RSF: Environment for journalism “satisfactory” in only 30% of countries

International
3 May 2023

Protesters hold placards that read “Journalism is not a crime” as they demand the release of a reporter facing charges under Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act (DSA), in Dhaka, 29 March 2023. 

Syed Mahamudur Rahman/NurPhoto via Getty Images

RSF's 2023 World Press Freedom Index highlights disinformation as one of the biggest threats to journalism globally.

This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 3 May 2023.

The 21st edition of the World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), sheds light on major and often radical changes linked to political, social and technological upheavals.

According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index – which evaluates the environment for journalism in 180 countries and territories and is published on World Press Freedom Day (3 May) – the situation is “very serious” in 31 countries, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “good” or “satisfactory” in 52 countries. In other words, the environment for journalism is “bad” in seven out of ten countries, and satisfactory in only three out of ten.



Norway is ranked first for the seventh year running. But – unusually – a non-Nordic country is ranked second, namely Ireland (up 4 places at 2nd), ahead of Denmark (down 1 place at 3rd). The Netherlands (6th) has risen 22 places, recovering the position it had in 2021, before crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was murdered.

There are changes at the bottom of the Index, too. The last three places are occupied solely by Asian countries: Vietnam (178th), which has almost completed its hunt of independent reporters and commentators; China (down 4 at 179th), the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content; and, to no great surprise, North Korea (180th).

“The World Press Freedom Index shows enormous volatility in situations, with major rises and falls and unprecedented changes, such as Brazil’s 18-place rise and Senegal’s 31-place fall. This instability is the result of increased aggressiveness on the part of the authorities in many countries and growing animosity towards journalists on social media and in the physical world. The volatility is also the consequence of growth in the fake content industry, which produces and distributes disinformation and provides the tools for manufacturing it.”

Christophe Deloire, RSF Secretary-General

Effects of the fake content industry

The 2023 Index spotlights the rapid effects that the digital ecosystem’s fake content industry has had on press freedom. In 118 countries (two-thirds of the 180 countries evaluated by the Index), most of the Index questionnaire’s respondents reported that political actors in their countries were often or systematically involved in massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns. The difference is being blurred between true and false, real and artificial, facts and artifices, jeopardising the right to information. The unprecedented ability to tamper with content is being used to undermine those who embody quality journalism and weaken journalism itself.

The remarkable development of artificial intelligence is wreaking further havoc on the media world, which had already been undermined by Web 2.0. Meanwhile, Twitter owner Elon Musk is pushing an arbitrary, payment-based approach to information to the extreme, showing that platforms are quicksand for journalism.

The disinformation industry disseminates manipulative content on a huge scale, as shown by an investigation by the Forbidden Stories consortium, a project co-founded by RSF. And now AI is digesting content and regurgitating it in the form of syntheses that flout the principles of rigour and reliability.

The fifth version of Midjourney, an AI programme that generates very high-definition images in response to natural language requests, has been feeding social media with increasingly plausible and undetectable fake “photos”, including quite realistic-looking ones of Donald Trump being stopped by police officers and a comatose Julian Assange in a straitjacket, which went viral.
Propaganda war

The terrain has been favourable for an increase in propaganda by Russia(164th), which has fallen another nine places in the 2023 Index. In record time, Moscow has established a new media arsenal dedicated to spreading the Kremlin’s message in the occupied territories in southern Ukraine, while cracking down harder than ever on the last remaining independent Russian media outlets, which have been banned, blocked and/or declared “foreign agents”. Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine (79th) helped give this country one of the Index’s worst scores for security.

Rises and falls

The United States (45th) has fallen three places. The Index questionnaire’s US respondents were negative about the environment for journalists (especially the legal framework at the local level, and widespread violence) despite the Biden administration’s efforts. The murders of two journalists (the Las Vegas Review Journal’s Jeff German in September 2022, and Spectrum News 13’s Dylan Lyons in February 2023) had a negative impact on the country’s ranking. Brazil (92nd) rose 18 places as result of the departure of Jair Bolsonaro, whose presidential term was marked by extreme hostility towards journalists, and Lula da Silva’s election, heralding an improvement. In Asia, changes in governments also improved the environment for the media and accounted for such significant rises in the Index as Australia’s (up 12 at 27th) and Malaysia’s (up 40 at 73rd).

The situation has gone from “problematic” to “very bad” in three other countries: Tajikistan (down 1 at 153rd), India (down 11 at 161st) and Turkey (down 16 at 165th). In India, media takeovers by oligarchs close to Prime Minister Modi have jeopardised pluralism, while the Erdogan administration in Turkey has stepped up its persecution of journalists in the run-up to elections scheduled for 14 May. In Iran (177th), the heavy-handed crackdown on the protests triggered by the young student Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody drove the country’s “social context” and “judicial environment” scores even lower.



