The oligarch behind Georgia's pivot to Russia

Maria Katamadze

DW

05/27/2024

Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oligarch and Georgia's former prime minister, is thought to have masterminded the "foreign influence" bill, which critics see as a sign of Georgia's shift toward Russia. But who is he?

Bidzina Ivanisvhili, Georgia's informal and shadow ruler, is believed to be behind the controversial 'foreign influence' billImage: David Mdzinarishvil/TASS/picture alliance

Despite mass pro-EU rallies and pressure from the West, Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party has shown no sign of repealing the "foreign influence" bill.

Critics of the bill, who have dubbed it the "Russian law," have said the Georgian government intends to implement similar tactics to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on opposition, civil society and independent media.

If signed into law, it would require nongovernmental organizations and individuals receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities "bearing the interests of a foreign power."

The government has claimed the bill is aimed at transparency. But opponents have said its goal is to steer the country away from Europe and closer to Russia.

Georgia has been rocked by clashes with riot police during mass protests over the 'foreign influence' billImage: Irakli Gedenidze/REUTERS

Critics claim Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling party and now considered its informal leader, is the mastermind behind the bill.

In his capacity as honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream party, he has the informal power to appoint prime ministers, approve judges in courts and rubber-stamp laws in parliament.

How did Ivanishvili rise to power?

"He leads a sterile and ascetic lifestyle," Gia Khukhashvili, a former adviser and friend of Ivanishvili's, told DW. "He is a hermit."

Ivanishvili was born in 1956 in the village of Chorvila in western Georgia. He attended university in the capital, Tbilisi, before going to Moscow to pursue a doctorate in economics. It was from the ruins of the Soviet Union that he paved his way to becoming a billionaire.

During the privatization phase that followed the collapse of communism, Ivanishvili became a banking and metal tycoon. He also acquired 1% of shares in Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom, which he later claimed to have sold before entering Georgian politics.

Critics have accused Bidzina Ivanishvvili of turning Georgia toward Moscow

Image: Maria Katamadze/DW

Ivanishvili left Russia in 2002, first moving to France before returning to Georgia in 2003. There is speculation that he left because he feared the crackdown on oligarchs launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"When he saw [Putin] on TV marching down the Kremlin aisle, he understood that Putin wouldn't let him manage his business peacefully," said Khukhashvili.

He added that Ivanishvili had once told him "very proudly that it was his idea to ask the Russian secret service to protect the oligarchs. Other than that, we did not talk about his life in Russia, and he did not mention any friends there."

After returning to Georgia, Ivanishvili continued his business activity and led a low-profile life away from the public eye.

He returned to the spotlight when he founded Georgian Dream party and ran for the 2012 parliamentary election. He beat his rival, Mikheil Saakashvili, but his tenure as prime minister only lasted a year before he announced his retirement from politics.

However, observers have said he left only to continue pulling the strings in the background.

Ivanishvili behind Georgia's pro-Western facade

Opinion polls suggest more than 80% of Georgians support the country's further integration with the European Union. Anti-Kremlin sentiments run high in Georgia, especially since Russia invaded Georgia in 2008.

Since coming to power in 2012, the Georgian Dream government has always been officially committed to joining the EU and NATO. The opposition, however, have accused it of hiding a pro-Russian stance.

Ivanishvili was able to attract allies who believed in a pro-Western course for Georgia and thought he had broken his links with Russia.

"He said he sold his assets in Russia and was free of the Russian grip," former Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told DW. "We were always talking about Euro-Atlantic integration. At some point, I stopped believing in it. I saw that we were moving elsewhere. But the voters believed that they were still going to Europe."

What's behind Georgia's divisive 'foreign agents' law?  05:18

After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Georgian Dream officials started accusing Western officials of wanting to drag Georgia into the Ukraine war as "a second front."

In April, in a rare speech, Ivanishvili accused what he refers to as a Western-backed "global war party" of interfering in Georgian affairs and causing conflict with its neighbor Russia.

"Despite the promise made at the Bucharest Summit in 2008, Georgia and Ukraine were not allowed to join NATO and were left outside. All such decisions are made by the 'global war party,' which has a decisive influence on NATO and the European Union and only sees Georgia and Ukraine as cannon fodder," he said in his speech.

Margvelashvili believes the "foreign influence" bill, which targets Western-funded civil society and pro-EU movements in Georgia, plays right into Putin's hands.

"Russia will be able to say, 'Look at Georgia; they've been struggling to break away from us, and they still come back to Russia. No matter what you do today, you will come back to Russia,'" Margvelashvili said. "This will also echo with Ukrainians."

Sanctions, conspiracy theories and disputes with Credit Suisse

Since parliament passed the "foreign influence" bill, which critics say would put Georgia's Western trajectory at risk, the European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for sanctions against Ivanishvili. The US, traditionally one of Georgia's main strategic partners,has introduced a visa ban for Georgian Dream officials for "undermining democracy" in the country.

Georgia's foreign agents law 'not good for democracy' 12:40


Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze recently claimed that "informal sanctions" against Ivanishvili were already in place as a result of Ivanishvili's ongoing legal war with the Swiss bank Credit Suisse over freezing his assets believed to total $2 billion (€1.85 billion).

"When you don't believe in democracy, you don't believe in the independence of institutions and the checks-and-balances system, [then] conspiracy theory is the easy way," explained former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, speaking with DW.
Ivanishvili's strategy to stay in power

Some of Ivanishvili’s critics believe the current illiberal turn is part of his political survival strategy. If the pro-Western opposition wins parliamentary elections in October, Ivanishvili's standing and wealth could be at risk.

"He is sacrificing his country's democracy and EU integration for his wealth, and he will put all his resources into maintaining power. Because only staying in power can guarantee his well-being," said Gakharia.

He added that for Ivanishvili, the "foreign influence" bill was also a tool to suppress election watchdogs in order to rig the parliamentary elections.

"The problem now is how to conduct fair elections. Ivanishvili is afraid of two things: Not getting legitimacy from Georgians if they do not recognize the elections, and international legitimacy. If these two overlap in October, he is done," said Gakharia.

Edited by: Rob Mudge

Why Nazi slogans and xenophobia appeal to rich kids

Jens Thurau

DW

05/27/2024

A video from the posh holiday island of Sylt shows wealthy young people shouting Nazi slogans and singing xenophobic chants. Are the children of the rich particularly likely to be anti-democratic?

'Sylter against the right' — protesters stand outside the Pony Club where a video portraying racists gestures was filmed

 Lea Sarah Albert/dpa/picture alliance

The uproar in Germany over a 15-second video Chancellor Olaf Scholz called "disgusting" and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser a "disgrace for Germany" has continued into a second week.

The video shows half a dozen young people in smart-casual clothes dancing and singing: "Germany for the Germans, foreigners out," to the tune of a 20-year-old party hit named "L'amour toujours." One of them does a Hitler salute while holding two fingers between his upper lip and nose as if to imitate the Nazi dictator's mustache.

The video was recorded last week in the Pony Club on Sylt, a North Sea island much frequented by wealthy holidaymakers.

VIDEO:   When the celebrities discovered Sylt  02:31

Since the video emerged, more right-wing incidents have come to light on the island: Police are investigating the verbal and physical attack on a 29-year-old Black woman.

Those shown in the video also now face criminal investigations. "Incitement to hatred" carries a minimum prison sentence of three months and a maximum of five years, while the use of symbols and gestures of unconstitutional organizations, such as a Hitler salute, can lead to a prison sentence of up to three years.

In an attempt to explain the events, Faeser and other politicians were quick to suggest the perpetrators may be wealthy individuals who experienced neglect as children and now "trample on the values in our Basic Law."



