Belarusians join war seeking to free Ukraine and themselves

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Belarus regiment leader, Vadim Prokopiev, practices at a shooting range near Warsaw, Poland, Friday, May 20, 2022. Belarusians are among the foreign fighters who have volunteered to take up arms in Ukraine against Russian forces. They consider the Ukrainians defending their homeland to be their brethren. And by joining their resistance to Russia's onslaught, they hope to weaken the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and ultimately that of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. 

(AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — One is a restaurateur who fled Belarus when he learned he was about to be arrested for criticizing President Alexander Lukashenko. Another was given the choice of either denouncing fellow opposition activists or being jailed. And one is certain his brother was killed by the country’s security forces.

What united them is their determination to resist Lukashenko by fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine.

Belarusians are among those who have answered a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for foreign fighters to go to Ukraine and join the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine. And volunteers have answered that call, given the high stakes in a conflict which many people see as a civilizational battle pitting dictatorship against freedom.

For the Belarusians, who consider Ukrainians a brethren nation, the stakes feel especially high. Russian troops used Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine early in the war, and Lukashenko has publicly stood by longtime ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing him as his “big brother.” Russia, for its part, has pumped billions of dollars into shoring up Lukashenko’s Soviet-style, state-controlled economy with cheap energy and loans.

Weakening Putin, the Belarusian volunteers believe, would also weaken Lukashenko, who has held power since 1994, and create an opening to topple his oppressive government and bring democratic change to the nation of nearly 10 million people.

For many of the Belarusians, their base is Poland, a country along NATO’s eastern flank that borders Belarus and Ukraine and which became a haven for pro-democracy Belarusian dissidents before becoming one for war refugees from Ukraine.

Some of the fighters are already in Poland, and some only pass through briefly in transit on their way to Ukraine.

“We understand that it’s a long journey to free Belarus and the journey starts in Ukraine,” said Vadim Prokopiev, a 50-year-old businessman who used to run restaurants in Minsk. He fled the country after a rumor spread that he would be arrested for saying publicly that the government wasn’t doing enough for small businesses.

“When the Ukraine war will be eventually over, our war will just start. It is impossible to free the country of Belarus without driving Putin’s fascist troops out of Ukraine,” he said.

Prokopiev heads a unit called “Pahonia” that in recent days has been training recruits. The Associated Press interviewed him as he oversaw an exercise that involved firing pistols and other weapons into old cars in simulations of war scenarios. They were being trained by a Polish ex-police officer who is now a private shooting instructor.

Prokopiev wants his men to gain critical battle experience, and he hopes that one day soon a window of opportunity will open for democratic change in Belarus. But he says it will require fighters like himself to be prepared, and for members of the security forces in Belarus to turn against Lukashenko.

Massive street protests against a 2020 election widely seen as fraudulent were met with a brutal crackdown, leading to Prokopiev’s belief that no “velvet revolution” can be expected there.

“Power from Lukashenko can only be taken by force,” he said.

On Saturday, a group of men with another unit, Kastus Kalinouski, gathered in Warsaw in the Belarus House, where piles of sleeping bags, mats and other Ukraine-bound equipment were piled high. They sat together, talking and snacking on chocolate and coffee as they prepared to deploy to Ukraine later in the day. Most didn’t want to be interviewed out of concerns for their security and that of family back home.

The unit, which isn’t formally under Ukraine’s International Legion, was named after the leader of an anti-Russian insurrection in the 19th century who is viewed as a national hero in Belarus.

One willing to describe his motivations was a 19-year-old, Ales, who has lived in Poland since last year. He fled Belarus after the country’s security service, still called the KGB, detained him and forced him to denounce an anti-Lukashenko resistance group in a video recording. He was told he would be jailed if he didn’t comply.

Dressed all in black from a hooded sweatshirt to his boots, he admitted to feeling nervous as the moment arrived to head into Ukraine. He had never received any military training, but would get it once he arrived in Ukraine. But just how much, and where he would be deployed, he didn’t yet know.

He said he was going to fight not only to help Ukraine, “but to make Belarus independent.” He said it was also important for him that people realize that the Belarusian people are very different from the Lukashenko government.

It is a dangerous mission, and several of the volunteers from the Kastus Kalinouski unit have died.

