Nokia CEO Lundmark to be replaced by Intel AI chief Hotard

By AFP
February 10, 2025


Nokia chief executive Pekka Lundmark (L) stands next to chairwoman Sari Baldauf (C) and his successor Justin Hotard (R), the head of AI at Intel - Copyright AFP STR

Finnish telecommunications equipment giant Nokia announced on Monday that chief executive Pekka Lundmark would step down and be replaced by Justin Hotard, the head of AI and data centres at US chip-maker Intel.

Lundmark, who has served as Nokia’s CEO since 2020, will leave his position on March 31, the company said in a statement.

“I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity, such as a board professional”, said Lundmark, who has a career of more than 20 years of leading listed companies.

Justin Hotard currently serves as the executive vice president of Intel and as the general manager of the company’s artificial intelligence and data centre group, according to Intel’s website.

He will take over as Nokia CEO on April 1.

Hotard has previously “held several leadership roles at large technology companies” for more than 25 years, such as Hewlett Packard and NCR Corporation, Nokia said.

“I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia’s transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” Hotard said.

“Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI,” he said.

Nokia chairwoman Sari Baldauf said Hotard holds “a strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies along with vast expertise in AI and data centre markets, which are critical areas for Nokia’s future growth”.

– Profit after slump –

The change at the top comes after Nokia posted bumper profits as telecom companies strive to recover from a slump.

In 2023, the company announced it would cut up to 14,000 job as profits fell on weakening demand for its 5G equipment in North America.

Last month, Nokia reported an 89 percent rise in net profit for 2024, with sales surging in India and North America in the final three months of the year.

Baldauf said Lundmark had joined the company “at a difficult time in Nokia’s history” and would leave “with our highest respect”.

“Under his tenure, Nokia has re-established its technology leadership in 5G radio networks and built a strong position in cloud-native core networks”, she said.

Google changes name of Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ for US users

Google says people using Maps outside the United States will see both the original Gulf of Mexico name and the 'Gulf of America' moniker

 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

 JUSTIN SULLIVAN

AFP
February 10, 2025

Google on Monday changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for those using its Maps platform inside the United States, complying with an executive order by President Donald Trump.

The tech giant wrote in a blog post that users outside the United States will continue to see both the original and new name for the Gulf of Mexico, as is the case for other disputed locations.

“People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Gulf of America,’ and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Everyone else will see both names,” Google wrote.

Google said the change aligns with its policy of following official US government geographic designations through the Geographic Names Information System.

Upon taking office, Trump signed executive orders not only changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico but also reverting the name of Denali, America’s highest peak, to its former moniker Mt. McKinley.

In 2015, then-president Barack Obama officially recognized the Alaska mountain as Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries.

Trump’s renamings sparked criticism from indigenous groups in Alaska, who have long advocated for maintaining the Denali name, and raised diplomatic concerns with Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has cheekily suggested calling the United States “Mexican America,” pointing to a map from before one-third of her country was seized by the United States in 1848.

‘Revolution’: Communist Vietnam seeks to cut 1 in 5 govt jobs

By AFP
February 10, 2025

Vietnam's rubber-stamp parliament is set to approve reforms to slash 20 percent of public sector jobs, a "revolution" aiming to turbocharge an already booming economy - Copyright AFP 

Nhac NGUYEN

Vietnam is aiming to cut one in five public sector jobs and slash billions of dollars from government budgets, mirroring US President Donald Trump’s push to take a hatchet to spending.

The drive — due to go before the rubber-stamp parliament in the coming days — is creating unease in a communist country where working for the state long meant a job for life.

Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, who half a year ago became Communist Party general secretary following the death of his predecessor, has said that state agencies should not be “safe havens for weak officials”.

“If we want to have a healthy body, sometimes we must take bitter medicine and endure pain to remove tumours,” Lam said in December.

The reforms, described as “a revolution” by senior officials, will see the number of government ministries and agencies slashed from 30 to 22. The media, the civil service, the police and the military will all face cuts.

Almost two million people worked in the public sector as of 2022, and one in five of these jobs will go over the next five years, according to the government.

Of those cuts, 100,000 people will be made redundant or offered early retirement, but it has yet to offer clarity on how the much larger target will be reached.

Some have already been given notice, like Thanh, a pseudonym to protect his identity, who told AFP his 12-year career as a TV producer was “aggressively” terminated last month.

