Philippines court acquits Maria Ressa of tax evasion

Ressa had pleaded not guilty in the case. She became the first Filipino to win a Nobel Prize in 2021.

A court in the Philippines on Wednesday acquitted Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa of four tax evasion charges, alongside her online government-critical news site Rappler.

Ressa had pleaded not guilty in 2020.

The tax case is one of several government lawsuits that she and Rappler are facing, sparking press freedom concerns in the Southeast Asian country.

Ressa, the CEO and executive editor of Manila-based Rappler, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 2021. The award also made her the first Filipino to win a Nobel Prize.

'Truth wins. Justice wins.'

Addressing reporters outside the court on Wednesday, Ressa said it was "emotional" for everybody, describing the charges as "politically motivated" in an attempt to stop journalists from doing their jobs.

"It took four years and two months," she said, in reference to the trial. "But today, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins."

In a statement on the court decision, Rappler described it as "the triumph of facts over politics." The website thanked the court for "recognizing that the fraudulent, false and flimsy charges" were baseless.

The renowned journalist and her website still face three other criminal cases, most notably a cyber libel conviction that is now under appeal. If the conviction is upheld, Ressa could face nearly seven years in prison.

'There's a reason why we were targeted'  03:04

Why was Rappler accused of tax evasion?

Ressa founded Rappler to combat misinformation and document human rights abuses carried out by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, including during his deadly war on drugs.

Her site, launched in 2012, is one of the most popular in the country. Philippines authorities ordered the website shut in June last year, affirming a 2018 order.

The order to shutter the website and the tax charges were based on accusing Rappler of violating a constitutional provision which bans foreign ownership and control of media companies in the Philippines.

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Rappler of the violation after receiving funds from foreign investors including Omidyar Network and North Base Media.

However on Wednesday, the tax court ruled that the financial papers through which the funds were paid were non-taxable.

The legal fate of Rappler, however, remains unclear.

rmt/wd (AFP, Reuters)

Davos 2023: Young 'Global Shapers' hungry for change

Manuela Kasper-Claridge

DW in Davos, Switzerland

January 16, 2023

A few dozen young people have been invited to this year's World Economic Forum. They are just some of the 10,000 members of the Global Shapers network and want to make their voices heard as they demand change.

https://p.dw.com/p/4MDpl

"I saw a man walking toward my school. He was wearing worn-out shoes. Then I realized it was my father and suddenly I was incredibly proud. Because I knew that he had invested everything he had in my education."

Wanjuhi Njoroge sits wrapped up in a thick quilted coat in a Davos hotel as she tells this story. It is cold and snowing outside. She is a member of the Global Shapers Community network and has come to Switzerland from Nairobi to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF). The environmental and education activist grew up in a small Kenyan village. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a teacher.

 

Snow covered Davos, Switzerland, where global shapers and the powerful come together

Image: Gian Ehrenzeller/KEYSTONE/picture alliance

Programming in the countryside

For the family getting their children a good education was a priority. Still, Njoroge only learned how to use a computer in high school. But she realized very early on that access to technology means access to education. Now through her advocacy she is making sure that more and more young people from rural areas of Kenya are learning to work with computers. She wants them to have the opportunities it took her a long time to find.

Another important issue for her is reforestation and rescuing Kenya's indigenous trees. #SaveOurForestsKE is the name of the campaign she launched in 2018. And in that short time she says "it led to a total ban on forest harvesting" in Kenya. But then she hesitates for a moment. It's as if she has a vision of devastated forests and says, "I have seen the impact of climate change."

Global Shapers meet world leaders in Davos

But what do Kenyan trees have to do with the World Economic Forum? Wanjuhi Njoroge thinks they have a lot to do with it. The WEF offers a unique platform for exchange. It is a place where people can learn from each other, share and discuss projects, and come up with action plans. First of all the young Global Shapers can get together among themselves. They additionally have the opportunity to sit with the decision makers who attend the WEF.

"I meet African presidents here, something that would otherwise hardly be possible," Njoroge says. With her work and her presence in Davos she wants to promote change by shaking things up. She is determined to keep climate and environmental protection a top priority for world leaders.

 

Roman Smolynets wants to make sure world leaders don't forget about the war in Ukraine

Image: Privat

Young Ukrainians and the consequences of war

Roman Smolynets has come to the meeting with something completely different in mind. His face betrays the hard work of the last few weeks and months. The 24-year-old Ukrainian is from Lviv where he works as an anesthetist in the largest hospital in Western Ukraine.

He doesn't know how many victims of the Russian war of aggression he has seen in the operating room. But some of the images he just can't seem to get out of his head. Among them is a 6-year-old girl who lost both of her legs in a missile attack. "I saw terrible things during my work," he says in a reflective voice.

It took Smolynets two days of traveling to get to Davos. He is also a member of the Global Shapers Community network. For months, besides his normal job at the hospital he made sure that much-needed medical supplies were donated to Ukraine. He worked with Support Ukraine Now!, a project that was initiated by the two Global Shapers Community hubs based in Ukraine. Now he wants to ensure that the war and its consequences are back at the top of the WEF's agenda.

"I need to be the voice of Ukraine," he says proudly and plans to take part in as many discussions as he can in Davos over the next few days. He is worried that the world's attention span is waning and support for Ukraine may waver. "We have war in Europe, there can't be fatigue," he emphasizes, putting on his rather thin coat.

Tariq Al-Olaimy is ready to have tough conversations to make a better future

Image: privat

While Smolynets heads out into the snow for his next meeting, Tariq Al-Olaimy from Manama, Bahrain, also part of the Global Shapers Community, sums up the young people's mission in one sentence. "We are the next leaders, we aim for diversity and we need to have a more radical conversation."

This article was originally written in German.

The British government wants to hand police unprecedented powers to handle protesters. Human rights activists say it's an affront to democracy

Story by Luke McGee • 16h ago

The British government wants to hand new powers to police that would allow officers to take stronger action against people engaging in peaceful, political protest.

Video: Activists deface King Charles III wax figure, Monet painting

Charles was defaced. At least two protesters smeared chocolate cake

Duration 0:39 View on Watch

Human rights activists have accused the government of trying to suppress freedom of speech, while opposition politicians claim that Downing Street is simply trying to distract from the myriad of things going wrong in the United Kingdom at the moment.

The government issued a statement on Sunday night, in which it said it would table amendments to legislation that is already passing through Parliament called the Public Order Bill. This has already been the subject of huge controversy due to the extent to which it curbs protest.

Specifically, the bill nakedly targets groups such as Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, all of which have used disruptive tactics in their protests against the government.

The bill would criminalize long-standing protest tactics such as locking on (where protesters physically attach themselves to things like buildings) and tunneling (literally digging tunnels), and could force people who protest regularly into wearing electronic tags. The new amendment would also give police the power to shut down protests before any disruption even occurs.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public. It’s not acceptable and we’re going to bring it to an end.”



Activists from the Just Stop Oil climate campaign group hold a banner at Barons Court in west London as they block a major road as part of a series of actions on October 18, 2022.

- Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The head of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Mark Rowley, also issued a statement, in which he made clear that the police had not asked the government for more powers to curb protests.

Adam Wagner, a leading human rights lawyer, thinks this might be due to the fact there is actually very little to be gained in all of this for the police.

“The police already have to decide which protests to get involved with and which to leave alone. Whatever they do, they will get criticized and ideally they would probably rather have less to do with policing protests and the bad publicity that comes with it,” Wagner told CNN.

Critics of the government’s move point out that officers already have the ability to handle protests that get out of hand and are disruptive.

“The police have been very clear that they have the power to adequately deal with protests and manage protests when they are going to cause unjustified disruption and that’s been the case for decades,” Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), told CNN.

“Our right to protest is fundamental, especially at a time when we are in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis, a climate crisis and our public health service is on its knees. Instead of helping people who are below the poverty line – people who are in work, including nurses – the government is wasting time crushing dissent,” Ahmed added.

Wagner believes that the bill could lead to the government being taken to court over allegations of breaching human rights law.


Just Stop Oil activists glue their hands to the frame of John Constable's "The Hay Wain," which was also covered by posters reimagining the scene, in London's National Gallery on July 4, 2022. 

- Carlos Jasso/AFP/Getty Images

“(In) breaking up peaceful protest you are getting right to the core of human rights law. Direct action groups like Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion are not doing much different to what we saw in the civil rights movement or from the Suffragettes. To get some issues on the national agenda you have to be disruptive and people who do that should be tolerated as they are protected in law,” he said.

Conservative MPs are on the whole publicly supporting the government, but privately some concede that making amendments to make the bill even stronger could have something to do with the fact that the Conservative Party is trailing in opinion polls.

This allegation has been made of the government on a number of policies, such as its controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, its efforts to make it harder for unions to declare strike action and a law that protects statues and national monuments.

“It is politically convenient to put the opposition on the side of all these other issues and remind the public that Labour (the official opposition) is funded by the unions,” a senior Conservative told CNN.

While issues like these might be controversial, just being willing to have the argument is something that could help the Conservative Party as it tries to rebuild its base before the next general election.

Multiple polls suggest that the public generally opposes disruptive protest and the Conservative Party has become very good over the past few years at weaponizing wedge issues, such as Euroskepticism, immigration and protecting statues of Winston Churchill.

A statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seen defaced in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration in June 2020 to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. - Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Images

There is no doubt that these issues put Labour in a tricky spot. On one hand, to have broad appeal they have to support the police and not appear to be on the side of disruptive protesters. On the other, they still have to oppose the government.

Sarah Jones, Labour’s shadow minister for policing, said in a statement that the police “have powers to deal with dangerous, disruptive protests and Labour backs them to use those powers… But the Prime Minister has spent more time talking about protest than he has the epidemic of violence against women and girls or his government’s shameful record prosecuting criminals.”

This might be a fair criticism of the government and prime minister, but is a less clear and clean message than simply saying “protests are bad and we will stop them.”

It’s not clear that the government will receive much of a boost from cracking down harder on demonstrators, especially if the new legislation leads to lots of messy scenes where peaceful protesters are being hauled away by an increasingly unpopular police force.

But beyond the politics, this Public Order Bill has left Ahmed, of HRW, questioning what sort of a country Britain really wants to be in 2023.

“When people argue that the government have a right to stop protests, well that’s what China says, that’s what Russia says, that’s what Myanmar says,” she said. “We wouldn’t live in the democracy we have today if people didn’t have the right to protest and disrupt things.”

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FEMICIDE

Mexican Mom Faces Loss, Corruption And Impunity In ‘A Nation That Kills Ladies’

Jan 17, 2023



Based on the United Nations, excessive charges of femicide, mixed with a poor monitor report in bringing perpetrators to justice – notably the wealthy and highly effective – have made Mexico probably the most harmful nation for ladies in Latin America. However a grieving mom is set to seek out justice for her murdered daughter, in opposition to the chances.

At 8:35 p.m. on June 18, Saturday, Patricia Garcia acquired a name telling her that her daughter, Frida Santamaria Garcia, had been injured and was within the hospital.

Frida had spent the day working in a reception corridor the place a christening was happening, her mom recounted in a cellphone interview from Sahuayo, a metropolis within the western Mexican state of Michoacan.

“I instantly known as her relative, who labored along with her, to ask if he knew something. He known as my daughter’s cellphone, nevertheless it was her pal, Juan Paolo N., who answered,” García mentioned.

When she arrived at Santa María Sahuayo Hospital, García realized her daughter had been shot. She is instructed that Frida was left for lifeless after her cellphone was stolen. The bullets pierced the younger girl’s lung and liver.

“It was probably the most horrible second of my life,” mentioned Garcia. “A couple of minutes later, the physician instructed me that my daughter had died.”

Frida, at 24, nonetheless had her complete life forward of her when she was brutally quick with a firearm.

Her grieving mom mentioned, “She was a really humble particular person with an enormous coronary heart. She cared for the well-being of her household and pals. She was unconditional and dependable. She was distinctive.”

Frida’s pal denied involvement in her loss of life. However on December 15, Juan Pauls abruptly retracted his denials and admitted that he shot his girlfriend, saying it was not supposed.

His retraction and the delay in his confession prompted the Jequilpan Regional Public Prosecutor’s Workplace to cut back the fees in opposition to him to homicide.

This gave the accused the best to a abstract authorized trial and he was sentenced to a few years’ imprisonment with the opportunity of parole. The punishment for involuntary manslaughter in Mexico is rather more lenient than for these accused of femicide.

On this nation of almost 127 million individuals the place, in line with the authorities, greater than 10 girls are murdered day-after-day, the Frida Santamaria García case is one other instance of the challenges households of the victims face of their pursuit of justice.

Frida’s relationship with Juan Paulo started three or 4 months earlier than her homicide, in line with her cousin, Samantha Morett García. “She discovered about their affair solely every week earlier than she was shot,” Samantha revealed in a cellphone interview from Jiquilpan.

Whereas the Garcia household was grieving the sudden lack of Frida on the night of the tragedy, Juan Paulo had already left town and fled to Guadalajara, the capital of the neighboring state of Jalisco.

It was the start of a harrowing authorized impediment course for the sufferer’s household. The case file submitted within the days following her homicide on the Public Prosecutor’s Workplace in Jiquilpan didn’t advance the case. “He did not even inform me I had a proper to see a sufferer counselor,” García mentioned, revisiting the agonizing days when the household, shocked and agonized by their sudden loss, first confronted the restrictions of Mexico’s justice system.

The companies of a personal legal professional wouldn’t be sought till 5 weeks had elapsed, lastly permitting the investigation to proceed. “We realized that the investigation was not completed correctly, neither in substance nor in kind,” mentioned the sufferer’s mom.

The household finally sought the assistance of NGOs, together with the feminist group MAPAS, who suggested the household to talk to the press and arranged demonstrations calling for justice for Frida. The group denounced the shortage of correct police studies or witness statements. In the meantime, the Public Prosecutor’s Workplace insisted on treating her case as a attainable suicide.

