Families urge Philippines to work with ICC on ‘drug war’ probe

The court is looking at the deaths of thousands of people after former President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed his brutal ‘drugs war’.

Nanette Castillo grieves over the body of her son Aldrin after he was killed in October 2017 [File: Noel Celis/AFP]

By Michael Beltran
Published On 17 Mar 2023

Manila, Philippines – Families of the victims of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal “drug war” are urging the new government to cooperate after the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it would resume its investigation into the killings.

Llore Pasco, 68, lost two of her sons in May 2017.

According to the police, they were criminals and probably killed by fellow hoodlums or rivals.

Pasco never believed the story. Her sons’ bodies were peppered with bullets and torture marks.

Officially, the incident is still being investigated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) but Pasco says no officer has ever come to ask her questions or share updates on the status of the case.

Pasco joined six other family members in August 2018 to file complaints before the ICC against Duterte and the PNP for murder and crimes against humanity.


“What is Duterte afraid of? He is getting his day in court, a chance to defend himself. That’s more than our loved ones got, they were just executed,” she told Al Jazeera.

Pasco never considered filing a complaint before the Philippine courts because she says the justice system is “notoriously slow for ordinary people like me”.

“How many cops have been punished for their crimes since the drug war?” she said. “Less than the fingers on my hand and yet thousands have died.”

Thousands of people have been killed in the ‘drug war’. The ICC wants to investigate the killings as a possible crime against humanity [File: Aaron Favila/AP Photo]

According to the police, about 6,000 people have died in drug-related operations. But human rights groups and even the Philippines’s Commission of Human Rights have said the number is probably closer to 30,000.

The ICC suspended its investigation in November 2021 when Duterte’s administration said the Philippines was conducting its own review into the killings but in January, the international court said it would resume its work because it was “not satisfied” that Manila was “undertaking relevant investigations”.

Duterte, who cut ties with the ICC after it announced the original investigation, left office last May but the government of his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr has also reacted coolly to the ICC decision.

Days after the ICC announcement, Juan Ponce Enrile, the president’s chief legal counsel, threatened to have the court’s officials arrested if they stepped on Philippine soil. Marcos Jr, a longtime ally of the Duterte family, had previously criticised the court and said its activities were an “intrusion in [the Philippines’s] internal matters and a threat to [the country’s] sovereignty”.

‘Existential threat’

The antagonism towards the ICC is shared in many areas of the Philippine political system.

In the Congress, former president Gloria Arroyo spearheaded a House Resolution, filed on February 16, for the “unequivocal defence” of Duterte.

Senator Robin Padilla filed a similar resolution four days later in the Senate and said Duterte was only fighting illegal drugs because “it is an existential threat to the country’s social fabric”.

At a press conference after the ICC announcement, Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said the court was “insulting us”. Speaking on television, he said the Philippines was not shielding anyone from prosecution and insisted the involvement of the ICC was “not practical” because it would undermine the country’s courts.

Like Marcos, Remulla insists the ICC has no jurisdiction but the court says it has the authority to investigate alleged crimes that occurred in the Philippines during the nearly eight years the country was a party to the Rome Statute, under which the ICC was established.

Duterte’s drug war began and was at its height in 2016 but he only pulled the Philippines out of the Rome Statute in 2019

.

New president Ferdinand Marcos Jr (second right) is a long  time ally of the Duterte family [File: Manman Dejeto/AP Photo]

The ICC has said the Philippine government is appealing the court’s announcement that it will resume its work. Meanwhile, the court told Al Jazeera it planned to increase engagement with civil society in the Philippines and broaden cooperation in the region.

“Now that the investigation is authorised to continue, the Office of the Prosecutor will pursue its efforts to deliver justice to victims in the Philippines,” the ICC spokesperson said.

Relatives of victims like Pasco have also organised support networks that campaign for justice.

Pasco is a leader with Rise Up for Life and Rights, a large alliance that has established links with various faith-based groups and is pushing the government “to assist and welcome” the international court. It was also part of the complaint filed by the relatives of the victims.

Nanette Castillo is also cautiously optimistic about the resumption of the ICC investigation.

Her only son Aldrin, 20, was killed in October 2017 while crossing the street in Quezon City. He was allegedly attacked by seven masked men on motorcycles and shot five times; three of the bullets lodged in his head. Castillo tried for months to get the police reports on her son’s murder, which was classified as a “death under investigation” but gave up in 2018.


The Human Rights Commission has said his killing was a case of mistaken identity.

“Many of us are hoping but not too much,” she said. “We know it will take a while and we don’t want to get disappointed if nothing comes of it. I just want our officials to see our pain. Don’t they have children as well?”

Castillo says she would often travel a couple of hours to the PNP headquarters in Manila to try and get more information on her son’s case. But she says the officers at the station were uncooperative and unwilling to help her.

“After many tries, they finally gave me a copy of the spot report. But for the police report, they wanted to hand it to me at 12 midnight in the station. I was too afraid to go and so I never went back,” she said. A spot report refers to the immediate incident report while the police report is produced later and is more detailed.

Representing the victims’ families at the ICC, lawyer Kristina Conti argues that the critical failure of the administration is “the pervasive acceptance that because the ‘war on drugs’ is a government policy, it is untouchable and unassailable, and the accompanying insidious assertion that the abuses are not policy.”

Conti cautions that having a working judiciary is also no guarantee of justice.

“It’s also about how other branches of government have ensured no rights violations or abuses, how they have ascribed accountability, how they have dealt with bad policies,” she told Al Jazeera.

Catholic priest Flavie Villanueva blesses the urns of men killed in the drug war

 [File: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

Sheryll Ceasico, a teacher in one of the poorest districts of Manila, says “whatever cover-up they try to do, people like me are living proof of the crimes they committed”.

Ceasico’s brother surrendered himself to the police as a former drug user early on in Duterte’s drug war. He thought it would reduce the risk of violence.

Three days later, Ceasico says she saw a masked man break into their house and kill her brother with four gunshots.

“There are still so many of us. Our testimonies have not yet been heard by the ICC or any court,” she told Al Jazeera.

 KEEP READING

Philippine police officer jailed for killing teens in ‘drug war’  

ICC to resume investigation into Philippines’s deadly drug war

Senior Philippine police urged to resign to ‘cleanse’ force

ICC prosecutor to reopen Philippines ‘drug war’ investigation

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

STATE CAPITALI$M

China to create powerful financial watchdog run by Communist Party

BEIJING - China will set up a financial watchdog run by the Communist Party, state media reported on Thursday, as part of a broad reorganisation of governing bodies set to give the ruling party direct control and supervision over financial affairs.

