It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Mayors, Journalists, Trade Union activists among 231 detained in anti-terror raids across Turkey
Turkish authorities have detained 231 individuals including mayors, journalists, activists allegedly linked to the terrorist organizations as part of a series of coordinated raids across 30 provinces, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Tuesday.
Authorities have accused the detainees of conducting political and media activities on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the Democratic Union Party (PYD) or the People’s Defense Units (YPG); financing terrorism; spreading propaganda on social media and participating in illegal protests causing damage to public property. Officials also reported confiscating unlicensed firearms, hunting rifles, blank-firing guns and digital material.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. It has conducted an armed insurgency since the 1980s, advocating for Kurdish rights and autonomy. The KCK is an umbrella group associated with the PKK, overseeing its political and military structures. The PYD is the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, while the YPG serves as its armed wing and has been a key player in the Syrian civil war. Turkish authorities have long targeted these groups in domestic and cross-border operations.
Among those detained were journalists, activists, and labor union leaders. The list of journalists includes Erdoğan Alayumat, Tuğçe Yılmaz, Bilge Aksu, Ahmet Sünbül, Roza Metina (president of the Mesopotamian Women Journalists Association), Bilal Seçkin, Mehmet Ücar and Suzan Demir. Others detained include translator-director Ardin Diren, cartoonist Doğan Güzel, poet and writer Hicri İzgören, translator and writer Ömer Barasi and publishing coordinator Baver Yoldaş.
The Mezopotamya Women Journalists Association confirmed the detention of its president, Roza Metina, in Diyarbakır. Authorities also detained Kayapınar district co-mayor Cengiz Dündar and Nimet Tanrıkulu, a founding member of the Human Rights Association.
In Adana, police detained Remzi Çalışkan, deputy chair of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) and Kemal Göksoy, its regional representative, during pre-dawn raids.
WAR IS RAPE
Sudan Media Forum: ‘Women forced to trade sex for survival’
26/11/2024 17:10KHARTOUM
Displaced women and children in Zamzam camp near El Fasher, North Darfur (File photo: UNAMID)
As Sudan’s war continues to devastate lives, women are resorting to extreme measures to survive. Displacement, poverty, and the collapse of protective mechanisms have left many with no choice but to use their bodies to feed their families.
Salma El Taher, a pseudonym for a 20-year-old woman, fled South Kordofan with her family only to face further hardship in Khartoum. Her father was killed during the conflict in Kadugli in 2011. Years later, an airstrike in 2023 claimed her mother’s life as she worked selling tea to sustain the family.
“After my mother was killed, I found myself responsible for supporting and securing the lives of my brother and sister, without the ability to work that my mother did to feed us. I could only have sex with rapid support soldiers and other residents for money,” she continued.
Salma added that she earns little but persists to deter her 15-year-old brother from joining the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “I tell him I work in my mother’s place selling tea in the Central Market.”
Reports indicate the destruction of livelihoods in rural and urban areas has pushed families to extreme measures. These include marrying off girls to fighters in conflict zones and children joining armed groups in exchange for food.
‘Married off’
In El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, aid workers from eight international organisations confirmed cases of girls being forced to marry fighters to survive.
Khaled Ibrahim, also using a pseudonym, shared his experience. After losing his job due to the conflict and fleeing to the Zamzam camp, he married off his 16-year-old daughter to a fighter.
“I used to sell vegetables in the El Fasher Market, but after the outbreak of war in the city as of May 10, 2024, I became unemployed.”, he states. With the continued artillery shelling, Ibrahim was forced to move to the Zamzam camp next to the city.
He explained that he married off his youngest daughter out of desperation. He said that he married the youngest of his girls to a fighter, due to his “inability to protect and feed her”.
Lack of protection
The director of Sudan’s Women and Child Protection Unit, Salimi Ishaq, acknowledged the exploitation linked to the ongoing conflict. “We expect this to happen in the war,” Salimi said. She explained that her unit is working to document cases of sexual exploitation and abuse, even in areas deemed safe.
She said that the Ministry of Interior issued decisions to establish offices in the states of Kassala, El Gedaref and White Nile, to increase protection mechanisms, stressing that women “do not report cases of exploitation in the absence of a mechanism to help them.”
Efforts are underway to form protection committees in shelters, train workers, and document violations.
The unit refrains from disclosing information about violations in RSF-controlled areas to protect residents from retaliation.
The United Nations and human rights organisations have accused the RSF of widespread sexual violence and exploitation, with numerous reports of rape and abuse emerging.
Volunteers in active conflict zones, including Khartoum and Darfur, are trying to provide food. However, restrictions by warring parties and limited resources leave many without help.
For millions trapped by the war, hunger, malnutrition, and exploitation are becoming daily realities as Sudan’s conflict grinds on.
