi and metro - Copyright AFP ZINA DESMAZES

Eliott Nail

Political science student Saul Lara awakes around 4:00 am to begin his long journey — over two hours by motorcycle taxi and crowded metro — from the outskirts of Mexico City to school.

The tiring commute illustrates the hardships brought by a crippling housing crisis in the Mexican capital, which has particularly impacted young people.

As well as studying, 20-year-old Lara works 30 hours a week in a pharmacy for a monthly salary of just 7,600 pesos, equivalent to around $370.

“Due to poor sleep, waking up early, and not getting enough rest, I started noticing my hair falling out in the shower,” he said.

Lara tried to find somewhere to live closer to his school, the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

“But the cost of rent would be my entire salary,” he says.

It is far from being an isolated case in Mexico City and its sprawling metropolitan area, home to 20 million people.

The capital’s new mayor Clara Brugada has vowed to address the housing crisis, and promised to open up rental housing to young people with the option to buy.

But the challenge is enormous.

The capital faces a “serious situation” that “forces 100,000 people to leave each year because they cannot afford housing,” says Federico Taboada, head of the city’s urban planning institute.

“Mexico City has a shortage of 800,000 homes,” says Leopoldo Hirschhorn of the National Chamber of the Housing Development and Promotion Industry.

In addition, house prices in the Mexico City metropolitan area rose 6.6 percent in the first half of the year, according to official figures.



– Rising rents –



In recent decades, officials have considered housing “only as an economic good,” leading to an “excessive increase in rents,” says Daniela Sanchez, a lawyer specialized in housing.

The average rent for an apartment in the hip central neighborhoods of Roma and Condesa exceeds $1,000 a month, according to the website propiedades.com — four times more than the average salary in the capital.

“The pandemic, gentrification and touristification” have played a role in the rise in rents, Sanchez says.

Mexico City recently capped rent increases at the level of inflation, and put a limit of 182 days a year on renting accommodation on the Airbnb platform.

Whether it will be enough is an open question.

“We need a subsidized housing market for the less fortunate in addition to the traditional market,” says Marcela Heredia of the Mexican Chamber of Construction Industry.

Hirschhorn thinks the problem is also caused by the lower density of the earthquake-prone city compared with some other world capitals.

“Forty percent of Mexico City buildings have one or two floors. We need to build taller buildings to increase the housing supply,” he says.

The capital’s City Hall wants to be inspired by cities like Paris or New York, building rental properties for people “that the market will never serve,” according to Taboada.

This year, authorities began construction of the first 270 social housing units for students, in two central districts that are usually too expensive for people on low incomes.

“In this case, rents will not exceed 30 percent of students’ income,” Taboada says.

“There will be others in which housing is fully subsidized,” he adds.

Given the level of rents, “I’m starting to understand why so many young people resort to shared accommodation,” says graphic designer Ale Razo.

A small room in the city center can cost 10,000 pesos (nearly $500), “as if it were Harry Potter’s attic,” the 28-year-old adds.

For young Mexicans, according to Raxo, the plan for more affordable housing at least offers a “ray of hope.”

Cracks deepen in Canada’s pro-immigration ‘consensus’

By AFP
November 14, 2024

A class teaching new immigrants workplace related skills at the South Asian Women and Immigrants' Services, in Toronto - Copyright AFP ZINA DESMAZES

Ben Simon

From the ground floor of a low-income apartment building in Toronto, Sultana Jahangir runs an organization that helps South Asian woman get established in Canada — a challenge she said is getting harder.

Polling and migration experts tell a consistent story: broad support for immigration that prevailed for decades in Canada has cracked following a three-year immigrant-fueled population surge.

Jahangir’s South Asian Women’s Rights Organization, which operates out of two apartments packed with desk chairs and tables, equips women with vocabulary for job interviews, basic computer training and other skills.

A social worker born in Bangladesh who came to Toronto in 2005 via the United States, Jahangir said settling in Canada was never easy — but things have “definitely” gotten worse.

“You’re seeing more fierce and negative competition between immigrants and more negative feelings towards people who may be new versus people who have been here for a long time,” she said.

Daniel Bernhard, chief executive of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, said while Canadians are turning against immigration, many still view immigrants who are already here positively.

It’s an important distinction, he argued, but one he fears is fragile.

“The consensus for the last 30 years was rock solid,” Bernhard told AFP.



– ‘Too much immigration’ –



In a 2019 Gallup poll that assessed support for immigration in 145 countries, Canada ranked first, with 94 percent of respondents describing migrants moving to the country as a good thing.

Five years later, a September survey from the Environics Institute found that “for the first time in a quarter century, a clear majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration.”

“We’re not at Brexit and ‘Stop the boats’ and ‘Build the wall’ but we’re 10 years behind that,” Bernhard said, referring to Britain and the United States.

Canada may have so far avoided the inflammatory rhetoric and baseless claims about immigrants that partly drove Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but Bernhard argued “that tends to be the next step.”