The creation of the Central Financial Commission will see the dissolution of the state-run Financial Stability and Development Committee, a powerful body set up in 2017 and headed by former vice-premier Liu He to curb risks in China’s complex and often opaque financial system.

The new watchdog will be responsible for the top-level design, development and supervision of the financial sector, strengthening “unified leadership on financial work”, according to a plan published by state media.

To strengthen the ideological and political role of the party in China’s overall financial system, a separate Central Financial Work Commission will also be established.

The reorganisation of party and state-run financial bodies comes after Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third term as party leader in October and also a new term as president earlier this month, making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

“The line between the party and the government has become decisively blurred, so there is no way that the new financial watchdogs will contradict with what the party wants,” said Mr Yan Wang, chief China strategist at Alpine Macro, a global investment firm based in Montreal.

Reuters previously reported that Beijing was planning to resurrect an elite party financial watchdog that operated between 1998 and 2003 to increase political control over the financial sector.

It would be headed by a member of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top decision-making body helmed by Mr Xi, sources previously said.

The revival of the high-level oversight body comes as Chinese leaders race to inject new momentum in the world’s second-largest economy battered by three years of heavy Covid-19 curbs, a protracted property slump and weak external demand for the country’s exports.

“From investors’ point of view, the near-term impact of the regulatory overhaul is unlikely to be significant. Promoting growth is clearly Beijing’s top priority, so it is unlikely to upset the market and hurt the economy with drastic policy changes,” Mr Wang said.

A detailed reform plan for state institutions was released during China’s annual parliamentary meeting that concluded on Monday.

Under the State Council, helmed by the new Premier Li Qiang, China will establish the National Financial Regulatory Administration tasked with regulating the country’s US$57 trillion (S$76 trillion) financial industry, excluding the securities sector.

The banking and insurance regulator will be abolished, and certain functions of the central bank and securities regulator will be transferred to the new financial administration.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
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China’s economy shows signs of recovery, though impact of Covid-19 curbs persist

‘Party-inzation’

Separately, China will establish a new Central Technology Commission to strengthen the party’s centralised leadership over science and technology.

A Central Office for Hong Kong and Macau overseen by the party will be set up to supervise the implementation of the “one country, two systems” policy, and implement the governance of the central government in the two administrative regions.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council will be abolished.

China aims to complete the reorganisation of central government institutions by the end of 2023.

Mr Carl Minzner, senior fellow at US think tank the Council of Foreign Relations, said he expected an increasing trend towards the “Party-ization” of China’s bureaucracy, with party organs steadily assuming roles once held by state bureaucracies, or even directly absorbing them.

“This both reflects Xi Jinping’s drive to reassert the party’s dominance over state and society alike, and represents a steady erasure of the limited boundaries between party and state that Chinese authorities themselves had attempted to draw during the post-1978 reform era.” REUTERS

UNFAIR COMPETITION CRIES UNCLE SAM
China's Speed in Selling Arms Prompt US Partners to Buy From Beijing, Say Officials

March 16, 2023 
Jeff Seldin

General Michael E. Kurilla testifies during a Senate committee hearing March 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

WASHINGTON —

China's ability to move quickly on military sales is costing the United States in two key regions and could have even more dire consequences in the years to come, top U.S. military officers are warning lawmakers.

The blunt assessments from the commanders of U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East and South Asia, and from U.S. Africa Command come as a growing number of defense officials voice concerns about the rapid military modernization that has already made China the Pentagon's "pacing challenge."

"This is a race to integrate before China can penetrate," Central Command's General Michael Kurilla told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, pointing to an 80% increase in Chinese military sales to the region over the past 10 years.

"Our security partners have real security needs, and we are losing our ability to provide our equipment," he said, citing long waits for U.S. military sales to be approved and for the equipment to be delivered.

"What China does is they come in [and] they open up their entire catalog. They give them express shipping. They give them no end-user agreement. And they give them financing," Kurilla said. "They are much faster."



Africa Command's General Michael Langley shared a similar story regarding U.S. partners on the African continent.

"Even with our significant security cooperation initiative, that process is not any faster," Langley said.

"The sense of urgency, especially in West Africa, across the Sahel, across Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo, they need equipment. They need weapons now," he told lawmakers. "So, they make choices, and they make the wrong choices in going with the PRC or Russia for, especially, lethal aid."

Such concerns about China’s weapons sales are not new and have persisted despite Washington’s overall dominance in arms exports.

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the U.S. was the world’s top weapons exporter from 2018 to 2022, accounting for 40% of all arms exports. China ranked fourth, accounting for just over 5% of sales.

State Department data released earlier this year said arms sales by the U.S. government jumped even higher, growing by almost 50% in fiscal year 2022 to $51.9 billion, buoyed in part by the war in Ukraine. Commercial arms sales also increased, hitting $153.7 billion.

Still, U.S. defense and intelligence officials have been continually warning about the impact of arms deals between Beijing and African countries, in particular, for years. One report, in February 2020, noted China even then was supplementing the sales to African countries with military and technical training.



And SIPRI data, analyzed in a report issued this month by the Washington-based Atlantic Council, showed that China is gaining a considerable edge in sub-Saharan Africa, where Beijing recorded more than $2 billion in arms sales between 2010 and 2021, trailing only Russia.

More recently, between 2017 and 2020, Chinese arms exports to sub-Saharan Africa outpaced the United States by a ratio of nearly 3-to-1, the report said.

The commanders of CENTCOM and AFRICOM told lawmakers Thursday that the more China is able to make inroads with arms sales, the more the U.S. will struggle to work with countries that would otherwise choose to be partners with Washington.

"If there's Chinese equipment there, we cannot integrate it with U.S. equipment," Kurilla said.

"Whether that's a radar or whether that's an actual air defense system, we can't let that touch our network based on what we know about the Chinese equipment," he said, describing the Chinese outreach in the Middle East as aggressive.

But there are concerns from some researchers that the data, which give many cause for alarm, do not give a full picture.

Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers program, said despite overall growth in Chinese arms exports over the past two decades, sales over the past five years fell by 23%.

"Expectations about Chinese arms exports based on the rapidly developing quality and advancement of the products that [they] have on offer haven't really come true yet," he said Wednesday at a webinar hosted by the Washington-based Stimson Center.

