The Azov Battalion: Extremists Defending Mariupol 

By The Switzerland Times
-March 16, 2022


A short video circulating the internet shows a screen in what is believed to be a Ukrainian military vehicle driving through a village in the Mariupol region. On a side street there are armored vehicles, on which a white letter “Z” is visible, the sign of Russian troops in Ukraine. Gunshots are heard and what appears to be a Russian vehicle opens fire.

The notorious so-called Azov Battalion, also known as the Azov Regiment, posted this video earlier this week on their Telegram channel. He announced that he had destroyed three Russian armored vehicles and four infantry fighting vehicles, and killed “many infantry”. Then he posted a photo of a dead man in uniform, believed to be a Russian general he had killed. It is difficult to verify these claims.

The city of Mariupol, which has 500,000 inhabitants, is mainly defended by the Azov Battalion. It is one of the places, along with the Ukrainian capital kyiv and the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, where Russia is waging its war particularly brutally. Since the beginning of March, the city has been besieged and subjected to violent bombardments. There is no electricity, little water and little food.

Many locals tried to flee

Siege of Azov in Mariupol

This is also where the Azov Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian National Guard and therefore subordinate to the Interior Ministry, has set up its headquarters. Its fighters are well trained, but the unit is controversial because it is made up of nationalists and far-right radicals. Its very existence is one of the pretexts Russia has used for its war against Ukraine.

Initially, Azov was a volunteer militia that formed in the city of Berdyansk to support the Ukrainian military in its fight against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Some of its fighters belonged to the small but active far-right Pravyi sektor (right sector) group, whose hard core was from eastern Ukraine and spoke Russian. Originally, they had even advocated the unity of the Eastern Slavic peoples: Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some were football ultras, others were active in nationalist circles. “In Germany,” explains Andreas Umland of the Center for Eastern European Studies in Stockholm, these groups would be described as free fellowships “which are organized neo-Nazi groups.

The Azov Battalion helped train civilians

Far-right overtones

Umland told TSWT that Azov was controversial from the start because of his emblem, which bears the Wolfsangel symbol. “The Wolfsangel has far-right connotations, it’s a pagan symbol that the SS also used,” Umland said. “But he is not considered a fascist symbol by the Ukrainian population.”

The Azov Regiment wants the Nazi-era symbol to be understood as stylized versions of the letters N and I, meaning “national idea”.
Incorporated into the National Guard

Andriy Biletsky, the 42-year-old founder of Azov, graduated in history from Kharkiv National University. He has been active on the Ukrainian far-right scene for years. In the summer of 2014, the modest forces of Azov took part in the recapture of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. It has been operating as a regiment since fall 2014 and, according to media reports, it had around 1,000 fighters before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with artillery and tanks.

The Ukrainian government decided to integrate ultra-nationalists into state structures in 2014.



In 2015 and 2016, a movement emerged which formed the political arm of Azov. Biletsky resigned as commander and created the National Corps party with veterans. However, he had little electoral success. Biletsky entered parliament by direct mandate but was not re-elected in 2019. He is currently believed to be fighting on the front line near Kyiv.

Mariupol has witnessed constant shelling since early March

Contacts with far-right movements

In 2019, the US Congress attempted to designate the regiment a “terrorist organization”, but that did not happen. Nevertheless, for years Azov maintained contacts with far-right movements abroad, including in Germany, according to the German government’s response to a related question from the Left Party parliamentary group.

Umland told TSWT that a myth had emerged around Azov because of Russian propaganda. He said volunteer fighters, including Azov, were accused of looting and inappropriate behavior in 2014.

“Normally we see right-wing extremism as dangerous, something that can lead to war,” Umland said. But in Ukraine it’s the other way around, he argued. The war had led to the rise and transformation of fringe camaraderie into a political movement. But their influence on society is overrated, he said. For most Ukrainians, they are fighters fighting an authoritarian aggressor.

This article has been translated from German.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer

Greek soldier in Russian Army: “I requested deployment in Mariupol, I defend my great and small mother nations”

by ATHENS BUREAU


An ethnic Greek soldier in the Russian Army explained the reason why he was currently in Sartana, a town on the outskirts of Mariupol in Ukraine’s east that was recently captured from Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.

A reporter for RIA asked the soldier: Are you really Greek?

Soldier: Yes, indeed I am.

Reporter: Do you know that you’re in a Greek settlement now?

Soldier: Not only do I know this, but it’s one of the main reasons I actively pursued to be deployed here… we’re here to help and defend both our great and small mother nations [Editor: a likely reference to Russia and Greece].

Reporter: Are you here as part of a group?

Soldier: Yes, we have already completed a part of our mission, just reaching this place. Thank you for the warm welcome and I wish us all good luck.

On March 2, the military chief of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, announced that Sartana was captured from the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Brigade who controlled the town since 2014 when a ceasefire was reached.

The Mariupol-based Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi unit of the Ukrainian Republican Guard, which falls under the command of the Interior Ministry, discriminated, persecuted and tortured non-Ukrainian speakers, including Greeks.

Only days before Russian troops started crossing into Ukraine, the Azov militants killed an ethnic Greek and shot another two only for speaking Russian.