The state-controlled news channel where he worked was shuttered, one of five broadcasters already closed, and the father-of-two was given two weeks’ notice.

“It is painful to talk about,” said the 42-year-old, who has turned to driving a taxi.

– ‘Bitter medicine’ –

Building on stellar economic growth of 7.1 percent in 2024, Vietnam — a global manufacturing hub heavily reliant on exports — is aiming for eight percent this year.

But anxiety is mounting over the country’s potential vulnerability to tariffs under the new Trump administration.

A bloated bureaucracy is also seen as a brake on growth, as is a high-profile anti-corruption campaign that has slowed everyday transactions.

Vietnam is aiming to become a middle-income country by 2030 and leap into the high-income ranks by 2045.

“They really want to achieve the goal,” said Nguyen Hong Hai, Fulbright Vietnamese Scholar at American University in Washington DC.

“It’s about (demonstrating) the legitimacy of the party, the power of the party.”

Authorities say savings from the cuts in spending could total $4.5 billion (113 trillion dong) over the next five years, despite costs of more than $5 billion for retirement and severance packages.

But Vu Quynh Huong, a civil servant, said she was concerned that the most capable staff — who will have options to work elsewhere — could be the ones who leave.

“I am considering taking early retirement,” the 51-year-old told AFP. “I can work as a freelance consultant or for my family business.”

– Anti-corruption drive –

Streamlining the bureaucracy has been a Communist Party policy for nearly a decade but Lam is pushing the scheme with intensity and rapidity.

Lam has also enthusiastically pursued an anti-graft campaign that has swept up dozens of business leaders and senior government figures, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers since 2021.

Critics accuse him of targeting his rivals through the action, but the drive has proved popular with the public, and analysts say Lam may be looking to bolster his legitimacy ahead of the next Communist Party congress in early 2026.

But the turmoil threatened the country’s reputation for stability and there are fears the bureaucratic reforms could also cause short-term chaos.

Vietnam ranks 83rd out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, and questions have also been raised about the implementation of the drive.

Thanh said decisions about which employees to keep, and which to fire, were “not based on ability of the staff”.

“I used to feel proud telling people about my job. Now I feel like I’ve lost my honour.”

Banking switch plays into the hands of hackers


By Dr. Tim Sandle
February 7, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL

Can you trust your ears? AI voice scams rattle US. - © AFP Chris Delmas

So far in 2025, 120 branches of major UK banks have closed, or announced their upcoming closure, removing the opportunity for face to face banking. This had led to millions of UK households rushing to close and switch banks.

Consequently, the risk of being targeted by scams such as phishing, impersonation, and advance fee fraud grows.

In response to this, the experts at AI prompt management tool AIPRM has provided to Digital Journal their expert tips on how to detect an AI impersonation scam, and how to stay safe. They also analysed global search volumes to assess the growing concern and interest surrounding these scams.

Most searched AI scam terms over the past 12 monthsDeepfakes
AI voice cloning
AI deep fakes
AI scams
AI phishing
AI cloning

AIPRM have found that Deepfakes have been searched for 178,000 times on average each month. This comes as no surprise, as deepfakes continue to grow in dominance, with a 2137 percent rise in deepfake scam attempts over the last three years alone.

AI voice cloning has also been gaining traction, with 23,000 monthly searches on average. Being among the fastest growing scams of 2024, and with 70 percent of adults not confident that they could identify the cloned version from the real thing, it is no wonder that interest in this scam is growing.

In terms of identifying AI impersonation scams, Christoph C. Cemper, founder of AIPRM has provided information about how to spot these.

AI voice scams

Scammers need just three seconds of audio to clone a person’s voice and utilise it for a scam call. With these scams being simple to create and hard to identify, it is useful to keep the following tips in mind.

The caller will typically claim to be a friend, family member, colleague, or someone you know. Ask the caller a question that only they will know the answer to, or, create a secret phrase that only both you and the caller would know. If they cannot answer with the correct response, it is likely a scammer.

If you only hear your friend/loved one’s voice for a brief period of time, it could be a warning sign, as scammers often use the voice clone briefly, knowing that the longer it is used, the higher the risk of the receiver catching on.

If you are called from an unknown number, it can be a strong indication of a scam, as AI voice scams often use unknown numbers to make unsolicited calls. If the caller is claiming to be a company or someone you know, hang up, and dial them back using a known number, either from your contact list or the company’s official website.