"We also see that China has not been able to become a major supplier to at least one region where you would expect it to have significant chances to develop as such, and that is in the Middle East," Wezeman said. "We haven't seen any major sales of things like submarines or combat aircraft to Saudi Arabia or Qatar or any of the other larger recipients in the Middle East. We've even seen that Chinese exports to Egypt have decreased."

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

JICA Manga! Graphic Comics Tell of Efforts to Solve Global Challenges

 JAPANESE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY

March 17, 2023

The world is facing many challenges such as unending conflicts, poverty, and natural disasters. A number of Japanese have been taking on these challenges by putting themselves on the frontlines and working with those affected.

JICA has published a series of books that celebrate these individuals and their accomplishments. Since the first was released in 2010, some 30 titles in the “Project History” series have been published, chronicling the experiences of these men and women and the successful projects they led. Four of these books have now been adapted into manga, Japanese comics, and are available in Japanese and English language versions.

From the seed of one person’s idea

The idea of manga adaptations began in the summer of 2022. JICA staff thought that the reader-friendly manga could convey the importance of Japan's aid to developing nations and JICA's work to a much larger audience. The stories of those working in the field could also be told in a more personal context. The four stories that were selected have themes that vary widely in location and context. These include a railroad development project that has changed the lives of people in India, an IT human resource development project linking Bangladesh to a regional city in Japan, a non-formal education project in Pakistan aiming to expand people's potential by improving literacy rates, and a project supporting Uganda, which is receiving a large number of refugees from neighboring South Sudan.

Each of the highlighted projects originated from the minds of a certain Japanese individual, and all have flourished as successful initiatives. They began with a passion to "aid those in need," and expanded like a ripple, drawing in more and more people as the project reached fruition. The illustrated pages of the manga seem to be a perfect way to let readers vicariously experience how these initiatives ultimately transformed into large waves that impacted society. In each story, the overcoming of obstacles is depicted not only from the viewpoint of the central Japanese protagonists, but also from the local perspective of those in the developing nations.

Thinking about people in developing countries and their lives

The manga series was produced by Suzuki Tomoko of the design company ROOM810 and two manga artist groups, birujiros and uwabami. Suzuki wrote the script, while Saito Yu and Sumita Yoko, both of birujiros, did the illustrations.

From left to right: Sumita, Suzuki, and Saito were responsible for producing the manga series. Their own experience with volunteer activities gave them a deeper understanding of the four protagonists and the challenges they faced.

Suzuki condensed each of the stories, which originally spanned nearly 200 book pages, into a 30-page manga format. She studied each project and the style of international cooperation it represented through interviews. She also engaged in detailed research, aiming to stay as faithful as possible to the perspectives and beliefs of the local people of each country. “In the stories, there are many situations in which the main characters are puzzled by the actions of the local population,” she said. “But expressing this simply through the lens of Japanese common sense could miss the truth. I always tried to be conscious of the different in values across the world."

Each manga frame is carefully researched, from the language to the description of the local area and the facial expressions of the characters.

Saito discovered some things that could only have been communicated through manga illustrations. “For example, I learned that young Muslim women prefer fashionable hijabs with vibrant colors and patterns, whereas those living in poverty-stricken areas wear subdued colors or, for economic reasons, do not wear hijabs at all,” she said. “Illustrations can easily portray such disparities, and show each country’s culture more clearly.”

Sumita believes that the advantages of manga are their ability to illustrate difficult concepts and visualize complex issues in an easy-to-understand way. “Above all,” she said, “they have the ability to immerse readers in the story by focusing on individual characters. I was primarily responsible for the characters, and as the story progresses, I was careful to have their expressions evolve over time. I hope readers will notice those changes.”

Detailed coloring and expressive characters are also part of manga's charm.

What most resonated with the members of the production team were the emotions of the local people who are portrayed in the stories. “The Japanese individuals who were inspired by the locals turned that inspiration into tangible action. It is a consistent theme across all the stories,” said Suzuki. “We would be happy to see the manga used not only as a resource for learning about developing countries, but to convey the unique qualities of the people who live there.”

Four Specially Selected Stories

• “Madam, This is Our Metro!—India and Japan Committed to a Better World and Future” Online version (PDF)

India is projected to soon replace China as the country with the largest population. Advancing access to public transportation for the booming population is a formidable task. The Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project (widely known as the Delhi Metro) opened in 2002, and the city now boasts one of the world's largest subway networks, surpassing even the Tokyo Metro in size. The key person in this massive national project has been Abe Reiko, the protagonist of this manga. As a civil engineer, she worked on safety measures and human resource development on Delhi Metro construction sites. The manga portrays not only the success of the subway project, but also the life of Abe, who persisted in pursuing her aspirations despite gender bias and prejudice.

• “Regional Revitalization in Japan Brought About by Bangladeshi IT Professionals: A New Form of International Cooperation Connected from Volunteers to Industry, Government and Academia” Online version (PDF)

Bangladesh has been faced with the challenge of creating job opportunities for its young generation of talented IT professionals, while regional cities in Japan has been struggling with a shortage of digital talent. One project initiated by the members of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) in Bangladesh was to introduce a national certification system for IT professionals. It was a catalyst that brought people from these two distant countries together, and eventually paved the way for another initiative that would help young engineers from Bangladesh find work in Japan. These projects, which developed over the course of 14 years, are noteworthy for establishing a new model of international cooperation that directly aligns the needs of both the supporter and the recipient.

• “Non-Formal Education—Learning for Future: Redefine Education—Beyond Learning Crisis!” Online version (PDF)

Pakistan‘s literacy rate is 60 percent. Many of the country citizens come from impoverished backgrounds. They live in areas with no access to education and are forced to work from a young age. The lack of literacy skills gives these people additional difficulties. The “Non-formal education” project that is the subject of this manga refers to the creation of an environment in which people from all backgrounds can learn through a flexible and diverse education system. It relates the stories of the numerous individuals that were involved in helping to improve literacy rates. It also vividly portrays the stories of those whose lives were changed forever through their ability to read and write, emphasizing the importance of life-long education.

• “Linking Humanitarian and Development Assistance in Refugee Response: A New Approach to Refugee Crises in Africa” Online version (PDF)

Soon after the country of South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, civil war broke out, causing many refugees to flee to neighboring Uganda. The areas where the evacuees took refuge, however, were underdeveloped, and the local residents also needed assistance. Although refugee assistance is not a part of the kinds of development cooperation that make up JICA’s primary task, the protagonists in this manga took action during this prolonged conflict, believing in a unique kind of cooperation that only JICA could offer. As the number of refugees and displaced people continues to increase around the world, this story inspires readers to reflect on their support for and coexistence with refugees.

