FASCIST XENOPHOBIC THUGS 

Far right makes gains in Israeli municipal elections

Far-right and ultra-religious parties won key local elections and retained controversial mayors.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and his wife cast their votes in the second round of local council elections in Jerusalem November 13, 2018. Leon won reelection in municipal elections this week [Ammar Awad/ Reuters]

By Mat Nashed

Published On 29 Feb 202429 Feb 2024

Occupied East Jerusalem – Far-right and ultra-orthodox Zionist parties made significant gains in Israel’s municipal elections this week, raising fears among secular Israelis and Palestinians in Israel.

Analysts believe that liberal freedoms could be threatened in some cities and that discrimination against Palestinians – already having risen acutely following Hamas’s October 7 attack – could grow even more.

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Israel holds municipal elections; war on Gaza affects turnout and mood

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Israel approves plans for thousands of illegal settlement homes

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‘We resist silently’: Many Palestinians to boycott Israel’s municipal vote

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Jerusalem saw one of the largest victories for Israel’s far right, which captured a majority of local municipal seats. Centrist mayor Moshe Leon won a landslide victory to remain mayor.

But Leon will be at the mercy of the far-right bloc in the municipality, which could lead to significant tension with Jerusalem’s roughly 362,000 Palestinian residents.

“The municipal results are highly significant in disclosing ongoing trends,” said Daniel Seidmann, an Israeli attorney who specialises in legal and public issues in Jerusalem. “Indeed, the ultra-orthodox or extreme right wing won a majority, but they pretty much ran things [in Jerusalem] already.”

The majority of Palestinian residents in Jerusalem live on the east side of the city. The global community has considered East Jerusalem occupied territory ever since Israel annexed the city after capturing Arab lands in 1967. Since then, Palestinians in East Jerusalem have been permitted to participate in local elections, but not in a national vote.

However, most Palestinians in East Jerusalem boycotted the municipal elections to protest the occupation, as they have traditionally done in the past.

Liberal strongholds

In Tel Aviv, residents re-elected Ron Huldai for another term as mayor. Huldai has been the city’s chief executive for more than two decades, indicating that most voters were looking to protect liberal norms and spaces, according to Oren Ziv, an Israeli commentator and journalist.

In December 2022, Huldai was one of several mayors who opposed the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give far-right politician Avi Maoz authority over Israeli school curriculums. At the time, Huldai vowed not to let homophobia into the school curriculum and warned that Israel was becoming a fascist theocracy.

Ziv told Al Jazeera that residents in Tel Aviv previously blamed Huldai for gentrifying the city, which has made it unaffordable for many. However, many people still supported him in this election to thwart the advance of the right-wing candidates.

“Many people feel that the government or regime in Israel could affect Tel Aviv, and that Huldai is the only one that will stand up to them and to Netanyahu. People do worry how the right wing could affect issues like the education system and LGBTQ rights,” Ziv told Al Jazeera. The far right has been pushing to build more conservative schools.

In Haifa, a northern city where Palestinian-Israeli relations are believed to be better than in other mixed cities, residents are waiting to find out who will be their new mayor.

A run-off election between two relatively centrist candidates – former Mayor Yona Yahav and David Etzioni – is ongoing.

But the results in Tel Aviv and Haifa appear to be exceptions to the broader gains of right-wing candidates enjoyed across Israel.

Ziv said that many secular and left-wing Israelis did not vote because they were distracted by the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 30,000 people – the vast majority of them Palestinians – since the Palestinian group Hamas’s deadly attack on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7.

Hamas attacked communal villages in southern Israel, which were home to many left-leaning Israelis. Ziv said that the results reflect how right-wing Israelis were trying to advance policy agendas and mobilise supporters in the weeks after the attack, while more left-wing movements were still in shock.

“The results reflect who turned out to vote and who didn’t,” Ziv told Al Jazeera.

Boiling point?

Israeli far-right Mayor Yair Revivo was elected as the mayor of the mixed Palestinian-Israeli city Lydd, or Lod in Hebrew.

Palestinian citizens in Lydd say that Revivo has deliberately bulldozed Palestinian homes and overseen the immigration of far-right Jewish Israelis – including settlers from the West Bank.

Revivo, in tandem with Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has also armed Israeli civilians in Lydd with M16 rifles following Hamas’s October 7 attack, arguing that they need weapons for their protection.

“There is no support for the Arabs in the city from the mayor. He only supports extreme Israeli settlers,” said Khaled Zabarka, a Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist from Lydd.

Zabarka added that Palestinians fear Revivo will deliberately escalate tensions between Palestinian and Israeli residents in order to pressure Palestinians to leave the city, even though most are too poor to resettle elsewhere.

Seidmann believes that Jerusalem is also a powder keg that could explode at any moment. He said that the results from the election suggest that Mayor Leon will not be able to stop far-right officials from bulldozing homes, provocatively marching through Palestinian quarters of Jerusalem or inciting hate crimes.

“There will be times that the mayor will turn a blind and go along with acts that are absolutely reprehensible,” Seidmann told Al Jazeera. “It’s not because he is evil. It is because he is political.

“There is no benefit for him to go out of his way to stop them.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

British Airways profit soars six-fold

March 1, 2024

LONDON (AFP) – British Airways parent IAG announced yesterday that net profit surged six-fold last year, boosted by “strong” demand particularly from leisure travellers as the bounce back from COVID continued.