UN Under-Secretary-General ‘ashamed of fellow men’ for sexual violence in Sudan
26/11/2024 18:54PORT SUDAN
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, November 25 (Image: UNWomen)
“As a representative of the world coming to join you today and being welcomed by you today, I feel ashamed that we have not been able to protect you, and I feel ashamed of my fellow men for what they have done,” said Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, yesterday.
At a launch event at Algharbya School in Port Sudan for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), which began yesterday on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Fletcher lamented an “epidemic” of violence against girls and women in Sudan. He said it is “completely unacceptable” that one in three women worldwide has experienced sexual violence.
Fletcher is a former ambassador of the United Kingdom and policy adviser to three British Prime Ministers. He was appointed Under-Secretary-General last month and began his official duties on November 18. He is the 12th person to assume this role since the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was created.
“We must make sure that these words, ‘you are not alone,’ are not just words that people say into a microphone when they visit you, but they become the core of our work,” he said.
The Under-Secretary-General promised the crowd at the school that their voices would be the focus of the UN’s work, local organisations would receive more support in leading the response to GBV, and the UN would tell their stories to find more funding to respond to GBV in Sudan.
Fletcher ended his speech by calling upon his fellow men. “So for those men who are here supporting [victims of GBV], I salute that, and I say, where are the rest? Come and join us in this effort to support women and girls in standing up against sexual violence.
“For the men who are carrying out the sexual violence, I say: If you think you are doing this because you are strong, you are wrong. You are doing this because you are weak.”
As Sudan’s war continues to devastate lives, women are resorting to extreme measures to survive. Yesterday, Radio Dabanga reported that displacement, poverty, and the collapse of protective mechanisms have left many with no choice but to use their bodies to feed their families.
As reported by Radio Dabanga in September, UN human rights experts expressed “their grave concern for the many documented cases of sexual abuse, rape (including gang rape), enforced prostitution, sexual slavery, kidnapping, enforced disappearances, and unlawful killings by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other armed groups.
A report by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa in late July documented over 250 cases of sexual violence across the country since the outbreak of the war, including 75 cases in El Gezira between December and April.
Both the Sudanese Army and the RSF have repeatedly denied that there is any structural campaign of GBV. While both belligerents have acknowledged the occurrence of “incidents”, the warring parties insist that these are isolated crimes attributable to “rogue individual elements”.
Consistent testimony from victims on the ground paints an entirely different picture. A recent report by the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies amply corroborates “a pattern of harmful actions targeting Sudanese people based on gender, with women’s organisations documenting over 120 verified cases of rape as of October 2023, and fears that the actual number may be higher.”
Sudan Media Forum
This report was prepared in partnership with the Sudanese Media Forum’s member organisations.
RAPE IS RAPE. IT'S ABOUT DOMINATION
Men in detention face sexual torture amid war in Ukraine
Although the vast majority of victims of conflict-related sexual violence are women and girls, it is also all too common – and severely underreported – among men and boys.
Credit: UNFPA Ukraine
26 November 2024
KYIV, Ukraine – In the early hours of the morning, at a location in Ukraine not far from the front line of the war, Antonina* found herself staring at a disturbing message on her phone. It was a video recording of her cousin, Maksym*, being brutally raped.
“She was scared and didn’t know what to do,” recalled Olena*, a psychologist who later worked with Antonina.
Olena spoke with UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, with permission from Antonina, to emphasize the wave of sexual violence against men, and the wider societal impacts of that violence, that she and her colleagues are grappling with.
“We’ve worked with other cases where similar videos were sent, with demands or blackmail following,” Olena said. “In this case, there was no blackmail or demands. It was simply humiliation and cruelty.”
Sexual violence as torture
The world is seeing “heightened levels of conflict-related sexual violence, fuelled by arms proliferation and increased militarization,” a recent United Nations report notes. Although the vast majority of victims of this crime are women and girls, this kind of violence is also all too common – and severely underreported – among men, boys and people of diverse gender identities.
“Most of the reported incidents against men and boys occurred in detention settings,” the UN report states.
This was the case for Maksym. Antonina reached out to friends and family to find out where he was, only to learn that he had gone missing days earlier. The Russian authorities later said that Maksym was being held in the basement of a police station; his captors shared the video of his torture with people in his contact list.
“The reason for this treatment was supposedly a few [anti-occupation] memes he had posted on social media,” Olena said.
As the conflict in Ukraine grinds on, mental health workers– including UNFPA staff – are increasingly stretched to capacity.
Credit: UNFPA Ukraine / Serhii Tymofieiev
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has documented numerous instances of torture and abuse by Russian authorities, both in occupied regions and in the Russian Federation. The findings indicate a widespread, systematic use of violence, often in detention facilities, and “the recurrent use of sexual violence, mainly against male victims, as a form of torture.” Digital violence amplifies reach of harm
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Prosecutor General's Office in Ukraine has documented 316 cases of conflict-related sexual violence; of these, 202 survivors were women and 114 were men.