When the suspect is the son of a former mayor within the Frida case, there may be one other necessary reality that can not be ignored: the accused, Juan Paolo, is the son of the previous mayor of town of Sahuayo, Alejandro Amezcua Chavez. Alfredo Annaya’s son-in-law, former Secretary for Financial Improvement within the authorities of the Governor of Michoacan State.

Mapas was fast to denounce the “cynicism” with which the judiciary is dealing with the case in opposition to a well-connected suspect.

“Till January 1, Santamaria Garcia’s household and the feminist group MAPAS believed that the state legal professional normal’s workplace was working to get justice for Frida,” mentioned Sofia Blanco, a spokeswoman for the group.

“We now know that since December 20, she has been working to reclassify this feminine homicide as ‘manslaughter’, with out informing the household or their lawyer, in order to not give them time to problem the choice earlier than the listening to scheduled for January 4,” she mentioned. .

The Feminist Affiliation additionally denounced the silence surrounding the case. Neither the legal professional normal nor the governor of Michoacán state has spoken out in favor of the decision [classifying this crime as] Blanco mentioned.

When the suspect is the son of a former mayor

It additionally denounced the Michoacán State Superior Court docket for failing to “make sure the sufferer due course of” and for doing nothing to forestall the prosecution from decreasing the fees.

In a press launch tracing the authorized twists and turns of the case, García’s household famous that “At present, in Mexico, an individual convicted of femicide can obtain a jail sentence of as much as 50 years; within the case of manslaughter, he faces three years in jail with Risk of parole.”

“We subsequently perceive why Juan Paulo’s father and son-in-law acted with impunity and corruption, to redefine and cut back the fees associated to this crime.”

Per week after it was introduced that the fees for her daughter’s killer had been diminished, García mentioned she had appealed the choice, regardless of the threats the household and several other witnesses confronted, and regardless of makes an attempt to torpedo the case by individuals associated to the suspect.

‘Whole injustice’ Mexico’s worsening disaster of gender violence and the state’s failure to reply has led protesters and activists to dub the nation the ‘femicide nation’.

Based on official figures, about 3,750 girls had been murdered and almost 100,000 disappeared in Mexico in 2021. Of those murders, just one,004 have been investigated as “femicide.” This failure has been denounced by NGOs corresponding to Amnesty Worldwide, who say the shortage of prosecutions leads to “violations of girls’s human rights to life, bodily integrity and their households’ rights to judicial safety”.

Mexico’s Nationwide Fee for the Prevention and Elimination of Violence In opposition to Ladies (CONAVIM) has estimated that 94% of those courtroom instances have been dismissed.

“Investigations are usually not carried out in line with the intercourse of the sufferer, they aren’t adopted up, and corruption prevents the killers from bringing the killers to justice,” Blanco defined.

On January 4, demonstrators gathered outdoors a courthouse in Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan, declaring that each homicide of a lady that goes unpunished is one other instance of Mexico being a “femicide nation.” They demanded the utmost sentence for Frida’s alleged killer, and all different victims of the ladies’s murders.

“The Jiquilpan Public Prosecutor’s Workplace and the Public Prosecutor’s Workplace most popular to guard Juan Paulo’s security,” Frida’s mom mentioned at a press convention that day. “Now he could be launched on parole. It is a full injustice.”

A protester in Mexico Metropolis holds an indication that reads, in Spanish, “Mexico isn’t a rustic, it’s a mass grave with a nationwide anthem” protesting violence in opposition to girls on March 8, 2021. © Rebecca Blackwell, AP’s 

“Cotton Subject” challenge

 Regardless of the shortcomings of the Though there is no such thing as a public prosecutor’s workplace or the judicial system, femicide convictions in Mexico do exist. “In terms of killing girls by individuals whose households have political energy, all the pieces will get sophisticated,” Blanco mentioned, referring to the 2020 case of Jessica González Villasenor, who was murdered and whose alleged killer, Diego Orek, was from a rich household. with political connections.

The younger man, who was 18 on the time of the crime, lived within the rich Altozano neighborhood of Morelia. SinEmbargo, a Mexican information web site that makes a speciality of investigating hyperlinks between energy and arranged crime, describes him as a “mirrey,” a slang time period used to explain a younger man from a rich household who lives a lifetime of luxurious, partying, and extra. The sufferer was a instructor from a working class household.

On January 11, Aurick pleaded not responsible. The decision is anticipated on January 27. If discovered responsible, he might resist 50 years in jail. If not, he will likely be launched.

“He has already taken all the pieces from us, and no punishment will carry my sister again to us,” Cristo Villasenor, the sufferer’s brother, instructed El Heraldo de Mexicodaily. Nevertheless, he famous, if the utmost sentence had been to be handed down, it might set a precedent.

“It must be a mannequin for society, particularly for misogynistic males who assume they’ll take girls’s lives with out paying the implications,” he mentioned.

Corruption and impunity are the 2 principal causes for the excessive charges of femicide, in addition to the variety of disappearances, for ladies in Mexico. In 2009, the Inter-American Court docket of Human Rights issued a landmark ruling condemning the nation’s negligence in investigating the deaths of eight ladies who had been tortured, raped, and murdered and located a vacant lot in Ciudad Juárez, a metropolis in northern Mexico that has been known as the femicide capital of the world.

The decision of what grew to become referred to as the “Cotton Subject” affair included a powerful rebuke to the Mexican authorities, forcing it to take motion. Since then, a number of committees have been set as much as get rid of violence in opposition to girls and a particular public prosecutor has been appointed.

However as said within the January 2020 report, “Can a regulation finish femicide in Mexico?” , regardless of “praising a brand new regulation designed with a gender perspective, which ensures a life freed from violence for all girls… it’s being perpetrated with impunity throughout the nation. Authorities and police establishments proceed to look the opposite method, or in some instances are themselves concerned on this new kind of criminality.

Mexico is probably the most harmful nation for ladies in Latin America and holds the unlucky report for the very best variety of femicides within the area, in line with the United Nations. However again in 2007, Mexico pioneered the inclusion of femicide in its penal code, stating: “The crime of femicide is dedicated by anybody who deprives a lady of her life for causes of intercourse.”

The Latin American Mannequin Protocol for the Investigation of Gender-Associated Homicides of Ladies recommends that each one violent deaths of girls attributable to felony motives, suicide, and accidents be analyzed from a gender perspective to find out whether or not or not there are gender-related causes. Explanation for loss of life.

After the loss of life of Frida Sahoyo, family and pals of Juan Paulo requested, amongst different issues, {that a} gender perspective not be utilized to the investigation.

“What’s ‘gender-neutral’ justice on earth? Justice for all besides girls?” requested Blanco, of the MAPAS group, in feedback to native media.

“We characterize half the inhabitants!”

This text has been translated from the unique in French.