Mariupol and its surrounding area, including the town of Sartana, is home to 120,000 ethnic Greeks.

After the capture of Sartana, Russian media spoke to an ethnic Greek who said: “As soon as the Russians came here, they immediately brought us help. Right now, immediately after the shootings stopped.”

“Now no one asks us if you are Ukrainian or Greek, about your origin, what language you speak,” they said.

“The Russians do not discriminate,” they continued, adding: “While the Ukrainians did, they forced us to speak only Ukrainian, although I do not know it at all.”

READ MORE: Greeks in Mariupol: “The Russians help us and don’t discriminate like the Ukrainians” (VIDEO)

The Azov Special Operations Detachment (Ukrainian: Окремий загін спеціального призначення «Азов»), or Azov Battalion, is a right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region.

In 2014, the regiment gained notoriety after allegations emerged of torture and war crimes, as well as neo-Nazi sympathies and usage of associated symbols by the regiment itself, as seen in their logo featuring the Wolfsangel, one of the original symbols used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

Representatives of the group say that the symbol is an abbreviation for the slogan Ідея Нації (Ukrainian for “National Idea”) and deny connection with Nazism.

Meanwhile, an ethnic Greek from the Russian city of Yessentuki in Stavropol Krai was killed fighting in Ukraine.

Born on January 19, 1995, Georgy Romanov was killed on the fourth day of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, specifically on February 28.

READ MORE: Ethnic Greek fighter in Russian Army killed fighting in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, the Greek Consul General in Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, reached the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine on Wednesday according to diplomatic sources available to Kathimerini. He will spend the night in the city as there is an ongoing curfew.

The operation to evacuate Androulakis, the last diplomatic official of a European Union member-state in the city, has been underway since Tuesday afternoon. He is travelling alongside members from the local Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) office.

This was the result of efforts by Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias who communicated with the leadership of the OSCE, the Red Cross, officials from the Vatican, and representatives from both Russia and Ukraine, to include Androulakis in a multinational convoy that includes over 30 people.

READ MORE: Russian Greeks provide humanitarian aid to the Greeks of Sartana (Mariupol)

Ukraine's economy is more than just wheat and commodities

Following independence in 1991, Ukraine's economic development was hamstrung by corruption, capital flight and a lack of reforms. Recent improvements are now being threatened by Russia's war in the country.

Its fertile black soil makes Ukraine attractive to agricultural producers and investors

Ukraine is one of the biggest countries in Europe, with a size of some 600,000 square kilometers (231,000 square miles) and a population of about 40 million. After it won independence from the former Soviet Union some 30 years ago, the country has been veering between economic and financial crises virtually all the time.

During the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, Ukraine could only be rescued from state bankruptcy with the help of a multibillion-dollar financial lifeline provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The economic upheavals following Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the cessation of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine again brought the country to the brink of economic collapse. Once more, the IMF jumped to Kyiv's rescue offering fresh credit in exchange for tough economic reforms. The strategy worked, at least until Russia attacked the nation in February this year.

Stuck on the road to recovery

The structural reforms imposed by the IMF over the past five years managed to bring down Ukraine's sovereign debt from more than a 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) to just over 50% in 2020.

Following a brief recession that year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine was back on the road to economic recovery with a growth rate of 3.2% last year. Annual GDP per capita reached $3,653 (€3,325) in 2020. By comparison, that of Russia is about $10,037, while Germany's stands at $45,733. 

The most important sector in Ukraine's economy is agriculture. Dubbed Europe's bread basket, the country is the world's biggest exporter of wheat due to its vast swathes of fertile soil that make up about a third of all arable land in Europe.

Grain and commodities

The second-most-important sector is mineral commodities. According to the Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) foreign trade lobby group, the sector's health is, however, strongly dependent on global market developments in steel, for example. Moreover, the GTAI said in a report published last fall the need for foreign investment in the commodities' sector was huge already before the war. 

In recent years, light industries and suppliers have become increasingly important thanks to Ukraine's comparatively low wages and its location close to the markets of the European Union.

Especially European automakers have made some investments in Ukraine in recent years, although the GTAI report noted that the country's manufacturers were still only loosely integrated in the industry's global supply chain.

Nevertheless, the current war has led to severe production disruptions among Europe's carmakers because Ukrainian deliveries of important parts such as cable harnesses have come to a standstill.

Black Sea port of Odessa a crucial hub

An essential hub for Ukraine's economy is the Odesa Marine Trade Port (OMTP), one of the biggest deep-water ports along the Black Sea coast. OMTP is capable of handling 40 million metric tons of bulk cargo and 25 million tons of liquid cargo annually. The port has ceased operations due to the war, though.

Conquering the idled Black Sea port of Odesa is a main objective of the Russian's

 military campaign against Ukraine

German company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) operates a container terminal in the Odesa port and shipped 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers from there last year.

"Odesa is Ukraine's biggest sea port. It's become even more important for seaborne supplies since trade routes via Crimea and the Sea of Azov have turned difficult to navigate," Philip Sweens, a senior HHLA executive, told DW.

