Chip Shortages Force More Cuts at North American Auto Plants

Mar 26, 2021 

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Automakers are expanding and extending production cuts at some North American plants as they cope with a worsening global shortage of semiconductors.

Chips for use in cars and trucks have been harder to come by as semiconductor makers have allocated more capacity to consumer products. The pandemic has caused a surge in orders for smartphones, TVs and computers as people try to make extended life at home more bearable, leaving less capacity for a stronger-than-expected rebound in vehicle demand. Recent weather-related disruptions of petrochemical supplies in the southern U.S. and a fire at a chipmaking plant in Japan have exacerbated the shutdowns.

Read more: Fire and Ice Aggravate Chip Supply Headache for Car Industry

Consultant AlixPartners has said the global chip shortage could cost automakers $61 billion in lost sales this year. The recent setbacks could further delay an expected second-quarter recovery in output. “Production is shrinking, not increasing, so the balance between supply and demand is only getting worse,” said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at researcher Carnorama.

Here’s the current situation for major auto manufacturers in North America.

Stellantis NV

March 26: The automaker plans to idle its minivan factory in Windsor, Canada, starting March 29 through early to mid-April, according to a company spokesperson. The union representing workers in Windsor had said in a tweet the plant would be down for a month. A Warren, Michigan, truck plant, which makes the Dodge Ram, also will be down starting March 29 through early to mid-April.

March 20: Stellantis, formed recently from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and PSA Group, said production of its Ram Classic pickup trucks in Warren, Michigan, and Saltillo, Mexico, will be affected “for a number of weeks.”

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co.

March 25: The automaker said it will temporarily shut down its Dearborn, Michigan, truck factory due to the chip shortage starting Friday. It plans to restart the plant near its headquarters on March 29. The facility employs about 4,400 workers and makes Ford’s best-selling and highly profitable F-150 pickup.

March 22: The company halted production at a commercial vehicle factory in Avon Lake, Ohio, with plans to resume output on March 29. Ford also dropped one shift until March 29 at a truck plant in Kentucky that makes vehicles including the F-250 pickup and Expedition SUV.

March 21: Ford canceled an extra shift at the truck factory in Kentucky.

March 18: The carmaker canceled night shifts for two days at another assembly plant in Louisville -- where it makes the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair -- due to the U.S. winter storm in Feb. and chip shortage.

Nissan (OTC:NSANY) Motor Co.

March 25: The Japanese automaker plans to resume production on Friday at a plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, a week after it halted output, according to a company spokesman.

March 23: Nissan restarted an assembly line at a plant in Canton, Mississippi, and a production line at a factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, both of which had been suspended since March 19.

March 22: Nissan resumed output on another assembly line in Canton that had been offline since March 20.

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM).

March 24: General Motors said its Wentzville, Missouri, assembly plant, which makes the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, will take two weeks of downtime starting March 29. The company’s Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan is extending downtime by two weeks. The factory, which makes the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 and Chevrolet Camaro, idled production March 15.

Starting the week of April 5, GM’s assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico -- which has been down since Feb. 8 -- will restart with two shifts. The factory makes the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.March 3: Automaker said its Gravatai plant in Brazil would be impacted by downtime in April and May.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) Corp.

March 22: An unspecified petrochemical shortage is affecting output of 10 models made at plants in Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia and Mexico. “Our manufacturing and supply chain teams are working diligently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible by evaluating the supply constraint and developing countermeasures to minimize further impact to production,” the company said in an email. Output has been curtailed for Toyota’s Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES 350, Lexus ES 300h, Tundra, Tacoma and Corolla models.

March 21: Toyota said it is trying to gauge the fallout from the fire at the semiconductor plant owned by Renesas Electronics Corp. Japan’s largest automaker accounts for about 6.6% of Renesas’ sales.

March 17: The dearth in petrochemicals affected output at the carmaker’s plants in Kentucky, West Virginia and Mexico, according to a spokesman who didn’t provide further details.

Honda Motor Co.

March 22: Honda’s purchasing and production teams are working to “limit the impact of this situation and are adjusting production as necessary,” the company said in an in an email, without elaborating.

March 17: The carmaker suspended production at some plants across the U.S. and Canada, including factories in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, blaming the impact from the pandemic, chip shortages and severe winter weather on its supply chain.

BMW AG

March 22: BMW “production remains unaffected” in North America, the company said in an email.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc.

