World Press Photo suspends credit for 'Napalm Girl' picture

AFP
May 16, 2025 


Kim Phuc stands beside the iconic photograph of her running naked and burnt by napalm during the Vietnam War, as she addresses delegates during a 2013 conference in Nagoya, Japan

World Press Photo suspended on Friday the credit for who took one of the most iconic pictures in history, the Vietnam War image "Napalm Girl", after doubts were raised over the photograph's authorship.

The organisation, which awards one of the world's most prestigious photojournalism prizes, said it carried out its own investigation into the haunting 1972 photo -- which shows a nine-year-old girl fleeing naked from a napalm strike -- after the premiere of the film "The Stringer".

The documentary chronicles an investigation into rumours that the image, which helped change global perceptions of the US war in Vietnam, was taken by a little-known local freelancer, not the Associated Press (AP) staff photographer Nick Ut, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the photo.

World Press Photo, which awarded its own Photo of the Year prize to Ut in 1973 for the black-and-white image -- whose official title is "The Terror of War" -- said the film had "prompted deep reflection" at the organisation.

After investigating from January to May, it determined that "based on analysis of location, distance, and the camera used on that day", two other photographers "may have been better positioned to take the photograph than Nick Ut".

"World Press Photo has suspended the attribution of 'The Terror of War' to Nick Ut, from today," it said in a statement.

The organisation named the two other photographers as Nguyen Thanh Nghe and Huynh Cong Phuc, both present for the infamous scene in the southern village of Trang Bang on June 8, 1972.

In "The Stringer", which premiered at the Sundance film festival in January, Nguyen told the documentary's makers he was certain the photo was his.

AP, which said earlier this month it would continue crediting the photo to Ut, said in a statement it stood by that decision.

But it acknowledged its own investigation had raised "real questions that we may never be able to answer" about the picture's authorship.


"We have found that it is impossible to prove exactly what happened that day on the road or in the bureau over 50 years ago," it said

.

AFP

Black neighborhood fights back as Elon Musk factory belches pollutants into air

Krystina Alarcon Carro

May 20, 2025 
RAW STORY



FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk leaves after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo


Elon Musk is accused of sidestepping environmental protections in the city of Memphis, and Bloomberg opinion columnist Mary Ellen Klas claims it is “everyone's problem.”

A Musk supercomputer plant, dubbed Colossus, is powered by methane gas-burning turbines and which dumps its air waste into Southwest Memphis, home of Boxtown, according to the report.

Klas reports Boxtown is a “historically Black community with higher rates of cancer and asthma and a lower life expectancy than other parts of the city.”

The turbine manufacturer’s guidelines state that the engines release an undisclosed amount of ozone-depleting nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde into the air.

According to Bloomberg, “Neither the company nor the Shelby County Health Department released any information about the pollutants emitted by the gas turbines.”

But Boxtown is not having it — and is aggressively pushing back.

The area is already leading Tennessee in emergency room visits for asthma, and this past April was given an “F” for its air quality by the American Lung Association.

It’s not just an air quality problem, according to Klas. Colossus will also be using more electricity and water than is currently available in the city, according to the local utility provider, Memphis Light, Gas, and Water.

The President of Memphis Community Against Pollution KeShaun Pearson urged residents to speak up at an April 25th rally. “We are not a sacrifice zone for the profits of a Billionaire with Technocratic fantasies.”

Memphis officials claim the supercomputer plant will be “transformative” for the region. They allege Colossus will bring jobs, infrastructure, and “long-needed revenue.”

“The regulatory approach appears to have come down to this: trust us,” Klas said.

The report claims, the company has obtained “no environmental permits” and local leaders “have provided a comprehensive explanation for how the startup is going to meet the supercomputer plant’s energy needs.”

Bloomberg made clear this stretches far beyond the city limits of Memphis. Attorney Amanda Garcia told the outlet, “Air pollution doesn't know borders of states.” Later, adding that the entire region already measures levels of ozone pollution that exceed the federal limit.

Trump is killing domestic violence groups: report

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
May 19, 2025 

RAW STORY

The concept of sexual harassment against women and rape, stop violence against Women, sexual abuse, domestic violence rape, international women's day. (photo via Shutterstock)

President Donald Trump is “dismantling domestic violence nonprofits,” according to a report from Slate.

The sentiment from writer Matt Watkins comes after “the Department of Justice quietly released a revised set of guidelines for the Office on Violence Against Women grants.”