Yet these are likely dramatic underestimates. According to estimates from UNFPA’s work in Ukraine, for every case of conflict-related sexual violence, there are between 10 and 20 cases that go unregistered. And while all forms of sexual violence are significantly underreported, male survivors have especially high rates of non-reporting because of the stigma and perceived emasculation attached to the crime.
“It’s hard to work with men because they feel ashamed of what they’ve been through,” Olena said.
She works with the UNFPA-supported Survivors Relief Centre, which provides free, confidential services, including through mobile units serving embattled communities along the front line. The centre offers specialized resources for survivors of sexual violence – even so, Olena said, she and other mental health professionals are struggling to address the profound impacts of the cases they are encountering.
UNFPA-supported counsellors and health workers are providing a range of support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine – both female and male.
Credit: UNFPA Moldova/Siegfried Modola
The shame experienced by survivors is a serious obstacle to getting help. Psychologists must work to build trust and protect anonymity – a task that has been greatly undermined by the use of digital tools to amplify footage and photographs of sexual torture.
This digital violence compounds the already serious trauma endured by survivors, and further inflicts harm onto their families and communities, counsellors tell UNFPA. Witnessing her cousin’s rape was devastating for Antonina, who had been displaced by the war and was isolated from her support system, Olena explained.
Olena has tried to help Maksym, too. “Through Antonina, I put him in touch with online psychologists,” she said. “But it’s dangerous since messages are monitored.” Stretched to capacity
In addition to providing comprehensive, trauma-informed care, the Survivor Relief Centre offers legal advice, medical referrals and social support. Funded by Austria, Belgium, Spain and Sweden, the centres are a collaborative initiative between UNFPA, the Ukrainian government, and local organizations.
Through this project and other initiatives, such as an online psychosocial support platform and a two-week comprehensive rehabilitation programme, UNFPA is providing a range of support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence – both female and male.
The counsellors providing this care are dedicated to the communities they serve – but they, too, are affected by the suffering they witness.
“I was trained for this,” Olena said. “My job is to take those feelings from the client that they can’t bear, and process them into something they can carry, live with and cope with.”
But the stories she hears linger long after each session ends, she admits; as the conflict grinds on, mental health workers across the country are increasingly stretched to capacity.
*Names changed for privacy and protection
UN investigates sexual exploitation allegations against aid workers in Chad following AP story The United Nations in Chad has launched an internal investigation, following an Associated Press report on allegations of sexual exploitation of Sudanese refugees, including by aid workers
BySAM MEDNICK
Associated Press November 26, 2024
DAKAR, Senegal -- The United Nations in Chad has launched an internal investigation, following an Associated Press report on allegations of sexual exploitation of Sudanese refugees, which included aid workers.
The statement, written days after the AP published the story last week, was seen on Tuesday. It said the seriousness of the allegations cited in the AP's story, warranted immediate and firm measures and that those responsible should be punished.
“Refugees are already vulnerable and traumatized by the events that led them to flee their country and under no circumstances should they be the victims of abuse by those who are supposed to help them,” said Francois Batalingaya, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Chad.
The U.N. did not immediately respond to questions about what the internal investigation entailed.
Earlier this month, the AP reported accusations by some Sudanese women and girls that men, including those meant to protect them such as humanitarian workers and local security forces, had instead sexually exploited them in Chad’s sites for displaced people. They said the men offered money, easier access to assistance, and jobs. Such sexual exploitation in Chad is a crime.
Hundreds of thousands of people, most of them women, have streamed into Chad to escape Sudan’s civil war, which has killed over 20,000 people.
Sexual exploitation during large humanitarian crises is not uncommon, especially in displacement sites. Aid groups have long struggled to combat the issue, citing a lack of reporting by women, not enough funds to respond and a focus on first providing basic necessities.
Experts say exploitation represents a deep failure by the aid community and that people seeking protection should never have to make choices driven by survival.
The U.N. said it raised the risk alert level for protection against sexual exploitation of abuse to four, which is very high, especially since Chad was already classified as a country at high risk. Raising the alert is meant to enable the U.N. to take rapid measures in the next three months, according to an internal email about the AP's article, circulated among aid groups and seen by the AP.
The UN said it's cooperating with local authorities and human rights groups to hold those responsible to account and that refugees’ trust in humanitarians is paramount.
The organization has encouraged anyone with information about exploitation to come forward.