Still, fighting in Ukraine can feel less dangerous than seeking to resist Lukashenko at home, where many activists are in prison in harsh conditions.

Organizing the Kastus Kalinouski recruits was Pavel Kukhta, a 24-year-old who already fought in Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2016, suffering burns and the loss of most of his hearing in one ear. He described his unit as a regiment, meaning it would have hundreds of members, but he wouldn’t give its exact number.

Kukhta said that his half-brother, Nikita Krivtsov, was found dead by hanging in a wooded area outside Minsk in 2020. Police have said there was no evidence of foul play, but Kukhta says he and the rest of the family are certain he was killed for joining the anti-Lukashenko protests.

But he insisted that his support for Ukraine in the war is not about revenge, only about fighting for democratic change.

“If Putin is defeated, Lukashenko will be defeated,” he said.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

RICH FOLKS RIPPING OFF THE SYSTEM

'Power Rangers' actor Austin St. John indicted in PPP scheme

Austin St. John attends the "Power Rangers" premiere at the Westwood Village Theatre in Los Angeles on March 22, 2017. St. John has been indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges. 

File Photo by Christine Chew/UPI | License Photo

May 20 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury in Texas has indicted Austin St. John, an actor known for playing in the Red Power Ranger in various TV shows and movies, on fraud charges related to a COVID-19 relief scheme.

The indictment said St. John, born Jason Geiger, and 17 other people primarily in Texas took part in a scam to fraudulently obtain $3.5 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP was part of the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion relief package meant to assist individuals and businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.


The 18 people named in the indictment face a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas. A release from the office Wednesday names Michael Hill of Mineral Wells, Texas, and Andrew Moran of Lewisville, Texas, as the ringleaders in the scheme.

Prosecutors said Hill recruited people to participate in the scam, while Moran assisted the individuals with fabricating information and submitting applications for the loans.

"On the applications, the defendants are alleged to have misrepresented material information such as the true nature of their business, the number of employees and the amount of payroll," the attorney's office said. "Based on these material misrepresentations, the [Small Business Association] and other financial institutions approved and issued loans to the defendants."

Prosecutors said the defendants didn't use the funding as intended, instead paying Hill and Moran, and transferring money to their own personal accounts. In some cases, they sent money to another of the defendants -- Jonathon Spencer of Rowlett, Texas -- to invest in foreign exchange markets.

A statement posted to St. John's Twitter account by a representative said he didn't know most of the individuals named in the indictment.

"It is our understanding that Austin put his faith, reputation and finances in the hands of third parties whose goals were self-centered and ultimately manipulated and betrayed his trust," the statement read.

"We expect Austin's legal team to successfully defend against these charges and lead to his ultimate exoneration.?

If convicted, each of the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.

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St. John appeared in the first two seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to air in the United States starting in 1993. He also played the Red Power Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Wild Force, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, and the movie Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.

Veeve to deploy "Smart Carts" at Albertsons grocery stores later this year

Seattle-based start-up Veeve and grocery chain Albertsons announced a deal Thursday to deploy Veeve Smart Carts in "a few dozen" of its stores by the end of the year. 

Photo courtesy Veeve

May 19 (UPI) -- Start-up Veeve on Thursday announced a deal to deploy its self-checkout grocery carts to some Albertsons grocery store locations.

The Seattle-based company, founded by two former senior Amazon managers, said in a statement that its Veeve Smart Carts will be available to customers at "a few dozen" Albertsons stores throughout the United States later this year.

Veeve Smart Carts use a touch screen that tallies items as they are placed in the cart and a built-in scale for produce, allowing customers to complete their payment in the cart and walk out of the store without having to stop in the checkout line.

"Veeve Smart Carts offer a sophisticated, yet simple self-checkout experience for people who value flexibility and time savings," Alyse Wuson, senior director of Omni Experiences at Albertsons Companies said.

"Our goal is to enhance the grocery experience no matter how our guests choose to shop, and Veeve's technology brings the ease and integration of ecommerce right to the grocery cart."

Albertsons, which had 2,278 food and drug stores in the United States as of December, began testing Veeve carts at two of its stores in Idaho and California in November.