Domestic consumption and foreign trade

Private domestic consumption has become a main pillar of economic growth in Ukraine. Rising local wages and remittances from Ukrainians working abroad have been boosting retail sales in recent years.

In addition, the information technology (IT) sector is flourishing on the back of growing numbers of students graduating from universities and colleges. Jobs in the transportation sector have also increased.

As far as foreign trade is concerned, the European Union is Ukraine's most important partner taking in about 40% of all of the country's shipments abroad. German online news portal Tagesschau.de wrote in mid-February that Brussels saw "huge potential" in expanding bilateral trade with Kyiv in the medium and long term. Out of a group of 30 minerals deemed critical for the future by the EU, Ukraine had at least 21, the portal said.

"The EU is interested in building a mineral and [electric vehicle] battery alliance with Ukraine," the report said, adding there was also an option to turn Ukraine into a supplier of hydrogen for Europe.

French government floats Corsican ‘autonomy’ as unrest jolts election campaign
FRANCE 24 

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has said it is open to discussing “autonomy” for Corsica in a bid to calm days of violent protests on the Mediterranean island with just weeks to go before France’s presidential election.

Graffiti calling for the release of Corsican nationalists Yvan Colonna, Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, pictured in Bastia on March 14, 2022.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin dropped the A-word as he set off for a two-day visit to Corsica on Wednesday, two weeks after a violent assault on a jailed Corsican nationalist triggered a wave of unrest on the île de Beauté (island of beauty).

“We are ready to go as far as autonomy. There you go, the word has been said,” Darmanin told regional newspaper Corse Matin, treading ground that has long been regarded as taboo in France’s highly centralised republic.

“The talks (on autonomy) will necessarily be long and difficult,” he later told BFMTV, adding that, whatever the result, Corsica's “future is fully within the French republic”.

With Macron seeking re-election next month, the offer from France's "top cop" was always bound to come under close scrutiny from rivals for the presidency, some of whom decried an opportunistic move.

Valérie Pécresse, the candidate for the conservative Les Républicains, blasted the president for “giving in to violence”, while far-right rival Marine Le Pen accused him of “cynical clientelism”. “Corsica must remain French,” she added.

“As always with this government, things need to turn ugly before it starts looking for solutions,” lamented Green Party nominee Yannick Jadot, who, along with most left-wing candidates, spoke in favour of autonomy for the Mediterranean island.

‘Statu francese assassinu’

Darmanin’s visit follows repeated outbreaks of violence at protests triggered by a savage prison attack on Yvan Colonna, one of a group of Corsican nationalists jailed for the 1998 murder of Corsica’s prefect, the island’s top official, Claude Erignac.

The interior minister said the convicted killer had been attacked by a jihadist fellow inmate after reportedly making “blasphemous” comments at their jail in Arles, in southern France. He described the assault, which left Colonna in a coma, as “clearly a terrorist act”.

Read more: Prison attack on Corsican nationalist reopens old wounds on restive French island

However, Corsican nationalists have blamed the French state for the attack on Colonna, regarded by many as a hero of the independence cause after he eluded capture for 1,503 days while hiding in the Corsican scrubland. They point to the French state’s longstanding refusal to transfer Colonna and his accomplices to a jail in Corsica, closer to their families.

French presidential election © France 24

Over the past two weeks, protesters have targeted government buildings and French symbols, including the national flag, marching under the rallying cry of “Statu francese assassinu” (The French state is an assassin). Prosecutors said some 102 people were injured on Sunday alone, 77 of them police officers, during clashes in Corsica's second-largest city Bastia.

The government has tried to soothe the anger by lifting the “special prisoner” status that barred Colonna and two of his accomplices from being transferred to a Corsican jail. But the move failed to placate protesters, for whom the belated announcement added insult to injury.

Spectre of armed struggle

Aside from the return of Corsican prisoners, nationalists have long clamoured for greater powers for the island and recognition of Corsican as an official language. Such demands remain highly sensitive in France, where politicians routinely tout the need to protect the country’s unity and national identity.

After decades of violent struggle, Corsica’s nationalists have embraced the democratic process over the past decade, hoping to advance their cause by peaceful means. But experts warn that patience is wearing thin amid mounting frustration at the lack of progress.

Protestors throw stones and flares at French gendarmes in Ajaccio, Corsica's main city, on March 9, 2022. © Pascal Pochard-Casabianca, AFP

Macron has previously said he is open to adding a specific mention of Corsica in the French Constitution, while rejecting more substantial demands for autonomy made by the island's nationalist leaders.

Gilles Simeoni, the nationalist head of Corsica’s regional council, said Darmanin’s words “open up prospects, but they must now be extended and firmed up”. He noted that autonomy is “common law for many European regions and especially for all the major islands in the Mediterranean.”

The island will need “strong signals before believing” change is on the cards, added Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, the head of the regional parliament.

An Ifop poll published by Corse Matin on Wednesday suggested that around half of French people would back autonomy for the region. The same survey found that 60 percent were opposed to full independence, which only some Corsican nationalists advocate.