Feb. 8: Electric-vehicle manufacturer said in a 10-K filing that “increased demand for personal electronics has created a shortfall of microchip supply, and it is yet unknown how we may be impacted.”

Daimler AG (DE:DAIGn)

Feb. 5: The Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was “running as planned,” a Daimler (OTC:DDAIF) spokesperson said.

Hyundai Motor Co.

Feb. 5: The South Korean automaker said in a statement that it was “closely monitoring the situation and collaborating with our supplier partners to maintain stable production.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Volkswagen claims damages from ex-CEOs over 'dieselgate' scandal

The auto group says past executives breached their "duty of care." Both ex-Volkswagen and Audi CEOs, Martin Winterkorn and Rupert Stadler, have rejected the accusations.


Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkor has been accused of breaching his "duty of care"

German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) said on Friday that it will claim damages from former chief executive Martin Winterkorn and former Audi boss Rupert Stadler over the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal.

The company said that following a long legal probe, it had concluded that the two former CEOs had breached their duty of care. However, the group said it had found no violations carried out by other members of the management board.

Both of the executives have denied any responsibility in the scandal. Winterkorn's lawyers said in a statement that he regretted the board's decision and rejected the accusations.

Watch video 01:32 Court rules VW must pay emissions cheating compensation

"Mr Prof Dr Winterkorn is aware that the supervisory board is obliged to assess potential claims and to possibly assert them. He will therefore seek to clarify those questions in consultation with Volkswagen AG," the statement said. Winterkorn resigned from his position as VW chief executive shortly after the emissions scandal was uncovered by US authorities and scientists.

The scandal has cost VW more than €30 billion ($35 billion) in fines, legal costs and compensation.

"The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG has drawn a line under its clarification process and ended its investigation started in October 2015 into the causes of the diesel crisis and who was responsible for this," Volkswagen said in a statement.
'Breaches of duty of care'

"As a result, the Supervisory Board decided at its meeting today to assert claims for damages against the former Chairman of the Group Board of Management, Prof. Martin Winterkorn, and the former Group Board of Management member and Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, Rupert Stadler, on account of breaches of the duty of care under stock corporation law."

The company admitted in 2015 to using illegal software to rig millions of diesel engine tests in the United States, creating the biggest scandal in its history.

Watch video 02:57 German carmaker Volkswagen is electrifying America

Both CEOs 'privy to illicit software'

One of the key findings in Friday's decision was that Winterkorn had failed to act in a responsible manner in the period following what was described as a crisis conference on July 27, 2015, in which Winterkorn had the information on "the use of inadmissible software functions in 2.0-liter vehicles, that were sold in the North American market in the years between 2009 to 2015."

VW said its supervisory board had found that Stadler had not investigated from September 2016 whether Audi motors built into Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi model vehicles in the EU included the illicit software.

Winterkorn and four other current and former executives are due to be tried on charges of organized commercial fraud and serious tax evasion. A district court recently postponed the start of the trial due to the coronavirus pandemic. A new trial date was set on Wednesday, for September 16. The first senior executive to go on trial over the scandal was Stadler, whose fraud proceedings opened in Munich last year.

lc/aw (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

Iraq's Yazidis warn of ongoing threats from extremists

A new law to aid Yazidi female survivors isn't enough. The Yazidi community says it's only a matter of time before they are attacked again.


Yazidi women burn incense while participating in a mass funeral for those slain by the Islamic State terror group in Sinjar

In a landmark decision this month, Iraq's parliament passed the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, recognizing the atrocities committed by the extremist group known as "Islamic State," or "IS," against the ethno-religious group as genocide.

When "IS," an Islamist terror group, took control of swathes of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017, it killed, kidnapped and enslaved thousands ofYazidis, while tens of thousands more were forced to flee their homes.

"The passage of the law represents a watershed moment," the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement after the law was passed on March 1. It makes Iraq one of the first Arab countries to focus "institutional attention on female survivors of conflict-related sexual violence."

The bill was hailed by Iraqi President Barham Salih as "an important step."

But even while the law aims to "prevent the recurrence of violations," not everyone is convinced it will live up to its promises. Yazidi survivors say the existential threats that fueled "Islamic State's" genocidal campaign against them still persist in Iraq.
How does the law help survivors?

The law pledges to provide assistance to victims of "IS," primarily Yazidi female survivors who were kidnapped and later freed — but also members of other minorities who suffered the same fate, including Turkmen, Christian and Shabak Iraqis.

