Pride marches across

AMERIKA incorporate politics


Participants march down Fifth Avenue at the 2024 NYC Pride March in New York City on Sunday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 30 (UPI) -- Pride month celebrations culminated Sunday with parades across the world, including San Francisco and New York, where people supporting LGBTQ identities and rights, some dressed in multi-colored, elaborate clothing and costumes, marched in the streets.

In New York, thousands of Pride revelers rallied along Fifth Avenue in an event that also marked the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising of June 28, 1969, which sparked the gay rights movement in the United States.

"For 55 years, New Yorkers have proudly carried the banner that says, 'This is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ movement,'" Gov. Kathy Hochul, who participated in the march, told the crowd.

"And today, we continue pushing forward, recognizing the contributions from those individuals who stood up against the tides of their time, who said that 'We have rights. We have rights to gather, to socialize, to dance, and to love who we want to love.'

The event and march were held under the theme of "Reflect. Empower. Unite," selected to highlight the importance of the city's Pride march "As the intersection of Queer liberation and joy," the organizing NYC Pride said in a statement.

The march and celebrations come amid an onslaught of Republican-led bills targeting the rights of the lGBT community. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking some 527 such bills that have been entered into state legislatures this year.

NYC Pride Executive Director Sandra Pérez said earlier in a statement that the city's march is how the community combats "all the negativity."

"This is the celebration that brings people from every borough in the city and all parts of the world together, in joy, to share the accomplishments, talents and resilience of our community," Pérez said.

"The March is where we demonstrate the strength that comes with inclusion, diversity and acceptance."

Dashawn Usher, Miss Major, Raquel Willis, Michelle Visage, Eshe Ukwell and Baddie Brooks served as grand marshals for the event.

In San Francisco, city officials kicked off the festivities Saturday by marrying more than 200 couples as part of its annual tradition celebrating marriage equality.

Its march also occurred Sunday, with the city's Pride theme being "Beacon of love."

"Yes, San Francisco is a beacon of love, but also hope," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

"Right now, all across this country our LGBTQ+ community is under assault, with their basic rights being threatened, and we stand strong in support of this incredible community. Today is about celebrating the love that bonds individuals together and serves as the heart of the work we have ahead of us here in this City and across the nation."

There were also large Pride marches in Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago and across the globe. The Chicago march typically draws 1 million people and organizers reduced the number of floats participating in this year's festivities from 199 to 150, citing logical and safety concerns.

Biden praises 'beloved' bar's role in gay history during unveiling at Stonewall site

 Protesters gather outside at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center grand opening ceremony in New York City. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 28 (UPI) -- The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center opened its doors Friday, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a historic moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.

The visitors center, which is the first LGBTQ-centered monument within the National Park Service, is a project led by New York nonprofit Pride Live and encompasses 2,100 square feet at 51 Christopher St. in New York City.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to New York for the opening-day celebration.

"This beloved bar became the site of a call to cry for freedom, dignity, equality and respect," Biden told the crowd. "Rebellion galvanized LBGTQ community all across the nation and, quite frankly, around the world."

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Jill Biden said, "From today on, this visitor center and monument will tell our nation's story to the teenager who comes here and discovers she isn't alone. The activist who wants to show his children what came before. And all those who wish to learn from the wisdom of the past and use it to help chart the course for our future."

Biden was joined by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Singers Katy Perry and Elton John also made appearances.

"I can say as a proud English, gay man, that this is one of the greatest honors of my life to be here today," he said. "The fight for freedom and equality is an ongoing one."

Former President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument in 2016 to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion, a series of violent demonstrations against police raids on the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969.

The project to convert the bar into a visitors center started six years ago with Pride Live co-founders Diana Rodriguez and Ann Marie Gothard.

The center will provide educational resources on LGBTQ history and culture, such as in-person and virtual tours, lectures, exhibitions and a dedicated theater space.

Mexico shelters offer safe haven for LGBTQ migrants


By AFP
June 28, 2024


Venezuelan trans woman Victoria Davila, 23, puts on makeup to go to an appointment at the Mexican foreign ministry - Copyright AFP ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Emma Guillaume with Eduardo Jaramillo in Tijuana

Shirlei Vazquez, a trans woman, fled Guatemala after being assaulted and threatened, joining a growing number of LGBTQ migrants heading north in hopes of a better life in the United States.

In Mexico, these migrants have found a safe space at shelters welcoming people facing added stigma or violence on the long journey north due to their sexual orientation or identity.

“I had two options: die in my country or leave to find safety,” the 27-year-old Vasquez told AFP from a shelter in Tijuana called Rainbow House.

Back home she was assaulted and told she would be set on fire “for being gay.”

UN Women this month warned that LGBTQ migrants “face higher risks of significant physical and sexual violence at all stages of migration.”

This includes “unsafe shelters”, lack of access to healthcare and discrimination by border agents.

Casa Frida, a shelter in Mexico City, offers legal, psychological, social and medical support, as well as food aid and housing.

“Casa Frida is a safe space. A place of freedom for certain people, for those to be able to express who they really are,” said Angelica Guzman, a 24-year-old lawyer who does social work at the shelter.

The shelter opened in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic to accommodate the growing number of LGBT migrants in the country.

It has since expanded to Tapachula, a city near the country’s southern border with Guatemala where thousands of migrants pass through, as well as Monterrey in the country’s north.

– ‘All the courage in the world’ –

Victoria Davila, a 23-year-old trans woman who fled “risky situations” in Venezuela, has been at the shelter for two months.

“To migrate is to decide to recreate another life somewhere else,” she said, adding the decision to leave her home and family had taken “all the courage in the world.”

In her first few months in Mexico, Davila ran into similar dangers to those she experienced back home.

A Mexican employer took away her documents and forced her into unpaid sex work.

At the shelter, she found a family where she is “welcomed, embraced, respected and validated.”

“I have to show who I am and that I exist, and anyone who doesn’t like it should look the other way,” Davila said.

Sandy Montoya, a 23-year-old trans woman from Honduras, blamed authorities in the conservative Central American society for allowing discrimination against trans people.

“There have been several murders and the government has done nothing to bring justice,” she said.

Montoya arrived at her shelter in May and plans to apply for humanitarian asylum in the United States.

It can take two to nine months to book an asylum appointment with American authorities, so many migrants take jobs in Tijuana while waiting.

Davila, meanwhile, has decided to stay in Mexico City because of the openness of the LGBT community, where she has found work as a drag artist.

“The drag scene in Mexico City is great and very welcoming,” she said.

Turkey: Several killed, scores injured in Izmir gas blast

An apparent gas explosion has killed several in a restaurant in the coastal city of Izmir, with nearly 60 people injured, Turkish officials say.

The Turkish interior minister said eight ambulances were deployed to the scene in Izmir

Image: Berkan Cetin/Anadolu/picture alliance

A building in Turkey's Izmir was partially destroyed in a deadly blast on Sunday, with the explosion claiming at least five lives and leaving some 57 people injured. Some of the injured are in critical condition, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in an online post.

"May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to our injured," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.



Cars and surrounding houses were also damaged. People living in the area were asked to evacuate.

Early findings indicated a gas explosion, authorities saidImage: Berkan Cetin/Anadolu/picture alliance

The minister said an investigation was ongoing. Initial findings point to the blast being caused by a gas cylinder, he said.

Later on Sunday, authorities said one person was arrested over the incident. The man allegedly replaced the propane tank with a new one at the site on Saturday.

dj/msh (dpa, DW material)

Syrians in Turkey face deportation into an unknown future

Diana Hodali

06/29/2024

DW

Turkey is deporting Syrian refugees back to Syria, despite mounting international concerns. Human rights groups have condemned the plans and warned of serious ramifications for the returnees.

Hafis A. was returned to Syria after years in Istanbul, in a move that human rights organizations have decried as involuntary returns

Image: privat

Much like every morning, Hafis A. was making his way to the restaurant where he used to work. The young Syrian man had no idea his life as a refugee in Istanbul was about to change.

When Turkish security authorities pulled him over and demanded his papers which had expired two days earlier, he was taken straight to a deportation center.

A few days later he found himself together with other Syrians at the Bab al Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria. "They dropped me off at the border, and suddenly I was back on Syrian soil," he told DW in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria.

Hafis A. was born in the Syrian capital, Damascus. In 2020, the then 22-year-old decided to leave Syria to avoid being conscripted into the Syrian army. "I didn't want to fight, I wanted to live," he said.

Turkey has taken in more refugees from Syria than any other country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 3.6 million Syrians have been living in Turkey under temporary protection since the Syrian war broke out in 2011.

The high number of refugees is in part also due to the European Union's controversial deal with Turkey in 2016, which was intended to stem the flow of refugees and migration to Europe via the Aegean Sea.

Hafis A. found a new home in Turkey's capital, obtained the necessary papers to stay, managed to get a job and was even able to buy a small car after a while.

But despite his life going smoothly, Hafis A. said the atmosphere was getting increasingly tense. "You could tell that Turkey wanted to get rid of us Syrians," he told DW.

"Syrian refugees only ever had temporary protection in Turkey," said Anita Starosta from the organisation Medico International. "Syrians were and are always treated like guests. They are not supposed to settle and become Turkish citizens."

Amid dwindling aid and political unrest, civilians face tough circumstances in Syria's Idlib region under Islamist rule

Image: Omar Albam/DW

Precarious security situation awaits deported Syrians

This type of temporary refugee status, introduced specifically for Syrian refugees, has enabled Turkey to simplify deportations.

"Since 2018, there have been repeated waves of deportations," said Starosta.

According to Human Rights Watch, or HRW, Turkish authorities deported over 57,000 Syrians and other people between January and December 2023.

HRW also reported that Turkish authorities put pressure on border authorities to list the majority of border crossings as "returnees" or "voluntary".

So far, it hasn't been easy for Hafis A. to build a new life in Idlib even though he found a job in a cafe. However, he earns much less than he used to make in Turkey.

Idlib province is the last region to be controlled by Syrian rebels and Islamists. It is predominantly under the control of Islamist militias, in particular the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militia, which evolved from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.

Yet the region is in a state of turmoil and there have been protests against the Islamists in recent months. Idlib province is characterized by poverty; many of the 2.9 million internally displaced persons are dependent on international aid which is becoming increasingly scarce.

The precarious supply and security situation in the region exacerbates the lives of returning refugees who also have to deal with the administration of the property they left behind in Turkey. Hafis A. still has his car in Istanbul and some money saved in an account.

"Of course, everything is much more familiar to me in Syria, the people, the language. I live in my own country, but I'm still so far away from my parents because I can't visit them in Damascus due to the political situation," he said.

Having fled his military service, he would have to expect consequences from the Assad regime if he returned to Damascus.

Idlib has been long ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, but there are now protests against the Islamist militia

Image: Omar Albam/DW

Syrian refugees 'used as political pawns'

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced in February that "around 625,000 Syrians voluntarily returned to Syria" because living conditions had improved. In the cities of Jarabulus, Al-Bab and Azaz (cities located in the safe zone — Editor's note), efforts had been made to stem irregular migration towards Turkey, he said.

However, Human Rights Watch recently documented that these areas are anything but safe.

"Turkey has failed to ensure the safety and well-being of the civilian population. Instead, the lives of the region's 1.4 million residents are marked by lawlessness and insecurity," HRW said in a report.

"Turkey has always used Syrian refugees as a political pawn, whether through its EU-Turkey deal and the billions of euros associated with it, or to exert influence on the reorganization of Syria if the regime were to fall," said Starosta of Medico International.

However, as the Assad regime is well-entrenched, she believes this is highly unlikely for the time being. "Erdogan is currently using Syrian refugees to pursue his colonisation policy in the Kurdish regions," she said.

So for now, Hafis A. has no choice but to stay in Idlib city.

But he refuses to give up hope. "Syrians have to start all over again so often and this makes us tired. I would love to go back to Turkey."

Syria's nightmare continues 1 year after deadly earthquakes  02:47

Elmas Topcu contributed to this article, which was originally written in German.

UN, Taliban talks: Why are Afghan women not invited?

Hussain Sirat | Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi

Rights groups have criticized the United Nations for not having Afghan women at the table with the Taliban in Doha.



Rights groups have criticized the UN for not having Afghan women at the table with the Taliban

Image: Ali Kaifee/DW

A UN-led meeting with Afghanistan's Taliban is being held in the Qatari capital Doha, in which representatives from some 25 countries are taking part.

It is the third such meeting, but the first attended by the Islamic fundamentalist group which has ruled the war-torn nation since it seized power as US-led troops withdrew in August 2021.

The UN political chief who is chairing the meeting said it's not about granting recognition to the Taliban.

"This is not a meeting about recognition. This is not a meeting to lead to recognition... Having engagement doesn't mean recognition," UN Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters. "This isn't about the Taliban. This is about Afghanistan and the people."

Achieving sustainable peace, adherence to international law and human rights, as well as counter-narcotics efforts, among other things, are on the agenda of the talks, DiCarlo said.

The Taliban side has said it wants to discuss topics such as restrictions on Afghanistan's financial and banking system, development of the private sector and countering drug trafficking.
Why are rights groups criticizing the UN?

But rights groups have denounced the UN for not having Afghan women at the table with the Taliban in Doha.

Shabnam Salehi, former commissioner of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, said the third Doha meeting would be "inconclusive" without Afghan women's participation. She views the UN's approach toward the Taliban as "misguided."

Afghanistan: Girls still banned from secondary school

Faizullah Jalal, a professor at Kabul University, has slammed the exclusion of women from the meeting. "Omitting discussions on human and women's rights undermines the United Nations' credibility," he said.

His view is shared by Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. She warned that excluding women "risks legitimizing the Taliban's misconduct and irreparably damages the United Nations' credibility as a defender of women's rights and meaningful participation."

But the UN's DiCarlo said the two-day meeting, which started on Sunday, is an initial engagement aimed at initiating a step-by-step process with the Taliban.

The goal is to see the Taliban "at peace with itself and its neighbors and adhering to international law," the UN Charter, and human rights, she stressed.

"I want to emphasize — this is a process. We are getting a lot of criticism: Why aren't women at the table? Why aren't Afghan women at the table? Why is civil society not at the table? This is not an inter-Afghan dialogue," said DiCarlo. "I would hope we could get to that someday, but we're not there."

After drawing much censure, the UN has decided to hold a separate meeting with Afghan civil society in Doha this week.

Worries grow for mental health of Afghan girls under Taliban

Taliban banish women from almost all public life

Since seizing power, the Taliban have rolled back progress achieved in the previous two decades when it came to women's rights.

They have banished women and girls from almost all areas of public life.

Girls have been barred from attending school beyond sixth grade, and women were prohibited from local jobs and nongovernmental organizations. The Taliban have ordered the closure of beauty salons and barred women from going to gyms and parks. Women also can't go out without a male guardian.

'It is painful': Afghan hairdressers react to Taliban ban

In a decree issued in May 2022, women were also advised to wear a full-body burqa that showed only their eyes.

The oppression of women's rights means no country has so far officially recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's government. The United Nations has said recognition is almost impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place.
No recognition for the Taliban

Countries around the world have made any engagement with Afghanistan conditional on the Taliban improving things such as girls' access to education, human rights and inclusive government.

But the militant regime has so far not shown any signs it is willing to drop the hard-line policies.

Activists have said that achieving any meaningful progress at the meeting hinges on fair and transparent representation of all relevant groups, including women.

They also stress that the international community needs to immediately address the Taliban's grave rights violations.

Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said of the Doha meeting that "sidestepping critical human rights debates is unacceptable."

"Afghans, especially women, must be given spaces at the table to advocate on their own behalf," Rina Amiri, US special envoy for human rights and women's affairs in Afghanistan, wrote on the social media platform X. "Afghanistan's peace, security, and sustainability challenges cannot be resolved without their inclusion."

What's the situation like in Afghanistan?

The situation in Afghanistan remains dire. While initial fears of widespread violence have subsided, the country faces a multitude of challenges, from a crippled economy and restricted education to ongoing human rights concerns and a divided population.

The Afghan economy, already fragile before the Taliban takeover, has taken a significant hit. Frozen bank accounts and international sanctions, coupled with the exodus of skilled professionals, have plunged the country into a deep recession.

Poverty has soared, and international efforts to incentivize reforms based on improving human rights have yielded limited results, especially regarding women's rights.

Providing international aid still requires engagement with the Taliban, which most organizations and governments are reluctant to do.

Although the Taliban have shown no sign of changing their ways, the UN conference can still draw global attention to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Gaza hospital chief says after release he was tortured by Israel

Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – The head of the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital said on Monday after being freed from more than seven months of detention that he had been "tortured" by Israel.

Issued on: 01/07/2024 - 

A released Palestinian is welcomed by family and well-wishers at the Al-Aqsa hospita

l © Bashar TALEB / AFP



Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya was among more than 50 Palestinians released and returned to Gaza for treatment, according to an Israeli minister and a medical source in the besieged territory.

Salmiya said he was put through "severe torture" during his detention, which left him with a broken thumb.

"Prisoners are subjected to all kinds of torture," he told a press conference. "Several inmates died in interrogation centres and were deprived of food and medicine."

"For two months no prisoner ate more than a loaf of bread a day," said Salmiya.

"Detainees were subjected to physical and psychological humiliation."

The medical chief said no charge had ever been made against him.

Israeli forces detained Salmiya during one of a number of raids on Al-Shifa.

Three of the freed Palestinian prisoners arrive for a check-up at the Al-Aqsa hospital 

© Bashar TALEB / AFP

The hospital has largely been reduced to rubble by successive raids since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Salmiya and the other freed detainees crossed back into Gaza from Israel just east of Khan Yunis, a medical source at the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah told AFP.

Five detainees were admitted to Al-Aqsa hospital and the others were sent to hospitals in Khan Yunis, the source added.

An AFP correspondent at Deir al-Balah saw some detainees in emotional reunions with their families.

Israel's military said it was "checking" reports about the release.

However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir confirmed the operation when he posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Salmiya's release "with dozens of other terrorists is security abandonment".

Israel's military has accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a cover for military operations. It has raided Al-Shifa and other hospitals, and says it has found tunnels and other infrastructure.

The militant group, which has run the territory since 2007, denies the allegations.

The Gaza European hospital in Khan Yunis said the head of its orthopaedic unit, Bassam Miqdad, was also among those freed on Monday.

In May, Palestinian rights groups said a senior Al-Shifa surgeon had died in an Israeli jail after being detained. The Israeli army said it was unaware of the death.

The war started with Hamas's October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,877 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

© 2024 AFP

China's adopted children return from overseas to seek their roots

Dianjiang (China) (AFP) – At an empty concrete lot in southwest China, Loulee Wilson scoops a handful of stones into a bag –- a memento from the site where she believes she was abandoned as a baby.


Issued on: 01/07/2024

Loulee Wilson, an American college student, was born in China but given away by parents presumed fearful of violating the country's one-child policy 

© Jade GAO / AFP

Wilson, an American college student, was born in China but given away by parents presumed fearful of violating the country's one-child policy, under which families were punished for having additional children until the strategy was ended from 2016.

Soon after her birth, she was found outside a now-demolished factory in the town of Dianjiang, brought to an orphanage and later adopted by a couple in the United States.

Now 19, she is among a growing number of Chinese adoptees returning to their birth country to trace their biological parents and understand where they came from.

"If I (find them), that would be incredible. But I don't know if I'll be able to," she told AFP.

"It'll help me to find out more of my story."

Over 82,000 children born in China have been adopted by American families since 1999, according to State Department figures –- mostly girls, owing to a Chinese cultural preference for boys.

Corinne Wilson (R), Loulee's adoptive mother, founded The Roots of Love, an organisation set up to reconnect adoptees with relatives in China 

© Jade GAO / AFP

Many were handed over in the 2000s when Beijing more tightly enforced birth restrictions and laws around overseas adoptions were comparatively lax.

As those children reach adulthood, they are creating "very, very big demand" for reunions with their birth families, said Corinne Wilson, Loulee's adoptive mother.

She is the founder of The Roots of Love, one of a cluster of organisations set up in recent years to reconnect adoptees with relatives in China.

"There is a part of them that is proud to be Chinese," she told AFP.
Traumatic past

In June, the Wilsons set out to search for birth families in rural Dianjiang, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the megacity of Chongqing.

They handed out flyers bearing Loulee's and other adoptees' names, ages and photographs, and urged people who gave away children to provide DNA samples.

The Wilsons in June handed out flyers bearing adoptees' names, ages and photographs, and urged people who gave away children to provide DNA samples 

© Matthew WALSH / AFP

Finding a match is unlikely due to patchy record-keeping, language barriers, fading memories and local vigilance against potential scams.

And some communities are wary of dredging up the traumatic past hidden among the sleepy villages and rice paddies, where birth quotas were once zealously enforced.

Under the one-child policy -- in practice, a patchwork of varying birth restrictions -- couples in Dianjiang were often permitted a second child if the first was a girl.

But officials cracked down hard on unsanctioned births, threatening to demolish homes, confiscate farm animals and impose astronomical fines, villagers told AFP.

Under the one-child policy -- in practice, a patchwork of varying birth restrictions -- couples in Dianjiang were often permitted a second child if the first was a girl 

© Jade GAO / AFP

"We were forced into it. We didn't have a choice," said carpenter Yi Enqing, 57, who hoped to track down an infant daughter put up for adoption in the early 1990s.

"I'm scared she wouldn't accept us now. She must have some resentment in her heart," he told AFP at his sawdust-caked workshop.
Identity issues

In one village, a middle-aged man spat into a beaker while his wife tearfully recalled a daughter they last saw as a baby in 1990.

"I've looked for so long but can't find her," she said as a Roots of Love helper carefully sealed and packaged the saliva sample.

"I never wanted to send her away," she added. The couple requested anonymity to protect their privacy.

The samples are sent to a laboratory where their DNA is extracted and compared with existing databases.

If there is a match, The Roots of Love puts long-lost relatives in touch, such as last year when twin girls reconnected with their birth mother after a nearly two-decade separation.

Reunions can trigger complex emotions for adoptees, who experts say often struggle with mental health issues around identity and racial discrimination.

Reunions can trigger complex emotions for adoptees, who experts say often struggle with mental health issues around identity and racial discrimination 

© Jade GAO / AFP

"A lot of Chinese adoptees do express racial (or) cultural dissonance as a result of growing up in very homogeneous, white settings," said Grace Newton, a researcher at the University of Chicago who studies transracial and transnational adoption.

"It is losing your identity, your birth culture, your birth language, your biological family," said Cassidy Sack, an adoptee volunteer with the US-based Nanchang Project, which has matched dozens of birth families since 2018.

"That was the life you were supposed to live. And then out of your control, decisions were made for you, and you were taken to a new country."
Baby bust

China launched the one-child policy in 1979 amid fears its population would grow unmanageably large.

It is estimated to have prevented hundreds of millions of births, but has been condemned for enforcement that in some areas included forced contraception, abortions and sterilisations.

The policy was also blamed for driving up infanticide rates, spurring child trafficking and permanently skewing China's ratio of men to women.

It "caused serious mental trauma to many Chinese people", He Yafu, an independent demographer, told AFP.

Beijing officially eased birth restrictions from 2016, and Chinese couples have been permitted to have three children since 2021.

But the country's birth rate has continued to fall, leaving a diminishing number of young people to look after a soaring elderly population.

For the Wilsons, the search for Loulee's birth parents goes on.

"I just want them to know that I'm happy and healthy, and grateful for the life I'm living," Loulee said.

© 2024 AFP
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REST IN POWER

Albania's Kadare, whose novels defied dictatorship, dies aged 88

Tirana (AFP) – Acclaimed Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare -- an eternal bridesmaid for a Nobel literature prize -- died Monday of a heart attack aged 88, his editor and a Tirana hospital told AFP.


Issued on: 01/07/2024 - 

Survivor of totalitarism: Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare 

© Gali TIBBON / AFP/File
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Doctors tried to revive the writer when he was brought to the hospital with "no signs of life", but he was declared dead at 8:40 am (0640 GMT) local time, the hospital said.

Editor and publisher Bujar Hudhri confirmed his death.

Through the epic sweep of novels like "Broken April" and "The General of the Dead Army", he used metaphor and quiet sarcasm to chronicle the grotesque fate of his country and its people under the paranoid communist dictator Enver Hoxha.

Despite being branded a traitor by Albania's communist leaders when he defected to France in 1990, Kadare was accused by some of enjoying a privileged position under Hoxha, who cut the Balkan country off from the rest of the world.

It was an accusation he dismissed with withering irony.

"Against whom was Enver Hoxha protecting me? Against Enver Hoxha?" Kadare told AFP in 2016.

"The hell of communism, like every other hell, was smothering in the worst sense of the term," Kadare told AFP in one of his last interviews in October.

"But literature transformed that into a life force, a force which helped you survive and hold your head up and win out over dictatorship.

"Which is why I am so grateful for literature, because it gives me the chance to overcome the impossible," said the writer, who despite being visibly frail, was still working.

© 2024 AFP

Ismail Kadare: A bright light in Albania's darkest days

Tirana (AFP) – Novelist Ismail Kadare -- who has died aged 88 -- used his pen as a stealth weapon to survive Albania's paranoid communist dictator Enver Hoxha.


Issued on: 01/07/2024 - 

Albanian writer Ismail Kadare used metaphor and irony to reveal the nature of tyranny under the communist dictator Enver Hoxha 

© Gent SHKULLAKU / AFP/File
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His sophisticated storytelling -- often likened to that of George Orwell or Franz Kafka -- used metaphor and irony to reveal the nature of tyranny under Hoxha, who ruled Albania from 1946 until his death in 1985.

"Dark times bring unpleasant but beautiful surprises," Kadare told AFP.

"Literature has often produced magnificent works in the dark ages as if it were seeking to remedy the misfortune inflicted on people," he said.

He was often tipped to win a Nobel prize for his towering body of work which delved into his country's myths and history to dissect the mechanisms of totalitarianism.

Kadare's novels, essays and poems have been translated into more than 40 languages, making him the Balkans' best-known modern novelist.

The prolific writer broke ranks with isolated Albania's communists and fled to Paris a few months before the government collapsed in the early 1990s.

He wrote about his disillusionment in his book "The Albanian Spring -- The Anatomy of Tyranny".

Demanded his death

Born in Gjirokaster in southern Albania on January 28, 1936, Kadare was inspired by Shakespeare's "Macbeth" as a child and counted the playwright, as well as Dante and Cervantes, among his heroes.

Ironically, the dictator Hoxha hailed for the same mountain town.

Kadare studied languages and literature in Tirana before attending the Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow.

After returning to Albania in 1960, he initially won acclaim as a poet before publishing his first novel "The General of the Dead Army" in 1963, a tragicomic tale that was later translated into dozens of other languages.

His second novel, "The Monster", about townspeople who live in a permanent state of anxiety and paranoia after a wooden Trojan horse appears outside the town, was banned.

His 1977 novel "The Great Winter", though somewhat favourable towards the regime, angered Hoxha devotees who deemed it insufficiently laudatory and demanded the "bourgeois" writer's execution.

Yet while some writers and other artists were imprisoned -- or even killed -- by the government, Kadare was spared.

Hoxha's widow Nexhmije said in her memoirs that the Albanian leader, who prided himself on a fondness for literature, saved the internationally acclaimed author several times.

Archives from the Hoxha era show that Kadare was often close to being arrested, and after his poem "Red Pashas" was published in 1975 he was banished to a remote village for more than a year.

Kadare, for his part, denied any special relationship with the dictator.

"Against whom was Enver Hoxha protecting me? Against Enver Hoxha," Kadare told AFP in 2016 of the brutal, all-powerful ruler.

- 'Writers don't have to bow' -

Academics have often pondered whether Kadare was a darling of Hoxha or a brave author risking prison and death?

"Both are true," suggested French publisher Francois Maspero, who raised the question in his book "Balkans-Transit".

Writing such work under a government in which a single word could turn against its author "requires, above all, determination and courage", Maspero wrote.

"My work obeyed only the laws of literature, it obeyed no other law," Kadare said.

In 2005 he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize for his body of work. He was described by chief judge John Carey as "a universal writer in a tradition of storytelling that goes back to Homer".

The father of two reflected on his native Balkans in "Elegy for Kosovo" published in 2000, a year after NATO went to war against Belgrade to end Serbian repression in the predominantly ethnic Albanian province.

Speaking to AFP in 2019, Kadare said he enjoys seeing his name "mentioned among the candidates" for the Nobel, even if the topic "embarrasses" him.

"I am not modest because, in principle, I am against modesty," he said.

"During the totalitarian regime, modesty was a call to submission. Writers don't have to bow their heads."

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© 2024 AFP

Tree-less canopy walkway shines spotlight on Hungary graft

Nyírmártonfalva (Hungary) (AFP) – It should have been a forest canopy walkway -- but instead it is a bridge above an expanse of saplings and open fields.

Issued on: 01/07/2024 - 07:59

The walkway was built under an EU-funded, now corruption-accused programme 

© ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

The project in the Hungarian village of Nyirmartonfalva -- built under an EU-funded, now corruption-accused programme -- showcases the deep-seated problem of graft and waste as the country takes on the bloc's rotating presidency from Monday.

"It is a stunning visual representation of the process, which has been ongoing for more than a decade, of how Hungary has been stealing and squandering EU funds," Akos Hadhazy, an independent MP known for his anti-corruption work, told AFP.

Since nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's return to power in 2010, Hungary has fallen from 50th to 76th place in Transparency International's corruption perception index, ranking last among EU members in 2023.

During the same period, Orban's inner circle has grown spectacularly wealthy from public tenders -- from his confidant Lorinc Meszaros to his son-in-law Istvan Tiborcz who now control large swathes of the economy.

And Brussels has frozen around 19 billion euros ($20 billion) in EU funds earmarked for Hungary over alleged corruption in public procurement, among other issues.

The central European country claims Brussels is withholding the funds to pressure it over its self-described "illiberal" transformation and denies corruption accusations.
'No need' for a forest

The Nyirmartonfalva 80-metre (90-yard)-long walkway became infamous overnight last year after a report by investigative site Atlatszo went viral.

The report sparked a graft investigation and led to journalists, opposition politicians and even US Ambassador David Pressman to descend on the remote 2,000-people village near the Romanian border.

"Quite a view!" Pressman -- who has warned of corruption's "corrosive effect on democracy" and urged Hungary to address it -- wrote on X in January, posting photos of him at the site.

One of the whistleblowers, pensioner Zoltan Palfy, told AFP that some villagers still refuse to greet him on the streets, angry about their village's sudden notoriety.

Whistleblower, pensioner Zoltan Palfi, says some are angry about the village's sudden notoriety 

© ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

The structure's saga started when entrepreneur Mihaly Filemon applied for an EU grant under a Hungarian rural development programme to build a canopy walkway on his land.

After winning a pledge in 2021 to get 64 million forint (160,000 euros or $170,000), Filemon -- by then elected mayor with the support of Orban's Fidesz party -- proceeded with the construction.

But as inflation pushed up prices, Filemon decided to cut down the forest and sell the wood to finance the work -- resulting in the canopy-less walkway.

"There was no need to have a forest here. The forest will grow. As you can see, it has already grown," he told AFP when met at the walkway last week, pointing at the tree saplings now planted around the site and blaming the tender for not specifying a minimum height for the surrounding trees.

A 10-month-long corruption investigation, meanwhile, found serious irregularities -- including signs of collusion, overpricing and favouritism -- in the EU-funded, Hungary-managed development programme, under which the walkway and other projects have sought funds.

The probe was led by the country's anti-graft watchdog, the Integrity Authority, which was set up in late 2022 under EU pressure to prevent misuse of the bloc's funds.

The organisation has filed a criminal complaint, as it does not have the competency to wrap up the case itself. No money has as yet been given to Filemon.

Besides the financial losses, Filemon attributed his defeat in June's municipal elections to the scandal.

- 'Dummy institution'-

Graft fighter Hadhazy accuses authorities of "covering up" cases of top-level "systematic" corruption under Orban.

"In practice, only very exceptional corruption cases are prosecuted in Hungary," the opposition politician noted, adding that Fidesz's dominance over media limits potential electoral consequences on a national level.

"The propaganda machine can conceal 'inconvenient facts' from millions of people, or divert attention from them," he said.

Critics say few corruption cases are prosecuted in Hungary 

© ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

Hadhazy also dismissed the Integrity Authority as a "dummy institution" as it does not have power to prosecute.

Its president, Ferenc Biro, recently requested an extension of the agency's legal powers.

"I consider it imperative for the authority to be able to investigate corruption cases independently and to impose sanctions," Biro told AFP.

But critics think this is unlikely to happen.

Instead, investigative site Atlatszo and the Hungarian branch of Transparency International have both come under probe by a controversial new agency set up to curb foreign influence.

© 2024 AFP

UK govt, British Airways sued over 1990 Kuwait hostage crisis

London (AFP) – Passengers and crew of a British Airways flight who were taken hostage in Kuwait in 1990 have launched legal action against the UK government and the airline, a law firm said Monday.

Issued on: 01/07/2024

Hundreds of passengers on British Airways Flight 149 were taken to Iraq as human shields after Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990 

© / IRAQI TV/AFP

People on BA flight 149 were taken off the Kuala Lumpur-bound plane when it landed in the Gulf state on August 2 that year, hours after Iraq's then leader Saddam Hussein invaded the country.

Some of the 367 passengers and crew spent more than four months in captivity, including as human shields against Western attacks on the Iraqi dictator's troops during the first Gulf war.

Ninety-four of them have filed a civil claim at the High Court in London, accusing Britain's government and BA of "deliberately endangering" civilians, said McCue Jury & Partners.

"All of the claimants suffered severe physical and psychiatric harm during their ordeal, the consequences of which are still felt today," the law firm added.

The action claims that the UK government and the airline "knew the invasion had started" but allowed the flight to land anyway.

They did so because the flight was used to "insert a covert special ops team into occupied Kuwait", the firm added.

"We were not treated as citizens but as expendable pawns for commercial and political gain," said Barry Manners, who was on the flight and is taking part in the claim.

"A victory over years of cover-up and bare-faced denial will help restore trust in our political and judicial process," he added.

British government files released in November 2021 revealed that the UK ambassador to Kuwait informed London about reports of an Iraqi incursion before the flight landed but the message was not passed on to BA.

There have also been claims, denied by the government, that London knowingly put passengers at risk by using the flight to deploy undercover operatives and delayed take-off to allow them to board.

The UK government refused to comment on ongoing legal matters.

British Airways has always denied accusations of negligence, conspiracy and a cover-up.

The airline did not respond to a request for comment from AFP but said last year that the records released in 2021 "confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion".

McCue Jury & Partners had announced in September its intention to file the suit, saying then that the hostages "may claim an estimated average of £170,000 ($213,000) each in damages".

In 2003, a French court ordered BA to pay 1.67 million euros to the flight's French hostages, saying it had "seriously failed in its obligations" to them by landing the plane.

© 2024 AFP

'Sad', 'angry', 'scared': Hundreds protest against far-right in Paris after election results

Issued on: 01/07/2024 -

Hundreds of people take to the streets of Paris to demonstrate against the far right, which came out on top in the first round of early parliamentary elections. The demonstration follows a rally organised by the New Popular Front (NFP, Nouveau Front Populaire), the left-wing coalition that came in second.

01:16  Video by :FRANCE 24