AI phishing & text scams

If you receive a suspicious text or email, there’s a chance it could be an AI impersonation scam, so there are some key things to consider before taking action. Check the sender, and verify their phone or email address. If it is unfamiliar to you, it is best to ignore it. Another red flag can be poor spelling and grammar, which can be common in AI-generated messages, as they lack human-like intellect and context.

A major indicator of AI messages is an urgent request, scammers use this method to pressure you into handing over important information. Legitimate organisations do not typically request sensitive information over text.

You should also avoid clicking on any suspicious links in texts. If the website looks familiar, visit it directly online and log in from there.

AI-generated listings

Scammers can utilise AI to craft images, descriptions, and fake content, in order to generate fake listings online and on social media. These are expected to rise in 2025, even more so since Meta has abandoned the use of fact checking on its platforms. These can range from a retail product, rental properties, or even job listings. There are some key factors to look out for if you are doubtful about a listing you see online.

Listings that ask for a payment or deposit are typical of scammers, who tend to use urgency to gain the viewer’s attention. It is best to not take action if you feel pressured by the listing. The listing may also direct you to a different site to make a payment; this scamming tactic could result in financial fraud so it is advised to not enter any details.

A key piece of advice for any listing you see online, is to reach out to the company via trusted processes, whether that is a company website, or contact number.

Ecuador’s dueling presidential hopefuls

ECUADOR HAS REGRESSIVE ANTI ABORTION LAW

By AFP

February 10, 2025

(COMBO) Combinación de foto de Daniel Noboa y de Luisa González, creada el 13 de enero de 2025. - Copyright AFP/File 

Galo Paguay, 

Rodrigo BUENDIA
Paola LOPEZ

Ecuador’s closer-than-expected presidential election is likely headed for an April runoff between two very different candidates who have faced each other three times already.

Incumbent president Daniel Noboa and leftist Luisa Gonzalez both hail from the country’s populous Pacific coastal belt, are sporty and telegenic, and have several tattoos.

But that’s where the similarities end.

Noboa, 37, is the mega-rich scion of a billion-dollar banana empire, while Gonzalez, a single mother and lawyer 10 years his elder, recalls running around shoeless while growing up in humble surroundings.

– Young blood –

Noboa’s brand of youthful cool mixed with security hawkishness has made him one of the most popular politicians in a country of 18 million people beset by narco violence.

It has also made him one of the youngest elected political leaders in the world.

One day he can be found on Instagram in a crisp white T-shirt and sneakers, strumming a song by the Goo Goo Dolls on an acoustic guitar and crooning along in English.

The next, he’s striding, shirt-unbuttoned, shoulder-to-shoulder with heavily armed soldiers, or donning a bulletproof vest to lead ready-for-TV security operations.

Despite the flash public image, people describe him as reserved.

He is said to keep a very small circle of friends and advisors around him, some of whom he has known since his school days.

That circle includes his wife, nutrition influencer Lavinia Valbonesi, with whom he had two of his three children.

His speeches can be vanishingly brief — sometimes just two or three minutes long — and this on a continent with a long history of leaders delivering hours-long stem-winders.

In office since November 2023, he has enjoyed a short but intense first stint as president, a time marked by his war on gangs and a drought-related energy crisis.

He was elected to complete the four-year term of predecessor Guillermo Lasso, who had called a snap vote to avoid impeachment for alleged embezzlement.

Noboa now wants to continue this work and has repeatedly insisted that “nothing can be resolved in a year”.

A wine connoisseur and budding musician, he was born in the United States. His father Alvaro ran for the presidency — unsuccessfully — five times.

At the age of 18, Noboa created his own events company before joining the family business.

He holds a degree in business administration from New York University and three master’s degrees from Harvard, Northwestern, and George Washington universities.

Noboa describes his politics as center-left and is said to have once held up Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as a political role model.

But he won the election with support from the right and has embraced neo-liberal economic policies and hard-right politicians ever since.

He was one of the few Latin American leaders to travel to Washington for US President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

Before being elected president himself, Noboa’s only previous political experience was two years as a lawmaker, when he served as chairman of the congressional economics committee.



– Humble origins –



An avid cyclist and marathon runner, 47-year-old Gonzalez garnered the most votes in the first round of voting in 2023 — only to lose to Noboa in the second round.

