Georgians hold anti-government protest on Orthodox Christmas


By AFP
January 7, 2025


Georgians celebrated Orthodox Christmas Eve mass in central Tbilisi

 - Copyright AFP JUNG YEON-JE

Thousands of Georgians marched through the streets of Tbilisi late on Monday on Orthodox Christmas Eve, gathering in front of parliament for a 40th day of anti-government demonstrations.

Mass protests have shaken the Caucasus country since November 28, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the government would not pursue the launch of European Union membership talks until 2028.

On Monday evening, protesters, some carrying Georgian and EU flags, came together to celebrate Orthodox Christmas at a church opposite the parliament building in the centre of Tbilisi.

Most Georgians are Orthodox Christians and the Church celebrates Christmas Day on January 7 according to the old Julian calendar.

Protesters chanted “Georgia!” and repeated demands for the release of detained demonstrators and for a fresh general election.

The governing Georgian Dream party won an October vote that the opposition has denounced as rigged.

“For Christmas, I pray that all political prisoners held by the government for expressing their opinions will soon be released,” said 56-year-old protester, Irina Sartania.

Marchers set off from five different Orthodox churches in Tbilisi and converged at the central church, where they were joined by more demonstrators.

Pro-European former president Salome Zurabishvili, who repeatedly clashed with Georgian Dream during her tenure, joined them.

“We must guide this country back to its proper direction. We cannot fail to win,” Zurabishvili told AFP.

She was elected head of state by popular vote in 2018.

Her term ended on December 29, when Georgian Dream loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili, a right-wing ex-footballer, was inaugurated as the next figurehead president following a controversial selection process.

Although Zurabishvili has departed the presidential palace, she insists she is the country’s “only legitimate leader” amid the political crisis.

The Georgia Dream government faces accusations of an authoritarian, pro-Russian shift that has undermined Georgia’s EU bid, a goal enshrined in the constitution and supported by 80 percent of the population.

ONLINE FEMICIDE

‘Form of violence’: Across globe, deepfake porn targets women politicians


By AFP
January 5, 2025


Non-consensual deepfake porn targets women politicians around the world -

 Copyright AFP Stefani REYNOLDS

Anuj CHOPRA with Masroor GILANI in Islamabad and Rachel BLUNDY in London

From the United States to Italy, Britain, and Pakistan, female politicians are increasingly becoming victims of AI-generated deepfake pornography or sexualized images, in a troubling trend that researchers say threatens women’s participation in public life.

An online boom in non-consensual deepfakes is outpacing efforts to regulate the technology globally, experts say, with a proliferation of cheap artificial intelligence tools including photo apps digitally undressing women.

The intimate imagery is often weaponized to tarnish the reputation of women in the public sphere, jeopardizing their careers, undermining public trust, and threatening national security by creating conditions for blackmail or harassment, researchers say.

In the United States, the American Sunlight Project, a disinformation research group, identified more than 35,000 instances of deepfake content depicting 26 members of Congress — 25 of them women — across pornographic sites.

A study published by the group last month showed that nearly one in six women in Congress have been victims of such AI-generated imagery.

“Female lawmakers are being targeted by AI-generated deepfake pornography at an alarming rate,” said Nina Jankowicz, chief executive of the ASP. “This isn’t just a tech problem — it’s a direct assault on women in leadership and democracy itself.”

ASP did not release the names of the female lawmakers depicted in the imagery to avoid public searches, but it said it privately notified their offices.

– ‘Wage this war’ –

In the United Kingdom, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was among more than 30 British female politicians found to be targeted by a deepfake porn website, according to a Channel 4 investigation published last year.

The high-traction site, which was unnamed, appeared to use AI technology to “nudify” about a dozen of those politicians, turning their photos into naked images without their consent, it said.

The tech advancements have given rise to what researchers call an expanding cottage industry around AI-enhanced porn, where users can turn to widely available AI tools and apps to digitally strip off clothing from pictures or generate deepfakes using sexualized text-to-image prompts.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking 100,000 euros ($102,950) in damages from two men accused of creating deepfake porn videos featuring her and posting them to American porn websites.

