Syria's new leader says elections could take up to four years

Organising elections in Syria could take up to four years and drafting a new constitution could take three years, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the rebel leader who ousted President Bashar al-Assad from power, said in an interview broadcast by Saudi state media on Sunday.


Issued on: 29/12/2024

FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, arrives for a meeting in Damascus on December 22, 2024. © AFP

Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in remarks to be broadcast on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible electoral timetable since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.

Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa said in written excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya, due to be transmitted later on Sunday. He also said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.

The comment from Sharaa, who leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Assad on Dec. 8, comes as the new government in Damascus has been seeking to reassure its neighbours that it has moved away from its roots in Islamist militancy.

The group's lightning campaign ended a 13-year civil war but has left a host of questions about the future of a multi-ethnic country previously held together by decades of authoritarian Assad family rule, and where foreign states including Turkey and Russia have strong and potentially competing interests.

While Western powers largely welcomed the end of Assad family rule in Syria, it remains unclear whether the group will impose strict Islamic rule or show flexibility and move towards democracy.

Sharaa said HTS, formerly known as the Nusra Front, would be dissolved at a national dialogue conference.

The group was once affiliated with Islamic State and al-Qaeda but has since renounced both and sought to reposition itself as a force for moderation.

It has repeatedly vowed to protect minority groups, who fear the new rulers could seek to impose an Islamist government and has warned of attempts to incite sectarian strife.

In the interview, Sharaa said Syria shared strategic interests with Russia, a close Assad ally during the long civil war which has military bases in the country, reiterating conciliatory signals his government has made previously.

Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria's relations with Russia should serve common interests.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the status of Russia's military bases would be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus.

"It is a question not only of maintaining our bases or strongholds, but also of the conditions of their operation, maintenance and provision, and interaction with the local side," he said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA published on Sunday.

Sharaa also said he hoped the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior U.S. diplomats who visited Damascus this month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader's head.

(Reuters)

Syria official's comments on women spark uproar

Aisha al-Dibs sparked backlash after calling on women to 'not go beyond the priorities of their God-given nature'.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
29 December, 2024

Dibs's remarks sparked fury among many, with some taking to social media to express their outrage [GETTY]

Comments by Syria's newly appointed head of women's affairs have sparked uproar, with social media users expressing outrage on Sunday, weeks after rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey's state-run TRT broadcaster this week asked Aisha al-Dibs, the only woman so far in Syria's transitional government since Assad's 8 December ouster, about the "space" that would be given to feminist organisations in the country.

Dibs said that if the actions of such organisations "support the model that we are going to build, then they will be welcome", adding: "I am not going to open the path for those who don't agree with my thinking."

She invited Syrian women everywhere "to come together around the same table to study the model" that Syria should adopt to support the role of women and women's rights.

"Why adopt a lay or civil model? We want to implement a model that is right for Syrian society, and Syrian women will make it happen," she said.

Addressing Syrian women from all of the country's religious communities, she said "we are all equal", and invited "those with qualifications and experience" to apply for public sector posts.

But she also called on women "not to go beyond the priorities of their God-given nature" and to know "their educational role in the family".

Dibs's remarks sparked fury among many, with some taking to social media to express their outrage.

"You can talk about your own thinking... at home, but don't impose your thinking by wanting us to stay at home," said Facebook user Batraa Abo Aljadayel.

"No to a new political and cultural repression... a repression of public and individual liberties," she added.

Actress Aliaa Saeid said on social network X that "we were imprisoned so that we could (obtain the right) to express our opinion".

"We have been displaced, our homes have been destroyed, so that in the end you come and tell us what's allowed and what's not?" she added.

Despite reassurances, some Syrians fear the new administration will move towards religious rule that marginalises minority communities and excludes women from public life.

New Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani sought to calm the situation on Sunday, posting on X that authorities would "stand by" women and "fully support their rights".

"We believe in the active role of women within society, and we have confidence in their capacities," he said, adding that "Syrian women fought long years for a free homeland that preserves their dignity and status".

UK

Can the Commons be the Left’s Ethical Ground?

DECEMBER 29, 2024

Guy Standing explains the background to the first of a series of meetings next year that aim to reintegrate an important idea into the left’s thinking.

Those who see themselves on the political left of the spectrum favour a reduction in inequalities, a strengthening of democracy and rising living standards for lower-income groups in society. Nothing controversial about that. It should be widely popular.

However, today, across the world, the left is in deep trouble, and must relearn an essential lesson of history. The left has flourished only when it offers an uplifting vision of a Good Society. In honesty, one has to admit that in the past the vision offered has turned out to be a false one or one that allowed dictatorial trends to overcome personal freedom.