She is the protege of socialist ex-president Rafael Correa, living in exile and sentenced in absentia by an Ecuadoran court to eight years in prison for corruption related to public contracts.

Trained as a lawyer, Gonzalez started politics on the right of the political spectrum, later switching sides and serving in the government of Correa, who continues to loom large as a divisive figure in Ecuadoran politics.

Gonzalez has vowed to pursue his socialist policies, while insisting he will be nothing more than an advisor.

From humble origins in a small town in Ecuador’s southwest, Gonzalez holds master’s degrees in economics and management.

Married at 15 and divorced at 22, she is a single mother of two sons — she had the first when she was just 16.

She describes herself as coming from loving but humble beginnings and is proud of being the first generation of her family to become a professional.

Millions of Ecuadorans, she told AFP recently, “believe that they cannot achieve their dreams because they do not have sufficient resources.”

“Look at my case, yes you can” she said.

Gonzalez would be Ecuador’s first elected woman president.

She has sought to portray herself as a defender of women’s rights.

But she has come under fire for her opposition as a lawmaker to abortion, even in cases of rape.



A 50-year crisis — Ecuador’s next president faces a stern test

By AFP
February 7, 2025


A soldier stands guard outside the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Quito on February 7, 2025 - Copyright AFP Rodrigo BUENDIA
Andrew BEATTY

In the throes of a bloody drug war, a shrinking economy and an acute energy crisis, Ecuadorans are remarkably optimistic about their country’s future as they prepare to vote in Sunday election.

The past few years have been brutal for Ecuador, a scenic Andean nation of about 18 million people once a bastion of stability in a troubled region.

But drought-fueled power cuts have plunged swaths of the country into darkness, and drug-fueled violence has seen a presidential candidate assassinated, prisons overrun by gangs and gunmen storming a television station while journalists were live on air.

Yet a December survey by Comunicaliza, a local polling firm, showed more than 50 percent of voters think their country will be better off this time next year.

“Why?” less cheery observers in Quito ask wryly.

Whether hawkish President Daniel Noboa or leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez wins Sunday’s election — or an April runoff — they will be bombarded by challenges, any one of which alone would be daunting.

“Ecuador is in a very difficult moment, I think in the worst crisis since we returned to democracy,” said Leonardo Laso, a local political analyst, referring to a period of deep crisis almost half a century ago.

The most acute challenge may be security.

With a dollarized economy, blessed with excellent Pacific ports and wedged between the world’s two largest cocaine producers — Colombia and Peru — Ecuador has become a paradise for narco-traffickers.

“You have the Albanians and the Balkan mafias, you have the Ndrangheta from Italy, you have the Turkish mafias all operating in Ecuador,” said Douglas Farah, a security consultant and Latin America analyst.

“And you have now local gangs like Los Lobos, the Choneros, who are fighting for territory, to be able to move product through Ecuador to their new buyers in Europe and in Asia.”

The result has been record levels of murder, extortion and kidnapping that have caught the authorities flatfooted.

“They never had this type of violence,” said Farah. “They are getting slammed by a whole new phenomenon for which they are totally unprepared.”

Noboa’s response has been to deploy the military, arrest gang leaders and intercept cocaine shipments wherever possible.

It has given Ecuadorans a sense that something is being done, but few experts believe it is a long-term strategy for success.

The alternatives — relying on intelligence, effective policing, prison reform and developing jobs and social services — all cost time and money. Ecuador has little of either.



– Economic woes –



Driving around the capital Quito it is easy to spot roads and once gleaming infrastructure investments that were the envy of the region, but are now starting to look a little unkempt.

“It’s very likely that the economy contracted last year,” said economist Albert Acosta Burneo, pointing in part to rolling blackouts in late 2024 that shuttered businesses for a chunk of December.

The crisis was caused by a drought that hit hydropower generation, but experts also blame a lack of investment in electricity generation.

After more than a decade of spending without the proceeds of a commodities boom that once padded treasury coffers, government debt now stands at about 57 percent of GDP.

Noboa was recently forced to turn to the IMF to build up a financial war chest.

But more cost cutting is likely as the country still struggles to borrow on bond markets cheaply — thanks to low reserves and more than a dozen recent defaults.

The security situation has made the country’s economic woes all the worse, scaring away visitors and investors alike.

