Thailand: Pro-democracy activists mark Siamese revolution anniversary

Protesters in Thailand have defied government warnings to mark the anniversary of the 1932 revolution that brought an end to absolute monarchy. They say authorities are removing symbols of the revolution.


Thai political activists staged demonstrations Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the 1932 Siamese revolution which overthrew Thailand's absolute monarchy. The bloodless uprising saw the monarchy become a constitutional one and increased democracy.

Over 100 people gathered at Bangkok's Democracy Monument early in the morning. Footage projected onto a white sheet used as an impromptu screen showed the 1932 overthrow announcement.


The golden plaque in the center of the shot is the original one commemorating the end of absolute monarchy in Thailand in 1932

"Eighty-eight years ago today around dawn, the People's Party seized power and changed the system of governance to a democracy," said pro-democracy activist Anon Nampa at the rally.

Another prominent pro-democracy activist Chonthicha Jangrew told the Associated Press that authorities were trying to eradicate the revolution from history "and how important democracy is in Thailand."

Read more: Thailand: Exiled activist's disappearance sparks calls for justice

Did authorities allow the rallies?

Police had placed "No entry" signs at the monument but in the end allowed the activists to stage the demonstration for around 15 minutes.

Activists also displayed a replica of a commemorative plaque installed in 1936 at the spot where the proclamation took place. The event could still be considered illegal under COVID-19 social distancing regulations.

Another protest was planned near the palace, and police said they were monitoring rallies in at least 12 other provinces.

Government and police had made warnings ahead of the day, making it clear that such activities would be considered subversive and undermining the country's constitutional monarchy, but did not move to directly stop protests.

Read more: Rights group slams Thailand's repressive laws to intensify crackdown on COVID-19 critics

Why is the anniversary significant?

Thailand, formerly known as Siam, has seen a steady rolling back and removal of symbols relating to the 1932 Revolution in the last few years. The current king holds immense power and criticizing the royal family can be punished by 15 years in prison.

The government has been led by army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha since he seized power in a 2014 military coup. He was democratically elected in 2019 in an election that has been described as free but not fair.

Many of those attending the rally were vocal critics of Prayuth's five-year junta and believe that the king and the military still wield more power than is fair or legal in a constitutional monarchy.

Prayuth did not directly address the protesters but told citizens "don't violate the monarchy, don't violate the law."

ed/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)

The Khana Ratsadon overthrew the government of King Prajadhipok of the Rattanakosin Kingdom in response to domestic issues as well as global political currents, ending almost 800 years of absolute monarchy under the Kings of Siam.
Siamese revolution of 1932 - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Siamese_revolution_of_1932
Alternative Title: Revolution of 1932

Promoters Revolution, also called Revolution of 1932, (June 24, 1932), in the history of Thailand, a bloodless coup that overthrew the Thai king, put an end to absolute monarchy in Thailand, and initiated the so-called Constitutional Era. The coup was headed by a group of men often referred to as the “promoters.” They included members of the Thai elite, noted intellectuals, some European-educated, and disaffected army officers; among the key “promoters” were Pridi Phanamyong and Phya Phahon Phonphayuhasen

https://www.britannica.com/event/Promoters-Revolution

The 1932 Coup in Thailand - ScholarWorks at WMU - Western ...

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu › cgi › viewcontent

by PR Serireongrith - ‎1983 - ‎Related articles

8-1983. The 1932 Coup in Thailand: An Account of a ... The former absolute monarchy was overthrown; ... ment of Thai politics, including the revolution of 19 32.

Thailand (History): Rewind to the 1932 Siamese Revolution ...

www.europe-solidaire.org › spip › article46159

Sep 16, 2018 - Thailand (History): Rewind to the 1932 Siamese Revolution ... P. Phibunsongkhram fought the monarchists until he was overthrown in 1957. ... transferring power from the absolute monarchy to Khana Ratsadon, but they did ...

Time to Truly Understand Thailand's 1932 Revolution – The ...

https://thediplomat.com › 2017/06 › time-to-truly-understand-thailands-19...

Jun 29, 2017 - The Thai government has been trying to bury the memory of the revolution that gave ... Thailand soldiers in Bangkok during the 1932 revolution. ... the 85th anniversary of the 1932 revolution that ended the absolute monarchy. ... to power in 1958 through a self-coup, his regime overthrew the entire political ...

New Zealand: Glacier melts enough ice to provide drinking water for country

A glacier in New Zealand has lost enough water through ice melt over three years to provide drinking water to every citizen for the same period. Scientists say many glaciers are in danger of disappearing completely.


A glacier in New Zealand is believed to have lost so much ice over the last three years that it could provide drinking water for every resident of the country over the same period, a research institute announced Wednesday.

Scientists say the Brewster Glacier on the South Island lost 13 million cubic meters of ice between 2016 and 2019, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said.

"Over the past few years, our observations of extreme and variable conditions highlight strong impacts on water — which is arguably our most precious natural resource," said NIWA climate scientist Andrew Lorrey.

The Southern Alps range has lost more than 15.9 trillion liters of water, which is about the amount today's population of New Zealand would use in 40 years. This constitutes around 30% of the range's ice volume.

Read more: Antarctica experiences first known heat wave

'The path to extinction'

Damage sustained by some glaciers between 2018 and 2019 may place them on the path to extinction, Lorrey explained.

Marine heatwaves and record temperatures impacted snow lines. Ash from the recent Australian bush fires also blanketed some of the ice, increasing the potential for more melting as the ash absorbs more solar radiation.

Read more: Iceland holds ceremony for first glacier lost to climate change

It could take 20 or 30 years of improvement in snow cover before scientists could "even start to consider whether the recent damage can be reversed to any degree," Lorrey said.