Under the new law, Iraq will provide a monthly stipend, residential land or free housing and psychological support to victims. Survivors of "IS" attacks will also be granted hiring priority for 2% of all public sector jobs.

 

A Yazidi survivor holds portraits of IS victims from her village of Kocho located near Sinjar, Iraq

Kidnapped Yazidi children will also receive support and the legal status of children born of survivors will also be addressed.

Moreover, the legislation marks August 3 — the day of a major "IS" attack on Yazidi communities in 2014 — as a national day of remembrance and establishes a special government office for Female Yazidi Survivors' Affairs, which will open in northern Iraq's Ninawa province. Ninawa is home to the Sinjar district, where the majority of Yazidis once lived.

Survivors have nobody

Ghazala Jango, a Yazidi woman from Sinjar, said the bill was, "essential for female survivors, given that the majority of them had no one to support them. All their family members were killed."

Jango was 18 when the extremist group attacked Sinjar in 2014. Researchers say that some 10,000 Yazidis were killed or kidnapped during the assault and tens of thousands more were forced to flee into the nearby mountains. Jango was among them, having escaped on foot.

In August 2020, Sinjar was still in ruins, never having recovered from an attack by the Islamist terror group Islamic State (IS)

Six years later, she is back in Sinjar, where she works with the Yazidi-run Youth Bridge Organization, helping Yazidi families return to their homes. Even though it has been four years since then Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over "IS," the Yazidi community is still suffering, Jango told DW.

The new law will help improve the financial situation of Yazidis, "who have been living in poverty for almost seven years," she added. But, she says, it can't help survivors feel safer, "It is only financial support … it does not guarantee protection,"¨Jango argues.
Many broken promises

Other Yazidis interviewed by DW echoed this sentiment. They are skeptical that the Iraqi government will deliver on the promises it has made.

"I hope this law will not just be a law on paper but will be a practical solution to help them," said Ahmed Khudida Burjus, deputy director of Yazda, a multi-national, Yazidi-led organization that aims to assist the community in the aftermath of the genocide.

"In the past six years, many promises have been made and very little has been done. Yazidi villages and towns ravaged by Daesh [IS] still lie in ruins," he noted, using the colloquial term for the group.

THE ISLAMIC STATE ATTACK ON YAZIDIS ON IRAQ'S MOUNT SINJAR

In search of protection

Thousands of Yazidis fleeing the brutality of IS militants sought refuge on Mount Sinjar. Many have since found shelter in a camp in northern Iraq, but around a thousand are still reportedly trapped on the high terrain. PHOTOS 12345678910

It's about more than just rebuilding, Burjus argued, "Everything is related — security, justice and rebuilding and development."

And this is why the new Yazidi Female Survivors Law, while positive, is not enough. Burjus and other advocates for the community explain that the real problem is how the majority of Iraqis feel about the local Yazidi minority.

Devil worshippers

Thanks to misconceptions about their religion among Iraq's Muslim majority, Yazidis have long been labelled "devil worshippers."

The community has a long history of persecution dating back to the 16th century, and many groups, from invading Turks to local Kurds, have tried to convert them to Islam. "I am the descendent of 72 genocides," is still a common phrase among Yazidis.

The Lalish Temple in Iraq's Ninawa province houses the tomb of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir and is the Yazidis' holiest site

"Yazidis lost everything and they trust neither the Kurdish nor the Iraqi government," 26-year-old Saud, a Yazidi man originally from Sinjar, said. Saud requested DW not use his real name because speaking out against the local Iraqi-Kurdish military could put him in danger.

In 2014, Iraqi-Kurdish forces were supposed to be in charge of security in the Sinjar area — which is adjacent to the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan — but when "IS" attacked, Iraqi-Kurdish soldiers withdrew, leaving civilians to fend for themselves.

"Our neighbors are Sunnis and Kurds. We were betrayed by all these tribes," said Saud, who lived in Iraqi displacement camps for 18 months before being granted asylum abroad. Saud says he'd like to return home to Iraq but believes there are no guarantees of his safety.

Broader reconciliation required

According to German psychologist Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, a professor at Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) who has worked with more than a thousand Yazidi survivors in Germany, the medical, financial and psychological support the law promises will not suffice. True change will require "reconciliation between Yazidis and Muslims, who supported the 'IS' group," Kizilhan told DW.