“There are no tourists, there are no customers,” said 58-year-old Maria Delfina Toaquiza Ughsa, an Indigenous artist who has a stall on a hill overlooking Quito’s old town.

Political analyst Laso said Noboa’s penchant for using the military to tackle the drug problem has also hurt the country’s image.

“He goes out with a bulletproof vest and helmet, he declares a state of emergency, he closes land borders during the election for a potential threat that may occur, he says that we are at war, this negates any possibility of investment,” he told AFP.

If that were not enough, the new president will also have to find a way to navigate US President Donald Trump’s love of deportations and tariffs.

Noboa has agreed to help with US deportations, even though Ecuadorans send about $6 billion back home every year, and any drop in remittances or emigration would be keenly felt.

“Migration was like a pressure valve for the economy, that is now blocked thanks to the policies of Trump,” said Acosta Burneo.

 WHITE POWER U$A  

White S. Africans clamour for US resettlement after Trump order

By AFP
February 10, 2025

Some Afrikaner farmers fear their land will be expropriated by the government as happened in neighbouring Zimbabwe - Copyright AFP 

Eyad BABA

A deluge of more than 20,000 queries crashed the email server of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the United States after President Donald Trump said he would prioritise white South Africans in a refugee programme, the chamber said Monday.

Trump and Pretoria are locked in a diplomatic row over a land expropriation act that Washington says will lead to the takeover of white-owned farms.

Trump, whose tycoon ally Elon Musk was born in South Africa, said on Friday the law signed in January would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”.

It allows the government, as a matter of public interest, to decide on expropriations without compensation — but only in exceptional circumstances.

The Afrikaners are descendants of European colonists, mainly of Dutch extraction, and are mainly engaged in farming in South Africa.

English and Afrikaner colonists ruled South Africa until 1994 under a brutal system in which the black majority were deprived of political and economic rights.

“Our email server crashed over the weekend just due to the sheer volume of inquiries we have received,” Neil Diamond, head of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US (SACCUSA) told AFP in an email.

“Given the scale of interest, SACCUSA estimates that this figure could represent over 50,000 individuals looking to leave South Africa and seek resettlement in the United States,” he said.

– Trump order ‘flawed’ –



Diamond warned that this could lead to a skills shortage in South Africa that would impact agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

“If we look at the EB-5, which is an investor visa, you need roughly about 15 to 20 million South African Rand ($800,000 to $1 million) to be able to immigrate… What is alarming to us is the large volume of people that is interested in taking up this opportunity,” he said.

South Africa’s foreign ministry has said Trump’s order “lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.

“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,” it added.

Trump has asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

There were no details of how the plan would be enacted as Trump halted refugee arrivals immediately after taking office.

Land ownership remains a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid.

However, some Afrikaner farmers say the new land laws could lead to the confiscation of white-owned farms as carried out in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

The second largest party in South Africa’s national unity government, the Democratic Alliance, on Monday launched a court bid to annul the land law.

S. Africa condemns ‘misinformation’ after Trump freezes aid


By AFP
February 8, 2025


The measures against USAID have been hugely controversial

 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

 Anna Moneymaker
Gersende RAMBOURG

South Africa on Saturday condemned a “campaign of misinformation” after US President Donald Trump issued an order freezing aid to the country over a law he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers.

“We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation,” the government said.

Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid. It is a legacy of a policy of expropriating land from the black population that endured during apartheid and the colonial period before it.

“It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America,” Pretoria said.

Trump claimed on Friday the law would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”.

The allegation came in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the United States and South Africa over the war in Gaza, particularly Pretoria’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

US President Donald Trump and South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa have been at odds on multiple issues – Copyright AFP/File Ting Shen, ALFREDO ZUNIGA

South Africa’s foreign ministry said it “has taken note” of Trump’s executive order but added: “It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.”

“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship.”

The South African president’s office has denied any intention of “seizing lands”.

Trump’s executive order pledges to assist the “ethnic minority Afrikaners” — descendants of the first European settlers, including offering refugee status to what it said were “racially disfavoured landowners”.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that “persecuted South African farmers and other innocent victims being targeted solely based on their race who choose to resettle in America will be welcome.”

“The United States will also defend the rights and interests of those remaining descendants of settlers threatened with expropriation without compensation and other intolerable abuses,” she said on X.

– ‘Afrikaners or Amerikaners?’ –

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address on Thursday his country would not be “intimidated” by the United States.

