Red Hot Chili Peppers: From the strip club to stadium tours

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a new album and a world tour: A look back at the history of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as they release "Unlimited Love."

Reunited: Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Flea and Chad Smith

Too weird, too unconventional, too excessive — that's how many music critics rated the Red Hot Chili Peppers when the band started out back in the early 1980s.

But the California band built around childhood buddies Anthony Kiedis and Michael "Flea" Balzary has passed the test of time. Despite facing death, drug excesses and band fights, they successfully rocked their way into the 21st century.

On April 1, the band releases "Unlimited Love," their 12th studio album, which features the return of guitarist John Frusciante in the group after almost 15 years, and of producer Rick Rubin, who has been producing Red Hot Chili Peppers albums since the early '90s, starting with the legendary "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," which marked the band's international breakthrough.

'Funky Monks'

The Red Hot Chili Peppers start their world tour in June, ready to prove that they can still grab the crowds with their mix of punk, funk, metal and a good bit of "magic" almost 40 years after their formation.

Speaking of stage shows, one of the band's trademarks is their penchant for performing shirtless, whether at the 2014 Super Bowl or their induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Founding members Flea and Anthony Kiedis (r)

Until the early 2000s, the Peppers would sometimes perform wearing nothing but tube socks over their genitalia, a tradition that started in 1983 at one of their first concerts. At the time, the band played at the famous Kit Kat Club strip club in Hollywood, and decided that to go with the flow, everything but the sock had to come off.

After that, many came to the club not just for the music, but also for the revealing show.

The band made more of a name for itself, the gigs expanded, as did the band's drug use. While bassist Flea stuck to marijuana, singer Anthony Kiedis and then-guitarist Hillel Slovak were very fond of harder drugs.

In a 1999 interview for VH1- Behind The Music, Kiedis said he tried heroin for the first time when he was 14, thinking it was cocaine. The singer began to smoke pot regularly when he was a teenager after his dad gave him his first joint.

'Me & My Friends'

Kiedis met the boys who would later become members of the band in the late '70s at Fairfax High School. With Flea and Hillel Slovak in particular, Kiedis shares a deep friendship.

Nothing but tube socks: Onstage in 2000 in Seattle

Flea was born in Melbourne, Australia and moved to California with his single mother and siblings in the late '60s. His stepfather was a jazz musician, and young Flea was often allowed to sit in on jam sessions. He was a talented trumpet player and loved jazz.

His friend Hillel Slovak, an avid guitarist, taught Flea how to play bass when he was 16. Slovak and his Jewish family moved to Los Angeles from Israel — his first guitar was a bar mitzvah gift.

Jack Irons on drums completed the original  Red Hot Chili Peppers line-up. It was not to stay together for long. While things were looking up for the band from the mid-80s onwards, two band members were spiraling downwards. Kiedis' heroin addiction worsened considerably over the years.

'Fight like a Brave'

"Fight like a Brave" on the album "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" is about Kiedis' struggle with severe addiction. It would be many years and several stints at rehab before the musician managed to kick the addiction and stay clean. Today, Kiedis is a true health fanatic, a vegan who stays away from alcohol and drugs.

The band's guitarist Hillel Slovak lost the battle against drugs. At first, things looked good when the band went on tour in 1988 with "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" — Kiedis and Slovak refrained from taking drugs.

But back in the US, both relapsed. On June 25, 1988, Slovak died of a heroin overdose. He was 26 years old.

Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1988, with Jack Irons on drums

Grieving the death of his friend, drummer Jack Irons left the band.

Flea and Kiedis wanted to continue, so they hired new musicians: 18-year-old guitarist John Frusciante, a huge fan of the band who knew all their songs, and Chad Smith on the drums. In this formation, the Peppers had their greatest commercial successes.

'Under the Bridge'

The album "Mother's Milk" was released in 1989, followed two years later by "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," which catapulted the Red Hot Chili Peppers to international mega-fame.

The ballad "Under the Bridge," not a typical Red Hot Chili Peppers song at all, reached number 2 in the US Billboard pop charts.

It only ended up on the album by chance. Producer Rick Rubin had leafed through Kiedis' notebook during rehearsals one day and came across a poem about the singer's drug experiences, but the singer told him, "It's not a Chili Peppers song," as he wrote in his autobiography "Scar Tissue." Rubin convinced Kiedis to turn the poem into a song, and it became the band's biggest hit ever.

Kiedis, Flea and Smith enjoyed the fame, but Kiedis recalls in "Scar Tissue" that Frusciante was uncomfortable with it. He felt the band was too popular, it was a kind of success he didn't need.

The guitarist left the band in 1992, and he too struggled with drug problems in the years that followed, but returned to the Peppers in 1998 as things were not going well with his successor, Dave Navarro. The band recorded only one album in six years with Navarro, "One Hot Minute."

Lead singer Anthony Kiedis writes about his struggle with drug addicition in his autobiography, 'Scar Tissue'

With Frusciante back on board, the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded the very successful  albums "Californication" (1999), "By the Way" (2002) and "Stadium Arcadium" (2006).

In 2009, Frusciante left again to tackle solo projects. Josh Klinghoffer replaced him on guitar and recorded "I'm with You" (2011) with the band.

Ten years later, the band parted ways with Klinghoffer, and John Frusciante returned once again. "It just works out better with him," the band said in an interview with Rolling Stone music magazine. "On an artistic level, and being able to communicate with the same [musical] language, it was easier with John," Flea said. "Being back in a room together and just letting things run their course ... that was really exciting."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the four musicians retreated to their home studios to write songs. Of the 100 written, 17 are on the new album. "Black Summer" is the first single release.

The band's legendary status is now being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 31.
 

This article was originally written in German.