Canada is “waking up to the fact that, actually, we are just like everybody else,” he added, referring to global anti-migrant sentiment.

Immigration declined in 2020 as the Covid pandemic froze most international travel, but from 2021 to 2024 an unprecedented influx of some three million people brought Canada’s population to 41 million.

From 2023 to 2024, the population rose 3.2 percent, the largest annual increase since 1957.

Last month, while announcing cuts to immigration targets for the coming three years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau conceded the influx had strained resources.

“We didn’t get the balance quite right,” he said, explaining Canada needed to slow population growth in order to boost key infrastructure and services.

Berhard said he sympathized with Trudeau’s attempt to respond to changing public opinion but suggested that if the prime minister believed reducing immigration would help address challenges like hospital wait times and housing shortages “he should seek a second opinion.”

Arguing “there’s just too many people,” is an easy way to distract from governance failures, he said.



– Competition for jobs, housing –



Jahangir told AFP she was not opposed to the target cuts, citing ferocious competition for jobs and accommodation in Toronto, noting that she knows some women who rent beds by the half day.

“Those who are working night shift, they are taking the bed in the day shift. Those who are working day shift, they are taking the bed in the night shift,” she explained.

But, like Bernhard, she said the government “should not blame the immigrant” for its own struggles in managing Canada’s growth.

Victoria Esses, a psychology professor at Ontario’s Western University who specializes in public attitudes toward immigration and cultural diversity, also supports Trudeau’s immigration cuts.

She voiced concern that persistent media coverage linking housing shortages and service gaps to overpopulation would further poison the environment for new immigrants, arguing that letting in less people, for now, might ease anxieties.

“Citizens like to feel they have control over immigration,” she said.

The cuts may be empowering to some in Canada by indicating the government is responding to their concerns, signaling that “we’re scaling back a bit because we feel that people are worried,” Esses said.

Legal migration to OECD reaches new record in 2023


By AFP
November 14, 2024


Pour la deuxième année consécutive, les flux migratoires atteignent "des niveaux record, mais ne sont pas hors de contrôle", selon l'OCDE

 - Copyright AFP/File ERIC PIERMONT

Estelle EMONET

Migration to richer countries reached a record level for the second year running in 2023, the OECD said on Thursday, reflecting demand for foreign labour and gaps in the workforce left by ageing populations.

A total 6.5 million permanent migrants settled last year in the 38 countries making up the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, up 10 percent on 2022, the organisation said in its International Migration Outlook 2024.

There was also a boom in temporary migrants and people seeking asylum –- many from conflict, persecution or poverty.

“These high flows have fuelled widespread concern about migrants’ impact on receiving countries’ economies and societies… But they also point to major opportunities,” the OECD’s employment director Stefano Scarpetta said.

“In many OECD countries facing widespread labour shortages and looming demographic changes, growing numbers of labour migrants have contributed to sustained economic growth.”

He pointed out that host countries had “virtually full control” over who they allowed to enter legally, so by increasing possibilities for “regular, orderly, and safe migration”, they could be able to better manage irregular flows of people.

The United States — whose president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to deport migrants en masse — remains the top destination for foreign workers.

It recorded 1.2 million new legal permanent incomers in 2023, the highest figure since 2006.

About a third of OECD countries witnessed record legal migration last year, including Britain (747,000 arrivals), Canada (472,000), France (298,000), Japan (155,000) and Switzerland (144,500).

Migrant numbers dropped in another third — namely in Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania and New Zealand.



– Gig economy jobs –



Much of the increase was due to people arriving to join families already legally established in OECD countries (43 percent) — possibly an aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic which delayed family reunifications, closed borders and led to stricter entrance requirements.

There was also a 20-percent increase in 2023 in foreigners afforded rights of residence for legitimate humanitarian reasons, the report said.

Of the 650,000 refugees officially given protection in OECD states, many were fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Migration for work remained stable last year.

The OECD said migrants were increasingly finding salaried jobs.

But this was not the case for all of them and many migrants set up their own businesses in order to earn a stable income.

In 2022, for example, 17 percent of all self-employed workers in the OECD were legal migrants, up from 11 percent in 2006.

That said, business enterprises created by migrants –- particularly via digital platforms that are relatively cheap to set up and make it relatively easy to access customers — led to nearly four million new jobs between 2011 and 2021, it said.

However, it added, migrant workers were more likely than locally born people to be in insecure jobs, such as in the gig economy, or to be classed as “self-employed” by the companies for whom they work.

That meant that in many cases they did jobs similar to those of salaried employees but enjoyed none of the benefits afforded to the latter.

Musk met Iran UN ambassador on defusing tension under Trump: NYT


By AFP
November 14, 2024

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk endorsing Donald Trump and helping propel him to victory capped off a stunning political shift for the world's wealthiest man 

- Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire closely allied with US President-elect Donald Trump, met Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The newspaper quoted anonymous Iranian sources as describing the meeting between the world’s richest person and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani as “positive.”