All of the manga are available on the JICA website, and are distributed free of charge at JICA offices throughout Japan and at JICA Global Plaza in Tokyo. Two more works will be published soon.

“They were geniuses, but didn’t know how to build a f—king thing,”

Abraham Zarem, one of the last surviving Manhattan Project scientists, dies at 106

Jewish engineer joined landmark program to develop atom bomb in his 20s, later developed ‘miracle’ high-speed camera, regularly attended Los Angeles synagogue into old age

By ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL 

Today, 3:58 am


An item about Abraham Zarem appears in the January 1949 issue of "Engineering and Science Monthly," a magazine for alumni of the California Institute of Technology. (Courtesy/JTA)


JTA — Abraham Zarem was 28 when he joined the Manhattan Project, the vast US government effort to develop the atom bomb during World War II.

Engineers like him gathered in secret laboratories in New Mexico, California, New York City and elsewhere to provide the practical know-how the theorists lacked.

“They were geniuses, but didn’t know how to build a f—king thing,” Zarem said, according to his longtime rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, David Wolpe.

Zarem, who went on to a distinguished career in technology, business development and leadership management training, died on March 8 in Los Angeles. He was 106, and one of the last surviving members of the army of scientists, technicians, bureaucrats and clerks who helped build the weapon that would force Japan’s surrender in World War II and usher in the Atomic Age.

After the war, Zarem joined the staff of the United States Naval Ordnance Test Station at Pasadena, California, where as head of the electrical section of the physical research division he developed a high-speed camera used to study intense light sources and other phenomena. Popular Mechanics called the Zarem camera — 25,000 times faster than any movie camera then available — a “miracle.”

In 1963, Zarem served as senior vice president of Xerox, leaving in 1970 to launch a consulting business. He returned to Xerox as founder and CEO of its Xerox Development Corporation in 1975. He later served as founder and managing director of Frontier Associates, a technology consultancy.

Born in Chicago on March 7, 1917, Zarem was valedictorian of his undergraduate class at the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) and earned his doctorate on the physical properties of the electric spark at the California Institute of Technology. He headed the Stanford University Research Institute in Los Angeles while still in his 30s.

Later he served as distinguished senior adviser for Neuroscience Technology Transfer for the UCLA Brain Research Institute and a member of the Urology Advisory Board of the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine. He also served as distinguished visiting executive in Science and Technology for Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Scientists and workmen rig the world’s first atomic bomb developed in the Manhattan Project at the Trinity bomb test site in the desert near Alamagordo, New Mexico, July 1945. (AP)

One of Zarem’s companies, Electro-Optical Systems, developed the “world’s first practical ion engine” — an experimental high-energy thruster for spacecraft. It now resides in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

Zarem was also a regular at Sinai Temple, where Wolpe said Zarem mentored him as a young rabbi. Zarem and his wife Esther were generous contributors to the congregation; Wolpe remembered Zarem chanting from the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur when he was 99.

“Abe Zarem was a brilliant, buoyant, passionate, pious and philanthropic person,” Wolpe told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this week. “He had a central role in some of the key scientific events of human history — the atomic bomb, the moon landing — and yet took an interest in everyone lucky enough to meet him.”

Unlike some of his collaborators on the Manhattan Project, there is no public record of Zarem grappling publicly with the moral implications of the weapon he helped develop. Years after their war work at Caltech, a man who worked under Zarem as a lab assistant said he felt no guilt, because without the detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he told a local newspaper, “We would have lost 500,000 Americans in the invasion of Japan.”

But Zarem did go on the record in 1952 on a different topic, in advice he shared with a labor and management magazine: “Keep your feet warm, and your head cool. And watch out for the hotheads with cold feet.”

His survivors include his children Janet, David and Mark.

Assad rules out Erdogan talks till Turkiye leaves Syria

Agencies

Published March 17, 2023 

MOSCOW: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he will only meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if Turkiye withdraws troops from northern Syria, according to a Russian media interview published on Thursday.

His comments come one day after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seeking to repair ties between Erdogan and Assad severed after the Syrian war broke out in 2011.

Visiting Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad told Russian TV station Sputnik that there was no point in a meeting with Erdogan until Turkiye’s “illegal occupation” ended.

“This is linked to arriving at a stage Turkiye would clearly be ready and without any ambiguity to exit completely from Syrian territory and end its support of terrorism and restore the situation that prevailed before the start of the war on Syria,” Assad told in an interview.

“This is the only situation when it would then be possible to have a meeting between me and Erdogan. Aside from that what’s the value of such a meeting and why would we do it if it would not achieve final results for the war in Syria,” he added in the clearest remarks on the recent rapprochement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “work continues” on a potential meeting between Assad and Erdogan. “A meeting like that has to be preceded by a whole range of preparatory contacts, which are now underway,” Peskov said.

Diplomats from Iran, Russia, Turkiye and Syria were to meet in Moscow this week to pave the way for a foreign ministers’ meeting, according to Turkish media.

Assad acknowledged the role played by Russia in encouraging a rapprochement between Erdogan and himself.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2023

Couple poses for wedding photos at 'end of the world' | ABC News

IT'S LEFT WING

Foreign policy of Brazil’s Lula takes shape, irking the West

By ELÉONORE HUGHES and CARLA BRIDI

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting with mayors from all over the country to discuss public policy issues and the federal government's support for municipalities, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has so far shown little concern about defying consensus in the West on foreign policy -- even when it comes to dealing with authoritarian governments.

In recent weeks, Lula’s Brazil sent a delegation to Venezuela, refused to sign a UN resolution condemning Nicaragua’s human rights abuses, allowed Iranian warships to dock in Rio de Janeiro and flatly refused to send weapons to Ukraine, at war with Russia.

These decisions have raised eyebrows in the U.S. and Europe, but experts said Lula is reactivating Brazil’s decades-old principle of non-alignment to carve out a policy that best safeguards its interests in an increasingly multi-polar world.

Brazil’s foreign policy is based on its 1988 constitution, which establishes non-intervention, self-determination, international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of conflicts as guiding principles.

That involves “talking to all states at all times without making moral judgements, while respecting certain red lines,” said Feliciano Guimarães, a political scientist at the think tank Brazilian Center for International Relations. Lula’s red lines are not yet clear, he added.

Last week a delegation from Brazil headed by Celso Amorim, a special advisor to the presidency and former foreign minister, went to Venezuela in the first high-level official visit in years. Diplomatic relations with the neighboring nation were severed under Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Venezuela’s leftist president Nicolás Maduro is accused of trampling freedom of speech and persecuting political opponents.