Mother of Russian soldier: Ukraine war is a 'bloodbath'

A 26-year-old Russian soldier was killed in the first days of the Ukraine war during an attack on the Hostomel airport near Kyiv. DW spoke with his grieving mother who still defends Russia's actions.



Russian troops have faced fierce resistance from Ukrainians, slowing down their advance

On February 24, Russia launched war on Ukraine though Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to refer to the campaign as a "special military operation." Scores of Russian soldiers have been killed since fighting broke out roughly one month ago. But often, neither the soldiers nor their families are told where they will be been sent to fight.

So far, Russia's Ministry of Defense has only twice reported fatality figures relating to its troops. On March 25, authorities acknowledged a total of 1,351 Russian servicemen had been killed in Ukraine. Yet a NATO source cited in the Washington Post estimates roughly 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers could have fallen since February 24. On March 20, Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported 9,861 Russian deaths, citing the Ministry of Defense. The piece was quickly removed from the website, with editors claiming the newspaper had been hacked.

26-year-old staff sergeant Yevgeny was killed in the early days of the war near Ukraine's capital Kyiv. He had never taken part in combat operations before.

Despite losing her son Yevgeny, Natalya (not her actual name) argues the invasion of Ukraine is justified. Yet she thinks Russia's campaign amounts to a full-fledged war, rather than a "special operation."

DW decided to publish this interview with Natalya as a testimonial of a mother who lost her son to the Russian-led war on Ukraine. She makes claims about the origins of the war that contradict current developments. DW has decided to leave her answers unedited as they clearly show the effects of the longstanding propaganda of the Russian state.

DW: Natalya, how do you feel?

Natalja: It is very hard, it hurts deeply. It is not my fault, nobody will bring back my son.

When did Yevgeny enlist?

Right after his exams in 2014, he joined the army. He was sent to a special unit with the foreign military intelligence agency GRU. They offered him a contract but I convinced him not to sign up, as he would had to serve in conflict zones.

A destroyed Russian tank near Kyiv, photographed on March 10

Afterwards, he made a living working for a security firm and applied to join the police force. He did not like the job, however and decided to return to the army. They took him back immediately, we had only one evening to say goodbye. Yevgeny served in the national guard. He liked it there, rising to become a team leader. His job was to disband protests in Moscow.

He became a father in 2017. He met his wife from his time at the security agency. She moved to join him in Moscow, and they married.

How did he end up being sent to Ukraine?

It was late January, around the 25th or 26th. My son called me, telling me they would be sent to the city of Smolensk [in western Russia, 80 kilometers from the Belarusian border] for drills with Belarus. I asked him: "Are you lying? What drills?" I went online to research the military maneuvers and found that a drill with Belarus had been conducted in the past. I kept searching, trying to find out where we are at war. I did not even think of Ukraine. The next day, I remembered the unrest in Ukraine.

Are you saying you understood you son was not being sent to participate in a military exercise?

Yes. I told Yevgeny I am not stupid and do not believe you are being sent to Smolensk. I kept researching more and realized that he would be going to Ukraine.

I wanted to dissuade him from going. I told him he may not return. He replied: "What are you talking about!" He had no idea where he was being sent. Either they brainwashed him, making him think they really were going to participate in drills. Or he knew what was coming but could not fathom what a bloodbath it would be. I suppose nobody expected that, not even Putin.

Were you in touch after he left?

He left on February 13. I jokingly asked him if he liked Smolensk and what kind of food they were eating. He laughed, telling me everything was fine.

The last time I heard from him was on the morning of February 24, when everything started. He wrote to me using a fellow soldier's WhatsApp account, telling me: "Mum, war has broken out." And I replied: "My son, I can see it on television." And he said: "Can you imagine, an entire unit with our boys was killed at the border." I asked: "Where are you?" To which he replied: "I am in Smolensk, mum."

I think he was somewhere near there. It was only from there near the border that he could have been flown to the airport [Hostomel, near Kyiv]. I told him: "Hang in there, son." And he wrote back: "Alright, goodbye mum. I have to go. Tell my wife everything is fine." Then, we never heard from him again.

What were those two weeks like when you had no contact with him?

I had my phone with me constantly. I spent days watching television, and reading on the internet. I thought maybe I would spot his face somewhere. I went to church everyday, lit a candle and prayed for him. But by then, he was long dead.

Yevgeny was in Hostomel on February 24. He did not die on February 27, as his death certificate says. He was killed much earlier, probably on the night between February 24 and 25.

What makes you think so?

I read online that our soldiers conquered Hostomel on February 24. All our boys were then sent there. But then they came under fire from Kyiv. Our boys were encircled and nobody came to their aid. They were shot at and bombed for a full day. Think about it, the airport is basically an open field.

On February 25, our soldiers regained control of Hostomel. On February 26, they found Yevgeny. But I was only informed on March 8. His unit called me around 1:30 p.m. and told me my son had died in a battle near Rostov [Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, some 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border]. I almost lost my mind.

Why did they say he died near Rostov-on-Don?

I do not know why they reported that. Maybe because his body was sent to a morgue in Rostov, and they had no verified information about his death.

Did you ever discuss Ukraine with your son in the past?

To be honest, no.

Do you understand why this war was begun?

I think if we had not started bombing them, the Ukrainians would have bombed us. We had no choice. But something went wrong, nobody saw it coming. Now that so many soldiers have died, we cannot stop. We need to press on until we achieve victory.

Do you understand why Russia is fighting in Ukraine? What was Yevgeny fighting for?

My son fought for us, for Russia and the Russians. So that we can keep using our phones, eat and drink like before. He did not die in vain, he died for us, so that we can lead long, happy lives, so that we don't have to live through war and that bombs fall on us.

In Russia, it is illegal to call this conflict a war. Do you regard this as a war or a "special operation"?

I do not see this as a "special operation." This is a proper war. I am aware we are not supposed to call it that, but it is a war. It's a bloodbath.