Some of the 2023 Index’s biggest falls have been in Africa. Until recently a regional model, Senegal (104th) has fallen 31 places, above all because of the criminal charges brought against two journalists, Pape Alé Niang and Pape Ndiaye, and the sharp decline in security for media personnel. In the Maghreb, Tunisia (121st) has fallen 27 places as a result of President Kais Saied’s growing authoritarianism and inability to tolerate media criticism. In Latin America, Peru (110th) has plummeted 33 places because its journalists are paying dearly for the persistent political instability and are being harassed, attacked and smeared because of their proximity to leading politicians. The fall by Haiti (down 29 at 99th) is also due mainly to the continuing decline in the security environment.
The Index by region



Europe, especially the European Union, is the region of the world where it is easiest for journalists to work, but the situation is mixed even there. Germany (21st), where a record number of cases of violence against journalists and arrests have been recorded, has fallen five places. Poland (57th), where 2022 was relatively calm from a press freedom viewpoint, has risen nine places, while France (24th) has risen two. Greece (107th), where journalists were spied on by the intelligence services and by powerful spyware, continues to have the EU’s lowest ranking. The Europe-Central Asia regional score is also heavily impacted by Central Asia’s poor results. Several of its countries – Kyrgyzstan (down 50 at 122nd), Kazakhstan (down 12 at 134th) and Uzbekistan (down 4 at 137th) – have fallen because of increases in the number of attacks against media. Finally, Turkmenistan (176th), where censorship and surveillance were stepped up yet again after Serdar Berdimuhamedow, the outgoing president’s son, was elected president in March 2022, is still one of the Index’s bottom five countries.

America no longer has any country coloured green on the press freedom map. Costa Rica (down 15 at 23rd) was the last country in the region to have a situation classified as “good”, but its classification has changed following a five-place fall due to a sharp decline in its political score (down 15.68 points), and it is now ranked lower than Canada (up 4 at 15th). Mexico (128th) has fallen another place this year and now has the world’s most disappeared journalists (28 in the past 20 years). Cuba (172nd), where censorship has been stepped up again and where the press is still a state monopoly, continues to have the region’s lowest ranking, as it did in 2022.

Even if Africa has seen a few significant rises, such as that of Botswana (65th), which has risen 35 places, journalism overall has become more difficult in this continent and the situation is now classified as “bad” in nearly 40% of its countries (against 33% in 2022). They include Burkina Faso (58th), where local retransmission of international broadcasters has been banned and journalists have been deported, and the Sahel in general, which is in the process of becoming a “no-news zone”. Several journalists have also been murdered in Africa, including Martinez Zongo in Cameroon (138th). In Eritrea (174th), the media remain in President Issaias Afwerki’s despotic grip.

The Asia-Pacific continues to have some of the world’s worst regimes for journalists. Myanmar (173rd), the world’s second biggest jailer of journalists since the military coup in February 2021, and Afghanistan (152nd), where the environment for reporters continues to worsen and women journalists have been literally erased from public life, are still at the tail end of the Index.

Last in the regional ranking, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continues to be the world’s most dangerous region for journalists, with a situation classified as “very bad” in more than half of its countries. The very low score of some countries, including Syria (175th), Yemen (168th) and Iraq (167th), is due in particular to the large number of journalists who are missing or held hostage. Although Palestine (156th) has risen 14 places, its security indicator is very low after two more journalists were killed in 2022. Saudi Arabia remains rooted near the bottom of the Index. In the Maghreb, media owner Ihsane El Kadi’s imprisonment has confirmed the growing authoritarianism in Algeria (136th), which has fallen two places and where the situation continues to be classified as “bad”.

SECRET SOCIETY

Ancient Knights of Malta  gets its first nonaristocratic  head

May 3, 2023

ROME — A Canadian lawyer who found his vocation caring for AIDS patients in Harlem has been elected the grand master of the Knights of Malta, the first non-European and first nonaristocratic head of the ancient lay Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world.

John Dunlap, 66, was elected by an absolute majority of 99 voting members of a Knights body known as “the council complete of state.” He immediately informed Pope Francis of his election and was being sworn in later Wednesday at the Knights’ magnificent villa on Rome’s Aventine hill.

The election brings a hoped-for end to a tumultuous few years during which Francis intervened to remove a previous grand master during a governance crisis. Francis then imposed a new set of constitutional reforms on the order in ways that critics said threatened its sovereignty.

The Knights of Malta is an ancient chivalric order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 13,500 knights, dames and chaplains, 80,000 permanent volunteers and 42,000 employees, most of them medical personnel who lend first aid in areas of natural disasters and conflict zones.

As a sovereign body under international law, the Knights have diplomatic relations with more than 100 countries, which facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid in war zones and conflict areas, and participate in the U.N. and other international organizations as an observer state.

U$A

How Failing to Raise the Debt Ceiling Would Harm Women’s Economic Security

COMMENTARY ECONOMICS

LAURA VALLE GUTIERREZ

FELLOW

The Century Foundation

MAY 03, 2023


The United States runs on and undervalues women’s work—both paid and unpaid. From health care to child care, women enable all other members of society to participate as fully as possible in the economy. This is especially true of Black women, whose unpaid and underpaid work has been relied on for centuries, first during chattel slavery and later during the subsequent eras of racial apartheid that built generational wealth for white families. Women are not only care workers: they are essential workers, overrepresented in the key industries that we all rely on. However, the current debt ceiling debate—the debate over how to raise the limit on how much the government can borrow in order to pay its bills— puts women’s economic well-being at risk. It also sets the stage for budget negotiations that would chip away at the progress towards economic justice for women.

How Defaulting on the Debt Affects Women

Failing to raise the debt ceiling would have severe and widespread economic harms because the Treasury Department would default on its obligations. Because of this, the Treasury would be unable to pay for key government programs and have higher interest rates on Treasury Bonds. Beyond possibly creating a recession, these delays and higher rates would impact the stock market and government services, leading to direct impacts on individuals. Some of the direct harms to individuals from failing to raise the debt ceiling include losses to retirement savings, higher mortgage costs, and job losses. Importantly, all of these impacts would have disproportionate harms for women and families.