European investigators quiz Lebanese over central bank chief

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh poses during a studio photo session in the capital Beirut, on December 20, 2021 - Joseph EID
Agence France-Presse

January 17, 2023 — Beirut (AFP)

European investigators questioned witnesses for eight hours in Beirut Tuesday as part of a probe into Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salemeh and his brother, a judicial official told AFP.

Investigators from France, Germany and Luxembourg began hearing witnesses Monday as part of the case of suspected financial misconduct including possible money laundering and embezzlement.

The long-serving central bank chief is among top officials widely blamed for monetary policies that have led to a Lebanese economic crisis that the World Bank has dubbed one of the worst globally in modern history.

Investigators heard evidence for more than eight hours from Ahmad Jachi, a central bank vice governor from 2003 to 2008, as well as Marwan Kheireddine, who heads Al Mawarid Bank, the official said on condition of anonymity because they cannot speak to the press.

Kheireddine, who has close ties to Salameh, is also a former state minister who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in parliament last year.

The investigators questioned former vice governor Saad Andary on Monday and are also set to hear evidence from Raed Charafeddine, another former vice governor, on Wednesday, although Salame is not among them.

"To my knowledge, so far he has not received a summons," Salame's French lawyer, Pierre-Olivier Sur, told AFP.

The questioning of the vice governors had so far focused on the central council's past decisions, the source said.

Bank owners and directors were asked about the bank accounts of the governor's brother, Raja Salameh, as well as "money transfers to the brothers' accounts abroad", the source added.

The investigators also examined the central bank's ties to Forry Associates Ltd, a Virgin Islands-registered company that lists Raja Salameh as its beneficiary.

Forry is suspected to have sold treasury bonds and Eurobonds issued by the Lebanese central bank at a commission, which was then allegedly transferred to Raja Salameh's bank accounts abroad.

France, Germany and Luxembourg in March seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a probe by French investigators into 72-year-old Salameh's personal wealth.

Lebanon also opened a probe into Salameh's wealth last year, after the office of Switzerland's top prosecutor requested assistance with an investigation into more than $300 million allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with the help of his brother.

Salameh and his brother both deny any wrongdoing.

The investigators also plan to question Lebanese bankers as well as current and former employees of the central bank as part of their probe.

Peru peasants march to Lima, vowing to give lives for change

Patrick FORT
Tue, January 17, 2023


Not even a police blockade could prevent around 200 members of Peru's Chanka indigenous group from reaching Lima to join an imminent anti-government protest.

They are among thousands of demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the dissolution of parliament and immediate fresh elections.

"Listen Dina, the Chankas are coming," chanted the members of this ethnicity with a reputation for being warriors. Some say they will stop at nothing to make their voices heard.

"If a Peruvian is not able to give his life for his country, then he's not Peruvian," said Abdon Felix Flores Huaman, 30, an unemployed psychologist and father of a small daughter.

"Some brothers have already lost their lives. We're also ready to give ours... so that my child has better opportunities, so she is not a marginalized Indian."

The Chankas began their journey on Sunday afternoon from the mountain city of Andahuaylas in the southern Apurimac region.

A day into their journey, police blocked them in the city of Humay, still some 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Lima.

They eventually managed to reach the capital at dawn on Tuesday after a journey that had lasted 40 hours.

They are now waiting for the protest to begin.

Thousands of protesters, mostly from the south of this Andean country, have been arriving in Lima in recent days to lend their weight to a social mobilization that began on December 7 following the ousting of former president Pedro Castillo, himself of indigenous origin.

The subsequent clashes between protesters and security forces have left 42 people dead while the government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country, including Lima, in a bid to calm the unrest.

- 'Traitor! Murderer!' -

In Humay, police had clearly been given orders to slow down demonstrators heading to Lima.

A line of police wearing helmets and carrying riot shields prevented cars from passing, others guarded the local police station.

The Chankas' four drivers were stopped for problems related to "vehicle insurance and missing technical controls", said police commander Alex Escalante Salazar, who denied trying to delay the demonstrators and insisted he was doing his best to speed up the process.

As the law requires, a photo of Boluarte is hung on the wall of the station.

"The police are unfairly preventing us from going to Lima," complained farmer Julian Huaman, 30, while holding the flag of the Apurimac region.

"Clearly the putschist ordered them to attack us on route," he added in reference to Boluarte.

"It's not the first time," added Flores Huaman. In their mountain city, police had"checked every backpack... but we're not carrying anything illegal. Our hands are clean."

In December, at least two people were killed in Andahuaylas, one of the epicenters of the protest movement.

Support for the demonstrators is high.

"In the communities, everyone has given one or two soles (26-53 US cents). With this money, we're going to Lima," said Flores Huaman.

It's a far cry from authorities claiming demonstrators are financed through "illegal mining exploitation and drug trafficking."

In Humay, protesters shouted slogans denouncing the "traitor" and "murderer" Boluarte.

She was the vice-president under Castillo and is from the same left-wing party.

But she succeeded Castillo when he was arrested after attempting to dissolve parliament and rule by decree as he sought to fend off an impeachment vote.

He has been the subject of several corruption investigations since coming to power in June 2021.

- City against provinces -

"Boluarte said she wanted to see us in Lima, well she will see us in Lima," wrote Anastasia Lipe Quispe, 63, dressed in traditional indigenous clothing.

"We have our corn and our cheese," she said, vowing to reach Lima "by foot if we have to."

The police blockade was eventually lifted around midnight on Monday.

The political and social crisis shows the rift between the capital and the poor provinces that support Castillo and who saw his election as revenge against contempt from Lima elites

"It's a struggle for the Chanka nation. It is a struggle of Quechuas and Aymaras against a state that after 200 years of being a republic continues to marginalize us. This is a fight against racism," said farmer German Altamirano, 75.

The Andean provinces often feel economically neglected by the rich capital.

They accuse multinationals, especially mining companies, of "pillaging" the country without investing back into their regions.

"Life is tough in Peru. It's very chaotic at the moment, "said Flores Huaman.

pgf/pz/lab/ybl/bc/bgs

Peru peasants arrives in Lima for major anti-Boluarte protest

"Listen Dina, the Chankas are coming," chant members of Indigenous group with reputation for being warriors as they await thousands of other rural Peruvians to march in capital against new government of President Dina Boluarte.

People say goodbye to demonstrators as they depart to Lima to protest against the government of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in the city of Ilave, Puno. (AFP)

Around 200 members of Peru's Chanka Indigenous group have arrived in capital Lima to join an imminent anti-government protest.

They are among thousands of demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the dissolution of parliament and immediate fresh elections.

"Listen Dina, the Chankas are coming," chanted the members of this ethnicity with a reputation for being warriors.

Some say they will stop at nothing to make their voices heard.

"If a Peruvian is not able to give his life for his country, then he's not Peruvian," said Abdon Felix Flores Huaman, 30, an unemployed psychologist and father of a small daughter.

"Some brothers have already lost their lives. We're also ready to give ours ... so that my child has better opportunities, so she is not a marginalised Indian."

The Chankas began their journey on Sunday afternoon from the mountain city of Andahuaylas in the southern Apurimac region.