In an ominous sign, the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), which carried out deadly attacks for decades before laying down its arms in 2014, warned Wednesday that it could resume its fight if Paris remained in a state of “contemptuous denial”.

“If the French state stays deaf... then the street fights of today will quickly spread to the hills at night,” it said in a statement to Corse Matin, referring to the 4,500 attacks it has claimed since the 1970s.

'Happiest man': Diebedo Francis Kere becomes first African to win Pritzker prize

The Pritzker Prize, architecture's most prestigious award, was awarded Tuesday to Burkina Faso-born architect Diebedo Francis Kere -- the first African to win the honour in its more than 40-year history.

© Carl Court, AFP

Kere, 56, was hailed for his "pioneering" designs that are "sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants -- in lands of extreme scarcity," Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation that sponsors the award, said in a statement.

Kere, a dual citizen of Burkina Faso and Germany, said he was the "happiest man on this planet" to become the 51st recipient of the illustrious prize since it was first awarded in 1979.

"I have a feeling of an overwhelming honour but also a sense of responsibility," he told AFP during an interview in his office in Berlin.

Kere is renowned for building schools, health facilities, housing, civic buildings and public spaces across Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo and Sudan.

"He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten," said Pritzker.

Kere won plaudits for his 2001 project for a primary school in Gando village, in Burkina Faso, where he was born.

Unlike traditional school buildings which used concrete, Kere's innovative design combined local clay, fortified with cement to form bricks that helped retain cooler air inside.

A wide raised tin roof protects the building from rains while helping the air circulate, meaning natural ventilation without any need for air conditioning.

Kere engaged the local community during the design and building phase, and the number of students at the school increased from 120 to 700, the Hyatt Foundation said in its release.

The success of the project saw the creation of an extension, a library and teachers' housing in later years.

© Provided by Al Jazeera The Lycée Schorge in Burkina Faso brought Diébédo Francis Kéré to global prominence. The architect made use of local clay, fortified with cement, in construction while the high roof allows air to circulate and keeps the building cool despite the heat [Francis Kéré via AP Photo]

'Natural climate'

Kere "empowers and transforms communities through the process of architecture," designing buildings "where resources are fragile and fellowship is vital," the statement add.

"Through his commitment to social justice and engagement, and intelligent use of local materials to connect and respond to the natural climate, he works in marginalized countries laden with constraints and adversity," the organizers said.

In Kere's native Burkina Faso, his accolade was hailed as a reminder that Burkina Faso should be known internationally for more than a violent jihadist insurgency that has gripped the country.

Groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State group have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.7 million.

"In the current pain of the security crisis, our country must remember that it is also the nation of exceptional men like Francis Kere," said Ra-Sablga Seydou Ouedraogo, of the non-profit Free Afrik.

© Provided by Al Jazeera Kere was also chosen to design the pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2017. The high profile commission is awarded to a different architect every year [File: Niklas Halle’n/AFP]

Nebila Aristide Bazie, head of the Burkina Faso architects' council, said the award "highlights the African architect and the people of Burkina Faso."

In 2017, Kere became the first African architect to design the Serpentine pavilion in London's Hyde Park, a prestigious assignment given to a world-famous architect every year.

He was also one of the architects behind Geneva's International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and has held solo museum shows in Munich and Philadelphia.

"I am totally convinced that everyone deserves quality," he said in his office, where he celebrated his award with his team.

"I'm always thinking how can I get the best for my clients, for those who can afford but also for those who can not afford.

"This is my way of doing things, of using my architecture to create structures to serve people, let's say to serve humanity," Kere added.

Iran nuclear deal 'close', Tehran frees captives as obstacles narrow



Richard Ratcliffe celebrates the release of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian who had been held in Iran since 2016, as he carries their daughter Gabriella following a press briefing outside his home in London 

(AFP/JUSTIN TALLIS)

Jastinder KHERA
Wed, March 16, 2022

Washington said Wednesday it was "close" to a deal with Iran on reviving a 2015 pact that saw Western powers provide sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme, the latest sign of advancement following prolonged deadlock.

Days after Russian demands seemed to jeopardize talks in Vienna over restoring the pact, this week has seen multiple positive signals that an accord may at last be within reach, including the release of two British Iranians Wednesday after years of detention in Iran, and word that outstanding issues have narrowed to just two.

The negotiations began last April between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, with the United States taking part indirectly.

Now a successful resolution appears more viable than at any point in years.

"We are close to a possible deal, but we're not there yet," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. "We do think the remaining issues can be bridged."

Speaking to reporters, Price declined to confirm Tehran's claim that there were just a pair of final issues to be sorted out, down from four, before agreeing to restore the six-party Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

But he said the issues are surmountable, although the 11-month-old talks "are at a very delicate stage."

"There is little time remaining given the nuclear advancements that Tehran has made" toward developing nuclear weapons that would undermine any agreement, he said.

The EU diplomat chairing the Vienna talks, Enrique Mora, told reporters last week that delegations were down to negotiating the footnotes of the text, but progress stalled when Moscow demanded guarantees that Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated Tuesday that Russia had received "written guarantees" from Washington.