AU CONTRAIRE
French ambassador to Armenia sparks controversy with social media posts
26 November 2024
Qabil Ashirov
AZERBAIJAN NEWS
French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies is trying to fish in troubled waters. The ambassador shared two posts about the Blue Mosque in Yerevan and the West Azerbaijan province of Iran, sparking ambiguity and controversy, especially in light of recent military training conducted by Azerbaijan and Iran.
The post about the mosque reads, "In the gardens of the Blue Mosque of Yerevan, emblematic of Armenia's Persian heritage." This statement echoes Armenian rhetoric about the mosques in the country. To erase Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia, these mosques were renamed as Persian mosques. For more detail, it is worth noting that until the Russian Empire's invasion of modern Armenia, the region was known as the Irevan Khanate. The Irevan Khanate was a semi-independent city-state affiliated with the Iranian Empire, ruled by an Azerbaijani dynasty. After the invasion in 1828, the Russian Empire settled Armenians from Iran and later from the Ottoman Empire in the region to create a Christian enclave within the Muslim community. This enclave eventually evolved into modern Armenia.
In the 1980s, during the Soviet era, over 250,000 Azerbaijanis comprised the second-largest ethnic group after Armenians in the country. However, Armenia aimed to seize additional territories, particularly Garabagh, from Azerbaijan under the guise of self-determination. Azerbaijanis in Armenia posed the biggest challenge to this objective, as they could demand the same right of self-determination. To address this, Armenia forcibly deported all Azerbaijanis, as well as Muslim Kurds, from the country between October 1987 and mid-February 1988. Following these deportations, Armenian residents of Garabagh began protests in Khankendi, which escalated into a full-scale war. From that point on, Yerevan has gone to great lengths to erase all traces of Azerbaijanis in Armenia, destroying buildings with Azerbaijani heritage. However, some prominent buildings, like the Blue Mosque in Yerevan, could not be destroyed. Instead, Armenia introduced a new notion in Islam, calling such mosques Persian Mosques. As is known, all nations have their own Churches in Christianity, like the Russian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church etc. Islam does not have such kind of divisions. But Armenians started to call the above-mentioned mosques Persian Mosques. It seems the French diplomat is keen to participate in this falsification, but they should remember that such attempts are short-lived. Everyone knows the true Islamic culture and history.
As for the second post about the West Azerbaijan province of Iran, it is unclear what the diplomat intended to convey. Many on social media claim that the diplomat hinted at the Western Azerbaijani Community by saying "the one and only." The Western Azerbaijani Community consists of Azerbaijanis who were expelled from Armenia 30 years ago. They rightfully call Armenia Western Azerbaijan and seek to return home. However, Iran has a province called West Azerbaijan. It seems the French diplomat aimed to sow discord between Azerbaijan and Iran, but in vain. Because even the least knowledgeable individuals in the region understand what Azerbaijanis mean when they refer to Western Azerbaijan.
Additionally, these two Muslim brother states share a common culture with a history that traces back thousands of years. In addition, over 30 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, and both the Supreme Leader and the President of Iran are Azerbaijanis. Even during the First Garabagh War, the Iranian army hit Armenian positions to rescue civilians in Zengilan. Iran and Azerbaijan may have disagreements, but it does not mean that these two fraternal nations will not fight over Armenia. Someone should tell the diplomat that either Iran or Azerbaijan is not an Armenia that can easily become a tool for others.
MASS DEPORTATION MAKE HIM GO FIRST
Elon Musk is sharing some details about his immigration path. Experts say they still have questions
Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on October 26, hours after the Washington Post reported he began his career working illegally in the US. The billionaire later posted on X denying he’d worked in the US without authorization. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
By CNN.com Wire Service UPDATED: November 26, 2024 By Catherine E. Shoichet | CNN
It’s rare to hear Elon Musk discuss the details of his own immigration journey.
But the billionaire tech tycoon opened up about some of it over the weekend in a series of posts on the platform he owns, X, hours after the Washington Post reported that Musk began his career working illegally in the US when he was building a Silicon Valley startup in the 1990s.
The newspaper’s story cited court records, company documents and former business associates, including a past CEO of the company who said investors had worried that Musk could be deported.
In a post on X, where video circulated of President Biden referencing the Washington Post report’s claims, Musk denied that he’d worked without authorization.
“I was in fact allowed to work in the US,” Musk wrote, accusing Biden of lying.
The newspaper’s report and Biden’s remarks circulated widely among critics of Musk, some of whom accused the world’s richest man of having a double standard given how much time he’s devoted to slamming illegal immigration in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.
In response to one such post, Musk described two visas he once had — offering more detail than he’d previously shared publicly.
“I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B,” Musk wrote. “They know this, as they have all my records. Losing the election is making them desperate.”
But experts told CNN those details raise additional questions Musk hasn’t answered.
