Tuesday, November 05, 2024

What next for Moldova after pro-Europe president's win?
DW

Moldova's pro-European President Maia Sandu was the clear winner in Sunday's runoff election amid ongoing allegations of Russian interference. She now pledges to accelerate reform and consolidate democratization.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu (pictured here with a large bouquet of white roses) won Sunday's presidential election runoff
Image: Vadim Ghirda/AP/dpa/picture alliance


It was an election day like no other in Europe's recent history.

While turnout for the presidential election runoff in the Republic of Moldova on Sunday broke records — especially among Moldovan voters living abroad — the day was overshadowed by widespread attempts to interfere in the election and disrupt voting.

For one thing, there were systematic bomb threats against polling stations, which had to be temporarily closed.

Moreover, Moldovan police are investigating allegations that Russia organized numerous flights to bring voters from Russia to Turkey and other countries so they could cast their vote in embassies and consulates there.
Nerve-wracking vote count

After a nail-biting 90-minute count, the unofficial result was announced shortly after midnight.

In the end, the outcome was crystal clear: Moldova's incumbent president, Maia Sandu, who would like to see her country join the EU and is pushing for radical reforms, won the election with about 55% of the vote.
Turnout in Sunday's presidential election runoff reached record levels by Moldovan standards
Image: Vladislav Culiomza/REUTERS

Her challenger, Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general who was removed from office because of corruption allegations and who had the backing of the country's pro-Russian parties, bagged about 45% of the vote.

Turnout on Sunday stood at about 52% — a record for the Republic of Moldova, especially when one considers how difficult it is for many voters to cast their vote: Some of the country's estimated 2.8 million inhabitants live in the separatist pro-Russian region of Transnistria, while hundreds of thousands live elsewhere in Europe.

Manipulation failed despite massive interference

In short, Russia's widespread attempts in recent weeks and months to interfere in polls in Moldova and shape their outcomes failed. The country's pro-European path is secure for the time being.

However, it is likely that without Russia's hybrid attack on the recent elections and referendum, the result for Maia Sandu would have been even more decisive.

The EU referendum two weeks ago, when voters were asked whether the country's ambition to join the EU should be anchored in the Moldovan constitution, passed with a wafer-thin majority of about 10,000 votes.

Police have said that a massive amount of votes were bought in the referendum and first round of the presidential election two weeks ago.
'Today, you have saved Moldova!'

Before midnight, Maia Sandu appeared before her supporters at the headquarters of the party she herself founded, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). She was cheered and celebrated as the winner.

The relief and joy was written all over Maia Sandu's face on Sunday evening after it became clear that she had won the election
Image: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP

After midnight, already completely hoarse, Sandu spoke to the country and the press. Her acceptance speech was very emotional.

"Today, dear Moldovans, you have given a lesson in democracy, worthy of being written in history books," she declared. "Freedom, truth and justice have prevailed."

Sandu also addressed Moldovans living abroad: "You are incredible," she said. "You have shown that your heart is in our country."

Self-critical remarks

Several times in her speech, the reelected president said that she had heard the critical voices and "the voice of those who voted differently."

At one point, she switched from Romanian, the official language of Moldova, to Russian, and said that regardless of their ethnicity and language, all citizens in the country want to "live in peace, prosperity and in a democracy and united society."

Sandu repeated her serious allegations of fraud from the first round of the election and the campaign of the past two weeks. She said that there had been an "unprecedented assault" on the country, an attempt to buy votes with dirty money and "interference by foreign forces and criminal groups."
'Thieves want to buy our votes and our country, but the power of the people is infinitely stronger than all their machinations,' Sandu told local media after casting her vote on SundayImage: Vladislav Culiomza/REUTERS

She was also critical of herself, noting that the speed of reform had so far been inadequate and saying: "We must speed up the implementation of reforms and consolidate our democracy."
Cabinet reshuffle expected very soon

Both the president and the government she supports are under enormous pressure to deliver. Expectations across the country are very high.

Despite the fact that Sandu has long had a reputation for being incorruptible, a woman of integrity and a determined reformer, as president, she has limited power.

Parliamentary elections are due to take place in Moldova in 2025. If the government of Prime Minister Dorin Recean, a Sandu ally, does not come up with better social policies and more judicial and anti-corruption reforms, the country's pro-European path could be at risk.

A cabinet reshuffle is expected in the near future. It is likely that a number of ministers will be replaced.
Geopolitical election

Commentators on Moldovan public television all agreed that Sunday's election had been a geopolitical one in which Moldova had to decide between Russia and the prospect of a future in a democratic Europe.

The other candidate in Sunday's runoff was former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo (pictured here)Image: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo/picture alliance

Most also agreed that there had been "unprecedented criminal activities" against the country.

"Russia and Ilan Shor's criminal group invested a sum equivalent to 1% of our gross domestic product to influence this election. There was phenomenal pressure and an enormous amount of disinformation and manipulation," said Valeriu Pasa, chairman of the civil society organization Watchdog.

Pasa went on to say that "our government and our country now have many lessons to learn [...] in the judiciary, in the fight against corruption, and in the way we deal with society and above all pensioners — a particularly large number of whom are susceptible to disinformation."

He insisted that "kid gloves cannot be used in the fight against con men like Shor. Vigorous action is needed."
A stark warning to Moldova's European partners

Israeli-born Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor is seen as one of the ringleaders in what is known in Moldova as the "theft of the century," when about a billion euros was stolen from three Moldovan banks between 2012 and 2014. Shor fled to Israel before he was due to begin his 15-year prison sentence. He now lives in Russia.


Police accuse convicted fugitive Israeli-born Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor (pictured here) of being heavily involved in an alleged Russian-backed vote-buying schemeImage: Alexey Filippov/SNA/IMAGO

The Moldovan Police suspect him of working with the Russian secret services to run a large-scale sophisticated vote-buying scheme in the run-up to the recent polls. It is estimated that up to 300,000 votes were bought.

Writer Nicolae Negru said that Russia had used Moldova to test such experimental methods of manipulation, stressing that it is now important to ask how a fraud on this scale was not prevented by the authorities, despite the fact that they had long been aware of it.

Political scientist Iulian Groza of the Moldovan Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) said that the scale of the manipulation and "Russia's sophisticated tools" must not be underestimated.

"Russia will not stop, neither in our country nor elsewhere in Europe," said Groza. "The recent practices and experience in our country must give all our European partners food for thought."

This article was originally published in German and adapted by Aingeal Flanagan.

German firms tested 4-day workweek — here's the outcome

Insa Wrede
DW

A few dozen German companies have allowed their staff to work four days a week without cutting their wages accordingly. The trial showed promising gains, but are they sustainable across the economy?