Amorim’s team met with both Maduro and the opposition. Maduro posted pictures of the meeting with Amorim on Twitter and praised the “pleasant encounter.”

Brazil intends to promote democracy in Venezuela and push for greater transparency in elections, which is why the delegation met with both sides, according to an official at the foreign ministry who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Brazil’s representatives at the United Nations in early March declined to sign a Human Rights Council declaration condemning Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua. Ortega’s government has cracked down hard on dissent, and last month deported and moved to strip Nicaraguan nationality from more than 200 dissidents -- drawing international rebuke over what was deemed a throwback and a form of banishment.

In an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo, published March 10, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said the declaration was not signed due to “differences in language and approach.” Vieira pointed to Brazil’s historical position of seeking dialogue first.

But the controversy prompted the Brazilian government to later highlight that it was “extremely concerned” about reported human rights violations in Nicaragua and offer to welcome political refugees who have had their nationality stripped.

Lula made diplomacy a priority during his previous presidency from 2003 to 2010, and Brazil was widely respected on the international stage. The BRICS group composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was established in 2006.

Lula and Amorim held talks with U.S. presidents and senior Iranian officials in an attempt to build peace, negotiating alongside Turkey to slow Iran’s uranium enrichment. The efforts ultimately failed, and Iran continued enriching uranium.

Lula is seeking to reinsert Brazil on the global stage after Bolsonaro, who showed little interest in international affairs beyond asserting his affinity for other right-wing nationalists such as Israel’s Benyamin Netanyahu and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. He reserved special adulation for former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro’s trips abroad were few and far between. Lula quickly showed a different tack, heading to Argentina in the first month of his presidency to meet with his counterpart, Alberto Fernández.

The returning president also wants to create of a group of countries, possibly including India, China and Indonesia, to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Moscow was studying Lula’s proposal, according to Russia’s Tass news agency in February. He also shared that proposal with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a March 2 video call.

But Lula’s refusal to send weapons to the invaded country has aggravated the West.

“Lula’s government is applying the same principle of autonomy as during his first terms, but the global scenario has changed,” said political scientist Leonardo Paz from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank.

The West’s tensions with Russia and China are sharper. But Russia is a key supplier of fertilizer to Brazil’s soybean plantations, and its exports have become dependent on China.

China surpassed the U.S. as Brazil’s main trading partner in 2009. Their economic relationship has since only strengthened. Between 2007 and 2020, China invested US$66.1 billion in Brazil, according to the Brazil-China Business Council.

“Brazil needs a strategy that allows it to maneuver. The principle of non-alignment allows it to have channels open with all states to protect itself,” Guimarães said.

Brazil showed its will to pursue a foreign policy independent of the US and European countries when it allowed two Iranian warships to dock, Guimarães added.

The move prompted rebukes from the US and Israel. “Hosting Iranian naval vessels sends the wrong message,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing on March 9.

She added: “But Brazil is a sovereign country and they are allowed to make their decision on how they’re going to engage with another country.”

Another sign of Lula’s budding foreign policy came this week with the announcement that as of Oct. 1 Brazil will reinstitute the requirement that citizens of the U.S. and three other nations obtain tourist visas, which Bolsonaro had scrapped even as the four countries continued demanding visas from Brazilians.

Bolsonaro’s decision had represented “a break with the pattern of Brazilian migration policy, historically based on the principles of reciprocity and equal treatment,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Monday.

___

Bridi reported from Brasilia.

NOT JUST NON UNION ITS AN ANTI UNION STATE
Dozens of workers reject union at big Nissan Tennessee plant
THE RULING IDEAS ARE THE IDEAS OF THE RULING CLASS

By JONATHAN MATTISE

FILE - Workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn., walk by a Nissan Altima sedan, May 15, 2012. A group of 75 employees out of the thousands who work at a Nissan assembly plant in Tennessee will finally vote Thursday, March 16, 2023, on whether to form a union. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Several dozen workers among thousands at a Nissan factory in Tennessee voted not to unionize Thursday, another loss in tough territory for organized labor at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the traditionally anti-union South.

The 62-9 vote against the union at Nissan’s Smyna plant followed two years of legal wrangling in front of the National Labor Relations Board that spanned two presidential administrations.

In a statement, the machinists union said the delayed decision from the federal labor board had a “chilling effect” on the campaign. A machinists union representative noted earlier this week that some employees from the original drive had quit, left for other jobs or retired since the push began.

“The IAM will continue to support these workers so we will be prepared for them to join our union when the time is right again. We want to thank our organizers for their tireless work in this campaign,” Thursday’s statement said.

In a statement after the vote, Nissan spokesperson Lloryn Love-Carter said the workers “elected to maintain their direct relationship with the company.”

Love-Carter has previously said Nissan believes its workplace is “stronger without the involvement of third-party unions” like the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Still, she emphasized that employees have the right to decide whether to join a union — a right that has been enshrined in federal law since the 1930s

Nationwide, several high-profile unionization campaigns — at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and other companies — have given organized labor a renewed spotlight of late, even as the union membership rate reached an all-time low last year. The number of workers belonging to a union actually increased by 1.9% to 14.3 million, but that failed to keep pace with higher overall employment rates.

Organizers cited a variety of reasons to unionize at the Nissan plant about 25 miles (40 kilometers) outside Nashville. Those include retirement, work-life balance and health care issues they want to negotiate.

Last month, organizers finally secured a vote after long arguing that the group of 75 tool and die technicians were eligible for standalone representation because they have extremely specialized skills for a job that can’t be done by others at the facility. The Japan-based company contended the employees are not sufficiently distinct from other plant workers to be eligible for their own unionized bloc.

Plant workers first reached out to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union in 2020. A federal labor official in June 2021 ruled against letting the dozens of workers vote on their own union. They would need to include thousands more employees. The facility currently has about 7,000 employees. The union didn’t pursue the facility-wide vote.

After that decision, control of the National Labor Relations Board switched from Republicans to Democrats. After reviewing the decision panel since December 2021, the board ultimately overturned the previous ruling last month, giving the union a green light for the vote.

Unions have run into opposition from Republican politicians when they attempt to organize at foreign automakers in the South, including in Tennessee. There were no immediate reports of that happening during the tool and die campaign at Nissan.