“We are witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause,” Ramaphosa said.

Trump made a blanket claim that the South African land law would allow the government to seize Afrikaners’ property “without compensation”.

The law, which came into force in January, clarifies the legal framework for expropriations. Most legal experts stress it does not add new content.

It allows the government, as a matter of public interest, to decide on expropriations without compensation — but only in certain exceptional circumstances where it would be “just and equitable”.

For several days, South Africans of all racial origins have taken to social media to mock the US stance.

“Should we now call them Amerikaners?” quipped one person on Saturday.

“Should we expect wine estates or safari reserves to be evacuated?” joked another. Most estates and private reserves in the country belong to white families.

On Saturday, Afriforum, a small organisation dedicated to “protecting and promoting the Afrikaner identity”, expressed its “great appreciation” to Trump, while stressing that white South Africans’ place was in their home country.

White South Africans make up around seven percent of the population, according to date from 2022. Afrikaners make up a proportion of that group.

Trump’s ally Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa under apartheid, has accused Ramaphosa’s government of having “openly racist ownership laws”.

Soaring egg prices have US consumers squawking

NOT SO IN CANADA

By AFP
February 8, 2025


In Washington and its suburbs, supermarkets' egg shelves are now often empty, or sparsely stocked, with most of the eggs on offer marked up from their usual prices - Copyright AFP 

Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Nina ISENI

A resurgence of avian flu, which first struck the United States in 2022, is hitting chicken farms hard, sending egg prices soaring and rattling consumers accustomed to buying this dietary staple for only a few dollars.

In Washington and its suburbs, supermarket egg shelves are now often empty, or sparsely stocked. Some stores limit the number of cartons each client may buy. And everywhere, consumers are shocked by the high prices.

“They’re getting expensive,” 26-year-old student Samantha Lopez told AFP as she shopped in a supermarket in the US capital. “It’s kind of difficult… My budget for food is already very tight.”

The situation is much the same in the southern state of Florida.

“Eggs are important (and) so nutritious,” said Miami resident Blanche De Jesus, “but you can hardly buy them because they are so expensive. It is a shame.”

Responding to irate consumers, a Washington supermarket posted this explanation: “You may notice a price increase on eggs at this time due to the recent avian influenza outbreak in the Midwest,” the country’s agricultural heartland.

More than 21 million egg-laying hens have been euthanized this year because of the disease, according to data published Friday by the US Agriculture Department. Most of them were in the states of Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri.

The department reported the “depopulation” of a further 13.2 million in December.

Higher prices were the inevitable result, experts say.

“If there’s no birds to lay eggs… then we have a supply shortage, and that leads to higher prices because of supply and demand dynamics,” said Jada Thompson, a poultry specialist at the University of Arkansas.

– ‘Near-record highs’ –

Some grocers are “holding prices at record or near-record highs to dampen demand,” the Agriculture Department said.

The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs was 65 percent higher in December compared to a year before — rising from $2.50 to $4.15, according to official data.

Supermarkets are not the only ones feeling the pain.

Waffle House, a popular restaurant chain known for its all-day breakfast menu, made headlines when it moved to charge customers an extra 50 cents per egg.

“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement to CNN. “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.”

In the United States, the virus is being found not only in poultry but also in dairy cows.

Sixty-seven cases have been detected in humans since the beginning of last year, nearly all of them proving benign and linked to known contacts with infected animals.

Americans are among the world’s biggest egg lovers, particularly at breakfast time, consuming on average 277 eggs a year, according to the United Egg Producers, an agricultural cooperative.

FASCIST PROPAGANDA

‘Shocking’ UK reality TV show retraces refugee journeys


By AFP
February 8, 2025


Political commentator Chloe Dobbs, 24, wants immigration reduced

 - Copyright AFP Ben STANSALL

Akshata KAPOOR

Britain’s newest reality TV show has been slammed as “insensitive”, “voyeuristic” and even “nauseating” for recreating with six Britons the often fatal journeys made by thousands of refugees to the UK.

Bluntly titled “Go Back to Where You Came From”, the part-documentary, part-reality TV show by Channel 4 follows the group of six, who hold strong views both for and against immigration.

They are divided into two teams, with one dropped into one war-ravaged Raqqa in Syria and the other sent to Mogadishu in Somalia.

Over four episodes which launched on February 3, they “experience some of the most perilous parts of the refugee journeys” according to Channel 4 — although they travel largely in armoured vehicles.