The interview was conducted by Oxana Ivanova.

Opinion: The Taliban must not get away with suppressing girls' education

The West can't afford to simply stand by and watch how the Taliban turn back the clock in Afghanistan. For the sake of the people there and in its own self-interest it must act, says Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi.


The Taliban's U-turn means girls are isolated from education yet again

Girls crying; teachers sobbing, news readers losing their composure — the Taliban's decision not to open schools for girls from the sixth grade up, despite earlier announcements to the contrary, triggered widespread shock and anger.

The Taliban kept the people of Afghanistan and the international community waiting for months, arguing that they wanted to create the necessary conditions to ensure the safety of girls and young women. Both in bilateral talks and in statements to the media, the Taliban repeatedly claimed that Afghan girls should have the right to education.

For 187 days, girls in Afghanistan waited. Just one day before school started, the Taliban released a statement that schools would be open to all. But with the dawning of the next day came the bitter realization that girls would still be excluded. The Taliban said this was due to organizational issues — as if seven months had not been enough to sort them out. Why this 180-degree U-turn?
No interest in international recognition?

It should come as no surprise that the goals of the Taliban, or at least those of the hardliners, are still the same as they were in the 1990s.

Despite the outcry of Afghan women and the vociferous criticism of the international community, the Taliban are showing no signs of relenting. Instead, they're imposing further restrictions.

Waslat Hasrat-Wazimi is head of DW's Dari-Pashto service

For example, women without male relatives are not allowed to travel within the country or abroad, and women are only allowed to visit parks in cities on certain days; men without beards and traditional Afghan dress are no longer allowed to work in Afghan government offices; national media outlets have been banned from broadcasting foreign media coverage, including DW, because they allegedly put out content that disrespects Islamic and Afghan values.

It appears the Taliban do not care about the reaction of the international community. Yet, it has been made clear to them time and again that their disregard for women's rights will prevent their international recognition.

Indeed, that seems to be off the table. The Taliban did not respond to the demand to open schools for girls immediately. Instead, there have been meetings with high-ranking Russian and Chinese representatives in Kabul recently. Both sides assured each other of mutual support and good relations.

It would be convenient for the Taliban's two powerful partners if the latter were now to break completely with the West. Russia and China have their eyes on Afghanistan's rich natural resources. China wants to start mining copper at the Mes Aynak mine in the east of the country. The contract was signed back in 2012, but has been at a standstill due to the security situation.

China also wants to export goods from Afghanistan, a multi-million dollar business for the Taliban. Consideration for women's rights or press freedom are not part of the deal. Neighbors Iran and Pakistan, which have been accused of financing the Taliban for years, will not shift their course anytime soon. Who needs the West then?


LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN UNDER THE TALIBAN
New but old dress code
Although it is not yet mandatory for women to wear a burqa, many do so out of fear of reprisals. This Afghan woman is visiting a local market with her children. There is a large supply of second-hand clothes as many refugees have left their clothes behind.
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The West must act

The window of opportunity for the West to exert influence on the Taliban is almost, but not quite, closed. Above all, the EU and the United States must act quickly and effectively to prevent Afghanistan from relapsing into conditions as they were more than 20 years ago. Sanctions against the Taliban and their families in Qatar and Pakistan as well as travel restrictions are the least they can do. Empty words and expressions of regret are not enough.

Western states may well have lost sight of Afghanistan, but history has shown that the West ignores Afghanistan at its own peril. The specters of the past could come back to haunt the West. The fear that Afghanistan will become another terrorist retreat is not unfounded. After all, terror knows no borders and will not stop at the gates of Europe. After 20 years of leading futile operations in Afghanistan, the West must not allow history to repeat itself.

This piece was originally published in German.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer

Whose Family Values?

Unplanned pregnancy is 'a crisis all around us'

A report from the UN's Population Fund says pregnancy is an inevitability, not a choice, for many women lacking education, autonomy or contraception.



Unintended pregnancies are common in crisis situations that cause mass migration, like the war in Ukraine

Pregnancy isn’t always planned. For many women, this is because they can’t access contraception. For others, it is because their contraception fails. And for others, it is because they don’t have a choice.

Pregnancy isn't always planned. For many women, it is because they can't access contraception. For some, it is because their contraception fails. And for others, it is because they don't have a choice.

Each year, about 121 million pregnancies across the globe are unintended, according to a report published Wednesday by the United Nation's Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA studies, among other things, sexual and reproductive health trends.

"This is a crisis that's all around us," said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem in an interview with DW. "But it's unseen. It's unrecognized and that is part of a global failure to prioritize women and girls and to uphold the basic human rights for women and adolescents."

Many pregnancies end in unsafe abortions

Over 60% of those unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. The rest are carried to term.

For women in rich countries where abortion is legal, termination procedures are largely safe. But nearly half — the UNFPA says it's 45% — are unsafe abortions.

Those unsafe abortions account for up to 13% of maternal deaths worldwide.

In developed countries, the number of unintended pregnancies has fallen dramatically since the 1990s. That is due in part, says the report, to an increase in the availability of contraceptives and sexual education.

That is not the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of unintended pregnancies has fallen by a mere 12%. And when you account for global population growth, the report says the absolute number of women who experience an unintended pregnancy worldwide has in fact increased by 13%.

Women often feel at a loss if they get pregnant unintentionally. They don't know how to feel or what to do about it. The UN report says that although some pregnancies are terminated and others are celebrated, many are met with ambivalence.

"These pregnancies may be not quite unintended but not fully deliberate either, taking place when an individual lacks the possibility to fully articulate what they want in their lives — or even to imagine a life in which pregnancy is a choice," write the report authors.

Contraception: From access to misconception

Methods for contraception exist. But the report says that many women are prevented from exercising a basic right to bodily autonomy — for example, a right to choose to use contraception if they want. That is why, say the report authors, there is no material "magic bullet" or solution to "solve" the problem.

