Wednesday, March 16, 2022

2 dead after 7.3-magnitude earthquake hits Japan's northeast coast


This picture shows scattered merchandise and damaged ceiling at a supermarket in Shiroishi, Miyagi prefecture on Mar 17, 2022 after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted east  Japan the night before. (Photo: AFP/Charly Triballeau)


16 Mar 2022 11:03PM(Updated: 17 Mar 2022 07:59AM)


TOKYO: A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted Japan's northeast coast off Fukushima late on Wednesday (Mar 16), leaving two dead and 94 injured and reviving memories of a quake and tsunami that crippled the same region just over a decade earlier.

There were some reports of fire, the government said. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said on Thursday morning that there had been two confirmed deaths and 94 injured, including four seriously.

The quake was felt in Tokyo, about 275km away, where the shaking of buildings was long and pronounced. Hundreds of thousands of homes in the capital were plunged into darkness for an hour or more, although power was fully restored by the early hours of Thursday morning.

Authorities cancelled an earlier tsunami warning.

Just before midnight, the quake hit off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of 60 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It sparked memories of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, a week after that disaster's 11th anniversary.

There were no abnormalities at nuclear power plants, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. The 2011 disaster triggered a meltdown at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, an incident Japan is still coming to grips with.

Authorities earlier said a fire alarm had been triggered at a turbine building at the crippled plant.

Separately, a Shinkansen bullet train derailed with about 100 people on board, although there were no reports of injuries.

Utility Tokyo Electric Power Company said that initially about 2 million households lost power on Wednesday, including 700,000 in the capital. Tohoku Electric Power said about 38,500 homes were still without power as of 7.40am local time on Thursday.

Strong quakes in Japan can disrupt manufacturing, particularly of sensitive electronic components such as semiconductors that are made using precision machinery.

The 2011 quake halted production for three months at a factory owned by Renesas Electronics, which makes nearly a third of all microcontroller chips used in cars. A fire at the facility last year exacerbated a chip shortage that has forced auto companies to curb output.

Renesas said it was checking the condition of three of its plants - Naka, Yonezawa and Takasaki - and would provide a statement on whether production has been affected later.

Sitting on the boundary of several tectonic plates, Japan experiences around a fifth of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

CNA correspondent in Japan, Michiyo Ishida, said in a tweet that a big earthquake had hit the Tohoku area.

"Tokyo shakes too. It’s two separate tremors. The bigger one measured an M7.3 at past 11.30pm," she wrote. 

There were also blackouts due to the earthquake, she added.

People shop in a store in a residential area during a power outage in Koto district in Tokyo on March 16, 2022, after a powerful 7.3-magnitude quake jolted east Japan. (Photo: AFP/Philip Fong)


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 BREAD RIOTS PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION

Sri Lanka seeks IMF bailout amid shortages, rising public anger

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called on Sri Lankans to use fuel and electricity sparingly. But citizens blame his government for the country's worst economic crisis since independence almost 75 years ago.


There has been widespread outrage over spiraling costs in Sri Lanka, including major

 protests in Colombo earlier this week

Sri Lanka will seek an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, the country's president said on Wednesday, just 24 hours after a huge crowd stormed his office over runaway prices.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said his government was in discussions with the IMF, other agencies and countries on deferring loan repayments. He also asked citizens to help by limiting electricity and fuel consumption with the South East Asian nation in the throes of its worst economic crisis since it gained independence from Britain in 1948.

Although the issue dates back well beyond the conflict in Ukraine, rising fuel prices have exacerbated the situation in recent weeks.

President seeks understanding

"Subsequent to my discussions with the International Monetary Fund, I have decided to work with them," Rajapaksa said in an address to the nation.

"By limiting the use of fuel and electricity as much as possible, the citizens, too, can extend their support to the country at this time," Rajapaksa added.

"I hope that you will understand the responsibility lies with you at this challenging time," he added.

Mass protests

Political parties and citizen groups don't see it as their responsibility, though, launching mass protests across the country, blaming the government for the economic crunch. For critics of the influential Rajapaksa family, having the president's elder brother, Mahinda, as prime minister and his younger brother, Basil, as finance minister only deepens a sense of nepotism and mismanagement.

The main opposition party held a demonstration near the president's office on Tuesday demanding his resignation over the rising cost of food, medicine and other essential goods, causing serious hardship for Sri Lanka's 22 million people.