The outspoken views of some participants, as well as the show’s format, have been criticised by viewers, charities and some media.

Amnesty International UK called it “deeply disappointing” and “sensational”.

Participant and chef Dave Marshall, 35, opens the series standing on the cliffs of Dover, calling for immigrants crossing the Channel to be “blown up”.

Moments later, political commentator Chloe Dobbs, 24, says that unless immigration is reined in “Britain will be a hellhole full of people wearing burqas”.

In the first episode, the six are taken to markets where they meet families, play football with kids and accompany them as they search through litter for scraps.

At one point, when they visit a bombed-out family home in Raqqa, Marshall and two others are invited to stay the night.

“Very kind of you for offering your house to us,” replied Marshall, the irony perhaps lost on him.

“The series explores the varied and sometimes polarised opinions in our society in a fresh way,” a series spokesperson said.

In upcoming episodes, both groups undertake “challenges”, including a boat crossing and trekking through a Libyan desert. There is no winner of the series though.

– ‘Outrageous opinions’ –

The reality TV genre “exists and its success depends on actually performing shocking opinions”, said Myria Georgiou, media and communications professor at the London School of Economics.

“I’m sure the contestants are competing for that shock element — who is going to be more extreme in their opinions,” Georgiou told AFP.

Dobbs defended it as a “really fun show that lots of people will tune into”.

“More so than just some bog-standard, boring documentary,” she said.

“Go Back to Where You Came From” is based on a popular Australian series which first ran in the early 2010s.

At around that time, politicians in Australia were campaigning to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants reaching the country.

A decade later, the same catchphrase has been seized upon by politicians opposing asylum seekers crossing the Channel to reach Britain.

The timing of the British version did not surprise Georgiou.

“You have the political leadership, nationally and globally, that have made the most outrageous opinions mainstream,” said Georgiou.

“We can see that politics have become entertainment and thus it’s no surprise that entertainment has become politics.”

Some viewers have praised Channel 4 for giving a rare primetime spot to the hot-button immigration debate, with British charity Refugee Council “welcoming” the show’s premise.

“Television shows have huge potential to highlight the human stories behind the headlines,” Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon said.

– ‘Humanitarian tragedy’ –

In one heavily criticised “challenge”, the group get into a dinghy in a simulation of the often fatal Channel crossings.

For Dobbs, who has previously said small boats were made out to be “fun” by some refugees, getting into a flimsy vessel in the middle of the night was a turning point.

“It was that moment for me that it really hit me. Gosh, people must be really desperate to get on these boats,” she acknowledged.

However, clips of the simulation sparked outrage across the Channel, with French politician Xavier Bertrand calling for the “nauseating” show to be cancelled.

“Hundreds of people have died in the Channel in recent years. This situation is a humanitarian tragedy, not the subject of a game,” Bertrand said on X.

The number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain on small boats after crossing the Channel rose to more than 36,800 in 2024, according to official data.

It was also the deadliest year for migrant crossings, with at least 76 deaths recorded.

According to Dobbs, the show wanted to do something “different”.

“Rather than just talking to a migrant about what the boat crossing they did was like, wouldn’t it be even better to simulate it and feel all those emotions for yourself?”

“And if it makes it more entertaining and more intriguing for the audience and means that more people tune in, I mean, that’s a win-win,” Dobbs added.

Scandal-hit narco-musical ‘Emilia Perez’ wins Spanish film prize


ByAFP
February 9, 2025


Narco-musical 'Emilia Perez' has courted controversy even as it sweeps awards - Copyright AFP/File

 Raul ARBOLEDA

Narco-musical “Emilia Perez” won best European film at Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars on Saturday, after social media posts by the movie’s star prompted backlash in the middle of awards season.

The mostly Spanish-language musical tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to life as a woman and turns her back on crime.

Before the scandal broke, the film picked up four Golden Globes in January and won multiple prizes at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

It also received 13 Oscar nominations, a record number for a foreign-language film.

But old social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon, in which she denigrates Islam, China and African American George Floyd, unleashed a scandal that has harmed her reputation and the film’s chances of Oscar glory.

Voting for the Goya Awards closed on January 24, days before the posts were unearthed and began recirculating.