Yazda's Burjus says negative attitudes towards Yazidis persist and permeate all aspects of society in Iraq.

"The majority of the population of Iraq sees Yazidis as infidels," he explains. "When they work in restaurants, no one eats their food — because it's made by a Yazidi."

"That's why we never feel safe," the community advocate concludes. "And because there is no plan to eradicate these threats against Yazidis, whenever the opportunity arises, another extremist group will do it again [attack the Yazidi community]. It's only a matter of time."

Watch video 04:37 Woman in Iraq searches for kidnapped Yazidis

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for YEZIDI 

ARYAN BUDDHIST NATIONALISM

Sri Lanka: Bans on burqas, cremations and Islamic schools spark fear

Sri Lanka has proposed a series of policies that rights activists say target the country's Muslim minorities and further marginalizes them. In its latest move, the island nation is looking to ban 1,000 madrasas.


The Sri Lankan government says it will soon outlaw the burqa, 

a loose garment which is worn by some Muslim women

Amena (name changed), a 27-year-old homemaker from Sri Lanka, felt dismayed when she heard about the government's proposal to ban the wearing of the burqa and other facial coverings.

"Honestly, I am afraid these days. Things are becoming increasingly difficult for us [Muslims] in the country now," she told DW.

Sri Lanka had temporarily banned the burqa following the deadly 2019 Easter bombings on "national security" grounds.

The state now mulls a permanent burqa ban, which will then be implemented in consultation with Muslim organizations and leaders, Cabinet spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters. He added that the government "won't rush through the proposal" since it's a "serious issue."

But Amena and her family are not reassured. They are planning to leave Sri Lanka.

"My husband is looking for job opportunities abroad. Things are tolerable at the moment, but we do not want to wait till they get worse," she said.

Most recently, the island nation also announced a proposal to ban 1,000 madrasas (Islamic schools) across the country.

Watch video02:01 Sri Lanka's ban on Islamic face coverings sparks heated debate

International reactions

Several Islamic nations, as well as allies of Sri Lanka, have slammed Colombo's proposed permanent burqa ban.

Pakistani ambassador to Colombo Saad Khattak tweeted that the move "will only serve as injury to the feelings of ordinary Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe."

Ban on cremation

Unfair targeting of minorities via discriminatory policies are nothing new in Sri Lanka, critics say.

Rights activists argue a ban on face veils and madrasas would further marginalize and stigmatize the country's Muslim minority community.

In March 2020, the government implemented a policy on forced cremation of people who died of COVID-19, citing that burials could contaminate ground water.

The cremation of bodies is forbidden in Islam.

The policy was introduced despite the World Health Organization and Sri Lankan doctors' groups having deemed burials as safe.

Widespread criticism and fury prompted Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa to declare an end to forced cremation in February 2021.

But on February 11, the day after Rajapaksa's announcement supposedly ending the ban, 40-year-old social activist Mohamed Kamaldeen Mohamed Sameem was cremated in the western town of Anamaduwa.

Friends say authorities initially claimed the activist committed suicide, but later changed the cause of death to COVID-19 and quickly cremated the body, Human Rights Watch reported.

Crackdown on activists and religious texts

In another controversial move, the Ministry of Defense began the mandatory scrutiny of Islamic religious texts in June 2020.

"These policies violate Muslims' freedom of religion and belief, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression and their freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship," Rehab Mahamoor, from Amnesty International's South Asia branch, told DW.

Mahamoor also expressed concerns over the arbitrary arrests of Muslim activists in the country, as well as delays or denials in providing bail.

"There is a worrying trend of Muslims who have criticized the government being arrested. The cases of activists Ramzy Razeek, Hejaaz Hizbullah, and Ahnaf Jazeem are especially worrying as these cases contravene due process," he said.

Watch video 05:04 Sri Lanka rights abuses: 'No domestic remedy available to victims'

UN calls for investigation

Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution to collect information and evidence of atrocities committed during Sri Lanka's 37-year-long civil war, which ended in 2009 and left thousands of civilians dead.

The resolution, proposed by the UK, Germany, Canada and other countries, would give UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet and her team more power to investigate Sri Lanka with a view to future prosecutions.

The resolution also expressed particular concerns that Sri Lanka's COVID-19 response had "exacerbated the prevailing marginalization of and discrimination against the Muslim community."

The vote was 22 countries in favor, with 11 against, including China and Pakistan, and 14 abstentions, including India.