Some women who can access contraception methods abstain from using them. There are many reasons for this, ranging from stigmatization in certain communities or misconceptions — such as some perimenopausal women think they don't need contraception.

Many other women are in relationships with men who want children and deny their partners a right to birth control. That can either force the women to use birth control in secret or carry children for whom they feel unprepared.

The report notes that the responsibility to prevent pregnancy falls, in most cases, on women. But that does not mean they always have a choice. The report cites data collected in sub-Saharan Africa between the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, which showed that the majority of men desired children more than women desired them.

Kanem told DW this indicated a "mismatch between what women want and need and what men believe to be the ideal."

"It's the mother of the family who typically is selfless. She plans the meals. She decides who is going to get which shoes to go to school. And she's a realist when it comes to [questions like]: How much can I bear? What is the investment in each of my children going to cost?" Kanem said.

Even when contraception is used perfectly, it can fail. For every 100 women who use condoms as their main method of birth control, 13 will become pregnant. And even for women who use highly effective forms of contraception, such as an Intrauterine Device (IUD), unintended pregnancies can still happen.

The report refers to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which conducts abortions in the UK. In 2016, the service says that more than half of about 60,000 women who had an abortion at one of their centers that year were using birth control.

Crisis situations upend routines

Conflicts and other crises can exacerbate the problem.

"If you have 15 minutes or half an hour to decide what you are going to do and you're caught up in a conflict… as you grab your children and race out the door, contraception, your menstrual supplies — they may not really be top of mind. I mean, if you have a passport, you're going to grab it, you're going to make sure that you can fit whatever you can into a little backpack and go," said Kanem.

Kanem said that this makes women fleeing conflict situations especially vulnerable to unintended pregnancies. Many women rely on monthly supplies of birth control. When they are displaced, they no longer have access to their usual supplies.

Damaged health care systems can also result in unintended pregnancies, Kanem said.

In Afghanistan, for instance, disruption to the healthcare system is expected to lead to around 1 million extra unintended pregnancies through to 2025.

Poor communities lack education most

Unintended pregnancies can affect any woman, regardless of financial or educational background. But they are more likely to happen in countries where women have lower levels of education and autonomy, says the report.

Africa has the highest rates of unplanned pregnancies, viewed country by country. The continent sees the highest number of women giving birth under the age of 18 and outside of marriage.

"While the overall rates around the world dropped in the 1990s, it was slowest in sub-Saharan Africa," Kanem said. "Regions of Africa showed some of the lowest scores on the index of bodily autonomy."

Kanem said this was largely due to a lack of education. And education is linked to access to contraception.

If women don't know what they want and need, they can't ask for it. And when sexual education is spread through word of mouth, it can easily get tangled up in misconceptions.

"Part of choice is being able to choose the method that's right for you and we saw striking myths about contraception very active among young women in Africa," said Kanem, who wanted to stress that contraception does not jeopardize future fertility, but rather safeguards women's health.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany

121 Million Unintended Pregnancies Per Year Reveals 'Global Failure' on Women's Rights: Report

Governments around the world must establish "comprehensive sexuality education," the agency said.

"For too many, the most life-altering reproductive choice is no choice at all," said the United Nations Population Fund.

A pregnant woman wearing a face mask walks past a mural in Caracas, Venezuela on January 19, 2021. (Photo: Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images)

INCLUDING ALL G20 CONTRIES

JULIA CONLEY

COMMON DREAMS

March 30, 2022

The United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency on Wednesday said global policymakers have utterly failed to uphold women's rights as it reported that despite the wide availability of contraception in wealthy countries, nearly half of all pregnancies around the world—121 million per year—are unintended.

"Nothing is more fundamental to bodily autonomy than the ability to decide whether or not to become pregnant," said the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) in its new report, titled Seeing the Unseen. "Yet for too many, the most life-altering reproductive choice is no choice at all."

A lack of sexual and reproductive healthcare and education and gender inequality are major drivers of unintended pregnancies, which are especially common in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa according to a separate report released last week by the World Health Organization.

"By putting the power to make this most fundamental decision squarely in the hands of women and girls, societies can ensure that motherhood is an aspiration and not an inevitability."

According to the UNFPA, 23% of women report feeling unable to reject demands for sex, while an estimated 257 million women around the world are not using safe, effective forms of birth control despite wanting to avoid pregnancy—in some cases because contraceptives that suit their circumstances are not available to them, and in others because of rampant misinformation.

The agency surveyed women from countries around the world, finding that many women in both the Global North and the Global South avoid using contraceptives due to beliefs that they cause infertility, cancer, and other health conditions.

A 44-year-old respondent in Algeria told the UNFPA that she had learned "condoms should only be used for sex outside marriage, the pill makes you sterile, the IUD causes hemorrhages."

According to the report, more than a quarter of women who don't use contraceptives say they want to avoid side effects.

"We need more research into other kinds of contraceptives, including those with fewer side effects and male contraceptives," the UNFPA said.

Harmful societal norms regarding women's control of their bodies, shaming in health services, and sexual violence—which often increases in places experiencing conflicts—also contribute to high rates of unintended pregnancy.

"I didn't have sexuality education like they have today," another woman said. "You wanted to ask, and the answer was, 'Shut up, you shouldn't ask that.'"

Governments around the world must establish "comprehensive sexuality education," the agency said.

"Done properly, this education can combat myths and misperceptions, and it can promote communication, consent, and respectful relationships," according to the report. "It can address gender and power and teach adolescents about confidential contraceptive care."

Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA, called the report a "wakeup call" regarding an "invisible crisis."

The "staggering number of unintended pregnancies represents a global failure to uphold women and girls' basic human rights," Kanem said in a statement.