The term "Wohlstandsverwahrlosung" has been bandied around: The term refers to rich children who grow up in a world full of material abundance, have unlimited options, never experience pressure to secure their own livelihood and end up being neglected by their parents. As adults, they display a sense of entitlement to a higher social standing, their wealth allowing them to follow their every whim without having to fear consequences or take responsibility.

Social psychologist Pia Lamberty of CeMAS, a non-profit that monitors the spread of conspiracy ideologies, said the Sylt incident is proof that there are right-wing extremist and xenophobic attitudes in all sections of society.

"The media attention has to do with the fact that this did not take place somewhere deep in Saxony [a far-right stronghold], in a pub or nightclub, but rather where the rich and famous are," she told the German news agency dpa.

The island of Sylt, especially the small town of Kampen with its 500 inhabitants, has been a vacation destination for party-loving young people from wealthy families for many years. Business leaders and celebrities have bought vacation homes all over the island, where hotel and real estate prices are exorbitant, as are the prices for food and drink.

The inhabitants of Kampen are in a state of shock. The managers of the Pony Club are said to have received death threats. The island's local politicians fear for its good reputation: Mayor Stefanie Böhm said, "Kampen is a cosmopolitan village. these people represent neither the village nor the island."

Festival organizers across Germany have said they are banning the "L'amour toujours" tune from their events.



This article was originally written in German.

'System collapsed': Haiti in dire need of both 'emergency' humanitarian aid, long-term 'development'

Issued on: 27/05/2024 

Haiti is waiting desperately for the first members of a Kenyan-led multinational force tasked with ending the stranglehold of powerful and ultra-violent gangs, but their hoped-for arrival this week was delayed. There had been speculation that a first contingent of the Kenyan-led force might arrive in the destitute Caribbean nation this week, to coincide with Kenyan President William Ruto's state visit to Washington. The deployment gained new urgency with the announcement Friday that gang members killed three missionaries, a Haitian and an American couple, leading to renewed calls for the force to get up and running. Gangs control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as swathes of the country, and have long terrorized people with random shootings, kidnappings and sexual violence. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on violent upheaval and the harrowing plight of civilians in the impoverished gang-ravaged Caribbean nation, FRANCE 24's Genie Godula is joined by our Senior Reporter Catherine Norris Trent and Dr. Christian MOUALA, UNAIDS Country Director and Representative in Haiti.

18:40 Video by: Catherine NORRIS TRENT| Genie GODULA

DECREE 54

Tunisian journalists demand arrested colleagues' release

Tunis (AFP) – Several dozen journalists demonstrated in Tunis  against what they called the "repression" of freedoms and called for the release of two convicted colleagues, an AFP journalist said.


Issued on: 27/05/2024 - 

Tunisian journalists protesting outside their union headquarters 

© Sofiene HAMDAOUI / AFP

Around 60 protesters chanted "Freedom for the Tunisian press", "The police state is old news" and "The judiciary is under orders" outside the headquarters of the national journalists' union (SNJT).

The day of solidarity was organised after two well-known journalists were sentenced on Wednesday to a year in prison over social and news media posts about Tunisia's socio-economic situation and President Kais Saied, who seized sweeping powers in 2021.

The demonstrators, who included relatives of the imprisoned journalists, held placards reading "No to liquidating the media", "Journalism is not a crime" and "There is no free and professional press under threat and intimidation".

Broadcaster Borhan Bssais and political commentator Mourad Zeghidi were arrested on May 11 and found guilty of spreading "false information" and having "defamed others or damaged their reputation".

Their lawyers are appealing the ruling, the journalists' families told AFP.

Bssais and Zeghidi were convicted under Decree 54, enacted in 2022 by Saied officially in the name of fighting "false news" but widely criticised for its broad interpretation.

"Freedoms are beginning to lose their value in Tunisia and the colleagues being prosecuted are prisoners of conscience," SNJT president Zied Dabbar said before the protest.

Calling for Bssais and Zeghidi to be freed, he demanded a stop to "instrumentalising Decree 54" and "repressing freedoms".

A dozen lawyers, journalists, and civil society activists have been arrested under Decree 54 and other laws in recent weeks, drawing the "concern" of international NGOs, the European Union, the United States and France.

Over the past year and a half, more than 60 critical voices have been prosecuted under Decree 54.

Meeting the justice minister on Friday, Saied said the Tunisian constitution guaranteed freedom of expression.

"No one has yet been prosecuted for their opinions," he said.

© 2024 AFP

US Democrats call for criminal probe into Big Oil price-fixing

Washington (AFP) – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and nearly two dozen Democrats called on the Justice Department to investigate the oil and gas industry over allegations of price-fixing.


Issued on: 30/05/2024

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Justice Department to "use every tool" to prevent and prosecute price-fixing

 © Samuel Corum / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

The senators pointed to an investigation by US antitrust authorities into a high-profile merger that concluded there was evidence of anticompetitive practice by oil executives to boost fuel costs for Americans.

"These reports are alarming and lend credence to the fear that corporate avarice is keeping prices artificially high," Democrats wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Schumer and his colleagues urged Garland to "use every tool" to prevent and prosecute price-fixing, which they said may have increased gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel costs "in a way that has materially harmed virtually every American household and business."

The letter came with Democrats escalating a confrontation with so-called "Big Oil" over high prices and greenhouse gas emissions as the presidential election looms in November.

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The Federal Trade Commission earlier in May approved ExxonMobil's $60 billion acquisition of leading Texas oil producer Pioneer Natural Resources -- but accused Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield of colluding with the OPEC+ group of countries to boost prices.

Regulators pointed to multiple private conversations and hundreds of text messages between Sheffield and OPEC officials in which the CEO discussed pricing and production, and assured them that Pioneer as working to keep supply low.

Schumer and his colleagues argued that industry collusion may have contributed to sharply lowering US oil production, boosting gas prices by 94 cents a gallon since the pandemic hit.

"That means Pioneer's and its co-conspirators' collusion may have cost the average American household up to $500 per car in increased annual fuel costs -- an unwelcome tax that is particularly burdensome for lower-income families," they said.

The FTC banned Sheffield from serving on Exxon's board following the takeover but the senators said that "only the DOJ can prosecute and fully redress the alleged anticompetitive behavior in the oil sector."

Price fixing findings can carry penalties of up to $1 million and 10 years in prison for individuals and $100 million for companies.

Sheffield's lawyers wrote in a federal filing earlier this week that the FTC's case was built on a "false narrative about these statements and a farfetched interpretation of the applicable statutes."

"This document lays out in detail why the FTC is wrong to imply that I ever engaged in, promoted or even suggested any form of anti-competitive behavior," Sheffield said in a statement.

"It also shows how publicly and unjustifiably vilifying me will have a chilling effect on the ability of business leaders in any sector of our economy to address shareholder demands and to exercise their constitutionally protected right to advocate for their industries."

Pioneer said the FTC's complaint reflected a "fundamental misunderstanding of the US and global oil markets" and that Sheffield was motivated by strengthening the position of domestic energy producers to enhance US energy security.

© 2024 AFP

Danger warnings as heatwave hits western US

Los Angeles (AFP) – A dangerous heatwave was building over parts of the western United States Tuesday, with forecasters warning of rocketing temperatures in an early taste of a possibly brutal summer for the region.


Issued on: 04/06/2024 - 

Death Valley is routinely unpleasantly hot, but is expected to see temperatures as high as 122F

 © MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

The merury was expected to top out at well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), with some areas experiencing highs as much as 30 degrees above normal for this time of year.

Southwestern desert areas and California's Central Valley fruit basket were set to be particularly unpleasant, the National Weather Service warned.

"Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or broken across much of the aforementioned areas," the agency said.

Temperatures in Death Valley were set to hit a deeply uncomfortable 122F on Thursday, while Las Vegas could be baking in 112F heat.