Working less, feeling better, and even being more productive sounds like hitting the jackpot for firms and their staff
Image: Ute Grabowsky//photothek/imago images

Earlier this year, some 45 German firms launched a 4-day workweek project to find out if such a fundamental change to how we work can achieve positive results for employers and employees.

For six months, and closely watched by researchers from Münster University in Germany, the volunteer companies allowed their employees to work fewer hours without reducing their salaries. The pilot run was initiated by Berlin-based management consultancy, Intraprenör, in collaboration with the nonprofit organization 4 Day Week Global (4DWG).

Achieving the same output with fewer hours and the same pay requires greater productivity. Initially, this might imply more stress and a heavier workload — but does it have to be that way?


Key metric is productivity

To objectively assess the effects of reduced working hours, researchers did more than just conduct surveys and interviews. They also analyzed hair samples to gauge stress levels and used fitness trackers to collect physiological data like heart rate, activity level, and sleep quality.

Julia Backmann, the scientific lead of the pilot study, says employees generally felt better with fewer hours and remained just as productive as they were with a five-day week, and, in some cases, were even more productive.

Participants reported significant improvements in mental and physical health, she told DW, and showed less stress and burnout symptoms, as confirmed by data from smartwatches tracking daily stress minutes.


A shorter workweek is conducive to health, at least in the short term, experts sayImage: Khakimullin Aleksandr D9/Zoonar/picture alliance

According to Backmann's findings, two out of three employees reported fewer distractions because processes were optimized. Over half of the companies redesigned their meetings to make them less frequent and shorter, while one in four companies adopted new digital tools to boost efficiency.

"The potential of shorter working hours seems to be stifled by complex processes, too many meetings, and low digitalization," said Carsten Meier from Intraprenör.

Surprises regarding health and environmental impact


The study has also shown that participants were more physically active during the 4-day workweek, and they slept an average of 38 minutes more per week than those in the five-day control group. However, monthly sick days only dropped slightly, a statistically insignificant difference compared to the same period a year ago.

Marika Platz from Münster University, who analyzed the data, said she was surprised at the number of sick days because similar studies in other countries showed a significant reduction.

Another surprise, she told DW, was the lack of environmental benefits from reduced working hours during the German test as other countries reported a positive impact from offices that could be shut down completely for one day, and fewer commutes to work that resulted in higher energy savings. The reason for this was probably that some German employees took advantage of the long weekends to travel, she said, which reduced any potential energy savings.

In many professions, a shorter workweek doesn't create productivity gainsImage: picture alliance/dpa



Flawed data from a skewed test?

A closer look at the design of the study, however, might raise some doubt about how useful the findings are.

Two companies voluntarily dropped out in the course of the six months, and two others had to be excluded from the evaluation. Of the remaining 41 participating companies, only about a third reduced weekly working hours by an entire day.

Around 20% reduced hours by between 11% and 19% per day, while about half cut work time by less than 10%, or roughly four hours per week. So, in total only in 85% of the cases did employees get a full day off.

The limited number of participating companies also makes the study hardly representative of Germany and its more than 3 million registered firms. This has been because the project struggled to find enough interested employers since it was first mooted two years ago, said Marika Platz, because part-time work is already relatively common in Germany.

Labor market expert Enzo Weber is skeptical about the pilot project, saying that companies participating in such trials are generally already positive toward the 4-day workweek, making them an unrepresentative sample of the economy.

In addition, the researcher at the University of Regensburg and the Institute for Employment Research in Germany, told DW the project's productivity gains may not be due to shorter hours alone, as processes and organizational structures were also modified.

Weber also believes the positive results might not be sustainable due to the increased work compression that will likely come at the expense of employees' social, communicative, and creative aspects. "The effects often don't manifest immediately but rather in the medium term," Weber said, noting that those studies generally cover only a relatively short period of six months.

According to Steffen Kampeter, CEO of Germany's Employers Association BDA, companies that operate in international markets consciously chose not to participate in the trial. He also questions the productivity gains, arguing that "a four-day week with full pay is just a significant wage increase, which most companies cannot afford."

4-day workweek bottom line

Of those 41 companies that have participated in the trial, more than 70% said they were planning to continue with the project. Some said they would extend the trial phase, while others are considering implementing reduced hours directly.

Study director Backmann stressed, however, that the study was not about advocating for a blanket rollout of the 4-day workweek across all sectors, but rather exploring "an innovative work-time model and its effects."

And Carsten Meier from the Intraprenör consultancy added that the positive results of the trial cannot be "automatically translated" into similar gains for every company in Germany.

This article was originally written in German.

1933


Canada: Three charged over violence at Hindu temple

Canadian police said three people have been arrested after fights broke out outside a Hindu temple in a Toronto suburb. Indian Prime Minister Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau condemned the incident
.

Protests were also held outside Brampton's Sikh temple, seen here
Image:
 Harold Stiver/Depositphotos/IMAGO

Canadian police in the Toronto suburb of Brampton said on Monday that three men had been charged over a violent scuffle that broke out outside a Hindu temple on Sunday.

Authorities said the men, aged 23, 31 and 43, had been charged with offenses including assault with a weapon and assaulting a police officer. "Several acts of unlawfulness continue to be actively investigated," authorities said

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Canada and India after the latter's alleged assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada — home to the second-largest Sikh community in the world.

What happened during the Hindu temple violence in Canada?

On Sunday, Sikh activists appeared to have clashed with Hindu rivals at the Hindu Sabha Mandir in the suburb of Brampton near Toronto.

Clips circulated on social media showed people carrying flags of the Khalistani separatist movement. It was unclear who instigated the violence.

"Khalistan" refers to a separatist movement seeking an independent state for Sikhs from Indian territory.

Videos showed people attacking each other with flagpoles and throwing punches. Isolated fights also broke out at the site.

Police also said they were aware of a video of an off-duty police officer participating in a demonstration. The officer has since been suspended.

The North America-based activist group Sikhs for Justice said the incident was an "unprovoked violent attack on peaceful pro-Khalistan demonstrators." They said they were peacefully protesting outside the temple against the presence of Indian diplomats inside the temple premises.

Police said there were demonstrations at several locations in the region.

India and Canada condemn violence

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the incident on Sunday, saying the "acts of violence" were unacceptable.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first comments on Monday after the Indian Foreign Ministry said "extremists and separatists" were behind the incident.



"I strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a Hindu temple in Canada. Equally appalling are the cowardly attempts to intimidate our diplomats," Modi said in a post on X.

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also condemned the attack on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters during a visit to Australia.

"What happened at the Hindu temple in Canada was obviously deeply concerning," he said.


Tense India-Canada relations

Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa have dipped recently after Canada accused the Indian government of orchestrating the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, a Khalistan activist who is a Canadian citizen.

Last week, the Canadian government accused Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah of being involved in the plot.

The Canadian authorities have maintained that they have shared the relevant evidence with the Indian authorities. However, the Indian government has repeatedly denied this claim and called the allegations absurd.