The J-1 visa is for exchange visitors and can be used for foreign students to pursue academic training or research. It requires a sponsoring program, such as a university. An H-1B is a temporary employment visa for specialty occupations.
Why Musk’s student status matters
Students walk between classes at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Elon Musk graduated from the university with bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics in 1997.(Charles Mostoller/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
Musk didn’t detail what institution sponsored his J-1 visa, or which years he had the visa.
Musk was born in South Africa, obtained Canadian citizenship through his mother and came to the US to study at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He became a US citizen a decade later, according to biographies of the billionaire.
He has said in the past that after leaving Penn he had planned to pursue graduate studies at Stanford, but dropped out to work on founding his first company.
That’s significant, experts say, because there are strict rules about the kind of work allowed when someone is in the US on a student visa, and work authorizations tied to student visas generally require someone to be actively studying or for the sponsoring institution to allow the student to get academic or practical training after graduation.
Immigration attorney Greg Siskind, who’s co-authored multiple editions of a guide to J-1 visas, says transitioning from a J-1 visa to an H-1B visa is a possible path. But he says a J-1 visa wouldn’t provide work authorization to someone who dropped out of a degree program. The moment Musk dropped out, he would have lost his status and been unauthorized to work, Siskind says.
“Musk would have needed to be engaged in a full course of study (at least 12 academic hours a semester) in order to qualify for work while being a J-1 student,” Siskind wrote on X.
A Stanford spokeswoman told CNN last month that the university had no record Musk had ever enrolled there, but that he had been accepted into the school’s Materials Science and Engineering graduate program. Asked if Musk ever had a student visa connected with the university, the spokeswoman said she did not know because further documentation was unavailable.
What if Musk’s visa was obtained through the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied as an undergraduate?
The same criteria would apply, Siskind says.
And given Musk’s background, Siskind says it’s unlikely he would have been eligible for humanitarian exceptions sometimes granted to allow off-campus work due to economic hardship.
Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck says Musk stating that he had a J-1 visa makes it clear he worked illegally, given the restrictions that would have only allowed work in connection with his academic program.
“So clearly, he’s admitting now that in fact, he did work illegally and violate his status. The only question is at that point, what did he do to fix his status violation?” Kuck says.
Working illegally isn’t a crime, Kuck says, but having done so would require certain steps to be taken to return to a legal immigration status.
Key unanswered questions, Kuck says, are what steps Musk took to get his H-1B visa, and when that occurred.
Musk graduated from Penn in May 1997, according to a university spokesman. Biographies of the SpaceX and Tesla CEO indicate he finished his studies there in 1995.
According to the Post’s report, a 1996 funding agreement with venture capitalists who’d agreed to contribute $3 million to Musk’s first company “stated that the Musk brothers and an associate had 45 days to obtain legal work status. Otherwise, the firm could reclaim its investment.” Musk had told coworkers that he was in the country on a student visa, six former associates and shareholders in the company told the Post.
“Student visas are some of the most complicated visas out there, and work related to them is also extraordinarily complicated. And to dismiss it in a in a two-line tweet, ‘Well I had a J-1 and it went to H-1B,’ yeah, trust me, there’s always a lot more to it than that,” Kuck says. What the world’s richest man has said about his immigration journey
Elon Musk, left, and his brother Kimbal Musk, right, have repeatedly described the humble origins of their startup, including sleeping in their office in Palo Alto, California, before securing funding from investors.
Musk is an increasingly powerful force shaping and amplifying conversations around immigration — especially since his 2022 takeover of Twitter, now known as X, and given his huge audience on the platform.
His more than 200 million followers on X frequently see him sharing posts endorsing conspiracy theories that claim the Biden administration has deliberately allowed undocumented immigrants to cross the border to gain political advantage. It’s also common to see posts referring to his own background as an immigrant and advocating for increased legal immigration to the US.
But he’s offered few specifics about his immigration status in the early days of his career, when he and his brother were founding their early online city guide and mapping tool that was later dubbed Zip2.
His brother, Kimbal Musk, has repeatedly stated that early investors in their company soon learned they were “illegal immigrants,” but Elon Musk has disputed his brother’s characterization.
“I’d say it was a gray area,” Elon Musk said at a 2013 event.
And in a 2020 podcast interview, Elon Musk said he had a “student work visa” at the time.
“Student work visa” is not an official term, and experts told CNN last month that it’s impossible to know Musk’s immigration path without access to the paper trail in his government file.
It’s likely regulations weren’t enforced as strictly during Musk’s time as a student, according to Hunter Swanson, associate director of the Center for International Education at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. Enforcement of student visa restrictions, and the systems officials use to monitor compliance, intensified dramatically after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, Swanson told CNN earlier this year. Some of the hijackers involved in the attacks were in the U.S. on student visas, according to the official 9/11 Commission Report.