Profit after taxation jumped to EUR2.7 billion in 2023 from EUR431 million in 2022, the airline conglomerate said in a results statement, adding that revenues leapt by almost a third to EUR29.5 billion.

IAG, which also owns Spanish carrier Iberia, added that its “strong growth” was “underpinned by robust and sustainable demand”.

Operating profit before exceptional items nearly tripled to EUR3.5 billion.

The London-listed aviation giant added that it hired 13,000 new workers last year.

“In 2023, IAG more than doubled its operating margin and profits compared to 2022, generated excellent free cash flow and strengthened its balance sheet position, recovering capacity to close to pre-COVID levels in most of its core markets,” said Chief Executive Luis Gallego.

He added: “Our airlines operate in the largest and most attractive markets globally and we will continue to invest in our brands to transform the business, improve the customer experience and support the delivery of sustainable growth and world-class margins.”

Air France-KLM posts record profits, revenue despite tough end to 2023

March 1, 2024


PARIS (AFP) – Air France-KLM announced yesterday a record net profit of EUR934 million for 2023, despite a tough end to the year marked by operational difficulties and the war in the Middle East.

The Franco-Dutch airline group also reported record revenue of EUR30 billion, while adding that it had returned to positive equity for the first time since 2019.

Its profit result was a little below analysts’ expectations of more than a billion euros, according to forecasts compiled by Factset and Bloomberg.

The results, however, contrast with the nightmare of the pandemic years, which saw the group lose a cumulative EUR10.4 billion in 2020 and 2021, forcing it to carry out two recapitalisations and request help from the French and Dutch governments.

In a statement, the group also announced a solid operating margin of 5.7 per cent for 2023, up 1.2 points on the previous year, which had seen it return to profit.

“In 2023, we delivered on our commitment to strong operational and financial performance,” group Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Smith said in the results statement.

The record results were achieved despite passenger numbers not yet returning to pre-COVID levels.

Air France, KLM and subsidiary Transavia transported a total of 93.6 million passengers last year, up 10.3 million on 2022 but still 10.4 million fewer than in 2019.

At the same time, Air France-KLM continued to deleverage, with its net debt falling from EUR6.33 billion at the end of 2022 to EUR5.04 billion at the end of 2023.

The group also saw its net debt-to-gross operating margin (EBITDA) ratio improve to 1.2 times, down from 1.8 times the previous year, which should make refinancing easier.

In the fourth quarter, however, the group suffered a net loss of EUR256 million, a fall of EUR752 million compared with the equivalent period in 2022. Air France, and especially KLM, suffered from a shortage of spare parts – a recurring problem for the aviation sector since the pandemic and also of qualified labour, which disrupted the availability of certain aircraft on the ground.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

U.S. Department of State Concludes $51 Million Settlement Resolving Export Violations by The Boeing Company


FEBRUARY 29, 2024

The U.S. Department of State has concluded an administrative settlement with The Boeing Company (Boeing) to resolve 199 violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. § 2751 et seq., and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR parts 120-130. The Department of State and Boeing reached this settlement following an extensive compliance review by the Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance in the Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

The administrative settlement between the Department of State and Boeing, concluded pursuant to ITAR § 128.11, addresses Boeing’s unauthorized exports and retransfers of technical data to foreign-person employees and contractors; unauthorized exports of defense articles, including unauthorized exports of technical data to the People’s Republic of China, a proscribed destination under ITAR § 126.1; and violations of license terms, conditions, and provisos of Directorate of Defense Trade Controls authorizations.

All of the alleged violations were voluntarily disclosed, and a considerable majority predate 2020. Boeing cooperated with the Department’s review of this matter and has incorporated numerous improvements to its compliance program since the conduct at issue.

Under the terms of the 36-month Consent Agreement, Boeing will pay a civil penalty of $51 million. The Department has agreed to suspend $24 million of this amount on the condition that the funds will be used for the Department-approved Consent Agreement remedial compliance measures to strengthen Boeing’s compliance program. In addition, for an initial period of at least 24 months, Boeing will engage an external Special Compliance Officer to oversee the Consent Agreement, which will also require two external audits of its ITAR compliance program and implement additional compliance measures.

The settlement demonstrates the Department’s role in furthering the national security and foreign policy of the United States by controlling the export of defense articles. The settlement also highlights the importance of exporting defense articles only pursuant to appropriate authorization from the Department.

The Consent Agreement and related documents will be available for public inspection in the Public Reading Room of the Department of State and on the Penalties and Oversights Agreements section of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ website.

For additional information, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at pm-cpa@state.gov.

FOOLED YA

Former US ambassador admits to working for decades as Cuban intelligence agent

Joshua Goodman And Jim Mustian, The Associated Press

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FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Justice Department and contained in the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, shows Manuel Rocha during a meeting with a FBI undercover employee. On Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, Rocha, 73, told a judge he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, charges that could land him behind bars for several years. (Justice Department via AP, File)

MIAMI (AP) — A former career U.S. diplomat said in court Thursday that he will plead guilty to charges of serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades, bringing a lightning fast resolution to a case prosecutors described as one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service.