Women’s overall employment has finally reached pre-pandemic levels, and women of color have been driving a significant share of this job growth. From February 2022 to February 2023, women added 1.5 million jobs.1 The unemployment rate for Black women was 5.1 percent in February 2023. While higher than both the overall unemployment rate and pre-pandemic levels, Black women’s unemployment rate has been dropping for much of the last two years and reached a historic low in March. With women finally making gains, now is not the time to slow down the economy.

With women finally making gains, now is not the time to slow down the economy.

Additionally, homeownership rates have been growing for women, and dropping for men: The homeownership rate among women increased from 50.9 percent to 61.2 percent between 1990 and 2019, while the homeownership rate among men dropped from 70.6 percent to 67.1 percent. This growth in homeownership has occurred despite a stagnant pay gap between men and women, wherein women are still paid 84 cents on the dollar. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, Third Way finds that a new mortgage would cost an additional $130,000. This will be a step backwards for the progress towards gender equity in homeownership that’s occurred over the past several decades.

Lastly, women lag men on indicators of retirement security: 22 percent of women have $100,000 or more in personal retirement savings compared to 30 percent of men. Since women often live longer and have more expenses during retirement, a last minute drop in retirement savings would be especially harmful to women. Moreover, defaulting on the debt would cause delays in receiving key benefits like Social Security.

Raising the debt ceiling and the federal budget should be two distinct issues.

Raising the debt ceiling and the federal budget should be two distinct issues. On the one hand, raising the federal debt ceiling is a procedural necessity for paying bills that the government has already incurred. Passing a budget, on the other hand, is an essential function of the government to determine how much is being spent on the key programs that serve every single person living in the United States. Republicans in the House of Representatives have asked for spending cuts in the budget as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, while Democrats are insisting on raising the debt ceiling without conditions to keep the two issues separate. By connecting the two issues, Republicans are trying to frame budget negotiations around deficit reduction, rather than from a position of funding essential services.

How Spending Cuts Would Harm More Than They Help

Ideally, Congress will raise the debt ceiling without conditions. However, it is likely that the House majority will use the current debate surrounding the debt ceiling to bring serious scrutiny to each part of the budget.

The budget can be broken down into mandatory spending, which is authorized by existing laws, such as Social Security; and discretionary spending, which is spending that comes from the appropriations acts rather than other laws. Mandatory spending for Social Security and Medicare make up more than one-third of the budget. Fourteen percent of the budget goes towards discretionary defense spending. In general, Congress has agreed to not touch Social Security and Medicare. Republicans are more divided when it comes to defense spending, but generally also don’t want cuts in that part of the budget. The remaining half of the budget goes towards everything else, including funding for public schools, Pell grants, food assistance, unemployment insurance, housing assistance, cash assistance for low-income families, health care, Medicaid, tax credits, child care, and more. While not exhaustive, the section below describes how the Republican proposals to revert spending to 2022 levels would impact women and families. There are also many essential government programs that women and families depend on that are not included here.

Child Care Funding

House Appropriations Ranking Member Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) requested that each federal department submit letters enumerating how proposed Republican budget cuts would affect each agency’s operations. The impacts are widespread and deep. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services found that proposed cuts would conservatively result in a loss of up to 200,000 slots in Head Start. Moreover, reducing funding for child care could cut 105,000 child care slots. Given that currently less than 20 percent of eligible children receive child care subsidies in the first place, further reducing funding from the current, inadequate levels would worsen the child care crisis in the United States and force more parents to make tough choices around trying to manage work and care.

Social Security and Medicare

Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries are more likely to be women. Moreover, women are more likely to live longer than men, meaning they are more likely to rely on these programs for a longer period of time. Additionally, for women who receive Social Security, these benefits more likely comprise a main source of income as they age compared to men. Thus, cuts to Social Security and Medicare disproportionately harm women. The Social Security Administration reported to Representative DeLauro that these cuts would increase the wait time for a decision for a disability claim to nine months and force the layoff of 6,000 employees, making the agency less responsive to the public and reduce access to critical services.

Food Assistance

SNAP benefits disproportionately benefit women and children. A 2019 report found that 58 percent of SNAP recipients were women and 43 percent were children. Any cuts to SNAP, like House Speaker McCarthy’s proposal to restrict access to SNAP by expanding work requirements, will disproportionately harm women and families. Additionally, the USDA, which administers SNAP and WIC, reported the enormously harmful impact that proposed Republican cuts would result in for WIC, which provides food assistance to low-income pregnant, post-partum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children. If these proposed cuts were implemented, WIC would be unable to provide benefits to 250,000 participants, and reduce access to the program by 22 percent.

Any cuts to SNAP will disproportionately harm women and families.

Looking Ahead

Any budget that Congress passes is a reflection of our values and priorities. Government spending goes to specific programs that help to, among many other things, reduce poverty, provide needed assistance for child care, and ensure food security for women and families. It’s a corrosive misunderstanding to treat this spending as inherently wasteful simply because it’s expensive: these expenditures are essential to building and growing our economy and providing for the well-being of families across the country. Budget cuts don’t happen in a vacuum: they have tangible impacts on the services that millions of Americans rely upon every day. Raising the debt ceiling is necessary to ensure the U.S. economy remains as strong as possible, and passing a budget that adequately meets the needs of women and families should be Congress’ primary goal.

Notes  Author analysis of Current Population Survey data.