Rising food and fuel prices are hitting an already impoverished country hard

Sri Lanka is currently battling record inflation and unprecedented food and fuel shortages as the country struggles to finance imports.

Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic has hit the island's tourism sector hard, while the amount of money sent home by Sri Lankans living abroad has also declined.

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Philippines: Marcos Jr. election lead raises the stakes for democracy

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is proving hugely popular with younger voters who do not remember the atrocities of his father. But what will it mean for liberal institutions if the son of a former dictator is in charge?


Bong Bong Marcos is polling well ahead of the competition

Nearly 50 years after his father and late president declared martial law in the Philippines, Ferdinand "Bong-Bong" Marcos Jr. is leading the race to become the country's next president in the May 2022 elections.

Pulse Asia, the first major opinion survey conducted since the presidential campaign started in February, showed that Marcos Jr. has maintained a sizable lead over his nine opponents.

Opposition leader and current Vice President Leni Robredo is the closest contender at 16% compared to Marcos Jr's 60%.

"Bong-Bong Marcos is in a position not just to win but to win bigger than any other predecessors in recent memory. There is a very high chance that he will take more than 50% of the votes. We're no longer talking about a plurality president but a majority president," Manila-based political analyst Richard Heydarian told DW.

A victory for Marcos Jr. would make for a stunning political comeback for his family, which has become synonymous with the massive accumulation of ill-gotten wealth and human rights violations. His late father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was toppled in a 1986 uprising after holding power with an iron fist for two decades.

"I really have a hard time seeing how this presidential race can be more competitive," said Heydarian.

Marcos Jr's vice-presidential running mate is Sara Duterte, daughter of incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte has yet to endorse the candidacy of Marcos Jr. and his daughter. 

An historical election for the Philippines?

According to Heydarian, the Philippine electorate are no longer vested in the democratic political promises brought on by the 1986 revolution.

"We're looking at a counterrevolution. People are saying, 'let's just go back to the original when it comes to strongmen.'"

There is also concern that a Marcos victory would signal the end of the Philippines' liberal democracy.

"This is the battle of the heart and soul of the country," Nicole Curato, a sociologist and political analyst told DW.

"I don't mean to suggest that Marcos Jr. will impose martial law like his father did, but he will have the executive power to undermine institutions that were created in response to his father's abuse of power," she added.

Curato has been interviewing supporters of Marcos Jr, and believes many voters have responded to his populist calls for national unity, which have resonated among Filipinos continuing to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Unity is an appealing message because it is not antagonistic. Many view the opposition's calls for [government] accountability as political bickering that does little to uplift the lives of many Filipinos," Curato said.

"His message is simple: Division is what stands in the way for us to achieve our dreams. His message does not discuss the root of the problems which cause hurt and anger. It is, in many ways, a toxic form of positivity," she added.


Protesters in December 2021 called for Marcos Jr. to be banned from running

Who is supporting Marcos Jr?

A breakdown by age demographic of Pulse Asia's February results shows that 63% of millennials, or those roughly between the ages of 25-34, want Marcos Jr. to be the next president.

Majie Cabatian, a 26-year-old homemaker with two children, supports Marcos Jr.

Cabatian is too young to remember the atrocities of the Marcos dictatorship, but insists that the infrastructure and highways around the country that still bear his name are testament to a legacy of progress.

"That's proof of all the good things he did for the country. We're still benefiting from all that. What have the other presidents done?" she told DW.

She added that the roads she attributes to Marcos era have given her husband a job. "My husband is a truck driver. More roads mean more jobs for him. Bong-Bong will be good for the country, just as his father was," she said.

Photographer Niccolo Cosme, on the other hand, is determined to do everything he can to prevent Marcos Jr. from coming into power.

Cosme is pouring his time and talent into being a volunteer for the Robredo campaign. "I have done photo shoots and social media campaigns for Robredo 2022 and I do not expect to be paid a single cent for it," he said.

Cosme told DW that his zeal comes from a place of deep regret. "I voted for Duterte in the last election. I campaigned for him and convinced friends to vote for him. I was blinded by his promise of change," he said.

He said his initial enthusiasm turned into horrified disillusionment at the changes Duterte brought to the Philippines after six years in office.

"All those people killed in the drug war. How he surrendered the West Philippine Sea to China. It's just too much. I feel responsible for that because I voted for him. This is the time for me to correct my past mistakes."