Manuel Rocha, 73, told a federal judge he would admit to two federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, charges that carry a maximum penalty of between 5 and 10 years in prison each. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop 13 additional counts for crimes including wire fraud and making false statements.

Prosecutors and Rocha’s attorney indicated they have agreed upon a sentence but details were not disclosed in court Thursday. He is due back in court on April 12, when he’s likely to be sentenced.

“I am in agreement,” said Rocha, shackled at the hands and ankles, when asked by U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom if he wished to change his plea to guilty.

Rocha was arrested by the FBI at his Miami home in December on allegations that he engaged in “clandestine activity” on Cuba’s behalf since at least 1981 — the year he joined the U.S. foreign service — including by meeting with Cuban intelligence operatives and providing false information to U.S. government officials about his contacts.

Federal authorities have said little about exactly what Rocha did to assist Cuba while working at the State Department for two decades at posts in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. He followed that with a lucrative post-government career that included a stint as a special adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command.
Instead, the case relies largely on what prosecutors say were Rocha’s own admissions, made over the past year to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence operative named “Miguel.” In those recordings, Rocha praised the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro as “Comandante,” branded the U.S. the “enemy” and bragged about his service for more than 40 years as a Cuban mole in the heart of U.S. foreign policy circles, the complaint says.

“What we have done … it’s enormous … more than a Grand Slam,” he was quoted as saying in one of several secretly recorded conversations.

Rocha’s decision to plead guilty Thursday came just hours after the widow of a prominent Cuban dissident killed in a mysterious car crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former diplomat. The lawsuit accuses Rocha of sharing intelligence that emboldened Cuba’s communist leaders to assassinate a chief opponent.

Joshua Goodman And Jim Mustian, The Associated Press

Global food crisis, poor nutrition and the effects of climate change need urgent action says IFAD President

29 February 2024

 IFAD/Barbara Gravelli


Honiara/Rome, 1 March 2024 - A global food crisis and the effects of climate change are taking a toll on those most vulnerable: millions of people – many of them small-scale farmers and their families – who are unable to afford a healthy diet. At this critical juncture, Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is visiting the Solomon Islands and Australia from 29 February to 8 March 2024 to collaborate on next-steps and to deepen IFAD’s strategic partnership with governments across the region.

“The global food crisis is growing and already almost one-in-three people on the planet do not have regular access to healthy food. In Solomon Islands, nutrition is so poor that the same number of young children - one-in-three - are physically stunted due to malnutrition. This still needs our urgent action,” said President Lario.

The visit marks the first ever official mission to the Pacific by an IFAD President and the first presidential mission to Australia in a decade. Lario plans to meet with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare today and visit projects in the field to see the impact of IFAD’s investments to address the region’s extreme vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters, including threats to food security and nutrition. IFAD is working in partnership with Member States and partners in the region to empower rural communities and build resilience in the most remote and vulnerable parts of the world.

“The best investment in rural communities is an early one: one dollar invested in resilience now saves $10 down the line in emergency aid. That's why IFAD’s work in Asia and the Pacific has doubled in twenty years and why we look forward to expanding our relationship with Australia to help grow economies and stability in the region,” Lario added.

Lario is visiting Malaita Island, to meet project participants and implementing partners of the Rural Development Programme – Phase II (RDP II; 2015-2020), which supported small-scale cocoa farmers to partner with agri-businesses to add value to agricultural products and create jobs and income opportunities for 68,000 poor rural families across the country. An impact assessment of the closed project showed a 46 per cent increase in cocoa harvest and a 28 per cent improvement in resilience to climate shocks among project participants.

He will also meet participants in the ongoing Melanesia Rural Market and Innovation Driven programme (MERMAID, implemented by World Vision) and the Pacific Island Rural Agriculture Stimulus facility (PIRAS), on Guadalcanal Island. MERMAID seeks to improve nutrition, increase income levels and eliminate poverty in rural communities in Malaita by encouraging consumption of locally produced, nutritious food. PIRAS – co-financed by IFAD and the Australian Government – supports post-pandemic economic recovery and food and nutrition security in six Pacific Island countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Lario will meet partners from the Kastom Garden Association and hear how rural families are now able to find local sources for planting material and open-pollinated seeds, which has helped them improve food security and disaster resilience, through community-managed germplasm centres set up with PIRAS support.

In Australia, Lario will focus on IFAD and the Government of Australia’s shared development priorities – to eliminate hunger and poverty, and to equip communities to adapt to climate shocks and natural disasters. As co-chair of Global Citizen NOW: Melbourne, Lario will engage with global leaders and advocates in creating a global agenda for urgent action. He will then meet with key decision-makers in Canberra, as well as deliver a lecture on channelling innovative finance and partnerships to build resilience at the Australian National University on 6 March.

Australia is a crucial development partner for IFAD in the Asia Pacific. A deeper strategic partnership would help leverage Australia's expertise in agriculture and development and scale up innovative solutions for the Pacific region, including Small Island Developing States, which face significant and unique challenges.

Total investment by IFAD in the Pacific region amounts to US$461 million, of which US$142 million is financed through the Fund’s programme of loans and grants. For every US$1 invested by IFAD in the Pacific, more than US$2 has been leveraged, making IFAD a strong mobilizer of partnership financing.