Unintended pregnancies can have serious health and safety consequences for women in countries where they can't access safe abortion care. More than 60% of unintended pregnancies result in abortions, and around the world, "a staggering 45% of all abortions are unsafe."

High rates of unintended pregnancies can have "profound consequences for societies, women and girls, and global health," the agency said.

Women and girls around the world "see other opportunities dwindle" after being "robbed of the chance to choose whether or not to become pregnant."

Many girls are forced to leave school or their jobs, increasing the chances that their families will face poverty.

"The slide into poverty can be steep and swift, with poorer nutrition and less schooling following close behind," the UNFPA reported.

With 6% or more of the world's women experiencing an unintended pregnancy each year, the agency said, the rate "begs an uncomfortable question: Do these societies fully value the potential of women beyond their reproductive capacities?"

The report called on policymakers to: 

 

Prioritize bodily autonomy and ensure women and girls are empowered to prevent these pregnancies in the first place;

Strengthen health and education systems, which have a human rights obligation to provide accurate information about reproduction and contraception and should instill in young people the ability to articulate their choices and goals and the duty to respect those of their partners;

Ensure contraceptives are accessible, affordable, and available in a range of forms acceptable to those using them;

Invest in research to better understand the causes and consequences of unintended pregnancy and to spearhead contraceptive technologies that allay women’s anxieties over side effects and broaden the options available for men; and

Address justice systems that too often fail to hold perpetrators of sexual violence and coercion to account, leaving survivors to bear the stigma of both unwanted sex and the consequences of a potential pregnancy.

"By putting the power to make this most fundamental decision squarely in the hands of women and girls, societies can ensure that motherhood is an aspiration and not an inevitability," concluded the UNFPA chief.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Whose Family Values?

Women and the Social Reproduction of Capitalism

"proletarii, propertyless citizens whose service to the State was to raise children (proles).”
Classical Antiquity; Rome, Perry Anderson, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism, Verso Press 1974

The issue facing women working at home or in capitalist society is the matter of unwaged servitude versus wage-slavery. The social reproduction of capitalist society is found both in the workplace and the home.

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/01/whose-family-values.html

India: Frequent heat waves a reminder of climate change impacts

Climate scientists warn that South Asia is likely to experience more extreme weather brought on by heat waves in the coming decades. In March, wide swathes of northern India experienced more than dozen heat waves.


Women in Rajasthan, India during a heat wave this week

Parts of northern India have experienced over a dozen heat waves in March, and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts the unusually hot weather will continue into April.

Severe heat waves, which were rare in the past, have become yearly events in India.

In 2022, heat waves have started earlier. The IMD declared India's first heat wave on March 11 and, since then, several heat waves have been declared "severe."

The IMD declares a heat wave when the maximum temperature tops 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in a region with low elevation. A heat wave is also considered when temperatures reach at least 4.5 degrees above the normal average temperature.

A "severe" heat wave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 degrees, according to the IMD.

India's northwestern Gujarat state has been the most affected. Parts of the state experienced heat waves for 11 days in March. Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir — considered to be cooler areas of India — experienced heat waves as well.

R Krishnan, a senior climate scientist from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told DW that while such heat-wave events have been observed in the past, they seem to now be getting more severe and lasting longer.

"There is increased temperature in a region for a few days and then it returns to normal. But what we have seen in the recent years is that the heat waves have increased both in frequency and severity," Krishnan said.

India has also experienced other unusual weather conditions in 2022. The coastal metropolis of Mumbai has experienced uncommon heat waves this year, and dust storms blew across the Arabian Sea toward Mumbai from Afghanistan and Pakistan in January and February.

Two subtropical depressions also formed in ocean surrounding India in March, which is rare so early in the year.

South Asia vulnerable to climate change

The 2021 and 2022 reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have warned that in South Asia, heat waves and humidity-related heat stress are set to intensify.

Frequent and intense heat waves, extreme or abnormal rainfall events and other odd weather-related calamities in the coming decades are in store for India, according to the report. The IPCC report also warns that there is also an increased likelihood of droughts in already arid areas.

By the end of the century, the IPCC predicts South Asia will be one of the hardest-hit regions in the world by heat stress, and "deadly" heat waves could push the limits of human survivability.

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) have also analyzed sea surface temperature in a section of the western Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal between 1982 and 2018. They found that over 150 marine heat waves occurred in the areas examined.

During this time period, the marine heat waves increased four-fold in the Indian Ocean and three-fold in the Bay of Bengal.

Heat waves are of tremendous significance in India due to its largely agrarian society, which depends on stable weather patterns. Heat waves on land disrupt agricultural yields, which is a vital source of income for farmers living in central and northwestern India.

Marine heat waves, which cause bleaching of coral reefs and disrupt marine ecosystems, affect coastal communities which depend on fishing.

Krishnan said that human-induced increases in surface temperatures caused by greenhouses gases are a likely cause for such abnormal weather conditions.

"Greenhouse gases like C0-2 have a long life. Even if we reduce emissions significantly, we may see its effects in the coming decades," he said.

WOMEN AND GIRLS: VICTIMS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Dangerous distances
As places around the world become more arid and suffer from increasing drought and deforestation, wooded areas are disappearing. According to a new study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), women, particularly those living in the global south, are being forced to walk farther and farther to find firewood for cooking — and are increasingly at risk of being raped.
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India: Doubts emerge over spiritual Yogi's environmental mission

Jaggi Vasudev, the Indian spiritual Yogi also known as "Sadhguru," is riding a motorbike thousands of kilometers to raise awareness about soil degradation. But questions are being asked over the campaign's effectiveness.

NOT RUNNING ON VEGETABLE OIL

Vasudev's ride is part of his Save Soil movement

Riding 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) on a Ducati Multistrada 1260 across 26 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Indian spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev is on a mission.