With barely two months until the elections, Cosme still holds out hope that Robredo will take the lead from Marcos, Jr. "She has to win. She simply has to," he said.

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Viral protests: Russians continue to denounce war risking imprisonment

Despite censorship and the government's crackdown on anti-war protests, some Russians have come up with alternative ways to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine. Here are some instances that went viral.

Thousands of Russian, including minors and the elderly, have been arrested for 

protesting against the war in Ukraine.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine about three weeks ago, the police forces in Moscow and other cities have been cracking down on anti-war protests.

The Kremlin has restricted Russian citizens' access to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to prevent the reports and images of war from reaching them. Media are banned from using the terms "Invasion" or "war" to describe what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Instead, they have been ordered to refer to it as a "special military operation."

Regardless of these measures, thousands of anti-war protesters have rallied across Russia since the war started, risking consequences such as fines, detention, and imprisonment.

On March 4, the government implemented a set of rules that criminalizes anti-war protests, and independent reporting on the war. According to Human Rights Watch, the laws make it illegal to spread "fake news" about the Russian armed forces, to call for an end to their deployment. Those who disobey can face up to 15 years in prison.

But as the authorities' tolerance for demonstrations and rallies shrinks, activists continue to protests against the war in Ukraine, in various forms.

"No to war" on TV screens

Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee of a Russian state TV station,  interrupted a live news program on Monday, chanting "Stop the war!" She held up a cardboard sign that featured the Russian and Ukrainian flags, shouted "Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you." Seconds later, the program was cut off.

In a video, recorded before her protest, Ovsyannikova urged Russians to join protests against the war and expressed regret for her part in spreading "Kremlin propaganda."

"Russia is the aggressor country and one person, Vladimir Putin, solely bears responsibility for that aggression," she said in the prerecorded video.

Ovsyannikova was arrested minutes after she stormed into the studio. She was released from custody on Tuesday and fined about 30,000 rubles (around $270). But she still awaits her trial, where she could receive a prison sentence.

'Two words'

A video went viral on social media last week, showing a woman being arrested by the Russian police for holding up a small piece of paper that reads "two words."

The phrase "two words" ("два слова" in Russian) seems to hint at the forbidden slogan "no to war" (or "нет войне" in Russian).

In the video, the woman asks the cameraman "If I just say 'two words,' will I be arrested for it?" She then shows a small piece of paper with the phrase "two words," written on it. Seconds later, heavily-armored security forces swoop in to arrest her. 

Another woman approaches the camera right after and tries to explain why she supports the war against Ukraine — but before she can finish her sentence, policemen grab her and pull her away too.

Blank signs

Russian police have arrested demonstrators who protest with blank signs. A video that receive millions of views on social media, showed a woman holding a blank sign among a group of people before police officers approached her and escorted her away from the crowd.

The incident was not an isolated one. According to OVD-Info, an independent media project that monitors human rights and political persecutions in Russia, another activist called Anastasia Nikolaeva spent eight days in detention for protesting with a blank sign in the southern Russian city Rostov-on-Don.

In-flight protest

In another viral post, a Russian pilot is seen denouncing his country's war on Ukraine during a flight. "I think sensible citizens will agree with me and will do everything to make it stop," the pilot addressed the passengers.

Children and elderly detained

On March 1, photographs emerged on social media showing primary school children behind bars. Novaya Gazeta, the Nobel prize-winning independent newspaper, confirmed the pictures and said the kids had been arrested along with their parents for laying flowers at the Ukrainian embassy and holding signs saying "No to war." They were reportedly released as the lawyers arrived.


Yelena Osipova is an artist and political activist was arrested in a demonstration in St. Petersburg.

In another incident, Yelena Osipova a 77-year-old artist was seen among those arrested at an anti-war protest in St. Petersburg. People on social media began referring to her as the "grandmother for peace." 

There have been about 15,000 arrests related to anti-war actions since February 24 with dozens still remanded in custody., according to the OVD-Info website. 