However, without a vision, politics risks becoming at best a stepping stone occupation for self-advancing individuals to do for a few years before they take lucrative positions in other sectors. Today, we are in that situation, in which there is ‘think tank politics’ on the left, driven by a utilitarian mentality, focus groups and personal ambition. It will fail.

Currently, the Labour Party and Government is not offering a transformative vision, merely a short-term future of slightly higher GDP growth, which it hopes will yield modest rises in living standards for everybody. It is not being sectarian to say that this has a high probability of being a mirage, one doomed to offend the ecologically minded while preparing the ground for the far right to gain power. At the very least, that risk suggests there should be a parallel narrative and agenda, one to lift the spirits, escape from the current dourness and inspire those working for the cause.  

I want to suggest that the core of a sensible Vision for all shades of the left today should be a revival of the commons and commoning. The commons may be described as all that belongs to all of us as commoners, as citizens in the proper sense of that word, as people who have a broadening range of human rights. The commons reflects and nurtures a culture of mutual support and generalised reciprocity, of social solidarity and informal social protection, or what some have called ‘the poor’s overcoat’.

They are intrinsically ecological, emphasising ‘the gift economy’ and values of reproduction, rather than accumulation and acquisitiveness. These are surely the values that unite all shades of the progressive left, and are what are sorely lacking in today’s financialised capitalism.

The commons have always been the bedrock of society, and commoning (that is, shared activities in the commons) have always been desired forms of activity by the world’s commoners. The commons, commoning and commoners have been at the heart of all progressive transformations throughout history. They are deeply ingrained in the human condition, giving people Robustness and Resilience, twin feelings in short supply at the moment.

All the great rebellions in British history have been about defending the commons and have been in response to the taking of them, beginning with the social strife that led to the Charter of the Forest and the Magna Carta in November 1217, and going on to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, Kett’s Rebellion in 1549, the Civil War in the seventeenth century, the Diggers and Levellers of 1649 whose activities culminated in the great Putney debates, the ‘blacking’ actions of the early 1720s (when commoners blackened their faces to conceal themselves when taking deer from enclosed land), which prompted the most savage legislation in British history, the Luddites of the early nineteenth century (ideologically misrepresented ever since), and the Chartists in the 1830s. All were about the defence of the commons and the radical emancipatory lifestyle that they have embodied.   

Perhaps most durably, the commons as the fulcrum of progressive politics was lost in the defeat of William Morris’ Socialist League in the 1890s, this time not a defeat by capital plundering the commons, but by the twin juggernauts of communism and labourist social democracy, both of which pinned all their hopes and intellectual energy on eulogising the ‘state’ as the saviour of society, rescuing ‘the working class’ from industrial capitalism. In doing so, they both dismissed the commons, as quaint historical relics.

Throughout the twentieth century, the core of political struggle was between those who favoured state control, through such mechanisms as nationalisation and state ownership of ‘the means of production’, and those who believed in ‘free markets’. The commons ceased to figure in political discourse, reduced to little more than amenities for recreation. They disappeared as the locus for socio-political struggle.

It is time to escape from that simplistic dualism. We should develop an agenda around the commons and set up a series of discussions around the country to develop a strategy to revive all types of commons, one that should not be party-political or even factional in any sense.

The context could not be more urgent or dire. We are in a transformational crisis, and as Karl Polanyi put it that brings a “threat of annihilation of civilisation”. That is growing in 2025. We are entering the era of Trumpism, and what might be called a plutarchy, which is more threatening than the earlier version of populism associated with Peronism in Latin America.

Plutarchy is a society controlled by the extremely rich, the plutocracy. The plutocracy is a definable group, the plutarchy a definable political system. The libertarian right plutocracy, led by Elon Musk, Peter Theil, Charles Koch et al, have created the conditions for Trumpism and the plutarchy, and predictably the rest of the American plutocracy are lining up to show they now want to be an integral part of what that offers them.

They want to demolish what is left of the progressive side of democratic politics, and unless progressives offer a transformative alternative vision, we will be among the victims. Every person of whatever shade of left they might have should pin on their proverbial wall – the plutocracy does not do compromise. You are Little Red Ridinghood if you enter their den. 

What is happening in America today could spill over this side of the Atlantic tomorrow. It is already doing so. The plutarchy is the outcome of rentier capitalism, which the left must understand and confront. There is nothing like a free market economy today. More and more of the income, wealth, status and power flows to the owners of private property (physical, financial and intellectual). Plundering what remains of the commons is an integral part of that process. Conventional policies to promote GDP growth only increase inequalities and economic insecurity, while increasing the devastation of our natural world.

Over the centuries, all forms of Commons (natural, civil, social, cultural and intellectual) have been plundered, and in much the same sequence – through encroachment, neglect, enclosure, privatisation, commodification and financialisation. But globally and in Britain, the plunder has been accelerated since the neoliberal economics revolution of the 1980s, under Thatcherism and above all in the austerity era.