- 'Relieved' -

That news was followed Wednesday by Iran releasing two British-Iranians, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, taken as another sign of diplomatic thaw.

"I'm relieved that the problems were solved" allowing Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, her husband Richard Ratcliffe told AFP at the family home. "The first thing she always wanted to do was me make her a cup of tea."

UK lawmaker Tulip Siddiq, who represents the north London district where Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family lives, tweeted a photo of her constituent smiling on board a plane.

"It's been 6 long years -- and I can't believe I can FINALLY share this photo," she wrote.

The increasingly positive signs have led some to hope the revival of the 2015 deal may be just days away, with one diplomatic source saying the process was on "the right track".

However, the same source warned that "we have to be cautious".

With good reason: negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme have been littered with missed deadlines.

The deal began to fall apart in 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it and went on to reimpose swinging economic sanctions on Iran.

That led Tehran to exceed the limits on its nuclear activity laid down in the deal.

Iran said Wednesday there were two remaining sticking points in Vienna, including an "economic guarantee" in case a future US administration repeats Trump's abrogation.

Another source close to the talks said the other issue was the status of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, which Washington has branded a terrorist organization.

- 'Too big to fail' -

According to analyst Henry Rome from the Eurasia Group, these problems are "unlikely to prove insurmountable".

"Both the US and Iran want a deal, and the latter probably used some diplomatic capital to persuade Russia to back off its confrontational stance," Rome added.

"It is now clear that Russia's tactical gambit to leverage the Iran nuclear deal to punch a hole in western sanctions regime over the crisis in Ukraine did not work," said Ali Vaez from the International Crisis Group.

Too much energy and political capital have been expended, and the deal "is now too big to fail," Vaez said.

As ever with the talks, there is always a possibility of last-minute complications.

"There may yet be some theatrics, with Iran trying to leverage high oil prices to win several additional concessions," said Rome.

In addition, on Wednesday the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report giving fresh details of advances in Iran's production of uranium metal, which could bedevil implementation of a deal.

anb-jsk-pdh/mlm/to

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe leaves Iran for UK after 5 years in prison, Boris Johnson confirms

2nd British-Iranian citizen Anoosheh Ashoori is also on his way home, says UK foreign secretary

Karim El-Bar |16.03.2022

Credit: https://twitter.com/TulipSiddiq

LONDON

British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is on her way home after more than five years in an Iranian prison, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Wednesday.

A second British-Iranian citizen, Anoosheh Ashoori, is also on his way home.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted: "I can confirm Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will return to the UK today … They will be reunited with their families later today.”

On Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American businessman and conservationist now serving 10 years for “contacts with the US enemy government,” Truss said he had “been released from prison on furlough … We will continue to work to secure Morad's departure from Iran."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK.

"The UK has worked intensively to secure their release and I am delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker, was arrested in 2016 after being accused of plotting to overthrow Iran’s government. She was in Iran visiting family, and has denied the charges.

Nevertheless, she was sentenced to five years in prison, spending four in Evin prison and a year under house arrest. As the end of her sentence neared, last April she was sentenced to a further year in prison.

Ashoori, 67, is a retired civil engineer. He was visiting his mother in Iran when he was arrested in 2017 on spying charges.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case has been extremely high profile in the UK, in large part due to the extraordinary efforts undertaken by her husband, Richard, to raise awareness and lobby for her release.

Her local MP Tulip Siddiq has also been extremely active, having lobbied five British foreign secretaries over the years to secure her release.

Siddiq tweeted: “Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home. I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I’m feeling like I have.”

Reports say Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment was linked to a £400 million ($523 million) debt Iran says is owed to them by Britain for an unfulfilled order of 1,500 Chieftain tanks.

Truss told Sky News today that the £400 million is a “legitimate debt” and that it is a “priority to pay the debt that we owe to Iran.”

The government has refused to confirm or deny if the debt has been paid.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, British woman held captive by Iran since 2016, is released

Alexandra Ma , Sinéad Baker , and Henry Dyer

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Family Handout / PA

A British-Iranian woman detained by Iran since 2016 was released on Wednesday, her lawyer said.

Iran accused Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe of being a spy. Her family and the UK deny this.
She was held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran's capital.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who had been detained by Iran since 2016, was released Wednesday.

As of Wednesday morning UK time, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in the air departing Tehran, due to return to the United Kingdom late in the evening via Oman.

Anoosheh Ashoori, another British-Iranian dual national held by Iran, was also released and on his way out of the country. He was sentenced to ten years in jail in 2019 and accused of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and "acquiring illegitimate wealth," claims that he denies.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss confirmed Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori's release Wednesday and said they were both returning to the UK.

Tulip Siddiq, the member of parliament for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's constituency, tweeted: "Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home. I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I'm feeling like I have."

Siddiq also posted this photo, which she said shows Zaghari-Ratcliffe traveling home:

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation — a charity that does not work directly with the news agency — was arrested in Iran in 2016 and accused of being a spy.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken at a Tehran airport in April 2016 when she was returning home to London with her young daughter after visiting her parents.

An Iranian court convicted her of spying, training journalists, and plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment. She, her family, and the British government have repeatedly denied the allegations.