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ANTI FASCIST SITE

we must take sides – #ukraine

We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe

Elie Wiesel #Ukraine

Belgrade Denies Serbian ‘Militants’ are Fighting for Russia in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Army’s claim that Serbian ‘militants’ are being recruited to supplement Russian ‘occupation’ forces in Ukraine has drawn an angry riposte from the Serbian Defence Ministry. Serbia’s Defence Ministry on Sunday condemned Ukraine’s “dangerous misinformation” that Serbian fighters are being recruited to supplement Russian forces in Ukraine, and said: “We demand that it be withdrawn immediately.” “The participation of Serbian citizens in armed conflicts abroad is a serious crime punishable by several years in prison,” Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said in a press release. (,..) Ukraine’s General Staff said in operational information on Sunday that, “for the purpose of the urgent replenishment of the losses of the occupation troops”, Russia was bringing in fighters from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the Caucasus, and also that “a large number of militants from other countries are involved (Syria, Serbia)”. It did not respond BIRN’s request for additional information about Serbian fighters. There is a track record of Serbian fighters being present in warzones in Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict in 2014. Social media posts from the Ukrainian battlefields later enabled prosecutors to prove the illegal military action of fighhters in Ukraine.

via balkan insight: Belgrade Denies Serbian ‘Militants’ are Fighting for Russia in Ukraine

Russian-Made Drone Crashes in Romania Near Ukraine Border

The Bucharest authorities said that an unarmed UAV surveillance drone of a type used by Russian forces in Ukraine crashed in northern Romania. A Soviet-produced reconnaissance UAV crashed in Bistrita county in northern Romania, 100 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu said on Monday evening that the drone that crashed near a village in Bistrita County in northern Romania was a reconnaissance UAV that did not have any explosives on board. “It’s not a very big drone. It’s a drone toy, a metre and a bit wide. It is a search-information drone and did not carry explosives,” Dincu said. He said that it fell in the village of Rachitele on Sunday and was found by children. The Russian-made drone, Orlan-10, gathers information and identifies targets. It has been used by Russian forces in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and in the war in Syria. Dincu said he has spoken with Ukrainian officials about the drone. Romania is trying to identify where was launched as the model only has medium-range flying capability and could only have come from Ukraine’s territory.

via balkan insight: Russian-Made Drone Crashes in Romania Near Ukraine Border

‘Why? Why? Why?’ Ukraine’s Mariupol descends into despair

The bodies of the children all lie here, dumped into this narrow trench hastily dug into the frozen earth of Mariupol to the constant drumbeat of shelling. There’s 18-month-old Kirill, whose shrapnel wound to the head proved too much for his little toddler’s body. There’s 16-year-old Iliya, whose legs were blown up in an explosion during a soccer game at a school field. There’s the girl no older than 6 who wore the pajamas with cartoon unicorns, among the first of Mariupol’s children to die from a Russian shell. They are stacked together with dozens of others in this mass grave on the outskirts of the city. A man covered in a bright blue tarp, weighed down by stones at the crumbling curb. A woman wrapped in a red and gold bedsheet, her legs neatly bound at the ankles with a scrap of white fabric. Workers toss the bodies in as fast as they can, because the less time they spend in the open, the better their own chances of survival. “The only thing (I want) is for this to be finished,” raged worker Volodymyr Bykovskyi, pulling crinkling black body bags from a truck. “Damn them all, those people who started this!”

via ap: ‘Why? Why? Why?’ Ukraine’s Mariupol descends into despair


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The Azov Battalion: Extremists Defending Mariupol 

By The Switzerland Times
-March 16, 2022


A short video circulating the internet shows a screen in what is believed to be a Ukrainian military vehicle driving through a village in the Mariupol region. On a side street there are armored vehicles, on which a white letter “Z” is visible, the sign of Russian troops in Ukraine. Gunshots are heard and what appears to be a Russian vehicle opens fire.

The notorious so-called Azov Battalion, also known as the Azov Regiment, posted this video earlier this week on their Telegram channel. He announced that he had destroyed three Russian armored vehicles and four infantry fighting vehicles, and killed “many infantry”. Then he posted a photo of a dead man in uniform, believed to be a Russian general he had killed. It is difficult to verify these claims.

The city of Mariupol, which has 500,000 inhabitants, is mainly defended by the Azov Battalion. It is one of the places, along with the Ukrainian capital kyiv and the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, where Russia is waging its war particularly brutally. Since the beginning of March, the city has been besieged and subjected to violent bombardments. There is no electricity, little water and little food.

Many locals tried to flee

Siege of Azov in Mariupol

This is also where the Azov Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian National Guard and therefore subordinate to the Interior Ministry, has set up its headquarters. Its fighters are well trained, but the unit is controversial because it is made up of nationalists and far-right radicals. Its very existence is one of the pretexts Russia has used for its war against Ukraine.