This must be reversed. In an attempt to start a conversation between similarly minded activists and the politically minded, the conversational society Kairos is planning on organising a series of conversational meetings during the course of 2025 or different areas of the commons, starting with one on January 16th in Kairos’ conference rooms in Tottenham Court Road. The event is open to everyone who is interested, via registration.

The first meeting will outline the meaning and significance of the commons, drawing in part on the work of Elinor Ostrom, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2009, and on three recent books on different aspects of the commons. It will conclude with a focus on a sphere of commons that receives insufficient attention, the knowledge commons.

The principles and practices of the education commons were established in ancient Athens. Over the ages they have been shredded, first by religious and class-based bigotries and latterly by the neo-liberal emphasis on ‘human capital’ and the construction of a globalised education industry dominated by financial capital and by the plutocracy. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that it has turned into an instrument for weakening progressive thinking. The tragedy of education de-commoning must be overcome if the plutarchy is to be overcome.  

Depending on the development of commons conversations in Kairos and elsewhere over the coming months, one outcome might be the drafting of a modern Charter of the Commons that could form the basis for a public campaign. Meanwhile, let a thousand commons bloom.

Guy Standing is Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London, and co-president of BIEN, the Basic Income Earth Network.

EVENT DETAILS
Thursday January 16th 2025
Doors open 6.30pm, Talk starts 7pm

Reviving the Commons: A Unifying Vision for Our Common Wealth with Guy Standing 

Talk followed by supper at 8pm and discussion until 9.15pm
Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG

Find out more and reserve a place.

Image: https://www.picpedia.org/highway-signs/v/vision.html License: Creative Commons 3 – CC BY-SA 3.0 Attribution: Alpha Stock Images – http://alphastockimages.com/ Original Author: Nick Youngson – link to – http://www.nyphotographic.com/ Original Image: https://www.picpedia.org/highway-signs/v/vision.html

UK 

A year of descent

HubMP2012

DECEMBER 29, 2024

Labour won the July general election by a landslide, so what was there not to like about 2024? Virtually everything, argues Mike Phipps, in his review of the year. Part One of two.

If the earlier years of Keir Starmer’s leadership had been a time when grassroots Party members felt a growing disenchantment with the direction of Labour, 2024 was the year when that disillusionment became much more widely shared among the general population – with far more dangerous consequences.

January

The year began with a warning from former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP. In an article headlined “Starmer must say what he’ll do in power – if he leaves a vacuum, the far right will fill it,” John wrote: “If Labour fails to set out early on a path of radical change to secure the all-round wellbeing and security of our people, then inevitably disillusionment will set in. The risk then is the potential for a significant shift in our politics to the right.”

Today that looks prescient. But the leadership continued its cautious approach – supplemented by further unwelcome moves to the right. In January, the Party ditched its commitment to spend £28bn a year on green investment, dropped its plan to reinstate the cap on bankers’ bonuses and committed to cap corporation tax at 25% for the duration of the next Parliament. Yet that same month, the polling organisation You Gov found that 45% of respondents felt Labour was unclear about what it stood for, with only 28% clear.

February

February brought the fiasco of the Rochdale by-election. For all its talk of tightening selection rules to ensure high-quality candidates, the Labour leadership’s interference in these processes was revealed to be a factional tool to enforce loyalty. Had the Party carried out basic due diligence, it is unlikely that it would have ended up with a candidate who had to be publicly disowned mid-campaign for having said that Israel had deliberately let the October 7th 2023 attacks by Hamas proceed as a pretext to invade Gaza. 

As Labour Hub said at the time, “There is a double standard in operation. Left wingers in the Party have been far more harshly treated for lesser offences. Edmonton MP Kate Osamor remains suspended despite having apologised for linking the Israeli slaughter in Gaza to genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day. Andy MacDonald, MP for Middlesborough, remains suspended after expressing his wish that ‘Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea can live in peaceful liberty’.”

Labour’s unprincipled stance on Israeli war crimes, which had already precipitated many high-profile resignations the previous year, continued to haunt the Party. After the Scottish Labour Conference voted unanimously for a ceasefire in Gaza, the leadership finally declared itself to be in favour of one – with conditions. In retrospect, many saw it as a squalid parliamentary manoeuvre to prevent a Scottish National Party motion in favour of a no-strings ceasefire from being debated in the House of Commons. SNP and Tory MPs walked out amid accusations that the Speaker had been improperly leaned on by the Starmer apparatus.