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TORTURE BY ANY OTHER NAME
Video shows abusive taming of baby elephant for Thai tourism

Issued on: 25/06/2020

Around 3,000 domesticated pachyderms work in Thailand's massive tourism sector, used for rides and performing tricks for travellers eager for a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the beasts Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP 

THEY ARE NOT BEASTS, THEY ARE FELLOW SENTIENT MAMMALS WHO SHOULD BE FREE AND NOT IMPRISONED AND TORTURED
Bangkok (AFP)

Footage of a distressed baby elephant jabbed by bullhooks at a Thai camp to tame it before joining the tourist industry has been released by conservationists in an appeal to end the practice.

The footage, taken on a hidden camera last year and published Wednesday by UK-based animal rights group World Animal Protection (WAP), shows what they say is the forced separation of a two-year-old female elephant from her mother.

The distraught calf is confined to a small space known as the "crush box" and held by chains and ropes for days as she struggles to escape.

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Calves are repeatedly jabbed with a bullhook, a long rod with a sharpened metal tip, to get them to understand basic commands, sometimes causing bleeding.

About 3,000 domesticated elephants work in Thailand's tourism sector, used for rides and performing tricks for travellers.

Animal rights activists have long argued that elephants endure abuse in the tourism industry, starting with the so-called "crush" process to tame them when young.

"We need to ensure that this is the last generation of elephants used for commercial tourism," Jan Schmidt-Burbach, a wildlife veterinarian with WAP, told AFP.

WAP has not released details of the location of the camp to avoid repercussions for the people who shot the video.

To avoid starvation as the coronavirus halts global travel, hundreds of elephants are back in their home villages with their handlers.

But Thailand's plans to relax some travel restrictions in the coming weeks, if the virus remains contained, have conservationists fearing the return of "the crush".

© 2020 AFP

CANADA TOO 

‘Blue solidarity’ represses social justice movements, contributes to anti-Black racism, paper says

Brian Hill GLOBAL NEWS JUNE 23, 2020

© Youtube / Islam Muslim Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion is facing criminal charges in the death of Abdirahman Abdi, a 37-year-old Somali-Canadian man who died after a confrontation with officers in 2016. Montsion's trial is expected to begin Feb. 4, 2019.

Amid ongoing protests about the use of excessive and deadly force by police against Black and Indigenous peoples, questions have been raised about the role police and their union leaders play in exacerbating anti-Black racism in North America.

Solidarity among police officers serves to “repress social justice movements that challenge police authority” and supports tactics that discriminate against racialized communities, argue York University professors Mark Thomas and Steven Tufts in a recent study.

“The repressive role of policing is revealed in instances of mass protests, whereby police forces often implement highly militarized tactics and severely constrain the civil liberties of demonstrators,” the study said.

READ MORE: ‘Cogs in the colonial wheel’: Why racism in Canada’s police force is as old as policing

Since the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis police custody, there have been protests in the United States, Canada and around the world calling for changes to how police use force, especially deadly force.

These calls are the latest in a movement to end anti-Black racism — a movement Tufts said has been hindered by police and their union leaders, especially in the United States, who have spoken out against demonstrators and blocked efforts to create stronger police oversight.

In some cases, Tufts said, police have argued they are victims of hate crimes, while successfully lobbying governments to pass legislation that shields officers from prosecution or financial responsibility for their actions while on duty.

In Canada — including Toronto, where Black residents are 20 times more likely to die from police use of force than white residents — the “blue solidarity” movement is less overt than in the U.S. but still concerning, Tufts said.

“I don’t buy the argument that we’re so different in Toronto or Canada,” he said.

READ MORE: What it’s like to police in marginalized communities amid George Floyd protests

Both the Toronto Police Association and the Canadian Police Association reject Tufts’ arguments, saying it's unreasonable to compare what’s happening in the U.S. with the Canadian experience.

The two associations also reject the idea that police unions in Canada repress democratic movements, including Black Lives Matter. They also say that they do not shield officers from accountability and that their role is mostly limited to negotiating better wages, safer working conditions and making sure due process is followed whenever officers are investigated.
Racism in policing

The discussion of racism in policing is not new in Canada. As APTN reported, a 1989 royal commission into the wrongful conviction of a Mi’kmaw man in Nova Scotia made 82 recommendations on how to reform policing in the province, including mandatory racial education for cadets and recruiting more minority officers.

There have since been dozens of reports that make similar recommendations on how to improve policing in racialized communities, including a 2019 report by an expert panel that looked at the future of policing in Indigenous communities.

“Living in peace, harmony, and well-being is something that most people enjoy, expect, and consider as part of their human rights in Canada. However, this has not been the experience of Indigenous Peoples,” wrote panel chair Kimberly Murray, a Mohawk of Kanehsatake and the former executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

READ MORE: March for Black lives planned for Ottawa’s Elgin Street on Saturday

Calvin Lawrence, a retired RCMP officer and former instructor on use of force techniques, said he experienced racism on an almost daily basis during his 30-year career — both from fellow officers and the public.

Lawrence said unions and other police officers speak out in defence of officers accused of serious wrongdoing, including excessive force, when they should instead remain silent.

The case of Ottawa police officer Daniel Montsion is an example of this type of behaviour, Lawrence said. Montsion is currently on trial after pleading not guilty to several criminal charges, including manslaughter, in connection with the 2016 arrest of Abdirahman Abdi, who died while in police custody.

When Montsion was first charged, CBC reported that Ottawa police officers began wearing black-and-blue rubber wristbands that said “united we stand” with Montsion’s badge number. The bracelets were reportedly being sold for $2 each, with all proceeds going to the police union’s benevolence fund, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

READ MORE: Ottawa police bought ‘assault gloves’ officer wore during Abdi’s arrest: defence

While officers were told by the police chief they could not wear the bracelets on duty, because they are not part of the official police uniform, they were not restricted from wearing them when off duty.