A day into their journey, police blocked them in the city of Humay, still some 200 kilometres south of Lima.

They eventually managed to reach the capital at dawn on Tuesday after a journey that had lasted 40 hours.

They are now waiting for the protest to begin.

Thousands of protesters, mostly from the south of the Andean country, have been arriving in Lima in recent days to lend their weight to a social mobilisation that began on December 7 following the ousting of former president Pedro Castillo, himself of Indigenous origin.

The subsequent clashes between protesters and security forces have left 42 people dead, while the government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country, including Lima, in a bid to calm the unrest.

In the city of Humay, protesters shouted slogans denouncing the "traitor" and "murderer" Boluarte.

She was the vice president under Castillo and is from the same left-wing party.

But she succeeded Castillo when he was arrested after attempting to dissolve parliament and rule by decree as he sought to fend off an impeachment vote.

He has been the subject of several corruption investigations since coming to power in June 2021.

READ MORE: Peru declares state of emergency in Lima over protests

Take Lima 'peacefully'

"We know they want to take Lima, given everything that is coming out on social media, on the 18th and 19th (Wednesday and Thursday)," Boluarte said in a speech at Peru's Constitutional Court.

"I call on them to take Lima, yes, but peacefully and calmly. I am waiting for them in the seat of government to discuss their social agendas."

But she warned that "the rule of law cannot be hostage to the whims" of a single group of people.

Demonstrators from all over Peru have arranged to meet in the capital to protest together, but despite various announcements, it is still difficult to determine how many people will arrive in Lima.

Protesters have maintained almost 100 roadblocks throughout eight of Peru's 25 departments.

Security forces cleared one roadblock on the Panamericana Norte motorway in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Boluarte said other roadblocks would be dismantled in the coming hours.

The political and social crisis shows the rift between the capital and the poor provinces that support Castillo and who saw his election as revenge against contempt from Lima elites.

"It's a struggle for the Chanka nation. It is a struggle of Quechuas and Aymaras against a state that, after 200 years of being a republic, continues to marginalise us. This is a fight against racism," said farmer German Altamirano, 75.

NO HONOUR AMONG THEIVES

Suspected ringleader in EU graft probe cuts deal for lighter sentence

Issued on: 17/01/2023

01:28     Italian Pier Antonio Panzeri speaks during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on March 26, 2019. 

Text by: NEWS WIRES| Video by:  Vedika BAHLF

The alleged ringleader of a European Union cash-for-influence corruption scandal linked to Qatar and Morocco has decided to reveal information about the affair in exchange for a lighter sentence, Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday.

Pier Antonio Panzeri, who was charged last month with corruption, money laundering and membership of a criminal organization, and his lawyers have signed a memorandum in which he repents for his acts, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

According to a Belgian arrest warrant issued for his wife and daughter, who are living in Italy, Panzeri “is suspected of intervening politically with members working at the European Parliament for the benefit of Qatar and Morocco” in exchange for payment. Both countries have denied the allegations.

Panzeri, a former Socialists and Democrats lawmaker at the European Parliament, set up a campaign group dubbed Fight Impunity that was believed to have been a front for the scheme. Fight Impunity was involved in a number of conferences with parliamentarians in recent years.

In the memorandum created under a little-used legal article, Panzeri pledges to tell investigators how the scheme worked, what financial arrangements were made with other countries, how the money was moved around, who was behind the plan and what they stood to gain, as well as the names of others who might be involved.

The scandal came to public attention in early December after police launched more than 20 raids, mostly in Belgium but also in Italy. Hundreds of thousands of euros were found at a home and in a suitcase at a hotel in Brussels. Mobile phones and computer equipment and data were seized.

The legal deal means that “a limited sentence is provided for Panzeri,” prosecutors said. “The punishment includes imprisonment, a fine and the confiscation of all assets acquired, currently estimated at one million euros (dollars),” it said.

Panzeri, his former assistant Francesco Giorgi, Greek lawmaker Eva Kaili and the head of an aid group were taken into custody after the raids. They are believed to be at the heart of one of the biggest scandals to hit the parliament - the EU’s only publicly-elected institution. Kaili and Giorgi are partners.

Lawmakers suspended work on all Qatar-related files after the arrests and vowed to toughen lobbying and parliamentary access laws.

Earlier Tuesday, Panzeri’s lawyers appeared in court but abandoned an attempt to win his release from custody ahead of his trial. One of his team, Laurent Kennes, complained about media leaks in the case that he said were undermining his client’s case, but he gave no other details.

On Monday, an appeals court in northern Italy gave the go-ahead for his daughter, Silvia Panzeri, to be transferred to Belgium as part of the corruption probe dubbed “Qatargate.” But Italy’s top criminal tribunal, the Court of Cassation, will have the final say on whether she actually is sent to Belgium.

Belgian prosecutors are also seeking the transfer of his wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni.

(AP)

Belarus begins trial in absentia of protest leader Tikhanovskaya

Tue, January 17, 2023


The trial in absentia of Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya began in Minsk on Tuesday as strongman president Alexander Lukashenko cracks down on critics who challenged his three-decade rule.

Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, faces a litany of charges including high treason, "conspiracy to seize power" and creating and leading an extremist organisation.

The 40-year-old activist -- who was forced during mass protests that followed the vote to leave Belarus for neighbouring Lithuania, a European Union country -- has become the face of Belarusian democratic forces.

In an interview with AFP in Davos, Switzerland, Tikhanovskaya described the trial as a "farce" and said she had not been given access to court documents ahead of the proceedings.

"I don't know how long this trial will take place, how many days, but I'm sure they will sentence me to many, many years in jail," she said on Monday.

Tikhanovskaya's political allies -- Maria Moroz, Pavel Latushko, Olga Kovalkova and Sergei Dylevsky -- are also being tried in absentia.

Speaking in Davos on Tuesday, the protest leader said she was not allowed to take part in the hearings or receive a copy of the charge sheet.

She was assigned a lawyer but she could not get in touch with him, she added.

"How is he going to defend me?" Tikhanovskaya asked. "I am sure that has not been part of his plans."

- 'Unprecedented repression'-

Tikhanovskaya was part of a trio of women -- along with Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo -- who spearheaded massive rallies against Lukashenko that broke out across Belarus in 2020.

Tsepkalo now lives in exile, while Kolesnikova refused to leave Belarus and tore up her passport. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2021.

Tikhanovskaya's high-profile trial comes after Belarusian authorities put in the dock a number of other critics, including jailed Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

Bialiatski, 60, founded Viasna (Spring), the country's top rights group, and has been in detention since July 2021, along with two of his associates.

The rights campaigners stand accused of smuggling a "large amount of cash" into Belarus to allegedly fund opposition activities, and face between seven and 12 years in prison.

"The political repression by the regime of Lukashenko has reached an unprecedented level," the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

He said that the politically motivated trials were "aimed at silencing any independent voices and closing all remaining space for democratic debate."