The UN provided a budget of $2.8 million (€2.4 million) to hire investigators to work on the collection of evidence and then "develop possible strategies for future accountability processes, advocate for victims, and support judicial proceedings" in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka strongly condemned the resolution, with the country's UN envoy C.A. Chandraprema slamming the decision as "unhelpful and divisive" as it was not passed unopposed and strongly objected to by its allies.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunewardena said the resolution lacked authority as the countries that had voted in favor were outnumbered by those that had voted against it or had abstained. "The resolution was brought by countries supported by Western powers that want to dominate the Global South," he said.

Bangladesh: 4 die in protests against India's Narendra Modi

Violence erupted on Bangladesh's independence day as protesters denounced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka. They accuse him of discrimination against Muslims.


Friday clashes overshadowed celebrations of Bangladesh's 50th anniversary of independence

Four people were killed and dozens injured on Friday as demonstrators clashed with police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong.

Protests erupted against a visit to the country by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Demonstrators accused the right-wing leader of inciting anti-Muslim violence in India.

A police officer told Reuters news agency that eight people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. "Among them, four succumbed to their injuries," Mohammad Alauddin told Reuters.

Media reports suggested the four were linked to Islamist groups.

The social media platform Facebook and its messaging app appeared to be down in some parts of Bangladesh. Activists typically use the app to organize protests.

Authorities arrested at least 33 people for violence, according to the Associated Press
Protests turn violent

Witnesses said two groups of protesters clashed outside of Dhaka's main mosque after Friday prayers. An official told the Associated Press agency that members of several Islamist groups had joined the protests.

Members of the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam reportedly threw stones at the police and attacked government buildings, including a police station in Chattogram, local media reported.

Train communications were also disrupted as protesters set fire to offices of a railway station.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protests.

Protesters reportedly threw stones at a police station in Chattogram

Modi marks Bangladeshi independence

The Indian prime minister landed in Dhaka on Friday for a two-day visit, celebrating five decades since Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received Modi, who also met with opposition and government leaders.

Modi's trip also comes as he tries to gain grounds for his party in state-level elections. He is set to visit a Hindu temple outside Dhaka that is sacred to the Matua community in the Indian state West Bengal, which borders Bangladesh.

In 1971, India backed Bangladesh in a nine-month war against Pakistan, which killed nearly three million people.

Bangladesh at 50: From 'basket case' to rising economic star

Over the past five decades, Bangladesh has transformed itself from being an economic "basket case" to one of the fastest growing economies in the world.


The garment industry emerged as one of the nation's success stories in recent decades

At the time of independence in 1971, Bangladesh's economy was in tatters, a result of the bloody liberation war. Over 80% of the population were living in extreme poverty.

In the following years, the country struggled with military coups, political turmoil, poverty and famine.

In the 1970s, it was argued that "if development is possible in Bangladesh, it is possible in any other country,"Mustafizur Rahman, an economist at Bangladesh's Center for Policy Dialogue, told DW.

He added that the South Asian country was viewed as "the test case" of development.

But fast forward to today, the situation has dramatically changed for the better.

Norwegian social researcher Eirik G. Jansen said that in 2009 when he returned to a Bangladeshi village after a gap of nearly three and a half decades, he was surprised to see the remarkable improvement in socio-economic development and people's income levels.

"Their incomes increased tenfold. It meant they could buy at least 10-15 kilograms of rice with their daily wages," Jansen told DW.

From 1976 to 1980, he lived with several impoverished families in a village in Manikganj district.

"If you have five or six people in your household and you come home with just one and a half kilograms of rice, you can hardly feed the entire family," Jansen said.

"Severe poverty meant many people lacked enough food. Health and education services hardly existed. Many people became sick, and many died in their 40s and 50s due to diseases that could have been prevented if they had good nutrition. Many children also died," the expert added.

In 1971, Bangladesh's economy was in tatters, a result of the bloody liberation war. Over 80% of the population were living in extreme poverty

Making strides in growth and development

Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the economy was growing rapidly, recording an annual expansion in the range of 8% for years.

The Asian Development Bank said that despite the hit from the pandemic, the Bangladeshi economy is recovering fast.

"Bangladesh also grows enough food now to feed its 167 million people. The country has a significantly reduced maternal and infant mortality rate than many other countries in the world," Rahman said.

Bangladesh achieved lower middle-income country status in 2015 and is on track to leave the United Nations' Least Developed Countries list.