Officers were also told they could attend Montsion’s trial so long as they wore civilian clothing, coordinated their attendance with the union, and refrained from wearing the bracelets at the courthouse, the Citizen reported.

“Police officers are supposed to maintain neutrality and this is not maintaining neutrality,” Lawrence said. “To the average citizen, this is mob rule.”

Lawrence also said what a lot of people don’t understand is that while white members of the community may look at the bracelets and say “this is wrong,” Black men will look at the bracelets and say, “that could be me.”

“I think that if this person is charged, they should keep quiet about it and just go out and do their jobs,” he said.
Due process or lack of accountability?

While Lawrence thinks police unions need to take a more active role in improving officers’ ability to de-escalate volatile situations, he also believes unions are necessary for protecting workers’ rights and preventing abuse within police forces.

Lawrence said the absence of organized labour during his 30-year RCMP career contributed toward inequalities and racial injustices within the force.

On one occasion, when he brought forward a complaint, Lawrence said he was told not to make it a “racial issue” unless he wanted it to go nowhere.

Meanwhile, a younger generation of Black organizers has begun arguing for governments to defund the police.

READ MORE: ‘They’re targeting us’: Why some advocates want to defund Canadian police

Sandy Hudson, a founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto and a UCLA law student, says police unions have been “instrumental” in ensuring police officers are not required to cooperate with civilian investigations that look into police use of force.

She said unions have argued and governments have agreed, including in Ontario, that officers can decide whether to participate in these investigations, even when the use of force results in serious injury or death.

Hudson cites the recent shooting of D’Andre Campbell by a Peel Regional Police officer as an example of this: provincial legislation has allowed the officer to refuse to participate in the investigation into his alleged actions.

This, Hudson said, impacts the public’s ability to determine what happened and to hold police officers accountable.

“These unions aren't really acting like unions in the traditional sense. They are protecting police officers from being held accountable when they consistently target, kill and harm Black and Indigenous communities. And that shouldn’t be allowed to stand,” she said.

READ MORE: D’Andre Campbell fatally shot by police in Brampton home after calling for help, family says

Both Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, and Tom Stamatakis, former president of the Vancouver Police Union and current president of the Canadian Police Association, reject claims that police unions shield officers from civilian oversight.

They say police unions, like other labour organizations, have a duty to defend their members against charges or allegations resulting from their service, and that ensuring due process is followed is a priority in any workplace investigation.

“We are here to protect the members rights and to ensure due process is done. We are not here to support racism, systemic racism or anything like that,” McCormack said.

Stamatakis also said timeliness of investigations, such as those conducted by civilian oversight bodies like Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), is critical to providing justice and making sure any officers involved are treated fairly — something Ontario’s current government agreed with when it imposed time restrictions on SIU investigations and overturned legislation from the previous government, which it called the “most anti-police legislation in Canadian history.”

“We are one of the most regulated groups in the world in policing,” McCormack said.

“We're here to ensure that there is accountability, transparency and that our members’ rights are respected.”
‘Blue solidarity’ in Canada

One of Tufts’ main arguments is that “blue solidarity” movements in the U.S. and Canada have portrayed police as victims in response to Black Lives Matter.

Tufts pointed to McCormack’s call to cancel a $260,000 city grant to Toronto’s Pride parade after organizers banned uniformed police officers from attending the parade following demands made by Black Lives Matter.

He argues the union made it seem like officers were marginalized by not being allowed to participate in the parade, while Black Lives Matter organizers said the presence of uniformed officers at the parade discourages racialized people from participating.

READ MORE: Ontario’s police watchdog examining fatal officer-involved shooting of man in Mississauga

McCormack said he stands by his past comments on the issue, adding that he was speaking on behalf of LGBTQ2 police officers who were disappointed they could not march in the parade.

He also said participating in the parade is a chance for the Toronto Police Service to mend its relationship with the LGBTQ2 community, a relationship he acknowledges has been “rife” with stress and conflict.

“Many of my members (are) part of that community” McCormack said. “We have been working tirelessly, diligently to break down those barriers, to break down those walls.”

But Hudson disagrees with how the association leaders characterize Canadian police involvement in cross-border solidarity movements, such as Blue Lives Matter and the Thin Blue Line.

She also said if blue solidarity wasn’t an issue in Canada, she would expect more officers to speak out against colleagues who use excessive force or when issues of systemic discrimination are brought to public attention.

Stamatakis, meanwhile, said that while there are informal relationships between police officers in the two countries, no Canadian police association or police force has taken up these causes in any significant way.

READ MORE: George Floyd death: Use of police weaponry scrutinized after injuries at protests

He also criticizes the study done by Thomas and Tufts, saying it doesn’t make sense to consider the U.S. and Canada together.

“That's one of the shortcomings of the research; where they sort of lump the Canadian experience in with the American experience,” he said.

Still, Stamatakis said, if members of the Black community feel their interactions with police are racialized, or if they believe they’re being targeted, then police must find a way of improving this relationship.

“When we have people in our community that are saying they're concerned about how their interactions with the police are occurring, then we need to be listening to that,” he said.
Police use of force

There are examples of police unions in Canada directly opposing legitimate forms of public scrutiny, Tufts said.

In 2013, McCormack opposed an investigation by former Ontario ombudsman André Marin into police use of force tactics following the shooting death of Sammy Yatim by Toronto police officer James Forcillo earlier that year.

At the time, McCormack said Marin, a former director of the SIU, was “grandstanding” by announcing he would look into how police in Ontario use force before an investigation into whether Forcillo had acted improperly was complete.

“I'm a little bit shocked that somebody such as the ombudsman would not be respecting due process and waiting until he got all the facts and information and I think that the optics are terrible in the sense that his comments clearly do not indicate confidence in the SIU or the Toronto police or the investigative process," McCormack said, according to a 2013 Globe and Mail article.