“This is a form of violence against women,” Meloni told a court last year, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

“With the advent of artificial intelligence, if we allow the face of some woman to be superimposed on the body of another woman, our daughters will find themselves in these situations, which is exactly why I consider it legitimate to wage this war.”

– ‘Silencing effect’ –

In Pakistan, AFP’s fact-checkers debunked a deepfake video that showed lawmaker Meena Majeed publicly hugging an unrelated male minister, an act culturally deemed immoral in a conservative Muslim-majority nation.

In a separate episode, Azma Bukhari, the information minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, said she felt “shattered” after discovering a deepfake video online that superimposed her face on the sexualized body of an Indian actor.

“The chilling effect of AI-generated images and videos used to harass women in politics is a growing phenomenon,” the nonprofit Tech Policy Press said last year, warning that the trend will have a “silencing effect on the political ambitions” of women.

The proliferation of deepfakes has outstripped regulation around the world.

Pakistan lacks legislation to combat sexualized deepfakes. UK laws criminalize sharing deepfake porn and the government has pledged to ban its creation this year, but so far no firm timetable has been laid out.

A handful of US states including California and Florida have passed laws making sexually explicit deepfakes a punishable offense and campaigners are calling on Congress to urgently pass a host of bills to regulate their creation and dissemination.

While high-profile politicians and celebrities, including singer Taylor Swift, have been victims of deepfake porn, experts say women not in the public eye are equally vulnerable.

After ASP notified the targeted US Congresswomen, the fake AI-generated imagery was almost entirely scraped from the websites, reflecting what it called a “disparity of privilege.”

“Women who lack the resources afforded to members of Congress would be unlikely to achieve such a rapid response from deepfake pornography sites if they initiated a takedown request themselves,” ASP said.

Frauenkultur.co.ukfrauenkultur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Against-Our-Will.pdf

Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape - Frauenkultur

... Against. Our Will. Men, Women and Rape. SUSAN BROWNMILLER. Fawcett Columbine • New York. Page 5. Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If ...

Taiwan says Chinese-owned ship suspected of damaging sea cable goes dark


By AFP
January 7, 2025


Taiwan's coast guard said the Cameroon-flagged, Chinese-owned Shunxing39 cargo ship was suspected of damaging a subsea telecoms cable - 

Copyright AFP JUNG YEON-JE

Joy Chiang and Amber Wang with Holmes Chan in Hong Kong

A Chinese-owned cargo ship suspected of damaging a subsea telecoms cable off Taiwan has stopped transmitting its location on the high seas, Taiwan’s coast guard said Tuesday.

The Cameroon-flagged vessel was supposed to sail to South Korea after it was briefly detained by Taiwan’s coast guard on Friday on suspicion of dragging its anchor over an international subsea cable northeast of the island.

Taiwan has asked South Korean authorities for assistance in the investigation into the ship after rough seas prevented them boarding the vessel near northern Taiwan, the coast guard said.

A senior coast guard official told AFP that Shunxing39’s automatic identification system signal, which is used to broadcast a vessel’s location, was now turned off.

“It is illegal, but it has left our jurisdiction,” the official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

The captain of the Shunxing39 told the coast guard that the ship had been “dragging anchor”, but Taiwanese authorities had no “clear evidence” to prove the vessel had damaged the cable, the official said.

“Without boarding, we cannot confirm it, we only have photos and videos,” the official said.

Seven Chinese nationals were crewing the vessel, which the coast guard official confirmed was owned by Jie Yang Trading Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong.

The company’s only listed director is Guo Wenjie, with an address in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the Hong Kong Companies Registry shows.

Jie Yang listed a Hong Kong secretary company, which provides corporate services, as its contact address and phone number.

That company told AFP on Tuesday it had no client matching the name of Jie Yang Trading Limited.



– Targets for attack –



The Cameroon-flagged vessel was intercepted by the coast guard on Friday after Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom reported damage to a subsea cable that is part of the Trans-Pacific Express Cable System.

The vessel, which the coast guard said also sailed under the Tanzanian flag, was expected to travel to South Korea’s Busan port.