Known as "Sadhguru" to his followers, Vasudev's ride on this special edition bike is part of his Save Soil movement, spreading awareness about soil degradation.
New age ecological influencer

In the past two decades, Vasudev's activities have received global attention and given him the status of a new age ecological influencer.

Vasudev's flagship platform Isha Foundation receives support from the Dalai Lama, Leonardo Di Caprio, Deepak Chopra and Will Smith, all of whom help spread the word about his campaigns.

According to the Isha Foundation, Vasudev's awareness-raising approach is "ecology married with economy." But how traveling across continents, as an approach, marries economy with ecology remains a mystery.

Vasudev's model of activism mainly focuses on spreading the word which, according to Isha, will "urge governments to set up policies."

Like previous efforts, the Save Soil campaign also plans to do this, and aims to make "at least 3.5 billion people" or "60% of the global electorate" aware of the cause. This approach seems to shift the focus away from institutions such as the state and markets. Instead, it puts the onus on the people to pressure governments into action.

'Nothing at all'

Prakash Kashwan is a professor who specializes in environmental governance. For him, "the campaigns that Sadhguru and celebrities run can contribute positively only if they are tied to institutional arrangements that hold public and private institutions accountable."

Environmentalist Leo Saldanha said: "A review of the public records of the financials of Isha Outreach reveals that the foundation has spent nothing at all on planting trees from the millions they have raised abroad."

In India, there were at least two instances when the state acknowledged Vasudev's campaign and announced policy measures. However, these measures seldom get materialized and thus end up weakening India's environmental regulatory framework, says Kashwan.

What is the impact on the environment?

Isha Foundation's successes are adequately portrayed through statistics and numbers. While many may recognize Fridays for Future as the world's largest ecological movement today, it is Vasudev's Rally for Rivers campaign that lays claim to this title.

But the tangible impact of these awareness campaigns on the environment is challenged by some. According to Saldanha, "to build soil health we need to build biomass. Which can only happen if we were to return to agroecological practices suited to particular agroecological zones." This cannot happen as the Indian soil is "acutely carbon deficit," says Saldanha.

Doubts persist about whether motorbiking thousands of kilometers is the most climate-friendly way to raise awareness about soil degradation.

Vasudev's followers remain loyal

Australian neuroscientist Sumaiya Shaikh's interest in Vasudev was piqued when videos of him solidifying mercury went viral. She asked herself, "if he can do this with his hands and has that power, why use it for mercury? Use it for bigger things!"

Shaikh then fact-checked this claim and published an article on Alt News, an Indian nonprofit fact-checking website. Her arguments on mercury poisoning, as opposed to Vasudev's claims on mercury's benefits, point to the debate between modern medicine and South Asian traditional medicinal practices such as Ayurveda and Siddha.

But criticism of Vasudev, no matter how densely packed with scientific explanation, doesn't seem to diminish the faith among his followers. "It really doesn't affect [me]," said Durba, a follower of Vasudev's. "Absolutely nothing."

Volunteer Kaninika is "overwhelmed and humbled to hear the success stories, achievements and fulfillment of the ecological projects undertaken by Isha Foundation" and doesn't have time for the critical stances of others.

Ecological restoration and spirituality

Followers such as Durba and Kaninika say it is the personal path that matters, not the layers of discourse that Vasudev's public image comes with.

This connection that Vasudev has managed to create with his ardent fans ensures that his followers join the ecological activities he promotes, irrespective of the critique.

Sociologist Radhika Chopra, who studies South Asian masculinities, said Vasudev had "inherited a lineage of someone who can restore lost spirituality and connections with the spiritual inner self. This lineage harks back to people like Mahesh Yogi and Osho. [But] he has also moved significantly away from this lineage and intertwined the discourse of recovered spiritual selves with the restoration of ecology."

Why Save Soil?

Chopra said Vasudev's emphasis on soil could represent the anxieties of people who consider themselves the rightful tenders versus those who simply suck the land of all its meaning.

The movement is a "dangerous distraction" from from the climate-saving work being done by grassroots activists, Kashwan said. But the Isha Foundation remains steadfast, particularly as several Caribbean nations — Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana and Barbados — have already pledged their commitment to protect their soil, in close partnership with Isha.

"There are some who use media with the genuine intent of promoting ecological wisdom and the precisely necessary environmental responses," Saldanha said. And, given the unshakable faith that Vasudev's followers have in him, he could be on the brink of being one of the biggest influencers today. Arundhathi Subramanian thinks that it is the "mix of the irreverent and the sacred" that ‘Sadhguru' offers to his followers in a nonhierarchical manner that sets him apart from others.

"There has to be meaningful will on his part to be active on the ecological front. And that could be a way of legitimizing all the other stuff that he is doing in India," Shaikh said. By "other stuff," Shaikh refers to the accusations of illegal land-grabbing, kidnapping and murder that surround the public image of Vasudev in India.

It is the eco-influencer aura of Vasudev that seems to be his most-exported image. As social media open up to environmental activism, this seems to work in the favor of his outreach model, further distracting from the responsibilities of the state and markets.

World Bank urges support for poor as food prices soar

A senior World Bank official called for more support for poor people globally Thursday as the war in Ukraine sends food prices soaring.

© Khaled Ziad Rising food prices are having a dramatic impact in war-torn Yemen, where millions of people have been displaced from their homes

Developing and import-dependent countries have been heavily impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- the two countries that account for more than a quarter of the world's annual wheat sales.

"It's not so much about food availability," Mari Pangestu, the World Bank's managing director for development policy, told AFP during Middle East and North Africa Climate Week in Dubai.

"The production at the moment is adequate, whether we're talking about wheat, rice or maize, which are the main food products.

"It's more about affordability. Apart from making sure the flow of goods and fertilisers are not impeded, we really need to make sure that affordability of food for the poor households is also going to be addressed."