Laura Valle Gutierrez, Fellow
Laura Valle Gutierrez is a fellow at The Century Foundation, where she works on economic policy and research to promote economic, disability, racial, and gender justice.

International Far-Right Fight Night Comes to Budapest

Michael Colborne 
May 3, 2023

This weekend, Budapest is due to play host to an event that far-right extremists have bragged online will be “the biggest radical nationalist event since coronavirus.”

Scheduled for 6 May, the organisers of ‘European Fight Night’ boast that the event in the Hungarian capital will feature up to 15 combat sports fights with participants from 12 different countries.

According to social media posts promoting the event, it will also play host to concerts and opportunities to buy merchandise from far-right fashion brands. Yet despite the publicity push, secrecy remains a priority. Similar events in Germany have previously been banned. Organisers have also stated attendees won’t be allowed to take photos or videos, and that they’ll kick out anyone who does or who shares the exact location of the event.

Observers have long sounded the alarm on the international far right’s use of combat sports to train up for physical confrontation and prepare for attacks against their perceived foes.

Some experts like Robert Claus, who wrote a book on the far-right martial arts scene, even say that combat sports events like European Fight Night also help facilitate international networking and recruitment.

Past research by anti-facist groups has linked the organisers of European Fight Night to some of the most secretive far-right extremist groups in Europe — including violent neo-Nazi groups that have been banned in several countries. One of the organisers of European Fight Night has even discussed links to local chapters of these banned groups in previous media interviews.

Meet the Organisers

European Fight Night, at least publicly, presents itself as having three primary organisers: Hungary’s Legio Hungaria, Germany’s Kampf der Nibelungen (“Battle of the Nibelungs”), and Pride France.

In a video released on multiple Telegram channels on February 27, members of each of the three main organising groups appeared side by side to promote the Budapest event and encourage their far-right comrades across Europe to attend.

A screenshot of a February 2023 promotional video for European Fight Night, featuring Legio Hungaria’s Béla Incze (left), Kampf der Nibelungen’s Alexander Deptolla (centre) and Pride France’s Tomasz Szkatulski (right). The video was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria: a far-right extremist march organiszed by the Bulgarian National Union took place two days before the video’s release, and this video was filmed near their headquarters.

Béla Incze heads up Legio Hungaria, a small far-right extremist group from Hungary. Incze once served as an assistant to a far-right member of Hungary’s parliament before reportedly losing his job for assaulting a police officer. Legio Hungaria, while not a large group, has managed to garner attention for their actions since being founded in 2018, including vandalising a Jewish community centre in 2019, destroying a Black Lives Matter statue in Budapest in 2021 and reportedly assaulting journalists covering a far-right event in 2023. Bellingcat also revealed in a 2021 investigation that a senior Legio Hungaria member played a key role in racist and homophobic displays at Hungarian national team football matches.

Hungary fans display a sign during the EURO 2020 match between Germany and Hungary. Bellingcat later revealed the banner had been in the possession of a member of Legio Hungaria prior to the match. Pool via REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach.

Alexander Deptolla is the public face of Kampf der Nibelungen. Started in 2013, Kampf der Nibelungen — often referred to by the abbreviation KdN — was once the largest far-right combat sports event in Europe, with its October 2018 version hosting an estimated 850 fighters and spectators. However, authorities in Germany banned the event in 2019, and KdN’s 2020 ‘online’ version saw fewer than half of the planned fights broadcast thanks to a police raid where some were being filmed ahead of time. Deptolla even took to social media afterwards to state that KdN wouldn’t be organising any more events in the immediate future. Nonetheless, German authorities reportedly restricted an abortive attempt at a September 2021 ‘National Fight Night,’ as a September 2022 court ruling upheld the ban on KdN’s events. Despite this, they are still the biggest of the three organisers of European Fight Night. Some German observers have argued that European Fight Night is essentially planned as a “replacement” event for KdN outside German borders.

Alexander Deptolla (left) interviewing French far-right lawyer Pierre-Marie Bonneau (right) at a far-right extremist event in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 25, 2023

 (Michael Colborne).

Tomasz Szkatulski of Pride France is a Polish-born French neo-Nazi who is reported to have helped organise and even participate in events like European Fight Night for several years. Szkatulski emerged from violent football hooligan scenes in the city of Lille, though now appears to spend much of his time in Bulgaria. Covered in Nazi tattoos, Szkatulski was reportedly convicted and sentenced to a year in prison in 2008 for assaulting a man of African origin with a bicycle chain; he has also reportedly been involved in other acts of violence, including alleged attacks on LGBT+ establishments. Szkatulski is also an associate of American far-right extremist Robert Rundo, who was arrested in Romania in March 2023 and is awaiting extradition to the United States.

Szkatulski did not respond to requests for comment from Bellingcat asking about his involvement in European Fight Night, past reports about his 2008 conviction (or alleged involvement in other apparent acts of violence), as well as his relationship and contacts with Rob Rundo.

When contacted by Bellingcat on Telegram to ask if he would like to respond to the details in this story, Deptolla of KdN said simply: “Hi. No thanks. Bye.” Legio Hungaria similarly declined to answer Bellingcat’s emailed questions about the details contained in this story and about Incze, citing unhappiness with Bellingcat’s reporter’s previous reporting on the group.

Behind the Scenes

There’s also a much less public side to European Fight Night and other far-right combat sports events, where some of the most secretive, publicity-averse extremist networks in Europe operate.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence agency, has publicly stated the members of the Hammerskins, an international white supremacist gang, have been involved in organising Kampf der Nibelungen events since 2013. Journalists and researchers have also extensively documented the Hammerskins’ links with KdN.

As noted in Bellingcat’s 2022 investigation of a planned far-right extremist concert in Belgium, the Hammerskins have a significant presence across Europe. They tend to be secretive about their activities but are organised, with chapters, hierarchies and different patches for prospects and full members. Members of the Hammerskins have been extensively involved in criminal activities, including assault and even mass murder.

But it isn’t just Kampf der Nibelungen that works with the Hammerskins. In a February 2023 interview with an American far-right extremist website, Incze stated that his Legio Hungaria organisation had “a strong relationship” with the Hungarian Hammerskins, evidenced by their appearance and central role in previous events Legio Hungaria has hosted.

Incze also said in the same February 2023 interview that Legio Hungaria cooperates with the Hungarian branch of international neo-Nazi organisation Combat 18. Founded in the UK in the early 1990s, Combat 18 is closely associated with the Blood and Honour neo-Nazi group that is banned in several European countries.

In his 2020 book on Europe’s far-right combat sports scenes, German author Robert Claus reported that Tomasz Szkatulski had been affiliated with Blood and Honour structures in France; his Blood and Honour affiliations have also been discussed in other reports, although Szkatulski did not respond to Bellingcat questions asking about this. Claus also told Bellingcat he had knowledge that Blood and Honour associates would be hosting a concert the evening of 6 May for European Fight Night attendees.

Bellingcat was not able to independently confirm this claim. However, Blood and Honour’s Hungary branch has also promoted European Fight Night on its Telegram channel.

“These networks are generally very much involved in [far-right combat sports] events, either by hosting them themselves or by providing important organisational aspects,” Claus told Bellingcat, referring to the Hammerskins, Combat 18 and Blood and Honour.

A ‘Fundamentally Violent’ Ideology

But barely a week ahead of the event, European Fight Night’s main organiser had already run into trouble. On April 28 Deptolla took to KdN’s Telegram channel to tell fans that he and other German far-right extremists had been banned by authorities from leaving the country to travel to Budapest. Claus told Bellingcat that this German travel ban could seriously impact the event, since KdN and its German comrades are the largest of the three main organisers.

Even if European Fight Night doesn’t go on quite as its organiszers have hoped, Claus says it is still a dangerous event. “Violent key figures and groups of the neo-Nazi scenes from different parts in Europe are expected to come to Budapest,” Claus told Bellingcat. “Their ideology is fundamentally violent, fascist activists [who] use combat sports to train for racist attacks and other kinds of brute force.”

With a concert and other events alongside the fights, Claus warned, “the international neo-Nazi scene gets its combination of violence and sports, political hatred and music, the cultural package which pre-terrorist neo-Nazism has to offer.”

Bellingcat asked Hungarian national police about the European Fight Night event, whether they were aware of it and whether they had taken or planned to take any steps to prevent the event from taking place, or prevent any specific foreign extremists from attending. They did not respond before publication

Michael Colborne is a journalist and researcher at Bellingcat; he leads Bellingcat Monitoring, our project to research and monitor the far-right in central and eastern Europe. He tweets at @ColborneMichael.

Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here. You can also subscribe to our Patreon channel here. Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on Twitter here and Mastodon here.

NATO NATION BUILDING

Six Libyans face death penalty for 'trying to make people leave Islam'

The New Arab Staff
03 May, 2023

The Libyan penal code recommends the death penalty for any views or principles that aim to 'overthrow the state', and proscribes acts of blasphemy.

Six Libyan nationals are under threat of execution for trying to "make people leave Islam", as authorities increase their use of the law to clamp down on political dissent and blasphemy.

The arrests made across Western Libya were to "stop an organised gang action aiming to solicit and to make people leave Islam", Libya’s Internal Security Agency (ISA) said in a statement released this week.

Videos posted online by the ISA appear to show Arab and Amazigh detainees confessing to trying to convince others to convert to Christianity.

"I was born in 1977 and I was arrested by the Internal Security Unit for converting to Christianity. I joined a group of Libyans and foreigners inside Libya calling and circulating for Christianity," said detainee Seyfao Madi in one excerpt.

The group contains both men and women, who have all been detained as part of arrests made since March.

The Libyan penal code recommends the death penalty for any expression of views or principles perceived as aiming to overthrow the political, social, or economic order of the state, and proscribes acts of blasphemy.

Human Rights Watch called for a reform of the penal code in April, and "redefining criminal acts to exclude peaceful exercise of the right to express opinions, assemble and establish associations".

Libya is jailing progressive youths on charges of 'atheism'

In-depth

Paul McLoughlin

Libyan legislators and authorities must also "repeal the death penalty as a punishment for establishing or participating in unlawful organisations", HRW said.

"Libyan authorities are crushing civic space using the tired pretext of enforcing regulations," said HRW's Hanan Salah.

"The authorities should instead be protecting that space by upholding the right to freedom of association."

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Bosses Attempting to Flee 'En Masse', Says Kyiv

BY BRENDAN COLE ON 5/3/23

Russia-installed managers at the Moscow-occupied atomic energy power plant in Zaporizhzhia are trying to leave the site over concerns about Ukraine's expected counteroffensive, according to the country's nuclear operator.

Energoatom said on Telegram that the Moscow-appointed director of the site, Yuriy Chernichuk, had left the town of Enerhodar, where the plant is located, for occupied Crimea on Monday. The Ukrainian state enterprise had also said that the "pseudo management" of the site had urgently asked to go on leave.

"The current so-called managers of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant show a desire to 'rest' en masse closer to the Kerch Strait, asking the Russians to go on vacation," said the post, according to a translation. The Kerch Strait separates Russia from Russian-occupied Crimea.

Russian serviceman patrols the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Energodar on May 1, 2022. Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom has said that Russian-installed managers at the site are looking to flee.

ANDREY BORODULIN/GETTY IMAGES

"However, due to the critical lack of personnel, middle-level 'managers' have not agreed to this," the post added.

"The traitors are looking for ways to evacuate, because they understand that the (Ukrainian) Armed Forces are already close, so there is very little time left to escape," it said.

Energoatom's post on Tuesday called for "the brave workers of the Zaporizhzhia station not to sign any contracts with the enemy in the future, so as not to become direct aids of the aggressor and not to destroy their own futures." Newsweek has contacted Energoatom for further comment.

The threat of disaster has loomed over Europe's largest nuclear plant ever since it was seized by Russian troops soon after their full-scale invasion.

Over the following months, both sides accused the other of shelling the plant, located around 300 miles from the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, stoking fears over what might happen if the reactors are damaged.

A small number of officials from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are at the site which is operated by Ukrainian staff working under the orders of Russian forces and the Russian nuclear company Rosatom.

Last week, British defense officials said that Russian forces had built fighting positions on top of reactor buildings at the site as Moscow becomes increasingly concerned about Kyiv's anticipated counteroffensive. However, they said that "direct catastrophic damage to the reactors is unlikely" because the structures are very heavily reinforced.

Also last week, Russia told the IAEA that equipment at the power plant will be used to fix a power transmission line that leads to Russian-held territory, Reuters reported. This has raised concerns that Russia is preparing to connect the site to the power grid of territory Moscow has seized.

Meanwhile, in the wider Zaporizhzhia Oblast, authorities said on Wednesday that Russian forces had launched 82 attacks over the previous 24 hours. Regional governor Yurii Malashko reported that Russians had undertaken two missile strikes, three air strikes, four drone attacks and 69 artillery strikes.

Alibaba Founder Jack Ma to Become Visiting Professor at Tel Aviv University

I KNEW HE WAS A COMMUNIST PARTY MEMEBER 

I DID NOT KNOW HE WAS JEWISH

by JNS.org



The headquarters of the e-commerce giant Alibaba in Hangzhou, China. Photot: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Chinese billionaire and Alibaba founder Jack Ma will come to Tel Aviv University (TAU) as a visiting professor.

He will focus on the school’s research efforts in sustainable agriculture and food, the university said in a statement

“We are honored and delighted to welcome Mr. Jack Ma to Tel Aviv University,” said TAU President Ariel Porat. “His appointment is a testament to the importance of collaboration between academia and industry, and we look forward to learning from his insights and experience.”

Ma received an honorary doctorate at Tel Aviv University in 2018.

JNS.org - Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party will boycott Wednesday’s scheduled Knesset votes in protest of...

“We considered Israel among three countries in which to establish offices. We invested in five different companies here, and I am being accompanied by 40 senior managers. I believe we will continue to invest here,” said Ma when accepting his honorary doctorate.

“Arriving here was nothing like I expected,” said Ma at the time. “I was told it wasn’t safe here, that there were bombs and guns everywhere. But when I arrived I saw this place was so peaceful, and the economy is booming. I think you shouldn’t read about Israel, you should come here, feel Israel, touch Israel.”

Ma also joined Tokyo College, under the University of Tokyo, as a visiting professor on May 1, according to a statement on its website. There, too, his research will focus on “the field of sustainable agriculture and food production.”

Ma ran afoul of China’s financial regulators in 2020 when, in October of that year, at the Bund Summit in Shanghai he criticized China’s banks.

Shortly after, those banks halted his company Ant Group’s $37 billion IPO, which would have been the world’s largest. Ma ceded all voting power in the firm.

Ma largely disappeared from public view following the incident. Reports of his whereabouts periodically surfaced, placing him mainly in parts of Asia where he was said to be researching agriculture and fish farming.

Sri Lanka’s plan to export 1 lakh crop-raiding monkeys to China sparks outrage

Lakh =100,000

Crop damage is a serious concern and the toque macaque tops the list of pests. But with a controversy erupting, Chinese officials have denied any involvement.

Malaka Rodrigo

Monkeys at a Buddhist temple in Colombo. | Reuters

Sri Lanka’s animal-human conflicts are on the rise with increasing crop raids, but a recent request from a Chinese company requesting 100,00 toque macaques from Sri Lanka has fueled a fresh debate on wildlife exploitation.

Crop damage by wild animals has posed a serious problem to many people, especially farming communities, and a report last year estimated an overall loss of 30.215 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($93.6 million) during the first half of 2022.

The toque macaque (Macaca sinica) tops this list of pests with coconuts being the most affected crop. As Sri Lanka looks for solutions to the problem, a statement by Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera about a Chinese company’s wishes to import 100,000 macaques has resulted in a huge outcry from animal rights activists and environmentalists.

“The minister says the animals will be exported for some Chinese zoos. However, there are only a few zoos there with the ability to accommodate this many numbers of monkeys. This justly fuels our fear that this is not the real purpose and the macaques may be used for medical research,” says Panchali Panapitiya of the animal rights non-profit Rally for Animal Rights and Environment.

“We know that monkey meat is considered a delicacy in some parts of China. Sri Lankan monkeys may even end up on their plates,” Panapitiya tells Mongabay. However, it is now illegal serve monkey brain in China and violations can result in imprisonment extending up to 10 years.

Suspicions were triggered when recent news reports suggested that China was facing a shortage of experimental monkeys. Other media reports suggested that China was also keen on importing donkeys and dogs from Pakistan, mainly for consumption.

Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As the controversy grew, the Chinese Embassy of Sri Lanka issued a statement denying any involvement of the government of the People’s Republic of China in any “monkey imports” from Sri Lanka.

Clarifying, Minister Amaraweera says the request, which came from a private company, is to be tabled for a cabinet decision. “As macaques have become a major agricultural pest, we need to control their population, and this request is an opportunity to get started,” Amaraweera tells Mongabay.

Amaraweera has estimated the macaque population to be in the range of three million, which has raised some doubts.

Leading primatologist Wolfgang Dittus of the Smithsonian Institution says there are no scientific reports to validate the quoted number. Dittus made the first and only estimate of the toque macaque populations back in 1977. That study estimated the population to be fewer than 600,000.

There are three recognised subspecies of the endemic toque macaque: the dry zone toque macaque (M.s. sinica), wet zone toque macaque (M.s. aurifrons) and highland toque macaque (M.s. opisthomelas). The 1977 survey estimated there were 439,000 macaques in the dry zone, 1,50,000 in the lowland wet zone and 1,500 individuals of the montane subspecies.

Declining natural habitat

Since then, the natural habitats of macaques in all three zones have seen a substantial reduction of about 50-70%, suggesting a proportional decline of macaque populations in their natural habitats, says Dittus.

However, the macaque population has had exponential growth around some human settlements due to the accessibility of food sources in the past 30-50 years linked to an upsurge in tourism and economic development. These population explosions are site-specific and not geographically widespread, and they have two negative consequences.

First, macaques are most numerous near human habitations where they come into conflict with people. Second, in such places, macaques are very conspicuous and create a false impression of being overrun by too many macaques islandwide, Dittus tells Mongabay.

Meanwhile, a 2021 study conducted by a team led by Jennifer Pastorini of the Center for Conservation and Research assesses that toque macaques are distributed in more than 80% of the island. This assessment was based on a questionnaire-led survey, and does not provide any indication of densities, or the abundance, of species, says Pastorini. For conservation and management, taking the observed distribution as a baseline, finer-scaled surveys should be conducted for in-depth findings, the researcher says.

The conservation status of the toque macaque has been included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN’s, International Red List as endangered. The Sri Lanka National Red list placed the toque macaque under the least concern category in 2012 but the more recent assessment, which is still in press, recognises its status as “vulnerable,” says Dittus, who was involved in the national red list review.

A map of Sri Lanka shaded green where the toque macaque is found. 

Credit: Mithila Madawa Gunathilake, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“Whatever the reasons, exporting monkeys is not a good idea and there is no legal provision to do so,” says Rohan Pethiyagoda, a taxonomist and a naturalist who earlier served as deputy chair of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. A government that permits this export is going to have egg – and a lot of monkey poop – all over its face, Pethiyagoda tells Mongabay.

Human-monkey conflict has been an issue for some time now, and instead of sudden “knee-jerk” reactionary solutions, Sri Lanka should plan to face the conflict properly, says Sumith Pilapitiya, a former director general of the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Pilapitiya recalls that experts collaborating with multiple agencies have prepared a “Strategy to Conserve and Coexist with Sri Lanka’s Monkeys — 2016 to 2026,” which includes detailed actions and budgets, with multiple agencies pinned with the responsibility of implementing identified actions. Had this happened earlier, the problem could have been lesser today, Pilapitiya tells Mongabay.
Culling not a solution

The real strategy for dealing with human-monkey conflict lies in finding mechanisms to reduce conflict between humans and primates. “Our researchers based in Polonnaruwa as well as others, have dealt with these issues for many decades and have recommended nonlethal methods to reduce conflict,’ Dittus said.

However, farmer organizations and local communities living in places where monkey raids are regular have welcomed the proposal to export monkeys.

“We do not care which country the monkeys are exported to as they destroy our crops and raid our properties regularly, making life extremely difficult,” says Pandukabhaya Rajakaruna, head of the Podujana Farmers’ Association. He counters the views expressed by environmentalists as being far-fetched and not grounded in reality, especially because they don’t have to live in monkey- infested areas and do not have to experience daily property damage and crop raiding. “It is easy to romanticise from far, but those affected by these monkey populations only know the difficulties, “he says.

Whether the monkey exporting happens or not, the special committee set by the Agriculture Ministry has identified the need to control the toque macaque population. Other countries use different methods, including culling, to control the animal populations based on scientific evaluations. For example, the Sint Maarten in the Caribbean approved the eradication of its invasive monkey population early this year, while Australia annually culls its kangaroos.

But culling to control populations will be a difficult wildlife management option to implement in countries like Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lankan culture has a deep reverence for life, so Sri Lankans will not support killing of any living beings and this idea his would extend to pests even when they are extremely troublesome to humans,” says Pethiyagoda. Organised culling such as monkey hunts or monkey shoots can never materialize, as people just would not let it happen, he says. “So, there remains only a single solution: protect crops as best you can and get expert advice in doing so,” adds Pethiyagoda.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

Germany flexes its soft-power muscle in Africa's Sahel



William Noah Glucroft
05/03/2023

The end of Germany's military mission in Mali is the beginning of a broader development strategy across the Sahel. Improved prospects for people there mean more security for Europe, officials say

When the German military ends its operations in Mali in May 2024, Germany plans to expand economic aid and partnership programs in the Sahel region.