Initially, Azov was a volunteer militia that formed in the city of Berdyansk to support the Ukrainian military in its fight against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Some of its fighters belonged to the small but active far-right Pravyi sektor (right sector) group, whose hard core was from eastern Ukraine and spoke Russian. Originally, they had even advocated the unity of the Eastern Slavic peoples: Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some were football ultras, others were active in nationalist circles. “In Germany,” explains Andreas Umland of the Center for Eastern European Studies in Stockholm, these groups would be described as free fellowships “which are organized neo-Nazi groups.

The Azov Battalion helped train civilians

Far-right overtones

Umland told TSWT that Azov was controversial from the start because of his emblem, which bears the Wolfsangel symbol. “The Wolfsangel has far-right connotations, it’s a pagan symbol that the SS also used,” Umland said. “But he is not considered a fascist symbol by the Ukrainian population.”

The Azov Regiment wants the Nazi-era symbol to be understood as stylized versions of the letters N and I, meaning “national idea”.
Incorporated into the National Guard

Andriy Biletsky, the 42-year-old founder of Azov, graduated in history from Kharkiv National University. He has been active on the Ukrainian far-right scene for years. In the summer of 2014, the modest forces of Azov took part in the recapture of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. It has been operating as a regiment since fall 2014 and, according to media reports, it had around 1,000 fighters before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with artillery and tanks.

The Ukrainian government decided to integrate ultra-nationalists into state structures in 2014.



In 2015 and 2016, a movement emerged which formed the political arm of Azov. Biletsky resigned as commander and created the National Corps party with veterans. However, he had little electoral success. Biletsky entered parliament by direct mandate but was not re-elected in 2019. He is currently believed to be fighting on the front line near Kyiv.


Mariupol has witnessed constant shelling since early March


Contacts with far-right movements

In 2019, the US Congress attempted to designate the regiment a “terrorist organization”, but that did not happen. Nevertheless, for years Azov maintained contacts with far-right movements abroad, including in Germany, according to the German government’s response to a related question from the Left Party parliamentary group.

Umland told TSWT that a myth had emerged around Azov because of Russian propaganda. He said volunteer fighters, including Azov, were accused of looting and inappropriate behavior in 2014.

“Normally we see right-wing extremism as dangerous, something that can lead to war,” Umland said. But in Ukraine it’s the other way around, he argued. The war had led to the rise and transformation of fringe camaraderie into a political movement. But their influence on society is overrated, he said. For most Ukrainians, they are fighters fighting an authoritarian aggressor.

This article has been translated from German.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer

Greek soldier in Russian Army: “I requested deployment in Mariupol, I defend my great and small mother nations”

by ATHENS BUREAU


An ethnic Greek soldier in the Russian Army explained the reason why he was currently in Sartana, a town on the outskirts of Mariupol in Ukraine’s east that was recently captured from Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.

A reporter for RIA asked the soldier: Are you really Greek?

Soldier: Yes, indeed I am.

Reporter: Do you know that you’re in a Greek settlement now?

Soldier: Not only do I know this, but it’s one of the main reasons I actively pursued to be deployed here… we’re here to help and defend both our great and small mother nations [Editor: a likely reference to Russia and Greece].

Reporter: Are you here as part of a group?

Soldier: Yes, we have already completed a part of our mission, just reaching this place. Thank you for the warm welcome and I wish us all good luck.

On March 2, the military chief of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, announced that Sartana was captured from the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Brigade who controlled the town since 2014 when a ceasefire was reached.

The Mariupol-based Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi unit of the Ukrainian Republican Guard, which falls under the command of the Interior Ministry, discriminated, persecuted and tortured non-Ukrainian speakers, including Greeks.

Only days before Russian troops started crossing into Ukraine, the Azov militants killed an ethnic Greek and shot another two only for speaking Russian.

Mariupol and its surrounding area, including the town of Sartana, is home to 120,000 ethnic Greeks.

After the capture of Sartana, Russian media spoke to an ethnic Greek who said: “As soon as the Russians came here, they immediately brought us help. Right now, immediately after the shootings stopped.”

“Now no one asks us if you are Ukrainian or Greek, about your origin, what language you speak,” they said.

“The Russians do not discriminate,” they continued, adding: “While the Ukrainians did, they forced us to speak only Ukrainian, although I do not know it at all.”