March

The Workers Party’s self-promoting George Galloway comfortably won the Rochdale by-election. Meanwhile pressure began to mount on Labour’s leadership to reinstate Diane Abbott, suspended since the previous year on account of a poorly worder letter she had written to a local paper and later apologised for. The factionalism of the Starmer team meant the issue would drag on right into the summer general election campaign, when overwhelming public support forced Keir Starmer to concede that she would be free to run again as the Labour candidate in Hackney and Stoke Newington.

April

April brought another score of Labour councillor resignations in the northwest, principally over Gaza, and the news that 25,000 members had left the Party in the last two months. Meanwhile, two deselected MPs and four national trade union General Secretaries raised concerns that Labour’s flawed programme for internal online elections, Anonyvoter, may have been used to rig selection contests against the left.

May

May’s local election results were good news for Labour and put the Party on course to win the next general election. An average 9% swing to the Party across the country meant the Tories lost nearly 500 seats.

But beneath the headlines, a more nuanced picture emerged, partially prefiguring what the summer general election would produce. There was an anti-Labour incumbency vote in some areas which saw gains for Greens and Independents.

The elections manifested a significant ‘Gaza effect’ in many areas, which saw Labour lose seats. It was notable that in London, Mayor Sadiq Khan bucked this trend, having taken a much clearer position of opposition to Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinians from the outset.

On May 22nd Prime Minister Sunak called a general election.

June

The first weeks of Labour’s campaign were dominated by the internal damage the Starmer leadership had inflicted on the Party – its refusal to allow Jeremy Corbyn to be Islington North’s Labour candidate and the failed attempt to stop Diane Abbott in Hackney. In even more blatant factional moves, the apparatus blocked – mid-campaign – the sitting Brighton MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Faiza Shaheen, the popular candidate in Chingford, who stood a very good chance of unseating Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith. He eventually retained his seat courtesy of these shameful manoeuvres.

July

Labour won the general election by a landslide of seats, but with only 35% of the vote on a 60% turnout. The Tories’ collapse was due largely to their incompetence and dishonesty, factors which made Labour’s job much easier. The result was emphatically not an endorsement of Starmerism. In fact, the Party won with fewer votes (9.6 million) than were achieved under Jeremy Corbyn in both 2017 (12.8 million) and 2019 (10.0 million).

Pollster John Curtice went so far as to say: “Actually, but for the rise of the Labour Party in Scotland… we would be reporting that basically Labour’s vote has not changed from what it was in 2019.” 

Low turnout and fragmentation underlined public distrust with the entire political class. That helped Reform UK gain seats, who also benefited from the willingness of other parties to make concession to their repugnant ideas. But Labour’s shift to the right also opened up space to the Party’s left with Jeremy Corbyn and four other Independent MPs elected, alongside four Greens. Additionally, Independents Andrew Feinstein was runner-up in Holborn and St Pancras to Keir Starmer, who was reduced to a minority of the overall vote; and Leanne Mohamad  came within 500 votes of unseating Wes Streeting in Ilford North.

Former top advisor under Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer, Simon Fletcher hinted at some of the problems Labour would face in government when he wrote: “Rarely has the disparity between the real situation and the programme of the leadership of the Labour party been more apparent.”

The next six months would underline that with a vengeance.

To be continued…

Mike Phipps’ book Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow: The Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn (OR Books, 2022) can be ordered here.

Image: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=547638&picture=numbers-2024-new-year-in-3d freddy dendoktoor has released this “Numbers, 2024, New Year, In 3D” image under Public Domain license.  CC0 1.0 Universal CC0 1.0 Deed

UK

‘Ten years ago, I was Labour’s first trans candidate. Too little has changed since’

Emily Brothers  29th December, 2024

Photo: Shutterstock

With rising antipathy in politicians and media examination of personal history, it is perplexing why so many of us step into the fray. This is what I grappled with 10 years ago, crossing the Rubicon to reveal my gender transition, becoming Labour’s First trans Parliamentary Candidate.

When selected in November 2013 to contest Sutton and Cheam, I had no intention of ‘coming out’. My focus was on exposing Tory and Lib Dem austerity and advancing Labour’s pledges for Government.

The consequence of developing a political profile brought the risk that the media would weave a negative story about another politician not being transparent. Just over a year following selection and after much agonising about the impact on my children and political journey, I decided to take control and set a positive narrative.

In December 2014 I told London Live TV viewers about my gender transition. My personal story and decision to ‘come out’ received wide acclaim with the press at home and abroad and on social media. Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, tweeted his support:

https://twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/542328480000917504

As a Liverpudlian I wasn’t surprised by The Sun dismissive tone, ridiculing me by asking: “being blind, how did she know she was the wrong sex?”

The overwhelming reaction from the public was to pushback against this transphobia and belittling of disability. Even the self-regulating press organisation made a landmark ruling in favour of a complaint brought by Trans Media Watch.

Suddenly my local campaign got national traction with many invitations to speak and write about my personal experience and wider transgender issues. It was a relentless six months to the election in May 2015.

Despite challenges from so-called gender critics, it was motivating to find so much support from allies, along with the opportunity to encourage other trans people, raise awareness and advocate for our rights in the wider public domain.

Populist culture wars have since changed the landscape with trans women in the eye of the storm. The Conservative Government backed by their media friends have weaponised the lives of trans women. Understandably Labour avoided trading in these battles, but regrettably of late has minimised its support for trans people, including pulling away from the commitment for legally recognised self-identity.

The recent decision by Wes Streeting, Labour’s Health Secretary, to permanently ban puberty blockers for young people fails to recognise the impact on mental health and shows a lack of confidence in clinicians to weigh in the balance key factors in individualised care plans. Children’s healthcare should, of course, be led by evidence. Yet relying on the Cass Review alone is problematic as it is contested. It recommended caution, not the exclusion Wes Streeting has chosen. This signals a worrying direction of travel by Labour on trans lives.

So, 10 years ago I was Labour’s first trans candidate. Too little has changed since. In fact, respect for the human rights of trans people has regressed. Labour’s manifesto promised to ‘remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance’ feels like a hollow gesture towards much needed progress.

Gender critical views not the lived experience of trans people are influencing Labour policy

There isn’t a dialogue with trans people, not even someone like me with a bit of a profile who has tried to engage. Whilst grateful to LGBT Labour for providing some funding for my recent parliamentary campaign, I find it disturbing that many trans members are frustrated about their voice not being heard, as articulated by Georgia Meadows in a recent Labour List piece.

Standing for a second time for Parliament at this year’s General election in Isle of Wight East, my gender transition generated some online hostility. Purposely, I did not react or say anything about my personal experience. Whilst anyone can read about my story in back issues or online, it would have been futile to navigate through the toxicity that currently surrounds trans women. That’s why it would have been much tougher to ‘come out’ 10 years after taking that step. It is why I worry more today about the impact on other trans women with the constant negative coverage.

Both 2015 and 2024 elections that I fought were about broader change for our country, economic growth and fixing public services. Marginalised groups like the trans community need to benefit from Labour’s decade of renewal and able to contribute to wider change.

With no trans people in the Commons, Lords, assemblies and only a few of us being Councillors, Labour needs to show a degree of audacity by improving the life chances of trans people with person-centred specialist Gender Identity Services, simplifying legal recognition and tackling too often overlooked wider inequalities.

Labour’s commitment must involve drawing on our lived experience to shape policy and enable us to serve. After all, transitioning gender means we do know something about navigating change.

Emily Brothers

Emily Brothers is a member of the Fabian Society executive committee, a founding member of Labour Trans Equality and was Labour's parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam in 2015.@EBrothersLabour

View all articles by Emily Brothers

Social media proves online gender harassment is alive and well

By Kara Schroeder | China Daily | Updated: 2024-12-29

I can't stand group chats. While I acknowledge that they serve a purpose for communicating to multiple people at once, I become impatient with simple chatter, questions that can easily be answered with a search engine and advertisements. Mostly, I am frustrated with the rampant sexism many women face.

While running my business in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, I managed over 3,000 group chats with businesses with which I cooperated. Many times, people would add me directly and I always accepted their request. I never knew whether it would be another business opportunity or someone who needed my assistance.

However, people often added me to ask inappropriate questions or make sexual remarks. I actually took screenshots of these exchanges thinking one day they might make a hilarious, interesting, and educational book about online gendered harassment. I also changed my settings so that no one could add my contact from a group chat.

In 2018, I was invited to the US Consulate in Guangzhou to participate in a panel discussion with women who work in male-dominated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industries. The three other women on the panel came from huge tech and financial corporations. I was the only entrepreneur. A panel moderator asked if any of us had experienced sexual harassment or sexism due to our positions.

I had a separate social media account for my business and its logo was a blue monkey. On my way to the US consulate, I received a message on that account from a random stranger who messaged, "Hello." I replied, "Can I help you?" He responded, "No." Annoyed, I asked, "What do you want?" His one-word answer: "You." My response: "I will take a screenshot of this conversation and be sure to send it to your mother." Then I blocked him.

So when the moderator asked her question and the three other panelists denied they experienced any sexism or harassment, I joyfully recounted this exchange to the audience's dismay. Whether we're talking about a woman working in a male-dominated industry or not, these types of gender harassment exchanges continue to be prevalent.

Sexism is not exclusive to men. I've received plenty of sexist comments from women as well. At 44, when I was at my fittest, I went on a beach holiday and — gasp! — wore a bikini. Proud of my hard work in the gym, I posted a photo frolicking in the sand in a two-piece swimsuit. I received a few comments asking where I was because the setting was gorgeous. But, sure enough, a woman in her 20s that I met a few times commented, "Aren't you too old to wear a bikini?" This was followed by another woman commenting, "You looked better five years ago."

As an Asian-American who grew up in a Caucasian community (even my family was only made up of one-third of Asians) and being bullied relentlessly for my appearance, I cannot fathom how the young maintain good, let alone level, self-esteem with society so focused on the female body and aging, and strangers feeling free to pick people apart while hiding behind a screen.

Olympic ski champion Eileen Gu can likely relate. After skyrocketing to global stardom since achieving gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, online trolls took it upon themselves to belittle her choice to represent one country over another and criticism about her looks mounted, with several people questioning whether she had the goods to back up female empowerment. In a switch from most celebrities ignoring the online haters, Gu had the gumption to respond to these negative comments, with her most viral response being, "Cry ab it" (cry about it), which made women like me admire her even more.

Living in China, people say to me, "You've gained weight"; "You look older since I saw you last" (this one always gets me because everyone ages); and "You look chubby." I always considered this part of the social culture, a way to start a conversation, nothing to get offended by.

But I am offended. Criticism about female appearances is rude and sexist whether online or face-to-face. With millions suffering from mental and physical health issues, there are too many conflicting messages about looks — "Love your body, accept yourself" versus "Take Ozempic and get Botox". How are we supposed to do the former when social media urges us to do the latter?

How technology and social media are weaponised against women even offline

Women and girls are disproportionately experiencing violence fuelled by the increasing use of technology, a new report warns, with online abuse often spilling over into physical attacks and intimidation. The situation is especially worrying in the global south, where laws to protect women are often lacking.

Social media has provided a new forum for abuse against women and girls. © SPENCER PLATT / Getty Images via AFP

By: Melissa Chemam

RFI
Issued on: 06/07/2024

Modified: 29/12/2024 - 

For women worldwide, the internet era is a "blessing and a curse".

That's according to Dutch sexual health organisation Rutgers, which says that technology and online platforms are increasingly used as weapons to "tyrannise" women and other vulnerable groups "as part of an invasive 24/7 culture infiltrating workplaces, schools and homes".

Its research – based on interviews with people in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda – found widespread links between online violence and the offline world.

Online abuse acts as a springboard for offline violence including sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence, the report says.

In one case described in South Africa, a girl was bullied on and off social media before being beaten. Classmates filmed her and shared the video online, where it was widely viewed, and shortly afterwards the victim killed herself.

Meanwhile in Morocco, a civil society worker recounted that former partners sometimes use intimate pictures or videos for revenge, to get women to give up custody or alimony or to pressure them to hand over assets.
Activists under threat

Activists and women in the public eye are also targeted, in some cases withdrawing from professional life altogether to escape the abuse.

Moroccan activist Ghizlane Mamouni, founder of Kif Mama Kif Baba, an association that campaigns against gender-based violence and discrimination, has experienced the problem firsthand.

"Recently, I myself and other colleagues – fellow women activists or women perceived as activists – have been victims and targeted by online death threats and various attacks on social networks," she told RFI.

Mamouni is among the campaigners pushing for a reform of Morocco's laws, which she argues fail to protect women and girls.

The country is currently experiencing an "historic moment", she said, with reforms promised of both the penal and family codes. Governing marriage, divorce and family life as well as crimes affecting women, they have historically privileged the rights of men.

"We know that these two texts contain enormous legal violence against women and a glaring lack of protection against gender-based violence, particularly that which is facilitated by technology," Mamouni said.Women's right to travel is being tightly controlled in North Africa, Middle East
Victims prosecuted

Uganda is one of the few African countries that actually has a law against such violence.

But victims who report it sometimes find themselves facing investigation and even prosecution if they fall foul of other laws criminalising pornography, premarital sex or sexual orientation, the report found.

"Laws that are seemingly there to protect victims actually do the opposite," said Abishiag Wabwire of Fida Uganda, an association of women lawyers that provides legal aid.

While LGBTQ+ people face a higher threat of online and offline abuse, for instance, Uganda's harsh laws against homosexuality mean survivors who come forward risk criminal charges themselves.

The report also pointed to cases where victims of "revenge porn" have been charged alongside the perpetrator under the Anti-Pornography Act.

"Patriarchal standards and the cyber law that should protect victims are instead being evoked to oppress them and upholding patriarchal standards," Wabwire told Rutgers.LGBTQ+ gains thwarted by enduring discrimination and violence
Overlooked danger

While victims are predominantly women and girls, boys and men can also be affected, the report says – including male friends or relatives of women targeted.

Rutgers also stresses that abuse doesn't just take place via computers and smartphones, but can involve GPS tracking devices, drones or recording devices.