Under the Trump administration’s guidance, programs that help victims can’t use certain language if they are to use federal funds. This includes describing domestic violence as a “systemic issue.” Inequality, identity, or structural harm could also be seen as potentially disqualifying.

According to Watkins, “Organizations are warned against ‘inculcating or promoting gender ideology.’ Funding now prioritizes trafficking prevention, immigration enforcement, and law enforcement collaboration.”

“That might sound like a shift in emphasis. But on the ground, it’s something else: a quiet rewriting of what counts as valid care,” Watkins said. “For many of the frontline organizations that support survivors of domestic and sexual violence, the new rules don’t just change how you talk about the work. They change whether you’re allowed to do it at all.”

According to the CDC, about 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.

The needs of domestic violence victims are widely varied. “In each case, violence is rarely the only thing someone is surviving,” Watkins notes. But the “most effective” programs go beyond the crisis.

“They’ve linked housing support to legal aid, connected mental health care with economic stability, and designed services to meet people where they are—in language, in geography, in experience,” Watkins wrote. “They’ve built systems out of necessity, not ideology. Because healing doesn’t happen on a tight timeline. It happens in layers.”

Watkins believes the Trump administration's guidance leaves those helping people suffering from domestic violence “with a dangerous paradox: The more accurately an organization describes the full context of the violence its clients face, the more likely it is to be penalized for doing so.”

Trump's woke-free Kennedy Center announces season packed with drag shows

Adam Nichols
May 20, 2025

RAW STORY



A billboard for the show Mrs. Doubtfire. (Shutterstock


Donald Trump’s-revamped Kennedy Center announced its upcoming season Monday — and the stage will be packed with drag queens.

The president overthrew the prestigious performing arts center's board of directors in February, taking over as chairman and vowing to rid it of wokeness — including drag performances.

“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump wrote on Truth Social as he announced the purge of the D.C. venue.

But the upcoming season, announced at a ceremony the president attended, contains a lot of performers in drag, the Daily Beast reported.

Take Mrs. Doubtfire, for example — a tale of a man who dresses as a nanny in order to see his children.

And then there’s Chicago, in which Mary Sunshine’s wig is pulled off to expose things are ‘not always as they appear.” And Moulin Rouge’s Baby Doll is a drag queen.

The choice of shows the center could pick was more limited than normal as many artists have refused to perform there after Trump’s changes.

The Kennedy Center serves as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. As a cultural institution, it hosts over 2,000 performances and events each year, featuring diverse artistic disciplines like music, theater and dance.On Monday, he bragged that he had eliminated DEI at the center and “brought back family-friendly programming that will attract large audiences once again.”

Stunning new report blows apart Trump claim about Qatari jet

administration officials "first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump,

Matthew Chapman
May 19, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (not pictured) speaks at a state dinner, at Lusail Palace in Lusail, Qatar, May 14, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

President Donald Trump has repeatedly characterized the $400 million luxury Boeing 747 the government of Qatar offered him as a "gift" — but according to CNN, it turns out the Trump administration asked them for the plane first.

Specifically, reported Alex Marquardt, Kristen Holmes, and Natasha Bertrand, administration officials "first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.

"After Trump took office in January, the Pentagon contacted Boeing and was told the company would not be able to deliver the new jets it was building to replace the aging presidential planes for another two years, the sources said," the report continued. However, administration officials didn't want to have to wait that long, and "At the same time, Trump tasked his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff with finding a list of viable planes, a senior White House official told CNN."

The Defense Department ultimately reached out to Qatar, proposing that they supply the aircraft originally, with the thinking that it could be a lease arrangement, but the idea quickly evolved into Qatar simply giving over the jet.

All of this stands in contrast to Trump's characterization of the arrangement, as he "repeatedly described the potential deal as a 'gesture' or 'contribution' from Qatar’s royal family," noted the report. "A 'GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE,' he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. He said it would be a temporary replacement for Air Force One and given to his presidential library after he leaves office but denied he would fly in the plane then."

Amid even some members of Trump's party feeling uneasy about the transaction, particularly as it came at the same time Trump was headed to the Middle East to ink diplomatic and business deals, the president has defended his actions, saying he would have to be a "stupid person" to turn down a "free plane" from a foreign government.

US top court allows lifting of legal protections for Venezuelans


By AFP
May 19, 2025


The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections that have shielded some 350,000 Venezuelans from deportation - Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP

 Anna Moneymaker

The US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration on Monday to end legal protections that have shielded some 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation.

The top court granted a request by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans while an appeal proceeds in a lower court.

The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.

A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on the Trump administration’s plans to end TPS for the Venezuelan nationals.