Chunghwa’s telecoms service quickly returned to normal on Friday after the company re-routed communication traffic to other cables.

Chunghwa said Tuesday that it hoped to repair the damaged cable by the end of January.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

In recent years, Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei, which fears China could attempt to sever communication links to the island.

Taipei-based military expert Su Tzu-yun said the latest incident was part of “Beijing’s systematic action against Taiwan” and was designed to create unease among Taiwanese people.

“If Taiwan’s undersea cables are completely cut off, its connections to the world are cut off,” said Su of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

Su said subsea cables around Taiwan’s outlying Matsu archipelago had been cut 27 times in recent years.

In February 2023, two undersea telecoms lines serving Matsu were severed, disrupting communications for weeks.

Taipei’s Communications Commission and locals said at the time that Chinese fishing vessels or sand dredgers may have done the damage.

The world’s data and communications are carried across oceans by great bundles of subsea fibre optic cables — with their high strategic value making them potential targets for attack.

Taiwan has been exploring satellite-communication options to back-up subsea cables and a microwave system to ensure internet keeps running.

Japan PM says blocked US Steel deal could hit investments


By AFP
January 6, 2025


Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said concerns over future investments should be taken seriously 

- Copyright JIJI Press/AFP JIJI PRESS

Tomohiro OSAKI

Japan’s prime minister on Monday urged Washington to dispel concerns that a decision by Joe Biden to block Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel could impact future investments.

The US President’s announcement last week cited a strategic need to protect domestic industry, a move that drew sharp criticism from both companies and Tokyo.

A US government panel had failed to reach consensus on whether the $14.9 billion acquisition threatened national security, shifting the decision to Biden in the waning days of his presidency.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the veteran Democrat’s decision had sparked worries over future Japanese investments in the world’s largest economy.

“It is unfortunately true that there are concerns being raised within Japan’s industrial world over future Japan-US investment,” Ishiba told reporters.

“It’s something we have to take seriously.”

Japan and the United States are each other’s top foreign investors.

“It would be inappropriate for the Japanese government to comment on the management of an individual company that was under review as per US domestic law… but we will strongly call on the US government to take steps to dispel these concerns,” said Ishiba.

“They need to be able to explain clearly why there is a national security concern, or else further discussions on the matter will not work,” he added.

– ‘Bold action’ –

Nippon Steel reportedly plans to hold a news conference on Tuesday, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also be visiting Japan following a trip to South Korea.

Biden’s decision followed extended wrangling over competing domestic political, economic and trade demands.

The outgoing president — who made the rebuilding of the US manufacturing base a major goal of his administration — had criticised the deal for months, while holding off on a move that could hurt ties with Tokyo.

“This acquisition would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains,” Biden said on Friday.

The United Steelworkers union welcomed the announcement, describing it as “bold action to maintain a strong domestic steel industry”.

But Nippon Steel and US Steel said the outcome reflected “a clear violation of due process and the law” and Japan’s industry minister described it as “incomprehensible”.

Nippon Steel had touted the takeover as a lifeline for a US company that is long past its heyday, but opponents warned that the Japanese owners would slash jobs.

– ‘Chilling effect’ –


The decision to block the deal enjoyed rare bipartisan agreement. Republican President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming vice president had also campaigned against the sale.

But the US Chamber of Commerce noted that investment from the country’s “important and reliable ally” Japan supports nearly one million American jobs.

“The decision also could have a chilling effect on international investment in America,” it warned.

Even without the US Steel acquisition, Nippon Steel should still be able to meet its mid-term annual production targets, said SBI Securities analyst Ryunosuke Shibata.

“Nippon Steel may have other opportunities in the future to buy a US firm” or to invest in the United States to have a production base there, Shibata told AFP.

“There won’t be a significant change in Nippon Steel’s growth strategy of investing in the United States and continuing to build up production capacity in India.”

Keizai Doyukai, one of Japan’s three major business groups, noted that protectionist trade policies were likely to heighten under the Trump administration.

“In areas related to economic security, we should strengthen cooperation with like-minded countries such as South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, and India, so as not to become completely dependent on the United States,” it said.