“It definitely wouldn’t be possible to do academic training now on a J-1 Visa if you dropped out in your first term,” Swanson said in an email Sunday.
What’s the importance of digging into Musk’s own immigration history?
“For me, it’s the hypocrisy,” Siskind says. ”He’s been fixated on illegal immigration in the last year. And you know, he should be empathetic to the people who are struggling with the immigration system.”
CFIUS previously flagged the acquisition as a potential risk to the U.S. steel supply chain critical to national security.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has formally urged U.S. President Joe Biden to approve Nippon Steel's (NISTF, Financials) $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel (X, Financials), highlighting the deal's importance to bilateral relations, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Biden has voiced opposition to the purchase, citing possible hazards to national security, along with a major U.S. labor organization. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is reviewing the deal; next month it has a deadline to provide a recommendation before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Government agency CFIUS, which evaluates foreign investments for security concerns, might accept the agreement with restrictions, prolong the assessment process, or suggest its rejection. The panel had already raised concerns about the vulnerability of the steel supply chain resulting from the proposed deal.
Emphasizing the geopolitical and financial advantages of the purchase, Ishiba stressed in a letter dated Nov. 20, the reflection of Japan's position as the biggest foreign investor in the United States. He noted that enhancing the economic cooperation fits the "unprecedented strength" of the Japan-U.S. relationship under Biden's leadership.
Nippon Steel has promised to invest in modern technologies and safeguard employment in line with American concerns. In the letter, Ishiba said, "The proposed acquisition will enable Japanese and U.S. steel companies to combine advanced technologies and increase competitiveness, and will contribute to enhancing steel production capacity and employment in the United States."
While Ishiba's office sent inquiries to the foreign ministry, which had no response, the U.S. Embassy in Japan refused to comment. Both Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel ignored calls for comments.
Under former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who separated his government from the agreement and presented it as a private commercial affair, this direct appeal marks a change from the posture taken by the Japanese government before.
Particularly in swing states crucial to the next U.S. presidential contest, the purchase has become politically contentious. As the next government gets ready to assume office, Biden's choice might influence opinions on foreign investment policy.
Following the election, CFIUS expanded its investigation to evaluate the deal's ramifications more fully. Ishiba has expressed worries about the possible consequences of a refusal of the purchase. The prime minister reportedly brought up the matter at his most recent meeting with Biden at an international forum, stressing its significance for Japan-U.S. economic ties.
U.S. Steel review targeted by Republicans for potential probe
Four House Republicans wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Friday, saying that recent developments related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) "have called into question the integrity of its decision-making process,” and demanding the preservation of records related to a potential sale of U.S. Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel. | REUTERS
Republican lawmakers are calling on U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to preserve documents related to the proposed sale of United States Steel to Japan-based Nippon Steel, expressing "serious concerns” that politics have tainted an ongoing national security review of the deal and raising the prospect of a congressional probe.
Four House Republicans wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Friday, saying that recent developments related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) "have called into question the integrity of its decision-making process,” and demanding the preservation of records related to the steel transaction.
The matter raises "broader issues about whether the statutory mandate of CFIUS to prioritize national security considerations has been subordinated to political interests,” the lawmakers wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Bloomberg News. The documents should "remain intact and available for any forthcoming oversight needs,” the letter, from some members of the House Financial Services Committee, adds.
The Treasury Department declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"I don’t have a comment on the process, and we are careful to follow all rules and regulations when it comes to the preservation of records,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Monday.
The GOP letter suggests that the political firestorm over the proposed sale of an iconic American firm — a transaction which became a flash point during the 2024 presidential campaign — is unlikely to subside even with Biden signaling opposition to the deal and Republican President-elect Donald Trump pledging to block it. Trump’s opposition to the deal could complicate Republican attempts to make political hay of Biden’s efforts to block its consummation, with the current and incoming president politically aligned.
The deal has faced heightened scrutiny, touching on questions about union jobs and wages, which were at the centerpiece of an election that largely revolved around voter anxiety about the economy. U.S. Steel is based in Pennsylvania, a state that was fiercely contested by Trump and his general election opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden has opposed the deal for months but deferred to a review by the secretive CFIUS panel, which scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to buy companies or property in the U.S. The transaction is barreling toward another deadline in December when the panel must present a recommendation and can refer the case back to the president for a decision. Even as he has awaited the review, Biden has pledged that U.S. Steel will remain domestically owned.
The letter was signed by Republican Reps. Bill Huizenga, Andy Barr, Dan Meuser and John Rose. Huizenga chairs the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Republicans will also control the House in the next Congress.
The lawmakers are demanding the preservation of communications between the White House and CFIUS, as well as communications between federal agencies and other stakeholders, such as the United Steelworkers, who oppose the sale, and Cleveland-Cliffs, a rival domestic bidder.