Despite posing a growing threat, gender-based violence facilitated by technology remains largely overlooked and underestimated by police and policymakers, Rutgers warns.

"Successive generations of women, girls, and vulnerable groups suffer new, brutal forms of violence – many of which go under the radar – with little protection from the police or justice systems," it said.

"Such violence has a chilling effect on women and girls' participation in civic and political spaces on and offline, threatening progress towards gender equality and democratic participation."

This story was first published on 6 July 2024 and appears as part of our review of the year.

Rape tops criminal convictions in France, justice report shows

Rape was the most frequently convicted crime in French courts last year, with 1,800 cases resulting in convictions, a Justice Ministry report reveals.

RFI
Issued on: 28/12/2024 - 

Demonstrators gather in support of sexual assault victims including Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by men solicited by her husband.

 REUTERS - Abdul Saboor

Sexual crimes accounted for 62 percent of the 2,900 criminal convictions handed down by French courts in 2023, the report released this week found.

Aggravating circumstances were considered in more than 70 percent of these cases, and 10 percent involved perpetrators who were the victim's spouse or partner.

In total, nearly 550,000 people were convicted in 2023, while some 900,000 offences were recorded in criminal records.

However, serious crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery and violent crimes, account for only 0.3 percent of these infractions.

Misdemeanors dominated criminal records, representing 95 percent of all cases. These include theft, fraud, violence, discrimination, sexual assault and involuntary homicide.

Traffic-related offences contributed significantly, with “fifth-class” infractions—like driving under the influence or without a licence—making up 4.5 percent of criminal record entries.

Among misdemeanors, road traffic violations represented 36 percent of cases.

Prison guards stand in the corridor of the Baumettes prison in Marseille on November 6, 2017. AFP - BORIS HORVAT

EU imposes global sanctions over rights abuses against women

Interpol says over 2,500 arrests made in human trafficking crack

down

Imprisonment

The report highlighted imprisonment as the most commonly used penalty in France’s judicial system. Nearly 46 percent of all punishments handed out last year were prison sentences, and in criminal cases, more than 90 percent of convictions led to incarceration.

The average length of prison sentences in 2023 was 9.7 months.

Fines made up 36 percent of penalties issued, primarily for misdemeanors and infractions. Convictions of minors stood at 29,700 cases, with rape cited as the leading offence among minors convicted of crimes.

Morocco moves to reform laws on underage marriage, polygamy and child custody

Morocco is aiming to grant women more rights over child custody and inheritance, as well as the power of veto over polygamous marriage, in the first review of its Islamic-based family code in 20 years.

RFI
Issued on: 28/12/2024 - 

Morocco's current family law was adopted in 2004 and was seen as progressive at the time. (Photo : Marc Burleigh/AFP)

Reforms were proposed on Tuesday to Morocco's family law, as announced by the country's justice and Islamic affairs ministers.

Women's rights campaigners have long been pushing for a revision of regulations governing the rights of women and children within the family in Morocco, where Islam is the state religion.

The reforms will address issues including limits on underage marriage and women's inheritance rights, which activists have said are not guaranteed under the current code, introduced in 2004.

It comes after two years of consultations with civil society, as well as judicial and religious parties, and will require parliamentary and royal approval.


Reform of divorce and child custody

The draft code proposes more than 100 amendments, including one which allows women to stipulate opposition to polygamy in a marriage contract, justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi told reporters.

In the absence of such opposition, a husband can still take a second wife under certain circumstances in Morocco, such as the first wife's infertility. The goal is to put more restrictions on polygamy.

The reform also aims to simplify and shorten divorce procedures, and considers child custody a shared right between spouses.

If passed, it would give either spouse the right to retain the marital home in the event of the other's death.

Parental guardianship, previously granted automatically to fathers, would be shared by both parents if they separate. Divorced women will be allowed to retain child custody upon remarriage.

The code will also restrict exceptions for underage marriage to 17 years, maintaining the legal marriage age of 18.
Unequal inheritance

The revised code does not, however, abolish the Islamic-based inheritance rule which grants a man twice the share of a woman, but it will allow individuals to gift any of their assets to their female heirs, according to the justice minister.

Inheritances between spouses from different religions can only occur through wills or gifts.

Moroccan women's rights defenders have pushed for equal inheritance laws for years.

Moroccan cleric defies taboo on women's inheritance

The amended code has to be submitted to parliament for approval, and the minister set no timeline.

King Mohammed VI, the country's supreme authority, said on Monday that it should be underpinned by "the principles of justice, equality, solidarity and harmony" with Islamic precepts and universal values, to protect the Moroccan family.

The reform was first ordered by the monarch in 2022, and a committee tasked with drafting the amendments was formed in September last year. It submitted its recommendations in March.