The plan, as outlined in a paper published on Wednesday by the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), seeks to "orient itself on the needs of the people" in the region. The plan seeks to bring in more partners over a wider area.

"We are more successful when we act together with international partners than everyone on their own," BMZ Minister Svenja Schulze said in a statement.

Germany has long been a significant player in stabilization and development efforts in the largely francophone Sahel.

With deeper engagement, Germany hopes to be a soft-power leader in a region it classifies as central to European security. As part of that commitment, the BMZ says that Schulze will put herself up as the chair of the Sahel Alliance, a cooperation among Sahelian and Western countries and organizations. The Alliance, which takes credit for supporting nearly 1,200 projects totaling €26.5 billion ($29.3 billion), will choose the chair at a meeting next month in Mauritania.

Schulze: Regional development new focus of Germany in Sahel
01:39

Troops out, aid stays

The "Plus" announcement is a signal from the German government that it remains committed to the region even after German troops end their participation in a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.

The UN first approved the multinational deployment in 2013, with the aim of smoothing the way to a peaceful and democratic transition of political power. Despite the presence of more than 12,000 troops and a separate French combat mission, jihadist violence has taken hold. A coup in 2021 ushered in leaders who oppose the UN mandate.

They have instead turned more towards Russia for support, welcoming in the paramilitary Wagner Group. Western countries have accused Wagner personnel of undermining security and killing civilians there. Malian and Russian officials say they are providing the same assistance as the UN peacekeepers.

The disagreement has bubbled up in the aftermath of the frenzied and failed end to security operations in Afghanistan in 2021. The combination of events led to a broad rethink of Germany's military footprint abroad.

Prosperity there, security here

With the withdrawal of its contingent of as many as 1,100 troops, Germany is all but giving up on Mali, while maintaining a security presence in neighboring Niger. Unlike Mali, officials have said Niger's government remains open to cooperating with German and other international actors. In April, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Development Minister Schulze made a joint trip to the region.

In addition to being one of the poorest areas of Africa, the Sahel and its neighbors are one of the youngest. Two-thirds of its population is under the age of 25, according to the UN. German officials, citing UN reporting, have said that extremist groups fill the vacuum left by an absence of jobs and economic opportunity. Young people, and especially young men, are drawn into violence less out of ideology than practicality. They need to earn a living.

"The BMZ strengthens economic prospects there and resilience against crises with new job possibilities such as in processing agricultural products, crop protection, carpentry work, or expanded infrastructure like water pumps."

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Development Aid Minister Svenja Schulze traveled to the Sahel region together in April 2023

Image: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance

The dual-threat

Viewing extremism, and the underlying economic causes, as a regional threat, the "Plus" initiative seeks to stay one step ahead of its spread. Regional, rather than country-by-country, cooperation answers a long-time call from officials there.

"The crisis in the Sahel region is coming into the coastal countries," Robert Dussey, Togo's foreign minister, said at the Munich Security Conference in February, as he shared a stage with Schulze. "If, for example, you think for a minute to let us resolve the Sahel security question ourselves, it will be a mistake for everyone."

Many people have fled the physical and economic insecurity. The UN Refugee Agency counted nearly three million forcibly displaced people in 2022 and expects similar high levels this year "given the complex interplay between conflict, climate change, food insecurity and widespread lack of socioeconomic opportunities."

That interplay also links the Sahel to Germany and Europe more broadly. While most displaced people remain somewhere in the region, some make the dangerous journey through northern Africa, across the Mediterranean, and into Europe. In 2022 alone, more than 2,400 people died at sea, a toll the International Organization for Migration acknowledges is an undercount.

Terrorism and refugees both put pressure on domestic politics and fuel nativist backlash. The "Plus" initiative is an effort to combat both, in the hope that improving lives and livelihoods there can stave off political tension here.

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg

Canada to upgrade AW101 rescue helicopters in-country under Leonardo-IMP deal


3rd May 2023 - 15:00 GMT | 

by The Shephard News Team in LondonRSS

Upgrade work on 13 Canadian Armed Forces CH-149 helicopters will be carried out by IMP in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Canada's IMP Aerospace will carry out upgrades on 13 of the 16 AW101 aircraft covered by the CMLU programme under a sub-contract from Leonardo Helicopters UK.

Leonardo has sub-contracted Canada's IMP Aerospace & Defence to undertake upgrade work on 13 in-service Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) AW101/CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopters at its facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This agreement is further to the Canadian Department of National Defence contract awarded to Leonardo, through Leonardo UK on 23 December 2022, for the CH-149 mid-life upgrade (CMLU) project for 16 aircraft in total.

The first three Cormorants will be completed at Leonardo’s UK facilities. IMP personnel will then undertake on-the-job training in the UK to complete the build of the remaining 13 CMLU helicopters in Canada.

The subcontract covers programme management, logistic support and engineering work as well as electrical loom manufacture and procurement equipment.

Leonardo is investing 100% of the CMLU contract value with other Canadian partners and suppliers. These include R7D organisations and small- to medium-sized business as well as academia.

David Gossen, president of IMP Aerospace & Defence, commented: 'Since 2001, IMP has supported Canada's rotary-wing SAR fleet with pride. This contract award acknowledges our unique experience with the CH-149 and our vital role in its sustainment both now and into the future.'