US District Judge Edward Chen said the plan to end TPS “smacks of racism” and mischaracterizes Venezuelans as criminals.

“Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,” Chen wrote.

Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application with the conservative-majority Supreme Court asking it to stay the judge’s order.

“So long as the order is in effect, the secretary must permit hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to remain in the country, notwithstanding her reasoned determination that doing so is ‘contrary to the national interest,'” Sauer said.

Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for another 18 months just days before Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

Trump campaigned for president promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants and a number of his executive orders around immigration have encountered pushback from judges across the country — including the Supreme Court.

Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court last week after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua using an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).

“The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do,” he said. “This is a bad and dangerous day for America!”

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Trump, said the alleged Tren de Aragua members were not being given enough time to legally contest their removal.

Trump invoked the AEA, which was last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II, on March 15 and flew two planeloads of alleged TdA members to El Salvador’s notorious maximum security CECOT prison.

Since taking office, Trump has sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated gangs like TdA and MS-13 as terrorist groups.

El Salvador arrests rights lawyer helping deported migrants


By AFP
May 19, 2025


Relatives of Venezuelan migrants deported by the United States and imprisoned in El Salvador hold a protest in Caracas in April 2025 - Copyright AFP/File

 Juan BARRETO

Police in El Salvador have arrested a prominent human rights lawyer with an organization helping families of imprisoned Venezuelan migrants who were deported by the United States, authorities said Monday.

The Cristosal rights group called for the immediate release of activist and attorney Ruth Eleonora Lopez, a critic of President Nayib Bukele.

The 47-year-old, who was detained late Sunday, is accused of embezzling state funds when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago, the public prosecutor’s office said.

“Neither her family nor her legal team has managed to find out her whereabouts,” Cristosal said in a statement.

It called the authorities’ refusal to disclose Lopez’s location or grant her lawyers access “a blatant violation of due process.”

Her arrest “raises serious concerns about the increasing risks faced by human rights defenders in El Salvador,” it added.

Lopez runs Cristosal’s corruption and justice division and is a critic of Bukele’s anti-crime policy, the highlight of which is the sweeping arrests of thousands of alleged gang members.

Bukele has jauntily called himself “the world’s coolest dictator” and is a darling of US President Donald Trump.

Cristosal helps families of Salvadorans caught up in Bukele’s waves of arrests and the Venezuelans who were deported in March by the Trump administration, which paid El Salvador to imprison them.

Trump invoked rarely used wartime laws to fly the Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador without any court hearings, alleging they belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, a charge that their families and lawyers deny.

Last week, a law firm hired by Caracas to assist the Venezuelans alleged that the migrants were victims of physical and emotional “torture.”

Cristosal said last month that police officers had entered its headquarters during a press conference to film and photograph the premises, as well as members of the media and vehicles belonging to staff.

It said the incident was part of “the current context of authoritarianism and the closure of democratic spaces in El Salvador.”

Last week, nine international organizations including Amnesty International accused the Bukele administration of adopting “an authoritarian pattern in the face of social discontent.”

“The Salvadoran government has resorted to excessive use of force, undue militarization, the criminalization of protest, and threats to further restrict civic space,” a joint statement said.

Lopez was included in a list of 100 inspiring and influential women around the world last year by the BBC, which praised her for being “passionate about law and justice.”

India steel plans threaten global emissions goals: report


By AFP
May 19, 2025


The majority of India's announced steel development plans involve higher-emissions blast furnace production, in a country whose steel industry is already the world's most carbon intensive - Copyright AFP ARUN SANKAR

India’s plans to massively expand coal-based steel and iron production threaten global efforts to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions, a key contributor to climate change, a report said Tuesday.

The sector accounts for 11 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, and India aims to double production by 2030.

Switching from coal-dependent blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which produce significantly fewer emissions, could reduce that figure.

EAF production is projected to make up 36 percent of the sector by 2030, but that falls short of the 37 percent the International Energy Agency (IEA) says is needed to stay on track for net-zero by 2050.

“The only realistic way to meet that 37 percent goal is with a change of plans from India,” said Astrid Grigsby-Schulte from the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) think tank.

That seemingly marginal one-percent difference “represents tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 generation”, Grigsby-Schulte told AFP.

EAFs generally rely on melting scrap steel, a process that does not use coal. They produce significantly fewer emissions, even when they rely on electricity from coal-dependent grids.

Meeting the 2030 target is “critical”, she said, “not only because of emissions immediately avoided, but also because it means we are laying the necessary groundwork for broader decarbonisation by 2050.”