Currently, 98% of children nationwide have finished primary school, with more girls in secondary school than boys.

Observers say the Muslim-majority nation over the years has invested heavily in the lives of women and girls. It has also made progress in combating child malnutrition and reproductive health.

Jansen said when he visited the village in Manikanj again in 2010, he found that schools in the area were refurbished, and both boys and girls were going to school.

The improvement in female education has transformed the socioeconomic structure, he pointed out.

"Providing scholarships for women's and girls' education is another factor. The women are now more articulate. They are not as shy as when I saw them four decades earlier

Watch video01:19 Bangladesh's traditional weavers fallen on hard times amid pandemic

From agriculture to industry

With a GDP of over $305 billion (€259 billion), Bangladesh currently has the world's 41st largest economy and forecasts suggest that the size of the economy could double by 2030.

While it was primarily an agricultural economy in 1971, the composition has changed over the decades, with industry and services now accounting for the lion's share of the economic output.

Agriculture's share of GDP has dropped to just 13%.

It was the availability of job opportunities outside agriculture that drove economic development, said Jansen.

"For many women, it was working in the textile industry and handicrafts. For men, it was jobs in local small industries. For some, it was migrating abroad to the Middle East, Singapore or Malaysia."

The garment industry emerged as one of the nation's success stories in recent decades. It is the second-largest globally, only next to China, and rakes in over $35 billion a year from exports.

The sector employs 4 million people, the majority of whom are women, contributing to female empowerment.

"The garment sector has changed not only the economy, but also women's social status in Bangladesh," Rahman told DW.

Remittances also play a major role in the economy, with Bangladeshi workers employed abroad transferring nearly $22 billion in 2020.

Watch video 02:49 Rebranding Bangladesh for foreign investors

Quality and inequality challenges

Despite the steep rise in the number of children going to school, the quality of education remains poor, posing a major challenge to the development of a skilled workforce, said Rahman.

Also, not everyone has benefited equally from the nation's impressive growth and development, say experts, pointing to rising income and wealth inequality as well as the slow pace of job creation.

"Per capita income has increased in Bangladesh. But income and wealth distribution could be made equal and fair," Rahman said. "The income disparity between the top 5% and the bottom 40% is increasing day by day.”

Another problem is the heavy concentration of economic activity in big cities like Dhaka and Chittagong, resulting in a huge rural-urban divide and increased urban poverty.

"The poverty level might have come down to 20%, but 50% of those living in some cities face poverty," Rahman stressed.

So, the biggest challenge Bangladesh faces is related to how the country ensures that the fruits of growth and development reach people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

BANGLADESH WAS THE FIRST OF THE LIVE AID CONCERTS

Yellow Vest protesters go on trial over 2018 Arc de Triomphe riot

Issued on: 22/03/2021

The Arc de Triomphe was looted and vandalised during a

 "yellow vest" protest that rocked Paris on December 1, 2018. 

© Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRE

Nine people went on trial Monday accused of taking part in one of the most violent episodes of the anti-government "yellow vest" protests that rocked France two years ago.

Prosecutors admit, however, that the suspects are neither the instigators nor the main culprits of the vandalism and looting around the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, when scenes of destruction and fierce clashes with police made global headlines.

Dozens of cars were set on fire and businesses were trashed all along the famed Champs-Elysees avenue on December 1, 2018, the third Saturday of mass demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.

He was accused of ignoring the plight of struggling French families and after months of protests he abandoned a planned fuel tax hike and raised spending on the lowest earners.

The "yellow vest" protesters had already skirmished with security forces at earlier rallies, but police were unprepared for the rioting that engulfed the capital just a few weeks before Christmas.

Despite firing volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets, the officers were forced to abandon their positions around the Arc de Triomphe, which honours France's war dead.

Protesters snuffed out the eternal flame over the tomb of an unknown World War I soldier and spray-painted the stone walls with graffiti including "the yellow vests will triumph".

Others forced their way into the arch, ransacking the gift shop and damaging scores of artworks, causing damage that cost 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) to repair.

'Small fish'

The seven men and two women on trial on Monday, most of whom have no criminal records, face charges of destruction and theft that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

For procedural reasons, a tenth suspect who was also to face the judge will be tried at a later date.

The trial opened with presentations of videos and photos showing the extent of the damage, including smashed statues and shattered display cases.