However, the Globe also reported that neither the SIU nor the government were opposed to Marin’s investigation.

Both McCormack and Stamatakis said that it is exceptionally rare for an officer to use force, with deadly force being even rarer, and that the work police officers do is dangerous, involves a lot of unknown factors, mental illness and armed individuals.

A report published by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police research foundation said use of force occurs in less than 0.1 per cent of police-public interactions. However, the report also said the total number of people exposed to these kinds of tactics remains high because of how often police interact with the public.

Hudson, meanwhile, cites a 2018 Ontario Human Rights Commission report that found Black residents in Toronto are 20 times more likely to be killed by police than white residents.

She also said if nearly everything the police do doesn’t require force, then perhaps front-line officers in Canada shouldn’t be armed, such as in the U.K., where police routinely do not carry guns.

“If so many of the cases they respond to don't require that sort of response, they shouldn't have those things at all,” she said.

WikiLeaks founder Assange faces new accusations of trying to recruit hackers at conferences

© Provided by NBC News

WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought to recruit hackers at conferences in Europe and Asia who could provide his anti-secrecy website with classified information, and conspired with members of hacking organizations, according to a new Justice Department indictment announced Wednesday.

The superseding indictment does not contain additional charges beyond the 18 counts the Justice Department unsealed last year. But prosecutors say it underscores Assange's efforts to procure and release classified information, allegations that form the basis of criminal charges he already faces.

Beyond recruiting hackers at conferences, the indictment accuses Assange of conspiring with members of hacking groups known as LulzSec and Anonymous. He also worked with a 17-year-old hacker who gave him information stolen from a bank and directed the teenager to steal additional material, including audio recordings of high-ranking government officials, prosecutors say.

Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said in a statement that “the government’s relentless pursuit of Julian Assange poses a grave threat to journalists everywhere and to the public’s right to know.”

“While today’s superseding indictment is yet another chapter in the U.S. Government’s effort to persuade the public that its pursuit of Julian Assange is based on something other than his publication of newsworthy truthful information,” he added, “the indictment continues to charge him with violating the Espionage Act based on WikiLeaks publications exposing war crimes committed by the U.S. Government.”

Assange was arrested last year after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had sought refuge to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault, and is at the center of an extradition tussle over whether he should be sent to the United States.

The Justice Department has already charged him with conspiring with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history by working together to crack a password to a government computer.

Prosecutors say the WikiLeaks founder damaged national security by publishing hundreds of thousands of classified documents, including diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that harmed the U.S. and its allies and aided its adversaries.

Assange maintains he was acting as a journalist entitled to First Amendment protection. His lawyers have argued the U.S. charges of espionage and computer misuse were politically motivated and an abuse of power.

Assange generated substantial attention during the 2016 presidential election, and in investigations that followed, after WikiLeaks published stolen Democratic emails that U.S. authorities say were hacked by Russian military intelligence officials. An investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller revealed how Trump campaign associates eagerly anticipated the email disclosures. One Trump ally, Roger Stone, was found guilty last year of lying about his efforts to gain inside information about the emails. Assange, however, was never charged in Mueller's Russia investigation.

The allegations in the new indictment center on conferences, in locations including the Netherlands and Malaysia in 2009, at which prosecutors say he and a WikiLeaks associate sought to recruit hackers who could locate classified information, including material on a “Most Wanted Leaks” list posted on WikiLeaks' website.

According to the new indictment, he told would-be recruits that unless they were a member of the U.S. military, they faced no legal liability for stealing classified information and giving it to WikiLeaks “because ‘TOP SECRET’ meant nothing as a matter of law.”

At one conference in Malaysia, called the “Hack in the Box Security Conference,” Assange told the audience, “I was a famous teenage hacker in Australia, and I've been reading generals' emails since I was 17.”

Germany bans single-use plastic products

The German Cabinet came to the agreement after months of speculation and the ban will mean the country falls in line with an EU directive to reduce waste. The prohibition will come into effect from July 2021.



The German Cabinet agreed on Wednesday to end the sale of single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and food containers from July next year, bringing it in line with a European Union directive intended to reduce the amount of plastic waste.

The move means the sale of single-use cutlery, plates, stirring sticks and balloon holders, as well as polystyrene cups and boxes, will be banned from July 3, 2021.

Read more: China to ban single-use plastic bags and straws

Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said the decision was part of an effort to move away from a "throw-away culture." Indeed, up to 20% of trash collected in parks and other public spaces in Germany consists of single-use plastic, primarily polystyrene containers.


"Many single-use plastic products are superfluous and non-sustainable use of resources," Schulze said.


Germany amassed a record 18.7 million tons of packaging waste in 2017, according to data published by the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA).

Plastic takes decades to degrade and microscopic particles have been found inside fish, birds, and other animals.

Polystyrene pollution

In a separate development, scientists have come across polystyrene in the guts of tiny, soil-dwelling organisms in the Antarctic.

The discovery raises the prospect that microplastics pollution has already "deeply" entered the planet's most remote land-based ecosystems.

Read more: Coronavirus aggravates Thailand's plastic waste crisis

While the presence of microplastics across the world's seas is not unknown to researchers, the study illustrated the first examples of contamination in the Antarctic terrestrial food chain.

"Plastics have therefore entered even some of the most remote soil food webs on the planet, with potential risks for the whole biota and ecosystems," the study's authors said after their findings were published in the journal Biology Letters.

VIDEO 

UH OH

Microplastics found for first time in Antarctica's food chain

Microplastics have reached one of the world's most remote food systems, a new study has found. The findings raise concerns over the future of Antarctica's fragile ecosystem, which is already threatened by climate change.


For the first time, scientists have discovered microplastics inside small organisms living in the soil in Antarctica, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

"Plastics are thus entering the short Antarctic terrestrial food webs and represent a new potential stressor to polar ecosystems already facing climate change and increasing human activities," said the authors of the study, which was published in the scientific journal Biology Letters.

The research team, which was headed by Italy's University of Siena, collected organisms from a piece of polystyrene foam that was covered in moss and lichens on King George Island.

Using an infrared imaging technique, researchers found pieces of polystyrene — which is used in styrofoam — in the guts of collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus, or springtails.

The small organisms are frequently the "dominant species" in areas of Antarctica that are not covered by ice, typically feeding on lichens and micro-algae.

Researchers said the springtails likely consumed the plastic fragments while eating their usual food.

Plastic pollution in the Antarctic terrestrial environment: (A) Coastal fellfield at King George Island where the PS foam item was collected. (B and C) close-ups of the PS surface, overgrown with microalgae, moss and lichens

Read more: The recycling dilemma: good plastic, bad plastic?

Dangers of plastic pollution

The authors of the study said the traces indicate the microplastic pollution may have already "deeply" infiltrated Antarctica's remote land-based food system.

"The implications of plastic ingestion by this species include the potential redistribution of microplastics through the soil profile and transfer to their common predators, the moss mites," Elisa Bergami of the University of Siena told news agency AFP.

Although plastic pollution in the oceans is already widely known and well-documented, Bergami said that less attention is being paid to Antarctica's land contamination.

The presence of plastics in one of the world's most remote food chains could potentially stress Antarctica's fragile ecosystem even further.

Scientific research posts, military facilities and tourism have turned the area around King George Island in the South Shetland Islands into "one of the most contaminated regions of Antarctica," researchers said.

Figure 2. Detection of PS traces in Antarctic collembolans. (a) PS fragment from positive control measured by μ-FTIR. (b) RGB image showing spectral regions of lipids (blue, 3000–2800 cm−1), proteins (green, 1700–1500 cm−1) and PS (red, peak at 1490 cm−1). The red square indicates the pixels averaged to obtain the red spectrum in (c). (c) Comparison between PS average spectra inside the collembolan (black line), hydrated PS from the positive control (red line) and PS fragment after drying (blue line). The vertical lines identify the characteristic peaks of PS. Spectra are offset vertically for clarity. (d) Collembolan analysed by μ-FTIR. (e) RGB image showing spectral regions of lipids (blue), proteins (green) and PS (red). The black rectangle indicates the pixels averaged to obtain the black spectrum in (c). Scale bars: 100 µm.

—with AFP

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WWW LINKS

Biology Letters: First evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus

ENRON 2.0
Wirecard committed 'elaborate and sophisticated fraud' say auditors

The auditors of Wirecard have accused it of committing an "elaborate and sophisticated fraud." The German payments provider has filed for insolvency and its CEO has been arrested.



Auditing company EY accused Wirecard of committing an "elaborate and sophisticated fraud" in comments on Thursday.

It came soon after the scandal-hit German payments provider filed for insolvency and its CEO was arrested.

"There are clear indications that this was an elaborate and sophisticated fraud involving multiple parties around the world in different institutions with a deliberate aim of deception," EY said.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Wirecard's debacle "must be a wake-up call that we need more oversight, more controls" over financial firms.

"The scandal is unparalleled in the financial world," Scholz added. Read more: Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun arrested

Missing billions

EY had previously sounded the alarm during the audit of the 2019 financial statement, which showed that the firm could not account for €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion).

The €1.9 billion was supposed to have been held by two banks in the Philippines. But earlier this week the country's central bank confirmed that the money had not entered its financial system.

CEO Markus Braun was subsequently detained on suspicion of inflating the company's balance sheet and revenues to make it appear stronger and more attractive for investors and customers.

Three other managers are also under investigation.

'The moneys gone'

Wirecard's creditors have little hope of recovering some €3.5 billion euros that the firm owes, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency.

"The money's gone," one banker said. "We may recoup a few euros in a couple of years but will write off the loan now."

Things also looked grim for shareholders. Wirecard shares have lost 98% of their value since EY refused to sign off on the firm's financial statement last Thursday.

German law firm Schirp & Partner told Reuters that it planned to file class actions against EY on behalf of shareholders and bondholders, now that Wirecard had gone bust.

"It is frightening how long Wirecard AG was able to operate without being objected to by the auditors," partner Wolfgang Schirp said.

Wirecard's fall from grace began last year, when a series of reports in British newspaper Financial Times uncovered accounting irregularities in its Asian operations.

Founded in 1999, the Munich-based had come to edge traditional lender Commerzbank out of the DAX 30 index and was once heralded for its innovation.

Germanys Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has called for a thorough investigation, warning that the Wirecard scandal could erode confidence in the country's finance sector.

jcg/aw (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)


Wirecard files for insolvency after financial hole laid bare
The German payment company Wirecard has said it will open insolvency proceedings after disclosing more than $2 billion dollars missing in its accounts. Trade on shares in the company was suspended.



German financial technology firm Wirecard announced Thursday it would file for insolvency amid an accounting scandal that led earlier this week to the arrest of its former CEO.

The company said it was making the filing "due to impending insolvency and debt." It will make the filing at a district court in Munich.

Read more: Scandal-hit German fintech Wirecard secures $1 billion investment

Markus Braun resigned as CEO on Friday after the company could not find roughly €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) that appeared in its accounts. Braun later turned himself in to prosecutors after Wirecard concluded that the money probably never existed.

Trading in the group's shares was immediately halted by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, leaving them blocked at €10.74, down 12.7% from close of trading Wednesday. Prior to the sudden scandal, it was trading just over €100.

Wirecard has become the first member of DAX, Germany's blue-chip share index, to go out of business.

The Munich prosecutor's office, which is already investigating Braun on suspicion of manipulating Wirecard"s accounts, said "We will now look at all possible criminal offenses."

Following his arrest, Braun has been released on bail.

How did Wirecard become insolvent?

Wirecard had been one of Germany's fastest-growing tech firms and was set to be a new giant in the business. The scandal has also raised questions about Germany's ability to implement corporate regulations.

Media reports in 2019 questioned the company’s accounting, but Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, targeted investors instead of the firm itself.

BaFin has described events this week surrounding Wirecard as a "disaster" but also said that it stands by its decisions.

Wirecard had been a member of the DAX index for less than two years and at its peak was worth €25 billion ($28 billion) by market capitaliztion.

ed/msh (AP, dpa)

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Opinion: Coronavirus outbreak in German slaughterhouse was preventable

A major coronavirus outbreak in Europe's biggest meat-processing plant was a disaster that was bound to happen and just as preventable.



What adjective best describes a person who will risk someone else's life just to get richer? Ruthless? Unscrupulous? Hungry for money? Willing to disregard human rights, even?

The management of Tönnies, Germany's and Europe's largest meat-processing company, could certainly be labeled as such. Why? Because it has known for months how vulnerable its workers, like so many others in the meat-processing industry, are to a potential coronavirus outbreak. Yet, it did nothing to reduce the risk.

It was merely a question of time until a major outbreak would occur in the company's main slaughterhouse. Workers in this industry, who tend to hail from eastern and southern Europe and are employed by sub-contractors, often endure dismal working and living conditions. It's common for laborers butchering dead animals to work side by side, standing close to each other all day, and to share cramped living quarters, where social distancing is impossible.

Modern-day slavery

For months, human rights activists, labor rights experts and doctors have demanded that workers be given a bedroom each to reduce the risk of a coronavirus outbreak. Clearly, Tönnies managers opted against taking this basic safety precaution, as it would have slightly diminished their profits.


DW Chief Correspondent Miodrag Soric

Unlike their German colleagues, meat-processing workers from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria earn a pittance — albeit a little more than they would make in most jobs back home. Nevertheless, the dire working and living conditions they have to put up with in Germany effectively make them modern-day slaves. This is a blatant breach of the German constitution, which states that human dignity shall be inviolable. That Tönnies is exploiting these desperate people to turn a profit is simply immoral.

Read more: Schalke chief Tönnies to temporarily step down after racism row

In this light, the company's efforts with regards to animal welfare or its investment in football — Clemens Tönnies is on Bundesliga club Schalke 04's board — smack of hypocrisy. More than half the 6,000 workers at its main headquarters are employed by sub-contractors. This allows Tönnies to save labor costs, maximize profits, and enhance its competitiveness. The company has outpriced many global competitors and even exports meat to countries like Romania and China.

If you want to see the dark side of globalization, go and visit the northwestern town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, where the company has its head office.

Public opinion is shifting

Many locals who live near the Tönnies' headquarters have cared little for the company's controversial practices. Well paid jobs in this part of the country, after all, are hard to come by. In the past, the company has exerted considerable influence on regional and local lawmakers, who turned a blind eye to the mistreatment of foreign workers.

Now, public opinion is changing. Lawmakers are distancing themselves from company boss Clemens Tönnies, as are co-owners of the high-profile company. Locals, meanwhile, are enraged because the recent virus outbreak has led to the closure of schools, preschools and kindergartens in and around Rheda-Wiedenbrück and the nearby, bigger city of Gütersloh.

Read more: Exploring old and new ideas on the future of food

What will the German federal government do? Allow Clemens Tönnies to get away with these practices? Or will it finally push for a change in Germany's agricultural sector?

It would certainly be preferable to start strengthening local, smaller slaughterhouses over major meat-processing plants, like those operated by Tönnies or Westfleisch. Yes, it would make meat more expensive. But surveys show many Germans would be willing to foot the bill.

In the end, workers must not be the ones left behind in the slaughterhouse.


Date 19.06.2020
Author Miodrag Soric
Related Subjects Coronavirus
Keywords Coronavirus, COVID-19, Tönnies, slaughterhouse, meat-processing, Gütersloh
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SLAUGHTERHOUSE COVID-19 

Germany: Over 600,000 re-enter 'soft lockdown' after Gütersloh meat plant outbreak

Two western German districts are spending their first full day back in lockdown following a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 at a meat-processing plant. Residents will return to measures first imposed in March.


Two districts in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) entered their first full day back in lockdown on Wednesday after a fresh outbreak of coronavirus resulted in new restrictions.

The new measures, dubbed "soft lockdown," saw around 640,000 people in the neighboring districts of Gütersloh and Warendorf once more unable to meet in groups larger than two outside each household.

Museums, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools and bars have all once more closed their doors. NRW State Premier Armin Laschet compared the measures to those in place when Germany first put restrictions in place in March. After some confusion, church services will be allowed to go ahead.

"It's a soft or light lockdown," said district commissioner Sven-Georg Adenauer. "It can be compared to what we had in March, but it is not extreme and will only be in place for one week."

The outbreak took place at a meat-packing plant where over 1,000 workers have tested positive for coronavirus. Some 7,000 employees have been asked to self-quarantine, most of whom live in the two districts.

'Don't stigmatize Gütersloh residents'

The new measures mark the first renewed local lockdown in Germany since restrictions across the country's 16 states began to be eased in May.

The new measures in NRW have led to calls across the country for similar local lockdowns or travel restrictions around hot spots. Austria has introduced a partial travel ban for people to and from NRW, while the northern German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have done the same for residents of the districts in question.

"One thing simply won't do, and that is the stigmatization of people from Gütersloh," said Laschet, stressing that the lockdown was largely a preventative measure.

To begin with the new lockdown will only last until June 30, but it has been suggested it may be extended. Negotiations are ongoing about the status of non-residents of the districts and holidaymakers, with hopes that, if they test negative, they can return home before the lockdown ends.

Coronavirus: UN report warns pandemic has created ‘captive audience’ for terrorist groups

By Stewart Bell Global News Posted June 25, 2020

The UN Security Council meets on the situation in Syria,

 Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Mary Altaffer
The coronavirus pandemic has created a “captive audience” for terrorist groups seeking recruits, as more than a billion students are out of school and spending more time online, according to a United Nations Security Council report.

The increase in the number of young people engaging in unsupervised internet usage — particularly on gaming platforms — offers terrorist groups an opportunity to expose a greater number of people to their ideas,” the report warned.

The risk posed by violent extremist internet propaganda is one of several identified by the UN Security Council’s counter-terrorism committee in a new report on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global terrorism.

Key among them is the exploitation of the crisis by terrorist groups, which have been using the virus and the government responses to it to feed the conspiracy theories and narratives they rely on to attract followers.

READ MORE: Searches for extremist content spiked after Canada’s coronavirus lockdown: report

At the same time, the focus on the pandemic has put pressure on counter-terrorism budgets and led to the withdrawal of troops from the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda as well as over-reach in some countries, potentially fuelling radicalization, it said.

Researchers have reported a surge in extremism-related online traffic during the pandemic. Moonshot CVE said there had been a “significant increase” in searches for violent far-right content in Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.

But that does not necessarily mean those conducting the internet searches are radicalized, will become radicalized or will take violent action, said Ottawa-based terrorism expert Jessica Davis.

“I think we need to be careful to differentiate between radicalization and curiosity,” said Davis, president of Insight Threat Intelligence and a former senior strategic analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

“I do think it’s a tough time for everyone, and the increased isolation may increase some risk factors for radicalization,” she said. “But I’d also say a lot of other risk factors are static or, in some cases, may be decreasing.”

The counter-terrorism committee’s report noted that “COVID-19-related narratives” had already been linked to attempted attacks on hospital patients and a hospital ship in the United States. In Tunisia, a plot to infect security forces was disrupted.

Cellphone towers have also been vandalized and damaged, it said. Quebec police made two arrests in May after several cellphone towers were set on fire. Some regions are also reporting increases in hate crimes, the report said.

The report also noted the pandemic had created problems for terrorist groups. Restrictions on gathering “have resulted in far fewer crowded spaces, potentially reducing the effectiveness of common terrorist tactics,” it said.

The focus of attention on COVID-19 has also reduced media attention on terrorist attacks, giving them less impact. That could drive them to try “more attention-grabbing targets or techniques” such as last month’s attack on a Kabul maternity ward.

But the pandemic risks fuelling grievances terrorists feed upon. In some countries, governments have taken advantage of the crisis to consolidate their hold on power, arresting political opponents and curbing civil liberties, it said.

“The pandemic has also forced some states to close their parliaments and postpone or cancel elections, thereby limiting opportunities for oversight and scrutiny of those responses,” said the report, adding some countries have also invoked emergency powers and engaged in mass surveillance.

“Some states’ responses to COVID-19 risk further exacerbating conditions conducive to radicalization to terrorism.”

YEAR OF THE RAT 2020 IN CASE YOU FORGOT

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#IMPEACHBARR
Attorney General Barr ordered antitrust probes of 10 cannabis mergers, because he dislikes the industry, prosecutor says

While these were nominally antitrust investigations, and used antitrust investigative authorities, they were not bona fide antitrust investigations,’ says John Elias

MARKETWATCH PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/GETTY IMAGES, ISTOCKPHOTO

A federal prosecutor told House lawmakers on Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr ordered antitrust staffers to investigate 10 proposed mergers in the cannabis sector because of his personal dislike of the industry.

John Elias, a member of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, told the House Judiciary Committee in prepared testimony that the investigations were carried out even after staffers had determined that the cannabis business is highly fragmented with many market participants in the states that have legalized cannabis. Read Elias’ statement.

Mergers are usually only subjected to antitrust investigations if they are likely to have an impact on competition or create a monopoly.

“While these were nominally antitrust investigations, and used antitrust investigative authorities, they were not bona fide antitrust investigations,” said Elias. “Nonetheless, they accounted for 29% of the Antitrust Division’s full-review merger investigations in Fiscal Year 2019.”
The testimony is part of the committee’s probe into whether the Justice Department under Barr has been improperly politicized. Elias and Aaron Zelinsky, a career Justice Department prosecutor, were subpoenaed by House Democrats to testify. Zelinsky worked on cases as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, including the case against Roger Stone, an ally of President Donald Trump.

See now:Career prosecutor set to tell Congress that Trump ally Roger Stone got special treatment from the Justice Department

Elias explained that the antitrust division’s manual instructs staffers to first look at market share as an indicator of whether a deal needs to get routine clearance or be subjected to the fullest review, by issuing what is called a “Second Request” subpoena. Typically, a company would need at least double-digit market share to merit that subpoena, which can lead to demands for hundreds of thousands or even millions of documents.

See also:Mueller said to have weighed possibility Trump lied in written responses to investigators

Merging companies must comply with a Second Request subpoena, as they cannot close a deal until they have complied.

The prosecutor said in the case of a review of a proposed merger between cannabis retailer MedMen Enterprises Inc. and PharmaCann LLC, staffers found the deal did not raise any significant competitive concerns. But on March 5, 2019, Barr called the antitrust division leadership to his office and ordered them to issue Second Request subpoenas. The division went ahead and did so and said the reason was that it had not “evaluated this industry before.”

“This rationale — standing alone, without reference to a competition problem — is not described in the Merger Guidelines as a basis for investigating a transaction,” said Elias.

The companies were then asked to provide 1.3 million documents from the files of 40 employees. The investigation then found that the markets were indeed “unconcentrated” and was closed without enforcement action. By then, however, the deal had collapsed with MedMen citing delays in obtaining regulatory approval. The company’s stock price had lost about a third of its value while the investigation was being conducted.

See also:U.S. pot retailer MedMen says it’s trying to use stock to pay its bills amid cannabis industry’s cash crunch

The antitrust division went on to investigate another nine deals, including one in which staffers determined the post-merger market share would be just 0.35%, said Elias.

When prosecutors brought their concerns to the head of the Antitrust Division, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, he responded by saying the investigations were motivated “by the fact that the cannabis industry is unpopular ‘on the fifth floor,’” a reference to Barr’s offices in the DOJ headquarters building.
“Personal dislike of the industry is not a proper basis upon which to ground an antitrust investigation,” said Elias.

Barr said in April of 2019 that he would “favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana but, if there is not sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of the federal law and so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law,” he said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MedMen shares MMNFF, -5.83% were last trading at 23 cents, and have lost 56.5% in 2020 to date.

The Cannabis ETF THCX, -1.60% was down 4% Wednesday, and has lost 22.5% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, 0.14% has fallen 5.7%.

Trump’s July 4 trip to Mount Rushmore draws sharp criticism from Native Americans

Many Native Americans activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation

Published: June 25, 2020  By Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plans to kick off Independence Day with a showy display at Mount Rushmore are drawing sharp criticism from Native Americans who view the monument as a desecration of land violently stolen from them and used to pay homage to leaders hostile to native people.

Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump’s July 3 visit, part of Trump’s “comeback” campaign for a nation reeling from sickness, unemployment and, recently, social unrest. The event is slated to include fighter jets thundering over the 79-year-old stone monument in South Dakota’s Black Hills and the first fireworks display at the site since 2009.

But it comes amid a national reckoning over racism and a reconsideration of the symbolism of monuments around the globe. Many Native American activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation.

“Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that’s still alive and well in society today,” said Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and the president of a local activist organization called NDN Collective. “It’s an injustice to actively steal Indigenous people’s land then carve the white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide.”
While some activists, like Tilsen, want to see the monument removed altogether and the Black Hills returned to the Lakota, others have called for a share in the economic benefits from the region and the tourists it attracts.

Trump has long shown a fascination with Mount Rushmore. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in 2018 that he had once told her straight-faced it was his dream to have his face carved into the monument. He later joked at a campaign rally about getting enshrined alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. And while it was Noem, a Republican, who pushed for a return of the fireworks on the eve of Independence Day, Trump joined the effort and committed to visiting South Dakota for the celebration.

The four faces, carved into the mountain with dynamite and drills, are known as the “shrine to democracy.” The presidents were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum for their leadership during four phases of American development: Washington led the birth of the nation; Jefferson sparked its westward expansion; Lincoln preserved the union and emancipated slaves; Roosevelt championed industrial innovation.

And yet, for many Native American people, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, Omaha, Arapaho, Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache, the monument is a desecration to the Black Hills, which they consider sacred. Lakota people know the area as Paha Sapa — “the heart of everything that is.”

As monuments to Confederate and colonial leaders have been removed across U.S. cities, conservatives have expressed concern that Mount Rushmore could be next. Commentator Ben Shapiro this week suggested that the “woke historical revisionist priesthood” wanted to blow up the monument. Noem responded by tweeting, “Not on my watch.”

Tim Giago, a journalist who is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, said he doesn’t see four great American leaders when he looks at the monument, but instead four white men who either made racist remarks or initiated actions that removed Native Americans from their land. Washington and Jefferson both held slaves. Lincoln, though he led the abolition of slavery, also approved the hanging of 38 Dakota men in Minnesota after a violent conflict with white settlers there. Roosevelt is reported to have said, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every ten are..”
The monument has long been a “Rorschach test,” said John Taliaferro, author of “Great White Fathers,” a history of the monument. “All sorts of people can go there and see it in different ways.”

The monument often starts conversations on the paradox of American democracy — that a republic that promoted the ideals of freedom, determination and innovation also enslaved people and drove others from their land, he said.

“If we’re having this discussion today about what American democracy is, Mount Rushmore is really serving its purpose because that conversation goes on there,” he said. “Is it fragile? Is it permanent? Is it cracking somewhat?”

The monument was conceived in the 1920s as a tourist draw for the new fad in vacationing called the road trip. South Dakota historian Doane Robinson recruited Borglum, one of the preeminent sculptors at the time, to abandon his work creating the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia, which was to feature Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson.

Borglum was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, according to Mount Rushmore historian and writer Tom Griffith. Borglum joined the Klan to raise money for the Confederate memorial, and Griffith argues his allegiance was more practical than ideological. He left that project and instead spent years in South Dakota completing Mount Rushmore.

Native American activists have long staged protests at the site to raise awareness among the history of the Black Hills, which were taken from them despite treaties with the United States protecting the land. Fifty years ago this summer a group of activists associated with an organization called United Native Americans climbed to the top of the monument and occupied it.

Quanah Brightman, who now runs United Native Americans, said the activism in the 1970s grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He hopes a similar movement for Native Americans comes from the Black Lives Matter movement.

“What people find here is the story of America — it’s multidimensional, it’s complex,” Griffith said. “It’s important to understand it was people just trying to do right as best they knew it then.”

The White House had no immediate comment on criticism of the president’s planned visit.

RODENT PIZZA

Chuck E. Cheese parent CEC Entertainment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

WORST PIZZA EVER NO GREAT LOSS

Published: June 25, 2020  Ciara Linnane

CEC Entertainment Inc., the parent of Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late Wednesday, weighed down by restaurant closures during the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it will use the time to continue talks with its financial stakeholders, including landlords, to "achieve a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring that supports its re-opening and longer-term strategic plans." As of June 24, 266 company-operated restaurant and arcade venues had reopened for business. The company is expecting to keep these venues open through Chapter 11 and to offer dine-in, delivery and take-out services. The company's non-U.S. franchise partners and corporate entities are not included in the process.

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