‘Lost year’: Germany electric car sales go into reverse

 EU CHINA TARIFF'S ARE USELESS IN THIS CASE

By AFP
January 6, 2025


Just 380,609 EVs were registered in 2024 in Europe's largest auto market, 27.4 percent fewer than in the previous year

 - Copyright AFP/File SAUL LOEB

Sebastien ASH

Sales of new electric vehicles in Germany plunged last year, official figures showed Monday, as a slow switch to battery-powered cars deepened the woes of the country’s flagship auto industry.

Just 380,609 EVs were registered in 2024 in Europe’s largest auto market, 27.4 percent fewer than in the previous year, the KBA federal transport authority said.

After years of growth, demand for battery-powered cars lost momentum as the German economy has struggled and key subsidies were withdrawn.

The slump in EV sales amounted to a “lost year for electro-mobility”, said EY analyst Constantin Gall.

The sudden end of the support programme in 2023 amid a government budget crisis had led to “massive uncertainty among potential buyers”, he said.

High prices for new EV models, still patchy charging infrastructure and range limitations were putting off new buyers in Germany, he said.

The drop in EV sales led an overall decline in the German car market, which has struggled to recover since the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 2.8 million new cars were sold in 2024 in Europe’s top economy, one percent fewer than in the previous year.

– Industry struggles –

Weak demand for new cars at home has compounded the challenges facing Germany’s auto industry, alongside high production costs and rising competition from China.

Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen announced a deal with unions at the end of last year to reduce production capacity in Germany by some 730,000 units and cut 35,000 jobs.

The drastic cuts were needed to put the core Volkswagen brand on a sustainable footing and to fund investments in the manufacturer’s struggling electric strategy, the group said.

The difficulties at VW did not stop it from keeping the top spot in sales with 536,888 new registrations in Germany.

Chinese manufacturers who have gobbled up market share in their domestic market and spooked European producers have yet to make major inroads in Germany.

Combined, brands such as BYD, XPeng and MG Roewe sold some 25,000 units in Germany.

Tesla’s market share also dropped to 1.3 percent from 2.2 percent, as the US electric vehicle maker shifted only 38,000 units in Germany.

The overall slump in electric car sales in Germany saw battery-powered vehicles lose market share relative to traditional combustion engines and hybrid cars.

Electric cars made up 13.5 percent of sales in 2024, down from 18.4 percent in the previous year.

Sales of hybrid cars rose by 12.7 percent to almost 950,000 as consumers looked to hedge their bets with cars than can run on both electricity and fossil fuel.

– Subsidy scheme –

Gall said “strong impulses” were needed to kickstart the electric car market.

A new support programme could provide a “significant boost” to sales of battery-powered cars, he said, but remained uncertain about the outlook as Germany is headed for new elections on February 23.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government scrapped the previous subsidy scheme, has called on the campaign trail for a new support programme on the European level.

Opposition politicians have also called for the ailing auto industry to get more assistance, while criticising European plans to phase out combustion engines.

Manufacturers could cut prices themselves as they look to shift more EVs and stay on track to meet stricter EU emissions targets coming into force in 2025, Gall said.

Progress in bringing down EV prices could lead to a rise in sales, but the sector would struggle to rise above volumes seen in 2023, he said.

A “hoped-for paradigm shift” in consumer preferences had yet to come, Gall added. “For large parts of the population, combustion engines remain significantly more popular than electric cars.”

Invisible man: German startup bets on remote driver


By AFP
January 7, 2025


Thomas von der Ohe, CEO and Co-Founder of Vay Technology, stands for a portrait with a remote driving Kia. Over the last year, riders in Las Vegas have been able to test drive the vehicle - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

With no one in the driver seat, the SUV pulling up resembles an autonomous robotaxi like those becoming increasingly present in some cities — but the car from German startup Vay is something else.

One of a number of emerging players aiming to disrupt road transportation, the seven-year-old company is built around remote driving, where a human is very much present, though sitting in an office using TV monitors to guide the car.

Over the last year, riders in Las Vegas have been able to test drive Vay, and the company was demonstrating its technology ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s most important tech show.