Read more about our work in Asia and the Pacific here.

Follow us on Twitter/X: @IFADSouthAsia | LinkedIn: @IFADAsia

Press Release No.: IFAD/17/2024

IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency. Based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub – IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided more than US$24 billion in grants and low-interest loans to fund projects in developing countries.

A wide range of photographs and broadcast-quality video content of IFAD’s work in rural communities are available for download from our Image Bank.

Kishida vows no more fundraising parties at Parliament’s ethics hearing over a funds scandal


Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida bows in apology for his governing party’s corruption scandal during a political ethics committee at parliament in Tokyo Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Japan Pool/Kyodo News via AP)


BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
 February 29, 2024Share


TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s beleaguered prime minister renewed his apology over his governing party’s corruption scandal, promising to not hold any more parties himself as leader during a political ethics committee Thursday.

Fumio Kishida has fought against plummeting support ratings since his governing party’s corruption scandal rocked the government. The scandal, considered the biggest in decades, centers on political funds raised through party event tickets bought by individuals, companies and organizations. It led to 10 people — lawmakers and their aides — being indicted in January.

While Kishida himself is not the focus of the scandal and was not even invited to the hearing, the surprise announcement of his personal appearance broke a deadlock between the opposition lawmakers and his governing party Wednesday when the five implicated attendants refused to go public, holding up a hearing. Kishida expressed a “sense of crisis” that the deadlock on the hearing would further deepen the public’s distrust in politics.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s resistance to have a fully open session fueled public criticism that Kishida’s party is taking the corruption lightly and trying to hide something.



Kishida says he’s determined to break Japan’s ruling party from its practice of money politics


Japan PM Kishida is fighting a party corruption scandal. Here’s a look at what it’s about

Kishida’s action could help ease criticisms that he was too slow and lax in addressing the public’s distrust and taking anti-corruption measures.

In his opening statement, Kishida renewed his apology for triggering public distrust in politics, and promised to take leadership in reforming his party, saying seniority-based tradition, lack of compliance and a sense of privilege among lawmakers need to be removed if they were part of the problem.

Kishida said he volunteered to appear at the hearing to provide an explanation as head of the LDP. But he brushed off questions from opposition lawmakers seeking further details about the fundraising problems, such as when and how they began. Kishida said the governing party’s internal probe focused on preventive measures instead of digging deeper into details of the wrongdoings.

Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, now an executive of main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized Kishida for holding a number of his own fundraising parties. Kishida in turn promised not to hold any more of what he called “benkyo-kai,” or study meetings, during his leadership.

Asked about his own faction’s accounting irregularity, which had to be corrected, and its prior status, he said documents were lost and details were unknown.

Kishida doesn’t have to call a parliamentary election until 2025, but his party has set a leadership vote for September.

The ethics committee is tasked with determining whether a lawmaker violated political ethics standards and should be held responsible, but critics say it’s largely a show and any serious investigative role is not expected.

Its hearings can be held in a closed meeting, but all but nine of its previous hearings were held publicly.

More than 80 LDP lawmakers, most of them belonging to a faction previously led by assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, acknowledged not reporting funds in possible violation of the Political Funds Control Law. The money was alleged to have gone into unmonitored slush funds in the systematic long-term practice.

Kishida removed a number of ministers from his Cabinet and others from party executive posts, while some stepped down in the sandal, though support ratings for his government dwindled to around 20%.

The prime minister has announced the dissolving of his faction following the scandal, and has established an internal task force to make reforms. But half of its members are linked to the scandal, raising questions about how much it can achieve.

The LDP has governed postwar Japan almost without interruption and has repeatedly had corruption scandals followed by promises for cleaner politics.

Kishida and a former Internal Affairs Minister Ryota Takeda, who belongs to another powerful faction, were to appear at the hearing Thursday. Four Abe-faction members, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and former Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, were set to show up Friday.

Yomiuri Editorial

Kishida at Political Ethics Panel: Prime Minister Should Provide Meaningful Answers

Editorial
February 29, 2024

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s willingness to help resolve confusion in the Diet by showing a good example is commendable. He needs to carefully explain the political funds issue, not just give superficial answers.

Regarding the Political Funds Control Law violation scandal involving the Liberal Democratic Party, the prime minister expressed his intention to attend a meeting of the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics of the House of Representatives, saying, “As president of the party, I will fulfill my accountability in a setting open to the media.” The council’s meeting will start today.

The ruling and opposition parties had previously agreed to hold a meeting of the council on Wednesday and Thursday to question five senior members from the two LDP factions once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai. However, the two sides could not reach a consensus on whether the meeting should be open or closed to the media, and the Wednesday session was not held.

Due to the political funds scandal, the approval ratings of both the Kishida Cabinet and the LDP have declined significantly. Kishida likely decided to attend the meeting out of a sense of crisis that his administration would not be able to survive if he failed, as prime minister, to help the council to meet. This will be the first time for a sitting prime minister to appear before the council.

The prime minister’s intention to attend the meeting has prompted senior members of the Abe and Nikai factions to attend as well. They should provide concrete and detailed explanations of when they started making the “hidden funds” and how they used the funds.