"You see that things are getting out of control, and you don't say to yourself 'this has gone too far, I'm leaving'?" asked the judge, Sonia Lumbroso.

Lawyers for the accused say they are unfairly taking the blame because the main offenders got away before police were able to clear the monument.

"This is a trial for small fish, because the big fish aren't here," said Veronique Massi, a lawyer for one of the suspects, who says he was only seeking refuge as the police charged.

"They wanted to be at the heart of the action, they didn't think it was going to end like that," she said.

But for Jean-Philippe Morel, a lawyer for the HAPPAH heritage defence association, a claimant in the case, there is sufficient evidence to prove that the suspects took part in the violence.

"We have those responsible," he said, "even if they aren't the main ones."

The trial is scheduled to last until Friday.

Seven other people, including a minor, will be tried later on charges of unlawfully entering a historic monument.

(AFP)

Fashion industry failing to meet green targets: report



A recent Ellen MacArthur Foundation study found that 40 million tonnes of textiles were sent to landfills or incinerated every year. 

Paris (AFP)

Issued on: 22/03/2021 - 

Fashion's biggest firms are making slow progress in meeting promises to improve their environmental and social impact, according to a damning sustainability report released Monday.

The inaugural Sustainability Index by the Business of Fashion magazine, the first to offer direct comparisons between the industry's top firms, found they were often falling far short of their ambitious rhetoric on going green.

"The global economy has 10 years to avoid catastrophic climate change and an urgent duty to improve the welfare of the workers who make it tick," said the report, which was put together by a panel of sustainability experts from around the world.

"Time is running out and simply stating an ambition to change is no longer good enough."

It graded the biggest 15 fashion companies across six areas: transparency, emissions, water and chemicals, materials, workers' rights and waste.

Not one company scored more than 50 out of 100, with Swiss firm Richemont and US firm Under Armor faring worst with scores of just 14 and nine overall. They did not respond to requests for comment.

The best performers were French luxury house Kering and Nike, who scored 49 and 47 respectively.

"Many of fashion's biggest companies still don't know or don't disclose where their products come from, and the further down the supply chain you go, the more opaque things become," the report said.

"That enables exploitation and human rights abuses and creates difficulties measuring the industry's environmental impact."

- 'Just not working' -

A 2019 study by the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion found that fashion was the second-biggest consumer of water, and responsible for eight-to-10 percent of global carbon emissions -- "more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined".

The new Sustainability Index said many firms had targets to reduce emissions but little information on how they were faring.

Three firms -- Richemont, Under Armour and LVMH -- had not set emissions targets at all, it said.

Fewer than half were found to have clear goals on reducing the use of water and hazardous chemicals, and only four had a time-bound target to replace oil-based polyester -- the most commonly-used fabric in the world -- with recycled alternatives.

The worst results were on the issue of waste, with the report citing a recent Ellen MacArthur Foundation study that found 40 million tonnes of textiles were sent to landfills or incinerated every year.

"Companies are talking more about circularity than they are embracing it," it said.

Scores on workers' rights were also dismal.

"We have been stuck with the current state of play for more than 10 years and the discourse is still way ahead of the action," Anannya Bhattacharjee of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance was quoted as saying in the report.

"No matter how many committees are set up in factories, they are just not working," she added. "Commitments to a living wage are meaningless if buying prices do not cover the cost of living wages."

Nonetheless, the report sought a constructive tone, saying it was not designed to chastise or praise individual companies, but to encourage innovation.

"Environmental sustainability is bigger than any one brand, supplier or retailer. We all have to work together," wrote another of the authors, Edwin Keh, of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel.

© 2021 AFP

France kicks off first medical marijuana trial

Issued on: 26/03/2021 - 

Cannabis is credited with powerful anti-pain properties Angela Weiss AFP

Clermont-Ferrand (France) (AFP)

A doctor in France wrote the country's first prescription for therapeutic cannabis on Friday, kicking off a two-year trial involving 3,000 patients that could lead to marijuana's legalisation for medical use.

Cannabis is prohibited in France even for medical purposes, but patients' associations have been lobbying for years to get it cleared for use to relieve pain.

"This is an important day in the history of medicine in France," Health Minister Olivier Veran told reporters after witnessing the filling-in of the prescription.

"You are the first French patient to receive a cannabis-based treatment," Veran told the recipient, who said he had been "suffering for seven years" because of an illness.