Thomas von der Ohe, chief executive and co-founder of Vay, said his was a lower-cost approach “that has nothing to do with autonomous driving.”

Von der Ohe, who previously worked at Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous driving company, said that unlike autonomous driving companies, Vay doesn’t have to “run massive amounts of simulations” to be safe.

“Our core safety principle is that the (human driver) can make the decision,” he said.

And unlike a Tesla or Waymo, there is no dream at Vay of one day shedding the steering wheel, which twists and turns during rides as if maneuvered by the Invisible Man.

The remote driving approach also employs fairly inexpensive camera technology, which costs a fraction of the envelope-pushing Lidar sensing systems favored by leading autonomous companies.

A demonstration of the remote driving technology showed someone watching three screens — which included live imagery from front, side and rear-view cameras — as they operated a system similar to at-home racing simulators, with a steering wheel and pedals.

Vay is offering rides for half the price of Uber or Lyft. Von der Ohe hopes to reach profitability in the next year or two, depending on how quickly the company can scale.

Since launching 12 months ago, Vay’s Las Vegas fleet has grown from two to 30 vehicles, completing 6,000 rides, von der Ohe said.

But Von der Ohe believes the company’s cash cow will not be ride-hailing, but the delivery of autos to consumers who then drive the vehicles.

In this way, Vay resembles a car rental company.

Since the launch in Las Vegas, some customers have ordered up Vay vehicles for home delivery and then driven them themselves.

That flexibility is one reason “we believe this can be a real alternative to private cars,” von der Ohe said.

GLOBALI$M IS IMPERIALI$M

Microsoft announces $3 bn AI investment in India

ByAFP
January 7, 2025


Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the US tech giant plans to invest $3 billion in India on AI and cloud infrastructure over the next two years - Copyright AFP/File Jason Redmond

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday said the company plans to invest $3 billion in India on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure over the next two years.

The world’s most populous country has become a key AI battleground in the last few years, as US tech giants look to find new users for their services and tap into fresh pools of talent.

In recent months, top executives including Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun have visited India.

On Tuesday, Nadella said the $3 billion investment would include the setting up of new data centres.

“India is rapidly becoming a leader in AI innovation, unlocking new opportunity across the country,” Nadella said.

“The investments in infrastructure and skilling we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to making India AI-first, and will help ensure people and organisations across the country benefit broadly.”

The global embrace of AI has boosted sales of Microsoft’s key cloud services, which have become the core of its business under Nadella’s leadership.

The announcement comes less than a week after Microsoft president Brad Smith said the company was on track to invest $80 billion in AI this fiscal year.

Microsoft was on pace to invest about $80 billion this year to build out AI datacentres, train AI models and deploy cloud-based applications around the world, according to Smith.

“The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally,” he said in an online post.

Turkey threatens military operation against Syrian Kurdish fighters

THEY HAVE BEEN ATTACKING SYRIAN KURDISTAN FOR MONTHS NOW


By AFP
January 7, 2025

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan threatens to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accept Ankara's conditions - Copyright AFP Dave Chan

Fulya OZERKAN

Turkey threatened Tuesday to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition after the fall of strongman president Bashar al-Assad.

“We will do what’s necessary” if the People’s Protection Units (YPG) fail to meet Ankara’s demands, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told CNNTurk television. Asked what that might entail, he said: “Military operation”.

Assad’s overthrow by Islamist-led rebels last month raised the prospect of Turkey intervening directly in the country against Kurdish forces accused by Ankara of links to armed separatists.

Ankara accuses the YPG — seen by the West as essential in the fight against Islamic State jihadists — of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey.

The PKK has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies.

“Those international fighters who came from Turkey, Iran and Iraq must leave Syria immediately. We see neither any preparation nor any intention in this direction right now and we are waiting,” Fidan said.

“The ultimatum we gave them (the YPG) through the Americans is obvious,” he added.

Since 2016, Turkey has carried out successive ground operations in Syria to push Kurdish forces away from its border.

The foreign minister also said Turkey had the capability to take over the management of prisons and detention camps holding IS jihadists in Syria if the new leadership was unable to do so.