Ahead of the start of Tikhanovskaya's trial, investigators announced new charges against her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, who in 2021 was found guilty of organising riots and inciting social hatred.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The charismatic 44-year-old YouTube blogger galvanised Belarusians when he ran for president in 2020 and coined a new insult for long-time incumbent Lukashenko when he called him a "cockroach."

- 'New charges for jailed husband' -

Tikhanovsky was not allowed to run in the election, and his wife ran in his place, claiming victory.

On Monday, the Investigative Committee said Tikhanovsky faced new charges of disobeying prison officials because he allegedly provoked conflicts with cellmates and flouted prison authorities' orders.

Belarus witnessed a historic protest movement denouncing the controversial re-election of Lukashenko, who has been in power for nearly 30 years.

Backed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko unleashed a massive crackdown, throwing critics into prison or forcing them into exile.

The Viasna rights group says there are more than 1,400 political prisoners in Belarus.

On Monday, a Polish-Belarusian journalist went on trial in the western city of Grodno.

Andrzej Poczobut, a correspondent for leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza and a representative of the Polish minority in Belarus, was arrested in March, 2021.

He faces up to 12 years in prison for criticising Lukashenko's regime, if convicted.

bur/gw

In Davos, Ecuadoran activist seeks end to fossil fuel addiction

Issued on: 17/01/2023

Helena Gualinga says she doubts doubts she will see results in forums such as the UN's COP climate talks

 © John Lamparski / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) – Ecuadoran Amazon activist Helena Gualinga has come to the meeting of global elites in the Swiss Alpine village of Davos with a clear message: companies must stop new fossil fuel projects.

Gualinga, 20, has become a spokesperson for her Kichwa Sarayuku indigenous community and its struggle against oil companies in the rainforest.

This week, she joined fellow young climate activists Greta Thunberg of Sweden, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda and Luisa Neubauer of Germany in launching a petition billed as a "cease and desist notice".

The petition demands that energy CEOs "immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites".

"We are from different parts of the world but we are fighting for the same purpose," Gualinga told AFP on Tuesday at the annual World Economic Forum.

"It is a call to say 'enough is enough' because we have said it many times. We need urgent action," she said.

The online petition -- which warns that citizens around the world will consider taking legal action to hold companies accountable -- has garnered more than 800,000 signatures since its launch earlier this week.

"We have to leave oil under the earth," Gualinga said.

"The rights of indigenous communities are very important in this regard."

'Can't trust states'

A decade ago, the Sarayaku community won a landmark case at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights which ruled that the Ecuadoran state had violated their rights to be consulted when oil exploration rights were granted on their land.

"I think this shows the world that such a small community but so well organised can manage to expel a company, can ensure that its rights are respected," Gualinga said.

Despite her efforts on fossil fuels, Gualinga doubts she will see results in forums such as the UN's COP climate talks.

Ecuadorian rights activist Helena Gualingahas become a spokesperon for her indigenous community © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

The last meeting in November, COP27 in Egypt, ended without commitments to phase out fossil fuels.

The next talks will be hosted later this year in the United Arab Emirates, which appointed the head of the national oil company as president of COP28.

"We cannot trust states to reach agreements that really manage to mitigate and stop climate change," Gualinga said.

"We know where this fight is headed. Indigenous peoples have been doing this since the first colonisation," she said, hoping that her community will one day obtain autonomy with territories with clear borders.

© 2023 AFP

A 20-year-old indigenous climate activist says the World Economic Forum is the perfect time for corporations to 'show their commitment' to breaking up with fossil fuels

Freya Graham
Jan 17, 2023

Polluters Out cofounder Helena Gualinga. 

Photo courtesy of Alice Aedy

Helena Gualinga is an Indigenous youth climate advocate from Ecuador.
She cofounded Polluters Out and has previously spoken at the COP15 and COP27 climate conferences.

Gualinga wants to bring Indigenous and youth perspectives to climate conversations at Davos.

Helena Gualinga has a busy week ahead.

The 20-year-old Indigenous youth climate advocate is speaking on several panels at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, sharing the stage with the likes of John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin.

She's aware that she doesn't fit with the typical Davos attendee: "I'm a young, Indigenous woman in a very middle-aged, male-dominated space," she told Insider.

But Gualinga, who gave several speeches at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt last year, isn't phased by standing alongside major political and business figures. "It's about learning to speak their language and see how our interests intersect," she said.

Indigenous voices at Davos and beyond

Gualinga said that she finds confidence in the knowledge that her attendance, as well as the attendance of other youth advocates, brings new perspectives to gatherings like the World Economic Forum. When Gualinga attended Davos last year, as a youth ambassador for science advocacy group Arctic Base Camp, she was struck by the lack of Indigenous voices at the meeting.

"There are so many decisions that are having an impact on Indigenous communities that are happening," Gualinga told Insider. "When we're talking about climate change and the protection of biodiversity, we cannot exclude Indigenous peoples' rights."

Gualinga has been advocating for Indigenous rights for several years. Born to an Ecuadorian mother and a Finnish father, she is from the Kichwa Sarayaku community, located in the Amazon region of Ecuador. The community has long resisted efforts from oil companies to extract resources from their territories.

"Our worldview is based on something called the 'Kawsak Sacha,' the living forest, where we recognize everything in the forest as a living being," Gualinga said. "And that is crucial to us; that needs to be taken into account.

For Gualinga, it's vital that Indigenous people are a part of the kind of decision-making that happens at Davos. "Meaningful is participation from the beginning to the end. It's not when decisions are already being made. It's not just having a small consultation with Indigenous people," she said.

She added that Indigenous ways of decision-making and governance need to be taken into account "because we have a different worldview, and because we have different experiences in our territories."

Gualinga said: "Many times, we've not had access to these spaces. So we need to create a process that is adapted to our communities."

Gualinga said that the green transition, i.e. the transition across industries to more sustainable practices — which is set to be a major topic at the World Economic Forum this year — is a key example of why collaboration with Indigenous communities is needed. Much of the green transition is about electrification — for instance, switching from gas cars to electric ones. To do this, we need to mine for minerals like lithium and cobalt.

"Most mines that are being planned in the next couple of years are on Indigenous territories," said Gualinga. "We have to look at how this actually impacts our environment and the natural world. Again, how does this impact indigenous peoples' rights?"

According to Gualinga, the areas that Indigenous communities have protected and preserved for hundreds of years are now threatened by the need for a green transition. "I think it's a really difficult battle, I think it's something that we need to recognize that we don't have answers for right now," she said.
Corporations must commit to making a change

At Davos this year, Gualinga wants to see "a real commitment to climate action."

"There's big oil and big mining attending, and I think they really need to commit to phase out from fossil fuels," she said.

"It's not like COP, where they can sign something," Gualinga said. "But I think it's an opportunity for the private sector to show their commitment without the pressure of the binding commitments that governments have."

Gualinga added that taking action on climate is not as easy as making a campaign about sustainability or supporting a handful of small projects.

"I think, unfortunately, we're just seeing more and more and more greenwashing. In one way or another, every company now has had a campaign that is green or sustainable, or, you know, something that makes them look like they care about the planet."