Forecasters issued excessive heat warnings for parts of Nevada, Arizona and California, with the heat expected to spread further inland as the week goes on.

"Little overnight relief will make for dangerous conditions for those without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration," the NWS said.

California's Environmental Protection Agency said certain groups were particularly at risk.

"Extreme heat is an invisible but dangerous consequence of climate change, and California's outdoor workers, seniors and children are particularly vulnerable," it wrote on social media.

Southern Texas was also experiencing sweltering temperatures, with the border city of Rio Grande expected to see highs of 117F later Tuesday.

Forecasters in the United States are watching for the development of a ridge of high pressure that would bring more heat in from Mexico, which has been withering under a punishing heatwave.

Late last month Mexico City -- which sits 7,350 feet (2,240 meters) above sea level and has traditionally enjoyed a temperate climate -- logged its highest ever temperatures.

Officials say dozens of people have died in repeated heatwaves that have scorched the country, with hundreds of others sickened.

Experts say there could be worse to come.

This year is on course to be "the warmest year in history," Francisco Estrada, coordinator of the Climate Change Research Program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has warned.

Human-caused climate change is heating up the planet at an alarming rate, the global scientific community agrees.

The world experienced an average of 26 more days of extreme heat over the last 12 months that would probably not have occurred without climate change, a report said last month.

The report, by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the World Weather Attribution scientific network and the nonprofit research organization Climate Central, said 6.3 billion people -- roughly 80 percent of the global population -- experienced at least 31 days of extreme heat last year.

The year 2023 was the hottest on record, according to the European Union's climate monitor, Copernicus.

And 2024 is not shaping up to be any better, with Pakistan, India and China already walloped by extreme temperatures.

© 2024 AFP

Exceptionally early heatwave hits Finland

Helsinki (AFP) – Finland has been experiencing unusually warm weather this May, prompting the Meteorological Institute to issue a heat warning on Monday.

Issued on: 27/05/2024 - 

Nordic Finland does not usually experience heatwaves in May 

© Olivier MORIN / AFP/File
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Temperatures across large parts of the Nordic nation, the north of which lies above the Arctic Circle, are due to surge above 27C (81 F) starting on Tuesday, the institute said.

"This is probably the first time ever we have issued a heatwave warning in May", Iiris Viljamaa from the Finnish Meteorological Institute told AFP, adding that such alerts were normally issued in June at the earliest.

Scientists say that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming and that these heatwaves are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

"The Finnish climate has always seen changes in weather but now climate change is enhancing these kinds of weather phenomena," meteorologist Leena Laakso told AFP.

Research shows "extreme weather events will increase due to climate change," she said.

According to Laakso, the current temperatures were around 10C above average temperatures for May.

The Finnish warning is aimed at alerting people about increased health risks associated with daytime temperatures reaching 27C.

Especially the elderly, people with long-term illnesses and disabilities, babies and young children are advised to take shelter from the heat, the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare said in a statement.

"In Finland we are used to cool weather and people start to have some health issues in this kind of weather already", said Viljamaa.

On Monday, temperatures between 24 and 28C were recorded, due to a high pressure system over the country, combined with a warm, dry air mass flowing from the south.

Twelve days in May had already exceeded 25 degrees, Viljamaa said.

The town of Salo in southwestern Finland on Saturday registered the country's highest temperature of the year so far, at 28.8C.

"Now it seems the really, really hot weather will remain in Finland until the end of the month," Viljamaa said.

After Sunday the weather is expected to start cooling down, bringing much needed rain for nature and fields grappling with drought, Viljamaa added.

© 2024 AFP

Slovenia becomes latest EU country to recognise Palestine as a state

More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state — more than two-thirds of the United Nations.

Slovenia recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move, following in the recent steps of three other European countries.


Issued on: 04/06/2024 -

A man puts up the flag of Palestine as members of parliament applaud after the Slovenian parliament approved the recognition of an independent Palestinian state, in Lubljana, Slovenia June 4, 2024. © Borut Zivulovic, Reuters

Slovenia’s government endorsed a motion last week to recognize a Palestinian state , and sent the proposal to the parliament for final approval, which was needed for the decision to take effect.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted with 52 in favor and no one against recognition in the 90-seat parliament. The remaining lawmakers were not present for the vote.

“Dear people of Palestine, today’s final decision of Slovenia is a message of hope and peace," Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on the social media platform X. "We believe that only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting peace in the #MiddleEast . Slovenia will tirelessly continue to work on the security of both nations, Palestinians and Israelis.”

Slovenia’s decision came days after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognized a Palestinian state, a move that was condemned by Israel.

Previously, only seven members of the 27-nation European Union officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former East bloc countries that announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the EU. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.

“We started talking with our allies about the recognition of Palestine in February this year,” Prime Minister Robert Golob told lawmakers before Tuesday's vote. “At the time, the assessment was — the time is not yet ripe ... we warned that we, Europe, have a ... duty to act.”

The ruling coalition led by Golob holds a comfortable majority in Slovenia’s assembly and the vote was expected to be a formality.

Golob also evoked Slovenia's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 in his remarks to parliament.

“We Slovenians have dreamed of this right for 1,000 years. We got it 33 years ago,” Golob said. “Unfortunately, the Palestinian nation has not yet received this right.”

Slovenia's main opposition party, the Slovenian Democratic Party, opposes the recognition. The right-wing party has demanded a referendum on the issue that would delay the vote, but on Tuesday withdrew the bid before again filing another one that was rejected by parliament.

Slovenia first began the recognition process in early May, but said it would wait until the situation in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza improved. Golob has explained he was speeding up the process in reaction to Israel’s latest attacks on the southern Gaza city of Rafah , which have caused more than 1 million Palestinians to flee.

The war was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants stormed across the Gaza border into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Israel’s air and land attacks have since killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry , which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state — more than two-thirds of the United Nations.

(AP)

'Pretty cool': US kids discover remains of teen T-Rex

Washington (AFP) – What did you do for summer vacation? Three pre-teen dinosaur aficionados have the answer of a lifetime: they discovered the remains of a rare juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex in the North Dakota dirt.


Issued on: 05/06/2024 - 

Young Liam Fisher lay down next to the fossilized leg bone of a dinosaur he discovered in the Badlands of North Dakota in 2022, and his family sent the photograph to a paleontologist friend, who confirmed it to be of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex © Handout / Giant Screen Films/AFP

Scientists and filmmakers announced Tuesday that brothers Liam and Jessin Fisher, age seven and 10 at the time of the find, and their nine-year-old cousin Kaiden Madsen, were walking in the Hell Creek formation of the Badlands in July 2022 when they found a large fossilized leg bone.

"Dad asked 'What is this?' and Jessin said, 'That's a dinosaur!'" exclaimed young Liam on a video call with his brother, cousin, father Sam Fisher, dinosaur experts and reporters.

They snapped a pic and sent it to a family friend, vertebrate paleontologist Tyler Lyson of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, according to a statement.

When Lyson eventually arrived at the site, he brushed off a tooth and quickly realized the enormity of what the fossil hunters uncovered: an "extremely rare" juvenile T-Rex specimen that lived 67 million years ago -- and could offer critical clues about how the king of dinosaurs grew up.

"It still gives me goosebumps," Lyson recalled on the call.

Kaiden's reaction to learning it was a T-Rex? "This is pretty cool, I can't believe we just found this."

The fossilized bones were excavated, placed in giant plaster jackets and lifted by Black Hawk helicopter onto a truck. They were taken to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where the public can soon follow progress on the fossil's preparation in a new discovery lab.

Rather remarkably, the saga is only emerging now, after a documentary crew and renowned scientists coordinated in secret over nearly two years with top natural history museums to present the kids' discovery.

This undated handout picture provided by Giant Screen Films shows the tibia of a juvenile T. rex discovered by three pre-teen boys in Marmarth, North Dakota © Handout / Giant Screen Films/AFP

Paleontologists estimate the "Teen Rex" weighed about 3,500 pounds (1,630 kilograms), measured 25 feet (7.6 meters) from nose to tail, and stood about 10 feet tall -- some two-thirds the size of a full grown adult. It was believed to be 13-15 years old when it died.

"It's remarkable to consider how T. rex might have grown from a kitten-sized hatchling into the 40-foot, 8,000-pound adult predator we are familiar with," Thomas Holtz, a vertebrate paleontologist from the University of Maryland and a renowned T-Rex authority, said in the statement.

A documentary about the discovery debuts June 21 and will roll out to 100 cities in IMAX, 3D and other formats.

"This is the kind of story that documentary filmmakers dream of capturing," co-director David Clark said in the statement.

As for the kids, Liam and cousin Kaiden said they'll remain amateur dinosaur sleuths, combing the Badlands for new discoveries.

But Jessin is looking to become a full-time paleontologist.

"It's been a lifelong dream of mine -- probably because I've seen the Jurassic Park movie, and finding this" T-Rex fossil, he said.

Meanwhile, Jessin offered sage advice for his fellow youths: "Put down their electronics and just go out hiking."

© 2024 AFP

UN expresses deep concern over new US asylum limits

The United Nations said it was "profoundly concerned" by the new asylum restrictions on the US-Mexico border unveiled Tuesday by US President Joe Biden and urged Washington to think again.


Issued on: 05/06/2024 -

Closed lines are pictured at the San Ysidro crossing port on the US-Mexico border, as seen from Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on June 4, 2024. 

© Guillermo Arias, AFP

Biden ordered sweeping new migrant curbs on the southern US border in a bid to neutralise one of his political weak spots in his re-election battle against Donald Trump.

The executive order bans migrants who enter the country illegally from claiming asylum when numbers surge past 2,500 in a day, as well as making it easier to deport them back to Mexico.

"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is profoundly concerned about the new asylum measures announced today by the United States which impose harsh restrictions on the right to seek asylum in the country," it said in a statement.

"The new measures will deny access to asylum for many individuals who are in need of international protection, and who may now find themselves without a viable option for seeking safety and even at risk of refoulement," being sent back across the border, it added.

"Any person who claims to have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their country of origin must have access to safe territory and have this claim assessed before being subject to deportation or removal.

"We call on the United States to uphold its international obligations and urge the government to reconsider restrictions that undermine the fundamental right to seek asylum."

Migrants entering the United States are normally allowed to claim asylum if they face harm or persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

But many spend years waiting for their claims to be processed, with critics saying that people often cross purely for economic reasons and then game the system to remain in the United States.

The UNHCR said it recognised that the United States was facing challenges in dealing with the significant number of people arriving at its border.

"The United States has a long history of welcoming refugees and continues to do so through various pathways, including resettlement, private sponsorship, and others," it said.

"We remain committed to supporting the United States in much-needed broader reform efforts, including to improve the fairness, quality, and efficiency of its border management and asylum systems."

(AFP)

CAPITALI$M IS UNSUSTAINABLE

Global warming accelerating at 'unprecedented' pace: study

Paris (AFP) – Global warming has accelerated at an "unprecedented" pace as the window to limit rising temperatures within internationally-set targets closes, over 50 leading scientists warned in a study published on Wednesday.


Issued on: 05/06/2024

The average annual emissions for the 2013-2022 period was 53 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide -- primarily from the use of fossil fuels like oil and gas, the report said 

Looking at decade averages, temperatures climbed 0.26 degrees Celsius from 2014 to 2023, said the study published in the journal Earth System Science Data.

In that same period, average global surface temperatures reached 1.19C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial benchmark for measuring a warming world.

It marks an increase from the 1.14C reported last year for the decade up to 2022.

"Human-induced warming has been increasing at a rate that is unprecedented in the instrumental record," the study said.

The study is part of a series of periodic climate assessments designed to fill the gap between UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that have been released on average every six years since 1988.

It came as diplomats from around the world were meeting in Germany this week for midyear climate talks ahead of the UN COP29 summit in November in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The 2015 Paris Agreement that resulted from a previous COP summit saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above preindustrial levels, while striving for the safer limit of 1.5C.

Wednesday's report found that, by the end of 2023, human activity had pushed temperatures 1.31C above the preindustrial level.

Earth warmed a total of 1.43C with other naturally-occuring drivers -- including the El Nino weather phenomenon -- taken into account.

- Carbon budget spent -

Another factor contributing to the heat is the decline in certain polluting particles in the atmosphere that reflect some of the Sun's energy back into space, the study found.

"The main reason is cleaning up of air pollution, first in Europe and the US (acid rain) and more recently in Asia, particularly China," Glen Peters of Norway's CICERO Center for International Climate Research told AFP.

Tightening of global shipping regulations and the decline of coal-fired energy have also contributed to a drop in sulphur dioxide emissions, which also had a cooling effect.

But by far the primary driver of global warming was "greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high", the study said.

Average annual emissions for the 2013-2022 period were 53 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and the equivalent in other gases -- primarily from the use of fossil fuels like oil and gas, the report said.

In 2022, emissions amounted to 55 billion tonnes.

It means that the world's carbon budget -- the estimated amount of greenhouse gases that can to be emitted before driving the planet over the 1.5C threshold -- is "shrinking fast", the study warned.

In 2020, the IPCC calculated the remaining carbon budget in the range of 500 billion tonnes of CO2.

By early 2024, the budget had decreased to around 200 billion tonnes, the study said.

The report's lead author Piers Forster said there is a "bit of optimism" at least in one finding.

The rate at which emissions have grown in the most recent decade appears to have slowed since 2000, which he said signals "we're not necessarily going to get a big, increasing acceleration of climate change".

However, co-author Pierre Friedlingstein, told a press briefing that the slowing is not enough to avoid climate change.

"We don't need emissions to be stable. We need emissions to go down to net zero," Friedlingstein said.

"As long as emissions continue at the same level, the warming will continue at the same level."

Without significant change in emissions, the 1.5C threshold would be breached and become a "long-term average" within the next decade, he added.

© 2024 AFP

ICYMI

'Life goes on' - Panama islanders relocated as sea level rises

Cartí Sugtupu (Panama) (AFP) – Alberto Lopez prepares breakfast with water lapping at his ankles. The day began with rain, and his ramshackle home on the Panamanian island of Carti Sugtupu was flooded, not for the first time.

Issued on: 05/06/2024

Some 1,200 inhabitants of the island Carti Sugtupu are being relocated to mainland Panama 

Lopez is one of 1,200 Indigenous residents of the island being relocated to the mainland, as sea level rise due to global warming threatens to permanently devour their ancestral home.

The community is the first in Panama to be displaced by climate change.

Since Monday, residents have been packing and moving their belongings by boat to the Nuevo Carti (New Carti) settlement built for them by the government in the Guna Yala Indigenous region on Panama's Caribbean coast.

On the island, Lopez lives in a small house with a dirt floor, no toilet, and only intermittent electricity.

Alberto Lopez was born on the Panamanian island of Carti Sugtupu 72 years ago 

In preparation for the move, his family is stacking clothes and other meager belongings on a small table at the front door, along with cleaning supplies and a Bible.

Their destination, Nuevo Carti, boasts houses that each have two bedrooms, a living and dining room, kitchen, bathroom and laundry -- all with potable water and electricity.

Each house is about 41 square meters (441 square feet) on a plot of 300 square meters, and there are common cultural spaces and facilities for disabled people.

The conditions are undoubtedly better, but the community has mixed feelings nevertheless.

"We are sad because if this island disappears, a part of our heart, of our culture, disappears with it," said Lopez, who was born on Carti Sugtupu 72 years ago.

As a child, he fished there, as do most islanders, and worked in the fields on the mainland.

The islands off Panama are between 50 centimeters (19 inches) and one meter (three feet) above sea level 

His mother sent him to study in Panama City, where he lived for more than 30 years before returning home.

"I came back because my heart wanted me here, and this house is the one my family left me," Lopez told AFP.

"My grandmother, my grandfather and my aunt died here... it's not going to be the same, but I have to move on because life goes on," he added.

- 'A brutal change' -

On Carti Sugtupu, the size of five football fields, Lopez and his fellow islanders lived in overcrowded conditions with few basic services.

They use communal toilets with pieces of timber laid down as seats.

Homes built on Carti Sugtupu island flood on a regular basis, and the government expects that by 2050, the island will be completely under water

The community lived off fishing, the harvesting of starchy crops like cassava and plantains, traditional textile production, and some tourism.

Their homes flooded on a regular basis, and the government expects that by 2050, Carti Sugtupu will be completely under water, along with several other islands in the archipelago of 350, only 49 of them inhabited.

All are between 50 centimeters (19 inches) and one meter (about three feet) above sea level.

Scientists say climate change is causing sea levels to rise, mainly due to meltwater from warming glaciers and ice sheets.

President Laurentino Cortizo said recently the government was studying which other communities may have to be moved next.

On Monday, the first day of the mass transfer, police helped the community move their belongings to their new homes.

At a small pier, the officers helped load furniture, buckets of clothes, plastic chairs, some appliances and a stuffed animal for the 15-minute boat trip.

"I am sad to leave this house," said Idelicia Avila, 42, adding: "We are moving because there's no room for us here" on the island.

Nuevo Carti was erected by the government at a cost of $12.2 million, transferring ownership to the community.

Lopez will live in house number 256 with three sisters and a daughter.

He hopes to grow crops such as pumpkins, cassava, pineapples or bananas to sell, and is already planning where the furniture and appliances will go -- and even contemplating a possible extension to his new house.

Scientists say climate change is causing sea levels to rise, mainly due to meltwater from warming glaciers and ice sheets 

"Here we have everything to bathe... there (on the island) we don't have that," he said as he showed AFP around his new bathroom.

"Of course, everyone is happy, but it's a brutal change."

PHOTOS © MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP

© 2024 AFP

It's Christmas in June for Ottawa filmmakers

Ottawa (AFP) – It's Christmas in Ottawa, with filmmakers this spring and summer capturing couples smooching under mistletoe, reindeer running amok and Santa Claus leaving presents under evergreens lavishly decorated with lights and ornaments.


Issued on: 05/06/2024 - 

A set decorator carries a Christmas tree during filming of 'Hocus Pocus Christmas' on April 16 in Almonte, Ontario, just outside Ottawa © Dave Chan / AFP

The Canadian capital has become a hub for holiday films, with more than a dozen each year, or one-third of all Christmas-themed movies screened annually in the month of December in North America, shot here.

But while snow is temporary, hefty tax credits last year round -- leading to creative workarounds to create icicle-laden shots amid 90-degree Fahrenheit (32 C) weather.

Amid a boom in demand for Christmas movies, it's all worth it for the quaint, seemingly made-for-the-screen scenery that dots the region, industry professionals tell AFP.

"There is a wow factor here," said Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos, film commissioner at the Ottawa Film Office -- pointing to the fairytale architecture of the Chateau Laurier, the Rideau Canal, old courtyards and cobblestone walkways, waterfalls and parks, and Canadian villages that stand in for American small towns.

"There are so many spots in Ottawa and the surrounding area that look like where most of these Christmas stories take place," said producer Josie Fitzgerald, shooting her fourth and fifth Christmas films this year.

Special effects supervisor Mathieu Bissonnette-Bigras sprays foam to create a winter snow scene -- in April © Dave Chan / AFP
Snow in July

On the set of "Hocus Pocus Christmas," in Almonte, on the outskirts of Ottawa, director Marita Grabiak says it feels "very much like the small town that I grew up in, in Pennsylvania."
Director Marita Grabiak prepares to shoot a scene during the filming of 'Hocus Pocus Christmas' © Dave Chan / AFP

Christmas movies are so often set in small towns, she explains, because of the values they represent: simplicity, hard work and residents' commitment to each other.

"The main storyline is always about him and her falling in love, or becoming great friends," she says. "It's an assembly line product, but I try to bring truth and relatability to it."

Locals Sarah Affleck and her daughter Hannah stopped by the set, hoping to catch a glimpse of a famous actor.

"It's funny and cool also to see snow and Christmas decorations at this time of year," says Hannah.

Passerby Kim Nixon recalls another film shot here last July: "The way they had the street decked out, you would swear it was the middle of January. It was really something to see."

"You kinda felt sorry though for the actors dressed in parkas in 30 degrees Celsius," he says.

The snow is obviously fake, he adds, "but when you watch the movie it looks real."

Special effects supervisor Mathieu Bissonnette-Bigras uses foam, paper and cotton batting to create the appearance of real snow. "We just roll it out as needed for scenes."

It can be touched up in post-production with computer-generated imagery, he says.

But on set it's a challenge. "If it's too warm, the foam melts... If it's too windy, all of it blows away. Also the foam will settle on peoples' hair and eyelashes and will become very quickly and obviously soap bubbles," adds Fitzgerald, the producer.

Paper snow, meanwhile, requires "a heck of a clean-up."

This year, she says, "because of the incredible uptick in movies requiring snow, our biggest challenge is getting our hands on snow-making supplies."

- Covid-era stress relief -

Holiday film production and viewership exploded in recent years amid the stresses of the 2020 pandemic, economic woes and conflicts around the world, according to Pechels de Saint Sardos.

Special effects supervisor Mathieu Bissonnette-Bigras carries a roll of synthetic batting to create a winter snow scene © Dave Chan / AFP

"People wanted something to make them feel good. And Christmas movies were there to deliver. It's escapism. It's comfort content. It's feel-good stories," she told AFP.

"Christmas movies also bring together families to watch sweet moments, and there's no violence," she added.

Hallmark, Lifetime, the Oprah Winfrey Network and other TV networks picked up on the trend, spending collectively more than Can$50 million (US$36 million) annually to shoot films in Ottawa, alongside the occasional theatrical release such as Fatman (2020) starring Mel Gibson.

A generous tax credit covers 45 percent of labor costs -- 10 percent higher than in major film production centers Toronto and Vancouver.

For those trying to film the real thing, Canada's wintertime blizzards can produce "absolutely beautiful scenes," says Grabiak.

But extreme cold also wreaks havoc on equipment -- meaning sweating through a parka in the middle of the summer is often worth it.

© 2024 AFP

HERESIOLOGY

Tunisian Muslim community turns to AI to save heritage

Djerba (Tunisia) (AFP) – In an unassuming house on the Tunisian island of Djerba, Said al-Barouni embarked on a mission to safeguard his Muslim community's little-known heritage, using technology and AI to save age-old religious manuscripts.


Issued on: 05/06/2024 -

Said al-Barouni prepares to scan old manuscripts at his library © FETHI BELAID / AFP

The 74-year-old librarian and member of the Islamic offshoot Ibadism took up the reins of his family's six-generation library in the 1960s and has been in a race against time to preserve whatever Ibadi manuscripts he can find.

"Look at what Djerba's humidity has done to this one," he said, his gloved hand bearing a tarnished piece of paper inside a climate-controlled room.

Today, the library holds over 1,600 ancient Ibadi texts and books on various topics, including astrology and medicine, dating from as early as 1357.

But Barouni is still on a quest to gather more literature, which has been scattered for centuries among families after they resigned themselves to practising their faith in secret.

After disagreeing on the succession following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, Ibadis were considered Kharijites, an early divergent branch of Islam whose adherents were labelled heretics.

They fled to remote areas in modern-day Oman -- where most Ibadis today live -- as well as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria.

In North Africa, they established a capital in Tihert, today's Algerian city of Tiaret, but their newfound peace was short-lived when the Shiite Fatimid dynasty swept through the region in the 10th century and chased the Ibadis out of their main urban hubs.

'Invisibility'

"In order to preserve their existence, Ibadis took refuge on the island of Djerba, in the desert in Algeria, or in the difficult (to access) Nafusa mountains in Libya," Zohair Tighlet, an author and expert on Ibadism, told AFP.

They were faced with two options, he added, "to take on a never-ending war and disappear, like other minorities, or accept a state of invisibility and use it to begin a cultural rebirth".

The manuscripts are dusted and scanned for digital copies, which Barouni believes is "today's only solution" to preserve the old texts 

© FETHI BELAID / AFP

Today most of their manuscripts are held in family libraries, said Barouni.

"All families in Djerba have libraries, but a lot of the manuscripts were sold or exchanged among different people."

In the small conservation room, heaps of weathered books stand amid the humming of ozone generators, which help mitigate paper deterioration by preventing harmful organisms such as mould from taking hold.

The manuscripts are dusted and scanned for digital copies, which Barouni believes is "today's only solution" to preserve the old texts.

Because old Arabic cursive is challenging to modern readers, Barouni also started using Zinki, an AI software able to read and simplify the ancient writings.

For Feras Ben Abid, a London-based Tunisian software engineer who founded Zinki, the tool enables access to a myriad of manuscripts the average reader couldn't decipher.

It is also a way to "change misconceptions some have had on certain topics", like Ibadi heritage.

'Against tyrants'

Ibadism has historically incurred the wrath of both Sunni and Shia rulers, such as the Umayyad and Fatimid dynasties respectively, by adhering to the idea that any Muslim, regardless of lineage, can become the next leader after the death of the prophet.

"They call us Kharijites, as if we were against the religion," said Al-Barouni. "But no, we were against tyrants."

Presenting themselves as "democrats of Islam", Ibadis have a tradition of entrusting a council of elders to oversee the community's social and political issues "with the goal of preserving Ibadite society", said Tighlet.

That system was brought to an end under the French protectorate of Tunisia.

Those in present-day Tunisia found safety in Djerba -- a haven for minorities that was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites last year for its unique settlement pattern.

Barouni uses AI software able to read and simplify the ancient writings 

© FETHI BELAID / AFP

The resort island is also home to a Christian Catholic group and one of the region's biggest Jewish communities outside of Israel, with over 1,500 members of the faith.

Nestled on their Mediterranean island, the Ibadis settled for a new and quiet life, contributing to its modern-day cultural kaleidoscope and accounting for two-thirds of its population, said Tighlet.

Ibadis "brought a particular urban theory, which was among the reasons the island was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites," added the expert.

They adopted an unpretentious and frugal way of living, often reflected in their architecture with white-washed, nondescript mosques, small minarets, and no outward-looking windows.

Some of their mosques were built underground, "both for safety and symbolic reasons", whereas other temples rim the island's shore in order to remain on the look-out for enemy ships.

© 2024 AFP

Italian pair probed for selling champion horse's sperm

Rome (AFP) – Two men are under investigation in Italy accused of illegally selling semen from trotting champion Varenne, one of their lawyers told AFP Tuesday.


Issued on: 04/06/2024 - 

 Italian jockey Giampaulo Minucci celebrates his victory as he drives trotter 'Varenne' during the Prix D'Amerique legend race at Vincennes racetrack, outside Paris, on January 27, 2002

 © Jacques DEMARTHON / AFP/File

They are Walter Ferrero, the head of Varenne Forever, the company managin the stallion's breeding, and Roberto Brischetto, head of the stud farm where Varenne is in retirement near Turin.

They are suspected of having sold samples of semen from Varenne -- who won the Prix d'Amerique in 2001 and 2002 -- to breeders without alerting the horse's owner.

Prosecutors in Turin have closed the investigation and a judge must now rule on whether the case goes to trial.

"We are relaxed," Ferrero's lawyer, Enrico Calabrese, told AFP.

According to the La Stampa newspaper, the pair have since 2018 provided the stallion with "thousands of illegitimate sons".

In 2018 alone, they were said to have made 200,000 euros ($217,00).

The two men allegedly presented themselves as the owners of the stallion to sign contracts directly with breeders, at the expense of the real owner, Varenne Futurity.

Varenne, now 29 years old, retired in 2002.

© 2024 AFP

UK
Sunak and Starmer clash in first general election TV debate

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer sparred Tuesday over tax, the cost of living and the country’s creaking health system in an inconclusive televised debate ahead of a July 4 election expected to make one of them the country's next leader.


Issued on: 05/06/2024 - 04:33

Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer debates with Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as ITV hosts the first head-to-head debate of the general election, in Salford, Britain, June 4, 2024. © Jonathan Hordle, ITV via Reuters

By: NEWS WIRES

Sunak tried to boost his center-right party’s dismal outlook by urging voters to back the stability of continued Conservative government. Starmer hoped to cement his status as favorite by arguing that Britain desperately needs change. Both acknowledged the country’s many problems, from fraying public services to a broken immigration system. But neither could say outright, when asked, where the money would come from to fix them.

Sunak stressed his stewardship of the economy, which has seen inflation fall to just over 2% from a peak of more than 11% in late 2022. He said should stick with him because his “clear plan” for the economy was working.

Starmer said the election was a choice between more “chaos and division” with the Conservatives and “turning the page and rebuilding with Labour.”

Polls currently give center-left Labour a double-digit lead. To win, Starmer must persuade voters who previously backed the Tories that Labour can be trusted with the U.K.’s economy, borders and security .

Speaking in front of a live audience on a sleek, futuristic set at the studios of broadcaster ITV in Salford, northwest England, both Starmer and Sunak appeared nervous. Voters may have got the impression their choice is between two cautious and rather dull managers.

Both stuck to familiar themes. Sunak argued Labour would raise taxes because “it’s in their DNA.”

Sunak said he would stop people making dangerous journeys to the U.K. in small boats by sending asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda , and suggested he'd be willing to take the U.K. out of the European Convention on Human Rights if its court blocked the deportations.

Starmer dwelled on the Conservatives’ record during 14 years in power, especially the chaotic last few years, which saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson ousted amid money and ethics scandals. Successor Liz Truss, elected by party members, rocked the economy with her uncosted tax-cutting plans and quit after 49 days. Sunak took over, without a national election, in October 2022.

“This government has lost control. Liz Truss crashed the economy,” Starmer said. “We cannot have five more years of this.”

A note of the personal crept in when Starmer took a dig at ex-banker Sunak’s wealth, saying his own father had been a factory worker and claiming Sunak did not understand the financial worries facing working-class people.

All 650 seats in the House of Commons are up for grabs on July 4. The leader of the party that can command a majority – either alone or in coalition – will become prime minister.

Both contenders said they would maintain Britain’s close ties with the United States if Donald Trump wins in November. Starmer said "the special relationship transcends whoever fills the post of prime minister and president."
No knockout blow

Sunak agreed that “having a strong relationship with our closest partner and ally in the United States is critical for keeping everyone in our country safe.”

Televised debates are a relatively recent addition to U.K. elections, first held in 2010. That debate spurred support for then-Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, triggering a wave of “Cleggmania” that helped propel him into the deputy prime minister post in a coalition government with the Conservatives.

No debate since has had the same impact, but they have become a regular feature of election campaigns. Several more are scheduled before polling day, some featuring multiple party leaders as well as the two front-runners.

Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said the lack of a knockout blow by either side counted as a good result for Sunak because he is behind in the polls.

“Will it matter in the end? Probably not. But it’s a bit of good news for Cons(ervatives) after a pretty rough few days. Will help with morale, at a minimum,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The debate came a day after populist firebrand Nigel Farage roiled the campaign, and dealt a blow to Sunak’s hopes, by announcing he will run for Parliament at the helm of the right-wing party Reform U.K.

Farage kicked off his campaign Tuesday in the eastern England seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, where he is making an eighth attempt to win a seat in the House of Commons. His seven previous tries all failed.

The return of Farage, a key player in Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union, is bad news for Sunak’s party. Reform look likely to siphon off votes of socially conservative older voters, a group the Tories have been targeting.

Farage claimed the Conservatives, who have been in office since 2010, had “betrayed” Brexit supporters because immigration had gone up, rather than down, since the U.K. left the EU.

He urged voters to “send me to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”

As he left a pub where he had been speaking to the media, Farage was splattered with a beverage, which appeared to be a milkshake, by a bystander. Essex Police said a 25-year-old woman from Clacton was arrested on suspicion of assault.

(AP)

'Unless Farage fluffs his challenge, he will make life difficult for the Tories' analyst says

Issued on: 04/06/2024

Nigel Farage has thrown his hat into the ring, in a move that could further erode the Conservative vote in the upcoming election. Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde, tells FRANCE24's Tom Burges Watson that if Farage manages to keep intact his share of 11% as predicted by the latest polls, that is bad news for the Conservatives.

05:44 Video by:  Tom Burges Watson

 

Disruptor-in-Chief: 'Marmite' populist Farage seeks to 'bang another nail into conservatives coffin'

Issued on: 04/06/2024 

Arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage threw himself into the political fray again on Tuesday, as he launched his election campaign on a chilly overcast day in the English seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea. Farage was in full campaign mode, a day after he dealt a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his beleaguered Conservative party by announcing he will stand in the July 4 election. If UKIP's once fringe anti-EU stance influenced mainstream Tory policy over the years, Reform UK's very existence -- with Farage at the helm -- threatens to split the right-wing vote. With Farage throwing his hat in the race, upending the right-wing landscape and electorate, FRANCE 24's Mark Owen is joined by Tim Bale, Author of "The Conservative Party After Brexit" and Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London.

11:26 Video by: Mark OWEN

Bringing health-centric mobility to the people: Renault and the ‘U1st Vision’


By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
June 4, 2024

Concept U1st Vision by Renault Group, with permission. (C) Renault Group

Renault, as a member of Software République, has helped to spearhead a series of citizen-centric mobile services with a special focus on health. Other innovations include reducing vehicle cybersecurity risks and aiming to unjam urban traffic by improving the smart transport of goods and people.

Software République has unveiled its “U1st Vision” concept. This is described as: “A first in citizen-centric mobile services with a focus on health”. The member companies are: Dassault Systèmes, Eviden (part of Atos Group), JCDecaux, Orange, Renault Group, STMicroelectronics and Thales.

The aim is to promote products to meet the new challenges of the connected vehicle, the smart city and energy. With the recent announcement, the focus is on mobility solutions. Software République’s “U1st Vision” technology seeks to move transportation from ‘mobility services’ to ‘services being mobile’.

The “U1st Vision” modular concept vehicle, and the associated planning and monitoring tools, have been designed to help public actors and private service providers in the delivery of new proximity services.

The “U1st” demonstrator is formed of two parts: a multi-service self-contained module (dubbed “pop-up”), delivered on an electric light commercial vehicle platform (FlexEVan). This brings together innovative technologies from the members of the Software République.

Multiple services such as healthcare, civil self-service support, bike repair and electrical goods recycling services can be offered to citizens via these self-contained modular units (“pop-ups”), as requested by local authorities.

As part of its “U1st Vision”, the Software République also includes a comprehensive planning, monitoring and services management tool for public actors and private service providers.

Software République, together with other contributors, has also announced the first use case of this service delivery platform with its “Health Pop-Up” module deploying decentralized, humanized, secured health services where and when needed.

This solution embeds 21 medical parameters including 12 innovations, including an Artificial Intelligence-powered avatar. The “Health Pop-Up” provides a solution to the challenges of ‘medical deserts’ by delivering an integrated one-stop mobile service to citizens for preventive care, and diagnostics and monitoring of diseases.

The aim is to redefine healthcare provision, taking advantage of the interconnected world and the new capabilities that allow for continuous health metrics measurement through smart devices while ensuring patients’ data privacy.

The health-centric module is operated by a medical assistant and enables teleconsultations with healthcare professionals.

The concept will enable healthcare to be provided anytime and anywhere, without this impacting service quality or data privacy.

Cannes trans actor files complaint over far-right 'sexist insult'

Agence France-Presse
May 29, 2024 

Karla Sofia Gascon was awarded for her role in ' Emilia Perez' (Valery HACHE/AFP)

The first transgender woman to be awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday filed a legal complaint over a "sexist insult" from a far-right politician after her win.

Karla Sofia Gascon and co-stars jointly received the accolade on Saturday for their performances in French auteur Jacques Audiard's dazzling narco musical " Emilia Perez".

In the film, the 52-year-old Spanish actor -- who lived as a man until she was 46 -- plays a Mexican drug trafficker both before and after gender reassignment surgery.


French far-right politician Marion Marechal after her win posted on X: "So a man has won Best Actress. Progress for the left means the erasure of women and mothers."

Gascon, through her lawyer, told AFP: "We need to stop such comments."

Her lawyer Etienne Deshoulieres said she had filed a legal complaint for "sexist insult on the basis of gender identity".

Gascon, who has a wife and daughter, dedicated her win in Cannes to "all the trans people who are suffering".

Earlier during the festival, she urged others to stop labelling people like her.

"Being trans is unimportant. A trans person is someone going through a transition. Once they have transitioned, that's it. They are what they are," she said.

" Emilia Perez" earned particular praise from critics for not fixating on the gender transition, but moving beyond to explore themes of family, love and the victims of Mexico's gang violence.

MEXICO

What’s behind Claudia Sheinbaum’s election victory?

By AFP
June 3, 2024

Claudia Sheinbaum is a pragmatic scientist by training who had several crises thrown at her as both a local politician and Mexico City mayor 

- Copyright AFP Sachin KUMAR

Jean ARCE

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman to be elected president of the Latin American nation on Monday.

In October, the 61-year-old will replace President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who enjoys an approval rating of more than 60 percent, largely thanks to his social programs for poorer Mexicans.

Here are some of the keys to Sheinbaum’s victory, according to analysts.



– Intelligence, experience –



Sheinbaum is a pragmatic scientist by training who had several crises thrown at her as both a local politician and Mexico City mayor, including a devastating earthquake, the Covid-19 pandemic and a deadly metro accident.

Supporters and critics alike recognize her intelligence and commitment to the left-wing ideals at the center of Lopez Obrador’s reform agenda.

Sheinbaum’s popularity “can in part be attributed to her intelligence and sharpness, her commitment to popular issues such as renewable energy and education, and her experience in leading Mexico City’s government,” said Michael Shifter, an expert at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.



– Loyalty to Lopez Obrador –



Sheinbaum repeatedly told voters that she would follow the same path as Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist who won a landslide victory in 2018 in a country fed up with corruption, crime and poverty.

“It was an easy-to-understand, strong message that, through repetition and discipline, really managed to get through,” said academic Carlos Bravo Regidor.

Sheinbaum also benefited from the extensive network of the ruling Morena party, as well as the support of state machinery.

Since decades of dominance by the Institutional Revolutionary Party ended in 2000, “Morena has probably become the most successful party model at the national level,” said Gustavo Urbina, an academic at the College of Mexico.

But it is premature to talk about a new era of hegemony, experts said.

Founded in 2014, Morena is still a young party whose strength has been largely based on loyalty to Lopez Obrador, widely known by his initials AMLO.

“The president continues to fulfill a symbolic, moral and decision-making role that is fundamental,” Urbina said.

While Sheinbaum won an internal party poll to represent Morena, she was always seen as the outgoing president’s favorite.

“AMLO supporters trust his judgement and have rallied around his handpicked successor,” Shifter said.



– Unpopular opposition –



The unpopularity of the traditional Mexican parties — the centrist PRI, the right-wing PAN and the leftist PRD — was a major disadvantage for the main opposition candidate, Xochitl Galvez.

“They have a very bad reputation,” Bravo Regidor said.

“That was a burden that greatly hindered Xochitl’s potential,” he added.

In contrast, Morena, of which Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum are co-founders, is seen more positively by voters as “relatively new and different,” Bravo Regidor said.

The opposition’s “big mistake” was not paying attention to the “real, current and genuine discontent” of many Mexicans, said writer and analyst Jorge Zepeda Patterson.

Instead, Lopez Obrador’s opponents sought to underline problems such as violence or difficulties accessing healthcare.

Faced with such an approach, “people will say, ‘maybe, but at least they’re trying,’ while the traditional parties don’t even try,” Zepeda Patterson said.

Mexico's president-elect moves to reassure nervous investors

Mexico City (AFP) – Mexican president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum's team reassured investors Tuesday that she would ensure the stability of Latin America's second-biggest economy, after her landslide election win rattled financial markets.

Issued on: 04/06/2024 -

Claudia Sheinbaum celebrates her victory in Mexico's presidential election 

© CARL DE SOUZA / AFP/File

The country's stock market dropped six percent the day after Sunday's election as investors worried that the left-wing candidate's crushing victory would make it easier to push through reforms potentially damaging to the economy and business.

Sheinbaum's first cabinet appointment was asking Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O to stay on when she becomes Mexico's first woman president on October 1.

In a video published on social media, she pledged to "act with dialogue, harmony and great responsibility."

It was a message reinforced Tuesday by Ramirez de la O, who assured investors that the new government would be committed to "macroeconomic stability" and "fiscal prudence."

"Our project is based on financial discipline, respecting the autonomy of the (central) Bank of Mexico, adherence to the rule of law and facilitating national and foreign private investment," he said.

The stock market rebounded by more than three percent while the peso steadied after falling four percent against the dollar on Monday.
'Unequal competition'

Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor and key ruling party figure, won around 59 percent of the votes with more than 95 percent of ballots counted, according to the National Electoral Institute.

That was 31 percentage points ahead of her main opposition rival Xochitl Galvez, who won around 28 percent, after a particularly violent election season that saw more than two dozen local candidates murdered.

The ruling party and its allies were projected to win a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house of Congress -- and possibly the Senate as well.

Galvez, who conceded defeat after initial results were announced, complained Monday that the opposition had faced "unequal competition" in the election "against the entire state apparatus dedicated to favoring its candidate."

She expressed confidence in the official results but vowed to challenge the outcome, without specifying how, declaring: "This doesn't end here."

Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended the election won by his political protege as "the cleanest and freest election in history."
Controversial reforms

Sheinbaum owes much of her popularity to Lopez Obrador, a fellow leftist and mentor who has an approval rating of more than 60 percent but is only allowed to serve one term due to Mexico's presidential term limits.

His opponents accuse him of seeking to undermine Mexico's democratic institutions in his attempts to reform the justice system.

One of the proposed constitutional changes -- which require the approval of two-thirds of Congress -- is for Supreme Court judges to be chosen by popular vote.

With legislators expected to reconvene on September 1, Lopez Obrador could have time to pass some of his more controversial reforms before leaving office, the political risk consultancy EMPRA noted.

Lopez Obrador "will de facto remain as his party's political strategist" and "maintain a strong influence over Sheinbaum's government, at least during the first half of her term," it said.

One of the main challenges facing Sheinbaum along with security and relations with the neighboring United States is a fiscal deficit that the International Monetary Fund expects to hit 5.9 percent this year.

The credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings said on Tuesday that it "doesn't believe that the new administration is likely to materially change the country's fiscal, monetary or trade policies."

"Like previous administrations, the country's new leadership will face the challenge of maintaining macroeconomic stability while meeting public expectations of better living standards and more public services," it said.

© 2024 AFP

Mexican president-elect called 'less Jewish Jew' for thanking her husband — Jesús

Elizabeth Preza,

 AlterNet
June 3, 2024 

Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum of ''Sigamos Haciendo Historia'' gives a speech after the first results released by the election authorities show that she leads the polls by wide margin after the presidential election at Zocalo Square on June 03, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. According to the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) over 100 million people were allowed to vote on the 2024 Presidential Election in Mexico. Claudia Sheinbaum of 'Sigamos Haciendo Historia' coalition will become the first woman president of Mexico. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)

An apparent language barrier led several English speakers on Monday to mistakenly claim Mexico’s first female president is “a less Jewish Jew” after she thanked her husband for accompanying her to the polls.

Monday, Mexican citizens elected Claudia Sheinbaum, a member of the leftist Morena party, as the nation’s first female president. According to the New York Times, Sheinbaum, a physicist and former mayor of Mexico City, “won a larger share of the vote than any other presidential candidate in decades, and her party and its allies are within reach of claiming big enough majorities in Congress to enact constitutional changes that have alarmed the opposition.”

Sheinbaum will be predominantly-Catholic Mexico’s first Jewish president. The president-elect has previously described her childhood as secular, telling Enlace Judío, a Mexican Jewish organization, “I grew up without religion.”

"That’s how my parents raised me,: Sheinbaum said in 2018. "But obviously the culture, that’s in your blood.”

According to NBC News, Sheinbaum’s “maternal grandparents were Jews who immigrated to Mexico from Bulgaria before the Holocaust, while her paternal grandparents had fled from Lithuania in the 1920s. Sheinbaum's parents were born in Mexico.”

“While campaigning, Sheinbaum said she considers herself a woman of faith but is not religiously affiliated; perhaps that's why there has been relatively little discussion about her becoming Mexico's first Jewish president,” NBC News reports.

In a Sunday post, Sheinbaum thanked her husband Jesús María Tarriba, writing, “gracias a Jesús, mi esposo, por acompañarme,” which translates to, “thank you to Jesús, my husband, for accompanying me.”

Scam Economy and Doomed podcast host Matt Binder on Monday noted several English speakers appeared to conflate the name Jesús with Jesus Christ, using their confusion to question Sheinbaum’s Jewish bona fides.

“This is the funniest thing happening on here right now: people claiming the newly elected president of Mexico isn’t really Jewish because she thanked Jesus (she thanked Jesús, her husband),” Binder wrote in a tweet.

Indeed, Binder posted several examples of people questioning Sheinbaum’s Jewish identity including someone who claimed they’ve “never seen a less Jewish Jew than this.”

“Important to note that [Sheinbaum] is not involved in the Jewish community and thanked Jesus for her victory,” Democratic Majority for Israel co-chair Todd Richmond claimed.

Amherst College Latin American and Latino culture professor Ilan Stavans, who is Mexican and Jewish, defended Sheinbaum’s Jewish identity in an interview with NBC News.

“Sheinbaum, whose descendants immigrated to Mexico escaping poverty and antisemitism, including the Holocaust, grew up in a secular, science-driven household,” Stavans said. “She doesn’t perform her Jewish identity in public.”


View the tweets  click this link.