Veeve CEO Shariq Siddiqui told CNBC that customers at those stores have adopted the smart shopping carts, adding they can also allow stores to manage labor shortages by allowing cashiers to shift to other roles.

"Stores are shutting down earlier than ever, just because they're short-staffed so much," Siddiqui said. "One of those stores we deployed in is fully autonomous. There's a lot of momentum going in that direction."

Chris Rupp, Albertsons chief customer and digital officer, said that the adoption of the Smart Carts will not impact jobs.

"For many shoppers, a great in-store experience rests heavily on interactions and support from our incredible in-store teams," Rupp said.

Veeve faces competition from Amazon's Dash Carts, which launched in 2020, while Instacart acquired smart cart maker Caper AI last year, and other grocers such as Kroger have been testing smart cart technology in some stores.

"This deployment is an important and inevitable next step in connecting the consumer's ecommerce activity with a totally new, digitally driven in-store shopping experience," Siddiqui said.

Grid monitor report shows higher power outage risk from heat, wildfires, droughts

Heavy plumes of smoke billow from the Dixie fire above the Plumas National Forest near the Pacific Gas and Electric Rock Creek Power House last July.File Photo by Peter DaSilva/UPI | License PhotoMay 20 (UPI) -- Scorching summer heat, prolonged droughts and wildfire outbreaks will ramp up the risk of power outages across Texas, California and the central and upper Midwest, an assessment from the nation's grid monitor showed.

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. released its 2022 Summer Reliability Assessment on Wednesday, which examines areas of concern across the United States as the weather gets hotter between June and September.

The report says most of the North American continent will have adequate resources and electricity this summer except for some areas facing a higher threat of energy emergencies.

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center on Thursday noted that most of the United States would experience above-average warmth next season.The hotter it becomes, the higher the demand will be for electricity, while drought conditions could lessen the amount of power available to meet the demand.

The Midwest, according to the report, "faces a capacity shortfall in its north and central areas, resulting in high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions."

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator serves as the region's grid manager and energy market operator.

The NERC report highlighted potential summer risks to the region's electricity supply of extreme temperatures, higher-generation outages and low wind conditions, which could "expose the MISO north and central areas to higher risk of temporary operator-initiated load shedding to maintain system reliability," the report read.

"An elevated risk of energy emergencies persists" across the West as dry conditions pose a threat to the availability of hydroelectric energy that can be transferred, it showed.

However, California should be able to meet peak power demands this summer, as long as there are about 3,400 megawatts of new resources available as scheduled.

Texas suffered catastrophic power issues in the past when 200 people died after the grid failed in February 2021.

In May and June 2021, the report says, the state's system was impacted by widespread solar farm shutdowns.

This summer, Texas officials seem more optimistic about the grid's outcome. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas's interim CEO, Brad Jones, said during a Tuesday press conference he is "confident" about the system's electricity reliability despite record peak demand projections of 77,317 megawatts in the coming months.

France blames bad weather, war for dijon mustard shortage


A heat dome over southern Canada last summer hampered mustard seed crop production, leading to a shortage of dijon mustard this year. 

File Photo by Harish Tyagi/EPA-EFE

May 20 (UPI) -- Supermarkets in France are reporting higher prices and shortages for dijon mustard fueled in part by poor crops last summer and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Mustard producers in France said seed production was down 50% in 2021. One of the largest producers in France, Reine de Dijon, told The Guardian that a so-called heat dome in Canada in July "really dried up the crops."

"In Burgundy, the region had a very wet winter and then three days of cold at the beginning of April last year, so we only harvested about 48% of expectations.

Most of the world's dijon mustard is produced in the Burgundy region of France, but most of the seed is grown in southern Canada, Mashed reported.

Mundus Agri reported that Canada is expected to export about 78,000 metric tons of mustard seed from the 2021-22 growing season, about 41% lower than the 133,000 metric tons projected.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February has exacerbated the shortage. Both countries also grow mustard seeds, but with sanctions on Russia and fighting disrupting the normal course of daily life in Ukraine, exports have been limited.

"The Ukraine, without being a big producer, represented a backup plan," Luc Vandermaesen, managing director of Reine de Dijon, told French business magazine L'Usine Nouvelle.

"We were counting on it to make the connection with the next harvest, but this solution fell through."