She was held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, the Iranian capital. She was denied permission to seek medical attention even after she described finding lumps in her breast and being in a fragile mental state. Ashoori was also held in Evin Prison, his family said.

Truss said the release of the British nationals came "in parallel" with the settlement of a £393.8 million ($516 million) debt owed by the UK to Iran, which had been outstanding for more than 40 years since the Iranian Revolution.

The debt was created when the British government cancelled the delivery of military vehicles due to be delivered to the overthrown government led by the Shah of Iran. The terms of the agreement are confidential but the funds will be ringfenced for the purchase of humanitarian goods, Truss said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and the British government had been appealing for her release for almost six years.

Video shows BBC News presenter Joanna Gosling choking up as she announced news of the release.

In her Wednesday tweet, Truss also said Morad Tahbaz, a British-American wildlife conservationist whom Iran arrested in 2018 and accused of espionage, was temporarily released from prison in Iran. There has been no evidence to back Iran's claim about Tahbaz.

Citigroup to cover travel costs after US state abortion laws

Activists on both sides of the abortion issue collided in December 2021 protest in New York in connection with a Supreme Court hearing on a case that is expected to be decided this spring 

(AFP/Yuki IWAMURA) (Yuki IWAMURA)

Wed, March 16, 2022, 

Citigroup plans to provide travel benefits to workers who live in states that have passed laws to restrict abortion rights, such as Texas.

The big US bank said in light of "changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states," it will provide travel benefits to "facilitate access to adequate resources," according to a securities filing published Tuesday.

The document, prepared in connection with the bank's annual shareholder meeting in April, does not specifically mention abortion.

But the new policy comes as several US states enact new restrictions.

These include the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans abortions after a heartbeat can be detected in the womb, normally around six weeks -- before many women even know they are pregnant -- and which makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

In Missouri, a state lawmaker recently introduced legislation intended to block residents from traveling out of state for abortions.

The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are "certain or likely" to ban abortion if the US Supreme Court overturns the "Roe vs. Wade" decision later this spring in a ruling on a law in the state of Mississippi.

In 2021, 19 states enacted restrictions on abortion rights, the institute said.

Legal analysts believe the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, which protects abortion rights, could be overturned following recent court appointments.

At a December oral argument, the Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared largely sympathetic to Mississippi, but it was unclear how far a majority would go in striking down earlier rulings.

jum-jmb/to

RECYCLING, REUSING, REDUCING

Why second-hand electric cars are the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to drive

The UK is facing a fuel shortage crisis - and customers are turning to electric cars because of it. - Copyright Canva

By Nichola Daunton • Updated: 15/03/2022 -

News that petrol prices could hit £2.50 (almost €3) in the UK is making electric cars look ever more attractive.

Diesel may even reach £3 (€3.57) and need to be rationed, experts told MPs on Monday, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to drive up oil and gas prices.

As when the UK fuel crisis peaked in September last year, this means booming business for electric car sellers. Inquiries to electric car dealers have shot up over recent days as drivers seek alternatives to long petrol station queues.

Even before the fuel crisis, electric cars have been rapidly rising in popularity. 2020 saw record sales in the UK for electric vehicles, with 59,945 EVs registered. This rise comes ahead of the government’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars, coming into force in 2030.

Petrol prices soar: How can we accelerate the move to car-free cities?
These electric cargo bikes could be the answer to reducing traffic and pollution in our cities

EVs are only one solution to the wider energy crisis, of course. As climate charity Possible says, they’re trumped by e-bikes in the green transport stakes (see also: public transport, walking and regular biking).

But there are a number of environmental benefits to switching your petrol-powered one to an electric, especially when it's second-hand.

A sign during the UK's September 2021 petrol shortages.Frank Augstein/AP

Is the second-hand car market booming?

While the used car market saw a dip in 2020, the EV share of the market rose by 27 per cent. “It’s encouraging to see more used car buyers snapping up low-emission vehicles as supply grows – but those sales remain low as an overall proportion of the market,” says The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) CEO, Mike Hawes.

“We still need the right policies and incentives from government to give new car buyers confidence to choose the cleanest petrol, diesel and electric models that best suit their needs.”

Three quarters of UK drivers would buy a used electric car.

In great news for the EV industry though, a survey by Motorparks has found that three quarters of UK drivers would buy a used electric car.

Buying an electric car is much better for the environment as you can get around without producing any carbon emissions.

Richard Vogel/AP

Benefits of buying a used electric car

Buying a second-hand electric car has many benefits, not least saving money. With around 20 per cent of a new car’s value lost the moment you drive it away, buying a used EV is becoming more popular. Currently nearly three used cars are being sold for every new vehicle in the UK.

But besides cost and environmental savings, there are lots of other advantages.

These days, factory warranties are lengthier than ever, so longevity is better than it was in the past. It’s also possible to pick up a high-spec used EV. All those gadgets you pay extra for? The previous owner has already paid for them.

Around 20% of a new car’s value is lost the moment you drive it away.

The green benefits of electric cars stack up too. While walking, cycling or using public transport are always better for the environment, buying second-hand and going electric is still a great choice.