Political reform is an important theme in the current Diet session. However, conflict between the ruling and opposition blocs over the political funds issue should not be allowed to delay deliberations on the fiscal 2024 budget proposal and important bills.

It is hard to deny that the prime minister’s own explanations have been insufficient, and that this has increased distrust in politics.

In the scandal, a faction that he had chaired for more than a decade until last year was also found to have made false entries in its political funds reports, totaling about ¥30 million, and a criminal charge was filed against the faction’s former accounting official. The prime minister has only stated that “clerical errors were repeated.”

The government’s ministerial code of conduct, adopted in 2001, stipulates that the prime minister and cabinet ministers refrain from holding large parties, but the prime minister held seven political fundraising parties in 2022.

However, the prime minister has insisted that the parties in 2020 were “study sessions,” repeatedly stating that he did not violate the ministerial code of conduct. This is not the way to regain the public’s trust.

In the negotiations between the ruling and opposition blocs over the council’s meeting, the LDP’s response became confused. The confusion reportedly was caused by the LDP leadership’s failure to adequately confirm the wishes of faction executives as to whether the council’s meeting would be held in the open. Many have voiced questions over the coordination ability of the LDP leadership.

It cannot be denied that the prime minister’s adherence to surprise tactics and his decision to dissolve the Kishida faction without sufficient consultation with senior party officials has dampened the mood within the party.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 29, 2024)

Japan PM Kishida’s Disapproval Rate Hits Record as Scandals Drag On

Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg News

Fumio Kishida, Japan's prime minister, during a budget committee session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. Kishida will seek to stop his ruling party’s factions from fundraising and competing for leadership positions, after a money scandal sent its public support to the lowest on record in one poll last week. , Bloomberg


(Bloomberg) -- The disapproval rate of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hit a record in a poll, as voters showed dissatisfaction with what many see as shortcomings in clearing up political scandals months ahead of a party leadership election.

In a survey by the Mainichi newspaper posted online Monday, some 82% of respondents said they disapproved of Kishida’s cabinet, up 10 percentage points on the previous month and the worst for any premier since the paper started conducting such polls in 1947. His approval fell seven percentage points to 14%.

Kishida’s support also slipped to 21% in a separate poll by the Asahi newspaper and stayed flat at 24% in a survey by the Yomiuri.

The polls come ahead of a September election for leadership of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which could see Kishida ousted in favor of a more popular candidate. No general election need be held until 2025.

A slush fund scandal that led to a series of arrests and indictments prompted Kishida to disband his faction within the party and press other groups to distance themselves from money as well as fighting over top positions. His efforts to tackle the problem of undeclared income, which has cast a shadow over many of the LDP’s most senior lawmakers, are seen as inadequate by most voters, polls show.

More than three quarters of respondents to the Yomiuri newspaper poll said they didn’t think steps taken so far, such as a survey of party lawmakers, would lead to transparency over what had happened. More than 90% said they didn’t think the leaders of the party factions had provided sufficient explanations of the scandal.

Perceptions that Kishida has failed to clamp down hard enough come as the economy unexpectedly slipped into recession, a development that could further undermine public support.

Read more: Japan Economy’s Slide Into Recession Prompts Caution on BOJ Bets

An earlier scandal over the LDP’s connections with a fringe South Korean-based religious group has also re-emerged recently. Opposition lawmakers are calling on the education minister to resign over alleged dealings with the sect, which has a long list of court rulings against it over taking excessive donations from followers.

Nonetheless, opposition parties have been unable to capitalize on Kishida’s woes, with none of them boasting support of more than single figures in recent polls.

Feb 19, 2024
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Shadowy Russia firm reportedly switches 60% stake in Uzbek gas storage facility to Hong Kong entity as Tashkent reacts to sanctions jitters

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By bne IntelliNews February 29, 2024

A shadowy Russian company has transferred its controlling stake in Uzbekistan's largest underground gas storage facility to a Hong Kong-registered holding company as Tashkent moves to prevent sanctioned entities from having access to the Uzbek banking system, according to Kun.uz and Podrobno.uz.

The media outlets cited Uzbekistan's corporate records database in stating that a 60% stake in the Gazli storage project was now in the hands of Hong-Kong registered Daxon Holdings.

The majority shareholding was previously held by Russia's Forus. In partnership with Uzbek state gas transmission operator Uztransgaz, the owner of the other 40%, it has since 2018 worked on initially doubling the Gazli storage capacity to 6bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas and then expanding it further to 10 bcm.

Daxon Holdings was incorporated as a limited liability company in 2019, according to Hong Kong public records.

When exactly the shareholder change was made is reportedly unclear from the Uzbek corporate records database.

Some Russian media reports last year suggested that Forus is indirectly controlled by a trustee acting on behalf of a Russian oligarch who has been extensively sanctioned by the US due to alleged links to the invader of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A draft law passed by Uzbekistan’s parliament in mid-February prohibits Uzbek banks from offering accounts to people and corporations subject to the sanctions. The bill can still be amended prior to final approval.

Last week, Uzbek media reports said the Cenrral Asian country’s government plans to invest $500mn on expanding capacity in its natural gas transportation system to enable a significant increase in gas imports from Russia.

Uzbekistan’s own gas reserves are not sufficient to meet annually surging demand. The country started receiving supplies of the fuel from Russia in October. Under a two-year deal with Gazprom, Uzbekistan imports 9mn cubic metres (mcm) of gas daily.