Nissan does work with organized labor in the rest of the world, but votes to unionize broadly at the two Nissan plants in the U.S. have not been close. Workers in Smyrna rejected a plantwide union under the UAW in 2001 and 1989.

The automaker’s other U.S. assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, rejected facility-wide representation by the UAW during a 2017 vote.

The margin was much closer in 2014 and 2019 votes at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where workers twice rejected a factory-wide union under the UAW.

The year after the 2014 vote failed, 160 Chattanooga maintenance workers won a vote to form a smaller union, but Volkswagen refused to bargain. The German automaker had argued the bargaining unit also needed to include production workers. As a result, the 2019 factory-wide vote followed.

Tennessee already has a big union presence at an American automaker: The General Motors plant in Spring Hill has thousands of production and skilled trades workers represented by the United Auto Workers union.

There’s also an open question about whether workers will unionize at four sprawling new factories planned by Ford in Kentucky and Tennessee by 2025, with an aim of hiring nearly 11,000 workers. Three of the plants — two in Kentucky, one in Tennessee — will be built with Ford’s South Korean corporate partner, SK Innovation, to produce electric vehicle batteries. A fourth, in Tennessee, will make electric F-Series pickup trucks.

BNSF train derailment spills diesel fuel on tribal land in Washington

This photo provided by the Washington Department of Ecology shows a derailed BNSF train on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes, Wash. on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Two BNSF trains derailed in separate incidents in Arizona and Washington state on Thursday, with the latter spilling diesel fuel. There were no injuries reported in either. The derailment in Washington occurred on a berm along Puget Sound, on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes. (Washington Department of Ecology via AP)

ANACORTES, Wash. (AP) — Two BNSF trains derailed in separate incidents in Arizona and Washington state on Thursday, with the latter spilling diesel fuel on tribal land along Puget Sound.

No injuries were reported. It wasn’t clear what caused either derailment.

The derailment in Washington occurred on a berm along Padilla Bay, on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes. Most of 5,000 gallons (nearly 19,000 liters) of spilled diesel fuel leaked on the land side of the berm rather than toward the water, according to the state Ecology Department.

Officials said there were no indications the spill reached the water or affected any wildlife.

Responders placed a boom along the shoreline as a precaution and removed the remaining fuel from two locomotives that derailed. Four tank cars remained upright.

The derailment in western Arizona, near the state’s border with California and Nevada, involved a train carrying corn syrup. A spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, Anita Mortensen, said that she was not aware of any spills or leaks.
BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said an estimated eight cars derailed in Arizona and were blocking the main track. The cause of the derailment was under investigation, and it was not immediately known when the track will reopen.

The derailments came amid heightened attention to rail safety nationwide following a fiery derailment last month in Ohio and a string of derailments since then that have been grabbing headlines, including ones in Michigan, Alabama and other states.

The U.S. averages about three train derailments per day, according to federal data, but relatively few create disasters.

Last month, a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border, igniting a fire and causing hundreds of people to be evacuated.

Officials seeking to avoid an uncontrolled blast intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke high into the sky. That left people questioning the potential health impacts even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.

New analysis reveals dynamic volcanism on Venus

As it sped away from Venus, NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft on February 7, 1974, captured this seemingly peaceful view of the planet, nearly the size of Earth, wrapped in a dense, global cloud layer. Venus is a world of intense heat, crushing atmospheric pressure and clouds of corrosive acid. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Will Dunham
Reuters
Published March 15, 2023 

WASHINGTON -

A fresh analysis of radar images obtained more than three decades ago has yielded new evidence indicating Venus, Earth's planetary next-door neighbour, is currently volcanically active - a dynamic world with eruptions and lava flows.

Researchers said on Wednesday radar images taken by NASA's Magellan spacecraft showed that a volcanic vent about a mile (1.6 km) wide on the Venusian surface expanded and changed shape over an eight-month span in 1991. The vent is situated on Maat Mons, which at about 5 miles (9 km) tall is the planet's highest volcano and second-highest mountain.

A February 1991 image showed the vent as a circular formation covering about one square mile (2.6 square kilometres). An October 1991 image showed the vent with an irregular shape covering about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometres).

In a Magellan image dubbed the ‘Crater Farm’ the layering of volcanic activity and impact craters is seen. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

RELATED LINKS NASA's Magellan mission

"What we definitively can demonstrate is that a volcanic vent got larger and looks to have gone from conical and hundreds of meters deep in its interior to a flat, nearly filled interior," said Robert Herrick, a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute research professor and lead author of the study published in the journal Science.

"Our interpretation is that there is a new influx of magma into a chamber underneath the vent, and that results in formation of a broader, irregular caldera (a large depression created when a volcano erupts and collapses) that still has an active lava lake in it when the second image is taken," Herrick said.

The vent is located on the north side of a larger volcanic structure just off the main summit of Maat Mons.

"Although it is possible the vent collapse was not associated with active volcanism, on Earth this large a collapse is usually associated with some sort of magmatic movement, and hence we think it likely to be the case here," said study co-author Scott Hensley, a senior research scientist specializing in radar remote sensing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Venus is covered with craters, volcanoes, mountains and lava plains. Magellan imaged portions of Venus up to three times spanning 24 months from 1990 to 1992. Advances in computing capability have made analysing this data easier in recent years.

The new findings suggest there are eruptions on Venus about every few months, similar to some Earth volcanoes in places like Hawaii, the Canary Islands and Iceland, Herrick said.

This is the latest evidence that Venus, lacking the plate tectonics that gradually reshape Earth's surface, is not the geologically dormant world some scientists had once considered it. Another study published in 2020 identified 37 volcanic structures apparently active in the past 2 million to 3 million years.

Venus, with a diameter of about 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometres), is slightly smaller than Earth. Its thick atmosphere - mainly carbon dioxide - traps in heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, rendering Venus the solar system's hottest planet.

In our solar system, Earth resides comfortably within the "habitable zone" around the sun - the distance considered not too close and not too far from a star to be able to host life, with Venus near the inner boundary and Mars close to the outer edge.

"As we continue to discover new solar systems around other stars, understanding how Venus and Earth came to end up so different now is important to understanding what the conditions are for making a planet habitable," Herrick said.

"For instance, there are a lot of scientists who think Venus might have been habitable for a large fraction of its history, which would mean that the concept of a 'habitable zone' of a fixed distance around a star is an outdated concept. Maybe the distance is just one contributing factor and there is a bunch of other factors equally important," Herrick added.