Rose, in a statement, alleged that the Biden administration had "politicized CFIUS in an attempt to score cheap political points.”
"It is important to national security that during the transition CFIUS keeps all records,” he added.
The high-profile case is unusual, with CFIUS reviews more commonly reserved for acquisitions by adversarial nations, like China, and not allied ones, like Japan. They also typically are aimed at technology companies or other sensitive sectors.
Biden’s administration has argued that steel is a strategically important industry. The CFIUS panel granted a request in September to refile the submission, effectively approving a delay.
Trump’s Treasury and Commerce nominations + Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel
Emily and Geoff react to the nominations of Scott Bessent for U.S. Treasury Secretary and Howard Lutnick for U.S. Commerce Secretary and overall point man for trade and tariffs. Then Evan Robinson-Johnson, business reporter from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, joins to talk about the national security review of Nippon Steel’s bid to buy U.S. Steel - which both President Biden and President-elect Trump have vowed to block. Complicated labor union dynamics, the companies’ threat to sue, and election-year politics have kept this deal in purgatory, but an impending government deadline could force action in the coming weeks.
Lasers ‘powered by sunlight’ could transform space travel, scientists say
The technology is inspired by the way plants and bacteria convert light into chemical energy through a process called photosynthesis
‘Sun-powered lasers’ that harness bacteria’s ability to convert sunlight into energy could power future missions to Mars, scientists have announced. Picture: Alamy/PA
Tue, 26 Nov, 2024 - 16:35
Nick Forbes, PA Scotland
Lasers that harness bacteria’s natural ability to convert sunlight into energy could power missions to Mars and provide a source of clean energy on Earth, scientists have announced.
The technology is inspired by the way plants and bacteria convert light into chemical energy through a process called photosynthesis.
The aim is to repurpose the light-harvesting antennae from certain types of photosynthetic bacteria to “amplify” energy from sunlight, and convert it into laser beams that can transmit that energy across space.
This technology has the potential to revolutionise how we power space operations, making exploration more sustainable while also advancing clean energy technology here on Earth
The scientists also hope that using organic materials rather than “perishable” artificial components means the lasers could be effectively re-grown in space – meaning they could be kept in operation without new parts having to be sent up from Earth.
Unlike conventional semiconductor solar panels, which convert sunlight into electricity, this process would not rely on any electronic components.
The project – called APACE – is first looking at developing the technology under laboratory conditions, before testing and refining its suitability for use in space.
If it is successful, the researchers say it could be used by global space agencies to power space exploration – including lunar bases or missions to Mars – as well as providing a new way of transmitting clean, wireless energy on Earth.
The technology is being developed by an international team that includes researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Professor Erik Gauger, from the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt, said the technology was potentially a “breakthrough in space power”.
“Sustainable generation of power in space, without relying on perishable components sent from Earth, represents a big challenge,” he said.
“Yet, living organisms are experts at being self-sufficient and harnessing self-assembly.
“Our project not only takes biological inspiration but goes one step beyond by piggybacking on functionality that already exists in the photosynthetic machinery of bacteria to achieve a breakthrough in space power.
“Our APACE project aims to create a new type of laser powered by sunlight.
If our new technology can be built and used on space stations, it could help to generate power locally and even offer a route to sending power to satellites or back to Earth using infrared laser beams
“Regular sunlight is usually too weak to power a laser directly, but these special bacteria are incredibly efficient at collecting and channelling sunlight through their intricately designed light harvesting structures, which can effectively amplify the energy flux from sunlight to the reaction centre by several orders of magnitude.
“Our project will make use of this level of amplification to convert sunlight into a laser beam without relying on electrical components.
“We already know it is possible to grow bacteria in space, for example through studies on the International Space Station. Some tough bacteria have even survived exposure to open space.
“If our new technology can be built and used on space stations, it could help to generate power locally and even offer a route to sending power to satellites or back to Earth using infrared laser beams.
“This technology has the potential to revolutionise how we power space operations, making exploration more sustainable while also advancing clean energy technology here on Earth.
Scientists hope to use the technology to convert sunlight into a laser beam that can power space exploration and provide a clean source of energy on Earth (Aaron Chown/PA)
“All major space agencies have lunar or Mars missions in their plans, and we hope to help power them.”
The research team will begin by extracting and studying the natural light-harvesting machinery from types of bacteria that have evolved to survive in extremely low light conditions.
These bacteria have highly specialised molecular antenna structures that can capture and channel almost every photon of light they receive – making them nature’s most efficient solar collectors.
The researchers will also develop artificial versions of these structures and new laser materials that can work with both natural and artificial light-harvesters.
The researchers then plan to combine these components into a new type of laser material and test it in increasingly larger systems.