Gualinga said that greenwashing is "just an excuse to not take real climate action."

"It's also our responsibility to call that out and to demand better and more from companies, because they can — they have the tools, they have the information."

Gualinga added that corporations need to face up to their role in contributing to the climate crisis.

"[It is] their responsibility to make sure that the communities that are now being impacted by climate change, but also that have been impacted by their activities, are compensated," she said. "It's a debt that they owe to these people and it's a responsibility that they cannot escape."

Beef relief -- Argentina stops butchers carrying half a cow

Tue, January 17, 2023 


The traditional image of an Argentinian butcher weighed down by half a cow carcass on his back could be consigned to history after a government ruling.

Since coming to power in 2019, the center-left government of President Alberto Fernandez has been determined to end the practice on hygiene and health grounds.

It ruled Monday that the "half-animal" cut can be preserved -- but butchers are no longer allowed to carry it on their back.

A butcher bent double under the huge cut is a well-known scene in beef-mad Argentina, where citizens eat almost 48 kilograms of the meat a year per capita, according to official statistics.


But the "half-animal" can weigh more than 100 kilograms, a crushing load for even the sturdiest butcher.

"The debate is about whether we continue commercializing beef like 150 years ago," Agriculture Secretary Juan Jose Bahillo said recently.

The sector itself was divided over the long-running issue. Some were in favor of modernization and preventing large pieces of meat coming into contact with different surfaces.

But many argued that new rules would benefit major exporters to the detriment of smaller producers without the means to invest in new machinery.

A 2020 law reduced the maximum weight of a beef cut that can be carried by a person to 25 kilograms.

That was amended the next year to 32 kilograms but authorities still wanted to eliminate the half-animal cut. This week, a compromise was found.

The half-animal cut remains, but it must be moved from trucks using a pulley and rail system, the agriculture ministry said.

The new law will be phased in "systematically and progressively," it added.

pbl-ls/lab/fjb/bc/bgs

France attacks plot trial opens: "For the far-right globally, Emmanuel Macron is an ideal target"

Issued on: 17/01/2023 -

06:04
Video by:Genie GODULA

French homegrown far-right militants: 'The new trend in radicalization and terrorism?'

For more on the French trial of a far-right militant plot, FRANCE 24 is joined by Dr. Pablo de Orellana, Lecturer in International Relations at King's College London. 

Dr. de Orellana describes French homegrown far-right militants as "perhaps the new trend in radicalization and terrorism.'' And while "remarkably incompetent," he still compares them to "the type of radicalization we saw with the so-called Islamic State."

French far-right plot: 'A microcosm of a pattern that is repeating itself all the way across Europe'

Issued on: 17/01/2023 

10:13  Video by:François PICARD

For more on the French trial of a far-right militant plot, FRANCE 24 is joined by Dr. Nicholas Michelsen, Reader in International Relations at King's College London.

Trains, flights cancelled for Thursday strike over French pension reform

Issued on: 17/01/2023 

01:36 Travellers will have a tough time getting around France on Thursday amid a nationwide strike against the government’s pension reform. © Olivier Chassignole, AFP/File picture

Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: Emerald MAXWELL


Most trains will be cancelled in France on Thursday, with flights also affected and Paris’ subway heavily disrupted, as part of a nationwide strike against the government’s plan to make people work longer before they can retire.

Opinion polls show a vast majority of French oppose the planned reform, which would see the retirement age pushed from 62 to 64, and Thursday will be a test of whether this can transform into a major headache for the government.

Unions have called workers to massively walk out of their job on Jan. 19 and take to the streets across France. The government has said it will stand its ground and called on workers not to paralyse the country.

Only one in three to one in five high-speed TGV lines will be operating, and only one in ten local TER trains, the SNCF train operator said.

International traffic on the Eurostar and Thalys lines is set to be nearly normal, while the Lyria connection with Switzerland will be heavily disrupted and other international train connections will be entirely cancelled.

In Paris, the vast majority of RER commuter trains will be cancelled, while three metro lines will be entirely shut down and many others will be disrupted, the RATP metro operator said.

Meanwhile, one in five flights to and from Paris’ Orly airport are set to be cancelled.

The airport south of Paris, the city’s second-largest, at this stage is the only one in the country where the strikes could lead to disruptions, a spokesperson for the DGAC aviation regulator said.

Seven out of 10 teachers will be on strike in primary schools, the leading union SNUipp-FSU said on Tuesday, while other sectors, from refineries to banks, are also set to be on strike.
France has a decades-long history of attempts to reform its pension system - one of the most generous and costly in Europe - and of protests to try to stop them.

That worked in 1995, when millions took to the street in what were the country’s most disruptive social protests since May 1968. But several other pension reforms have gone through since despite protests.

The legal retirement age will gradually increase to 64 from 62, while the number of years of contributions needed for a full pension will rise faster than previously planned and will be set at 43 years from 2027, according to the government’s plans.

The reform is yet to be adopted in parliament, where President Emmanuel Macron does not have an absolute majority but is hoping to get the votes of the conservative Les Republicains.

(Reuters)

France braces for 'hellish Thursday' as pension strikes loom

Issued on: 17/01/2023 - 

Paris (AFP) – France is to face severe public transport disruptions on Thursday, operators have warned, as workers join a nationwide strike against a widely unpopular pension reform plan.
The suggested changes, still to be debated in parliament, would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase contributions required for a full pension.

The industrial action across different sectors on Thursday will be the first time in 12 years -- since that age was increased from 60 to 62 -- that all of France's unions are united.

"It'll be a hellish Thursday," Transport Minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday, urging all those who could to work from home.

Paris public transport operator RATP warned services would be diminished, with three metro lines out of service, and ten others only operating partially.

Services would continue as normal on just two automated lines, though they risked being overcrowded, it said.

Elsewhere in the country, national train operator SNCF said many high-speed trains would be out of action, with just one in five maintaining their journeys in some areas.

Most slow trains between cities would be halted.

Up to 70 percent of nursery and primary school teachers are also expected to refuse to work, the education ministry has said.

Opinion polls show that around two-thirds of French people oppose raising the retirement age, a move that comes amid high inflation and with the country still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Emmanuel Macron's last attempt at pension reform in 2019, aborted a year later when Covid-19 hit Europe, prompted the longest strike on the Paris transport network in three decades.

The 45-year-old centrist put the issue at the heart of his successful re-election campaign last year, pointing to forecasts that the system would fall into heavy deficit at the end of the decade.

burs-ah/fb

Nurses in England launch fresh strikes over pay

Tue, 17 January 2023 


Nurses in England began two days of strikes over pay Wednesday, as officials warned of disruption for thousands of patients in the UK's state-run health service.

It comes after nurses held an unprecedented strike last month, joining a wave of industrial action by public sector workers hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

The main nursing union accuses the government of failing to negotiate seriously on improving their pay deal for the current year.


The latest walkout piles further pressure on the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) at a time of peak demand and lengthy waiting lists for treatment.