READ MORE: Greeks in Mariupol: “The Russians help us and don’t discriminate like the Ukrainians” (VIDEO)

The Azov Special Operations Detachment (Ukrainian: Окремий загін спеціального призначення «Азов»), or Azov Battalion, is a right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region.

In 2014, the regiment gained notoriety after allegations emerged of torture and war crimes, as well as neo-Nazi sympathies and usage of associated symbols by the regiment itself, as seen in their logo featuring the Wolfsangel, one of the original symbols used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

Representatives of the group say that the symbol is an abbreviation for the slogan Ідея Нації (Ukrainian for “National Idea”) and deny connection with Nazism.

Meanwhile, an ethnic Greek from the Russian city of Yessentuki in Stavropol Krai was killed fighting in Ukraine.

Born on January 19, 1995, Georgy Romanov was killed on the fourth day of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, specifically on February 28.

READ MORE: Ethnic Greek fighter in Russian Army killed fighting in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, the Greek Consul General in Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, reached the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine on Wednesday according to diplomatic sources available to Kathimerini. He will spend the night in the city as there is an ongoing curfew.

The operation to evacuate Androulakis, the last diplomatic official of a European Union member-state in the city, has been underway since Tuesday afternoon. He is travelling alongside members from the local Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) office.

This was the result of efforts by Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias who communicated with the leadership of the OSCE, the Red Cross, officials from the Vatican, and representatives from both Russia and Ukraine, to include Androulakis in a multinational convoy that includes over 30 people.

READ MORE: Russian Greeks provide humanitarian aid to the Greeks of Sartana (Mariupol)
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Ukraine's economy is more than just wheat and commodities

Following independence in 1991, Ukraine's economic development was hamstrung by corruption, capital flight and a lack of reforms. Recent improvements are now being threatened by Russia's war in the country.


Its fertile black soil makes Ukraine attractive to agricultural producers and investors

Ukraine is one of the biggest countries in Europe, with a size of some 600,000 square kilometers (231,000 square miles) and a population of about 40 million. After it won independence from the former Soviet Union some 30 years ago, the country has been veering between economic and financial crises virtually all the time.

During the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, Ukraine could only be rescued from state bankruptcy with the help of a multibillion-dollar financial lifeline provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The economic upheavals following Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the cessation of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine again brought the country to the brink of economic collapse. Once more, the IMF jumped to Kyiv's rescue offering fresh credit in exchange for tough economic reforms. The strategy worked, at least until Russia attacked the nation in February this year.

Stuck on the road to recovery

The structural reforms imposed by the IMF over the past five years managed to bring down Ukraine's sovereign debt from more than a 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) to just over 50% in 2020.

Following a brief recession that year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine was back on the road to economic recovery with a growth rate of 3.2% last year. Annual GDP per capita reached $3,653 (€3,325) in 2020. By comparison, that of Russia is about $10,037, while Germany's stands at $45,733. 

The most important sector in Ukraine's economy is agriculture. Dubbed Europe's bread basket, the country is the world's biggest exporter of wheat due to its vast swathes of fertile soil that make up about a third of all arable land in Europe.

Grain and commodities

The second-most-important sector is mineral commodities. According to the Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) foreign trade lobby group, the sector's health is, however, strongly dependent on global market developments in steel, for example. Moreover, the GTAI said in a report published last fall the need for foreign investment in the commodities' sector was huge already before the war. 

In recent years, light industries and suppliers have become increasingly important thanks to Ukraine's comparatively low wages and its location close to the markets of the European Union.

Especially European automakers have made some investments in Ukraine in recent years, although the GTAI report noted that the country's manufacturers were still only loosely integrated in the industry's global supply chain.

Nevertheless, the current war has led to severe production disruptions among Europe's carmakers because Ukrainian deliveries of important parts such as cable harnesses have come to a standstill.

Black Sea port of Odessa a crucial hub

An essential hub for Ukraine's economy is the Odesa Marine Trade Port (OMTP), one of the biggest deep-water ports along the Black Sea coast. OMTP is capable of handling 40 million metric tons of bulk cargo and 25 million tons of liquid cargo annually. The port has ceased operations due to the war, though.


Conquering the idled Black Sea port of Odesa is a main objective of the Russian's

 military campaign against Ukraine

German company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) operates a container terminal in the Odesa port and shipped 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers from there last year.