French news outlet Sud Ouest reported the price for mustard seeds has doubled compared to a year ago.

 

Harris announces $500M in EPA funds for zero-emission school buses


Vice President Kamala Harris greets local families during her tour of electric buses at Meridian High School in Falls Church, Va., on Friday. 

Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

May 20 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday announced $500 million in Environmental Protection Agency funds for zero-emission school buses.

The funds were secured through the administration of President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law and allow for school districts and eligible school bus operators to replace their buses.

Harris made the announcement at Meridian High School in Falls Church, Va., accompanied by EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure coordinator, Patch reported.

"Yellow school buses are our nation's largest form of mass transit," Harris said.

"Everyday in our country, more than 25 million children ride to and from school on our nation's fleet of school buses. And 95% of our nearly 500,000 school buses run on diesel fuel."

Harris said that the electric school buses will help cut down on diesel exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions as well as the "diesel smell."

The EPA said in a press release also announcing the Clean School Bus Program that diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other health problems "that hurt our communities and cause students to miss school."

Zero-emission buses cost less for school districts to operate than diesel buses, according to the EPA.

The $500 million in funds mark the first round of funding for the Clean School Bus Program, which will dole out $5 billion in the next five years. The program started accepting applications Friday.

The EPA noted that the bipartisan infrastructure law will allow the federal agency to prioritize applications to replace buses serving "high-need local education agencies" as well as tribal schools and rural communities.

"This approach supports President Biden's Justice40 initiative to direct at least 40% of the benefits of certain government investments to underserved communities," the agency said.

"EPA's Clean School Bus Program will strive to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations into all aspects of our work."

French comedy on Russian homophobia filmed in Ukraine

"The Revenge of the Shiny Shrimps" follows an all-queer water polo team that lands in homophobic Russia. But the scenes had to be shot in Ukraine, before the war.


Above, the real-life Shiny Shrimps water polo team during a match in Paris

The fictional water LGBTQ polo team portrayed in the hit French comedy, "The Shiny Shrimps," was inspired by an actual group of people who practice the sport together.

When DW met them at their Wednesday evening training in southern Paris, they were still warming up, all wearing bathing caps with bright orange plastic ear coverings.

"You have to cover your opponent, and you have to do it with body contact," coach Sebastien Beysson told the athletes before they started playing. "Body contact is no problem," one of the players replied, and the others giggled.

A whistle then kicked off the game.

Half the team worked to get the ball into the opposing team's goal as many times as possible, while the other half sat on the substitutes' bench on the sidelines.

Team spirit: The real-life Shiny Shrimps

The first film inspired by the Shiny Shrimps came out in 2019; now its sequel, "The Shiny Shrimps Strike Back," has been released in France and will soon be screened at international festivals.

All while centering on the world of LGBTQ water polo, the new comedy also illustrates the culture clash that separates Russia from Europe and Ukraine.
Film comments on homophobia in Russia

In the 2019 film, an Olympic champion swimmer is offered a chance to make up for a homophobic statement by coaching a gay water polo team.

In the new comedy, "the water polo team travels to Russia and encounters homophobia in that country," director Cedric Le Gallo, who played defense on the water polo team that Wednesday in Paris, told DW.

In the film, the water polo team is detained by police in Russia

On their way to the Gay Games in Tokyo, the players have to spend a night in Moscow because of a booking error. The police arrest some of them and take them to a gay conversion camp.

"It is important to show that in some countries of the world it is not easy to be gay," he said, including in Russia, where it is "illegal to be a man kissing your boyfriend on the street — because that's considered LGBTQI+ propaganda."

The law made it impossible for the crew to film in Russia.

A still from the film 'The Shiny Shrimps Strike Back'

'Ukrainians want to be part of Europe'

In Ukraine, people speak Russian, some of the architecture is reminiscent of Russia — so that is where filming took place from January to April 2021.

Le Gallo still can't fathom that tanks are now rolling down the streets where he was filming, and that people are dying in the war. "The whole situation just shows more clearly how different Ukraine and Russia are," he said. "Ukrainians want to be part of Europe, they are more like us and very different from Russians."

Director Cedric Le Gallo, left, is a Shiny Shrimp

Coach Sebastien Beysson, who was an extra in the film and part of the shooting in Ukraine, agrees: "You could feel that Ukraine was in a positive momentum towards more personal freedoms, not only in terms of LGBTQI+ rights," he told DW, adding that at the moment, none of that matters.

"It's terrible that there's a war going on in Ukraine. The actors we were shooting with a moment ago are now busy defending their country, fleeing, or moving their family to safety," says Beysson.

Ukrainian Dmitriy Soloviov was one of the film's actors

Friends became foes

Dmitriy Soloviov is one of the film's actors; he plays the leader of a gang that goes around beating up gays. Months after the shoot, the 33-year-old Ukrainian is a member of a militia in the central province of Cherkasy.

"Until the Russian invasion began on February 24, we Ukrainians had many Russian friends and colleagues with whom we got along really well," he told DW via the news app Telegram, adding that this is no longer possible: "Russia is now only an aggressor and an enemy."

Actor Sasha Ivanov, who plays a Russian who admits himself to a gay conversion camp because he no longer wants to be gay, says the film is like a metaphor of the Russian state: "The camp symbolizes Russia as evil," says the 20-year-old, who fled to France just days before the Russian invasion began. The Russian state has been throwing people in prison for a long time just for being who they are, he says.

"'The Shiny Shrimps Strike Back' counters that with an almost therapeutic message — and that is to love yourself and accept yourself as you are," adds Ivanov.
Hoping for better times

The war in his country deeply upsets Ivanov, but he is confident that "Russia will never be able to dominate Ukraine."

"After every war, every crisis, comes a renaissance, a golden age of culture," he argues, recalling the wealth of cultural events, films and concerts after the 2014 Maidan Revolution. "After this war, it will be the same."

The film gives hope to Soloviov, too. "This is such a wonderful film about life and free love — I hope we will all work together on the third part soon."

This article was originally written in German.

A 'forgotten' mass grave of WWI: Winterberg Tunnel

An exhibition about German WWI soldiers killed in a collapsed tunnel in France traces their fate more than 100 years later. Authorities are debating on what should happen with the area.


Remembering the collapse: One of the exhibits of the Winterberg Tunnel exhibition

The exhibition "Death in the Winterberg Tunnel. A Tragedy in World War I" tells about the fate of hundreds of German soldiers who were buried alive in a protective tunnel in northern France, in May 1917.

The exact number of soldiers who died there remains unclear. The exhibition, at Germany's General State Archives of Baden-Württemberg in Karlsruhe, notes "about 100 to 150 soldiers," while some historians have found there were between 250 and 270. There has even been speculation that 400 people went missing.

'Insane chaos'

"Today, we assume that 80 to 100 soldiers were in the tunnel and about 100 were in the immediate vicinity," Diane Tempel-Bornett, a spokeswoman for the German War Graves Commission, told DW.

She mentions the account of a soldier who managed to get out after two days, and who described the situation as "insane chaos," as "artillery fire caused the ammunition stored at the entrance to explode, tracer ammunition also caught fire and toxic gases developed."

Founded in 1919, the German War Graves Commission has contributed to the exhibition with some of their excavation finds.

The commission is "dedicated to the task of recording, preserving and caring for the graves of German war dead abroad on behalf of the German government," as their website states.

Financed mainly by donations, it currently looks after "more than 830 war cemeteries and graves in 46 countries, the last resting places of about 2.8 million war casualties." The commission also helps relatives search for graves, and offers guided tours of war cemeteries to schoolchildren.
Fate of millions of soldiers unknown

The buried soldiers belonged to Baden Reserve Infantry Regiment 111, and the tunnel at Winterberg in the small French commune of Craonne in the Aisne department served as a link between their trenches. Only three soldiers survived; the bodies of the others were never recovered. The site of the incident was never rediscovered.

Trying to find the entrance to the tunnel in May 2022

Winterberg Tunnel was forgotten for a long time, which is not unusual — the fate of millions of soldiers who fought in the world wars remains unresolved worldwide.

More than 100 years after the tunnel collapsed, there is still no consensus on how the area and the buried soldiers' remains should be handled.

In recent years, investigations have picked up steam. Amateur archaeologists, too, have tried their hand at illegal excavations.

"These sites draw amateur historians, at worst grave robbers," says Tempel-Bornett, adding that unfortunately, they can also destroy clues and traces.

Today, the area is a nature reserve, overgrown and forested. It is also a restricted zone — ammunition was found there last year.

The tunnel, where the soldiers' remains are presumed buried, is dozens of meters underground. The exact location of the grave is unclear, and complex drilling and seismographic investigations have recently shown the conditions to be difficult.
Safeguard eternal rest

"The War Graves Commission works with the French authorities and always with their authorization," says Tempel-Bornett. When working in the previously secured areas they are allowed to access, they are "accompanied by the fire department, explosives experts, the gendarmerie, representatives of the authorities and the forestry department." An ambulance always stands by, too.

Meanwhile, the Franco-German Council of Ministers is debating whether the remains should be recovered — which is not even the association's main interest, says Tempel-Bornett.

"Our task is to ensure that the peace of the dead is guaranteed," the spokeswoman says, as well as preventing unauthorized persons from digging at the site and disturbing the peace of the dead, perhaps looting graves, and putting themselves in danger.

Winterberg could also become an official memorial site. "Many can't bear the uncertainty of what happened to their ancestors," says Tempel-Bornett, adding it can give relatives a sense of peace when, for instance, their grandfather's name appears on a memorial plaque at the Rossoshka war cemetery in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad.

Others need a place to grieve, she says, recalling octogenarians standing at the graves of fathers they last saw when they were children. "Tears are shed, but it helps them come to terms with the past."

The German War Graves Commission has set up a provisional memorial

The association has dark chapters in its own past. Founded by soldiers, it was highly respected by the Nazis.

According to a 2019 study, the association long had problems distinguishing between perpetrators and victims and not turning the commemoration of fallen soldiers into heroes' memorials.

The debate over burials

In view of the role of German soldiers as aggressors in the world wars, the War Graves Commission must always justify its commemorations — that is also true for the Winterberg tunnel.

War criminals, she says, must be buried, too. "That is criticized sometimes, but it's ingrained in our Christian culture that everyone should have a grave."

The exhibition in Karlsruhe aims to recreate the tunnel look with a three-dimensional exhibition architecture. Various excavation finds from the tunnel made available by the War Graves Commission are on public display for the first time.

"Death in the Winterberg Tunnel. A Tragedy in World War I" is on show at the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe until August 14, 2022, before moving on to France and Belgium as a traveling exhibition.

This article was originally written in German.

Ford in Germany faces possible sales ban — reports

A patent licensing dispute over microchips in cars has caused legal trouble in Germany for the US carmaker. Germany has notoriously strict patent laws.

Ford is that latest car company to be pressured under strict patent law in Germany


A judge in a Munich court ruled Friday that Ford Motor Company will not be able to sell or manufacture vehicles in Germany if it doesn't settle a dispute over microchips, according to German media.

Ford is said to have 4G cellular chips built into its vehicles for which the company has not paid licensing fees, the business magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported.

The ruling, which is subject to appeal, could be enforced in two weeks if Ford does not reach a settlement with the plaintiffs.
What is the 4G patent case about?

Ford is being sued by eight owners of 4G mobile communications patents, according to the report.

The specific companies in question were not named, but the case was brought to the Munich court by Japanese intellectual property management company IP Bridge.

The communications chips are essential for "connected cars," and Ford is the latest car company to be put under pressure by the patent owners of mobile communications technology.

Volkswagen was also sued by IP Bridge in the same patent court in Munich. The German carmaker quickly settled the matter by purchasing a patent license from a platform called Avanci that bundled patents from 48 owners, the report said.

Daimler also faced a similar patent dispute over mobile tech in its cars brought on by Nokia and Sharp.

Germany's strict patent laws

Germany's patent laws are considered very strict, which is why many international companies take patent disputes before German courts.

For example, the judge's ruling in Ford's case provided for the recall of all cars from dealers and their destruction if a settlement is not reached, Wirtschaftswoche reported.

There have been attempts at legal reform so that patent claims on small parts of vehicles cannot be used to threaten large disruptions in sales and production.

However, according to the report, these reforms have yet to have an effect.

Ford said it would not comment on the ruling as it has yet to receive the arguments in writing, Reuters news agency reported.

wmr/sms (Reuters, DPA)

Abortion in EU: Fragile progress — and tightened laws

Although abortion is broadly available across the European Union, observers point to developments that endanger such access. DW looks at four EU countries with diverging policies.



Poland is among European countries to roll back access to abortion

From Ireland to Spain, EU countries have been overhauling abortion laws, rolling back measures that made it difficult — or illegal — to access safe care for the procedure.

"The trend across Europe is squarely and overwhelmingly toward the legalization of abortion, toward the removal of legal and policy barriers," says Leah Hoctor, the senior regional director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

But it's not accessible to everyone.

In the 27 EU member states, abortion is completely illegal in Malta, while Poland has a near-total ban.

And, according to Caroline Hickson, the regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, all but five of the 52 European countries the group surveyed in 2021 impose medically unnecessary procedures such as compulsory waiting periods.

Hickson describes diverging trends, in which some countries have overturned long-standing abortion bans. Yet, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, she said, "regression on women's rights, and particularly on their reproductive rights, actually goes hand in hand with regression on the rule of law and democracy."
Spain: Access to be expanded

On Tuesday, Spain's Council of Ministers council approved a draft law that removes the requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain parental consent to terminate a pregnancy.

If approved, the new law would also eliminate a three-day "reflection period" before an abortion. It would also include reproductive health provisions such as granting leave after abortion. In a first for Europe, the law would also institute menstrual leave for people with severe period symptoms.

Doctors who refuse to carry out an abortion procedure would still be able to join a registry of objectors. This "denial of care" barrier is present in numerous other European countries, Hickson indicates.

Hoctor says the pending proposal is "indicative of this trend across the region to really improve, modernize abortion laws."

"We very much hope that the legislation will be adopted by the legislature in Spain," Hoctor says.

Although some may consider 16 or 17 young, Hickson says, "young women need to be able to access a confidential medical service when they need it," citing potentially difficult family situations.

She attributes the new law to an upsurge in women's activism and to the democratic socialist alliance currently governing Spain. Access to abortion "very much follows the wider political swing of a given country," she points out.

Poland: Near-total ban

This is also evident in Poland. In contrast to European countries that have expanded access to abortion in recent decades, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal — itself a focus of EU concern — in January 2021 issued a ruling that imposed a near-total ban.

Abortion is now only permitted in cases where pregnancy threatens the life or health of the pregnant person, or in cases of rape or incest.

The ruling spurred massive public protest, with more than 1,000 women challenging it at the European Court of Human Rights. The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights and nine leading human rights organizations have filed third-party interventions on behalf of these women.

"As an outlier in the European region, Poland is the only EU member state in recent decades to remove a ground for legal abortion from its law," Hoctor says. "Poland is really out of step with the general trend."

Both Hoctor and Hickson express concern that the ban also applies to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, some of whom are survivors of sexual violence.

When refugee women or girls cross the EU border into Poland, Slovakia or Hungary, "they are moving into some of the most restrictive contexts in the region on abortion," Hoctor says.

Watch video 03:27 Poland government aims to create pregnancy register

Hungary: Interlocking obstacles

Although abortion is legal in Hungary, Hoctor says the law is still very restrictive in terms of imposing a mandatory waiting period, stringent counseling requirements and a range of other barriers, including the fact that abortion care is not covered under public health insurance or subsidization schemes.

Hickson describes Hungary as among numerous European countries whose abortion policies "impose a lot of interconnecting barriers that in practice make it much more difficult to access."

In Hungary, abortion restrictions are also strongly connected to right-wing populist Viktor Orban's agenda, Hickson says.

Ireland: Referendum reflects reforms

Ireland has overhauled its abortion laws since a 1983 constitutional amendment —which was riding Catholic sentiment — prohibited abortion. In a 2018 referendum, the public voted overwhelmingly to overturn the ban.

"It was a real recognition by the Irish people and by the Irish state of the need to treat abortion as essential health care," Hoctor says.

"While the change in Ireland was phenomenal and incredibly important, a number of barriers to access are still retained in the legislation," she adds, indicating that a review process currently underway could ameliorate the situation.

Reflecting on the situation in Europe as a whole, particularly considering developments restricting abortion in the United States, Hickson says: "We need to acknowledge that, yes, progress is fragile, and we should never rest."