"It is inevitable industrial action will have an impact on patients," health minister Steve Barclay said Tuesday.

Two days of strikes by nurses in England and Wales in December led to the cancellation of "around 30,000 elective procedures and outpatient appointments", Barclay said.

"Patients will understandably be worried by the prospect of further strike action by nurses," he added.

Yet the plight of medical staff has prompted public sympathy as soaring food prices and energy bills have hit lower-paid workers across the board.

A YouGov poll on Tuesday found 63 percent supported the nurses' strike.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said Tuesday that it is not "the right course of action.

"We continue to call unions to step away from the picket lines and continue with discussions."

- 'Olive branch' -

Matthew Taylor, head of the NHS Confederation, which represents state health care providers in England and Wales, on Wednesday urged ministers to renew pay talks with trade unions.

"Our message to the government is to give the NHS a fighting chance and do all you can to bring an end to this damaging dispute," Taylor said.

This week's nursing strikes could cause 4,500 cancelled operations and 25,000 cancelled outpatient appointments, the NHS Confederation estimated.

Further strikes are planned for February 6 and 7 by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, which said they will "be at the highest intensity in our history".

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: "My olive branch to governments -- asking them to meet me halfway and begin negotiations -- is still there. They should grab it."

A union representing ambulance workers, GMB, is also expected to announce Wednesday that it will resume strike action.

Ambulance drivers and paramedics this month held their second walkout in two months over pay and conditions.

The GMB union tweeted Tuesday that "government silence on pay gives... no option but to strike".

Barclay said he was keen for dialogue to continue, citing "constructive talks" with unions.

The NHS argues that it has given staff a "fair pay settlement".

Westminster MPs on Monday gave initial backing to controversial legislation that would require some frontline workers to maintain a minimum level of service during strikes.

am/rox

British health care crisis escalates with new nurse strikes


The U.K.’s National Health Service is in freefall as key staff stage walkouts over pay, conditions and underinvestment. But the British government holding the purse strings has so far refused to budge.

DOMINIC GLOVER / January 17, 2023

Nurses demonstrate on a picket line outside the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)


(CN) — Nurses in the United Kingdom are set for a fresh two-day strike this week, protesting against low pay and poor conditions as an ongoing crisis in the country’s health care system deepens.

The protest by the Royal College of Nursing, a 107-year-old union engaged in its first-ever series of walkouts, is part of an ongoing dispute between the British government and staff in the U.K.’s National Health Service, or NHS. The standoff comes amid a general collapse of health care provision across Britain, with an estimated 1,000 excess deaths a week being attributed to extensive delays in emergency care and a critical lack of capacity.

Nurses have been joined by doctors, paramedics and other medical professionals in their public condemnation of working conditions and falling standards of patient care, primarily attributed to a staffing crisis. There are currently more than 130,000 vacancies in the NHS – a vacancy rate of almost 10%.

Unions argue the primary reason for poor recruitment and retention of staff is low pay. The starting salary for nurses is below the average U.K. wage of 27,756 pounds ($33,854), while many nurses are frequently forced to work shifts of 16 hours or longer to fill gaps in the service. The high-stress conditions have led to an exodus among hospital staff, as large student debts and the impact of leaving the European Union have been cited as reasons for falling recruitment rates.

The effects of the crisis have thus far been stark. Ambulance waiting times have more than doubled for most calls over the past year, and the service has reached record-long waits for both emergency and non-emergency treatment. A total of 7.2 million people are currently awaiting treatment in England – more than 13% of the nation’s population.

There is also an acute shortage of hospital beds, with patients frequently being treated on floors or left in ambulances for hours on end, further reducing emergency capacity. A record number of hospitals have declared critical incidents over winter, indicating overwhelming pressures on their services.

The health care crisis has come to dominate British politics in recent weeks, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak under intense pressure to meet with representatives of the medical professions. Nurses are seeking a pay rise of 19%, to reverse a decline in real wages since 2010. But Sunak has refused to negotiate with unions, stating that a 5% pay rise offered last year is the only available option, and that any further pay rises will add to inflationary pressures.

However, the government is not in a strong position to take on nursing and health care unions. The ruling Conservative Party is unpopular across the country following a year of economic pain and political instability, and the party is traditionally distrusted when it comes to NHS management. Health care waiting times reached their previous record highs the mid-1990s, towards the tail-end of the last Conservative administration. Sunak has been damaged by the admission that he is a user of private health care rather than the failing public service – a question which he had initially tried to sidestep when interviewed by the BBC.

By contrast, the NHS is widely revered in British society, with nurses among the most trusted workers in the country. Visibly declining standards in the service are a major concern for the general population, with the issue having quickly overtaken economic management in salience. Recent polling by YouGov found that 85% of the public believe the government is managing the NHS poorly, whilst 60% support NHS staff taking industrial action, as worker protests are called in the U.K.

Controversial legislation being pushed through Parliament by the government seeks to introduce minimum service requirements for public services, which would undermine the ability of public health care workers to strike. However, the new law seems more likely to intensify the dispute than resolve it, and it does little to address the underlying causes of rapidly declining patient care.

Among the key reasons for widespread understaffing in the health care system is high demand. An ageing population and backlog of pandemic-era treatment have both added to pressures in the service. But the long-running issue in the U.K. has been a lack of social care provision. In the absence of an effective public or private social care system, hospitals have long been filling up with elderly, disabled and vulnerable patients whose needs would be better met in care homes or other assisted living arrangements. Unable to discharge these patients elsewhere, health care capacity has become increasingly strained.

Social care has proven to be a political headache for the British government over the last decade, with multiple administrations baulking at the cost of reforming the system, and ultimately backing away from doing so. A botched 2017 reform proposal was seen as too politically costly for Theresa May’s government, and the plans were subsequently abandoned. An attempt last year by Boris Johnson’s government to introduce a social care levy into the tax system was similarly reversed after internal opposition.

Sunak now finds himself at the end of the line of failed attempts to stave off a long foreseen crisis, and appears to have little enthusiasm for any new costly interventions in health or social care. Reports of an emerging Cabinet split suggests that Health Secretary Steve Barclay has privately lobbied for more NHS investment, only to be rebuffed by Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Sunak’s weak parliamentary position also gives him little room to maneuver, with his disunited party pulling in two different directions on fiscal policy.

Emphasizing that it is “the politicians who make the decisions,” Royal College of Nursing Chief Secretary Pat Cullen stated that the “route to resolving our pay dispute is through open dialogue, negotiation, honest communication and reasonable debate."

"I remain optimistic that we will soon have meaningful, resolution-focused conversations with government," Cullen said.

Unions are hoping that Sunak’s position on pay is gradually starting to shift under the weight of political pressure, with the Prime Minister last week refusing to rule out an increased pay offer for the first time – though possibly pushed back to the next financial year. But on the broader issue of health and social care investment there is little movement, meaning Britain’s healthcare system looks set to remain critically under-resourced in the medium term, and the NHS is likely to play a major role in the country’s next general election campaign.