"Odesa is Ukraine's biggest sea port. It's become even more important for seaborne supplies since trade routes via Crimea and the Sea of Azov have turned difficult to navigate," Philip Sweens, a senior HHLA executive, told DW.

Domestic consumption and foreign trade

Private domestic consumption has become a main pillar of economic growth in Ukraine. Rising local wages and remittances from Ukrainians working abroad have been boosting retail sales in recent years.

In addition, the information technology (IT) sector is flourishing on the back of growing numbers of students graduating from universities and colleges. Jobs in the transportation sector have also increased.

As far as foreign trade is concerned, the European Union is Ukraine's most important partner taking in about 40% of all of the country's shipments abroad. German online news portal Tagesschau.de wrote in mid-February that Brussels saw "huge potential" in expanding bilateral trade with Kyiv in the medium and long term. Out of a group of 30 minerals deemed critical for the future by the EU, Ukraine had at least 21, the portal said.

"The EU is interested in building a mineral and [electric vehicle] battery alliance with Ukraine," the report said, adding there was also an option to turn Ukraine into a supplier of hydrogen for Europe.

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French government floats Corsican ‘autonomy’ as unrest jolts election campaign
FRANCE 24 

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has said it is open to discussing “autonomy” for Corsica in a bid to calm days of violent protests on the Mediterranean island with just weeks to go before France’s presidential election.


Graffiti calling for the release of Corsican nationalists Yvan Colonna, Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, pictured in Bastia on March 14, 2022.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin dropped the A-word as he set off for a two-day visit to Corsica on Wednesday, two weeks after a violent assault on a jailed Corsican nationalist triggered a wave of unrest on the île de Beauté (island of beauty).

“We are ready to go as far as autonomy. There you go, the word has been said,” Darmanin told regional newspaper Corse Matin, treading ground that has long been regarded as taboo in France’s highly centralised republic.

“The talks (on autonomy) will necessarily be long and difficult,” he later told BFMTV, adding that, whatever the result, Corsica's “future is fully within the French republic”.

With Macron seeking re-election next month, the offer from France's "top cop" was always bound to come under close scrutiny from rivals for the presidency, some of whom decried an opportunistic move.


Valérie Pécresse, the candidate for the conservative Les Républicains, blasted the president for “giving in to violence”, while far-right rival Marine Le Pen accused him of “cynical clientelism”. “Corsica must remain French,” she added.

“As always with this government, things need to turn ugly before it starts looking for solutions,” lamented Green Party nominee Yannick Jadot, who, along with most left-wing candidates, spoke in favour of autonomy for the Mediterranean island.

‘Statu francese assassinu’

Darmanin’s visit follows repeated outbreaks of violence at protests triggered by a savage prison attack on Yvan Colonna, one of a group of Corsican nationalists jailed for the 1998 murder of Corsica’s prefect, the island’s top official, Claude Erignac.

The interior minister said the convicted killer had been attacked by a jihadist fellow inmate after reportedly making “blasphemous” comments at their jail in Arles, in southern France. He described the assault, which left Colonna in a coma, as “clearly a terrorist act”.

Read more: Prison attack on Corsican nationalist reopens old wounds on restive French island

However, Corsican nationalists have blamed the French state for the attack on Colonna, regarded by many as a hero of the independence cause after he eluded capture for 1,503 days while hiding in the Corsican scrubland. They point to the French state’s longstanding refusal to transfer Colonna and his accomplices to a jail in Corsica, closer to their families.

French presidential election
French presidential election © France 24
Over the past two weeks, protesters have targeted government buildings and French symbols, including the national flag, marching under the rallying cry of “Statu francese assassinu” (The French state is an assassin). Prosecutors said some 102 people were injured on Sunday alone, 77 of them police officers, during clashes in Corsica's second-largest city Bastia.

The government has tried to soothe the anger by lifting the “special prisoner” status that barred Colonna and two of his accomplices from being transferred to a Corsican jail. But the move failed to placate protesters, for whom the belated announcement added insult to injury.

Spectre of armed struggle

Aside from the return of Corsican prisoners, nationalists have long clamoured for greater powers for the island and recognition of Corsican as an official language. Such demands remain highly sensitive in France, where politicians routinely tout the need to protect the country’s unity and national identity.

After decades of violent struggle, Corsica’s nationalists have embraced the democratic process over the past decade, hoping to advance their cause by peaceful means. But experts warn that patience is wearing thin amid mounting frustration at the lack of progress.