Both countries have since expelled each other's diplomats, causing further souring of ties.

Canada is not the only country that has accused the Indian government of plotting an assassination on foreign soil.

The US has also charged a former Indian intelligence officer in the case of a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.



tg/ab (AFP, Reuters)
Israel hostages forum calls for probe into secrets leak case


Gaza hostages group urges probe after ex-aide to Israeli PM Netanyahu allegedly leaked confidential documents, potentially hindering hostage release efforts. Ex-aide Eliezer Feldstein and three others detained Sunday, sparking opposition calls for Netanyahu’s accountability, which his office denies.



Issued on: 05/11/2024 
By: NEWS WIRES
01:54  Protesters attend a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Israel November 2, 2024.
 © Shir Torem, Reuters'



A Gaza hostages campaign group called Monday for an investigation into the alleged leak of confidential documents by an ex-aide to Israel's premier, which may have undermined efforts to secure their release.

A court announced Sunday that Eliezer Feldstein, a former aide to Binjamin Netanyahu, had been detained along with three others for allegedly leaking documents to foreign media.

The case has prompted the opposition to question whether Netanyahu was involved in the leak -- an allegation denied by his office.

"The (hostage) families demand an investigation against all those suspected of sabotage and undermining state security," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.



"Such actions, especially during wartime, endanger the hostages, jeopardise their chances of return and abandon them to the risk of being killed by Hamas terrorists."

The forum represents most of the families of the 97 hostages still held in Gaza after they were seized in the unprecedented October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war.

The Israeli military says 34 of them are dead.

"The suspicions suggest that individuals associated with the prime minister acted to carry out one of the greatest frauds in the country's history," the forum said.

"This is a moral low point like no other. It is a severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens."

Critics have long accused Netanyahu of stalling in truce negotiations and prolonging the war to appease his far-right coalition partners.

Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet and the army launched an investigation into the breach in September after two newspapers, British weekly The Jewish Chronicle and Germany's Bild tabloid, published articles based on the classified military documents.

One article claimed a document had been uncovered showing that then Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar -- later killed by Israel -- and the hostages in Gaza would be smuggled into Egypt through the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The other was based on what was said to be an internal Hamas leadership memo on Sinwar's strategy to hamper talks towards the liberation of hostages.
Cabinet leaks probe

The Israeli court said the release of the documents ran the risk of causing "severe harm to state security".

"As a result, the ability of security bodies to achieve the objective of releasing the hostages, as part of the war goals, could have been compromised," it added.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people on Israeli soil, mostly civilians, according to AFP's count based on official Israeli data, including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in Gaza.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 43,341 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable.

Meanwhile, late on Monday Netanyahu asked the attorney general to begin investigating other alleged leaks from cabinet meetings during the war.

"Since the beginning of the war, we have witnessed an incessant flood of serious leaks and revelations of state secrets," he said in a leter to the attorney general, which was posted on his Telegram channel.

"Therefore, I am appealing to you to immediately order the investigation of the leaks in general."

(AFP)
Pakistan anti-polio drive struggles against militants, mistrust

Agence France-Presse
November 4, 2024 

Elite police personnel standing guard as a health worker administers polio drops to a child during a door-to-door polio vaccination drive on the outskirts of Peshawar (Abdul MAJEED/AFP)

Militant attacks and suspicion stemming from misinformation are hampering Pakistan's battle to eradicate polio, but teams of dedicated volunteer health workers are determined to fight on.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the debilitating virus remains endemic, the disease mostly affecting children under five and sometimes causing lifelong paralysis.

Cases in Pakistan are on the rise, with 45 registered so far this year, up from six in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but in parts of rural Pakistan health workers risk their lives to save others.

Last week seven people including five children were killed when a bomb targeted police traveling to guard vaccine workers. Days earlier two police escorts were gunned down by militants.

"When we hear that a polio vaccination team has been attacked, it deeply saddens us," said health worker Zainab Sultan, 28, as she went door to door in Panam Dehri in northwest Pakistan


"Our responsibility now is to continue our work. Our job is to protect people from disability, to vaccinate children, and to make them healthy members of society."

- False claims -

In the past firebrand clerics falsely claimed the vaccine contained pork or alcohol, forbidding it for consumption by Muslims.


A fake vaccination campaign organized by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Pakistan in 2011 to track Osama bin Laden compounded the mistrust.

More recently, militant groups have shifted to targeting armed police escorts in their campaigns of violence against the state.

Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks since the return of the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad claiming hostile groups are now operating from there.


"In our area, nearly half of the parents were initially resistant to the polio vaccine, believing it to be a ploy by the West," said local resident Ehsanullah, who goes by one name.

"There was a lack of awareness," he said. "If this disease is spreading because of our reluctance, we are not just harming ourselves but the entire community."

- Rumors debunked -


From previously being blamed for the mistrust of polio vaccines, some religious leaders -- who wield immense authority in Pakistan -- are now at the forefront of the campaign to convince parents.

"All major religious schools and scholars in Pakistan have debunked the rumors surrounding the polio vaccine," said Imam Tayyab Qureshi.

"Those who attack polio vaccination teams have no connection to Islam or humanity," he said in the provincial capital of Peshawar, where Panam Dehri lies on the outskirts.


For one parent in Panam Dehri, the endorsement by religious chiefs proved pivotal.

"Initially I did not vaccinate my children against polio. Despite everyone's efforts, I refused," said 40-year-old Zulfiqar, who uses one name.

"Later, the Imam of our mosque came to explain the importance of the polio vaccine, telling me that he personally vaccinated his own children and encouraged me to do the same," he said.


"After that, I agreed."

Another impediment can be that parents in impoverished areas use the government's eagerness to vaccine as a bargaining chip, attempting to negotiate investment in water and road projects.

"There are demand-based boycotts and community boycotts that we face," lamented Ayesha Raza, spokeswoman for the government polio eradication campaign.

"Your demands may be very justified, but don't link it to your children's health," she pleads to them.


- Personal battle -

For some health workers, the battle to eradicate polio is more personal.

Hobbling door-to-door in Panam Dehri, polio survivor Ismail Shah's paralyzed leg does not slow his mission.


"I decided in my childhood that when I grew up I would fight against the disease that disabled me," said the 35-year-old.

Shah is among 400,000 volunteers and health workers who spent the past week patiently explaining to families that the oral inoculation -- administered in two doses -- is safe.

Their goal is to protect 45 million children, but it's far from straightforward. When Shah arrived in his patch of 40,000 inhabitants there were more than 1,000 refusals.


"Now, there are only 94 reluctant parents left, and soon I will persuade them as well," he said.
In Motor City, jobs and justice dominate as Detroit voters head to the polls

ON THE GROUND


Detroit, home of the US auto industry, has seen good times and bad. It’s also the most populous city in Michigan, a battleground state in a tight presidential race. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have made several campaign stops in the Motor City, whose residents could well decide who will be the next US president.