Air pollutants from EVs are very low when compared to petrol or diesel cars. Particle release still occurs from tyre wear and braking, but with no tailpipe there are no nitrogen oxide emissions.

With a rise in new electric vehicle sales, we will undoubtedly see an increase in used sales, fuelled by the petrol crisis and the ban on fossil-fuel models in 2030.Canva

Thanks to advances in technology, battery packs are lasting much longer too, which makes buying second-hand a safe option. Experts claim that an electric car battery won’t need to be replaced for 10 to 20 years, and can cover around 150,000 miles in its lifetime.

With a rise in new electric vehicle sales, we will undoubtedly see an increase in used sales, fuelled by the petrol crisis and the ban on fossil-fuel models in 2030.

A COUPLE OF LIBERALS GO MAGA

Dr. Oz’s Anti-Woke GOP Rival Has a Trans-Positive Past

Roger Sollenberger 

DAILY BEAST

David McCormick, the leading candidate in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary, claims he’s running to challenge “the weakness and wokeness that you see across the country.”

© Provided by The Daily Beast Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

But as McCormick and his allies ramp up their culture war crusade, it’s McCormick’s record as a former hedge fund manager—and the inclusive policies he championed while leading his company—that could quickly become a political liability in a rabid GOP primary.

That record isn’t stopping a pro-McCormick super PAC from going after his Republican competition for their past support of transgender rights, however.

A recent attack ad against McCormick’s big rival—pop surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz—is spotlighting the talk show host’s position on transgender issues, slamming him as a “Republican In Name Only” for engaging on the topic in the past.

The ad in question, called “Greatest Hits,” came from a pro-McCormick super PAC that wants viewers to believe Oz has a MAGA credibility gap—specifically when it comes to transgender issues. And it takes Oz to task for a show about raising transgender children that aired more than a decade ago.

The ad’s conceit is a review of “hit” records, where the “hits” are Oz’s previous positions. And the album cover that introduces the transgender TV segment is titled in the ad “TRANSGENDER KIDS.”

In the video, Oz sits onstage with a little girl and her mother and asks the child, “Do you remember when your parents thought you were a boy?”

The clip ends there, without the show’s additional context, which as the Associated Press noted included interviews with parents and a pediatrician about the broader experience of raising a transgender child.

But the super PAC has picked a curious topic for a fight.

As the former CEO of the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, McCormick boasted about his company’s inclusiveness, which extended to full paid coverage for gender transition surgery and earned a perfect score as an LGBTQ-friendly workplace. McCormick also wrote at length about Bridgewater’s diversity and inclusion programs more broadly, which he took credit for spearheading and nurturing.

Bridgewater’s website, which lists “the ability to be who you are” as one of its three “core values,” also showcased its diversity and inclusion programs, including transgender affirming groups. A dedicated diversity and inclusion team reported “directly to CEO David McCormick,” and in 2021 those issues became a “Top Strategic Priority.” (McCormick stepped down in Jan. 2022.)

“Given our mission to have the deepest possible understanding of global economies, we seek to find, retain, and grow the best talent across gender identity, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gained experiences, and more,” reads Bridgewater’s “diversity and inclusion” landing page, archived from Nov. 2020.

The diversity and inclusion page continues that Bridgewater has a “dedicated diversity and inclusion team reporting directly to CEO David McCormick, several affinity groups to empower our diverse communities, and a senior council charged with continuing to make Bridgewater a vibrant, inclusive community.”

OZ IS A QUACK :Dr. Oz: ‘Woke green agenda will not work scientifically’ (FOX News)

These kinds of corporate statements have been criticized as “virtue signaling,” a term conservatives often apply to liberals. And McCormick himself stated in an open letter about his “employee benefits journey” that he wanted Bridgewater’s programs to “signal our values.”

Still, the hedge fund was no pioneer in providing gender-affirming benefit programs. Bridgewater joined some of the largest U.S. corporations, including Starbucks, Salesforce, Amazon, and Disney—all of which conservatives have criticized as “woke.”

McCormick said he embarked on the overhaul in Jan. 2020, about a month after taking over as CEO. He didn’t want to “chase trends,” he wrote, but create programs “built for the long term.”

What emerged was a robust benefits program, with a focus on gender inclusivity. McCormick’s own highlights included equal parental leave for “all new parents regardless of gender or path to parenthood (with additional medical recovery time for those who give birth),” and fertility coverage for “anyone” who wanted to become a parent—be it “via IVF, adoption, and/or egg freezing which is especially important for LGBTQ+ families.”

(While McCormick used “LGBTQ+” in his open letter, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists uses “LGBTQ,” as does the advocacy group GLAAD in its media reference guide. The Daily Beast uses both acronyms.)

The super PAC behind the ads, “Honor Pennsylvania, Inc,” has already spent $7.7 million to boost McCormick. More accurately, the money has gone to attacking Oz.