Net food importers will suffer the most from the economic repercussions of the war, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which lists 36 countries as highly dependent on wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia -- mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

Among those affected are Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and war-torn Yemen, whose humanitarian crisis is already considered the world's worst.

- Rising climate risks -

Supply chain problems caused by the Covid pandemic have quickly worsened since the invasion, further adding to the price of food.

The cost of freight has shot up by 34 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to UNCTAD.

Pangestu, a former Indonesian trade minister, said it was important to maintain and expand programmes to provide food support, especially in the face of rising climate risks.

"This really means social protection schemes in countries which are the most affected -- to be able to provide support to the poor households... and then for the farmers, to make sure they can get access to fertilisers and inputs (so) they can produce for the next season," she said.

© Erin CONROY The FAO Food Price Index and individual commodity price indices, to Feb 2022

Pangestu was speaking after an International Monetary Fund report released on Wednesday found temperatures in the Middle East and Central Asia have risen 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since the 1990s, twice the global average.

It warned that the region is on the "frontlines" of the climate crisis, with food security and public health in danger, and increased risks of poverty and conflict.

"The fall in food production in (the Middle East) region has been an issue related to climate change even before the (current) crisis," Pangestu said, urging governments to focus on sustainable agriculture practises to address food security longer-term.

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Greenpeace blocks Russian oil delivery off Denmark


Thu, 31 March 2022

Greenpeace activists blocked two Russian tankers from transferring 100,000 tonnes of crude oil off the Danish coast (AFP/Kristian Buus) (Kristian Buus)

A dozen Greenpeace activists in kayaks and swimming in the water blocked the transfer of Russian oil between two tankers off Denmark's coast on Thursday, the environmental organisation said.

Greenpeace organised the action to call for a ban on the import of fossil fuels from Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine.

"At 11:00 am (0900 GMT), activists began the blockade of the supertanker Pertamina Prime, preventing the other ship Seaoath from approaching it and blocking the transfer of oil," Greenpeace spokeswoman Emma Oehlenschlager told AFP.

Both ships are Russian.

Eleven activists rode kayaks or swam in the icy waters off of Frederikshavn, some of them carrying signs calling on governments to "stop fuelling the war".

The activists painted "Oil fuels war" on the hull of the Pertamina Prime.

Some 100,000 tonnes of crude oil were to be transferred between the two ships.

In the past two weeks, the Danish branch of Greenpeace has carried out several actions against Russian vessels conducting oil transfers, though this was the first successful blockade.

"This is the only time we've managed to stop the delivery. In the other instances, the tankers either diverted or accelerated", Oehlenschlager said.

"They will now maintain the blockade as long as possible to make sure the ships can't get close to each other to carry out the transfer", she said, urging Denmark to ban the transfer of Russian oil in its waters.

cbw/map/po/lth

UN starts task force for company climate targets



Issued on: 31/03/2022 -

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The United Nations launched a task force Thursday to pressure businesses to keep their emissions-cutting promises instead of masking progress with feel-good "greenwashing".

The group will draw up standards for measuring the credibility of claims by non-state groups -- including cities and companies -- that they are cutting the carbon emissions driving devastating climate change.

The 16-member group of experts will be chaired by Canada's former environment minister Catherine McKenna and includes various academics and leaders from business, finance, energy, politics and NGOs.

Countries have agreed they must cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius to avert the worst impacts. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says this requires carbon-neutrality by mid-century.

But UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that state pledges will not be enough if regional authorities, polluting companies and the banks that finance them do not pull their weight.

"We also urgently need every business, investor, city, state and region to walk the talk on their net-zero promises," he said, according to pre-prepared remarks released ahead of the group's launch.

In February, a landmark IPCC report on climate change impacts warned that time had nearly run out to ensure a "liveable future" for all.

A report by Boston Consulting Group found that some 3,000 companies had set some form of net-zero commitment by November 2021.

They included more than a fifth of those in the Fortune Global 2000 ranking of listed companies -- some 420 major world firms.

But companies are accused of "greenwashing" -- trumpeting climate pledges while taking action that undermines those goals.

The UN says greenwashing is made possible by a lack of common standards for assessing the credibility of carbon-cutting commitments and enforcing them.

It warns that pledges by fossil fuel companies to shift to methods such as carbon-capture technology are not enough -- carbon emissions must be actively reduced overall.

"The recent avalanche of net-zero pledges by businesses, investors, cities and regions will be vital to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius alive and to build towards a safe and healthy planet," McKenna said in pre-released remarks.

"But only if all pledges have transparent plans, robust near-term action, and are implemented in full."

Guterres said the new body -- the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities -- will draw up such standards and aim to embed them in international regulations.

Similar initiatives are under way in the United States and the European Union.

Guterres asked the group to make recommendations by the end of the year.

"To avert a climate catastrophe, we need bold pledges matched by concrete action," he said.

"Tougher net-zero standards and strengthened accountability around the implementation of these commitments can deliver real and immediate emissions cuts."

© 2022 AFP

Ethiopia's Tigray region still waits for aid despite a government truce

Aid convoys have yet to reach Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region almost a week after the government announced a humanitarian truce.



Barely any aid is reaching Ethiopia's Tigray region

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Convoys carrying much-needed humanitarian supplies to Ethiopia's northern Tigray region are still stuck in Semera, the capital of the neighboring Afar region, despite Ethiopia's government declaring a unilateral humanitarian truce on March 24.

"There are still no convoys headed north [to Tigray]," a humanitarian source in Afar, who wishes to remain anonymous, told DW.

More than 700 trucks of supplies per week are currently needed in Tigray, where more than 5 million people are in urgent need of assistance. But not a single truck has entered the northern region in over three months.

Rather, trucks laden with aid have been stranded in Semera since mid-December, waiting for clearance to travel into the region.

Because of the delay, some aid organizations have even unloaded food or distributed it to communities outside of Tigray, including in Afar, to avoid wasting it.