Issued on: 05/11/2024 -
Leela JACINTO
View of downtown Detroit skyline, in Detroit, Michigan, on October 18, 2024. 
© Charly Tribailleau, AFP


Bishop John Drew Sheard captured the mood of his church on the last Sunday before what many Americans call “the most consequential presidential election of a lifetime” on November 5.

“She’s in Detroit! She’s in Detroit! She’s in Detroit! Come on, Detroit!” Sheard cheered as Kamala Harris made her way from the front pew to the pulpit of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ.

When the roar of the congregation subsided, and some of the more excited members of the historic Black church finally took their seats, Harris immediately hit the central theme of her 12-minute address.

Acknowledging a “church that has stood for justice in over a century”, the first multiracial female presidential candidate in US history said she believes the country is “ready to bend the arc of history toward justice”.
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US Vice President Kamala Harris joins the prayers at the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit, Michigan, November 3, 2024.
 © Leah Millis, Reuters

Harris began the final Sunday of the 2024 campaign in Detroit, the most populous city in Michigan, a Midwest battleground state with 15 electoral votes that she needs to defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump.

In the 2016 race, Hillary Clinton lost Michigan to Trump by only 10,700 votes despite pre-election polls consistently showing the Democratic candidate in the lead.

This year, the opinion polls show the two candidates locked in a tight race, with Harris in danger of losing the once reliably Democratic Arab-American vote as anger over the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon mount.

Read moreIn the ‘capital of Arab America’, voters plan to punish Harris for Israel's wars
‘Calling us ugly and then asking us out on a date’

Detroit has long been a Democratic stronghold, but 2024 has not been a year to take anything for granted on the campaign trail. Trump has tried to woo Black male voters, auto industry workers as well as business owners, making several trips to Michigan over the past few months.

He has not always succeeded in swaying the city’s residents. Last month, Trump insulted Detroit while campaigning in – Detroit. During an address to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump warned that “our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president”.

His comments drew criticism from local Democratic officials who noted that the city, once infamous for its urban blight and bankruptcy, had turned the economic corner by stabilising its finances, improving services and reviving several neighbourhoods. In a post on X, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was scathing about Trump’s comments. “This guy is calling us ugly and then asking us out on a date,” she noted.

Stepping out of the Greater Emmanuel church after the Sunday service, Sharon Jackson dismissed Trump’s repeated warnings of Harris’s inability to handle the economy.

“If Donald Trump can do it, or thinks he can do it, Kamala should be able to as well. She's got a proven record, look at her history. I think she'll be good for the economy,” said the IT professional.

Sharon Jackson (R) outside Detroit's Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ on November 3, 2024. 
© Tahar Hani, FRANCE 24

Harris’s message of social justice especially resonated with Jackson, who has been attending services at the imposing church at the corner of Schafer and Seven Mile roads for years. “If Donald Trump is in [the White House], the rich are going to get richer, just like he promised. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer or stay where they are. But with a president like Kamala Harris, I think that everybody will benefit from her being in office,” she said.
Can’t forget the Motor City

The wheels of the economy in these parts are run by the auto industry, which has earned Detroit its “Motor City” moniker. It’s a beloved nickname, often used by loyal residents and former residents whose families have moved to neighbouring areas, lured by jobs in manufacturing plants and auxiliary businesses linked to the auto industry.

But the term is also redolent of a once glorious past, when Detroit’s car industry turbocharged the American economy, which in turn drove the global economy.

That was before Japanese cars rattled the supremacy of American cars in the 1980s, fueling a panic over the loss of jobs and the decline of “the Big Three” – Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler – all headquartered in Michigan.

Today, the threat comes from China, with the Asian giant grabbing the electric vehicle (EV) market with low-cost manufacturing plants and business deals across the world.

On the campaign trail, “EV” turned into a major debate, which was seized and manipulated by Trump – until a new billionaire backer, Elon Musk, head of EV maker Tesla, endorsed the Republican candidate.

Trump has described Harris as a “globalist”, telling workers who had lost jobs in the auto and subsidiary industries that the Biden administration’s bid to promote the EV industry was the cause of their economic woes.

The pitch resonated with many unemployed voters. “I’m going with Trump,” revealed Sorwar Khan, an Uber driver who lost his job at a plastics manufacturing company that supplies components and sub-assemblies for automobiles.

“President Joe Biden, I don’t know, ” he said as he zipped past Detroit buildings named after Ford, from offices to cultural centres, museums and libraries. “We trust Trump. Trump says that people like you, if you guys give me one more chance, I will do my best for us people, you know,” added the Bangladesh-born US national.
A rally on union lawns

But not all hard-pressed employees and former employees are sold on Trump’s promise to help workers by bringing jobs to America via tariffs on Chinese products.

At a “get out the vote” rally on the lawns of “Solidarity House”, the headquarters of the United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the largest US trade unions, Dynita McCaskill scoffed at Trump’s pro-workers spiel.

“Trump's history has shown him not to be a friend of workers – not workers that look like me,” added the African American labourer with a smile, in a pointed reference to her race. “No, definitely not workers who are in my median income because we are just that to him: Workers. We're not colleagues. We're not people to be considered valuable.”

As the setting sun cast an orange glow on the Detroit River abutting the Solidarity House lawn, several UAW members strode in, wearing “Vote Harris” T-shirts proclaiming, “Trump is a scab,” using the pejorative slang for strikebreakers.


A UAW member at a rally on the union's Solidarity House lawn on November 1, 2024. © Leela Jacinto, FRANCE 24

McCaskill and her colleagues at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Detroit have been on strike since September after prolonged union-management negotiations over work contracts failed to yield an agreement.

While most of the T-shirts at the rally displayed a UAW logo, McCaskill proudly sported a Teamsters message, referring to another major national union in the US.
Teamster member Dynita McCaskill at a "get out the vote" rally at UAW headquarters in Detroit on November 1, 2024. © Tahar Hani, FRANCE 24

The Teamsters member was at the rally to “support the UAW”, she explained. “The amount of support that we received from the UAW locals in and around Detroit has been absolutely unbelievable,” she explained as a chill evening wind blew in from lakes Erie and Huron, which separate the US from Canada.
‘No one should be left behind’

America’s federal unions have long provided a loyal vote base for the Democratic Party. But while the UAW and the AFL-CIO – the largest federation of US trade unions – have endorsed Harris, the Teamsters declined to endorse any candidate.

Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien shocked the left in July when he addressed the Republican National Convention, where he praised Trump, calling him “one tough SOB”.

Labour experts examining the two candidates’ policy platforms say Harris is consistently pro-union, including her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which Trump opposes.