Known as "Mudawana", Morocco's current family law was adopted in 2004 and was seen as progressive at the time, although women's rights defenders have deemed it inadequate.

(with newswires)

 

Robotic arm inspired by animal appendages

China Daily | Updated: 2024-12-28 

HEFEI — Inspired by the agility of elephant trunks and octopus tentacles, a team of scientists from a Chinese university has developed a highly dexterous spiral soft robot arm comparable to the human hand in multiple grabbing tasks.

Demonstration videos have showcased the tentacle-like robotic arm's impressive capabilities — effortlessly grasping delicate objects like eggs, strawberries and USB cables, securely catching a fast tennis ball, and swiftly paddling a ping-pong ball with precision.

The researchers, led by Nikolaos Freris from the University of Science and Technology of China, employed reverse engineering techniques to simulate the logarithmic spiral-shaped flexible structures found in nature.

The bio-inspired robotic system SpiRobs has demonstrated sophisticated gripping maneuvers through a series of movements, including reeling, extending, winding and grasping, with a near-95 percent success rate, according to a study published in the journal Device.

Actuated by two or three cables, the spiral gripper, with a 15-degree conical angle, can grasp objects with a diameter of more than two orders of magnitude and support loads up to 260 times its weight, according to the study.

The team used 3D printing with affordable materials like polyurethane, resin and paper to produce prototypes at various scales from centimeters to meters thus boosting their commercial potential.

In a field test, a drone-equipped robotic arm adeptly seized and hoisted a water bucket, showcasing the potential for future use in the low-altitude economy sector.

Xinhua

 

Study reveals how ancient climate crisis offers warning for today

China Daily | Updated: 2024-12-28 

A collaborative study by Chinese and US scientists revealed how a massive carbon release 56 million years ago affected ocean chemistry, offering critical insights into the effects of modern climate change.

The study, recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience, was jointly conducted by researchers from Peking University, Pennsylvania State University, University of California, Riverside, and other institutes.

The team reconstructed the state of ocean acidification during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a climate event marked by a significant rise in global temperatures and a major disruption to ecosystems. The study found striking parallels between ocean acidification during the PETM and current trends caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.

During the PETM, a surge in carbon emissions caused ocean pH to decline sharply, reducing the availability of carbonate ions needed by marine organisms to form shells — a critical component of carbon storage in oceans.

Using paleoclimate data assimilation, which combines proxy records with Earth system model simulations, the researchers reconstructed changes in ocean carbonate chemistry. They estimated that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose from 890 parts per million to 1,980 ppm during the PETM, accompanied by an average ocean pH decline of 0.46 units.

"These findings offer a clear warning for the future," says Li Mingsong, a professor at Peking University, adding that the decline in ocean pH during the PETM closely resembles modern projections under high-emissions scenarios.

Li notes that the current carbon emission rate is much faster than during the PETM, posing a severe threat to marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

"The PETM, which lasted about 200,000 years, provides a natural analog for what unchecked carbon emissions could do today," Li says. "The accelerated emissions we face today present an even greater, long-term threat to marine life, particularly in vulnerable regions like the Arctic."

The findings underscore the enduring consequences of elevated carbon emissions and highlight the urgent need for climate action to protect ocean health and global biodiversity, according to the researchers.

Xinhua

 

China's first deep-sea military blockbuster set to show next month

By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2024-12-27 

Poster of Operation Leviathan. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As one of the biggest-budget upcoming films, Operation Leviathan is scheduled to be released on Jan 29, the first day of the Year of the Snake.

It is a follow-up to Hong Kong director Dante Lam's blockbuster Operation Red Sea, the highest-grossing film of 2018, which raked in a staggering 3.65 billion yuan ($500.1 million) at the box office.

For the new film, the elite assault team Jiaolong (dragon) reunites to face a more perilous mission in the fictional Republic of Ihwea, which has emerged from the quagmire of civil war only to be threatened by terrorists backed by a powerful foreign country.

Operation Leviathan marks the latest outing of director Dante Lam (center). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Using a life-size prop submarine 110 meters in length, the film includes an underwater submarine battle, with the actors playing the navy officers and soldiers having undergone intensive training ranging from combat skills to gun usage and diving techniques.

Du Jiang reminisced about the challenges posed by the massive prop, which was too large to be kept outdoors as it attracted many curious tourists during the filming of the movie in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Cast members of Operation Leviathan gather at a promotional event held in Beijing on Dec 26. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yu Dong, the founder of Bona Film Group, said that the large tank dug for the ocean scenes was capable of generating waves. Despite filming taking place in winter, with temperatures plummeting to -10 C, the actors performed their stunts without the assistance of doubles.

China's first deep-sea war-themed blockbuster, the movie was filmed in IMAX and when shown on an IMAX screen, contains 26 percent more content than a standard screen.