A Brazilian state in the Amazon has been hit with more than 2,000 fires in February

February 29, 2024

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian state of Roraima in the Amazon rainforest has been hit with more than 2,000 fires in February, according to data released Thursday by the state space agency.

The National Institute for Space Research, known by its Portuguese acronym INPE, said that satellite sensors detected the blazes between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28. It wasn’t immediately clear how much land was burned in that period in Roraima, the South American country's northernmost state.

The number of fires was far above the monthly average of 376, and the second-highest registered in a single month since INPE began collecting data in mid-1998.

The smoke has clogged the air of entire cities in the 200,000-square-kilometer (77,220-square-mile) state, as it did in Manaus and other Amazon cities late last year. Fires are also burning down forest inside the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, Júnior Hekurari, president of the Yanomami local health council, told The Associated Press.

Fires in the Amazon are almost always deliberately set, to improve cattle pasture or burn recently-felled trees once they are dry. The fires often burn out of control and reach pristine areas of forest.

But experts say El Niño, a natural and temporary warming of part of the Pacific, along with the warming of northern tropical Atlantic waters, likely contributed to the current situation.

Earlier this month, the heightened risk of forest fires prompted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to declare a state of environmental emergency in several regions. It reduces cumbersome administrative procedures, allowing authorities, for example, to speed up hiring processes or extend contracts without due process.

The Amazon was hit by a historic drought last year, with eight Brazilian states recording the lowest rainfall in the July-September period in more than 40 years.

Texas Panhandle fire expands to 1 million acres, becoming state's largest ever

CLIMATE CHANGE IN YOUR FACE

By Nathan Frandino, Rich Mckay and Brendan O'Brien

A firefighter battles the Smokehouse Creek Fire, near Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle. Photo: Flower Mound Fire Department / AFP

Fire crews on Thursday fought to contain a deadly wildfire that has burned more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares) of grasslands, timber and residential areas in Texas' northern Panhandle region, making it the largest recorded fire in the state's history.

The blaze, dubbed the Smokehouse Creek Fire, had doubled in size since Wednesday and was 3 percent contained on Thursday morning, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Firefighters used a brief lull in the strong winds that have swept the area to erect barriers and tackle hot spots of downed trees and thick grass.

On Thursday, Jason Wilhelm, 36, was using a frontloader to clear the lot in Canadian, a small town about 100 miles (161km) northeast of Amarillo, where the house he shared with his wife and five children had stood a few days earlier. Charred grass and blackened trees were all that remained.

His wife was able to gather pictures, cash and some sentimental items from the home before the blaze roared through on Monday.

"It was heartbreaking," Wilhelm said.

Rain and snow falling in the area on Thursday offered a "shot of moisture" before the air dries out on Friday and high winds return over the weekend, said Steve Hannah, an Amarillo-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Gusts could reach 40 miles per hour (64km/h) by Sunday, he said.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire has now burned through an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The number of structures destroyed and people evacuated is still unclear, but dozens of homes have been reportedly levelled. The fire has so far killed one person, according to Texas A&M. The victim was described by local media as an 83-year-old woman in Hutchinson County, northeast of Amarillo.

Lee Haygood, 57, the owner of a ranch about 25 miles (40km) southeast of Canadian who managed to save all his cattle, was counting his blessings on Thursday but also wondering how he would feed them.

"We didn't lose any cattle, but we lost 75 percent of our grassland," he said.

"It'll take a full growing season to come back, not until maybe the fall."

Amarillo firefighters during mop up operations at the Windy Deuce fire north of Amarillo, Texas. On Tuesday, operations at the nearby Pantex plant, the nation's primary nuclear weapons assembly facility, were suspended as the fire crept close, but the blaze later changed direction, allowing routine activities at the plant to resume. Photo: Amarillo Fire Department / AFP

In contrast with ranchers north of Canadian, Haygood on Monday was given only a few hours' warning about the approaching wildfire. He moved his herd of 200 Hereford bulls off the four square miles of grazing land and penned them into the single green wheat field he had left, hoping it would not ignite.

Fellow ranchers have already started sending semi-tractor trailers full of hay and meal to his ranch. "We are truly blessed," he said.

Several smaller wildfires were burning in other parts of the Panhandle region. The next largest fire in the area, the Windy Deuce fire, has burned 142,000 acres and was 30 percent contained on Thursday, according to Texas A&M.

On Tuesday, the Windy Deuce had crept to within a few miles of the US Energy Department's Pantex plant, the nation's primary nuclear weapons assembly facility, located near Amarillo, prompting officials to evacuate non-essential personnel and suspend operations.

But the leading edge of that blaze shifted to the north and west, away from Pantex, on Wednesday, allowing routine activities at the plant to resume.

"Operations at the Pantex Plant returned to normal Wednesday," the facility said in an online notice. "There is no imminent wildfire threat to the plant at this time."

- Reuters

Footage captures damages from largest wildfire in Texas state history

ABC News

 

Texas wildfire explodes to become second-largest in U.S. history

LI COHEN
Updated February 29, 2024 

In the Texas Panhandle, lampposts are now melted, power line posts are split in half and homes and properties have been reduced to charred remains. The Smokehouse Creek Fire that broke out on Monday has since extended to 1.1 million acres, firefighters said Thursday, quickly becoming the "largest and most destructive" in state history.