But the Republican candidate’s rhetoric on “illegal migrants” stealing “American jobs” has found many takers among workers even as their union bosses, in most major US unions, support Harris.

The political differences between rank-and-file members, as well as the political splits between unions do not bother McCaskill. She’s focused on bread-and-butter issues and is committed to organising on a local level.

The Teamsters failure to endorse the Democratic presidential candidate has not dented McCaskill’s loyalty to her union. “We are not a monolith. In any organisation, everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe based on their households. I actually prefer for political decisions to be a personal thing,” she noted.

She also refused to be drawn into the EV debate. “Okay, I work for the refining industry, so I have no interest in electric vehicles. That's the antithesis of what I do,” she chuckled. “But things change, you know. At some point they were riding around in horses with carriages. Things are supposed to change, and I'm comfortable with change. What’s important is the way the change happens. No one should be left behind.”

When asked about how Trump or Harris in the presidency could change her life, McCaskill’s reply revealed the wisdom gained from years of commitment to a cause and her union.

“I understand how politics works, and I understand that whoever sits in that White House doesn't really decide how impactful things are for me. It's the House and the Congress, the Senate. Those folk are the ones who make those decisions,” she said, rattling off the names of Michigan Democratic candidates running in down-ballot races. “There are several of them who are fighting for us, even if they don't believe in the industry that we work in. They're fighting for us because I'm a person, I'm not the refining industry. I'm a person.”

As the Motor City heads to the polls in elections that have stressed people across the US, and in many parts of the world, McCaskill displayed the resilience of her city, perched on a waterway connecting Lakes Huron and Erie, whose fortunes have changed with the economic tides.

“I don't think Kamala Harris winning – and I would like for her to win – will change my life. And I don't think Donald Trump – who I don't want to win – will change my life,” she maintained. “I'm still going to go to work, still going to take care of my family. I'm still going to have responsibilities. I'm still going to be honest, and I'm still going to work on the union.”

Anti-Trump monument pops up commemorating Stormy Daniels' unflattering description
Sarah K. Burris
November 4, 2024
RAW STORY


The adult film star Stormy Daniels. (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller)

Another statue has popped up to commemorate a major moment in Donald Trump's history: his alleged tryst with adult film star and director Stormy Daniels.

Huffington Post's Jen Bendery has been following the statues as the civic crafting group erects them around the country. So far, similar monuments have appeared in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On Monday, the new statue was in the Donald J. Trump State Park in Yorktown Heights, New York.



On Monday, it was a "7 feet wide by 8 feet tall" Trump statue, and on top was "a tiny golden mushroom." Daniels infamously compared a Trump extremity to a mushroom in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.






Named "The Very Large Donald J. Trump Monument," the tiny mushroom stands atop a large pillar. Bendery said it's clear it "trolls Trump over the size of his manhood."

"Despite this towering statue's impressive heft, The President's former mistress, Stormy Daniels, knowingly slandered the President as having a 'smaller than average' monument and claimed it is an 'unusual' monument similar to 'a mushroom.' She further went on to describe his monument as 'the least impressive I've ever had,'" the plaque reads.

"The circumstances surrounding her statements have been verified by a New York State court of Law," it also reads.

Indeed, Trump's company faced off against several felony counts for attempting to cover up a payoff to Daniels to stay quiet about the affair. He was found guilty on all counts.


See the photo below or at the link here.

C-4 explosive attack plotted against energy facility to ignite race war: feds

Matthew Chapman
November 4, 2024 
RAW STORY

Crime scene tape (Shutterstock.com)

A 24-year-old white supremacist has been charged with plotting to use weapons of mass destruction on an energy facility in Nashville, Tennessee, federal prosecutors said in a news release Monday.

Skyler Philippi, a so-called "accelerationist" who believes the destruction of society must be hastened to bring about race war, planned to use a drone equipped with explosives to target an electric substation, telling a confidential source such an attack would "shock the system" and bring down large parts of the power grid, the Justice Department said.

Philippi was also flagged earlier this year in a Raw Story exclusive investigation into online networks radicalizing young people into racial extremist groups. He was an administrator of a white nationalist Telegram channel known as the Primal Aryan Warlord Gang, or PAWG, which celebrated white supremacist violence and racially motivated mass killings.

"In September 2024, Philippi drove with undercover employees (UCEs) of the FBI to an electric substation previously researched and targeted by Philippi, and Philippi conducted reconnaissance of the substation," prosecutors said in the release. "While driving, Philippi ordered a plastic explosive composition known as C-4 and other explosives from the UCEs. Philippi later purchased black powder to be used in pipe bombs, which Philippi intended to use during the attack on the substation."

“If you want to do the most damage as an accelerationist, attack high economic, high tax, political zones in every major metropolis,” Philippi allegedly texted an informant, adding, “Holy s---. This will go up like a f---in fourth of July firework.”

Philippi was busted after he performed a ritualistic prayer to Odin and drove to the operation site with informants, where he was apprehended by federal agents.

“Those fueled by hate and inspired to violence by racial or ethnic bias pose a grave threat to our national security,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said of the case. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who seek to wage such hate-fueled violence, which has no place in America or anywhere else.”

















Hundreds of UK police sacked for misconduct

A BUSHEL OF BAD APPLES


By AFP
November 4, 2024

Last year London police said 1,071 officers were or had been under investigation for domestic abuse or violence against women and girls - Copyright AFP/File Philip FONG

Nearly 600 police officers in England and Wales were sacked in the year to March 2024, figures showed Tuesday, as police chiefs battle to restore public confidence after a string of scandals.

The sackings — a 50 percent rise on the 394 dismissed the previous year — include 74 officers kicked out of policing for sexual offences and misconduct.

Another 18 officers were dismissed for possessing indecent images of children, according to the figures compiled by the College of Policing, an independent public body.

The reputation of policing in the UK has been left in tatters since the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard by a serving officer in London’s Metropolitan Police who was later jailed for the rest of his life.

In another shocking case, an officer from the same unit last year received 36 life sentences for a “monstrous” string of 71 sexual offences, including rapes against 12 women.

The most common reason for dismissal, with 125 cases, was dishonesty, according to the latest figures. Another 71 were forced out for discriminatory behaviour.

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding of the College of Policing said it was “hugely disappointing to see the conduct of a number of officers falling far below the standard that we set… and which the public rightly expects”.

But he said the number being sacked was also an indication of the “effective, robust procedures in place to identify and deal with these officers swiftly”.

“Their behaviour tarnishes policing and erodes public trust,” he added.

In January 2023, the Met revealed that 1,071 officers in the 34,000-strong force had been under investigation for domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.

England and Wales has a police workforce of more than 147,000 across the 43 forces.


Greenland seeks to capitalise on ‘last-chance tourism’


By AFP
November 5, 2024

A woman looks out from a tour boat as it sails away from a glacier between Maniitsoq and Sisimiut in Greeceland - Copyright AFP James BROOKS


A frozen landscape with breathtaking views, Greenland wants to attract more tourists, but its remote location and fragile environment — which make it a unique destination — also pose challenges.

“The effects of global heating are at their most pronounced in the Arctic,” Michael Hall, a University of Canterbury professor and tourism expert, told AFP.

Global warming is accelerating “the loss of Arctic sea ice in summer, (as well as) the melting of permafrost, ice shelves and glaciers”, he said, referring to elements that contribute to the island’s uniqueness.

Across Greenland, locals are witnessing first-hand the effects of global warming.

On the southwestern coast, in Maniitsoq, the sea ice has not been solid enough to walk on since 2018. Residents have also seen it shrink from year to year, in addition to less abundant snowfalls.

Tourists are nonetheless awestruck by the vistas.

“It’s terra incognita,” said Amy Yankovic, a 55-year-old American tourist.

The Texan native travelled for almost 24 hours to get to Greenland, taking three connecting flights.

Tourism accounts for around eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations, most of which is attributed to transportation.

There is “a kind of ‘last-chance tourism’, where visiting these endangered sites is about wanting to see them before they disappear”, said Emmanuel Salim, a geography lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France.

He said similar destinations such as Churchill in Canada — known as the “polar bear capital of the world” — “have tried to position themselves as places for ‘learning’ about the environment”.

But while such destinations can raise awareness about better environmental practices, their carbon footprints continue to rise, he lamented.

Developing tourism in a fragile environment is a tricky balancing act.

“Mitigation of the impacts of global heating on the Arctic is a global responsibility,” said Hall, adding that “current mitigation attempts are greatly inadequate.”

Greenlandic authorities insist they want a prudent development of the tourism sector, in order to create jobs.

“In recent years we’ve seen that young people have started to become tour operators,” Maniitsoq mayor Gideon Lyberth told AFP.

“We’re very, very happy, because young people have been leaving here for Nuuk, to live there, but now they’re coming back,” he said.

“Clearly such developments will usually be seen as a good idea, at least in the short term,” Hall said.

Greenland eyes tourism takeoff with new airport runway



By AFP
November 5, 2024


Passengers disembarking at the airport of Nuuk, Greenland, which will soon the capacity for international flights - Copyright AFP Jason Redmond

Camille BAS-WOHLERT

A new runway at Greenland’s Nuuk airport that can accommodate international flights is expected to lift the tourism sector, at the risk of inundating the Arctic island’s infrastructure and fragile ecosystem.

To get to Greenland’s capital, travellers have had to fly from Iceland or by transiting through Kangerlussuaq, a former US military base in the north with the only runway big enough for international flights to land.

The airport in Nuuk will finally have the capacity to welcome bigger planes from November 28.

Another new runway is due to open in Ilulissat, north of Nuuk, in 2026.

“In the past, it was very difficult to travel to Greenland, and the new airports will completely change the infrastructure to get here,” airport spokesman Milan Lund Vraa told AFP.

Home to about a third of the Danish autonomous territory’s 57,000 residents, Nuuk will have to boost its hospitality capacity.

“There will be so many (tourists) that there will not be enough places for them,” predicted Gideon Lyberth, mayor of the town of Maniitsoq a little north of Nuuk.

He hopes his town will benefit from a rise in visitors coming to admire the island’s pristine fjords, icebergs and untouched wilderness.

The number of tourists travelling to Greenland has increased by nine percent per year in recent years, Lund Vraa said.

But Nuuk will need more hotel rooms by 2027 if the number of tourists grows by five percent per year, according to a recent report.

New restaurants will probably also be needed, with Nuuk currently home to just 15 eateries.

Tourism numbers could grow even more than that, with new upcoming flights from Denmark and North America, including a twice-weekly direct flight from New York to Nuuk.

The new runway “represents an enormous opportunity for travellers keen on adventure and who want to be the first to visit a new and unique destination,” Heather Kelly, director of research at the Adventure Travel Trade Association, told AFP.



– ‘Venice of Greenland’ –



Dubbed the “Venice of Greenland” with coloured houses built on a mountainside overlooking the water, Maniitsoq is home to 2,500 inhabitants.

Hopes are high here for a tourism boom.

“We need it. In my town, there are fewer and fewer people, people are moving to bigger towns with more jobs,” said a sailor named Michael who declined to give his last name.

Locals are cautiously dipping their toes into the tourism business.

“In recent years we’ve seen that young people have started to become tour operators,” said Lyberth, the town’s mayor.

In 2023, the tourism sector brought in 1.9 billion Danish kroner ($278 million), accounting for almost 10 percent of Greenland’s gross domestic product.

A full-scale tourism boom, similar to the one Iceland has had over the past 15 years, will take time.

“All of the infrastructure needs to be in place beforehand, and that’s not something that will happen in a day,” said Taatsi Fleischer, a spokesman for Arctic Circle Business, which supports entrepreneurs in western Greenland.

But do Greenlanders really want a tourism boom?

Feelings are lukewarm towards the massive, heavily-polluting cruise ships increasingly descending on the island, and legislation is being considered to ban them from some areas.

The tourists that pour out of the ships “walk around town … and don’t talk to people” before leaving a few hours later, said the sailor Michael.

He prefers travellers who fly in for longer stays.



– Disappearing landscapes –



Arctic tourism is being affected by climate change.

Skiing, hiking and cruise ships “are directly impacted by the shrinking ice sheet and the associated processes that affect access to sites”, said Emmanuel Salim, a geography lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France.

“In order to develop a destination like this today, you have to think about the image and the reality of a future post-Arctic landscape, in which snow-capped mountains, polar bears and ice floes — which have shaped the image of these places — no longer exist.”

Locals are aware of the need to develop tourism slowly.

“I don’t think Greenland is ready for mass tourism, mostly because of the infrastructure we have,” said Nuuk resident Paaliit Molgaard Rasmussen.

“The hospital is understaffed and the walking paths aren’t maintained,” she said.

Boosting tourism will only work if the local economy is integrated, University of Canterbury professor and tourism expert Michael Hall said.

“If you are going to develop tourism infrastructure it needs to be seen as part of long-term development, with it also being high quality to make it resilient to environmental change,” he said.


New Hampshire hamlet tied in first US Election day votes


ByAFP


PublishedNovember 5, 2024


Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tied in the village of Dixville Notch's first-in-the-nation vote - Copyright AFP Joseph Prezioso

Joseph Prezioso

Voters in the US hamlet of Dixville Notch launched Election Day in the first minutes of Tuesday with a tied vote, mirroring the incredibly close national polls in the White House race.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump each got three ballots in the tiny community in the northeastern state of New Hampshire which for decades has kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight Monday — hours before the rest of the country’s polling stations open.

The Democratic vice president and Republican ex-president have been battling in a tense and exceptionally close race, with opinion polls largely tied.

To a gathered crowd of journalists, the vote opened with a rendition of the US national anthem performed on an accordion.

Electoral laws in New Hampshire allow municipalities with fewer than 100 residents to open their polling stations at midnight and to close them when all registered voters have fulfilled their civic duty.

Dixville Notch’s residents voted unanimously for then candidate Joe Biden in 2020, reportedly only the second presidential hopeful to get all the votes since the midnight voting tradition began in 1960.

Most polling stations on the East Coast will open at 6:00 or 7:00 am (1100 or 1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

Dixville Notch voters handed a surprise unanimous victory to Republican White House hopeful Nikki Haley in New Hampshire’s primary in January.

Haley ultimately quit the race due to an insurmountable Trump lead — but Tuesday’s vote shows that three voters opted not to back the billionaire in the general election.

VASSAL STATE

Myanmar junta chief visits key ally China



By AFP
November 5, 2024

This photograph taken and released in August, 2024 by the Myanmar Military Information Team shows Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Nyapyidaw. China is a key ally of the military junta - Copyright MYANMAR MILITARY INFORMATION TEAM/AFP/File -

Myanmar’s embattled junta chief arrived in China Tuesday — his first reported visit since leading a coup in 2021 — but analysts say the invitation is only a lukewarm endorsement from his key ally and could backfire.

Min Aung Hlaing was in the southwestern city of Kunming for a summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) — a group including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia — starting Wednesday.

The senior general will meet Chinese officials “to develop and strengthen economic and multi-sectoral cooperation”, the junta said on Monday.

When the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government in 2021, Chinese state media refused to describe it as a coup, preferring “major cabinet reshuffle”.

China has stood by the junta since, even as others shun the generals over their brutal crackdown on dissent which opponents say includes massacring of civilians, razing villages with air and artillery strikes.

Richard Horsey, Crisis Group’s senior Myanmar adviser, said Min Aung Hlaing had been lobbying for an official invitation ever since the coup, as a public show of support.

But Beijing has stressed the regional focus of the Kunming gathering, saying it wanted to consult “all sides” against “a background of a weakening global recovery and geopolitical turbulence”.

“While this (invitation to the summit) still implies recognition as head of state, it does not have the same diplomatic weight as a bilateral invitation to visit Beijing,” Horsey told AFP.



– Battlefield losses –



Ming Aung Hlaing’s trip comes with the junta reeling from a devastating rebel offensive last year that seized an area roughly the size of Bosnia — much of it near the border with China.

Analysts say Beijing is worried about the possibility of the junta falling and suspicious of western influence among some of pro-democracy armed groups battling the military.

Myanmar is a vital part of Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative, with railways and pipelines to link China’s landlocked southwest to the Indian Ocean.

“Beijing has now made clear its intentions for the Myanmar military to succeed,” said Jason Tower of the United States Institute of Peace.

China has been reluctant to give a clear show of official recognition since the coup, Crisis Group’s Horsey said, but this may be changing.

“China has pivoted to greater support for the regime — not because it is better disposed with the regime or its leader, but out of concern at a disorderly collapse of power in Naypyidaw,” he said.



– Deep mistrust –



But the relationship is wracked by longstanding mistrust.

The junta’s top brass are wary of China, insiders say — stemming from Beijing’s support for an insurgency waged by the Communist Party of Burma in the 1960s and 1970s.

China gave its tacit backing to last year’s rebel offensive, military supporters say, in return for the rebels dismantling online scam compounds in territory they captured.

Those compounds were run by and targeting Chinese citizens in a billion-dollar industry and major embarrassment for Beijing.

But the rebels pushed further and in August captured the city of Lashio — miles from the scam compound heartland and home to a regional military command.

The fall of Lashio, home to around 150,000 people to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) was a step too far for Beijing, said Tower.

China has since cut electricity, water and internet services to the MNDAA’s traditional homeland on the border with Yunnan province, a source close to the group told AFP.

A visit to China is “unlikely to resolve Min Aung Hlaing’s internal troubles,” said Tower.

“If anything, it could create new problems, as the general is likely to be perceived as making major economic and geo-strategic concessions to Beijing in exchange for Chinese assistance,” he told AFP.

One demand from Beijing will be speeding up elections the junta has promised to hold, said Tower — polls China’s foreign minister announced Beijing’s backing for in August.

Opponents of the polls say they will be neither free nor fair while clashes continues across the country and with most of the popular political parties banned.


The marble ‘living Buddhas’ trapped by Myanmar’s civil war



By AFP
November 4, 2024

Moving marble across areas divided by Myanmar's civil war has become an expensive, difficult and dangerous mission, leaving artisans without raw material
 - Copyright AFP Sai Aung MAIN

Lynn MYAT

Sculptor Aung Naing Lin has spent decades carving Buddha statues to help guide Myanmar’s faithful — but getting the marble he needs from rebel-held quarries in the midst of civil war is now a perilous task.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been mired in bloody conflict since the military toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, terminating a 10-year experiment with democracy and sparking a widespread armed uprising.

In recent months, opponents of the military have advanced with rocket and drone attacks on Mandalay — the country’s second-biggest city, with a population of 1.5 million.

The rebels have also seized the hillside quarries that have for generations provided the marble that adorns Mandalay’s palaces and monasteries, as well as the shrines in ordinary homes.

Now, moving the precious stone and roughly carved statues by truck across the divide of the civil war, from rebel to junta-held territory, is expensive, difficult and dangerous.

“The situation around the Madaya township (where the quarries are located) is not very good,” Aung Naing Lin told AFP at his noisy workshop in Mandalay, his face and hair speckled with white dust.

“It is not easy to go, and we cannot bring the stones back.”

Surrounded by dozens of blank-faced Buddha statues waiting to be given eyes, ears and lips, Min Min Soe agreed.

“Sales are not that bad, but the challenge is bringing the statues here,” he said.

“We can sell only the statues we have here and we cannot bring new raw statues in.”

The owner of another workshop, who did not want to be named, said associates of his were recently arrested when taking a shipment of marble from rebel-held Madaya.

“They were detained by the local military column and were asked how they brought the stones out from the village as that area was controlled by the PDF,” they said.

“People’s Defence Forces” are units made up of former students, farmers and workers who have left their lives behind to take up arms and oppose the junta’s coup.

There are dozens of PDFs across the country, and they have dragged the junta into a bloody stalemate.

The junta has designated them as “terrorists”, and contact with them can bring years in prison.

“Later, they released the people who had been detained and gave the stones back,” the workshop owner said.

“It’s like a warning to all. We dare not to bring stones from the village under this situation.”


– Madaya quarries –


The quarries of Madaya have long been interwoven with the cultural and religious history of Myanmar.

In the 1860s, following two disastrous wars with the British, then-king Mindon commissioned craftsmen in Mandalay to transfer Buddhist scriptures from palm leaf manuscripts onto 720 blocks of solid marble to ensure they survived any further destruction.

The stone also resonates with the military that has ruled Myanmar for much of its history since independence from Britain in 1948.

In 2020, it sanctioned the building of a 25-metre (82-foot) high statue of the Buddha made from Madaya marble to adorn its custom-built capital Naypyidaw.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing declared the statue finished last year and a visit has since become a stock feature of the itineraries of the few foreign delegations that visit the isolated junta.


– ‘Living Buddhas’ –



While the fighting continues north of Mandalay, Min Min Soe and others work to put the finishing touches on the dozens of roughly hewn statues.

Their forefathers used chisels, but nowadays, craftsmen use drills to etch everything from Buddha’s face, the folds in his robe, fingernails and the lotus flower he sits on.

The laborious final stages of smoothing the rough edges are done by women using sandpaper, said Min Min Soe.

“Women are better at this as they are more patient,” he said.

A finished statue around 25 centimetres (10 inches) high fetches between 100,000 – 200,000 Myanmar kyat ($50-$100 at the official exchange rate), he said.

Outside one of the workshops on the busy street, workers packed a sitting Buddha statue into a wooden protective frame before shipping it off to a customer.

Min Min Soe says looking after the dozens of his creations still in stock helps him find his own peace amid rumours of an attack on Mandalay.

He considers them “living Buddhas”.

“I clean the statues at 4 am every day… This is not only for my business but also to gain merit,” he said.

“I want them to be clean and good-looking no matter if they are sold or not.”

SPACE/COSMOS

World’s first wooden satellite launched into space



By AFP
November 5, 2024

LignoSat, a satellite made from wood and developed by scientists at Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, shown during a press conference in May, 2024 - Copyright JIJI PRESS/AFP/File STR

The world’s first wooden satellite has blasted off on a SpaceX rocket, its Japanese developers said Tuesday, part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn up when the device re-enters the atmosphere — potentially providing a way to avoid generating metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.

These particles may negatively impact both the environment and telecommunications, the developers say.

Each side of the box-like experimental satellite, named LignoSat, measures just 10 centimetres (four inches).

It was launched on an unmanned rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kyoto University’s Human Spaceology Center said.

The satellite, installed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew into space safely”, it said in a post on X.

A spokeswoman for LignoSat’s co-developer Sumitomo Forestry told AFP the launch had been “successful”.

It “will arrive at the ISS soon, and will be released to outer space about a month later” to test its strength and durability, she said.

Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of strain and determine if the satellite can withstand extreme changes in temperature.

“Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream,” Takao Doi, an astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, said at a press conference earlier this year.

Fake X accounts promote COP hosts UAE, Azerbaijan

By AFP
November 4, 2024

The disinformation efforts come as the UAE and Azerbaijan were chosen to host the COP28 climate change summit last year and forthcoming COP29 slated to kick off on November 11 in Baku - Copyright AFP/File Eva HAMBACH

Théo MARIE-COURTOIS, Claire-Line NASS

The social media platform X has for months been aflush with praise for United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan in posts shared by hundreds of profiles — and all found to be fake.

Analysed by AFP over several days, the large-scale operation, powered by artificial intelligence, points to a sophisticated, coordinated influence campaign not unlike those carried out by Russia in recent years — though its instigator and objectives remain unclear.

“French people, (if you are) disappointed and weary of endless debate, it is time to think about an alternative, such as the United Arab Emirates, where business conditions are really attractive,” one sham account wrote.

It is part of a network of more than 2,300 active accounts in a dozen languages, including English, French and German, according to the collective Antibot4Navalny which monitors influence operations on X and teamed up with SourcesOuvertes to identify the campaign. Some boast up to a few hundred followers.

To accrue visibility and credibility, the bogus profiles comment on posts by mainstream media, local news organisations, and influential accounts.

While they discuss a breadth of topics, what they have in common is their fervent acclaim for the UAE and Azerbaijan, and particularly their flourishing economies.

The profiles also agree on a “desire to change elected officials, established institutions and status quo” in the West, with the Emirati model depicted as “the most successful alternative”, said Antibot4Navalny in a series of posts published on X last week.

Some convey political messages, such as “Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan”, and Baku “has the right to claim its occupied territories”, referring to the sovereignty conflict over the disputed region, while others support Azeri athletes.

Former Soviet republics Azerbaijan and Armenia have seen decades of war and tension over the breakaway ethnic Armenian province, recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

The international community has been ramping up pressure for an agreement between the neighbours before the COP29 summit later this month.

– COP hosts –

The disinformation efforts come as the UAE and Azerbaijan were chosen to host the COP28 climate change summit last year and forthcoming COP29 slated to kick off on November 11 in Baku.

While environmental protection NGOs have criticised the decision to have the oil-rich nations organise the conferences, the accounts have gloated over the initiative.

Nothing new under the sun. Shortly before the launch of COP28 in Dubai last year, dozens of false users cropped up and exuded a refreshing optimism about the role of the Gulf state in promoting climate action.

Now with COP29 around the corner, a wave of hundreds of accounts promoting its Azeri host has washed over the social platform, Northwestern University in Qatar Associate Professor Marc Owen Jones has found.

Yet this time, the tactic is more insidious — boasting more elaborate profiles that claim varied “interests” and credentials ranging from “farmer” and “environmental activist” to “football fan”.

The goal of the campaign “is to legitimise the account, so that it can be picked up by potentially real people, who have an audience and a sounding board”, said Christine Dugoin-Clement, researcher at IAE Paris-Sorbonne.

– ‘Recurrent themes’ –

To seem more “real”, the profiles also tailor the content they publish to the target country — for France, some bots openly slam President Emmanuel Macron’s policies or react to statements by political figures. The posts also target Spain and Germany.

Emirati authorities did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

While its impact is difficult to measure, the suspicious activity grabbed the attention of French authorities, security sources told AFP.

They reported that “the modus operandi in use requires significant financial means that simultaneously allow for the management of numerous accounts, the adaptation of posts to targeted content and countries, as well as the adoption of behaviours to get past the X platform’s moderation policy”, one source said.

Yet clues suggest the posts are not authentic.

Not only did the analysed accounts become active over the summer, despite having been created months earlier, but they also discussed “recurrent themes, some of which appear across multiple languages”, Antibot4Navalny told AFP.

Many used AI-generated images and the same account often reused the same phrases. Words out of place or in another language, such as Chinese characters in a message in French, sometimes slipped through the cracks.

Using AI “reduces the entry cost of this type of operation”, said Dugoin-Clement.

In November 2023, Viginum, a French government agency set up to detect digital disinformation campaigns, linked a campaign to smear the 2024 Paris Olympics to Azerbaijan.