The two met for more than an hour at a secret location on Monday, the newspaper said.

Neither the Trump transitional team nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations immediately confirmed the encounter.

The meeting, if confirmed, could offer an early indication that Trump is serious about diplomacy with Iran and not choosing the more hawkish approach favored by many conservatives in his Republican Party as well as Israel.

It would also show again the extraordinary influence of Musk, the owner of Tesla and X who has been a near constant presence at Trump’s side, reportedly joining him on telephone calls with world leaders.

Trump in his last term in office tore up a deal on Iran’s nuclear program negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama and instead pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” that included working to force other nations not to buy Iran’s oil.

But Trump has cast himself as a great deal-maker and during his latest campaign has voiced an openness to diplomacy, despite his avowed support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ordered military strikes on Iran in tandem with Israel’s war on Hamas.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, considered a moderate within the clerical state, on Thursday told the visiting head of the UN nuclear watchdog that Tehran wanted to clear up doubts about the country’s “peaceful” nuclear program.

End of a love affair: news media quit X over ‘disinformation’


By AFP
November 15, 2024

Some news media say they don't like X's direction under Musk

 - Copyright AFP SAUL LOEB

Paul RICARD

News outlets have begun quitting X, formerly Twitter, once a favourite of global media but now accused of enabling the spread of disinformation under its owner, president-elect Donald Trump ally Elon Musk.

Citing a “harsh and extreme” climate, Sweden’s newspaper of reference, the left-liberal Dagens Nyheter (DN), on Friday became third major media outlet to stop publishing its articles on the social media platform.

“Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his and Donald Trump’s political ambitions,” said editor-in-chief Peter Wolodarski.

Already on Wednesday, Britain’s centre-left daily The Guardian had announced it would no longer post content from its official accounts on X, which it called “toxic”.

A day later, Spain’s Vanguardia did the same, saying it would rather lose subscribers than remain on a “disinformation network”.

Several users had already wondered back in 2022 whether they should remain on Twitter when Musk — a businessman best known for running car company Tesla and space company SpaceX — bought the platform and drastically reduced content moderation in the name of free speech.

The question has flared up again since Trump won this month’s presidential election, actively supported by Musk.



– ‘Disturbing content’ –



“I would expect more publishers to part ways with X,” said Stephen Barnard, a specialist on media manipulation at Butler University in the US.

“How many do so will likely depend on what actions X, Musk, and the Trump administration take with regard to media and journalism,” he said.

Musk, who is the world’s richest man, has been tapped by Trump’s team to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.

The Guardian has nearly 11 million followers on the platform, but it said “the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives”.

It said “often disturbing content” was promoted or found on the platform, singling out “far-right conspiracy theories and racism”.

This falling-out stands in stark contrast to the enthusiasm sparked by Twitter in 2008 and 2009.

Back then, media felt they had to be present there to establish direct contact with their audiences as well as with experts and decision-makers.

They found grew “audiences, built brands, developed new reporting practices, formed community, strengthened public engagement”, said Barnard.

At the same time, they boosted Twitter’s influence.



– ‘Reaping what they sowed’ –



This increasingly symbiotic relationship may have become detrimental to the media, suggested Mathew Ingram, former chief digital writer for the Columbia Journalism Review.

“Many publishers gave up on reader comments and other forms of interaction and essentially outsourced all of that to social media like Twitter,” he said.

“To that extent they are reaping what they sowed.”

Criticism of Twitter predates its takeover by Musk and was centred on the network’s architecture that was seen favouring polemical debate and instantaneous indignation.

It was also said to give an unbalanced reflection of society, tilting mostly towards higher-income people, and activist users.

The precise impact of the decision by newspapers, already in economic crisis, to leave X is not yet clear, but they already expect readerships to dwindle.

“We will probably lose subscriptions because some readers subscribe after seeing a news story on the social network,” Jordi Juan, director of La Vanguardia, told AFP.

But Barnard said any such loss would be limited because, said, “X generates relatively little traffic to news sites compared to other platforms”.

In October 2023, six months after American public radio NPR left Twitter, a report from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism deemed the effects of this departure “negligible” in terms of traffic.

One beneficiary of disenchantment with X appears to be Bluesky, a decentralised social media service offering many of the same functions as X.

On Friday, it said it had added one million subscribers within 24 hours. But its 16 million subscribers are still dwarfed by those of X, estimated at several hundreds of millions.

“Strictly speaking, there are no alternatives to what X offers today,” Vincent Berthier, head of the technology department at RSF (Reporters Without Borders) told AFP.

“But we may need to invent them.”

Berthier called departures from X “a symptom of the failure of democracies to regulate platforms” across the board.

Musk may represent “the radical face of this informational nightmare”, said Berthier. “But the problem goes much deeper.”