The prescribed treatment contains active cannabis-derived substances in the form of essential oil to be taken orally, or of cannabis flowers for vaping.

"There is no question of smoking any of it," Veran said.

The minister said that after the trial France would proceed with a "rigorous scientific and medical evaluation" of its results.

Once the treatment's efficacy and side effects were known, it could be cleared for general use for all eligible patients -- an outcome Veran said he hoped for.

Nicolas Authier, president of a scientific committee on medicinal cannabis, said: "We hope that with this new therapeutic tool that we can give patients an improved quality of life."

Some 170 hospitals will contribute data to the trial. Patients will be eligible for cannabis treatment only if other drugs fail to alleviate their condition, or provoke excessive side-effects, according to French medicines agency ANSM.

Conditions that qualify for cannabis treatment include some forms of epilepsy, neuropathic pain, chemotherapy side-effects, a need for palliative care, and pain linked to multiple sclerosis.

Cannabis treatment can also be prescribed for children in cases of refractory epilepsy or cancer.

The treatments will be obtained abroad, as France prohibits cultivating marijuana, and made available with different degrees of THC and CBD, the two active ingredients of cannabis.

© 2021 AFP

Russia pushes Arctic ambitions after Suez jam

Issued on: 26/03/2021 - 

Moscow has channeled large sums into a fleet of icebreakers 

and ice-class tankers linked to the development of the 

Northern Sea Route OLGA MALTSEVA AFP/File

Stuck: the container ship blocking the Suez canal

Moscow (AFP)

Russia has seized on the Suez Canal blockage to promote its northern shipping route as a reliable alternative, part of a broader push by Moscow to develop the Arctic and capitalise on climate change.

President Vladimir Putin has made Russia's Arctic region a strategic priority and ordered investment in military infrastructure and mineral extraction.

The development of the Northern Sea Route is closely linked to that push and Moscow has channelled large sums into a fleet of icebreakers and ice-class tankers.

Russia redoubled efforts to promote the Arctic route after a giant Japanese-owned tanker became wedged this week in the narrow Suez channel barring some 200 ships passage.

A senior Russian diplomat said Friday that the jam underscored the importance of developing the Arctic route.

"The appeal of the Northern Sea Route will grow both in the short- and long-term. It has no alternative," said Nikolai Korchunov,Moscow's point person for international Arctic cooperation.

"Obviously it's necessary to think about how to efficiently manage transportation risks and develop alternative routes to the Suez Canal, first and foremost the Northern Sea Route," Korchunov, Russia's ambassador-at-large, told the Interfax news agency.

The Northern Sea Route is one of several Arctic shipping channels and lies within Russia's exclusive economic zone.

Russia has invested heavily to develop the route, which allows ships to cut the journey to Asian ports by 15 days compared with using the Suez Canal.

Transit of the eastern Arctic usually ends in November but Russia hopes climate change means the commercial benefit of the route will increase.

Moscow is planning to use the route to export oil and gas to overseas markets while companies including Russia's biggest LNG producer Novatek already navigate the northern route.

In August 2017, the first vessel travelled along the Northern Sea Route without the use of ice breakers.

- 'Surprising? No' -

Russia's weather monitor said this week that the northern route was "in some years almost completely free of ice" towards the end of the summer and in 2020 reached a "record low level" of ice cover.

The Japanese-owned, Panama-flagged MV Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal during a sandstorm, blocking the waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and which handles more than 10 percent of global maritime trade.

Tugboats and dredgers scrambled Friday to free the giant container for a fourth day, forcing companies to re-route services from the vital shipping lane around Africa.

Russia's nuclear agency, which is the Arctic passage's official infrastructure operator, mockingly offered its northern route as an alternative Thursday, saying icebreakers would be sent to the rescue if vessels get stuck.

Nuclear agency Rosatom jokingly said the Arctic passage provides "more space to draw peculiar pictures using your giant ships," referring to shipping trackers which showed that the Ever Given traced the outline of a giant penis before getting stuck.

"#Russia will use the #EVERGIVEN case to attract shipowners to the Arctic," tweeted Arctic expert Mikaa Mered. "Is this surprising? No."

Putin on Friday praised Russian navy’s Arctic exercises that launched last week, saying the troops had proven their ability to operate even "in harsh northern environments".

As part of the drill, three nuclear-powered submarines broke the ice and surfaced simultaneously while a nuclear submarine also fired a torpedo from beneath the ice.

© 2021 AFP