China currently dominates global steel production, but its sector is stagnant. Meanwhile India, which targets carbon neutrality only by 2070, plans to massively expand domestic capacity.

And the majority of India’s announced steel development plans involve higher-emissions blast furnace production, in a country whose steel industry is already the world’s most carbon intensive.

However, there is a growing gap between India’s steel capacity plans and actual developments on the ground, GEM said.

Just 12 percent of its announced new capacity has come online since the country released its 2017 National Steel Policy. The comparable figure for China is 80 percent, GEM said.

That suggests India’s “ambitious growth plans are more talk than action thus far,” the group added.

And it “leaves a huge percentage of their development plans that could still shift to lower-emissions technologies,” added Grigsby-Schulte.

Demand for steel is continuing to grow, and the iron and steel industry is expected to be one of the last to continue using coal in the IEA’s 2050 net-zero pathway.

The organisation has warned that the sector needs to “accelerate significantly” to meet 2050 targets, including with innovative production methods that are currently in their infancy.

Japan PM hits out at farm minister over free rice claim


By AFP
May 19, 2025


Factors behind Japan's rice shortfall include poor harvests due to hot weather in 2023 and panic-buying prompted by a "megaquake" warning last year - Copyright AFP

 Kazuhiro NOGI

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday reprimanded the farm minister for claiming he never buys rice because he gets it free, provoking the ire of consumers facing soaring prices.

Japan’s government has released some of its emergency stockpile of the grain in recent months, with agriculture minister Taku Eto weeks ago lamenting the “hardship” experienced by consumers.

But addressing a gathering over the weekend, Eto said he has “never bought rice myself because my supporters donate so much to me that I can practically sell”.

Eto’s comment hit a nerve in a nation where the price of the much-loved grain has nearly doubled year-on-year, according to figures published in April.

The prime minister described the remarks as “extremely unfortunate”.

“The agriculture minister’s job now is to provide solutions to the soaring rice prices. I expect him to offer solutions,” Ishiba told journalists as he arrived at his office.

Eto on Monday explained that he had exaggerated, incurring the wrath of his wife.

“She told me that she does go buy rice when a stockpile of donated rice runs out,” Eto said, adding “it’s not like our family is living entirely off of rice gifted to us”.

On Tuesday, he said he had spoken to Ishiba and that he would continue as farm minister.

“The prime minister gave me very tough words but…also gave me warm words and told me to show the results of what I started,” Eto said.

“I am the one who decided the releases of the reserved rice. With your permission, I would like to continue until I can fulfil my responsibility.”

Factors behind Japan’s rice shortfall include poor harvests due to hot weather in 2023 and panic-buying prompted by a “megaquake” warning last year.

The agriculture minister’s gaffe was criticised as “extremely inappropriate, out of touch and intolerable” by Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

“If not properly dealt with, his remarks are serious enough to raise the question of whether he should step down,” local media including public broadcaster NHK quoted him as saying.

Britain, Canada, France warn Israel over ‘egregious’ Gaza tactics


By AFP
May 19, 2025


Palestinians have been forced to move from the northern Gaza Strip amid Israeli strikes - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Kent Nishimura

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada on Monday condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza and warned of joint action if it did not halt a heightened military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying their joint statement was a “huge prize” for Hamas in the Gaza war.

Starmer, Macron and Carney slammed Israel’s blocking of aid and comments by ministers in Netanyahu’s government who have threatened the mass displacement of Palestinians.

“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the leaders said.

They did not say what action could be taken but added: “We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end.”

The statement coincided with a joint demand by 22 countries — including Britain, France and Canada — for Israel to immediately “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza”, noting that the territory’s population “faces starvation”.

Israel has kept Gaza in a total aid blockade since March 2, but announced on Monday it would allow in a limited number of supply trucks.

Netanyahu said the limited aid access was because “images of mass starvation” in Gaza could hurt the legitimacy of his country’s war.

The British-French-Canada statement said Israel’s “denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law”.

It also slammed “abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate”.

The leaders said that “permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law”.

– ‘Total victory’ –

Netanyahu gave a furious response in a statement released by his office.

“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” he said, referring to the Hamas attacks in 2023 that set off the war.

Netanyahu said “all European leaders” should follow US President Donald Trump’s example in supporting Israel.

“The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarised. No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t,” Netanyahu declared.

“This is a war of civilisation over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved.”

Israel’s military has stepped up an offensive in Gaza as part of its prolonged response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,486.