The West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department said overnight that the fire, located in Hutchinson County, grew to 1.1 million acres and is roughly 3% contained.

"This is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas history," the department wrote on Facebook. "It is also the second largest wildfire in U.S. history."

On Wednesday, the Texas A&M Forest Service increased the state's wildland fire preparedness level to a 3 out of 5, meaning that "wildfire activity is impacting several regions of the state as the result of drought, dry vegetation or frequent fire weather events."

The group also confirmed the fire's rapid growth to more than 1 million acres at 3% containment on Thursday morning. The nearby 687 Reamer Fire that started in the same county has now "burned into this fire," the Forest Service said.

There are at least five active wildfires throughout the state, with the Smokehouse Creek Fire being the largest by far. The second-largest active wildfire as of Thursday is the Windy Deuce Fire in Moore County, which has grown to an estimated 142,000 acres and is 30% contained, according to the Forest Service.

Other active wildfires include the Grape Vine Creek Fire in Gray County and the Magenta Fire in Oldham County.


The Smokehouse Creek Fire had reached historic levels after just a few days. Previously, the biggest fire to ever ignite in Texas had been 2006's East Amarillo Complex fire, which grew to more than 907,000 acres.

One person has died in the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County, a county official told CBS Texas on Wednesday night. The victim's grandson confirmed the death to CBS News, identifying the victim as 83-year-old Joyce Blankenship.

The fire also destroyed most of the historic $180 million Turkey Track Ranch, which was home to "one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Great Plains" near the end of the Civil War, and the site of the Red River War that started in 1874. The property, one of the oldest ranches in the state that covers roughly 80,000 acres, has seen an estimated 80% of its pastures, plains and creek bottom burned in the fire, CBS affiliate KHOU-TV reports.

"The loss of livestock, crops and wildlife, as well as ranch fencing and other infrastructure throughout our property as well as other ranches and homes across the region is, we believe, unparalleled in our history," the owners said in a statement. "...We are all completely devastated and personally heartbroken by the magnitude of this horrific event."


The Forest Service said the Smokehouse Creek Fire is part of a multi-day wildfire outbreak across Texas and Oklahoma.

The fires temporarily shut down Pantex, the main facility that puts together the country's nuclear arsenal, but the facility, located about 30 miles east of the Panhandle city of Amarillo, is back to "normal day shift operations." No damage or issues were reported.

Wildfires as a whole are anticipated to only worsen as the world continues to burn fossil fuels that release planet-warming greenhouse gases. Last year, scientists at Climate Central released a report finding that wildfire seasons in the U.S. are "lengthening and intensifying, particularly in the West."


In this handout photo provided by the Texas A&M Forest Service, flames cross a road in the Smokehouse Creek fire on the evening of Feb. 27, 2024, in the Texas Panhandle. The blaze has grown to more than 850,000 acres since igniting Monday, making it the second-largest wildfire in Texas state history. / Credit: Texas A&M Forest Service/Getty Images

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 Texas counties on Tuesday to secure resources to help fight the massive blazes. High temperatures and dry and windy conditions — all of which are expected to become a more frequent and intense problem as global temperatures rise — contributed to the spread of the flames, Abbott said, with those conditions expected to remain for at least a few days.

A satellite image taken on Feb. 28, 2024, shows overviews of the extent to which towns have been impacted by the fire. / Credit: Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

"These conditions could increase the potential for these wildfires to grow larger and more dangerous," the governor said. "Texans are urged to limit activities that could create sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe."

Before Tresea Rancin escaped the Smokehouse Creek Fire, she watched as her home of 38 years in the town of Canadian went up in flames.

"I was Facetiming with my son, who is in the service, and he said 'Mom leave,'" Rancin told CBS News.

Rankin says she will rebuild.

"You got a choice, you can either get bitter or get better, and I'm getting better," she said.

As fast-moving flames quickly spread over the dried grassland, cattle ranchers near the town of Sinton released livestock to escape the flames.


Several school districts in the Texas Panhandle were closed Wednesday, and residents who didn't get out in time were being told to shelter in place.

"We asked them to leave because it's a very dangerous situation," Ellis County Sheriff Shane Booth said.


More than 30,000 acres have burned in Oklahoma, according to Oklahoma Forestry Services. At least 13 homes in Oklahoma have also been destroyed, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Public information map of the Smokehouse Creek Fire showing an estimated 500,000 acres as of Feb. 28, 2024. This is a preliminary perimeter and subject to change. / Credit: Texas A&M Forest Service/Facebook

Today, several states, including Texas, have two additional months of fire weather compared to what was experienced in 1973, the group found. A combination of low humidity, hot temperatures and wind promotes the spread of wildfires.

"Human-caused climate change accounts for at least two-thirds of the rapid increase in fire weather in the western U.S. in recent decades," Climate Central says.

While temperatures are expected to be cooler in north Texas in the middle of this week, the National Weather Service says that warmer conditions will return by Friday, with temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal. However, some additional moisture is also expected and the service says that there could be some rain as early as Sunday.

— Dave Malkoff contributed to this report.



Massive wildfires in Texas Panhandle force evacuations, prompt disaster declaration

S.E. JENKINS
Updated February 29, 2024 at 4:20 PM


NORTH TEXAS - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration Tuesday due to widespread wildfires in the Panhandle amid hot and dry conditions. Dry vegetation and high winds were fueling the rapid growth of blazes. Abbott's declaration includes 60 counties.

Since Sunday, Feb. 25, Texas A&M Forest Service has responded to 56 wildfires burning more than 1,256,328 acres.

"As dangerous wildfires continue to impact the Texas Panhandle, I directed TDEM to immediately deploy additional wildfire response resources to ensure the safety of Texans and impacted communities," Abbott said Wednesday.

The largest wildfire in Texas history is actively burning today. The Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County is burning a total of 1,075,000 acres across Texas and Oklahoma and is 3% contained. / Credit: Texas A&M Forest Service

Abbott also directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to increase the readiness level of the Texas State Emergency Operations Center to Level II, an "Escalated Response," in support of the state's around-the-clock response.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire is now the largest wildfire in Texas history, burning a total of 1,075,000 acres across Texas and Oklahoma. It is 3% contained.

One person died in hard-hit Hutchinson County where the massive Smokehouse Creek Fire swept through the area. Eighty-three-year-old Joyce Blankenship died when the Smokehouse Creek fire enveloped her neighborhood in the town of Stinnett, northeast of Amarillo.

"We do have one confirmed fatality from the Scotts Acres fire," Hutchinson County Public Engagement Coordinator Deidra Thomas said.

Texas panhandle wildfires map / Credit: CBS News Texas

Pantex, the main facility that assembles and disassembles America's nuclear arsenal, shut down its operations Tuesday night because of nearby wildfires. But the plant's operators said overnight on X, the former Twitter, that it is "open for normal day shift operations for Wednesday, February 28; all personnel are to report for duty according to their assigned schedule."

The plant is located some 30 miles east of Amarillo.

When it paused its operations, the company wrote in a social media post that, "All weapons and special materials are safe and unaffected." Pantex later clarified that "there is currently no fire on the plant site and emergency personnel continue to monitor the situation." Pantex said all employees had been accounted for and "non-essential personnel are no longer on site."

Several large wildfires ignited Monday under warm, dry, and windy conditions across the Panhandle. Canadian, a town in the Panhandle, was first told to evacuate and then to shelter in place. The Canadian Independent School District canceled classes for Wednesday.


Evacuations were underway in Fritch, just one of four wildfires burning in the Panhandle. The Texas A&M Forest Service says the wind-driven Deuce fire is only 50% contained and 142,000 acres have burned. Evacuations are still in place for the fire area.

The Amarillo Area Office of Emergency Management said late Tuesday night that "Randall County, Potter County, and City of Amarillo, Texas have declared a local state of disaster. ... The only area being evacuated at this time is the Mesilla Park area."

Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County. Feb. 27, 2024. / Credit: Texas A&M Forest Service

The Grape Vine Creek Fire in Gray County is an estimated 30,000 acres and 60% contained.

"As Agriculture Commissioner, I am deeply concerned about the devastating wildfires raging through the Texas Panhandle," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said via social media. "Our thoughts are with them during this challenging time, and we're committed to supporting their recovery efforts every step of the way."

The Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) deployed Wednesday to provide veterinary care to resident animals and support local shelters. VET also has the support of 12 search and rescue dogs deployed with Texas A&M Texas Task Force 1.

The Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association launched a fundraising campaign to aid victims of the wildfires.

"A fire is one of the most tragic events that can impact ranches, and a natural disaster such as the widespread wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma can result in financial hardships and deep impacts to our ranching communities," said TSCRA President Arthur Uhl.

The Texas A&M Forest Service is bracing for more wildfire activity in the coming weeks.

Humanoid robot-maker Figure partners with OpenAI

Artificial intelligence engineer Jenna Reher works on humanoid robot Figure 01 in California, United States. 

PHOTO: AP

March 1, 2024

AP – ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is looking to fuse its artificial intelligence (AI) systems into the bodies of humanoid robots as part of a new deal with robotics startup Figure.

Sunnyvale, California-based Figure announced the partnership yesterday along with USD675 million in venture capital funding from a group that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as well as Microsoft, chipmaker Nvidia and the startup-funding divisions of Amazon, Intel and OpenAI.

Figure is less than two years old and doesn’t have a commercial product but is persuading influential tech industry backers to support its vision of shipping billions of human-like robots to the world’s workplaces and homes.

“If we can just get humanoids to do work that humans are not wanting to do because there’s a shortfall of humans, we can sell millions of humanoids, billions maybe,” Figure Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brett Adcock told The Associated Press.

For OpenAI, which dabbled in robotics research before pivoting to a focus on the AI large language models that power ChatGPT, the partnership will “open up new possibilities for how robots can help in everyday life,” said the San Francisco company’s Vice President of Product and Partnerships Peter Welinder, in a written statement.

Financial terms of the deal between Figure and OpenAI weren’t disclosed. The collaboration will have OpenAI building specialised AI models for Figure’s humanoid robots, likely based on OpenAI’s existing technology such as GPT language models, the image-generator DALL-E and the new video-generator Sora.