“Our president gave the instruction that if others cannot do it, Turkey will keep control (of the camps) with its own soldiers. As Turkey, we are ready for this,” Fidan said.



-‘Bloodless transition’-



New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose HTS group has long had ties with Turkey, told Al Arabiya TV on Sunday that the Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the national army.

Fidan, who met with Sharaa in Damascus last month, said Ankara expected the new leadership to address the YPG issue.

Asked if they were taking the necessary steps: Fidan said: “We need to give it some time,” adding talks between Damascus and the YPG were going on.

He said Syria’s new rulers were capable of fighting the YPG, which he accused of buying time.

“The administration in Damascus is not made of those who are scared of war. They seized Damascus by fighting,” Fidan said.

Referring to Kurdish fighters in Syria, he said: “If you do not want any military operation in the region, neither by us nor by the new administration in Syria, the conditions for this are clear.”

“The terrorist fighters coming from international countries must leave Syria, the PKK leadership must leave the country. The remaining cadres must lay down their weapons and join the new system, this is for a bloodless and problem-free transition.”

Asked if Turkey would still intervene in Syria despite the United States’ support for the YPG, Fidan said: “We did it in the past in Afrin, in Ras al-Ayn and in Tal Abyad,” referring to locations in northern Syria that Turkey has targeted.

He said Turkey would not hesitate to do it again.

“This is what our national security requires. We don’t have any other option.”

More than 100 combatants have died over the past few days in northern Syria in fighting between Turkish-backed groups and Syrian Kurdish forces, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria resumed their armed conflict with Kurdish forces at the same time Islamist-led rebels launched their November 27 offensive that ousted Assad just 11 days later.

US urged to do more to fight bird flu after first death


By AFP
January 7, 2025


Scientists have been sounding the alarm about the potential pandemic threat posed by bird flu -- and urging the US to do more 

- Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Mads Madsen Arctic Creative

Daniel Lawler

The first human death from bird flu in the United States has intensified calls for the government to ramp up efforts to stave off the threat of another pandemic — particularly ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Health experts around the world have for months been urging US authorities to increase surveillance and share more information about its bird flu outbreak after the virus started spreading among dairy cows for the first time.

On Monday, Louisiana health authorities reported that a patient aged over 60 was the country’s first person to die from bird flu.

The patient, who contracted avian influenza after being exposed to infected birds, had underlying medical conditions, US health authorities said.

The World Health Organization has maintained that bird flu’s risk to the general population is low, and there is no evidence that it has been transmitted between people.

However health experts have been sounding the alarm about the potential pandemic threat of bird flu, particularly as it has shown signs of mutating in mammals into a form that could spread more easily among humans.

– ‘This is how it could start’ –

The avian influenza variant H5N1 was first detected in 1996, but a record global outbreak since 2020 has resulted in hundreds of millions of poultry birds being culled — and killed an unknown but massive number of wild birds.

In March, the virus started transmitting between dairy cows in the United States.

Since the start of last year, 66 bird flu cases have been recorded in humans in the United States, many of them among farm workers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The US cases had been relatively mild until the Louisiana patient, though a Canadian teenager become severely ill. Nearly half of the 954 human cases of H5N1 recorded since 2003 have been fatal, according to the WHO.

Marion Koopmans, a virologist at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, emphasised that the public should not be unduly worried about another pandemic.

“The problem is that this is how it could start,” she added.

Koopmans criticised that “there is not really an effort to contain” the bird flu outbreak among cattle in the United States.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at the Imperial College London, said he thought “the biggest error the US has made is its slow and weak response to the cattle outbreak”.

The reason bird flu was affecting US cattle seemed to be a combination of this weak early response, poor biosecurity, “and the intensification of US dairy farming (which involves far more movement of animals than any European system),” he told AFP.

Peacock was a co-author of a preprint study released on Monday, which has not been peer-reviewed, describing how the mutations of H5N1 in cattle enhance its ability to infect other mammals — including humans.

Rebecca Christofferson, a scientist at Louisiana State University, said there were signs that the deceased patient’s virus mutated while they were infected — but it was not transmitted to anyone else.

“The worry is, the more you let this sort of run wild… the more chances you have for this sort of mutation to not only occur, but to then get out and infect someone else, then you start a chain reaction,” she told AFP.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the United States “are doing a lot of surveillance” on bird flu. “That’s why we’re hearing about it,” she added.

Last week, the US government awarded an additional $306 million to bolster H5N1 surveillance programs and research.

Peacock said that monitoring has increased for US cattle but warned “big gaps” remain.

– What should the US do? –

Rick Bright, a former top US health official, has been among those calling for the department of agriculture to release more information about bird flu infections among animals.

“There are still just reams of data from this current administration that haven’t been released,” he told the Washington Post on Monday.

The United States has a stockpile of millions of H5N1 vaccine doses, which Bright said should be offered to at-risk people such as farm workers.

The Biden government has also been urged to encourage companies to develop rapid home tests as well as monitor wastewater for bird flu.

Several of the experts called on Biden to act quickly, before president-elect Trump replaces him in less than two weeks.

There are particular concerns about Trump’s pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy is a sceptic of vaccines, which would be among the most powerful weapons to fend off a potential new pandemic. He is also a known fan of raw milk, which has repeatedly been found to be contaminated with bird flu from infected dairy cows.

People at home have been advised to avoid infected animals — and raw milk — and to get a seasonal flu vaccine.

Christofferson said her “biggest worry” was that if someone was infected with both seasonal flu and H5N1, they could mix to become “something that’s either more transmissible and or more dangerous to people”.

Hundreds of young workers sue McDonald’s UK alleging harassment


By AFP
January 7, 2025


McDonald's UK has around 170,000 employees in the UK, many of whom are young workers - Copyright AFP/File Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

More than 700 young workers are suing McDonald’s UK after widespread harassment claims were exposed in the media in 2023, law firm Leigh Day said on Tuesday.

Leigh Day is seeking compensation from the US fast-food giant on behalf of current and former staff who were aged under 20 when working at McDonald’s.

“Clients have described experiences of discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism, and harassment,” the legal firm said in a press release, saying more than 450 restaurants were involved.

It follows a BBC investigation in July 2023 highlighting the testimonies of those affected.

The fast-food chain is one of Britain’s largest employers with around 170,000 staff, many of whom are young workers, including teenagers.

“Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action,” a McDonald’s spokesperson said Tuesday.

The fast-food giant said it had set up an online system allowing “employees in all company-owned and franchised restaurants the opportunity to speak up confidentially”.

Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, told a parliamentary committee in November 2023 that he was “absolutely determined to root out any of these behaviours”.

McDonald’s UK opened a specialist unit to investigate the allegations but unions told the same parliamentary committee it had not improved the situation.

Macrow is set to face questions from British MPs on Tuesday over the separate issue of employment rights.

“I’ve had to deal with homophobic comments from managers and crew members,” said a 19-year-old unnamed employee quoted in Leigh Day’s statement.

“My manager said if I can’t deal with it, I should just leave the job,” he added.

The law firm said another young worker claimed to have been repeatedly pestered for sex, and another claim involved a manager touching young staff inappropriately during shifts.

McDonald’s UK faced harassment claims in 2019 when the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union alleged that more than 1,000 female employees had been victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

US McDonald’s rolls back some of its diversity practices


By AFP
January 7, 2025


McDonald's is the latest US organization to rethink its diversity practices following a Supreme Court ruling that reversed affirmitive action in university admissions - Copyright AFP/File JIM WATSON

McDonald’s said Monday it will roll back some of its diversity practices, becoming the latest US organization to rethink its policies following a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action in university admissions.

The fast-food giant’s announced changes include no longer asking suppliers to commit to certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) targets, withdrawing from external surveys that gauge corporate diversity, and changing the name of its diversity committee.

“We are retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance,” the fast-food giant said in a statement.

It also announced an end to “setting aspirational representation goals and instead keeping our focus on continuing to embed inclusion practices that grow our business into our everyday process and operations.”

It will also pause external surveys “to focus on the work we are doing internally to grow the business.”

Its diversity team will be renamed the Global Inclusion Team, which it deemed a change “more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team’s work”.

But it said “McDonald’s position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast.

“Since our founding, we’ve prided ourselves on understanding that the foundation of our business is people. As (former CEO) Fred Turner said, ‘We’re a people business, and never forget it,'” it said.

In June 2023, the conservative-majority Supreme Court put an end to affirmative action in university admissions, reversing one of the major gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Since then, businesses and institutions have been rethinking programs to bolster minority groups as support for progressive policies has eroded.

DEI policies now face increasing attack in US corporate and government spheres, with backers of the initiatives — which seek to correct bias in US workplaces — on the defense even more after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

McDonald’s announcement comes in the wake of similar moves by a string of prestige brands — from Ford, John Deere and Lowe’s to Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel’s — reflecting a backlash against so-called political correctness in American public life.

No proof fentanyl produced in Mexico, president says

By AFP
January 7, 2025


A picture released by the Mexican Attorney General's Office shows fentanyl pills and chemical precursors seized in Jalisco state in December 2024 - Copyright Mexico's Attorney General's Office/AFP/File Handout

Mexico has found no proof that fentanyl is being produced in the country, its president said Tuesday, following threats from US President-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs over drug trafficking.

“So far, we have not found that precursors arrive — because most of the precursors come from Asia — and that the whole process is manufactured here in Mexico,” Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference.

“The laboratories that have been dismantled in our country are mainly for methamphetamine or crystal (meth),” she added.

At the same time, Sheinbaum stressed that her government was committed to combating illegal drug distribution.

In recent weeks Mexican authorities have announced several major seizures of fentanyl, as well as chemical precursors.

The drug, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, has been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States.

Trump, who will begin his second term on January 20, has threatened to levy 25-percent tariffs on Mexican exports if the country fails to contain flows of drugs and migrants.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that Mexican cartels are “at the heart” of a synthetic narcotics crisis in the United States.

The powerful Sinaloa Cartel “dominates the fentanyl market through its manipulation of the global supply chain and the proliferation of clandestine fentanyl labs in Mexico,” it said in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.

The cartel has been “producing bulk quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012,” it said.

Outgoing US ambassador Ken Salazar told a news conference on Monday that he had no doubt the drug was manufactured in Mexico.

“I know what’s happening, that there is fentanyl in Mexico, and I also know that it is produced here,” he said.

Two Indian companies indicted in US for importing ingredients used in opioid fentanyl

Fentanyl precursors are seen in New York City · Reuters

Mon, January 6, 2025 
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two Indian chemical companies have been indicted for allegedly importing ingredients for the highly addictive opioid fentanyl into the United States and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

Athos Chemicals and Raxuter Chemicals, both based in Gujarat, were each charged in Brooklyn with distributing the ingredients and conspiring to distribute them.

Raxuter and senior executive Bhavesh Lathiya, 36, were also charged with smuggling, and introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.

Lathiya was arrested on Saturday in New York and ordered detained pending trial, after prosecutors called him a flight risk and a substantial danger to the community.

"The Justice Department is targeting every link in fentanyl trafficking supply chains that span countries and continents and too often end in tragedy in the United States," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

A federal public defender representing Lathiya declined to comment. Athos and Raxuter did not immediately respond to similar requests outside business hours.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid about 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Opioids accounted for about 82,000 U.S. deaths in 2022, ten times the number in 1999, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prosecutors said that since February 2024, the defendants supplied "precursor" chemicals they knew would be used to make fentanyl, and hid their efforts by mislabeling packages, falsifying customs forms, and making false declarations at border crossings.

One indictment said that in October 2024 video calls with an undercover agent posing as a fentanyl manufacturer, Lathiya agreed to sell 20 kilograms of the precursor chemical 1-boc-4-piperidone, and suggested mislabeling them as an antacid.

Lathiya did this after the agent told him his Mexico clients were "very happy with the quality of what you sent me," and with the "yield" from the resulting fentanyl, the indictment said.

The other indictment said Athos agreed last February to sell 100 kilograms of the same chemical to a known drug trafficker in Mexico who was making fentanyl in connection with a drug trafficking organization.

Lathiya faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted, the Justice Department said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)