At the ceremony in Granada, “Emilia Perez” beat out British-Polish film “The Zone of Interest”, Latvia’s “Flow”, Italy’s “La Chimera” and France’s “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

Gascon, who lives near Madrid, did not attend the event, and the award was collected by the film’s Spanish distributor.

The 52-year-old Spaniard is the first transgender woman nominated for an Oscar for best actress, and was widely considered the frontrunner before the scandal broke.

Gascon has apologised for her posts and insisted that she is “not a racist”.

Hollywood trade outlets reported that “Emilia Perez” distributor Netflix, which was banking on the film for its first best picture Oscar, dropped Gascon from the publicity campaign and distanced itself from the actress.

The movie’s French director Jacques Audiard has called the posts “inexcusable” and “absolutely hateful”.

Even before the social media controversy, the musical thriller was garnering criticism for its depictions of both Mexico and the transgender community.

Thousands of Mexicans have given the film the lowest possible rating on online movie review websites IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, where it currently has an 18 percent audience ranking.

Mexican novelist Jorge Volpi called the production “one of the crudest and most misleading films of the 21st century.”

The GLAAD advocacy group, which monitors representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the US media, called the film a “profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman”.

AI app offers a lifeline for S.Africa’s abused women


By AFP
February 9, 2025


Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT project. 

— © AFP

\

Linda GIVETASH

She says she was violated by police. Now she’s brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts private security to help other women caught in South Africa’s tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be identified, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, according to UN figures.

Slender and outspoken, she was in a group of around 15 women who gathered late January to workshop the latest update of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency button that deploys security officers, an evidence vault and a resource centre, the app will also include an AI-driven chatbot called Zuzi that will be showcased at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris this month.

“This app, it’s going to give me that hope… that my human rights should be considered,” Peaches told AFP, asking not to give her real name to protect her safety.

There were more than 53,000 sexual offences reported in South Africa in 2023-24, including more than 42,500 rapes, according to police figures.

That same year, 5,578 women were murdered, a 34 percent rise from the previous year.

In Peaches’ case, she said she was forced to give two police officers “services for free” to evade arrest for prostitution.

“To me, GRIT isn’t just a project — it’s a necessity,” founder Leanora Tima told AFP.

“I wanted to create tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, ensuring they receive the urgent help, legal guidance and emotional support they need without barriers,” Tima said.

– ‘Roadblocks to help’ –

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported because victims face stigma or are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

‘There’s a lot of roadblocks still in getting access and help,’ Sokatsha says. — © AFP

“There’s a lot of roadblocks still in getting access and help,” she said.

Thato, a woman in her 30s, said she endured years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she discovered help was available.

An avid football player, she said her coach realised that “some bruises were not actually related to football”.

It was only when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV event in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she learned there were organisations that assist women in her situation.

“It was actually heartwarming for me to find such a space,” she said, preferring to give only her first name.

GRIT’s app aims to make it easier for women to access resources from their homes, where much of the abuse happens.

It has a map of nearby clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can upload evidence like photos, videos and police reports that will be protected on GRIT’s servers.

The features are based on user feedback gathered at workshops around the country.

“It will save lives,” said one woman at the same workshop attended by Peaches.

The app is free, funded by GRIT’s donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It already has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without data, making it accessible to those who cannot afford phone plans or are in rural areas with limited networks.

The chatbot Zuzi, to be released in the coming months, will be available on the app and also integrated into certain social platforms, technical lead Lebogang Sindani said.

Zuzi was initially intended to provide only practical information, like how to apply for a protection order.

But its repertoire has been broadened after feedback “that people are more interested in talking to Zuzi about… intimate things” like their health, Sindani said.

– ‘All they know’ –

Even if there are more services than ever to help women who are attacked and strong public condemnation of cases that make it to the media, South Africa’s abuse rates remain stubbornly high.

It is “a perfect storm” of a complex history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male dominance, a lack of good role models and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

“No boy is born an abuser,” said Wilkinson, whose nonprofit focuses on reaching men. “There’s something going wrong in the journey from boy to man.”

“All they know is violence,” said Sandile Masiza, a coordinator of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg’s child welfare authority.

“We need more programmes that are not just going to be solely focused on victim support, but perpetrator prevention,” Masiza said.

“Society has normalised violence against women and girls,” UN Women GBV specialist Jennifer Acio told AFP.

“That’s why we keep sharing information and trying to empower women… to know what is an abuse of their rights, to know when to report.”