The first prototype of the new technology is expected to be ready for testing within three years.
The €4m APACE project is jointly funded by the European Innovation Council and Innovate UK.
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M ALL THE RAGE
Analysis:
Adani's 'renewable energy marvel' trapped in US bribery indictment
Adani Green, described by U.S. prosecutors as being at the heart of "The Corrupt Solar Project."
November 26, 2024 By Reuters Workers install solar panels at the Khavda Renewable Energy Park of Adani Green Energy Ltd in Khavda, India, April 12, 2024.
NEW DELHI —
Betting big on the clean energy goals of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, billionaire Gautam Adani found backers in France's TotalEnergies and the Qatar Investment Authority as he set out to build the world's biggest renewable energy project.
The crown jewel of his company, Adani Green, is an energy park in western Gujarat state planned to be five times the size of Paris on completion, and producing 50 gigawatts by 2030, or roughly a tenth of India's clean energy goals.
Now the plan faces a hurdle in the form of a U.S. indictment of Adani, his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani and managing director Vneet S. Jaain, accusing them of paying bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts, and misleading U.S. investors during fund raises there.
Since the news, stock of Adani Green has nosedived 36%, losing $9.6 billion in market value
. India's Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani addresses the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar, India, Jan.10, 2024.
Adani Group has denied the accusations in the U.S. indictment as baseless, and vowed to seek all legal recourse.
But fund-raising could get complicated.
"To the extent of raising additional capital for newer projects, any sort of regulatory issues become problematic," said Deepika Mundra, a senior analyst at M&G Investments based in Britain.
"Particularly if you want to tap international markets."
Adani Green is one of many public and private companies key to helping India achieve its goals, she added. "It is quite important that all these (Adani Green) projects go through."
The Adani Green boom is reflected in a surge of 10,000% in its shares between 2018 and 2022 as power demand in India swells, spurring it to develop the energy park in Khavda in Gujarat.
"For us, this renewable energy park is a symbol of our commitment to sustainability and a symbol of national pride," Adani wrote in his annual report in June.
When complete, its output would be "enough to power nations like Belgium, Chile, and Switzerland," he added.
Adani has committed investment of $100 billion in the renewables sector, seen as core to the ports-to-airports conglomerate that is worth more than $135 billion.
Now the tide is turning for Adani Green, described by U.S. prosecutors as being at the heart of "The Corrupt Solar Project."
Workers assemble Photovoltaic Modules at the plant of Adani Green Energy Ltd in Mundra, India, April 11, 2024.
After the U.S. indictment, TotalEnergies, which holds a stake of nearly 19.8% in Adani Green, was among the first to react, saying it would not invest more in the group for now.
It had not been made aware of the bribery case, even though Sagar Adani was served a grand jury subpoena last year by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, it added.
The Qatar Investment Authority, with a stake of 2.7%, declined comment.
But standing firm for now is GQG Investors, which holds a stake of 4.2%. In an internal client note seen by Reuters, it said, "We believe the fundamentals of the companies we are invested in remain sound."
Adani Green added power capacity of 37% each year to reach 11.2 GW by September this year, from a mere 2 GW in the 2018-19 financial year.
Its next big target is 50 GW goal by 2030, or a capacity addition of 31% each year, it told investors in a presentation in November.
'Renewable energy marvel'
Adani Green's revenues of $574 million during the period from April to September this year were up 20% on the year, boosting its cash profit 27% to $313 million over that time.
With large solar, wind and hybrid power developments in Gujarat and the desert state of Rajasthan, it is developing smaller pumped-storage hydro power projects in five Indian states.
The facilities in Rajasthan and Gujarat were to have supplied the power contracted for in the Adani deals that U.S. prosecutors allege to have been granted after payment of bribes.
One of them is the partly developed marquee project in Khavda, just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the international border with Pakistan. It is described by Adani as "a renewable energy marvel in the making."
Adani is targeting a massive jump in operational capacity at the location to 30 GW by 2029, up from 2.25 GW now. Energy from the park can power 16.1 million homes each year, Adani says.
Windmill tubes of Adani Green Energy are loaded on transport trucks along Ahmedabad-Mundra National Highway near Viramgam in the western state of Gujarat, India, Nov. 25, 2024.
Reuters was among media which toured the project site in April, when thousands of laborers worked on construction and scores of solar panels were being installed.
Engineers that day talked up the potential of the project, which would sprawl across 540 sq km (210 sq miles) when complete, saying it would be visible from space.
"The kind of support being provided by the central government, and I must say, the state governments also, is extraordinary," Managing Director Vneet S. Jaain said at the time.
Jaain, one of three Adani executives, besides Gautam and Sagar Adani, indicted for offering bribes to Indian state officials to secure deals, has not responded to a request for comment from Reuters.