(Reporting by Will Dunham, editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

Senegal rocked by more unrest as police clash with opposition protesters

PUBLISHED: THU, 16 MAR 2023
Bate Felix and Ngouda Dione


DAKAR, March 16 (Reuters) – Police fired tear gas at stone-hurling protestor during street clashes in Senegal’s capital on Thursday, ahead of a court case involving a prominent opposition politician that has triggered widespread anger among the West African country’s youth.

Protestor in Dakar burned tyres and set fire to buses and a large supermarket, the latest in a series of outbreaks of violence that have shaken Senegal’s reputation as a bastion of stable democracy, just months ahead of a presidential election.

Thursday’s clashes began when supporters of presidential hopeful Ousmane Sonko were blocked from accompanying his motorcade to the courthouse where he faces trial for libel.

Sonko, 48, who came third in the 2019 presidential election, is also charged with raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making deaths threats against her. He denies all wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated to stop him running in the February 2024 polls.

Much of the anger on the street is targeted towards President Macky Sall, whose failure to rule out running for a third term in office has incensed many.

Senegal’s constitution only allows two terms, but some fear that Sall will use a recent tweak to the constitution to reset his mandate, repeating a tactic used by other rulers to extend power elsewhere in the region.

“We elected Macky Sall to work, not to establish a dictatorship. He must leave Sonko alone, if he does not leave him alone we will burn the country,” a Sonko supporter said.

Tensions have flared ahead of Sonko’s court appearance this week, with three days of protest. More than 10,000 supporters gathered at a field in Dakar on Tuesday to cheer on Sonko.

The former tax inspector urged his supporters to join him in court on Thursday for the hearing. But his convoy and supporters were stopped along a main road by police.

Sonko was forced out of his car and bundled into a police armoured personnel carrier and driven to court, triggering the clashes.

Sonko supporters accuse Sall of seeking to eliminate him from the competition with a guilty verdict.

The libel case was brought by Senegal’s tourism minister who said Sonko had allegedly accused him of embezzlement.

(Reporting by Bate Felix, Ngouda Dione and Diadie Ba; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Alex Richardson)

 Supporters of Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko clash with security forces ahead of their leader's court appearance for a libel case against him in Dakar, Senegal March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Security forces clash with supporters of Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko ahead of their leader's court appearance for a libel case against him in Dakar, Senegal March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Israeli protesters paint 'red line' leading to Supreme Court after Netanyahu spurns compromise

2023/03/17


By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Jerusalem woke on Thursday to the sight of a long red line painted by protesters along roads leading to Israel's Supreme Court, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a compromise deal for his government's planned judicial overhaul.

Police said they had arrested five people who had disguised themselves as workers to carry out the protest action overnight.

Drone footage showed a small group of people in protective suits spraying a wide red stripe along mostly deserted roads leading from a police and magistrate's compound up to the Supreme Court in central Jerusalem.

A slogan stencilled in red onto the road in Hebrew, Arabic and English by the side of the road read: "Drawing the line."

The hard-right government's drive to limit Supreme Court powers while increasing its own power in selecting judges has caused alarm in Israel and abroad about the country's democratic checks and balances as protests have swelled for weeks.

In what they dubbed "a day of resistance," demonstrators blocked roads around commercial hub Tel Aviv and in other cities. At the Haifa port a few flag-toting protesters on boats, including former navy men, tried to block docking lanes.

"We are here to protest our democracy, our country, because we feel that our country is under brutal attack of the government, the Israeli government," said choreographer Renana Raz in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu, upon departing late on Wednesday for a state visit to Germany which has voiced concern over the judicial plan, said a proposed compromise outlined by President Isaac Herzog would not restore balance to the branches of government.

His nationalist-religious coalition says the Supreme Court too often overreaches and intervenes in political matters it has no mandate to rule on. Defenders of the court say it is a bastion of democracy, protecting rights and liberties.

Economists, legal experts and former security chiefs have warned that the judicial plan, which has yet to be written into law, will wreak havoc on the country's economy and isolate Israel internationally.

Netanyahu, who is on trail for corruption charges he denies, says it will strengthen democracy and boost business. Members of his coalition driving the changes hope to win parliament's final approval of them by April 2.

(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Dedi Hayoun in Tel Aviv; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editig by Raissa Kasolowsky)









© Reuters

Protests grip Israel after Netanyahu government snubs alternative judicial plan

By A.L. Lee

1/5
Israeli protesters blocked traffic during a demonstration against the government's planned judicial reforms during a 'Day of Disruption' in Jerusalem on Thursday.

 Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo

March 16 (UPI) -- Thousands of demonstrators blocked streets and major highways throughout Israel Thursday during a third day of nationwide protests over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the country's judicial system.

Despite the widespread unrest, the conservative administration appeared determined to move forward with legislation that would upend Israel's legal system by handing Netanyahu's government full control over the country's judiciary, with the sovereignty of the Supreme Court also at stake.

The proposal has touched off deep political discord in Israel in recent weeks, with public turmoil reaching a fever pitch one day after Netanyahu and members of his right-wing coalition snubbed a proposal by President Isaac Herzog that was widely supported as a viable alternative to the controversial shakeup.

Herzog and protest leaders have continued to warn that political chaos gripping the nation had potential to ignite a civil war unless a compromise could be reached soon.

"As the president warned yesterday, we are one step away from civil war," protest organizers said in a statement Wednesday. "The one stirring up passions is Benjamin Netanyahu -- he is responsible."

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have swarmed the country all week as debate on Netanyahu's proposal continues in the national assembly.

The latest protests began before sunrise Thursday as demonstrators in Jerusalem painted a bright red line on the road leading to the Supreme Court -- which was intended to symbolize the people's solidarity with the nation's court system.

About 150 large demonstrations were expected to take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Protesters have also announced plans to rally outside the homes of lawmakers, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

Nearly a dozen people have been arrested on vandalism and disorderly conduct charges as protests raged across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with massive crowds blocking the Ayalon highway.

David Enoch, a prominent law professor at Tel Aviv University, was reportedly among those taken into custody while Israeli police used tear gas to fend off protesters outside the British Embassy.

RELATED  Israeli protesters block roads in 'day of resistance' against judicial reforms

Throngs of Israeli reserve soldiers and navy veterans shut down the port in Haifa and choked off the city's main thoroughfare.

Israelis step up protests after Netanyahu rejects judicial compromise proposal



01:10

Demonstrators march with Israeli flags in a rally against the government's controversial judicial overhaul bill in Tel Aviv on March 16, 2023. © Jack Guez, AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES
 16/03/2023 - 

Israeli protesters pressed ahead on Thursday with demonstrations against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary, pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he rejected a compromise proposal that was meant to defuse the crisis.