Protestors throw stones and flares at French gendarmes in Ajaccio, Corsica's main city, on March 9, 2022. © Pascal Pochard-Casabianca, AFP

Macron has previously said he is open to adding a specific mention of Corsica in the French Constitution, while rejecting more substantial demands for autonomy made by the island's nationalist leaders.

Gilles Simeoni, the nationalist head of Corsica’s regional council, said Darmanin’s words “open up prospects, but they must now be extended and firmed up”. He noted that autonomy is “common law for many European regions and especially for all the major islands in the Mediterranean.”

The island will need “strong signals before believing” change is on the cards, added Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, the head of the regional parliament.

An Ifop poll published by Corse Matin on Wednesday suggested that around half of French people would back autonomy for the region. The same survey found that 60 percent were opposed to full independence, which only some Corsican nationalists advocate.

In an ominous sign, the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), which carried out deadly attacks for decades before laying down its arms in 2014, warned Wednesday that it could resume its fight if Paris remained in a state of “contemptuous denial”.

“If the French state stays deaf... then the street fights of today will quickly spread to the hills at night,” it said in a statement to Corse Matin, referring to the 4,500 attacks it has claimed since the 1970s.
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'Happiest man': Diebedo Francis Kere becomes first African to win Pritzker prize

The Pritzker Prize, architecture's most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere -- the first African to win the honour in its more than 40-year history.

© Carl Court, AFP

Kere, 56, was hailed for his "pioneering" designs that are "sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants -- in lands of extreme scarcity," Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation that sponsors the award, said in a statement.

Kere, a dual citizen of Burkina Faso and Germany, said he was the "happiest man on this planet" to become the 51st recipient of the illustrious prize since it was first awarded in 1979.

"I have a feeling of an overwhelming honour but also a sense of responsibility," he told AFP during an interview in his office in Berlin.

Kere is renowned for building schools, health facilities, housing, civic buildings and public spaces across Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo and Sudan.

"He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten," said Pritzker.

Kere won plaudits for his 2001 project for a primary school in Gando village, in Burkina Faso, where he was born.

Unlike traditional school buildings which used concrete, Kere's innovative design combined local clay, fortified with cement to form bricks that helped retain cooler air inside.

A wide raised tin roof protects the building from rains while helping the air circulate, meaning natural ventilation without any need for air conditioning.

Kere engaged the local community during the design and building phase, and the number of students at the school increased from 120 to 700, the Hyatt Foundation said in its release.

The success of the project saw the creation of an extension, a library and teachers' housing in later years.

© Provided by Al Jazeera The Lycée Schorge in Burkina Faso brought Diébédo Francis Kéré to global prominence. The architect made use of local clay, fortified with cement, in construction while the high roof allows air to circulate and keeps the building cool despite the heat [Francis Kéré via AP Photo]


'Natural climate'

Kere "empowers and transforms communities through the process of architecture," designing buildings "where resources are fragile and fellowship is vital," the statement add.

"Through his commitment to social justice and engagement, and intelligent use of local materials to connect and respond to the natural climate, he works in marginalized countries laden with constraints and adversity," the organizers said.

In Kere's native Burkina Faso, his accolade was hailed as a reminder that Burkina Faso should be known internationally for more than a violent jihadist insurgency that has gripped the country.

Groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State group have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.7 million.

"In the current pain of the security crisis, our country must remember that it is also the nation of exceptional men like Francis Kere," said Ra-Sablga Seydou Ouedraogo, of the non-profit Free Afrik.

© Provided by Al Jazeera Kere was also chosen to design the pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2017. The high profile commission is awarded to a different architect every year [File: Niklas Halle’n/AFP]

Nebila Aristide Bazie, head of the Burkina Faso architects' council, said the award "highlights the African architect and the people of Burkina Faso."

In 2017, Kere became the first African architect to design the Serpentine pavilion in London's Hyde Park, a prestigious assignment given to a world-famous architect every year.

He was also one of the architects behind Geneva's International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and has held solo museum shows in Munich and Philadelphia.

"I am totally convinced that everyone deserves quality," he said in his office, where he celebrated his award with his team.

"I'm always thinking how can I get the best for my clients, for those who can afford but also for those who can not afford.

"This is my way of doing things, of using my architecture to create structures to serve people, let's say to serve humanity," Kere added.


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