The United Nations has warned of soaring rates of acute malnutrition in Tigray, and estimates that hundreds of thousands of people face famine in the region.
Airlifts getting in

There have also been no reports of increased cargo flights by the United Nations and the Red Cross since the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the truce last Thursday.

Airlifts carrying medicine and food supplies from the capital Addis Ababa to the regional capital Mekele resumed in January, but cover only about 4% of health needs on the ground, according to the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA.

Airlifts have been reaching regions in need of aid

Acute fuel shortages are also making it difficult for organizations to distribute the airlifted aid outside of Makele. As a result, those living in rural Tigray are getting little or no aid at all.

Humanitarian workers and diplomats still hope that the government's announcement of the truce will soon spell an end to the aid blockade.

"We hope that the humanitarian truce will allow us to send humanitarian convoys to the Tigray regions, which will enable us to contribute to alleviating the dire needs of the Tigray population," said Fatima Sator, Ethiopia spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Tigrayans in Afar region

Leaders from Tigray said on Monday that they were temporary ceasing hostilities.

Afar Police Commissioner Ahmed Harif told Reuters news agency on Monday that fighting was ongoing in two of the six districts occupied by Tigrayan fighters, and there was a "significant" buildup of Tigrayan forces along the border to Afar.

Militias in Afar confirmed to DW on Tuesday that fighting is ongoing around the town of Berhale in the region's north, not far from the border to Tigray.

Fighting in northern Afar flared in mid-January when Tigrayan forces crossed to the border town of Abala before advancing further into the region.

The federal government says that the aid trucks stuck in Semera since December are unable to leave because Tigrayan forces are blocking the route the trucks would take near Abala.

However, a humanitarian worker based in Addis Ababa told DW that fighting around Abala had obstructed aid for "a few days only" in January.

He said that that main reason for the continued delays to the aid delivery are procedures of local Afar authorities and the security of aid convoys within Afar-controlled territory.

Convoys attacked

Outside of Tigray, some additional 4 million people in Ethiopia are in need of aid, according to the United Nations, primarily in the Amhara and Afar regions, which have also been heavily affected by the conflict.

Dispatching aid within Afar has become a struggle.

Trucks carrying food to communities within Afar have been stopped and looted in recent weeks; the most-recent attack was on a World Food Programme convoy on March 20.

It's unclear who was behind this latest attack.

Afar fighters may have targeted the trucks in the mistaken belief that the convoy was headed to Tigray when it was actually taking aid to Afar communities.

These sacks of food, earmarked for Afar and Tigray regions, face distribution fraught with difficulties

There has been growing frustration towards aid agencies within the Afar population. Due to the recent fighting in Afar, more than 300,000 people have been displaced from Afar's Zone 2.

They have so far received little in the way of food, drinking water, shelter or clothing, causing resentment and suspicion against foreign aid organizations taking aid to Tigray.

However, the attack on the aid convoy could also have been carried out by other organized groups wanting to sabotage aid delivery or peace negotiations.
Eritrea's murky role

The intentions of Eritrea in the Tigray conflict, for instance, remain unclear.

Eritrean forces have been fighting against Tigrayan forces ever since the conflict started in November 2020.

In February, Tigrayan leaders accused Eritrean mercenaries of initiating violence in Afar, which borders Eritrea to the southeast, forcing Tigrayan troops to retaliate.

DW could not independently verify this information due to a lack of access to the region and a telecommunications blackout.

"An important element is what role is Eritrea playing, both in terms of possibly creating the security situation that led to the [Tigray] occupation of parts of Afar and perhaps being behind some of the attacks on the aid convoy in Afar," said William Davison, a senior Ethiopia analyst for the International Crisis Group, an independent think thank.

"There is a possibility that Eritrea is playing a spoiler role, as it does not want to see the TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front] recover legitimacy and standing as part of a peace process," he said.

Building trust

As both parties — the TPLF and Abiy's government — advance conditions for the implementation of a truce, analysts say that both sides need to make allowances.

This would mean the progressive withdrawal of Tigrayan forces from Afar while the federal government simultaneously opens up routes for humanitarian convoys into Tigray.

Only then could enough trust be built to, eventually, reach a peaceful settlement in the 17-month-old conflict, analysts say.

Ethiopian forces have declared a cease-fire

"For a peace process to get off the ground, the federal government and its regional allies are going to have to actually allow the consistent delivery of sufficient aid to Tigray," Davison said.

"Announcing a unilateral truce with the stated intention of addressing the humanitarian situation needs to be matched by action, otherwise it will have no effect on resolving the conflict," he noted.
Difficult national dialogue

More generally, building trust among communities is a daunting task in today's Ethiopia. The conflict in the north is only one of the country's many territorial and political disputes.

At the end of 2021, Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed launched a long-awaited national dialogue, which aims to bridge divides between ethnic groups and promote unity within the Horn of Africa nation.

A commission was established to oversee the process after a parliamentary vote on December 29.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed controversially won the Nobel Peace Prize

But the initiative has already been met with skepticism, and few in the opposition believe it's inclusive and independent enough to be credible.

The dialogue excludes some of Ethiopia's most influential regional opposition groups, namely the Oromo Liberation Army, as well as the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The government has labeled both groups as terrorist organizations.

Other major parties, such as the Oromo Liberation Front and the Oromo Federalist Congress, which were invited to participate, have boycotted the dialogue.

"We do not believe that a national dialogue that does not include all stakeholders and is led by a neutral body can resolve all outstanding issues facing the country," the Oromo Federalist Congress said in a statement on Sunday.

Ethiopia's path to peace will be a long one, it seems.

The Tigray conflict has absorbed much of the government's attention and resources since November 2020.

Ending the war would enable Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to shift his focus back to other security issues and other divisions. But the multitude of actors involved will make this task particularly difficult.