The only available Honor PA campaign finance report covers through the end of 2021. According to the filing, the super PAC drew most of its initial financial firepower from billionaire Ken Griffin, another hedge fund maven and GOP megadonor, who ponied up $5 million of the $5,450,000 raised last year. The group’s next report is due mid-April, also the first filing deadline for the McCormick campaign. The primary will be held one month later.

But Pennsylvania MAGA purists may have to do some real nose-holding in that primary. Oz and McCormick are the leading candidates, and both entered the race recently, after Parnell’s departure. Both candidates have found their personal history at odds with right-wing grievances.

Oz caught backlash from conservatives after The Daily Beast reported in December that the daytime superstar had pulled an about-face on his stance on abortion. Honor Pennsylvania highlighted that move in multiple ads, along with previous Oz positions on so-called red flag gun laws and Obamacare. The super PAC also labeled Oz a “liberal RINO” because he “posted about Black Lives Matter on social media” and danced around with Michelle Obama and a bunch of kids on one of his shows several years ago.

McCormick’s perceived MAGA transgressions, however, appear more politically substantive.

The Keystone State native’s attempt to fashion himself as a populist clangs against his decade-plus corporate career.

As one case in point, he’s been forced to spin Bridgewater’s ties to China—which run $5 billion deep—as an asset, not a liability. The New York Times also reported that McCormick has knocked the America First worldview, endorsed Democrat Amy McGrath during her 2020 challenge against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (though the MAGAworld often hates McConnell), called the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol “horrific” and “a dark chapter in American history,” and skewered Trump’s inner circle for having “no sense of how the world works.”

But now that he’s in pursuit of the MAGA dream, McCormick has hired three top Trump advisers: Cliff Sims, Hope Hicks, and white nationalist Stephen Miller.

Oz spokesperson Brittany Yanick provided a statement saying that McCormick “doesn’t have a conservative bone in his body.”

"While Wall Street Insider David McCormick touts himself as a ‘conservative,’ he has a history of betting millions on China to succeed, ripping off PA taxpayers, and offering employee benefits packages that included full coverage for transgender surgeries. Now he’s flip-flopping and railing against the ‘woke mob,’” the statement said. “David McCormick doesn’t have a conservative bone in his body and Pennsylvanians aren’t falling for his repeated attempts to take Dr. Oz out of context.”

A McCormick spokesperson referred The Daily Beast to Honor Pennsylvania, citing the fact that candidates cannot coordinate with super PACs. (This rule does not apply to public comments generally.) The next day, ahead of publication, the spokesperson asked whether The Daily Beast had been in touch with the super PAC.

Honor Pennsylvania did not reply to a request for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

FASCIST UNITY

Spain: Vox signs historic pact with People’s Party to enter regional government for first time

The new coalition promises to guarantee the rights of parents to

decide on the education of their children

March 12, 2022

editor: REMIX NEWS

author: JOHN CODY

Santiago Abascal, leader of the conservative Vox Party, addresses supporters 

outside the party headquarters. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

Spain’s right-wing populist party Vox will soon experience its first taste of government after agreeing to a regional coalition with the conservative People’s Party (PP) in the Castilla y Leon autonomous community in northwestern Spain.

Announced on Thursday, the agreement will see PP candidate Alfonso Fernández Mañueco sworn in as president of the Junta de Castilla y León, while the party ceded the presidency of the bicameral legislative chamber, three ministries, and the vice-presidency of the government to Vox.

It is an agreement “satisfactory” for Spain’s People’s Party (PP) and “historic” for Vox, writes El Confidencial, which sees both parties sign a program agreement committing to measures aimed at improving the countryside and improving opportunities for young people and families.

Among other things, the agreement promises to pass a “law to combat domestic violence” to protect “all” victims. In fact, one of the main points calls for “eliminating any type of discrimination in the care for victims of domestic violence.”

PP and Vox pledge to extend this “protection” to “minor, elderly” and “people with disabilities or vulnerable individuals.”

Further policy agreements will be discussed and outlined in the coming days, with PP and Vox both committing to promote “orderly immigration” in the region. They will however call for “cultural, economic and social integration” and vow to fight “against the illegal mafias.” However, Vox’s appeal which called for greater collaborating between government and authorities to expel illegal immigrants does not appear in the final text, nor does the government agreement contain any reference to Vox’s intention to repeal the Law of Historical and Democratic Memory of Castilla y León.

Parental rights in education will strengthen

The declared commitments of the two parties also focuses on educational legislation, with the newly-formed coalition government promising to guarantee free education from 0 to 3 years of age, and also to agree to protect “the inalienable right of parents to decide on the education of their children,” although without specifying how this would work. The objective is that parents should decide whether or not their children would attend certain discussions, workshops, or activities, for example, those related to “gender ideology” or sex education.

In addition, PP and Vox will defend an educational model “based on merit, effort, and ability,” which is “free of ideological indoctrination.”

The document also includes various commitments to support the family as a “basic institution of society.” It promotes a policy of low taxation, with the promise of reducing regional taxes, and defends the “re-industrialization and use of the region’s resources.”

Lastly, the future coalition government in Castilla y León has also committed to “protecting” local products against “unfair competition” as well as promoting the agri-food industry as a key to consolidating the population in rural areas to fight against depopulation.