Despite the effort by the country's figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, to seek a way out of the stalemate, the sides appeared to be further digging in. Netanyahu and his allies were set to barrel forward with their original plan despite weeks of mass protests and widespread opposition from across Israeli society and beyond as well as warnings by Herzog that Israel was headed toward an “abyss.”

Protesters were kicking off a third day of disruption since the crisis began, with roads set to close to make way for demonstrators. Protesters in Jerusalem drew a red streak on the streets leading to the country's Supreme Court and a small flotilla of boats was blocking the shipping lane off the coast of the northern city of Haifa.

Last week, Netanyahu had to be airlifted to the country's main international airport for an overseas state visit after protesters blocked the road leading there, holding signs that read “don't come back!” Tens of thousands have been attending weekly protests across the country each Saturday night.

The overhaul, advanced by a prime minister who is on trial for corruption and Israel's most right-wing government ever, has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked an uproar from top legal officials, business leaders who warn against the economic effects of the plan, and from within the country's military, its most trusted institution, where reservists have pledged not to serve under what they see as impending regime change.

The government says the plan will correct an imbalance between the judicial and executive branches that they say has given the courts too much sway in how Israel is governed. Critics say the overhaul upends the country's system of checks and balances and gives the prime minister and the government too much power and strips it of judicial oversight. They also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, could find an escape route from his legal woes through the overhaul.

Herzog had been meeting for weeks with actors on both sides of the divide to try to reach an acceptable middle ground and his proposal appeared to offer incentives to both sides.

But Netanyahu swiftly rejected the plan as he boarded a plane to Germany, saying it didn't rectify the issue of balance between the branches. Protests were also expected in Berlin during Netanyahu's official visit there.

The embattled Netanyahu, once a stalwart supporter of the independence of the courts, returned to power late last year after more than a year as opposition leader, amid a political crisis over his fitness to rule while on trial that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years.

He cobbled together a coalition with ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies who have long sought to curb the powers of the judiciary. Parties who support West Bank settlements see the court as an obstacle to their expansionist ambitions, while religious factions are driven to limit the court's ability to rule on matters they fear could disrupt their way of life.

But critics say there are also personal grievances involved in the effort. Beyond Netanyahu's charges, which he says are unrelated to the overhaul, a key Netanyahu ally was disqualified by the Supreme Court from serving as a Cabinet minister because of past convictions over tax violations. Under the overhaul, they each have laws that could protect their positions from any intervention from the courts.

(AP)

Israelis step up protests after Netanyahu rejects compromise

By TIA GOLDENBERG

A demonstrator waves the Israeli flag seated flanked by paramilitary border police during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 9, 2023. Israeli protesters are pressing on with demonstrations against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary. The fresh demonstrations Thursday, March 16 come after Netanyahu rejected a compromise proposal that was meant to defuse the crisis.

 (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, file)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli protesters pressed ahead on Thursday with demonstrations against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary, pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he rejected a compromise proposal that was meant to defuse the crisis.

Despite the effort by the country’s figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, to seek a way out of the stalemate, the sides appeared to be further digging in. Netanyahu and his allies were set to barrel forward with their original plan despite weeks of mass protests and widespread opposition from across Israeli society and beyond as well as warnings by Herzog that Israel was headed toward an “abyss.”

Protesters were kicking off a third day of disruption since the crisis began, with roads set to close to make way for demonstrators. Protesters in Jerusalem drew a large red and pink streak throughout the city on streets leading to the country’s Supreme Court and a small flotilla of boats was blocking the shipping lane off the coast of the northern city of Haifa.

“The elected government is doing a legislative blitz that aims to give absolute power to the executive. And absolute power to the executive with no checks and balances is simply a dictatorship. And this is what we’re fighting against,” said Shlomit Tassa, a protester in Tel Aviv, waving an Israeli flag.

Last week, Netanyahu had to be airlifted to the country’s main international airport for an overseas state visit after protesters blocked the road leading there, holding signs that read “don’t come back!” Tens of thousands have been attending weekly protests across the country each Saturday night.

The overhaul, advanced by a prime minister who is on trial for corruption and Israel’s most right-wing government ever, has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked an uproar from top legal officials, business leaders who warn against the economic effects of the plan, and from within the country’s military, it’s most trusted institution, where reservists have pledged not to serve under what they see as impending regime change.

The government says the plan will correct an imbalance between the judicial and executive branches that they say has given the courts too much sway in how Israel is governed. Critics say the overhaul upends the country’s system of checks and balances and gives the prime minister and the government too much power and strips it of judicial oversight. They also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, could find an escape route from his legal woes through the overhaul.

Herzog had been meeting for weeks with actors on both sides of the divide to try to reach an acceptable middle ground and his proposal appeared to offer incentives to both sides.

But Netanyahu swiftly rejected the plan as he boarded a plane to Germany, saying it didn’t rectify the issue of balance between the branches. Protests were also expected in Berlin during Netanyahu’s official visit there.

Herzog said Thursday that his proposal was meant to be a basis for further talks. “It’s not the end of the discussion but the beginning of it,” he said.

But it was not clear how much the coalition would be able to bend away from its original plan, parts of which it has pledged to pass before the parliament goes on recess for the Passover holiday early next month.

Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank that consulted with the president on his plan, said the coalition was beginning to understand the toll its plan was taking on Israeli cohesion, on the country’s economy and on its own popularity. Still, he said the coalition hadn’t yet reached the point where it would back down.

“Perhaps we will have to pay a greater public price and reach a lower point until this would become the baseline for achieving a compromise,” he said of the president’s plan.

The embattled Netanyahu, once a stalwart supporter of the independence of the courts, returned to power late last year after more than a year as opposition leader, amid a political crisis over his fitness to rule while on trial that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years.

He cobbled together a coalition with ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies who have long sought to curb the powers of the judiciary. Parties who support West Bank settlements see the court as an obstacle to their expansionist ambitions, while religious factions are driven to limit the court’s ability to rule on matters they fear could disrupt their way of life.

But critics say there are also personal grievances involved in the effort. Beyond Netanyahu’s charges, which he says are unrelated to the overhaul, a key Netanyahu ally was disqualified by the Supreme Court from serving as a Cabinet minister because of past convictions over tax violations. Under the overhaul, they each have laws that could protect their positions from any intervention from the courts.

___

Associated Press reporter Ami Bentov contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel.