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Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Childhood adversity is a 'cause of causes' of adult illnesses and mental health problems
Robert Maunder, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
Jon Hunter, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
- The Conversation
Every day we are exposed to things like pollution and ultraviolet light which increase our risk of illness. Many people take on additional risks — due to tobacco smoke, fast food or alcohol, for example.
But there is a less-recogized exposure that is even more common than smoking and increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, sexually transmitted infections, chronic pain, mental illness and reduces one’s life by as much as 20 years.
This public health hazard that hides in plain sight is childhood adversity: experiences like physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.
Childhood adversity is common
In Canada, one child in three is physically or sexually abused or witnesses violence between adults in their home. Other adversities such as emotional neglect, living in an unsafe neighbourhood or experiencing prejudice and bullying are even more common. Studies in the United States show about 60 per cent of children and teenagers have these adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The more severe the exposure, the greater the health risk.
The reason that ACEs contribute to so many diseases is that they are associated with many things that trigger other causes of disease. Think of ACEs as a “cause of causes.”
Health risk behaviours and physiological changes
As kids who have had adverse experiences grow up, they are more likely to smoke, to drink excessively and to use nonprescription drugs. They are more likely to engage in risky sexual activities and to become obese. Not all kids with ACEs take on risky activities, of course, but enough to contribute to ACEs’ health consequences.
Growing up in conditions that are consistently frightening or stressful affects the biology of developing bodies, especially the development of the systems that regulate our reactions to threats, from predators to viruses. ACEs are even associated with changes in our chromosomes that are linked to early mortality.
Interpersonal and psychological effects
As psychiatrists for adults who experience physical and mental illness in combination, our patients often tell us about the personal impact of ACEs. One man said he did not “have even the slightest shadow of a doubt that a loss of human connection is the most substantial negative impact” of these experiences. The health costs of human disconnection are profound. Indeed, lacking interpersonal support may hasten mortality as much or more than smoking, excessive drinking, inactivity, obesity or untreated high blood pressure.
The psychological effects of ACEs may be more obvious and can include fearful expectations, a conviction that one is unworthy of love or protection, unregulated anger or shame and discombobulating memories of bad events.
© (Shutterstock
How a difficult childhood makes it more likely you’ll have mental and physical health problems as an adult
Robert Maunder receives funding from Sinai Health and the University of Toronto as Chair of Health and Behaviour at Sinai Health and receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.
Jon Hunter receives funding from Sinai Health and is The Pencer Family Chair in Applied General Psychiatry at Sinai Health. He receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.
Every day we are exposed to things like pollution and ultraviolet light which increase our risk of illness. Many people take on additional risks — due to tobacco smoke, fast food or alcohol, for example.
But there is a less-recogized exposure that is even more common than smoking and increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, sexually transmitted infections, chronic pain, mental illness and reduces one’s life by as much as 20 years.
This public health hazard that hides in plain sight is childhood adversity: experiences like physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.
Childhood adversity is common
In Canada, one child in three is physically or sexually abused or witnesses violence between adults in their home. Other adversities such as emotional neglect, living in an unsafe neighbourhood or experiencing prejudice and bullying are even more common. Studies in the United States show about 60 per cent of children and teenagers have these adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The more severe the exposure, the greater the health risk.
The reason that ACEs contribute to so many diseases is that they are associated with many things that trigger other causes of disease. Think of ACEs as a “cause of causes.”
Health risk behaviours and physiological changes
As kids who have had adverse experiences grow up, they are more likely to smoke, to drink excessively and to use nonprescription drugs. They are more likely to engage in risky sexual activities and to become obese. Not all kids with ACEs take on risky activities, of course, but enough to contribute to ACEs’ health consequences.
Growing up in conditions that are consistently frightening or stressful affects the biology of developing bodies, especially the development of the systems that regulate our reactions to threats, from predators to viruses. ACEs are even associated with changes in our chromosomes that are linked to early mortality.
Interpersonal and psychological effects
As psychiatrists for adults who experience physical and mental illness in combination, our patients often tell us about the personal impact of ACEs. One man said he did not “have even the slightest shadow of a doubt that a loss of human connection is the most substantial negative impact” of these experiences. The health costs of human disconnection are profound. Indeed, lacking interpersonal support may hasten mortality as much or more than smoking, excessive drinking, inactivity, obesity or untreated high blood pressure.
The psychological effects of ACEs may be more obvious and can include fearful expectations, a conviction that one is unworthy of love or protection, unregulated anger or shame and discombobulating memories of bad events.
© (Shutterstock
)ACEs greatly increase the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and addictions.
It greatly increases the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and addictions. The one in three adults who experienced childhood sexual or physical abuse or witnessed interpersonal violence at home have at least twice the incidence of these disorders compared to others.
And then the dominoes fall: mental illness greatly increases the likelihood, burden and consequences of physical illness. To give just one example, in the months after experiencing a heart attack, those who are depressed are several times more likely to die. So, we see that ACEs don’t only lead to one kind of trouble, but to many.
Social determinants of health
Finally, the burden of illness is not distributed fairly. Maintaining health is more challenging for those who are disadvantaged by poverty, lack of education, language barriers, discrimination and living with the continuing systemic harms of colonization and multi-generational trauma.
Childhood trauma has a complex relationship with these social determinants of health. On one hand, ACEs are not unique to marginalized groups and can occur across all strata of society. On the other hand, the risk of experiencing ACEs may be greater in some groups and the consequences of ACEs may multiply as social forces interact.
For example, childhood trauma is strongly associated with behaviours that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. About half of the people living with HIV have experienced childhood abuse. HIV is also more common in groups that face discrimination, including men who have sex with men, people who use injectable drugs, Indigenous people and immigrants from countries in which HIV is endemic.
Intersecting components of personal experience and identity attract stigma and discrimination, which in turn influences mental health, self-care and one’s ability to navigate a healthcare system that has multiple barriers and gaps. It is a complex web and ACEs contribute to this complexity.
A cause of causes
Events that occur in childhood may contribute to cascading health risks over one’s lifetime. There are so many paths to illness interacting with one another over decades and compromising health in so many ways, that it should be no surprise that childhood adversity is a profound public health problem.
It is time that we, as a society, recognized ACEs as the malignant force that they are. Those affected need to be treated with compassion and also with awareness of the long-lasting effects of early adversity on health. Research that helps us understand the lifelong impact of ACEs could help guide prevention of chronic illnesses and mental health issues in the many people who experience adversity during childhood.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.
Read more:
Recruiting more mental health workers won’t stop suicides. Preventing child abuse and neglect will
It greatly increases the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and addictions. The one in three adults who experienced childhood sexual or physical abuse or witnessed interpersonal violence at home have at least twice the incidence of these disorders compared to others.
And then the dominoes fall: mental illness greatly increases the likelihood, burden and consequences of physical illness. To give just one example, in the months after experiencing a heart attack, those who are depressed are several times more likely to die. So, we see that ACEs don’t only lead to one kind of trouble, but to many.
Social determinants of health
Finally, the burden of illness is not distributed fairly. Maintaining health is more challenging for those who are disadvantaged by poverty, lack of education, language barriers, discrimination and living with the continuing systemic harms of colonization and multi-generational trauma.
Childhood trauma has a complex relationship with these social determinants of health. On one hand, ACEs are not unique to marginalized groups and can occur across all strata of society. On the other hand, the risk of experiencing ACEs may be greater in some groups and the consequences of ACEs may multiply as social forces interact.
For example, childhood trauma is strongly associated with behaviours that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. About half of the people living with HIV have experienced childhood abuse. HIV is also more common in groups that face discrimination, including men who have sex with men, people who use injectable drugs, Indigenous people and immigrants from countries in which HIV is endemic.
Intersecting components of personal experience and identity attract stigma and discrimination, which in turn influences mental health, self-care and one’s ability to navigate a healthcare system that has multiple barriers and gaps. It is a complex web and ACEs contribute to this complexity.
A cause of causes
Events that occur in childhood may contribute to cascading health risks over one’s lifetime. There are so many paths to illness interacting with one another over decades and compromising health in so many ways, that it should be no surprise that childhood adversity is a profound public health problem.
It is time that we, as a society, recognized ACEs as the malignant force that they are. Those affected need to be treated with compassion and also with awareness of the long-lasting effects of early adversity on health. Research that helps us understand the lifelong impact of ACEs could help guide prevention of chronic illnesses and mental health issues in the many people who experience adversity during childhood.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.
Read more:
Recruiting more mental health workers won’t stop suicides. Preventing child abuse and neglect will
How a difficult childhood makes it more likely you’ll have mental and physical health problems as an adult
Robert Maunder receives funding from Sinai Health and the University of Toronto as Chair of Health and Behaviour at Sinai Health and receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.
Jon Hunter receives funding from Sinai Health and is The Pencer Family Chair in Applied General Psychiatry at Sinai Health. He receives royalties from the University of Toronto Press for Damaged: Childhood Adversity, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution.
WAR IS RAPE
Tigray fighters killed civilians, gang raped women: Amnesty report
A report by the rights group shines light on the extent of brutality perpetrated by Tigray fighters last year, with details about how women were gang raped inside their homes, including girls as young as 14 years old.
Horrific instances of rape have repeatedly come up in numerous rights reports
The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) deliberately killed dozens of people and gang raped women and girls in two towns in northern Ethiopia's Amhara region, Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday.
The rights group interviewed several people in two towns — Kobo and Chenna — who spoke of the brutal violence civilians faced in late August and September, shortly after Tigray fighters took control of the areas in July last year.
Summary executions in Kobo
Tigray fighters deliberately killed unarmed civilians, seemingly in revenge for losses among their ranks at the hand of Amhara militias.
Amnesty interviewed 27 people in the Kobo region, some of whom said Tigray fighters killed relatives and family members outside their homes. Others said they found bodies of local residents who had been killed execution-style — shot in the head or back.
One resident even described how people who had been shot in the head could not be recognized because their heads were so badly dismembered.
Horrific sexual abuse in Chenna
TPLF fighters around Chenna, a village in the Amhara region, raped dozens of women, often in their own homes. Fighters forced women to provide food and cook for them, according to the report.
Amnesty interviewed around 30 rape survivors in Chenna, some of whom said they were gang raped in front of their children. Amnesty also detailed horrific instances of fighters raping underage girls, some as young as 14 years old.
The report provided details of conversations with the survivors, with a 14-year old girl telling the rights group that she was raped in the courtyard, while her mother was raped inside the house.
She said her mother has been depressed since, and they don't talk about what happened.
"It is impossible," the young girl told Amnesty International.
Ethiopia's current state of affairs
The report is the latest example to account the extent of brutality that occurred during the war that broke out between Ethiopian government soldiers and militants in the Tigray region in 2020.
In December 2021, TPLF fighters said they were withdrawing from a number of areas in Ethiopia and returning to Tigray, after the Ethiopian military made a number of territorial gains.
Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Peace remains elusive
Just yesterday, the Ethiopian government said it was lifting the wartime state of emergency that was first imposed last November, after Tigray fighters seized a number of major towns.
The lifting of the state of emergency signals that the bloody conflict may be easing.
Atrocities committed may amount to 'war crimes'
A joint investigation by the United Nations and Ethiopia released last November said all parties, including Ethiopian soldiers, committed violations that may amount to war crimes.
The conflict has killed thousands of civilians, forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes, and left nearly 400,000 vulnerable to famine.
rm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)
A report by the rights group shines light on the extent of brutality perpetrated by Tigray fighters last year, with details about how women were gang raped inside their homes, including girls as young as 14 years old.
Horrific instances of rape have repeatedly come up in numerous rights reports
The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) deliberately killed dozens of people and gang raped women and girls in two towns in northern Ethiopia's Amhara region, Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday.
The rights group interviewed several people in two towns — Kobo and Chenna — who spoke of the brutal violence civilians faced in late August and September, shortly after Tigray fighters took control of the areas in July last year.
Summary executions in Kobo
Tigray fighters deliberately killed unarmed civilians, seemingly in revenge for losses among their ranks at the hand of Amhara militias.
Amnesty interviewed 27 people in the Kobo region, some of whom said Tigray fighters killed relatives and family members outside their homes. Others said they found bodies of local residents who had been killed execution-style — shot in the head or back.
One resident even described how people who had been shot in the head could not be recognized because their heads were so badly dismembered.
Horrific sexual abuse in Chenna
TPLF fighters around Chenna, a village in the Amhara region, raped dozens of women, often in their own homes. Fighters forced women to provide food and cook for them, according to the report.
Amnesty interviewed around 30 rape survivors in Chenna, some of whom said they were gang raped in front of their children. Amnesty also detailed horrific instances of fighters raping underage girls, some as young as 14 years old.
The report provided details of conversations with the survivors, with a 14-year old girl telling the rights group that she was raped in the courtyard, while her mother was raped inside the house.
She said her mother has been depressed since, and they don't talk about what happened.
"It is impossible," the young girl told Amnesty International.
Ethiopia's current state of affairs
The report is the latest example to account the extent of brutality that occurred during the war that broke out between Ethiopian government soldiers and militants in the Tigray region in 2020.
In December 2021, TPLF fighters said they were withdrawing from a number of areas in Ethiopia and returning to Tigray, after the Ethiopian military made a number of territorial gains.
Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Peace remains elusive
Just yesterday, the Ethiopian government said it was lifting the wartime state of emergency that was first imposed last November, after Tigray fighters seized a number of major towns.
The lifting of the state of emergency signals that the bloody conflict may be easing.
Atrocities committed may amount to 'war crimes'
A joint investigation by the United Nations and Ethiopia released last November said all parties, including Ethiopian soldiers, committed violations that may amount to war crimes.
The conflict has killed thousands of civilians, forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes, and left nearly 400,000 vulnerable to famine.
rm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)
Climate crisis: Mourning disappearing snow and winters
People living in snowy regions that are being transformed by global heating are experiencing ecological grief and anxiety. But could these feelings spur climate action?
Winter wonderland scenes like this could be a thing of the past in many places as the world warms
When people trek to glaciers today, it may not be to stand in wonder but to mourn their passing.
Glaciers across the globe from the US state of Oregon to the Swiss Alps have been sites for funerals as people eulogize once-mighty bodies of ice that have been pronounced dead.
In 2019, such a ceremony was held at Iceland's Okjökull glacier, said to be the first lost to climate change. Mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow in the next 200 years.
The psychological strain caused by the observable loss of iconic winter landscapes has been called "climate grief" by Panu Pihkala, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland specializing in eco-anxiety.
Though for decades communities have experienced "uneasiness and discomfort at the changes in seasons" due to climate change, this anxiety has shifted to a grieving as snow and ice visibly recede, Pihkala explained.
Grief over the loss of winter will spread more widely as global heating increases. The North Pole, that mythical winter wonderland in the Arctic, is warming three times faster than the global average. In the not-too-distant future, cultural representations of European and Northern American Christmases, with people bundled up in hats and scarves skating on frozen lakes or sledging down snow-covered hills, could be a thing of the past.
Solastalgia refers to the grief experienced at the disappearance of the world we once knew
But with the observable loss of glaciers and snowscapes, this solastalgia has transformed into what some researchers are also calling "ecological grief."
These eco-emotions are also driven by deeper material and cultural loss. Indigenous people in Alaska, for example, are experiencing real fear as melting sea ices threatens communities both with displacement and the loss of what polar researcher Victoria Herrmann called "a way of life passed down from time immemorial."
Climate change and cultural loss
For the Sami community, who live close to the Arctic Circle, snow is their lifeblood — especially in terms of their traditional reindeer-herding culture.
"If reindeer are not herded in hard snowfall or hard frost, the foundation of the whole livelihood fades away," said Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, a Sami cultural anthropologist at the University of Oulu in Finland, in a lecture on climate change and the Sami people.
"Climate change equals cultural change for many Indigenous people," he said ahead of the UN climate conference in 2021. Having lived the Sami way of life, Näkkäläjärvi said he sees "changes every day," including the loss of language due to climate-related displacement.
The disappearance of mountain glaciers from Kilimanjaro to the European Alps also has a peculiar psychological impact.
Indigenous communities like the Saami are hard-hit by losses due to a warming world
While there is a cultural attachment to mountains and their "multitude of different ecosystems," glaciers make these landscapes "unique in people's imagination," noted Giovanni Baccolo, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.
"Glaciers are literally another world," he added, "icons of mountains." But as they retreat it has "impoverished" our identification with mountain landscapes, Baccolo said. Once these ice caps melt, future generations will not draw alpine mountains "with a white hat."
Baccolo posts photos in social media comparing glaciers of today to a century ago.
"The retreat of glaciers is an extremely powerful symbol of the environmental consequences of climate change," he said. "It is undeniable that when we look at comparisons showing the drastic retreat of glaciers, we are overwhelmed."
Can activism help to process climate grief?
Losing winter landmarks such as glaciers has alerted people to the immediacy of climate change.
As the memorial plaque at Iceland's Okjökull glacier reads: "We know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it."
Sören Ronge, coordinator of Protect Our Winters Europe, a climate advocacy group based in Innsbruck, Austria, acknowledges "climate anxiety" but seeks to "engage people in speaking up for the climate and pushing governments for solutions."
Glaciers around the world are receding, as here in Indian Kashmir
For Pihkala, climate grief can lead to resistance, but this depends on the psychological resilience of the activists.
"If they feel anxiety and sadness, it often leads also to guilt," he said, describing the process of acknowledging that we all are participating in the climate emergency.
Baccolo believes witnessing the shocking pace of glacier melt has, at least, radically increased our awareness of the climate crisis and our contribution to it.
"We are sad," he said, referring to funerals for disappeared glaciers. "We see an incredible element of nature disappearing and we know that we have a role in this."
Edited by: Jennifer Collins
People living in snowy regions that are being transformed by global heating are experiencing ecological grief and anxiety. But could these feelings spur climate action?
Winter wonderland scenes like this could be a thing of the past in many places as the world warms
When people trek to glaciers today, it may not be to stand in wonder but to mourn their passing.
Glaciers across the globe from the US state of Oregon to the Swiss Alps have been sites for funerals as people eulogize once-mighty bodies of ice that have been pronounced dead.
In 2019, such a ceremony was held at Iceland's Okjökull glacier, said to be the first lost to climate change. Mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow in the next 200 years.
The psychological strain caused by the observable loss of iconic winter landscapes has been called "climate grief" by Panu Pihkala, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland specializing in eco-anxiety.
Though for decades communities have experienced "uneasiness and discomfort at the changes in seasons" due to climate change, this anxiety has shifted to a grieving as snow and ice visibly recede, Pihkala explained.
Grief over the loss of winter will spread more widely as global heating increases. The North Pole, that mythical winter wonderland in the Arctic, is warming three times faster than the global average. In the not-too-distant future, cultural representations of European and Northern American Christmases, with people bundled up in hats and scarves skating on frozen lakes or sledging down snow-covered hills, could be a thing of the past.
Eco-anxiety and climate grief
Climate grief is difficult to overcome because it anticipates a loss that often hasn't quite occurred, said Pihkalu. He notes that this year there was a lot of snow in Finland, but last year there was very little. This adds to an existing anxiety about wanting snow but not knowing whether it will ever come, a feeling that Pihkala noted has a specific word in Finnish, "lumiahdistus."
Climate grief relates to "solastalgia" — a combination of the word solace and the Greek word for pain, algos — a term coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the psychic pain caused by the loss of environments in which we find solace.
"As opposed to nostalgia — the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home — solastalgia is the distress that is produced by environmental change," wrote Albrecht and his co-researchers in a 2007 paper in Australasian Psychiatry.
Climate grief is difficult to overcome because it anticipates a loss that often hasn't quite occurred, said Pihkalu. He notes that this year there was a lot of snow in Finland, but last year there was very little. This adds to an existing anxiety about wanting snow but not knowing whether it will ever come, a feeling that Pihkala noted has a specific word in Finnish, "lumiahdistus."
Climate grief relates to "solastalgia" — a combination of the word solace and the Greek word for pain, algos — a term coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the psychic pain caused by the loss of environments in which we find solace.
"As opposed to nostalgia — the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home — solastalgia is the distress that is produced by environmental change," wrote Albrecht and his co-researchers in a 2007 paper in Australasian Psychiatry.
Solastalgia refers to the grief experienced at the disappearance of the world we once knew
But with the observable loss of glaciers and snowscapes, this solastalgia has transformed into what some researchers are also calling "ecological grief."
These eco-emotions are also driven by deeper material and cultural loss. Indigenous people in Alaska, for example, are experiencing real fear as melting sea ices threatens communities both with displacement and the loss of what polar researcher Victoria Herrmann called "a way of life passed down from time immemorial."
Climate change and cultural loss
For the Sami community, who live close to the Arctic Circle, snow is their lifeblood — especially in terms of their traditional reindeer-herding culture.
"If reindeer are not herded in hard snowfall or hard frost, the foundation of the whole livelihood fades away," said Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, a Sami cultural anthropologist at the University of Oulu in Finland, in a lecture on climate change and the Sami people.
"Climate change equals cultural change for many Indigenous people," he said ahead of the UN climate conference in 2021. Having lived the Sami way of life, Näkkäläjärvi said he sees "changes every day," including the loss of language due to climate-related displacement.
The disappearance of mountain glaciers from Kilimanjaro to the European Alps also has a peculiar psychological impact.
Indigenous communities like the Saami are hard-hit by losses due to a warming world
While there is a cultural attachment to mountains and their "multitude of different ecosystems," glaciers make these landscapes "unique in people's imagination," noted Giovanni Baccolo, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.
"Glaciers are literally another world," he added, "icons of mountains." But as they retreat it has "impoverished" our identification with mountain landscapes, Baccolo said. Once these ice caps melt, future generations will not draw alpine mountains "with a white hat."
Baccolo posts photos in social media comparing glaciers of today to a century ago.
"The retreat of glaciers is an extremely powerful symbol of the environmental consequences of climate change," he said. "It is undeniable that when we look at comparisons showing the drastic retreat of glaciers, we are overwhelmed."
THE FATE OF GLACIERS AROUND THE WORLDDeath of a glacierIceland paid tribute to its Okjokull ice sheet on Sunday, holding a funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change. Known as 'Ok' for short, Okjokull lost its status as a glacier in 2014. At Sunday's ceremony, mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow the same path in the next 200 years.
Can activism help to process climate grief?
Losing winter landmarks such as glaciers has alerted people to the immediacy of climate change.
As the memorial plaque at Iceland's Okjökull glacier reads: "We know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it."
Sören Ronge, coordinator of Protect Our Winters Europe, a climate advocacy group based in Innsbruck, Austria, acknowledges "climate anxiety" but seeks to "engage people in speaking up for the climate and pushing governments for solutions."
Glaciers around the world are receding, as here in
For Pihkala, climate grief can lead to resistance, but this depends on the psychological resilience of the activists.
"If they feel anxiety and sadness, it often leads also to guilt," he said, describing the process of acknowledging that we all are participating in the climate emergency.
Baccolo believes witnessing the shocking pace of glacier melt has, at least, radically increased our awareness of the climate crisis and our contribution to it.
"We are sad," he said, referring to funerals for disappeared glaciers. "We see an incredible element of nature disappearing and we know that we have a role in this."
Edited by: Jennifer Collins
West Bank: Settlers destroy 50 Palestinian olive trees near Salfit
Residents say Kafr al-Dik town is facing an ‘unprecedented attack’ by the Israeli occupation
A farmer passes in front of Israeli soldiers in lands seized by settlers near Salfit in the occupied West Bank (File/Reuters)
By MEE staff
Published date: 16 February 2022
Israeli settlers on Wednesday uprooted and destroyed 50 olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A greenhouse and water-draining facilities were also razed on land owned by the al-Dik family in the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit.
Rising settler violence against Palestinians in Burqa reignites struggle over land
Residents say Kafr al-Dik town is facing an ‘unprecedented attack’ by the Israeli occupation
A farmer passes in front of Israeli soldiers in lands seized by settlers near Salfit in the occupied West Bank (File/Reuters)
By MEE staff
Published date: 16 February 2022
Israeli settlers on Wednesday uprooted and destroyed 50 olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A greenhouse and water-draining facilities were also razed on land owned by the al-Dik family in the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit.
Rising settler violence against Palestinians in Burqa reignites struggle over land
Read More »
"Most of our 160 dunams of land is planted with olive trees, which are around four to six years old," Kanaan al-Dik, co-owner of the land, told local news outlet Maan.
"Despite that, we will replant it again, and we will not leave our land to them at any cost."
Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers demolished water-draining facilities and blocked roads leading to Kafr al-Dik, the town's mayor, Mohammad Naji, told Maan.
Naji said the northern part of the town is facing an "unprecedented attack" by the Israeli occupation, which he believes is planning to expand nearby settlements. Salfit is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and its residents regularly endure settler assaults.
Palestinians across the occupied West Bank have faced an "alarming" rise in settler violence in 2021, UN human rights experts said in a statement last year.
"We are witnessing the highest recorded levels of violence in recent years and more severe incidents," the statement said.
According to UN figures, 370 settler attacks led to damages to properties in 2021, up from 274 the previous year. A further 126 assaults caused casualties, compared to 84 in 2020. At the same time, settlement building has tripled from the previous year, with the approval of the construction of 4,000 new units, according to Khalil al-Tafkaji, a Palestinian expert on settlement and director of the map unit at the Centre for Arab Studies in Jerusalem.
Both authorised and unauthorised Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.
"Most of our 160 dunams of land is planted with olive trees, which are around four to six years old," Kanaan al-Dik, co-owner of the land, told local news outlet Maan.
"Despite that, we will replant it again, and we will not leave our land to them at any cost."
Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers demolished water-draining facilities and blocked roads leading to Kafr al-Dik, the town's mayor, Mohammad Naji, told Maan.
Naji said the northern part of the town is facing an "unprecedented attack" by the Israeli occupation, which he believes is planning to expand nearby settlements. Salfit is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and its residents regularly endure settler assaults.
Palestinians across the occupied West Bank have faced an "alarming" rise in settler violence in 2021, UN human rights experts said in a statement last year.
"We are witnessing the highest recorded levels of violence in recent years and more severe incidents," the statement said.
According to UN figures, 370 settler attacks led to damages to properties in 2021, up from 274 the previous year. A further 126 assaults caused casualties, compared to 84 in 2020. At the same time, settlement building has tripled from the previous year, with the approval of the construction of 4,000 new units, according to Khalil al-Tafkaji, a Palestinian expert on settlement and director of the map unit at the Centre for Arab Studies in Jerusalem.
Both authorised and unauthorised Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.
Saudi Arabia and India agree to expand military ties after landmark visit
Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair's visit to India underscores burgeoning ties between India and Saudi Arabia
Commander of Royal Saudi Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair (R) inspects the guard of honor prior to a meeting with India Army Chief General MM Naravane (not pictured) in New Delhi on 15 February, 2022. (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 15 February 2022
Saudi Arabia and India will expand their defence ties after a landmark meeting between Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair and Indian army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Indian media reported on Tuesday.
Mutair's three-day visit to Delhi, the first by a serving Royal Saudi Land Forces commander, underscored "a deepening bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries", the Indian defence ministry said.
Al-Mutair met the Indian chief of the Army Staff "for significant bilateral discussions and was briefed on security aspects," the statement said.
Mutair's visit comes 14 months after Naravane travelled to Saudi Arabia in what was then the first visit by an Indian army chief to the kingdom.
The Print, an Indian digital publication, wrote that the move "appears to represent the next step in the recent shift in relations between India and Saudi Arabia, a nation that historically had close ties with Pakistan".
"Rifts between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were previously reported in August 2020, over the Gulf state’s position on the scrapping of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir," The Print said.
Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a state formerly administered by India.
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against IranRead More »
Mutair's visit also comes roughly a week after Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Saudi Arabia's interior minister, travelled to Pakistan for what experts say was an attempt to win over Pakistan's military and diplomatic support in its fight against Houthi rebels in Yemen, where Riyadh is leading a military coalition in support of the government against the rebels.
On Tuesday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), based in Saudi Arabia, expressed deep concern for the plight of Muslims in India, following calls for genocide by Hindu right-wing leaders in January and the ongoing ban on headscarves in schools in the southern state of Karnataka. The OIC said the ongoing incidents of violence against Muslims indicated rising Islamophobia in India.
In the first three quarters of 2021, India became Saudi Arabia's second-largest trading partner.
According to the Indian government, ties with the kingdom are predicated on a string of common interests, including ending terrorism, economic development and tackling climate change.
"Defence diplomacy forms one of the major tenets of the overall relationship," the department of defence said.
News of a Riyadh-Beijing missile project is a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits
Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan saluting with Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan during a welcome ceremony in Tehran for the latter on 14 November 2016 (AFP)
By MEE correspondent
Published date: 12 February 2022
The recent news that Saudi Arabia is building ballistic missiles with help from China reopened a decades-old foreign policy debate among Iran’s political class.
On one side stand the reformists, who push for Iran to maintain ties with both western and eastern powers.
On the other, the hardline authorities, who in recent years have grown distrustful of the West and bet on alliances with China and Russia.
Tehran was included in China’s Belt and Road initiative last year, a 25-year agreement paving the way for Chinese investment in Iran, and authorities are working on a similar agreement with Russia.
But when CNN revealed in December that US intelligence officials had been briefed on large transfers of missile technology from Beijing to Riyadh, it was hard not to see the news as a setback for the hardline camp.
Satellite images indicate the Saudis are manufacturing ballistic missiles at a test site near Dawadmi, Saudi Arabia, with the help of China, according to experts. Planet Labs PBC/AFP)
The country’s arch-rival teaming up with one of its closest eastern allies was all over Iranian media.
Critics pointed out the “paradox” of calling China “Iran’s strategic partner” while it was helping Saudi Arabia develop ballistic missiles. The hardliners sought to downplay the news.
"China has relations with both countries without interfering in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we respect its preferences,” Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.
“We are not worried about the relationship between Beijing and Riyadh.”
But having prioritised ties with China and Russia, a reformist journalist who asked to remain anonymous fearing repercussions from authorities told MEE, “[the government] probably know that they are being discredited among the people.”
The country’s arch-rival teaming up with one of its closest eastern allies was all over Iranian media.
Critics pointed out the “paradox” of calling China “Iran’s strategic partner” while it was helping Saudi Arabia develop ballistic missiles. The hardliners sought to downplay the news.
"China has relations with both countries without interfering in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we respect its preferences,” Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.
“We are not worried about the relationship between Beijing and Riyadh.”
But having prioritised ties with China and Russia, a reformist journalist who asked to remain anonymous fearing repercussions from authorities told MEE, “[the government] probably know that they are being discredited among the people.”
‘Look East’
The two camps have long clashed over how Tehran chooses its allies.
One of the key slogans of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was "neither East nor West".
But hardliners including current president Ebrahim Raisi have abandoned that strategy, arguing that the West has proven untrustworthy and that Iran should focus on building alliances with China and Russia.
After the US withdrawal in 2018 from the historic nuclear deal between Iran, western powers, China and Russia, limiting Iran’s nuclear proliferation in return for the removal of sanctions, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran "should look east, not west”.
“Pinning our hope on the West or Europe would belittle us as we would beg them for favours and they would do nothing," he added.
Reformists, such as ex-president Hassan Rouhani, fear however that Iran will become a pawn in a modern-day cold war if it chooses sides and, instead, push to repair ties with the US and the West while nourishing relationships in the East.
It was Rouhani and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who steered Iran into the 2015 nuclear deal and a year later began the negotiations with Beijing that resulted in the 2021 agreement.
Zarif has argued that Iran can’t have one without the other, as US sanctions hinder proper implementation of the China deal.
The Raisi government returned this week to the fraught, indirect talks with the US in Vienna about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal. But negotiators have insisted they feel under no pressure to strike a deal, telling MEE in December the ball is “in America’s court”.
Meanwhile, authorities have emphasised they are channelling efforts into strengthening ties with the East.
But the news of the Riyadh-Beijing missile collaboration was a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits.
Should Iran worry?
The boost to Saudi Arabia's military will likely “raise the level of competition between Tehran and Riyadh”, an Iran-based foreign policy journalist told MEE.
Riyadh has faced restrictions on weapons sales from its traditional US ally since the arrival of President Joe Biden in the White House, and appears to be turning to Beijing as an alternative partner on missile defence.
Analysts diverge on how this will change the Beijing-Tehran alliance.
“I do not see this cooperation seriously damaging China-Iran relations,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at London-based Rusi think tank, told MEE. “Tehran is cognisant of China's policy of balancing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and favouring a de-escalation of tensions between them.”
“Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China in the missile sphere began in 1987 and has intermittently continued in the years that followed,” he added.
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Saudi Arabia is clearly concerned by the growing threat of Houthi missile strikes on its territory, he said, “and the timing of the latest announcements are aimed at creating a deterrent”.
“The big question is whether China responds by aiding Iran's ballistic missile programme,” said Ramani, “but it seems as if Beijing is more inclined to support Iran's right to modernise its military and pursue self-defence capabilities, while refraining from transformative military assistance.”
A former Iranian diplomat, speaking anonymously fearing attention from the authorities, is more concerned.
“This move not only helps Saudi Arabia redress the imbalance with Iran, which has so far had the upper hand in missile power, but also damages Iran's deterrence in this region,” he told MEE.
“It also undermines the traditional belief that Iran is… the only potential and reliable strategic partner for China in the Middle East.”
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against Iran
Pakistan has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between the Gulf kingdom and Iran. That might be about to change
Security officials and relatives attend a funeral ceremony of a slain policeman, who was killed in an attack in the border town of Chaman, Balochistan, on 28 January 2022 (AFP/Abdul Basit)
Saudi Arabia is clearly concerned by the growing threat of Houthi missile strikes on its territory, he said, “and the timing of the latest announcements are aimed at creating a deterrent”.
“The big question is whether China responds by aiding Iran's ballistic missile programme,” said Ramani, “but it seems as if Beijing is more inclined to support Iran's right to modernise its military and pursue self-defence capabilities, while refraining from transformative military assistance.”
A former Iranian diplomat, speaking anonymously fearing attention from the authorities, is more concerned.
“This move not only helps Saudi Arabia redress the imbalance with Iran, which has so far had the upper hand in missile power, but also damages Iran's deterrence in this region,” he told MEE.
“It also undermines the traditional belief that Iran is… the only potential and reliable strategic partner for China in the Middle East.”
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against Iran
Pakistan has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between the Gulf kingdom and Iran. That might be about to change
Security officials and relatives attend a funeral ceremony of a slain policeman, who was killed in an attack in the border town of Chaman, Balochistan, on 28 January 2022 (AFP/Abdul Basit)
By Sal Ahmed
Published date: 7 February 2022
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif arrived in Pakistan on his day-long visit on Monday looking to secure an ally.
Saudi Arabia, which has now been embroiled in its war in Yemen since 2014, is searching for military and diplomatic support in its fight against the Iran-aligned Houthis, particularly after the US pulled its Patriot missile systems from the country last year.
Imran Khan: The extended interview with MEE
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Pakistan, too, needs a friend in the region.
A recent attack by Iran-based Baloch separatists on a major Pakistani military base ended with many dead and wounded.
The Pakistani establishment is currently discussing how to respond to what it sees as Iran's efforts to destabilise the region by allowing the separatists to operate from within its borders.
It has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but analysts say that may be about to change.
Middle East Eye asked experts what Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want - and need - from each other.
Pakistan, too, needs a friend in the region.
A recent attack by Iran-based Baloch separatists on a major Pakistani military base ended with many dead and wounded.
The Pakistani establishment is currently discussing how to respond to what it sees as Iran's efforts to destabilise the region by allowing the separatists to operate from within its borders.
It has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but analysts say that may be about to change.
Middle East Eye asked experts what Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want - and need - from each other.
Firepower against the Houthis
Prince Abdulaziz is in Islamabad to test the waters and try to persuade Pakistan to take a harder stance against Iran, says Umer Karim, a visiting fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank.
The Saudis want help fighting the Houthis in Yemen, he told MEE. “Ideally, they want intelligence sharing and a Pakistani military brigade in Saudi Arabia, in a defensive role.”
'I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran'- Kamal Alam, the Atlantic Council
Muhammad Athar Javed, director general of Pakistan House, a think tank based in Islamabad, says Saudi Arabia's security situation looks bleak, with air defence capabilities running dangerously low since the US withdrew support.
In 2021, the Houthis conducted 375 cross border attacks on Saudi Arabia, including missile and drone attacks, according to US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking.
“They definitely want to stop Houthi missiles flying into Saudi airspace, because now Houthi targets are becoming more and more strategic, with oil refineries and oil fields, airports and shipping ports.
“Boots on the ground in Yemen would play directly into the hands of Houthis and their Iranian backers, and that's not what the Saudis want,” he added.
Halting recruitment
Another major point on Abdulaziz’s agenda is intelligence sharing.
The Saudis fear Iran will bolster Houthi numbers with mercenaries returning from the war in Syria, says Karim of RUSI, and feel Pakistan may be able to help.
“The Zeinabiyoun militia brigade is mainly made up of Shia Pakistanis recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” he told MEE. “They have been fighting for a while alongside government forces in Syria, but many of them have now returned,” says Karim.
He explains that Esmail Qaani of the IRGC is of major concern to the Saudis and Pakistanis. Qaani currently heads the Quds force, Iran's elite unit tasked with overseas operations, and is an expert in Afghan and Pakistani affairs.
Saudi Arabia fears Qaani could intensify recruitment of young Shia men in Afghanistan and Pakistan, pair them up with former battle-hardened Zeinabiyoun fighters and redirect them to Yemen, says Karim.
“The Saudis want Pakistan to stop any such recruitment processes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Previously when the Pakistani intelligence agencies noticed IRGC recruiting Pakistani Shia men for the brigade, they allowed it to happen, but now the Saudis would want the Pakistanis to stop that.”
Pakistan is likely to share such intelligence now, he adds.
“This serves a joint purpose, Pakistani intelligence has been keeping a close eye on returning mercenaries from Syria and if there might be any further efforts by Iranians to recruit more Shia men.”
Kamal Alam, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, says the Saudis also want more in the way of diplomatic support to pressure the Iranians to stop funding and arming the Houthis.
“Pakistan's civilian government has good links with Iran and is likely to be pressed by the Saudis to use their clout to reduce the current tensions.”
The Baloch question
Scarred by its own history of sectarian violence, Pakistan has previously been reluctant to play an active combat role against the Houthis in Yemen.
As the Balochistan insurgency drags on, however, that stance may be shifting.
In 2018, Pakistan sent a brigade of air defence experts, special forces and anti-mining operators to Saudi Arabia.
Waiting for peace in the Khyber Pass: Why Pakistan fears instability in Afghanistan
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Separatists have waged an insurgency in Pakistan’s vast southwestern province of Balochistan for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.
“Pakistan has its own issues with Iran these days,” says Alam. “Pakistan accuses Iran of harbouring Baloch separatist militants on its soil, from where they have been launching attacks against the Pakistani state.”
Pakistan has been losing on average five soldiers a day recently, says Alam, angering Pakistan's strategic community.
“I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran,” he told MEE.
What next?
What’s to come largely depends on how the situation develops in Balochistan, says Alam.
Pakistani soldiers have in the past conducted border security operations in Saudi Arabia, says Javed of Pakistan House, but not crossed into Yemen.
Instead of risking open conflict with Iran-backed militias, he told MEE, “I think Pakistan will limit itself to strategy, consulting and training roles.”
The country is in a bind, analysts agree. It has to appease the Saudis but keep enough distance from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while keeping a lid on tensions with Iran.
“Saudi Arabia's reputation is at stake,” says Javed, “that's why the desperation to approach Pakistan.”
Separatists have waged an insurgency in Pakistan’s vast southwestern province of Balochistan for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.
“Pakistan has its own issues with Iran these days,” says Alam. “Pakistan accuses Iran of harbouring Baloch separatist militants on its soil, from where they have been launching attacks against the Pakistani state.”
Pakistan has been losing on average five soldiers a day recently, says Alam, angering Pakistan's strategic community.
“I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran,” he told MEE.
What next?
What’s to come largely depends on how the situation develops in Balochistan, says Alam.
Pakistani soldiers have in the past conducted border security operations in Saudi Arabia, says Javed of Pakistan House, but not crossed into Yemen.
Instead of risking open conflict with Iran-backed militias, he told MEE, “I think Pakistan will limit itself to strategy, consulting and training roles.”
The country is in a bind, analysts agree. It has to appease the Saudis but keep enough distance from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while keeping a lid on tensions with Iran.
“Saudi Arabia's reputation is at stake,” says Javed, “that's why the desperation to approach Pakistan.”
Iraq: Ericsson employees may have paid bribes to Islamic State
Swedish company's CEO suggests payments were made for transport through IS-controlled areas in Iraq
A member of the Iraqi forces checks his phones as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the offensive to retake the last district held by Islamic State (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 16 February 2022
Employees of telecoms company Ericsson may have bribed Islamic State officials in Iraq, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.
The comments by Borje Ekholm caused the Swedish giant's share price to tumble in opening trading on the Stockholm stock exchange.
Speaking to Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri, Ekholm said people linked to his organisation had "paid for road transport through areas controlled by terrorist organisations, including ISIS.
"With the means we have, we haven't been able to determine the final recipients of these payments," he added.
The comments came in the wake of an internal investigation at Ericsson, as well as enquiries by state broadcaster SVT and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which according to the company found "serious breaches of compliance rules and the company's code of business ethics" with regards to vendors, employees and suppliers in Iraq between 2011 and 2019.
A statement by the company said it had found "evidence of corruption-related misconduct" which included "making a monetary donation without a clear beneficiary; paying a supplier for work without a defined scope and documentation; using suppliers to make cash payments; funding inappropriate travel and expenses; and improper use of sales agents and consultants.
"Payment schemes and cash transactions that potentially created the risk of money laundering were also identified."
The investigation also found violations of Ericsson's internal financial controls, as well as conflicts of interest and non-compliance with tax laws.
The statement said several employees left the company as a result of the investigation, which had faced internal obstruction, alongside other disciplinary actions. However, it added that "the investigation could not identify that any Ericsson employee was directly involved in financing terrorist organisations".
Probes into bribery
Ericsson released the statement following media enquiries into its internal investigation in 2019 about its conduct in Iraq, which was triggered by "unusual expense claims" from 2018.
However, the ICIJ said on Tuesday that some questions put to Ericsson by the leading investigative media group and SVT still remain unanswered.
"Despite the statement from Ericsson, the company has not addressed specific questions put to it by our journalists in relation to a wide range of corrupt behaviour in connection to its business in Iraq and elsewhere," ICIJ said, adding that a final report and their findings on the matter will be released soon.
SVT reported that Ericsson had addressed the violation of rules and business ethics in its statement. These included payments to intermediaries and the use of alternate transport routes in connection with circumventing Iraqi Customs, when IS ruled some of the transport routes in northern Iraq.
'Financing terrorism is completely unacceptable and something we do not allow at all'– Borje Ekholm, CEO, Ericsson
Ekholm, Ericsson's CEO since January 2017, said the company had spent “considerable resources trying to understand this as best we can" and had disclosed its findings with US officials.
"Financing terrorism is completely unacceptable and something we do not allow at all," he added.
In December 2019, Ericsson agreed to pay penalties totalling $1bn to settle a series of probes into bribery and corruption in Asia and the Middle East, after it reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
The probes, separate from the recent Iraqi one, were into Ericsson's conduct of bribing officials in countries such as China, Vietnam, Djibouti, Indonesia and Kuwait, over a period of time.
Mads Rosendal, an analyst with Danske Bank Credit Research, told Reuters that if the DoJ finds reason to look into the recent bribery allegations in Iraq, Ericsson may end up facing large fines.
"We believe the key is what may come out of the investigation and if there is any reason for authorities to have a closer look," Rosendal said.
Bloomberg reported that Ericsson shares dived by almost 14.5 percent on Wednesday afternoon, following the release of its statements on Tuesday evening - the company's biggest fall in a day since July 2017.
IS resurgence
IS has not regained territory since 2019, but a recent prison break attempt in Hasakah, northeast Syria, was yet another sign that the group still has weapons and loyal combatants.
In the nearby al-Hol camp, where Kurdish authorities hold women suspected of being IS members and their children, the group has assassinated detainees, beheading several people.
Eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed in January in an overnight attack by IS fighters against their base in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala.
The US State Department’s envoy to the US-led coalition battling the group warned last July that deteriorating economic conditions in Iraq and Syria are paving the way for IS to reconstitute.
Iraq: Kurds denounce 'unjust' oil and gas ruling as energy feud escalates
In unprecedented move, Iraq's Supreme Court orders Kurdistan region to cede control of all oil and gas to Baghdad
An Iraqi oil employee checks pipelines at the Bai Hassan oilfield, west of Kirkuk, 19 October 2017 (AFP)
By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 16 February 2022
The long-running saga of the Iraqi-Kurdish energy feud escalated late on Tuesday, when Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region hit back at an order by the country's top federal court for it to hand control of all of its oil and gas to Baghdad.
Earlier on Tuesday, the federal Supreme Court had ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand all crude oil in its territories and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government.
The KRG condemned the court ruling as "unjust", saying it "violates the rights and constitutional authorities of the Kurdistan region".
"The Kurdistan Regional Government will not forfeit the rights of the Kurdistan region as codified in the Iraqi constitution, and will continue its attempts to reach a constitutional solution with the federal government on this matter," read a statement issued late on Tuesday.
Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former KRG president, said in a statement that the move was an attempt to "antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq".
The court ruling declared all KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, including agreements on exploration, extraction, export and sales.
The KRG, officially recognised as an autonomous region of Iraq since 2005, has for decades been developing its oil and gas resources independently of the federal Iraqi government, passing its own oil law in 2007 to administer control of resources in its territory.
Abdulla Hawez, an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and researcher, told Middle East Eye that the Supreme Court's decision was very significant, as it marked the "first time in Iraq’s history that the top court... has ruled that the region’s oil and gas exporters are illegal".
A deal struck in 2019 between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil saw the KRG officially deliver 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, which is used to pay the salaries of civil servants and armed forces. However, the KRG has continued to maintain contracts with foreign oil companies independently of Baghdad - an arrangement that is now under threat.
"This will likely not stop the KRG from selling its oil, but it will make it more difficult to sell so it has to trade it at an even steeper discount," said Hawez. "This will increase the pressure on the KRG, which is already facing severe financial pressure."
A troubled relationship
Although there had long been tensions over the KRG's decision to independently sell its oil and gas, things deteriorated significantly after 2014, when the KRG's Peshmerga armed forces seized control of the city of Kirkuk after it was stormed by Islamic State (IS) fighters.
The KRG remained in control of Kirkuk and its lucrative surrounding oilfields until October 2017, when - in the wake of a controversial independence referendum in the Kurdish region - Baghdad's forces retook the city. Since then, the KRG has faced repeated economic crises - and government austerity measures have sparked a fierce backlash.
Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad
The ruling declared the Kurdish Regional Government's contracts with oil companies invalid, including exploration, extraction, export, and sales agreements
Workers walk past installations at the Basrah Gas company, at Khor al-Zubair in Iraq's southern Basra governorate, on 22 September 2021 (AFP)
By MEE and agencies
Published date: 15 February 2022
The top federal court in Iraq ordered Iraqi Kurdistan to deliver all of the oil it produces to Baghdad, calling the autonomous region's oil and gas law unconstitutional.
The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007, it created its own oil law that established how the region would administer the resources.
On Tuesday, the court’s decision stated that the Kurdish government must hand over all crude from the KRG and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government, represented by the oil ministry in Baghdad.
Iraq’s KDP isn’t after the presidency. It wants Kirkuk instead
In unprecedented move, Iraq's Supreme Court orders Kurdistan region to cede control of all oil and gas to Baghdad
An Iraqi oil employee checks pipelines at the Bai Hassan oilfield, west of Kirkuk, 19 October 2017 (AFP)
By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 16 February 2022
The long-running saga of the Iraqi-Kurdish energy feud escalated late on Tuesday, when Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region hit back at an order by the country's top federal court for it to hand control of all of its oil and gas to Baghdad.
Earlier on Tuesday, the federal Supreme Court had ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand all crude oil in its territories and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government.
The KRG condemned the court ruling as "unjust", saying it "violates the rights and constitutional authorities of the Kurdistan region".
'This will likely not stop the Kurdistan Regional Government from selling its oil, but make it more difficult to sell' - Abdulla Hawez, researcher
"The Kurdistan Regional Government will not forfeit the rights of the Kurdistan region as codified in the Iraqi constitution, and will continue its attempts to reach a constitutional solution with the federal government on this matter," read a statement issued late on Tuesday.
Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former KRG president, said in a statement that the move was an attempt to "antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq".
The court ruling declared all KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, including agreements on exploration, extraction, export and sales.
The KRG, officially recognised as an autonomous region of Iraq since 2005, has for decades been developing its oil and gas resources independently of the federal Iraqi government, passing its own oil law in 2007 to administer control of resources in its territory.
Abdulla Hawez, an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and researcher, told Middle East Eye that the Supreme Court's decision was very significant, as it marked the "first time in Iraq’s history that the top court... has ruled that the region’s oil and gas exporters are illegal".
A deal struck in 2019 between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil saw the KRG officially deliver 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, which is used to pay the salaries of civil servants and armed forces. However, the KRG has continued to maintain contracts with foreign oil companies independently of Baghdad - an arrangement that is now under threat.
"This will likely not stop the KRG from selling its oil, but it will make it more difficult to sell so it has to trade it at an even steeper discount," said Hawez. "This will increase the pressure on the KRG, which is already facing severe financial pressure."
A troubled relationship
Although there had long been tensions over the KRG's decision to independently sell its oil and gas, things deteriorated significantly after 2014, when the KRG's Peshmerga armed forces seized control of the city of Kirkuk after it was stormed by Islamic State (IS) fighters.
The KRG remained in control of Kirkuk and its lucrative surrounding oilfields until October 2017, when - in the wake of a controversial independence referendum in the Kurdish region - Baghdad's forces retook the city. Since then, the KRG has faced repeated economic crises - and government austerity measures have sparked a fierce backlash.
Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad
The latest argument also takes place against a backdrop of talks to form a new government in Iraq, following poorly attended parliamentary elections in October.
The KDP, the most powerful party in the KRG, has been in talks with the Sairoun alliance of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - which won the highest number of seats in October - over forming what Sadr has called a "national majority government".
The proposed alliance, which has also seen discussions with Sunni political parties, has excluded other Shia parties, prompting an angry response.
Taif Alkhudary, a researcher at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, told MEE that in the midst of all this, the court's move was potentially an attempt to "put pressure on Barzani, and it's also a means for the federal court to establish itself as an independent and important actor".
Whoever comes out on top in the government formation will be in charge of a country that is the second largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
The Supreme Court ruling came a day after France’s TotalEnergies struck a $27bn deal with Iraq that Baghdad hopes could reverse the exit of oil majors from the country. According to Reuters, Iraq expects the deal to be completed from March onwards.
Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad
The KDP, the most powerful party in the KRG, has been in talks with the Sairoun alliance of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - which won the highest number of seats in October - over forming what Sadr has called a "national majority government".
The proposed alliance, which has also seen discussions with Sunni political parties, has excluded other Shia parties, prompting an angry response.
Taif Alkhudary, a researcher at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, told MEE that in the midst of all this, the court's move was potentially an attempt to "put pressure on Barzani, and it's also a means for the federal court to establish itself as an independent and important actor".
Whoever comes out on top in the government formation will be in charge of a country that is the second largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
The Supreme Court ruling came a day after France’s TotalEnergies struck a $27bn deal with Iraq that Baghdad hopes could reverse the exit of oil majors from the country. According to Reuters, Iraq expects the deal to be completed from March onwards.
Iraq court orders Kurdistan to ship all oil to Baghdad
The ruling declared the Kurdish Regional Government's contracts with oil companies invalid, including exploration, extraction, export, and sales agreements
Workers walk past installations at the Basrah Gas company, at Khor al-Zubair in Iraq's southern Basra governorate, on 22 September 2021 (AFP)
By MEE and agencies
Published date: 15 February 2022
The top federal court in Iraq ordered Iraqi Kurdistan to deliver all of the oil it produces to Baghdad, calling the autonomous region's oil and gas law unconstitutional.
The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007, it created its own oil law that established how the region would administer the resources.
On Tuesday, the court’s decision stated that the Kurdish government must hand over all crude from the KRG and neighbouring areas directly to the federal government, represented by the oil ministry in Baghdad.
Iraq’s KDP isn’t after the presidency. It wants Kirkuk instead
Read More »
The ruling declared KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, which includes exploration, extraction, export and sales agreements.
This comes a day after France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Baghdad struck a $27bn deal in hopes of reversing the exit of oil majors from the country, Reuters reported. Iraq expected the deal to be completed sometime from March onwards.
Kurdistan leader, Masoud Barzani, described the federal court’s opinion as “purely political” and contrary to the Iraqi federal constitution. “The aim of it [the court’s decision] is to antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq,” Barzani, the leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, said.
“We hope that the governments of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will be able to overcome the obstacles and agree on the oil and gas file,” Barzani added in a statement.
Oil and gas are valuable to Iraq’s economy, which is the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In 2020, Iran produced less than two million barrels per day of crude oil, and that was a 40-year low, according to the US Energy Information Administration. According to The Law Reviews, if the Kurdistan region “were an independent country, the amount of oil and gas reserves would place it among the top 10 oil-rich countries in the world”.
The Kurdish region delivers 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, as per a deal between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil, AFP reported. The share is used to pay the salaries of Kurdish civil servants and Peshmerga fighters.
The ruling could reignite long-standing tensions, with Kurdish authorities unlikely to comply, given years of disputes over Baghdad's share of Kurdish petrol.
The ruling declared KRG contracts with oil companies invalid, which includes exploration, extraction, export and sales agreements.
This comes a day after France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Baghdad struck a $27bn deal in hopes of reversing the exit of oil majors from the country, Reuters reported. Iraq expected the deal to be completed sometime from March onwards.
Kurdistan leader, Masoud Barzani, described the federal court’s opinion as “purely political” and contrary to the Iraqi federal constitution. “The aim of it [the court’s decision] is to antagonise the Kurdistan Region and the federal system in Iraq,” Barzani, the leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, said.
“We hope that the governments of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will be able to overcome the obstacles and agree on the oil and gas file,” Barzani added in a statement.
Oil and gas are valuable to Iraq’s economy, which is the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In 2020, Iran produced less than two million barrels per day of crude oil, and that was a 40-year low, according to the US Energy Information Administration. According to The Law Reviews, if the Kurdistan region “were an independent country, the amount of oil and gas reserves would place it among the top 10 oil-rich countries in the world”.
The Kurdish region delivers 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget, as per a deal between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital Erbil, AFP reported. The share is used to pay the salaries of Kurdish civil servants and Peshmerga fighters.
The ruling could reignite long-standing tensions, with Kurdish authorities unlikely to comply, given years of disputes over Baghdad's share of Kurdish petrol.
Will the Europe-Africa summit help heal the rifts?
Four years after the last summit between the African Union and the European Union, leaders from both sides are to meet in Brussels from February 17 to 18. With relations strained, they'll have a lot to talk about.
EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and AU chair, Macky Sall, clearing details before the summit
The European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is leaving nothing to chance. A few days before the meeting between officials from the European Commission and the African Union, she flew to Dakar to personally clarify details with the Senegalese President and current AU chairperson, Macky Sall.
"Our two unions share the same vision of a common area of stability and prosperity. This summit must ascertain concrete ways and means to achieve it," von der Leyen said after meeting Sall. Signaling Brussels' goodwill, she added that the EU would mobilize €150 billion ($170 billion) over the next few years to help develop African infrastructure.
The EU needs the meeting to be successful because relations with the African Union have been frayed for a long time. The summit planned for 2020 fell through — officially because of the pandemic. Observers saw other reasons for the cancellation. "It was also a political signal," Nils Keijzer of the German Development Institute told DW.
The European Union is aware of the need to match China's help for infratructure building in Africa
'Colonial model' and 'vaccine apartheid'
The signal came from Africa specifically because the list of grievances from Europe's neighbors has grown long in recent years.
Economist Carlos Lopes from the University of Cape Town explained the consequences.
"We are still living a colonial model, where Africans are only exporters of commodities that are not transformed. There is a lot of frustration that pushes Africa to look for new partnerships that contribute to the industrialization of the continent," he told DW. China, Russia and Turkey have accordingly expanded their influence in Africa.
"Of course we have differences," the website Politico quoted AU Commission chief Moussa Faki as saying after a meeting with von der Leyen in 2020. They ranged from international criminal justice to the issue of sexual orientation, the death penalty or AU's role in African crises, Faki said at the time. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation. Many African leaders bitterly resent the lack of vaccines for even getting started on sufficiently inoculating their population, while Europe is already boosting its people. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called it "vaccine apartheid."
The EU is countering these negative views through a charm offensive and a lot of paperwork. "African countries and the AU would prefer the current agendas to be implemented and completed. The EU has put more focus on developing new ideas and strategies. That has sometimes caused some tension in the relationship," said analyst Keijzer
Africa wants an agreement with the EU on the production of anti-COVID vaccines
AU wants more of a say
Africa is not very excited about Brussels' many new plans. "The European Union has the right to develop and publish its own strategies. What we regret is that there is little consultation before the announcements, and that the implementation of these announcements often falls far short of expectations," said Lopes.
These issues are unlikely to play an official role at the summit. "Since the 2007 debates, the EU has tried to keep controversial issues like the Economic Partnership Agreements away from the summits. They want to focus on new strategies and initiatives", said Keijzer.
Nevertheless, the summit could help solve at least some of the problems, like the issue of vaccines. "Africa's interests include the agreement on vaccine production, better access to vaccines and a common structure for the partnership [between the EU and the AU]. And so far I think it looks promising; we are going to have those outcomes," Lopes believes.
For their part, the EU is keen to adopt a common vision with Africa for 2030. But whether the African side wants to embrace that is questionable.
This story was originally written in German.
HOW AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN ARTISTS CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF AFRICA
Jacques Majorelle: "Le marché aux dattes"
The French artist preferred to paint on black paper and experiment with glue-based distemper mixed with gold and silver powder. That enabled him to create contrasting metallic gloss effects, as seen in "The Date Market" above. The painting was created between 1940 and 1945 and depicts two date dealers talking to each other at a market in Marrakech.
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Four years after the last summit between the African Union and the European Union, leaders from both sides are to meet in Brussels from February 17 to 18. With relations strained, they'll have a lot to talk about.
EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and AU chair, Macky Sall, clearing details before the summit
The European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is leaving nothing to chance. A few days before the meeting between officials from the European Commission and the African Union, she flew to Dakar to personally clarify details with the Senegalese President and current AU chairperson, Macky Sall.
"Our two unions share the same vision of a common area of stability and prosperity. This summit must ascertain concrete ways and means to achieve it," von der Leyen said after meeting Sall. Signaling Brussels' goodwill, she added that the EU would mobilize €150 billion ($170 billion) over the next few years to help develop African infrastructure.
The EU needs the meeting to be successful because relations with the African Union have been frayed for a long time. The summit planned for 2020 fell through — officially because of the pandemic. Observers saw other reasons for the cancellation. "It was also a political signal," Nils Keijzer of the German Development Institute told DW.
The European Union is aware of the need to match China's help for infratructure building in Africa
'Colonial model' and 'vaccine apartheid'
The signal came from Africa specifically because the list of grievances from Europe's neighbors has grown long in recent years.
Economist Carlos Lopes from the University of Cape Town explained the consequences.
"We are still living a colonial model, where Africans are only exporters of commodities that are not transformed. There is a lot of frustration that pushes Africa to look for new partnerships that contribute to the industrialization of the continent," he told DW. China, Russia and Turkey have accordingly expanded their influence in Africa.
"Of course we have differences," the website Politico quoted AU Commission chief Moussa Faki as saying after a meeting with von der Leyen in 2020. They ranged from international criminal justice to the issue of sexual orientation, the death penalty or AU's role in African crises, Faki said at the time. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation. Many African leaders bitterly resent the lack of vaccines for even getting started on sufficiently inoculating their population, while Europe is already boosting its people. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called it "vaccine apartheid."
The EU is countering these negative views through a charm offensive and a lot of paperwork. "African countries and the AU would prefer the current agendas to be implemented and completed. The EU has put more focus on developing new ideas and strategies. That has sometimes caused some tension in the relationship," said analyst Keijzer
Africa wants an agreement with the EU on the production of anti-COVID vaccines
AU wants more of a say
Africa is not very excited about Brussels' many new plans. "The European Union has the right to develop and publish its own strategies. What we regret is that there is little consultation before the announcements, and that the implementation of these announcements often falls far short of expectations," said Lopes.
These issues are unlikely to play an official role at the summit. "Since the 2007 debates, the EU has tried to keep controversial issues like the Economic Partnership Agreements away from the summits. They want to focus on new strategies and initiatives", said Keijzer.
Nevertheless, the summit could help solve at least some of the problems, like the issue of vaccines. "Africa's interests include the agreement on vaccine production, better access to vaccines and a common structure for the partnership [between the EU and the AU]. And so far I think it looks promising; we are going to have those outcomes," Lopes believes.
For their part, the EU is keen to adopt a common vision with Africa for 2030. But whether the African side wants to embrace that is questionable.
This story was originally written in German.
HOW AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN ARTISTS CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF AFRICA
Jacques Majorelle: "Le marché aux dattes"
The French artist preferred to paint on black paper and experiment with glue-based distemper mixed with gold and silver powder. That enabled him to create contrasting metallic gloss effects, as seen in "The Date Market" above. The painting was created between 1940 and 1945 and depicts two date dealers talking to each other at a market in Marrakech.
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No Ukraine attack 'in the coming month' says Russia's EU ambassador
Vladimir Chizhov has ruled out an imminent attack on Ukraine. "There will be no escalation in the coming week, or in the week after that, or in the coming month," he told Die Welt.
Russia's ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov
Russia's envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, has rejected suggestions that his country is about to attack Ukraine.
The New York Times cited a US intelligence source as saying that Moscow was discussing this Wednesday (February 16) as a date for military action in Ukraine, which Chizhov denied in remarks published in German newspaper Die Welt.
What did Chizhov say?
"As far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that there will be no attack this Wednesday," Chizhov told Die Welt.
"There will be no escalation in the coming week either, or in the week after that, or in the coming month."
"Wars in Europe rarely start on a Wednesday," Chizhov added.
Moscow's ambassador to Brussels made similar comments in December.
Since then US officials have said their intelligence shows Russia could be planning to attack Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.
'So where's the evidence?'
Chizhov condemned the US allegations of a possible invasion of Ukraine.
"When you make allegations, especially very serious allegations against Russia, you also have a responsibility to present evidence. Otherwise it's slander," Chizhov said.
"So where's the evidence?" Chizhov asked.
He urged the West to take Russia's security concerns seriously, saying "when our partners finally listen to our legitimate concerns, a process of detente will not be long in coming."
"That would be in the interest of all Europeans from Lisbon to Vladivostok, but also of all other nations in the world," he added.
Russia has demanded that NATO restrict activities in Eastern Europe and promise not to give Ukraine membership in the alliance. The Kremlin has also demanded a ban on deploying weapons systems off Russia's borders.
sdi/jsi (dpa)
Vladimir Chizhov has ruled out an imminent attack on Ukraine. "There will be no escalation in the coming week, or in the week after that, or in the coming month," he told Die Welt.
Russia's ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov
Russia's envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, has rejected suggestions that his country is about to attack Ukraine.
The New York Times cited a US intelligence source as saying that Moscow was discussing this Wednesday (February 16) as a date for military action in Ukraine, which Chizhov denied in remarks published in German newspaper Die Welt.
What did Chizhov say?
"As far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that there will be no attack this Wednesday," Chizhov told Die Welt.
"There will be no escalation in the coming week either, or in the week after that, or in the coming month."
"Wars in Europe rarely start on a Wednesday," Chizhov added.
Moscow's ambassador to Brussels made similar comments in December.
Since then US officials have said their intelligence shows Russia could be planning to attack Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.
UKRAINE: WORKING JOURNALISTICALLY IN TIMES OF WAR
Staying calm in the face of war
A war always plays on people’s vulnerabilities, civil societies’ shortcomings and influences freedom of speech and democracy. And even after eight years of war, Ukrainian society stays calm and mobilizes itself. There is a new sense of unity. According to a poll, every third Ukrainian would fight to protect Ukraine’s integrity against a Russian invasion.
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'So where's the evidence?'
Chizhov condemned the US allegations of a possible invasion of Ukraine.
"When you make allegations, especially very serious allegations against Russia, you also have a responsibility to present evidence. Otherwise it's slander," Chizhov said.
"So where's the evidence?" Chizhov asked.
He urged the West to take Russia's security concerns seriously, saying "when our partners finally listen to our legitimate concerns, a process of detente will not be long in coming."
"That would be in the interest of all Europeans from Lisbon to Vladivostok, but also of all other nations in the world," he added.
Russia has demanded that NATO restrict activities in Eastern Europe and promise not to give Ukraine membership in the alliance. The Kremlin has also demanded a ban on deploying weapons systems off Russia's borders.
sdi/jsi (dpa)
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